Nonlinear Multi-Cellular Fast Dynamos

We investigate the kinematic and dynamic dynamos that result when the magnetic field is assumed to be spatially periodic on a scale twice that of the periodicity of the underlying driving velocity, the CP flow of Galloway and Proctor (1992). In the kinematic regime four distinct modes are possible; all appear to exhibit fast dynamo action. In the nonlinear regime mode coupling may occur and different saturated states are possible for the same parameter values.     

Sediment transport in distributary channels and its export to the pro-deltaic environment in a tidally dominated delta: Fly River, Papua New Guinea

Current metre deployments, suspended sediment measurements and surface sediment samples were collected from three locations within distributary channels of the tidally dominated Fly River delta in southern Papua New Guinea. Net bedload transport vectors and the occurrence of elongate tidal bars indicate that mutually evasive ebb- and flood-dominant transport zones occur in each of the distributary channels. Suspended sediment experiments at two locations show a phase relationship between tidal velocity and sediment concentration such that the net suspended sediment flux is directed seaward. Processes that control the export of fluid muds with concentrations up to 10 g l⁻¹ from the distributary channels across the delta front and onto the pro-delta are assessed in relation to the available data. Peak spring tidal current speeds (measured at 100 cm above the bed) drop off from around 100 cm s⁻¹ within the distributary channels to <50 cm s⁻¹ on the delta front. Gravity-driven, 2-m thick, fluid mud layers generated in the distributary channels are estimated to require at least 35 h to traverse the 20-km-wide, low-gradient (2×10⁻³ degrees) delta front. The velocities of such currents are well below those required for autosuspension. A 1-month time series of suspended sediment concentration and current velocity from the delta front indicates that tidal currents alone are unable to cause significant cross-delta mud transport. Wave-induced resuspension together with tides, storm surge and barotropic return-flow may play a role in maintaining the transport of fine sediment across the delta front, but insufficient data are available at present to make any reliable estimates.     

A disaggregation and thin section analysis of the size and mass distribution of the chondrules in the Bjurböle and Chainpur meteorites

This paper presents the results of a disaggregation and thin section analysis of the size distribution of chondrules in two friable meteorites, Bjurböle and Chainpur. Dodd [Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 30 (1976) 281] found in chondrites that the size distribution of metal and silicate particles (be they chondrules, chondrule fragments or independent grains in the matrix) obey Rosin's law. He used thin sections of meteorites. Martin and Mills [Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 33 (1976) 239] imply that thin section studies are not valid and that meteoritic disaggregation and the subsequent measurement of the individual particles is required. They found that the “near-spherical” chondrules picked out from the disaggregated meteorite do not obey Rosin's law and suggest that these chondrules result from the melting of dust, rather than from impact as suggested by Dodd. The Rosin's law criterion could be crucial to the acceptabilities of these theories.In thin sections both droplet and lithic fragment chondrules can be easily identified. The Bjurböle section had 33 ± 4% of its area occupied by droplet chondrules and 30 ± 3% occupied by lithic fragment chondrules. The matrix occupied 37 ± 2%. Disaggregation of 4 g of Bjurböle produced 27% (by mass) near-spherical chondrules. The lithic fragment chondrules had a degree of friability similar to that of the matrix. Due to this they unfortunately broke up during the disaggregation process. The size distribution of droplet and lithic fragment chondrules was found to be similar. All chondrules were found to obey Rosin's law.The size distribution of the disaggregated chondrules has been used to calculate the expected thin section size distribution by assuming that chondrules are sectioned randomly. Empirical correction factors have thus been obtained which enable observed thin-section parameters to be converted into true parameters. The observed and expected thin section distributions agreed well. On disaggregation 4 g of Bjurböle yielded 955 near-spherical chondrules. A 0.78-cm² thin section of Bjurböle revealed 61 droplet and 57 lithic fragment chondrules so to obtain comparable precision large (～10 cm²) thin sections or slices must be used.The near-spherical chondrules disaggregated from Bjurböle had a median diameter of 0.688 ± 0.003 mm, a mean density of 3.258 ± 0.008 g cm^?3 and a median mass of 5.6 × 10^?4 g. Their diameters ranged between 0.25 ± 0.01 mm and 3.67 mm. The lower limit is considerably below the value of 0.4 mm obtained by Martin and Mills.     

The history of tritium fallout in Southern Australia as inferred from rainfall and wine samples

Rainfall and wine samples have been analysed for tritium in order to obtain a record of tritium fallout since 1950 for use in hydrologic studies in southern Australia.The tritium concentrations of rainfall have been estimated for years when no samples are available by using measured values of the tritium concentration of wine samples together with Roether's (1967) exchange model and and a simple model for predicting the age of soil water used by vines.As expected, the tritium fallout pattern is similar to that obtained for Kaitoke in New Zealand and Pretoria in southern Africa.     

Electrical conductivity measurements on olivines Mg2SiO4-Fe2SiO4 under defined thermodynamic conditions

The isobaric (P=10 kb) temperature dependence of the electrical conductivities of forsterite, fayalite and forsterite-fayalite mixed crystals was measured with special regard to the thermodynamics of point defects in these minerals. Measurements, taken at increasing and decreasing temperature, were performed on synthetic powders of the following compositions: Fo 100/Fa 0, Fo 90/Fa 10, Fo 80/Fa 20, Fo 60/Fa 40, and Fo 0/Fa100. Control of oxygen partial pressure was achieved with solid state buffers (Fa/Q/M, Fa/Q/I, and Fe/FeO). Activities of the binary components were controlled by equilibrating the sample with its neighbouring phases. All values for σ, obtained with controlled pO₂ and fixed activities of the binary components, agree well upon either heating or cooling. From the gradient of lg σ vs. 1/T plots, the following activation energies were estimated: 2,461 eV (970°–1075°C) and 0.984 eV (522°–970°C) for Fo 100/Fa 0 equilibrated with MgO; 0.777 eV and 0.683 eV for Fo 90/Fa 10 and Fo 80/Fa 20 equilibrated with enstatite and pO₂ controlled by Fe/FeO buffer; 0.622 eV, 0.528 eV, and 0.479 eV for Fo 90/Fa 10, Fo 80/Fa 20, and Fo 60/Fa 40 equilibrated with enstatite and pO₂ controlled by Fa/Q/M buffer; and 0.524 eV and 0.383 eV for Fo 0/Fa 100 equilibrated with Q/I and Q/M respectively.     

Cation partitioning versus temperature in spinel: optimization of site occupants

 Pavese et al. (1999) examined cation partitioning vs. temperature in a synthetic spinel of composition (Mg_0.70 Fe_0.23 ³⁺) Al_1.97 O₄ using structure data obtained from in situ neutron powder diffraction. After imposing assumptions on the site assignment of vacancies and Fe³⁺, they assigned the remaining cations by applying least-squares minimization to chemical constraints on site-occupancy sums, site-scattering, chemical composition, and thermal expansion of the octahedral site. Their proposed site assignments exhibit a sharp discontinuity in occupancy fractions versus temperature, a necessary consequence of their assumptions on vacancy assignments. In this paper we reexamine the cation partitioning of the same spinel using the constrained least-squares formulation of OccQP (Wright et al. 2000), which optimizes site occupancies without ad hoc assumptions. We obtain strikingly different results, supporting the general view that spinel undergoes a lambda transition at ∼1000 K. For all observed parameters, the residuals obtained with the OccQP assignments are lower than those obtained with the Pavese et al. assignments, in some cases by more than 1 order of magnitude. Received: 05 April 2000 / Accepted: 19 October 2000     

Hydrogeologic assessment—Figeh Spring,Damascus, Syria

Hydrogeological studies at Figeh Springs were directed to determine groundwater flow paths, research, storage and discharge units, and the maximum reliable yield. The project was designed to provide information upon which to base pumpage to augment low-season flows from the spring which is the major water supply for the city of Damascus, Syria.As a basis for conclusions and recommendations, work included extensive surface geologic mapping, air photographic interpretation, a detailed well and spring inventory, and a quality of water sampling program. Geologic structural work included mapping and jointing, faulting, and folding, and an analysis of their impact on groundwater movement.     

Hydrogeologic Evaluation Of Fracture Permeability In Crystalline Basement Aquifers Of Uganda

Throughout Africa, many communities rely on fractured crystalline basement rocks of Precambrian age as the primary source of water supply. The hydrogeology of these aquifers is often poorly understood, and boreholes are frequently sited and designed with little appreciation of the local fracture system. This is especially true in Uganda, where the role of fractures in determining well yield and relative importance of deep and shallow fracture zones have been a continous source of debate since a major national well drilling program was initiated over ten years ago. Recent studies in Uganda have attempted to resolve outstanding hydrogeological questions through the implementation of one of the most comprehensive borehole fracture studies ever undertaken in continental Africa. During the study, 233 packer tests were carried out at 22 sites. Six of the sites, together with a further 16, were subjected to constant yield recovery tests. One well was tested before and after the deployment of yield-enhancing hydraulic fracturing techniques to investigate its effectiveness. Study results reveal the presence of an extremely poor aquifer with little transmissive capability. Across the study area, the hydraulic conductivity of the bedrock average <10^-7 m/s; the majority of transmissivity values are less than 1 m²/d. Packer tests show that fractures occur throughout the depth of well, but are usually very few in number and often exhibit a relatively low permeability. Most wells relied on a single permeable zone for most of their water. In approximately half of the boreholes tested, the most permeable zone was found to occur at the top of the uncased section, just below the regolith. No relationship was found between the distribution of boreholes with shallow, intermediate or deep, high yielding fracture zones and physiographic features. Neither was any relationship observed between hydraulic conductivity and depth within the upper 60 meters of rock tested. Notably, however, no fracture zones more permeable than 10^-5 m/s were found below a depth 57m, and it is suggested that a depth of approximately 60m below ground level may represent the effective base of aquifer. Packer tests performed in a hydraulically fractured borehole confirmed increases in borehole transmissivity by a factor of about 3. The tests were also able to show where improvement in hydraulic conductivity was being achieved. Résumé. Estimation de la perméabilité de fractures dans les aquifères du socle cristallin en Ouganda. Partout en Afrique, les ressources en eau de nombreuses communautés proviennent pour l'essentiel des roches cristallines fracturées d'âge précambrien. L'hydrogéologie de ces aquifères est souvent mal connue; fréquemment, l'implantation des forages s'appuie sur une connaissance bien faible du dispositif local de fracturation. C'est particulièrement vrai en Ouganda, où le rôle de la fracturation dans la détermination du débit des puits et l'importance relative des zones de fractures superficielle et profonde sont le sujet de discussions permanentes depuis le lancement, il y a 10 ans, du programme de forages. Les études récentes en Ouganda ont tenté de répondre aux principales questions concernant l'hydrogéologie en réalisant l'une des études les plus complètes sur la fracturation dans les forages jamais entreprises en Afrique centrale. Cette étude s'appuie sur 233 tests avec packer menés sur 22 sites. Six de ces sites, puis 16 autres ont été soumis à des tests de rabattement à débit constant, puis à l'étude de la remontée. Un puits a été testé avant et après un développement par fracturation hydraulique pour déterminer l'efficacité de la méthode. Les résultats obtenus montrent l'existence d'un aquifère très rédiut à faible transmissivité. Dans la région étudiée, la conductivité hydraulique du socle est en moyenne infériur à 10^щ m/s; la majorité des valeurs de transmissivité sont inférieures à 1 m²/j. Les tests avec packers montrent que les fractures sont présentes tout au long du puits, mais qu'elles sont en général très peu nombreuses et présentent une faible perméabilité. L'essentiel de la ressource de la plupart des puits provient d'une zone perméable unique. Dans près de la moitié des puits testés, la zone la plus perméable a été recoupée au sommet de la partie non tubée, juste sous le régolite. Il n'existe aucune relation entre la physiographie et la répartition des puits selon la position superficielle, intermédiaire ou profonde des fractures productrices. Il n'a pas été non plus observé de relation entre la conductivité hydraulique et la profondeur, dans la tranche de roche testée des 60 m supérieurs. Toutefois, aucune zone fracturée présentant une perméabilité meilleure que 10^ч m/s n'a été trouvée au-dessous de 57 m, ce qui permet de supposer que la base réelle de l'aquifère est à environ 60 m sous la surface du sol. Les tests avec packers effectués dans le forage développé par fracturation hydraulique montrent une amélioration de la transmissivité d'un facteur 3. Les tests ont aussi montré où s'était produite l'amélioration de la conductivité hydraulique.     

Late cretaceous to recent palaeoenvironments of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea

Integrated micropalaeontological, palynological and lithological analysis of the Upper Cretaceous to Recent sedimentary succession, as observed in deep and shallow well drill cores and field samples, has revealed a highly varied history of environments of deposition. Supratidal, freshwater conditions prevailed during the Late Cretaceous, Oligocene, Early and Late Miocene to Recent Marginal marine conditions are represented in the Palaeocene to Lower Eocene successions, but without any indication of hypersaline sabkha environments. Marginal marine conditions involving periodic hypersaline sabkha and hypersaline lake development existed during the Early and Late Miocene. In most of the studied areas, very deep, normal salinity marine conditions, within the upper bathyal regime, existed during the Early Miocene; episodes of marine suboxia are indicated by the microfaunal and organic facies character. Later, during the late Early Miocene and early Middle Miocene, similar deep marine conditions prevailed, but with episodes of hypersalinity that culminated in the late Middle Miocene. Such conditions are believed to have resulted from the isolated of the basin and the precipitation of deep marine precipitates. These changes in palaeoenvironment are considered to reflect episodes of eustatic sea level fluctuation, which are possibly linked to the structural evolution of the Red Sea.