Does increasing the spatial resolution of a regional climate model improve the simulated daily precipitation?

Three different resolution (50, 12, and 1.5 km) regional climate model simulations are compared in terms of their ability to simulate moderate and high daily precipitation events over the southern United Kingdom. The convection-permitting 1.5-km simulation is carried out without convective parametrisation. As in previous studies, increasing resolution (especially from 50 to 12 km) is found to improve the representation of orographic precipitation. The 50-km simulation underestimates mean precipitation over the mountainous region of Wales, and event intensity tends to be too weak; this bias is reduced in both the 12- and 1.5-km simulations for both summer and winter. In south–east England lowlands where summer extremes are mostly convective, increasing resolution does not necessary lead to an improvement in the simulation. For the 12-km simulation, simulated daily extreme events are overly intense. Even though the average intensity of summer daily extremes is improved in the 1.5-km simulation, this simulation has a poorer mean bias with too many events exceeding high thresholds. Spatial density and clustering of summer extremes in south–east England are poorly simulated in both the 12- and 1.5-km simulations. In general, we have not found any clear evidence to show that the 1.5-km simulation is superior to the 12-km simulation, or vice versa at the daily level.     

Future extreme events in European climate: an exploration of regional climate model projections

This paper compares how well satellite versus weather station measurements of climate predict agricultural performance in Brazil, India, and the United States. Although weather stations give accurate measures of ground conditions, they entail sporadic observations that require interpolation where observations are missing. In contrast, satellites have trouble measuring some ground phenomenon such as precipitation but they provide complete spatial coverage of various parameters over a landscape. The satellite temperature measurements slightly outperform the interpolated ground station data but the precipitation ground measurements generally outperform the satellite surface wetness index. In India, the surface wetness index outperforms station precipitation but this may be reflecting irrigation, not climate. The results suggest that satellites provide promising measures of temperature but that ground station data may still be preferred for measuring precipitation in rural settings.     

Petrology of the Albany and Torbay Adamellite Plutons,near Albany,Western Australia

The Albany and Torbay Adamellites are composite plutons emplaced in Pre‐cambrian gneisses of the Albany‐Esperance Block in the vicinity of Albany, Western Australia. The gneissic country rocks have been metamorphosed to the lower granu‐lite facies at Albany and the upper amphibolite facies at Torbay. Granitized aureoles about 1 km wide, metasomatically enriched in SiO₂, K₂O, and various trace elements commonly including Rb, Ba, La, Pb, and Th, are developed in the gneisses around both plutons. Field relations suggest late‐kinematic magmatic emplacement of the Adamellites in the catazone. Both show chemical variation trends comparable with the trends normally associated with fractional crystallization of calc‐alkali magmas, and their normative compositions correspond with the thermal trough in the system An‐Ab‐Or‐Q‐H₂O at 4–7 kb P_H2o, suggesting an origin involving crystal‐liquid equilibria at a water vapour pressure of about this value. The initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.7118 for the Albany Adamellite is consistent with derivation of the magma from crustal rocks. The late‐kinematic field characteristics of the plutons and the limited isotopic data available are compatible with emplacement and crystallization during the closing stages of orogeny and regional metamorphism. The magmas are believed to have been generated not at their present sites of emplacement, but in a deeper, higher‐temperature zone of the crust, with magma generated during an earlier phase of the orogeny.     

A Precambrian fayalite granite from the south coast of Western Australia

A Precambrian fayalite granite outcropping at Lower King, near Albany, Western Australia, is interpreted as a high-Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺ + Mg) analogue of charnockite. Calculation of the original titanomagnetite composition from analytical data on ilmenomagnetite ‘exsolution’ intergrowths suggests initial crystallisation of opaque oxides at about 940°C and 10^?12 bars f_o2. This result indicates a magmatic origin for the rock. Other determinable points on the T-f_o2 cooling curve of the fayalite granite pluton include crystallisation of biotite at roughly 800–820°C and 10^?14.5 bars f_o2, and final equilibration of opaque oxides below 550°C and 10^?23 bars f_o2. Mineralogical data on nearby granulite facies country rocks suggest a regional total pressure of roughly 5 kb, and hence the depth of pluton emplacement was probably around 18–19 km. Thus the Lower King fayalite granite is believed to have crystallised from water-deficient, high-T melt or partial melt generated, possibly from metasedimentary rocks, deep in the crust under granulite facies conditions.     

Shallow seismic reflection profiles and geological structure in the Benton Hills, southeast Missouri

During late May and early June of 1993, we conducted two shallow, high-resolution seismic reflection surveys (Mini-Sosie method) across the southern escarpment of the Benton Hills segment of Crowleys Ridge. The reflection profiles imaged numerous post-late Cretaceous faults and folds. We believe these faults may represent a significant earthquake source zone.

The stratigraphy of the Benton Hills consists of a thin, less than about 130 m, sequence of mostly unconsolidated Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary sediments which uncomfortably overlie a much thicker section of Paleozoic carbonate rocks. The survey did not resolve reflectors within the upper 75–100 ms of two-way travel time (about 60–100 m), which would include all of the Tertiary and Quaternary and most of the Cretaceous. However, the Paleozoic-Cretaceous unconformity (Pz) produced an excellent reflection, and locally a shallower reflector within the Cretaceous (K) was resolved. No coherent reflections below about 200 ms of two-way travel time were identified.

Numerous faults and folds, which clearly offset the Paleozoic-Cretaceous unconformity reflector, were imaged on both seismic reflection profiles. Many structures imaged by the reflection data are coincident with the surface mapped locations of faults within the Cretaceous and Tertiary succession. Two locations show important structures that are clearly complex fault zones. The English Hill fault zone, striking N30°–35°E, is present along Line 1 and is important because earlier workers indicated it has Pleistocene Loess faulted against Eocene sands. The Commerce fault zone striking N50°E, overlies a major regional basement geophysical lineament, and is present on both seismic lines at the southern margin of the escarpment.

The fault zones imaged by these surveys are 30 km from the area of intense microseismicity in the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ). If these are northeast and north-northeast oriented fault zones like those at Thebes Gap they are favorably oriented in the modern stress field to be reactivated as right-lateral strike slip faults. Currently, earthquake hazards assessments are most dependent upon historical seismicity, and there are little geological data available to evaluate the earthquake potential of fault zones outside of the NMSZ. We anticipate that future studies will provide evidence that seismicity has migrated between fault zones well beyond the middle Mississippi Valley. The potential earthquake hazards represented by faults outside the NMSZ may be significant.     

Correction to: Microtremor array method using spatial autocorrelation analysis of Rayleigh-wave data

Journal of Seismology -     

The angular dependence of rotational and anhysteretic remanent magnetizations in rotating rock samples

Summary. Recent experimental work by Edwards has demonstrated that rotational remanent magnetization (RRM) is not a maximum when the alternating field is normal to the rotation axis of the sample (a rock) but is greatest when the angle is about 75°. Experiments involving the production of ARM during sample rotation gave a similar result with a maximum at about 60°. These results are explained here in terms of the response of an isotropic assembly of identical single-domain particles to a strong alternating magnetic field.     

Paleointensity determinations of lunar samples

Evidence for the existence of an ancient lunar field comes from the NRM of lunar rocks and from measurements of local lunar surface magnetic fields. Even when the Fe particles present in the rocks possess enough magnetic stability to preserve a record of the original magnetizing field, there are considerable difficulties in estimating the strength of the field, primarily because of the chemical changes which take place on heating in the laboratory. These difficulties are discussed together with a paleointensity method involving heating in a more indirect way. A tentative interpretation of the results of paleointensity-age measurements is given.