An application of factor analysis to basic volcanic rock geochemistry

Factors analysis is useful for studying the interrelationships of trace and major elements in sets of rock analyses. Its application to basic volcanic rocks show various features: (i) the principal factors relate to variation among mineral components; (ii) the behaviour of K is similar to that of Rb, Ba, Sr and in some cases P, W, Tl also; (iii) the coherence of Tl with K and Rb is often masked by a secondary effect depending on petrography; (iv) in some rock-groupings Li and H₂O^? are closely associated; (v) an unexpected association is Na, P and Sr; (vi) factor-scores can be used to discriminate alkalic from subalkalic basalts, using various element combinations.     

Long-term investigation of benthic fauna and the influence of treated ballast water disposal in Port Valdez,Alaska

Benthic faunal structure and hydrocarbon concentrations in sediments were examined annually for 10 years (1989-1998) in Port Valdez, Alaska, where a near-bottom permitted discharge of treated tanker ballast waters containing residual petroleum has occurred since 1977. Measured concentrations of hydrocarbons in sediments near the discharge showed detectable increases in concentration, but on only one occasion were these increases either to levels exceeding ecotoxicological thresholds (Effects-Range Low, ER-L) or associated with alterations in the benthic community. Changes in faunal structure indicating disturbance were observed at one station near the discharge from 1995 to 1997 and were apparent as increased numbers of opportunistic taxa and anomalous trends in abundance and diversity. Minimum-effect (ME) hypotheses provided evidence of negligible to small effects on benthic infauna from disposal of treated ballast water. ME hypotheses have the potential to assist both researchers and managers by providing a tool to relate scientific results to ecological importance and decision criteria.     

Turbulent Statistics of Neutrally Stratified Flow Within and Above a Sparse Forest from Large-Eddy Simulation and Field Observations

Turbulent statistics of neutrally stratified shear-driven flow within and above a sparse forest canopy are presented from a large-eddy simulation (LES) and compared with those from observations within and above a deciduous forest with similar height and foliage density. First- and second-order moments from the LES agree with observations quite well. Third-order moments from the LES have the same sign and similar vertical patterns as those from the observations, but the LES yields smaller magnitudes of such higher-order moments. Turbulent spectra and cospectra from the LES agree well with observations above the forest. However, at the highest frequencies, the LES spectra have steeper slopes than observations. Quadrant and conditional analyses of the LES resolved-scale flow fields also agree with observations. For example, both LES and observation find that sweeps are more important than ejections for the transport of momentum within the forest, while inward and outward interaction contributions are both small, except near the forest floor. The intermittency of the transport of momentum and scalar increases with depth into the forest. Finally, ramp structures in the time series of a passive scalar at multiple levels within and above the forest show similar features to those measured from field towers. Two-dimensional (height-time cross-section) contours of the passive scalar and wind vectors show sweeps and ejections, and the characteristics of the static pressure perturbation near the ground resemble those deduced from field tower-based measurements. In spite of the limited grid resolution (2 m × 2 m × 2 m) and domain size (192 m × 192 m × 60 m) used in this LES, we demonstrate that the LES is capable of resolving the most important characteristics of the turbulent flow within and above a forest canopy.     

Walsh spectra of gravity anomalies over some simple sources

Walsh transform of gravity anomalies over a point mass, a horizontal and a vertical line mass have been computed to obtain a cyclic shift invariant differential energy density (DED) function. Quantitative relations between DED spectral characteristics with depth to centroid/top of the source have been established. The effects of profile length, sampling interval, random noise and zero padding have been investigated. Applicability of the proposed method has been evaluated through two field examples.     

Stable isotope and geochemical evidence of formation pore fluid evolution during diagenesis of Tertiary sandstones and mudrocks of the Niger Delta

Petrological data provide evidence that framboidal pyrite, Fe-carbonates and kaolinite are the major diagenetic minerals developed during burial diagenesis in the Tertiary Niger Delta sandstones and associated mudrocks. The pyrite sulphur, carbonate carbon and oxygen and kaolinite oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions have been determined. These data (pyrite, δ³⁴S = −24.8 to 21.0‰; “siderite”, δ¹³C(PDB) = −14.7 to +5.0‰, δ¹⁸O(PDB) = −19.1 to −0.6‰; Fe-calcite, δ¹³C(PDB) = +17.5 to 17.9‰, δ¹⁸O(PDB) = −8.3 to −8.0‰; kaolinite, δ¹⁸O(SMOW) = +14.7 to 17.5‰, δD (SMOW) = −86 to −43‰) have been used to interpret the isotopic compositions of the precipitating pore fluids and/or the temperatures of mineral formation. The interpretation of these results indicate that in the deltaic depositional setting the syndepositional pore waters had a significant but variable marine influence that favoured the early formation of pyrite. Subsequently the subsurface influence of meteoric waters, showing varying degrees of modification involving organic and/or water-rock reactions, played an increasingly significant role in the development of later diagenetic cements in the sediments when abundant authigenic carbonates and kaolinites were formed.     

Harmonic wave propagation through viscoelastic heterogeneous media exhibiting mild stochasticity — II. Applications

The results obtained in Part I (Soil Dynam. Earth. Engng, 1996, 15, 119-27) of this work for modelling harmonic wave propagation through viscoelastic heterogeneous media that exhibit a small random fluctuation of their material properties about mean values are now used here to investigate SH wave propagation in two naturally occurring media, namely sandstone and topsoil. These results are in the form of depth dependent, deterministic mean values and non-isotropic covariances for both the wave speed profile in the medium and for the fundamental solution in terms of displacement due to a unit point source. The results are also compared against conventional Monte Carlo simulations.     

Turbulent kinetic energy budgets from a large-eddy simulation of airflow above and within a forest canopy

The output of a large-eddy simulation was used to study the terms ofthe turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget for the air layers above andwithin a forest. The computation created a three-dimensional,time-dependent simulation of the airflow, in which the lowest third ofthe domain was occupied by drag elements and heat sources to representthe forest. Shear production was a principal source of TKE in theupper canopy, diminishing gradually above tree-top height and moresharply with depth in the canopy. The transfer of energy to subgridscales (dissipation) was the main sink in the upper part of the domainbut diminished rapidly with depth in the canopy. Removal ofresolved-scale TKE due to canopy drag was extremely important,occurring primarily in the upper half of the forest where the foliagedensity was large. Turbulent transport showed a loss at the canopytop and a gain within the canopy. These general features have beenfound elsewhere but uncertainty remains concerning the effects ofpressure transport. In the present work, pressure was calculateddirectly, allowing us to compute the pressure diffusion term. Wellabove the canopy, pressure transport was smaller than, and opposite insign to, the turbulent transport term. Near the canopy top andbelow, pressure transport acted in concert with turbulent transport toexport TKE from the region immediately above and within the uppercrown, and to provide turbulent energy for the lower parts of theforest. In combination, the transport terms accounted for over half ofthe TKE loss near the canopy top, and in the lowest two-thirds of thecanopy the transport terms were the dominant source terms in thebudget. Moreover, the pressure transport was the largest source ofturbulent kinetic energy in the lowest levels of the canopy, beingparticularly strong under convective conditions. These resultsindicate that pressure transport is important in the plant canopyturbulent kinetic energy budget, especially in the lowest portion ofthe stand, where it acts as the major driving force for turbulentmotions.     

Influence of foliar density and thermal stability on profiles of Reynolds stress and turbulence intensity in a deciduous forest

Observations were made of turbulence in an extensive deciduous forest on level terrain using a vertical array of seven three-dimensional sonic anemometer/thermometers within and above the canopy. Data were collected through the period of leaf fall and over a range of thermal stabilities. A bulk canopy drag coefficient was nearly independent of the density of the forest but decreased greatly with the onset of nocturnal stability. The depth of penetration of momentum into the forest increased with leaf fall but, again, was greatly curtailed by stable conditions. Turbulent velocities decreased with increasing depth in the forest but relative turbulence intensities increased to mid-canopy levels. Leaf density influenced turbulence levels but not as strongly as did thermal stability. Thermal effects were adequately described by the single parameter h/L, where h is the canopy height and L is the Monin-Obukhov length. The longitudinal and vertical velocity correlation coefficient was larger in magnitude than expected in the upper layers of the forest but decreased to a small value in the lowest layers where the Reynolds stress was small. The ratio _w /u ^*, where u ^* is the local friction velocity, reflected changes in the uw correlation, becoming smaller than usual in the upper canopy layers. It is believed that these effects result from the intermittent, spatially coherent structures that are responsible for a large fraction of the momentum flux to the forest.     

The identification of organic input sources of sediments from the santa catalina basin using factor analysis

Individual neutral lipids, including hydrocarbons, ketones, alcohols, sterols, keto-ols and diols have been analysed from eight horizons in a sediment core taken from the Santa Catalina Basin, Calif. Variations in the concentration of individual lipid components between sites are studied using factor analysis to determine their inputs. Several sources of organic material are postulated from the composition of hypothetical factors, including methanogenic bacteria, higher plants and algae including coccolithophores, dinoflagellates and diatoms. Sources for long chain keto-ols and diols and a C₃₅ bicyclic alkene are suggested as methanogenic bacteria and algae respectively.