Can crystallization of olivine tholeiite give rise to potassic rhyolites?—an experimental investigation

Experiments were conducted to determine whether the rhyolites and basalts of the intraplate silica-saturated potassic suites could be genetically related through crystallization. Extreme crystallization (96–97%) of a high-MgO (10.62 wt%) olivine tholeiite from the Snake River Plain with an initial bulk water content of 0.4 wt% at a mid-crustal pressure of 4.3 kbar generated potassic rhyolitic liquids similar in major element chemistry to those found in the Quaternary rhyolite domes of the Snake River Plain and their plutonic equivalents in the Proterozoic Laramie Anorthosite Complex. Residual liquids comparable in composition to the bulk rock compositions of intermediate rocks found at the Craters of the Moon and Cedar Butte eruptive centers in the Snake River Plain are also generated along this crystallization path. This paper constitutes part of a special issue dedicated to Bill Bonnichsen on the petrogenesis and volcanology of anorogenic rhyolites.     

Application of directional filtering in lineament mapping for groundwater prospecting around bhinmal — A semi arid part of thar desert

The significance of neotectonic lineaments for groundwater prospecting was studied for the area around Bhinmal — a semi-arid part of Thar desert. The application of Directional Filtering procedures on IRS LISS I Band 4 digital image of the study area revealed NE-SW, NW-SE and E-W trending lineaments which are very subtle and in two cases, even unnoticed otherwise. The use of exploratory borehole lithologs and field evidences indicated that the identified lineaments are long rectilinear buried and partly exposed channels and the intersection zones are characterised by thick lenses of coarse sand and gravel. These buried channels and zones of coarse sediments thus represent potential sites for the accumulation of freshwater during rain. The present work has highlighted the suitability of Directional Filtering procedures for lineament mapping and buried channel studies in a desertic terrain.     

Representativeness of wind measurements on a mesoscale grid with station separations of 312 m to 10 km

A field experiment was carried out in which wind speed and direction were measured over flat terrain at a height of 10 m using 13 identical instruments spaced logarithmically along two perpendicular 10 km lines. Station separations ranged from 312 m to 10 km. One-minute data from 11 sampling periods of duration 6 to 10 h were studied. p ]The statistics showed little dependence on whether the line of instruments was oriented along the wind or across the wind. The correlation coefficients between wind fluctuations at two stations separated by distance x were found to vary exponentially with x, with an integral distance scale on the order of 1 km. The integral time scale derived from the variation of the single station variances with averaging time was found to equal several minutes. At a station separation of 10 km, the correlation coefficients between the wind components at the two sites were calculated to be 0.24, 0.37, and 0.47 for averaging times of 1, 10, and 60 min, respectively. These values for the correlation coefficients correspond to root-mean-square differences in wind speed at the two stations of about 1.3, 1.0, and 0.7 m/s, respectively.Exponential formulas based on dimensional analysis are suggested for fitting these observations. It is found that the observations of spatial correlations are best fit if two independent integral distance scales are used — a boundary-layer distance scale of about 300 m that best applies to small station separations and a mesoscale distance scale of about 10 km that applies to larger station separations.     

How will climate change alter fishery governanceʔ Insights from seven international case studies

We examine the implications of climate change for fishery governance using seven international fishery case studies in low, mid and high latitudes, including eastern Australia, the western Pacific Ocean, Alaska, west coast United States, Hawaii, west coast Canada and France. Climate change adds uncertainty about fish stock productivity, migratory patterns, trophic interactions and vulnerability of fish populations to fishing pressure.     

Linking mineralogy and spectroscopy of highly aqueously altered CM and CI carbonaceous chondrites in preparation for primitive asteroid sample return

The highly hydrated, petrologic type 1 CM and CI carbonaceous chondrites likely derived from primitive, water‐rich asteroids, two of which are the targets for JAXA's Hayabusa2 and NASA's OSIRIS‐REx missions. We have collected visible and near‐infrared (VNIR) and mid infrared (MIR) reflectance spectra from well‐characterized CM1/2, CM1, and CI1 chondrites and identified trends related to their mineralogy and degree of secondary processing. The spectral slope between 0.65 and 1.05 μm decreases with increasing total phyllosilicate abundance and increasing magnetite abundance, both of which are associated with more extensive aqueous alteration. Furthermore, features at ~3 μm shift from centers near 2.80 μm in the intermediately altered CM1/2 chondrites to near 2.73 μm in the highly altered CM1 chondrites. The Christiansen features (CF) and the transparency features shift to shorter wavelengths as the phyllosilicate composition of the meteorites becomes more Mg‐rich, which occurs as aqueous alteration proceeds. Spectra also show a feature near 6 μm, which is related to the presence of phyllosilicates, but is not a reliable parameter for estimating the degree of aqueous alteration. The observed trends can be used to estimate the surface mineralogy and the degree of aqueous alteration in remote observations of asteroids. For example, (1) Ceres has a sharp feature near 2.72 μm, which is similar in both position and shape to the same feature in the spectra of the highly altered CM1 MIL 05137, suggesting abundant Mg‐rich phyllosilicates on the surface. Notably, both OSIRIS‐REx and Hayabusa2 have onboard instruments which cover the VNIR and MIR wavelength ranges, so the results presented here will help in corroborating initial results from Bennu and Ryugu.     

Assessing the ambition of post-2020 climate targets: a comprehensive framework

One of the most fundamental questions surrounding the new Paris Agreement is whether countries’ proposals to reduce GHG emissions after 2020 are equally ambitious, considering differences in circumstances between countries. We review a variety of approaches to assess the ambition of the GHG emission reduction proposals by countries. The approaches are applied illustratively to the mitigation part of the post-2020 climate proposals (nationally determined contributions, or NDCs) by China, the EU, and the US. The analysis reveals several clear trends, even though the results differ per individual assessment approach. We recommend that such a comprehensive ambition assessment framework, employing a large variety of approaches, is used in the future to capture a wide spectrum of perspectives on ambition.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Assessing the ambition of the national climate proposals is particularly important as the Paris Agreement asks for regular reviews of national contributions, keeping in mind that countries raise their ambition over time. Such an assessment will be an important part of the regular global stocktake that will take place every five years, starting with a ‘light’ version in 2018. However, comprehensive methods to assess the proposals are lacking. This article provides such a comprehensive assessment framework.     

The effect of storms on Finnish dairy farms: electrical outage statistics and the effect on milk production

Natural Hazards - Due to technological advancement, agricultural production is increasingly dependent on electricity. At the same time, power delivery infrastructures are challenged by extreme...     

River channel evolution and tsunami impacts recorded in local sedimentary archives – the ‘Fiume Morto’ at Ostia Antica (Tiber River,Italy)

Ostia, the ancient port of Rome at the mouth of the river Tiber (Italy), flourished until the 2nd Century ad , although massive siltation had already caused the abandonment of its lagoonal harbour in the 1st Century bc . In search of an alternative harbour site, geomorphological and geoarchaeological research was carried out in the ‘Fiume Morto’, an abandoned Tiber meander to the immediate north of the town. To reconstruct its complex development and evaluate the suitability of the river channel as a fluvial harbour, a transect perpendicular to the former river channel's flow axis was systematically explored by a new methodological approach combining electrical resistivity tomography, direct push-electrical conductivity sensing and vibracores. Together with microfossil, mineralogical and geochemical analyses of sediment samples and 50 radiocarbon dates, in-depth stratigraphic data support a detailed reconstruction of different Tiber channel generations. Results reveal a meander development closely related to distinct ‘cut and fill’ dynamics. Inactive river channels were repeatedly filled with lagoonal sediments, abruptly followed by phases of intense incision. Yet, the overall Fiume Morto channel structure remained stable and almost in situ over centuries, showing nearly no lateral changes since the southward shift of the Tiber River mouth in the first millennium bc . In the 1st Century bc , channel conditions favoured navigation and transportation of goods with large ships. Open-water conditions, suitable for anchoring and landing activities, dominate from the 1st Century ad until 1557 ad , when the Fiume Morto meander was finally cut off and silted up within a short time. Within the fluvial deposits, sediments most likely related to tsunami inundations are preserved. These events occurred sometime before the 2nd Century bc , in the early 1st Century ad and in the 17th Century ad or later. Results are consistent with traces of tsunami influence found in Ostia's western lagoonal harbour.     

The effect of line averaging on concentration fluctuations

The reduction in variance of concentration fluctuations due to line averaging is estimated assuming that the process is influenced by the integral distance scale, y _I , of ambient turbulence and the scaling width, W, of the time-averaged plume. An analytical formula is derived for the line-averaged variance for situations where the autocorrelogram is exponential and the point variance decreases exponentially with distance from plume centerline. Predictions of concentration fluctuation variance are compared with water tank and field data, with the result that the decrease of variance with averaging distance is well-simulated if the model parameters y _I and W are carefully chosen.