Comparison of modern and ancient barite‐bearing acid‐sulphate soils using micromorphology,geochemistry and field relationships

Although pedogenic barite has been documented in many modern soils and palaeosols, no actualistic studies on its formation have been reported. Because barite is stable over the entire range of pressure and temperature of the Earth's crust, it preserves reliable data about the original environment in which it formed. Pedogenic barite and barite‐bearing soils have been used as indicators of landscape stability, environmental conditions, climate and microbial acti‐vity. This study compares field data, micromorphology and stable isotope geochemistry of a barite‐bearing palaeosol from the Morrison Formation (Jurassic) and a modern analogue soil in south‐central Texas, USA. Morrison barite‐bearing palaeosols are over‐thickened cumulic palaeosols that developed in subaerially exposed lacustrine sediments during an extended lake contraction event. Lateral facies relationships document changes in hydrology and duration of episaturated conditions (perched water table above the Btg horizons) that correspond to differences in barite nodule morphology and abundance. Barite precipitation occurred at a redox boundary higher on the landscape after organic matter was completely oxidized. Sulphur isotope data indicate that the initial source of sulphur was soil organic matter. Meteoric water is the likely source of oxygen for the sulphate. Barium sourced from weathering feldspars and clays. The modern analogue displays similar catenary relationships, redox features and micromorphological characteristics compared to the Morrison palaeosols, suggesting that similar pedogenic processes led to barite precipitation. Synthesized data suggest that conditions favourable to barite‐bearing soil formation are low‐gradient basins that have received feldspar‐rich sediments (i.e. volcanically influenced basins), soils that developed near salt domes, soils that developed in exposed wetland or lacustrine sediments and coastal plain deposits. When studied in a well‐documented palaeogeographic context, barite‐bearing soils are valuable to palaeoclimate, palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrological studies. Combined with regional interfluve palaeosols, barite‐bearing palaeosols may document temporal changes in drainage, surface stability, and accommodation consistent with sequence boundaries/maximum flooding surfaces and climate changes.     

The response of lake margin sedimentary systems to climatically driven lake level fluctuations: Middle Devonian,Orcadian Basin,Scotland

Lake margin sedimentary systems can provide highly sensitive records of sedimentary response to climate change. The Middle Old Red Sandstone of Northern Scotland comprises a thick succession of cyclic lacustrine sediments. Within this succession the deepest lake phase, the Achanarras fish bed, allows bed‐scale correlation over 160 km across the basin. This provides a unique opportunity to examine the character of synchronous lake margin deposits, and their response to climatically driven lake level fluctuations, across a large continental basin. Detailed characterization of two separate lake margin systems was carried out utilizing multiple sections in western Orkney, in the north, and Easter Ross, in the south. Seven facies have been recognized, which include upper and lower shoreface, deep lake, shallow lake, playa, turbidite and fluvial facies. Differences in vertical and lateral facies stacking patterns reflect the response of these systems to climatically driven fluctuations in lake level. Comparison of the northern and southern systems examined highlights the variable response of lake margin systems to the same climatic change and related lake level fluctuations. In the south, a greater fluvial influence is recognized on the development of the lake margin successions, whereas in the northern example, which lay on the downwind margin of the lake, shore zone facies are more commonly developed. The variability recognized can be accounted for by regional variations in sediment supply, coastal physiography, lake size, bathymetry and potential fetch. Lake level stability is also recognized as a major control on the development of lake margin sedimentary systems, as is the linked or unlinked relationship of the catchment and the lake basin climate for which a conceptual model is proposed.     

Effect of morphology and discharge on hyporheic exchange flows in two small streams in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon,USA

Stream‐tracer injections were used to examine the effect of channel morphology and changing stream discharge on hyporheic exchange flows. Direct observations were made from well networks to follow tracer movement through the hyporheic zone. The reach‐integrated influence of hyporheic exchange was evaluated using the transient storage model (TSM) OTIS‐P. Transient storage modelling results were compared with direct observations to evaluate the reliability of the TSM. Results from the tracer injection in the bedrock reach supported the assumption that most transient storage in headwater mountain streams results from hyporheic exchange. Direct observations from the well networks in colluvial reaches showed that subsurface flow paths tended to parallel the valley axis. Cross‐valley gradients were weak except near steps, where vertical and cross‐valley hydraulic gradients indicated a strong potential for stream water to downwell into the hyporheic zone. The TSM parameters showed that both size and residence time of transient storage were greater in reaches with a few large log‐jam‐formed steps than in reaches with more frequent, but smaller steps. Direct observations showed that residence times in the unconstrained stream were longer than in the constrained stream and that little change occurred in the location and extent of the hyporheic zone between low‐ and high‐baseflow discharges in any of the colluvial reaches. The transient storage modelling results did not agree with these observations, suggesting that the TSM was insensitive to long residence‐time exchange flows and was very sensitive to changes in discharge. Disagreements between direct observations and the transient storage modelling results highlight fundamental problems with the TSM that confound comparisons between the transient storage modelling results for tracer injections conducted under differing flow conditions. Overall, the results showed that hyporheic exchange was little affected by stream discharge (at least over the range of baseflow discharges examined in this study). The results did show that channel morphology controlled development of the hyporheic zone in these steep mountain stream channels. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exact shearing box solutions of magnetohydrodynamic flows with resistivity, viscosity and cooling

Axisymmetric incompressible modes of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) with a vertical wavenumber are exact solutions of the non-linear local equations of motion for a disc (shearing box). They are referred to as 'channel solutions'. Here, we generalize a class of these solutions to include energy losses, viscous, and resistive effects. In the limit of zero shear, we recover the result that torsional Alfvén waves are exact solutions of the non-linear equations. Our method allows the extension of these solutions into the dissipative regime.
These new solutions serve as benchmarks for simulations including dissipation and energy loss, and to calibrate numerical viscosity and resistivity in the zeus3d code. We quantify the anisotropy of numerical dissipation and compute its scaling with time and space resolution. We find a strong dependence of the dissipation on the mean magnetic field that may affect the saturation state of the MRI as computed with zeus3d . It is also shown that elongated grid cells generally preclude isotropic dissipation and that a Courant time-step smaller than that which is commonly used should be taken to avoid spurious anti-diffusion of magnetic field.     

Lagrangian air mass tracking with smart balloons during ACE‐2

A 3rd‐generation smart balloon designed at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Air Resources Laboratory Field Research Division, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii, was released from ship‐board during the recent Second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE‐2) to provide Lagrangian air‐mass tracking data. ACE‐2 is the 3rd in a series of field experiments designed to study the chemical, physical, and radiative properties and processes of atmospheric aerosols and their role in climate and is organized by the international global atmospheric chemistry (IGAC) program. The adjective smart in the title of this paper refers to the fact that the buoyancy of the balloon automatically adjusts through the act of pumping air into or releasing air from the ballast portion of the balloon when it travels vertically outside a barometric pressure range set prior to release. The smart balloon design provides GPS location, barometric pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and other data via a transponder to a C130 research aircraft flying in the vicinity of the balloon. The addition of 2‐way communication allows interactive control of the balloon operating parameters by an observer. A total of 3 cloudy Lagrangian experiments were conducted during the ACE‐2 field program which lasted from 16 June through 26 July 1997. This paper reviews the design and capability of the smart balloons and their performance during the ACE‐2 Lagrangian experiments. Future development and applications of the technology are discussed.     

Determining the spatial and temporal patterns of climate changes in China's western interior during the last 15 ka from lacustrine oxygen isotope records

China's western interior is a climatologically complex region, where climatic conditions are primarily controlled by the westerly jet stream and the Asian monsoon system. Observations reveal that the δ¹⁸O signatures of these atmospheric elements as expressed in their meteoric waters are different, and these differences are reflected in the lacustrine systems that are ultimately fed by the meteoric waters. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition of 17 lacustrine δ¹⁸O records from this area clearly reveals the spatial and temporal structures of climate changes during the last 15 ka. The first EOF mode, dominated by sites in the NW sector, captures the temperature effect on the variability of the δ¹⁸O dataset. We interpret the variations through time in the amplitude of this mode to be indicative of changes in summer air temperature. The second EOF mode, heavily weighted by sites in the SE sector, reveals the ‘amount effect’ on δ¹⁸O, and thus its amplitude time series indicates changes in the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon. Our EOF‐based reconstructions of regional climate are generally consistent with the δ¹⁸O records of ice cores, cave speleothems and marine carbonates. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.