The impact of the hexos programme

In HEXOS, a programme of coordinated laboratory, field and model studies, an international group of participants has extended the range of measurements of evaporation from the sea and has investigated the role of droplets in the transfer of water to the atmosphere. Predictions of a rapid rise in the evaporation coefficient at wind speeds above 15 m s^-1 have not been substantiated. Wind stress measurements showed a relationship with wave age. New methods were developed for coping with flow distortion.     

Simulations of precipitation and atmospheric circulation changes associated with warm SSTs: results from an ensemble of long term integrations with idealized anomalies

A general circulation model is used to simulate the atmospheric response to a prescribed, idealized time varying warm sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the equatorial Pacific characteristic of ENSO events. The model incorporates the full seasonal cycle and an ensemble of five anomaly simulations, each of 14 months duration, is performed and the results compared with those from a ten year control simulation involving climatological SSTs. In a test of the model, simulated perturbations to precipitation patterns are compared with the analysis by Ropelewski and Halpert which identifies regions where precipitation perturbations are associated with the ENSO cycle. Strong and statistically significant perturbations are simulated throughout much of the equatorial Pacific and the Australian region which agree with the analysis. Perturbations over the Americas and the Indian sub-continent show part agreement with observations, while elsewhere, at more remote and high latitude locations, there is less agreement, providing some indication of model limitations in simulating the hydrological cycle. Over the equatorial Pacific most of the anomalous precipitation is accounted for by moisture flux convergence. Only in the vicinity of the maximum anomaly, located in the eastern Pacific, do warmer SSTs contribute to the perturbed circulation. Elsewhere, anomalous wind speeds mainly determine anomalous heat fluxes. As a result, the large scale perturbations to wind, moisture and precipitation appear to be forced indirectly, rather than directly as assumed in simple ocean-atmosphere models.     

The impact of the friction of distance on the early settlement and development of Eyre Peninsula,South Australia

The cost of overcoming distance has played and continues to play an important role in the evolution of Australia's space‐economy. This paper examines the impact of the ‘friction of distance’, as well as the quality of the resource base, on the settlement and development of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. A series of maps portraying the spread of pastoralism and then agriculture on Eyre Peninsula reveals clearly the importance of ‘accessibility’ in influencing the pattern and timing of settlement. It was not until well into this century that all the potentially agricultural land in the interior was occupied, for this required the construction of a railway and water pipeline up the centre of the peninsula.     

The British isles and the age of exploration — a maritime perspective

The basic patterns of economic and political development of the British Isles region in a European context is outlined for the half century following Columbus’ discovery of America, noting the separate identities of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The maritime dimension of these developments was based on trade with Europe, developed mainly in England and Scotland; and upon considerable development of the fisheries. Exploration and colonial expansion did not begin until after 1550 and continued into the seventeenth century. The historical role of the British Isles in Europe is considered as a sequence of approximately half-century phases extending from 1500 until the present, in which British maritime supremacy played a role in the nineteenth century similar to that played by the Spanish Empire in the sixteenth century.     

Potassium loss during metasomatic alteration of mica pyroxenite from Oldoinyo Lengai,northern Tanzania: contrasts with fenitization

Mica pyroxenite xenoliths, occurring as the cores of nephelinite and ijolite bombs in the pyroclastic deposits of the active volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, have undergone metasomatism in which K was lost and Fe²⁺ and Ti gained. This is unlike the alkali and ferric iron addition that typifies most examples of metastomatism adjacent to peralkaline igneous rocks in carbonatite complexes.     

Fe, Ni and Co variations in the metals of some antarctic chondrites

Nearly 4,000 Fe, Ni and Co analyses have been carried out on the metal phases of 12 Antarctic chondritic meteorites by means of the electron microprobe. H-group chondrites show relatively simple patterns of variation for these elements but L- and LL-group members show much more scatter in both Ni and Co concentrations. A single member of the CO3 group investigated shows some scatter in the concentrations and also much higher Co concentrations in the high-Ni (awaruite?) phase (1.25–2%) than in the coexisting kamacite (0.2–0.5%). Thus, analysis of the metal phases can provide not only a means of identifying the group to which a meteorite belongs, but also the possibility of distinguishing between individual chondrites from the same group.

The overall concentrations of Co in the metal particles in the different groups are considered to be related inversely to the abundance of metal grains in meteorites of these groups while the scatter is interpreted as reflecting characteristics inherited at the time of accretion. The absence of homogenisation of the concentrations of Fe, Ni and Co in the metal particles, even in so-called equilibrated chondrites, provides further evidence against the widely held notion that these meteorites have been involved in a high-temperature prograde metamorphism.