The invasive Asian copepodPseudodiaptomus inopinus in Oregon,Washington, and British Columbia estuaries

At least six species of Asian copepods have been recently introduced to the west coast of North America. Among them isPseudodiaptomus inopinus, which became established and abundant in the Columbia River estuary between 1980 and 1990. Subsequently, the tidal regions of 18 smaller rivers in the Pacific Northwest were sampled using near-bottom pumps and vertical plankton net hauls. These samples indicate thatP. inopinus has not only invaded at least seven other estuaries in this region, but that it is sometimes the dominant zooplankter in these systems.P. inopinus occurred in estuaries of both large and small rivers and in rivers with and without international shipping. Two factors may be important in the establishment of this copepod: temperature and extent of salinity intrusion. In our samples, average autumn temperature of rivers with establishedP. inopinus populations was 19.3°C, whereas those withoutP. inopinus had an average temperature of 12.4°C. Rivers withP. inopinus had salinity intrusion zones of more than 1 km length and those withoutP. inopinus usually had intrusion zones of less than 1 km.     

Adularia in epithermal veins,Queensland: morphology,structural state and origin

Four types of adularia (i.e. sub-rhombic, rhombic, tabular and pseudo-acicular) are recognised from examination of samples from ten epithermal vein deposits and prospects in Queensland, based on morphology of the individual crystals. Further investigation of the structural state of adularia reveals that each group has some specific features in terms of the degree of Al/Si disordering, which can be related to various crystallisation conditions and the thermal history. Sub-rhombic adularia is commonly 2–4 mm in size and subhedral with more or less rhombic outlines, and has a relatively ordered Al/Si distribution (2t₁ > 0.84), reflecting slow crystallisation conditions. Adularia of this type, in association with coarse-grained quartz, is predominant at deep levels of epithermal systems where boiling is initiated in an environment of low permeability and the fluid is slightly supersaturated with respect to adularia and quartz. Tabular adularia, characterised by its lath-shape and disordered structure (2t₁ values ranging from 0.64 to 0.74), is likely to have formed when the fluid moves up to a more permeable environment and starts boiling violently. Relatively high temperatures and rapidly changing conditions account for its special morphology and disordered structure. Rhombic adularia, showing very small crystal size (< 0.2 mm) with euhedral rhombic form, has an intermediate degree of Al/Si ordering. Pseudo-acicular adularia is interpreted as pseudomorphs after carbonate, and its high Al/Si ordered structure is attributed to the presence of a carbonate precursor. These two types of adularia commonly occur within crustiform and colloform bands in association with high grade ore, and chalcedony or fine-grained quartz which often displays various recrystallisation textures. It is most likely that adularias of these two types are formed when extensive boiling is protracted. Microprobe analyses indicate the composition of all adularia types close to pure KAlSi₃O₈. Sericite- and/or carbonate-altered adularias consistently display more ordered structures, suggesting that the post-crystallisation thermal regime affects the structural state of altered adularia, even at temperatures as low as in epithermal environments.     

Characteristics and tectonic setting of the shoshonite rock association

A review of the major occurrences of shoshonitic rocks suggests there is a group that is near-silica saturated, K-rich and has low iron enrichment that cannot be unambigously classified as part of calc-alkaline or alkali-basalt associations. This group is here referred to as the shoshonite rock association. The shoshonite rock association is characterised by: hypersthene-olivine normative basalts, low iron enrichment, high Na₂O + K₂O, high content of light ion lithophile elements, high but variable Al₂O₃, high Fe₂O₃/FeO and low TiO₂. Mineralogical characteristics include: coexisting plagioclase and sanidine in the groundmass, K-feldspar rims on plagioclase phenocrysts, plagioclase An_50?85 Ab_40?15 Or_10?0 and low TiO₂ content and lack of iron enrichment in clinopyroxene. Shoshonitic rocks on continental margins are younger, stratigraphically higher and more distant from the oceanic trench than the high-K calc-alkaline or calc-alkaline suites, but there is a complete gradation between the suites. A similar zonation occurs in some island arcs. In other island arcs there is no spatial zonation of the suites but successively more K-rich lavas are produced above an ever steepening subduction zone. Steepening leads to ‘failure’ or flipping of the subduction zone and uplift and block faulting within the arc. Shoshonitic rocks are most commonly associated with this phase of island are development.     

Regional investigations of vertical crustal movements in the U.S., using precise relevelings and mareograph data

In the past two years, the National Geodetic Survey has been creating a data base of vertical crustal movement information. The data elements are relative elevation changes along lines of releveling which are used to produce graphic displays on microfilm. In separate studies, the releveling data, together with information extracted from mareograph records, have been used to create two networks of velocity differences. The two networks, one in the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay and the other covering the Gulf Coast states, have been adjusted in order to prepare maps showing the velocities of elevation change. In the adjustments, the velocities derived from mareograph records were treated as observations. The results indicate annual subsidence ranging between −1.2 mm and −4.0 mm in the Chesapeake Bay area, with significant local variation. In the Gulf Coast region there is generally slight subsi'dence along the coast, ranging between 0.0 and −1.5 mm/year. Stability and slight uplift is indicated to the north where bedrock reaches the terrain surface. Anomalous subsidence of −7.0 mm/year occurs at New Orleans, La., and at Houston, Texas, there has been several decimeters change in the last ten years.     

Origin of Archean anorthosites: Evidence from the Bad Vermilion Lake anorthosite complex,Ontario

The Bad Vermilion Lake anorthosite complex (2,700 m.y.) is exposed over an area of about 100 km² near Rainy Lake, Ontario. As is typical of other Archean anorthosites, it is composed of coarse (1–30 cm across), equidimensional, euhedral to subhedral, calcic (An₈₀) plagioclase, in a finer grained mafic matrix. The amount of mafic matrix in individual samples ranges from none to about 70% by volume. The complex has been variably metamorphosed to greenschist facies. Zoisite, chlorite, and hornblende are abundant, but primary plagioclase is preserved in many places. The anorthosite complex is associated with gabbro and with mafic to felsic metavolcanic rocks, and is cut by tonalite plutons and by mafic dikes. Some gabbros contain local concentrations of Fe-Ti oxides and/or apatite, but no chromite. The mafic groundmass of the anorthositic rocks is similar in major and trace element chemistry, including rare earth elements, to the associated basaltic metavolcanics, suggesting that the anorthositic complex may have accumulated from a subvolcanic magma chamber which fed mafic lavas to the surface during its crystallization. Mafic flows and dikes chemically similar to the mafic metavolcanics contain plagioclase megacrysts akin to those of the anorthositic rocks, and thus may represent a link between the anorthosite complex and associated mafic lavas. Elongate pretectonic tonalite intrusions were comagmatic with the felsic metavolcanics, but not with the anorthosites or metabasalts. These silicic rocks may represent low-pressure partial melts of the mafic rocks. There is no direct or indirect evidence for significant volumes of ultramafic material at the present exposure level of the complex. An estimate of the bulk composition of all rocks presumed to be comagmatic with the anorthosites, including gabbros and mafic metavolcanics, is an aluminous basalt with about 20 wt.% Al₂O₃. This composition has REE abundances unlike those of typical Archean high-Al basalts and probably does not represent that of a primary or evolved melt. The possibility must be considered, therefore, that a substantial fraction of material comagmatic with the anorthosites has been separated from the complex, either by magmatic or tectonic processes.     

Taxonomy of asteroids

A taxonomic system was introduced by C. R. Chapman, D. Morrison, and B. Zellner [Icarus25, 104–130 (1975)], in which minor planets are classified according to a few readily observable optical properties, independent of specific mineralogical interpretations. That taxonomy is here augmented to five classes, now precisely defined in terms of seven parameters obtained from polarimetry, spectrophotometry, radiometry, and UBV photometry of 523 objects. We classify 190 asteroids as type C, 141 as type S, 13 as type M, 3 as type E, and 3 as type R; 55 objects are shown to fall outside these five classes and are designated U (unclassifiable). For the remaining 118, the data exclude two or more types but are insufficient for unambiguous classification. Reliable diameters, from radiometry or polarimetry or else from albedos adopted as typical of the types, are listed for 396 objects. We also compare our taxonomy with other ones and discuss how classification efforts are related to the interpretation of asteroid mineralogies.     

A multimetric-index approach using fisheries data to assess fish assemblage structure in relation to salinity gradient in a tropical West African estuary

This study examines the effects of increasing salinity on fish assemblage structure in the Casamance Estuary, Senegal, using a series of indices. The study data were derived from commercial fishery surveys conducted between April and July 2005. Analysis of within-trophic-group diversity in the Casamance Estuary shows a significant drop in the diversity of apex predators in the upper, more saline reaches of the estuary. By contrast, primary consumers adapted well to salinity changes and exhibited higher taxonomic diversity in the upper reaches of the estuary than in the lower reaches. The findings also indicate decreases in average sizes of the landed species and the trophic levels among fish catches in the direction of the upper reaches. However, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) was globally higher in the upstream area of the estuary as compared with the downstream area. This increasing CPUE trend from the lower towards the upper reaches is attributed to (i) the high primary productivity in the upper Casamance Estuary; (ii) the increasing abundance of euryhaline fish species in an upstream direction; and (iii) ‘telescoping’ of the food chain through the presence of mostly herbivorous fishes in the upper reaches. Such a situation likely facilitated high fish production in the upstream area of the estuary, though multimetric indices indicated unfavourable living conditions for many fish taxa in this area.     

Classification of marine bioregions on the east coast of South Africa

Marine bioregional planning requires a meaningful classification and spatial delineation of the ocean environment using biological and physical characteristics. The relative inaccessibility of much of the ocean and the paucity of directly measured data spanning entire planning regions mean that surrogate data, such as satellite imagery, are frequently used to develop spatial classifications. However, due to a lack of appropriate biological data, these classifications often rely on abiotic variables, which act as surrogates for biodiversity. The aim of this study was to produce a fine-scale bioregional classification, using multivariate clustering, for the inshore and offshore marine environment off the east coast of South Africa, adjacent to the province of KwaZulu-Natal and out to the boundary of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 200 nautical miles offshore. We used remotely sensed data of sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a and turbidity, together with interpolated bathymetry and continental-slope data, as well as additional inshore data on sediments, seabed oxygen and bottom temperature. A multivariate k-means analysis was used to produce a fine-scale marine bioregionalisation, with three bioregions subdivided into 12 biozones. The offshore classification was primarily a pelagic bioregionalisation, whereas the inshore classification (on the continental shelf) was a coupled benthopelagic bioregionalisation, owing to the availability of benthic data for this area. The resulting classification was used as a base layer for a systematic conservation plan developed for the province, and provided the methods for subsequent planning conducted for the entire South African EEZ. Validation of the classification is currently being conducted in marine research programmes that are sampling benthic biota and habitats in a sampling design stratified according to the biozones delineated in this study.     

The secular accelerations of the moon's orbital motion and the earth's rotation

The results and methods of determining the secular accelerations of the Moon's orbital motion and the Earth's rotation from astronomical observations are critically reviewed. In particular, the effect on these results is considered should Spencer Jones' value for the secular acceleration of the Moon be revised. General relationships are deduced between these accelerations, the rate of dissipation of energy in the Earth and the fractional change in the rate of rotation of the Earth. It is shown that the theory of tidal torques alone does not completely account forany of the wide range of results for the retardation of the Earth deduced from astronomical observations.Presented to the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Lunar Studies, Patras, Greece, September 1971.