Fluxes of organic carbon in Manukau Harbour, New Zealand

We collated information on the sources and sinks of organic carbon in Manukau Harbour, a shallow temperate estuary. Two contrasting inner harbor regions were considered; the northern region, which is urbanized and receives a major load of sewage wastewater, and the southern region, where allochthonous inputs are dominated by the runoff from small rural streams. Although high levels of dissolved nitrogen in the wastewater supported phytoplankton blooms in the northern region, total primary production there was similar to that in the southern region (ca. 300 g C m^?2yr^?1). By contrast, high concentrations of organic carbon in the wastewater resulted in an additional input to the northern region of 120 g C m^?2 yr^?1. Loads from runoff and streams to both regions were low. At 350 g C m^?2 yr^?1, total respiration in the northern region exceeded total production, so the region was slightly heterotrophic. Respiration was lower in the southern region (270 g C m^?2 yr^?1), which was net autotrophic. Some carbon was exported from each region to the outer harbour (50–80 g C m^?2 yr^?1). Dissolved oxygen levels in the northern region were somewhat depleted at times; and the high numbers of microzooplankton indicated consumption was enhanced there. Apart from a relatively small area of organic enrichment close to the wastewater discharge, benthic consumers in the harbor appeared to be limited by physical disturbance (by wind-waves) rather than by food availability. Improved wastewater treatment is expected to substantially reduce the allochthonous input to the northern region, with the total input of carbon in the future being only slightly higher than that to the southern region.     

Λ Varying Cosmological Models with Viscous Fluid

Evolution of a homogeneous, isotropic Universe with flat geometry filled with a viscous fluid is investigated in presence of a variable cosmological Λ. A non-singular solution leading to a variable deceleration parameter is obtained which reduces to the solution of Murphy in the ‘no Λ limit’ and to the recent solution of Vishwakarma in the context of ‘a Machian model of dark energy’ in the ‘no viscosity’ limit.     

Complete chemical analyses of metamorphic hornblendes: implications for normalizations,calculated H2O activities,and thermobarometry

Twenty-two hornblendes separated from amphibolites and granulites of the Grenville Orogen of Ontario have been quantitatively analyzed for major and minor elements by electron microprobe, for FeO/Fe₂O₃ by wet chemistry, and for H₂O by manometric measurement as H₂. Hornblende formulae were calculated on the basis of 24O+OH+Cl+F. Most samples are magnesio-hornblendes, ferroan pargasitic hornblendes and ferroan hastingsitic hornblendes, with weight fractions of Fe³⁺/(Fe²⁺+Fe³⁺) ranging from 0.15 to 0.50. An oxy-amphibole component of 0–25 mol%, with an average value of 17 mol%, is obtained for these complete analyses. When compared with structural formulae determined solely from microprobe data, normalization based on 13=Si+Ti+Al+Fe+Mn+Mg cations provides the best approximation to hornblende formulae calculated from the complete analyses. Less satisfactory agreement is obtained from a normalization scheme based on 15=Si+Ti+Al+Fe+Mn+Mg+Ca, while worst agreement is obtained from normalization to 23 oxygens assuming all Fe is Fe²⁺. No normalization scheme based on microprobe data alone consistently replicates the measured FeO, Fe₂O₃, and H₂O; accurate determination of these values requires complete chemical analysies. Ionic solution models previously have been proposed to evaluate the activity of Ca₂Mg₅Si₈ O₂₂(OH)₂(a _Trem) in hornblende for use in equilibria that constrain the activity of H₂O (a _{H 2}O) in igneous and metamorphic rocks. Application of ionic models to typical hornblendes produces low a _Trem (usually<0.01), consequetly yielding extremely low a _{H 2}O. If an oxy-amphibole component is present, the calculated a _Trem and H₂O is further reduced. An oxy-amphibole component of 25% reduces the calculated H₂O activity and that of any hydroxyl-amphibole component by 50% below that calculated with simplified assumptions regarding X _OH in the hydroxyl site (i.e., X _OH=1, or X _OH=1–X _Cl–X _f). Thus, methods of amphibole normalizations appear to have a substantial effect on calculated amphibole and H₂O activites. Before quantitative hornblende thermobarometry can be calibrated and applied, the amounts of FeO, Fe₂O₃ and H₂O must be measured in order to fully characterize hornblende solid solutions.Contribution No. 478 from the Mineralogical Laboratory, University of Michigan     

Petrography and provenance of Laecanius Amphorae from Istria,northern Adriatic region,Croatia

Amphorae sherds from the Laecanius workshop of Roman Istria (10–5 B.C. and 78 A.D.), Croatia, were studied by integrating archaeological and geological techniques including fabric analysis, thin‐section petrography, X‐ray diffractometry (XRD), and heavy mineral analysis. The fabric of the sherds showed distinctive characteristics, permitting their classification and allocation into nine fabric groupss. Petrography revealed that quartz is the dominant clastic component, whereas carbonate is common as temper; XRD provided information on firing temperatures that ranged between 750 and 900°C. The sherds contain diverse heavy mineral suites with generally high epidote and garnet proportions; zircon is occasionally important. Garnet/epidote ratios and the presence of diagnostic species (pyroxene, hornblende) showed systematic variations that coincided with similar variations in fabric characteristics. Heavy mineral signatures of amphorae produced in other workshops proved essential in differentiating them from Laecanius sherds. A comparative heavy mineral analysis of terra rossa samples from the vicinity of the workshop indicated that terra rossa was the major source for the paste. Differences observed in the heavy mineral composition of the sherds and terra rossa were interpreted by the spatial heterogeneity of the latter and the mixing of the paste with sandy temper. Fresh Adriatic sponge spicules in the majority of Laecanius sherds and the temper‐derived, generally immature heavy mineral assemblages suggest that sandy deposits from the Adriatic were used for the clastic temper. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.