Convection at the melting point: A thermal history of the earth's core

Abstract

Higgins and Kennedy (1971) concluded that the Earth's fluid core has a stable stratification if it is at its melting point. Busse (1972) and Elsasser suggested as an alternative that a hydrostatic-isentropic distribution of particulate solid can produce neutral stability in a partially molten core. Here this suggestion is quantified and a determination is made of the efficiency of the production of fluid motion from the heat flux. This is used to establish that macroscopic convection can exist only if the particulate solid is of sufficiently small size. A thermal history of the core compatible with upper mantle heat flux is advanced in which it is suggested that the inner core is a fairly recent feature. The implication of these results for convection-driven and precession-driven dynamos is that both can function for a small enough suspended particulate, that the convection-dynamo will fail for particles greater than one micron in diameter, and that the precession-driven dynamo probably cannot survive particles greater than ten microns in diameter.     

Hydrophobic and electrostatic parameters in bacterial adhesion

Recently it has been shown that the initial stages of bacterial adhesion to a model-surface of sulphated polystyrene can best be described using hydrophobic and electrostatic parameters. In the present study it is tested whether these parameters can generally be applied to predict bacterial adhesion by using (i) glass, as a model for hydrophilic and natural surfaces of silicates and oxides, (ii) polystyrene coated with proteins, as a model for a surface coated with an organic layer, and (iii) river Rhine sediment, as an example of a natural surface. Adhesion to glass was dominated by electrostatic interaction, whereas adhesion to polystyrene coated with various types of proteins depended on the surface characteristics of the bacteria and the type of protein. By relating Van der Waals interactions to hydrophobicity of the interacting species, the adhesion of bacteria to the various surfaces including the river Rhine sediments could be interpreted in terms of the DLVO-theory. It is therefore concluded that the conceptual principles of the DLVO-theory (interplay of Van der Waals and electrostatic interactions) are suitable to describe, at least qualitatively, the initial processes of bacterial adhesion to a wide range of surfaces.     

Reflectance anisotropy and syn-deformational coalification of the Jewel seam in the Cadomin area, Alberta, Canada

The Jewel seam of the Cadomin area is complexly folded and cut by several thrust faults. Vitrinite reflectance anisotropy was determined from twenty oriented coal blocks, collected from various structural positions. Five of the blocks have uniaxial anisotropies, five have biaxial positive anisotropies, the remaining ten are biaxial negative. The biaxial coals display maximum reflectance axes parallel to nearby fold axes, which suggests a relationship between vitrinite anisotropy and deformation. The biaxial vitrinite reflectance ellipsoids result from superposition of tectonic strains on a primary, sedimentary burial related, uniaxial anisotropy. A tectonic stress field was probably present during the later stages of sedimentary burial and subsequent deformation.Coalification resulted largely from pre-deformational, sedimentary burial, but the final coalification stage was syn-deformational, as illustrated by the intersection of isorank surfaces and the Jewel seam and the biaxial vitrinite reflectance anisotropy.     

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition to the North Sea

The groups of nitrogen components that contribute most to the eutrophication of the sea are ammonia, nitrogen oxides and their respective reaction products. The emission of ammonia is mainly from animal husbandry, whereas the emission of nitrogen oxides is mainly from combustion processes. Ammonia reacts in the atmosphere to form particulate ammonium. Nitrogen oxides react to form nitric acid, nitrous acid, particulate nitrate and peroxyacetyl nitrate. The various nitrogen components have different physical and chemical properties. Therefore, their dry and wet deposition velocities differ. The dry deposition velocity of gas to the sea depends on its solubility, reactivity, concentration in seawater and the wind speed. The dry deposition velocity of a particle depends on its size and the wind speed. The wet removal rate is a function of meteorological conditions. For a gas it further depends on the solubility and reactivity of the gas. For a particle, it further depends on the particle's ability to act as a condensation nucleus for particles. The total deposition of ammonia and its reaction products to the North Sea is about 140 kt N a⁻¹. The total deposition of nitrogen oxides and their reaction products is about 200 kt N a⁻¹.     

Instructions for Authors

Instructions for Authors

Instructions for Authors     

Ground viscosity and stiffness measurements for near surface seismic velocity

In land surveys, the weathering layer can often distort the seismic signal due to it passing through rapid velocity and density changes, dispersion, scattering and inelastic absorption. In a simple spring‐dashpot model for the earth response, an equivalent medium groups these complex phenomena into two parameters only; these are called ground viscosity and ground stiffness. The most recent controllers for vibrators can estimate both parameters. To validate these measurements, Saudi Aramco conducted an experiment measuring ground viscosity and stiffness from two different vibrator control systems over an area of varying terrain conditions, including unconsolidated sand and limestone outcrop. The two systems measured different values, but detected similar trends that correlated well with weathering conditions and surface geology, e.g. lower viscosity values on the outcrop than on the sand. The ratio of ground viscosity to ground stiffness can approximate the shallow S‐wave velocity, which we converted into P‐wave velocity through calibration with sparse uphole data. Static corrections incorporating this velocity information somewhat improved the focusing of seismic time sections. This new approach does not require additional acquisition efforts, and can model shallow complex formations in arid areas where classical static methods often fail.