Composite magnetic anisotropy fabrics: experiments, numerical models and implications for the quantification of rock fabrics

Magnetic fabrics from rocks with multiple mineral-preferred orientations may have anisotropy ellipsoids whose shape and orientation arise from the addition of two or more component fabrics. Our numerical models and experiments demonstrate that such composite magnetic fabrics do not directly reflect the shapes and/or orientations of the individual mineral fabrics and we provide criteria for the recognition and interpretation of composite fabrics in natural rocks. These criteria include:

1. (1) the orientation of the maximum susceptibility axis is located at the intersection of two planar fabrics, and

2. (2) the shape of the susceptibility ellipsoid changes from oblate to prolate and the degree of anisotropy decreases, as the relative intensity of two planar component fabrics becomes equal and as the angle between the planar fabrics increases.

Composite magnetic fabrics are observed in the shales and slates of the Martinsburg Formation, Lehigh Gap, Pennsylvania. Modeling of the AMS (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility) and ARMA (anhysteretic remanent magnetization anisotropy) behavior constrains the relative degree of anisotropy of the bedding-parallel and cleavage-parallel fabrics. In particular, ARMA model results allow a good estimate of magnetite fabric strength.

We conclude that, in the presence of composite magnetic fabrics, quantitative measures of finite strain in deformed rocks are limited by the ability to accurately determine the degree of anisotropy and relative susceptibility of each component fabric. Such determinations require knowledge of the mineral(s) that are responsible for the measured magnetic fabric and their behavior during deformation.     

Age and progression of volcanism,Wrangell volcanic field,Alaska

The Wrangell volcanic field covers more than 10 000 km² in southern Alaska and extends uninterrupted into northwest. Yukon Territory. Lavas in the field exhibit medium-K, calc-alkaline affinities, typical of continental volcanic arcs along convergent plate margins. Eleven major eruptive centers are recognized in the Alaskan part of the field. More than 90 K-Ar age determinations in the field show a northwesterly progression of eruptive activity from 26 Ma, near the Alaska-Yukon border, to about 0.2 Ma at the northwest end of the field. A few age determinations in the southeast extension of the field in Yukon Territory, Canada, range from 11 to 25 Ma. The ages indicate that the progression of volcanism in the Alaska part of the field increased from about 0.8 km/Ma, at 25 Ma, to more than 20 km/MA during the past 2 Ma. The progression of volcanic activity and its increased rate of migration with time is attributed to changes in the rate and angle of Pacific plate convergence and the progressive decoupling of the Yakutat terrane from North America. Subduction of Yakutat terrane-Pacific plate and Wrangell volcanic activity ceased about 200 000 years age when Pacific plate motion was taken up by strike-slip faulting and thrusting.     

Out‐of‐Core GPU‐based Change Detection in Massive 3D Point Clouds

If sites, cities, and landscapes are captured at different points in time using technology such as LiDAR, large collections of 3D point clouds result. Their efficient storage, processing, analysis, and presentation constitute a challenging task because of limited computation, memory, and time resources. In this work, we present an approach to detect changes in massive 3D point clouds based on an out‐of‐core spatial data structure that is designed to store data acquired at different points in time and to efficiently attribute 3D points with distance information. Based on this data structure, we present and evaluate different processing schemes optimized for performing the calculation on the CPU and GPU. In addition, we present a point‐based rendering technique adapted for attributed 3D point clouds, to enable effective out‐of‐core real‐time visualization of the computation results. Our approach enables conclusions to be drawn about temporal changes in large highly accurate 3D geodata sets of a captured area at reasonable preprocessing and rendering times. We evaluate our approach with two data sets from different points in time for the urban area of a city, describe its characteristics, and report on applications.     

Chara can outcompete Myriophyllum under low phosphorus supply

In the course of re-oligotrophication in Lower Lake Constance, Germany, the tall-growing angiosperm Myriophyllum spicatum has been almost replaced by dense and lower-growing charophytes. We hypothesise that Chara globularis negatively affects the performance of M. spicatum due to density competition and nutrient interference. Intra- and interspecific competition was assessed using a response surface experimental design with different densities of both species in mono and mixed stands in an outdoor mesocosm experiment. After 8 weeks, we measured the growth and various functional traits of both species, including stoichiometry, ash-free dry mass and dry-matter content, and for M. spicatum, additionally chlorophyll content, leaf-mass fraction, formation of autofragments, and root/shoot ratio. With increasing density, C. globularis reduced the growth of M. spicatum much more strongly than that of conspecifics. Increasing density of C. globularis led to a lower chlorophyll a to b ratio and lower nitrogen content based on ash-free dry mass in M. spicatum as well as reduced autofragmentation. Established C. globularis meadows can negatively affect tall-growing angiosperms such as M. spicatum when the environmental conditions, such as low phosphorus availability and high water-clarity, are appropriate. These findings have implications for the management of lakes, specifically those where a nuisance growth of tall macrophytes occurs, e.g. in systems where M. spicatum is invasive.     

The Need for Ultraviolet to Understand the Chemical Evolution of the Universe and Cosmology.

We identify an important set of key areas where an advanced observational Ultraviolet capability would have major impact on studies of cosmology and Galaxy formation in the young Universe. Most of these are associated with the Universe at z < 3–4. We address the issues associated with Dark matter evidence in the local Universe and the impact of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium WHIM on the local Baryon count. The motivations to make ultraviolet (UV) studies of supernovae (SNe) are reviewed and discussed in the light of the results obtained so far by means of IUE and HST observations. It appears that UV studies of SNe can, and do lead to fundamental results not only for our understanding of the SN phenomenon, such as the kinematics and the metallicity of the ejecta, but also for exciting new findings in Cosmology, such as the tantalizing evidence for “dark energy” that seems to pervade the Universe and to dominate its energetics. The need for additional and more detailed UV observations is also considered and discussed.Finally we show the enormous importance of the UV for abundance evolution in the Intergalactic Medium (IGM), and the importance of the He II studies to identify re-ionization epochs, which can only be done in the UV.     

Progress in application of cathodoluminescence (CL) in sedimentary petrology

Summary ¶Significant progress has been made in cathodoluminescence (CL) studies in the last three decades due to the application of enhanced methods such as high-resolution spectroscopy. The luminescence of all detrital and diagenetic minerals such as quartz, feldspar, phyllosilicates, carbonates, apatites, zircons etc. can now be quantitatively characterized by spectroscopy. For siliciclastic sediments, the potential for provenance studies has been explored because varying conditions at the time of formation (e.g. of quartz and zircons) might be encoded within the CL and therefore provide fingerprints for particular grain populations. Different cement generations allow a cement stratigraphy to be established and the deconvolution of the diagenetic history of carbonate and clastic sediments. CL investigations of carbonate, apatite and – with some limitations – siliceous biogenic skeletons provide evidence of growth zonation (ontogenetic cyclicities and changes in spatial distribution) and diagenesis (intra-skeleton cementation and recrystallization).However, further research using CL is required to fully understand detrital components, primary and secondary mineralization in sedimentary deposits and biogenic materials. We present here an, admittedly incomplete, overview of these developments.Received March 6, 2002; revised version accepted January 30, 2003 Published online June 12, 2003     

Absorption properties of synthetic Cr-doped spinels in the UV, visible and infrared range and their astronomical implications

Summary Among the oxides, spinels are relatively abundant constituents of stardust, as has been inferred from studies of presolar grains in meteorites. Up to now, only pure Mg–Al-spinels have been considered as a possible stardust component. However, cosmically abundant transition metals such as iron or chromium may well be incorporated in spinels in the process of their formation in stellar atmospheres. We have produced synthetic Cr-doped spinels in order to study their UV, visible and IR spectra. Mass absorption coefficients (MACs) have been derived from transmission spectroscopy over a large wavelength range. For a Cr content of 5%, a maximum MAC in the UV (close to 200 nm) of 1000 cm²/g was found. For a Cr content of 10%, the maximum UV-MAC of spinel exceeds the maximum IR-MAC of 2000 cm²/g. The MIR bands of Cr-doped spinels are shifted to longer wavelengths with increasing Cr content, namely by ∼0.1 μm per 5% Cr in the range covered by our measurements. We conclude that a Cr content of spinel amounting to a few percents (<10%) is compatible with astronomical observations of spinel-bearing dusty environments, while a larger chromium content of spinels is not consistent with the presently available astronomical data.     

A Lagrangian Cloud Model for the Study of Marine Fog

A large-eddy simulation model is coupled with a Lagrangian cloud model to study marine fog. In this model, aerosols and droplets are treated from a Lagrangian frame of reference, in contrast to the traditional bulk and bin microphysical models. Droplet growth via condensation is governed by Köhler theory and environmental conditions local to the droplet. Coupling to the vapour and temperature fields of the flow ensures mass, momentum, and energy conservation between the air and droplet phases. Based on the recent C-FOG field campaign, a simulation is performed which highlights the benefits and potential of this type of model. By initializing the simulation with the measured aerosol size distribution and making assumptions about the chemical composition of the multiple peaks, the simulations provide a clear explanation for the observed bimodal droplet distribution during C-FOG: high supersaturation levels cause condensational growth of nearly all coarse-mode aerosols (presumed to be composed of marine salt), as well as a large number of accumulation model aerosols (presumed to be of continental origin with a lower hygroscopicity). The largest peak in the resulting droplet distribution is created from coarse-mode aerosols with high hygroscopicity, while the secondary peak is only possible due to the limited impact of the largest peak on saturation levels inside the fog. Thus, for the simulated levels of supersaturation, it is the limited number of coarse-mode aerosols which is responsible for the emergence of a larger second peak.