High Resolution Stepped-Combustion Mass Spectrometry: Application to the Detection and Analysis of Fine-Grained Diamond in Meteorites and Rocks

An analytical system and operating protocol are described for high resolution, stepped-combustion mass spectrometry, designed for the extraction, purification, quantification and isotopic analysis of light elements (e.g. C and N) in fine-grained reduced components (e.g. diamond) which have been chemically extracted from natural samples (e.g. meteorites). Specifically, a simple model has been developed for the extraction of diamond from meteorite and its analysis by high resolution stepped heating under an atmosphere of oxygen. Changes in the pressure of oxygen within the range 1.3 to 12kPa (10 to 90 torr) were not found to have any detectable effect on the combustion. Results obtained by this procedure were compared with those predicted by a model and excellent agreement was found, taking into account the limitations of this approach. Results of a preliminary attempt to find fine-grained diamond in a lamproite are outlined.     

Water vapor flux at the sea surface

Methods and instrumentation for determining the rate of evaporation at the sea surface are reviewed. At experimental sites free of local influences, there is a consensus that the evaporation coefficient in neutral conditions C _EN = 1.2 × 10^–3 at low and moderate wind speeds. Combining this with Businger-Dyer flux-gradient formulas, a parameterization scheme is proposed. Evaporation of spray droplets from breaking waves is expected to cause C _EN to increase at high wind speeds, but no direct observations of this are found. Recently it has become possible to estimate water vapor flux in tropical regions from satellite data, opening the possiblity of studying large-scale evaporative events as a function of both time and space.Visiting scholar, Department of Atmospheric Sciences AK-40, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, U.S.A. (until June, 1989).     

Ground-based lidar and atmospheric studies

This review considers the requirements and possibilities for the development of a ground-based network for long-term observations of the atmosphere. This network would be specifically designed to provide early detection of changes in the composition and structure of the stratosphere. The species and parameters identified as being important and amenable to ground-based measurements are summarized, as are the currently available techniques capable of making the required measurements. Ultraviolet laser remote sensing is identified as the most promising technique for the measurement of ozone and temperature profiles which are considered to have the highest priority for network measurements. The laser techniques, and the research at JPL Table Mountain Observatory, to implement ozone and temperature measurements are discussed in greater detail.     

Vertical profile of artificial radionuclide concentrations in the Central Arctic Ocean

The artificial radionuclides ⁹⁰Sr, ¹³⁷Cs, ²³⁸Pu, ^239,240Pu and ²⁴¹Am have been measured in eight water samples collected in 1979, at intervals from surface to bottom, through the ice at the LOREX satellite camp SS near the North Pole. Differences in the concentrations and ratios of these nuclides, compared with values measured, over time, in the various water masses that flow into the Arctic Ocean, can be used as semi-independent checks on rates of flow to the LOREX stations and on residence times in the Arctic Ocean. An unexpected finding was that water labelled with low-level liquid waste from the Windscale plant on the Irish Sea is a major component of the 1500 m LOREX sample, and has reached there in no more than eight to ten years. Even from this one station in the Polar Ocean, estimation of the inventories of the various radionuclides is good enough to emphasize the importance of horizontal advection of the various supply terms to the Arctic.     

Seismicity trends and potential for large earthquakes in the Alaska-Aleutian region

The high likelihood of a gap-filling thrust earthquake in the Alaska subduction zone within this decade is indicated by two independent methods: analysis of historic earthquake recurrence data and time-to-failure analysis applied to recent decades of instrumental data. Recent (May 1993) earthquake activity in the Shumagin Islands gap is consistent with previous projections of increases in seismic release, indicating that this segment, along with the Alaska Peninsula segment, is approaching failure. Based on this pattern of accelerating seismic release, we project the occurrence of one or moreM7.3 earthquakes in the Shumagin-Alaska Peninsula region during 1994–1996. Different segments of the Alaska-Aleutian seismic zone behave differently in the decade or two preceding great earthquakes, some showing acceleration of seismic release (type A zones), while others show deceleration (type D zones). The largest Alaska-Aleutian earthquakes—in 1957, 1964, and 1965—originated in zones that exhibit type D behavior. Type A zones currently showing accelerating release are the Shumagin, Alaska Peninsula, Delarof, and Kommandorski segments. Time-to-failure analysis suggests that the large earthquakes could occur in these latter zones within the next few years.     

Shear-wave splitting in a critical crust: III. Preliminary report of multi-variable measurements in active tectonics

This is a preliminary report on two sets of recent observations from a region of active tectonics that provide comparatively direct evidence for the critical state of the fluid-saturated microcracked crust. The first data set from crosshole seismics in a controlled source stress-monitoring site (SMS) shows that the crust of the Earth is highly compliant and responds to low-level changes of tectonic stress at substantial distances. The second set of data from earthquake seismograms shows that the seismically active Húsavík–Flatey Fault plane is pervaded by critically high pore-fluid pressures, which cause 90° flips in the polarisations of seismic shear waves. We suggest that both sets of observations confirm previous hypotheses for a compliant crack-critical (CCC) crust. This is a new understanding of low-level pre-fracturing deformation that has fundamental implications for a range of applications in solid earth geophysics. These applications range from monitoring hydrocarbon production with time-lapse seismics to monitoring tectonic stress in in situ rock and stress-forecasting the times and magnitudes of impending large earthquakes.     

Archaea mediate anaerobic oxidation of methane in deep euxinic waters of the Black Sea

We evaluate anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in the Black Sea water column by determining distributions of archaea-specific glyceryl dialkyl glyceryl tetraethers (GDGTs) and ¹³C isotopic compositions of their constituent biphytanes in suspended particulate matter (SPM), sinking particulate matter collected in sediment traps, and surface sediments. We also determined isotopic compositions of fatty acids specific to sulfate-reducing bacteria to test for biomarker and isotopic evidence of a syntrophic relationship between archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria in carrying out AOM. Bicyclic and tricyclic GDGTs and their constituent ¹³C-depleted monocyclic and bicyclic biphytanes (down to −67‰) indicative of archaea involved in AOM were present in SPM in the anoxic zone below 700 m depth. In contrast, GDGT-0 and crenarchaeol derived from planktonic crenarchaeota dominated the GDGT distributions in the oxic surface and shallow anoxic waters. Fatty acids indicative of sulfate-reducing bacteria (i.e., iso- and anteiso-C₁₅) were not strongly isotopically depleted (e.g., −32 to −25‰), although anteiso-C₁₅ was 5‰ more depleted in ¹³C than iso-C₁₅. Our results suggest that either AOM is carried out by archaea independent of sulfate-reducing bacteria or those sulfate-reducing bacteria involved in a syntrophy with methane-oxidizing archaea constitute a small enough fraction of the total sulfate-reducing bacterial community that an isotope depletion in their fatty acids is not readily detected. Sinking particulate material collected in sediment traps and the underlying sediments in the anoxic zone contained the biomarker and isotope signature of upper-water column archaea. AOM-specific GDGTs and ¹³C-depleted biphytanes characteristic of the SPM in the deep anoxic zone are not incorporated into sinking particles and are not efficiently transported to the sediments. This observation suggests that sediments may not always record AOM in overlying euxinic water columns and helps explain the absence of AOM-derived biomarkers in sediments deposited during past periods of elevated levels of methane in the ocean.     

Origin and significance of 13-hydroxychlorophyll derivatives in sediments

The authenticity of hydroxychlorophyll derivatives in sediments has been verified by subjecting pure chlorophyll preparations to the extraction method used for sediments. Model studies of chlorophyll autoxidation reveal hydroxychlorophyll as the major product formed in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Its stability to further oxidation implies that hydroxychlorophyll derivatives are not precursors of aetioporphyrins and are more likely to produce cycloalkanoporphyrins via the processes of diagenesis. The occurrence of 13²-hydroxyphaeophytin a throughout a sediment core from Loch Ness confirms it to be a widespread chlorophyll oxidation product formed during early diagenesis. Profiles of hydroxychlorophyll derivatives in a sediment core from an Antarctic lake demonstrate their potential for use as markers of oxidation processes in palaeoenvironmental assessment.