Corrosion of metal roof materials related to volcanic ash interactions

Metal roofing material is commonly used for residential and industrial roofs in volcanically active areas. Increased corrosion of metal roofing from chemically reactive volcanic ash following ash deposition post-eruption is a major concern due to decreasing the function and stability of roofs. Currently, assessment of ash-induced corrosion is anecdotal, and quantitative data are lacking. Here, we systematically evaluate the corrosive effects of volcanic ash, specifically ash leachates, on a variety of metal roofing materials (i.e. weathered steel, zinc, galvanized steel, and Colorsteel©) utilizing weathering chamber experiments and direct acid treatments. Weathering chamber tests were carried out for up to 30 days, and visual, chemical, and surface analyses did not definitively identify significant corrosion in any of the test roofing metal samples. Direct concentrated acid treatments with hydrochloric (HCl), sulphuric (H₂SO₄), and hydrofluoric (HF) acids demonstrate that roofing materials are chemically resilient. Our experimental results suggest that ash-leachate-related corrosion is a longer-term process (>1 month), potentially related to a multitude of factors including increased ash leachate concentrations, the dissolution of the glass matrix of the ash, moisture retention at the ash-surface boundary, and potential reactions involving photo-oxidation. Overall, corrosion is not a simple process related to the short-term release of acid and/or salt leachates from the ash surface, but a product of dynamic interactions involving ash and water at the surface of metal roofing material for extended periods.     

Experimental reactions between olivine and orthopyroxene with phonolite melt: implications for the origins of hydrous amphibole + phlogopite + diopside bearing metasomatic veins

Amphibole + phlogopite + diopside bearing veins are observed in a large number of upper mantle xenoliths, but the composition of the melt that forms them is poorly constrained. Recent data from the Heldburg Phonolite, Central Germany, has shown that phonolite melt will react with olivine and orthopyroxene xenocrysts to form reaction rims of amphibole + phlogopite + diopside at mid-lower crustal pressures. This is the first example of where a melt has reacted with peridotite to form the mineralogy of the metasomatic veins. It is therefore necessary to explore whether a phonolite melt could be the parent melt that forms amphibole + phlogopite + diopside metasomatic veins. Experimental reactions between single crystals of olivine and orthopyroxene with phonolite melt were conducted at upper mantle conditions of 1.0–1.5 GPa and 900–1,000 °C. Melt water contents were varied from anhydrous to >12 wt. H₂O. Olivine reacts to form phlogopite reaction rims with overgrowths of diopside <1,000 °C or rims of secondary olivine >1,000 °C. Orthopyroxene reacts to form amphibole with epitaxial diopside overgrowths <1,000 °C. No reaction rims form when the bulk melt H₂O is lower than ~3.8 wt%. Pressure has little effect over the small range tested. These experiments reproduce reaction rims on olivine and orthopyroxene observed in the Heldburg Phonolite, Central Germany, and suggest that a relatively narrow range of temperatures and melt water contents is required for rim formation. The compositions of rim amphibole, phlogopite and diopside from the experiments have very similar compositions to those from Heldburg but do not match those from metasomatic veins. Phenocrysts from Heldburg are similar to the metasomatic veins, suggesting that a phonolite could potentially form the veins if vein formation is dominated by crystallization rather than reaction and replacement of wall rock phases.     

Techniques For Measuring Radar Meteor Speeds

We compare the results from the application of four different methods to determine the speed of meteoroids from single station radar data. The methods used are the pre-t ₀ amplitude, post-t ₀ amplitude, pre-t ₀ phase and the Fresnel transform (FT) methods. Speeds from the first three methods are compared to the FT method since, requiring the use of the entire records of both the amplitude and phase data, this method is the most accurate of the four.     

Origin of the structure and planform of small impact craters in fractured targets: Endurance Crater at Meridiani Planum, Mars

We present observations and models that together explain many hallmarks of the structure and growth of small impact craters forming in targets with aligned fractures. Endurance Crater at Meridiani Planum on Mars (diameter ≈ 150 m) formed in horizontally-layered aeolian sandstones with a prominent set of wide, orthogonal joints. A structural model of Endurance Crater is assembled and used to estimate the transient crater planform. The model is based on observations from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity: (a) bedding plane orientations and layer thicknesses measured from stereo image pairs; (b) a digital elevation model of the whole crater at 0.3 m resolution; and (c) color image panoramas of the upper crater walls. This model implies that the crater’s current shape was mostly determined by highly asymmetric excavation rather than long-term wind-mediated erosion. We show that modal azimuths of conjugate fractures in the surrounding rocks are aligned with the square component of the present-day crater planform, suggesting excavation was carried farther in the direction of fracture alignments. This was previously observed at Barringer Crater in Arizona and we show the same relationship also holds for Tswaing Crater in South Africa. We present models of crater growth in which excavation creates a “stellate” transient cavity that is concave-cuspate in planform. These models reproduce the “lenticular-crescentic” layering pattern in the walls of some polygonal impact craters such as Endurance and Barringer Craters, and suggest a common origin for tear faults and some crater rays. We also demonstrate a method for detailed error analysis of stereogrammetric measurements of bedding plane orientations.     

A lake in Uzboi Vallis and implications for Late Noachian-Early Hesperian climate on Mars

Uzboi Vallis (centered at ∼28°S, 323°E) is ∼400 km long and comprises the southernmost segment of the northward-draining Uzboi-Ladon-Morava (ULM) meso-scale outflow system that emerges from Argyre basin. Bond and Holden craters blocked the valley to the south and north, respectively, forming a Late Noachian-to-Hesperian paleolake basin that exceeded 4000 km³. Limited CRISM data suggest lake deposits in Uzboi and underlying basin floor incorporate relatively more Mg-clays and more Fe-clays, respectively. The short-lived lake overflowed and breached Holden crater’s rim at an elevation of −350 m and rapidly drained into the crater. Fan deltas in Holden extend 25 km from the breach and incorporate meter-sized blocks, and longitudinal grooves along the Uzboi basin floor are hundreds of meters long and average 60 m wide, suggesting high-discharge drainage of the lake. Precipitation-derived runoff rather than regional groundwater or overflow from Argyre dominated contributions to the Uzboi lake, although the failure of most tributaries to respond to a lowering of base level indicates their incision largely ended when the lake drained. The Uzboi lake may have coincided with alluvial and/or lacustrine activity in Holden, Eberswalde, and other craters in southern Margaritifer Terra, where fluvial/lacustrine activity may have required widespread, synoptic precipitation (rain or snow), perhaps associated with an ephemeral, global hydrologic system during the Late Noachian into the Hesperian on Mars.     

Carolina Bay geoarchaeology and Holocene landscape evolution on the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina

Surface water on the mainly dry, upland interfluves of the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina occurs currently as a sporadic distribution of shallow ponds held within Carolina bays and other small, isolated basins. At seven bays on the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site on the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina, we investigated Holocene changes in bay morphology, ecology, and prehistoric human activity. At Flamingo Bay, we employed archaeological survey and testing, shovel and auger testing, sediment analysis, and ground-penetrating radar to document stratigraphy and chronology of the sand rim on the eastern side of the bay. Artifact assemblage indicate changes in intensity of human use of the bay. Radiocarbon dates from a sediment core establish time scales for depositional processes at the center of the basin. Ground-penetrating radar data from the other bays indicate that the stratigraphy of all seven bays is broadly similar. We conclude that: (1) Significant modification of the bays, including rim development and basin infilling, occurred during the Holocene; (2) ponds on the early Holocene landscape were larger and more permanent than at present; (3) early Holocene climate, as indicated by both depositional processes and human activity, was not characterized by prolonged periods of extremely dry conditions; and (4) fluvial-centric models of terminal Pleistocene—early Holocene human adaptations require revision to include intensive use of isolated upland ponds. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Dietary niche separation of three Late Pleistocene bear species from Vancouver Island,on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America

Competition between taxa related to climate changes has been proposed as a possible factor in Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, and here we present isotope evidence of the diets of three co-existing bear species [black bear (Ursus americanus), brown bear (Ursus arctos), and the now extinct short-faced bear (Arctodus simus)] from a locale in western North America dating to the Late (Terminal) Pleistocene (~14.5–11.7 ka). The three bear species were found at several sites on Vancouver Island, on the western coast of Canada. To examine the chronological overlap and niche partitioning between these species of bear, we used direct radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis and ZooMS proteomic identification methods. Here we present new radiocarbon evidence from Terminal Pleistocene U. americanus, U. arctos and A. simus from several sites on the island, along with both bulk collagen and compound-specific isotope data for these species. Radiocarbon dates confirm the chronological overlap of Arctodus and both Ursus species in the montane regions of the island at the end of the Pleistocene. Stable isotope data reveal niche differentiation between these species, with U. americanus occupying a distinctly lower trophic position than the other two taxa.