Science and the St Elias: an evolving framework for sustainability in North America's highest mountains

The past, present, and future contributions of science in the St Elias Mountains, and its relationship with regional development, resource management, and traditional ecological knowledge is examined. Science has evolved from an early foundation of exploration, through stages of resource inventories and surveys, to deductive scientific research and, more recently, a promising reconnection with traditional knowledge. Directly and indirectly, events such as the Klondike Gold Rush, construction of the Alaska Highway, creation of the Arctic Institute of North America's Kluane Lake Research Station, and establishment of protected areas have helped foster scientific activities in the region. In turn, this scientific perspective has influenced regional development by providing detailed information that has been utilized, to varying degrees, in resource use, planning, and decisionmaking. Over the past decade, management of the region has become less sectoral and more cooperative in nature, due partly to the implementation of co-management agreements, regional land use planning, and settlement of first nations' land claims. Incorporating both science and traditional knowledge into this process through collaborative endeavours such as long-term ecological monitoring, adaptive management, and information integration will contribute to ecosystem-based management of the St Elias and ensure that both perspectives play an integral role in sustainable development of the region.     

Trace-element zonation in garnets from The Thumb: heating and melt infiltration below the Colorado Plateau

Proton microprobe (PIXE) analysis of garnet, pyroxene, and olivine for Zr, Y, Ga, Ge, Sr, Ni, Mn and Zn has been combined with electron-probe and petrographic analysis to interpret the histories of garnetperidotite xenoliths from the minette neck at The Thumb on the Colorado Plateau. Garnet in seven rocks contains 10–110 ppm Zr and 25–95 ppm Ni. Substantial parts of these ranges are preserved in single, zoned garnets (Zr, 25–90 ppm; Ni, 25–60 ppm). Pyroxene and olivine are more homogeneous and equilibrated more quickly than granet to changing temperatures and metasomatic fluxes. The distribution coefficient of Ti between pyroxene and garnet rims may be sufficiently sensitive to pressure to be used as a geobarometer. Zirconium and Ti appear to have behaved similarly during melt infiltration and diffusion within garnet. Nickel in garnet is a sensitive recorder of temperature. A temperature of 900° C or less calculated from Ni in the cores of large garnets in one rock is at least as cool as that calculated for the Archaean Kaapvaal craton at similar depth, and the low temperature may be due to cooling of the Plateau lithosphere by the subducted Farallon plate. The zonation of these garnets to Ni-enriched rims has been simulated numerically by heating 260° C at 0.02°/year, followed by overgrowth of a rim and short annealing. Garnet in another rock records a temperature decrease of about 70° C, but Ni is more homogeneous in garnets in the other five rocks. The diverse temperature histories are attributed to local melt-mantle interactions. Calculated pressures and temperatures of xenoliths from The Thumb form a grouping similar to those for high-temperature parts of inflected geotherms in other xenolith suites, and the similarity is evidence for both the reality and the transients nature of the calculated inflections. Garnet that is zoned in Zr, Y, Ti and other elements preserves evidences for grain growth in response to melt infiltration in four of seven rocks. The ranges of both major and trace elements in the xenolith suite may be due largely to enrichment processes following earlier depletion.     

Econometric and learning curve estimation of U.S. potential oil supply

This study employs (1) a simple econometric model to generate a time series of drilling footage to the year 2040 and (2) learning models to estimate the oil reserve additions from that drilling, given scenarios of oil price and projected U.S. population. Reserve additions are estimated separately for the lower 48 states and Alaska regions by estimating separate drilling footage and learning models for each region. Generally, the estimates of potential supply from undiscovered oil fields and from extensions of known fields are more optimistic than recent estimates by others. For a $1989 price of about $20/barrel (bbl), which is similar to recent prices, the potential supply of oil is estimated to be approximately 60.7 billion bbl, with 95-percent confidence bounds of 54.3 and 67.1 billion bbl. For a price of $25.50/bbl, potential supply is estimated to be approximately 82 billion bbl, with 95-percent confidence bounds of 74.5 and 89.5 billion bbl. Although estimates of potential oil supply for the entire United States are more optimistic than other recent estimates, the part of that supply estimated to be forthcoming from Alaska is smaller than other recent estimates: 2.3 and 3.3 billion bbl for prices of about $20 and $25.50 per barrel, respectively. Thus, reserve additions from the lower 48 states through development drilling and through improved recovery and production technologies will become increasingly important to future U.S. oil supply.     

Estimation of the potential supply of U.S. oil by life cycle and learning models

Two methods of estimating potential U.S. oil supply are reported: life cycle analysis of updated (1987) oil production data, and an analysis based on learning curve modeling of discovery rates. Based on these analyses, potential U.S. (lower 48 plus Alaska) oil supply (ultimate recoverable oil) is estimated to be 222 billion barrels. A rough inference of the economic reference for this potential oil supply is an oil price of about $20/bbl (1989 dollars).     

Combined diffusion—Infiltration of uranium in micaceous schists

Fission and particle track methods have been used to study uranium and lithium/boron distributions in muscovite and biotite schists. The results show that uranium and lithium/boron have a non-uniform distribution within grain boundaries and strained crystal lattice structures of the micas. Uranium redistribution is attributed to; (1) hydrothermal or metamorphic fluids that have redistributed the uranium together with lithium/boron by diffusion and infiltration through planar and lattice defects within the mica aggregate, (2) meteoric fluids that postdate the hydrothermal or metamorphic fluid and are also responsible for the introduction of iron and manganese concentrations within planar defect structures.     

The musgrave mountain belt in South Australia

Summary Structural elements impressed upon the more easterly extensions of the Westralian shield were dominantly east-west features. These tendencies have channelled subsequent orogenies and geomorphic evolution, right down through the long history of the area.Possibly two major anticlinal zones were devoleped along east-west zones, to be preserved to the present day as mountainous ranges and inselbergs. Massive batholithic intrusions mark the more southern zone, whereas outcropping rocks in the more northerly zone are predominantly metasedimentary. The granite zone is one of intense negative Bouguer anomaly (–150 milligals) indicating a strong density contrast between these massive granites of low density and the foliated granite gneisses of the northern chain. The strength of the earth's crust, locally, must be immense to support such unbalanced load, and yet deep grabens with inliers of Upper Proterozoic and Ordovician sediments flank the negative anomaly on both margins.     

Instantaneous global ozone balance including observed nitrogen dioxide

The catalytic destruction of stratospheric ozone by the oxides of nitrogen is believed to be an important part of the global ozone balance. The lack of sufficient measurements of NO _x concentrations has impeded efforts to quantify this process. Recent measurements of stratospheric nitrogen dioxide from ground-based stations as well as aircraft and balloons have provided a first approximation to a global distribution of NO₂ vertical columns at sunset. These observed vertical columns have been translated into time-dependent vertical NO₂ profiles by means of a one-dimensional atmospheric photochemical model. Using recent observations of air temperature and ozone along with this information, the independent instantaneous (one second) rates of ozone production from oxygen photolysis P(O₃), of ozone destruction from pure oxygen species (Chapman reactions) L(O _x ), and of ozone destruction by nitrogen oxides L(NO _x ) were estimated over the three-dimensional atmosphere. These quantities are displayed as zonal average contour maps, summed over various latitude zones, summed over various altitude bands, and integrated globally between 15 and 45 km. Although the global summation between 15 and 45 km by no means tells the complete story, these numbers are of some interest, and the relative values are: P(O₃), 100; L(O _x ), 15; L(NO _x ), 45±15. It is to be emphasized that this relative NO _x contribution to the integrated ozone balance is not a measure of the sensitivity of ozone to possible perturbations of stratospheric NO _x ; recent model results must be examined for current estimates of this sensitivity.     

Deformation of biotite and muscovite: Optical microstructure

An optical comparison illustrates the difference in behaviour of the two mica minerals biotite and muscovite; their response to deformation, and to chemical processes such as grain dissolution. Non-passive mechanical rotation, segmentation of deformed grains by a recovery-recrystallization type process and syntectonic growth of the phyllosilicates all contribute to the development of a strong tectonic foliation within a deformed pegmatite from the Italian Alps. There are significant mechanical differences between the two micas. Biotite readily deforms by kinking whereas muscovite forms sinusoidal folds and seldom kinks. If kink-like structures (deformation zones) are present in muscovite they are generally accompanied by fracturing. Fracturing and displacements are obvious in most deformed muscovites both parallel to axial surfaces and between (001) cleavages. Fracturing is occasionally recognised in biotite. However, it is often obscured by extensive dissolution and new grain nucleation. Evidence for dissolution processes in biotite is more abundant than in muscovite.