A STATISTICAL APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF MISSING SPATIAL DATA USING A FIRST-ORDER MARKOV MODEL*

Geographical data sets sometimes contain missing observations that need to be estimated. A statistical approach to the problem is discussed for multivariate normal spatial data sets satisfying the first-order spatial Markov property with constant mean, where the information at neighboring or contiguous observed sites is used to estimate the missing values. The completed data are used to estimate the parameters of the distribution. The procedure is iterative. The approach is a special case of the Orchard and Woodbury missing information principle. The paper concludes with an illustrative empirical example using rainfall data from an area of Kansas and Nebraska. The quality of the estimates for different sites are compared.     

Fast solar electrons,interplanetary plasma and km-wave type-III radio bursts observed from the IMP-6 spacecraft

IMP-6 spacecraft observations of low frequency radio emission, fast electrons, and solar wind plasma are used to examine the dynamics of the fast electron streams which generate solar type-III radio bursts. Of twenty solar electron events observed between April, 1971 and August, 1972, four were found to be amenable to detailed analysis. Observations of the direction of arrival of the radio emission at different frequencies were combined with the solar wind density and velocity measurements at 1 AU to define an Archimedean spiral trajectory for the radio burst exciter. The propagation characteristics of the exciter and of the fast electrons observed at 1 AU were then conpared. We find that: (1) the fast electrons excite the radio emission at the second harmonic; (2) the total distance travelled by the electrons was between 30 and 70% longer than the length of the smooth spiral defined by the radio observations; (3) this additional distance travelled is the result of scattering of the electrons in the interplanetary medium; (4) the observations are consistent with negligible true energy loss by the fast electrons.     

Ice-Core Study of the Link between Sea-Salt Aerosol,Sea-Ice Cover and Climate in the Antarctic Peninsula Area

Three ice cores and a set of snow pit samples collected on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula, in 1979, 1981 and 1991 have been analyzed for water stable isotope content D or ¹⁸O (isotopic temperature) and major chemical species. A reliable and detailed chronological scale has been established first for the upper 24.5 m of water equivalent (1990–1943) where various data sets can be compared, then extended down to 59.5 m of water equivalent (1847) with the aid of seasonal variations and the sulphate peak reflecting the 1883 Krakatoa volcanic eruption. At James Ross Island, sea-salt aerosol is generally produced by ice-free marine surfaces during the summer months, although some winter sea-salt events have been observed. For the upper part of the core (1990–1943), correlations (positive or negative) were calculated between isotopic temperature, chloride content (a sea-salt indicator), sea-ice extent, regional atmospheric temperature changes and atmospheric circulation. The D and chloride content correlation was then extended back to 1847, making it possible to estimate decadal sea-ice cover fluctuations over the study period. Our findings suggest that ice-core records from James Ross Island reflect the recent warming and sea-ice decrease trends observed in the Antarctic Peninsula area from the mid-1940s.     

Nd-Sr-Pb isotopic constraints on metal and fluid sources in W-Sb-Au mineralization at Woxi and Liaojiaping (Western Hunan,China)

This paper presents Nd-Sr-Pb isotope data on scheelite, inclusion fluids and residues of gangue quartz, and sulfides from the W-Sb-Au ore deposits at Woxi and Liaojiaping (LJP) in the Xuefeng Uplift Belt (XUB), Western Hunan, China. Sm and Nd concentrations in scheelite from Woxi are much lower than in scheelite from LJP and can be distinguished by their high ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios of ~1.25 from the much lower ratios around 0.26 in scheelites from the LJP. Nd values (compared to values at 200 Ma, which is the average timing of granitoid emplacement during the Indosinian-Yanshanian periods in the XUB) are around –10 for the LJP and compare well with the range of –5 to –11 defined by the granitoids, whereas they are around –27 for scheelite from Woxi. This might indicate that REEs in the mineralizing fluids at LJP originated from granitoids that are concentrated along the southern border of the XUB, whereas in the case of Woxi, the original fluids might have been masked by REEs released during intense high-temperature wall rock alteration of unexposed Precambrian basement rocks at depth. Sr isotopes of scheelite from these two deposits show similar relations to host / nearby rocks, in that ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (T=200 Ma) ratios of ~0.721 for LJP scheelite agree with values ranging between 0.718 – 0.726 for granitoids, whereas these ratios are much higher (i.e. 0.745) for scheelite from Woxi and correspond to the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (T=200 Ma) ratio range of 0.743 – 0.749 for Precambrian host slates. Crushing experiments to release inclusion fluids from gangue quartz and sulfides deposited during later stages of ore deposition in both deposits failed to provide accurate and geologically meaningful two-point (fluid-residue) tie lines in Rb-Sr isochron diagrams. However, Sr released from fluid inclusions generally reveals lower initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios than the respective residues and shows affinities to ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (T=200 Ma) values of Indosinian-Yanshanian granitoids, both at Woxi and LJP. Pb stepwise leaching of scheelite and sulfides did not result in sufficient spreads in Pb isotope diagrams and therefore no information regarding exact mineralization ages in the two deposits could be deduced. Overall, ore Pb isotopes reveal upper crustal signatures and are compatible with Pb isotope signatures of the predominant Precambrian slates in the Woxi area. Steep trajectories through late stage quartz-sulfide mineralization in Pb isotope diagrams may hint at mixing scenarios involving Pb from the host rocks and a component with lower ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios relative to ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios, which cannot be linked to any known reservoir in the XUB mining district. Sr isotopes of four out of seven residual sulfide samples from Woxi plot along a paleomixing line at an age of 199 ± 8 Ma, supporting a mixing scenario for the fluids indicated by the Pb isotopes and pointing to a possible genetic relationship with the emplacement of Indosinian—Yanshanian granitoids. The budgets of REEs, Rb-Sr and Pb in the original fluids were severely affected by contamination of these elements apparently during intense wall rock alteration but, after sealing of the major pathways, the mineralizing fluids tend to have better preserved their original signatures. These attest a genetic relationship between the metallogeny in the XUB W-Sb-Au province and the emplacement of Indosinian-Yanshanian granitoids during Mesozoic intracontinental tectonic uplift and thrusting.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Editorial handling: B. Lehmann     

Synthesis, crystal structure and crystal chemistry of ferri-clinoholmquistite, ?Li 2Mg 3Fe 3+ 2Si 8O 22(OH) 2

This work reports the synthesis of ferri-clinoholmquistite, nominally _Li2(Mg₃Fe³⁺₂)Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂, at varying f_O2 conditions. Amphibole compositions were characterized by X-ray (powder and single-crystal) diffraction, microchemical (EMPA) and spectroscopic (FTIR, Mössbauer and Raman) techniques. Under reducing conditions ( NNO+1, where NNO = Nickel–Nickel oxide buffer), the amphibole yield is very high (>90%), but its composition, and in particular the FeO/Fe₂O₃ ratio, departs significantly from the nominal one. Under oxidizing conditions ( NNO+1.5), the amphibole yield is much lower (<60%, with Li-pyroxene abundant), but its composition is close to the ideal stoichiometry. The exchange vector of relevance for the studied system is ^M2(Mg,Fe²⁺) ^M4(Mg,Fe²⁺) ^M2Fe³⁺_–1 ^M4Li_–1, which is still rather unexplored in natural systems. Amphibole crystals of suitable size for structure refinement were obtained only at 800 °C, 0.4 GPa and NNO conditions (sample 152), and have C2/m symmetry. The X-ray powder patterns for all other samples were indexed in the same symmetry; the amphibole closest to ideal composition has a = 9.428(1) Å, b = 17.878(3) Å, c = 5.282(1) Å, = 102.06(2)°, V = 870.8(3) ų. Mössbauer spectra show that Fe³⁺ is strongly ordered at M2 in all samples, whereas Fe²⁺ is disordered over the B and C sites. FTIR analysis shows that the amount of ^CFe²⁺ increases for increasingly reducing conditions. FTIR data also provide strong evidence for slight but significant amounts of Li at the A sites.     

Fish assemblage stability over fifty years in the Lake Pontchartrain estuary; Comparisons among habitats using canonical correspondence analysis

We assessed fish assemblage stability over the last half century in Lake Pontchartrain, an environmentally degraded oligohaline estuary in southeastern Louisiana. Because assemblage instability over time has been consistently associated with severe habitat degradation, we attempted to determine whether fish assemblages in demersal, nearshore, and pelagic habitats exhibited change that was unrelated to natural fluctuations in environmental variables (e.g., assemblage changes between wet and dry periods). Collection data from three gear types (trawl, beach seine, and gill nets) and monthly environmental data (salinity, temperature, and Secchi depth) were compared for four collecting periods: 1954 (dry period), 1978 (wet period), 1996–1998 (wet period), and 1998–2000 (dry period). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that although the three environmental variables were significantly associated with the distribution and abundance patterns of fish assemblages in all habitats (with the exception of Secchi depth for pelagic samples), most fish assemblage change occurred among sampling periods (i.e., along a temporal gradient unrelated to changing environmental variables). Assemblage instability was the most pronounced for fishes collected by trawls from demersal habitats. A marked lack of cyclicity in the trawl data CCA diagram indicated a shift away from a baseline demersal assemblage of 50 yr ago. Centroid positions for the five most collected species indicated that three benthic fishes, Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus), spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), and hardhead catfish (Arius felis), were more dominant in past demersal assemblages (1954 and 1978). A different situation was shown for planktivorous species collected by trawls with bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) becoming more dominant in recent assemblage and Gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patromus) remaining equally represented in assemblages over time. Changes in fish assemblages from nearshore (beach seine) and pelagic (gill net) habitats were more closely related to environmental fluctuations, though the CCA for beach seine data also indicated a decrease in the dominance ofM. undulatus and an increase in the proportion ofA. mitchilli over time. The reduced assemblage role of benthic fishes and the marked assemblage change indicated by trawl data suggest that over the last half century demersal habitats in Lake Pontchartrain have been impacted more by multiple anthropogenic stressors than nearshore or pelagic habitats.