Noble gas abundance patterns in deep-sea basalts — Primordial gases from the mantle

Rapidly cooled portions of eleven samples of mid-ocean ridge tholeiitic basalt pillows have noble gas abundance patterns which resemble the solar rare gas pattern rather than the noble gas pattern of the terrestrial atmosphere. We conclude that these samples contain primordial noble gases. In contrast, holocrystalline samples and a sample from the interior of a basalt pillow have noble gas abundance patterns which resemble the sea water pattern. Whereas the quenched glossy margins of basalt pillows record a non-atmospheric gas reservoir, these slowly cooled samples apparently have undergone exchange of their noble gases with those dissolved in sea water.     

Local volcanic activity and ice nuclei concentrations on Hawaii

Summary Ice nuclei counts made twice daily at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, throughout the Kilauea Iki and Puna eruptions of November 1959 to February 1960 did not show the increases reported elsewhere during periods of volcanic activity and were apparently not, affected by the visible presence of the volcanic effluent, even on days when this could be presumed to include enormous numbers of salt particles produced along the contact zone between hot lava flows and the sea. The observations suggest that not all active volcanos act as important sources of atmospheric ice nuclei, but that, in fact, other substances concurrently released may even inhibit nucleation.

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Zusammenfassung Während der Eruptionen des Kilauea Iki und des Puna von November 1959 bis Februar 1960 wurden am Mauna-Loa-Observatorium (Hawaii) täglich zweimal Zählungen der Eiskerne mit Hilfe einer Expansionskammer vorgenommen. Im Gegensatz zu den Beobachtungen an anderen Orten bei Vulkanausbrüchen konnte im vorliegenden Fall kein Anstieg der Eiskernzahlen festgestellt werden, obwohl der vulkanische Staub sichtbar war. Selbst an Tagen, an welchen von der Kontaktfläche zwischen Lavastrom und Meer große Mengen von Salzpartikeln in die Atmosphäre gelangt sein müssen, wurde kein Anstieg beobachtet. Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, daß nicht alle aktiven Vulkane wesentliche Quellen von Eiskernen sind und daß möglicherweise andere Stoffe, die gleichzeitig ausgestoßen werden, die Eisbildung sogar hindern können.

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Résumé A l'observatoire de Mauna Loa (Hawaï), on a dénombré les noyaux de congélation deux fois par jour au moyen d'une chambre d'expansion; ces mesures ont été effectuées de novembre 1959 à février 1960, c'est à dire durant la période d'éruption du Kilauea Iki et du Puna. Au contraire d'observations faites ailleurs lors d'éruptions volcaniques, il ne fut pas possible de déterminer ici une augmentation du nombre des noyaux de congélation bien que la poussière volcanique ait été visible à l'oeil nu. On n'a même pas constaté d'augmentation au cours des journées où le courant de lave entrait en contact avec la mer, c'est a dire durant les périodes où de grandes quantités de particules de sel étaient entraînées dans l'atmosphère. Ces résultats montrent que tous les volcans actifs ne doivent pas nécessairement être source de noyaux de congélation et qu'il est en outre possible que certaines substances émises en même temps que la poussière volcanique empêchent même la formation de glace.

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With 2 Figures     

A climate-related oxidizing event in deep-sea sediment from the Bering Sea

Many cores from the deep basins of the Bering Sea have a thin oxidized zone within otherwise reduced sediment. This oxidized zone began to form about 6000 yr ago and represents an interval of about 3200 yr. Mineralogically, the oxidized and reduced sediments are similar, but chemically they differ. Concentrations of Fe and C are lower, and concentrations of Mn, Ba, Co, Mo, and Ni are higher in the oxidized than in the reduced sediment. Mn is enriched about 10-fold in the oxidized zone relative to its concentration in the reduced sediment, Mo about threefold, and Ba, Co, and Ni about twofold. These data suggest that the oxidized zone developed diagenetically as the result of the balance between the flux of organic matter and the available dissolved oxygen in bottom and interstitial waters.We propose that the Bering Sea was substantially ice covered when global glacial conditions prevailed. during the transition to global interglacial conditions, seasonal meltwater from thawing sea ice formed a lens of fresh water that decreased organic productivity. During the winter seasons, however, sea ice reformed and caused downwelling of dense, oxygen-rich waters to recharge bottom waters. The combination of lower organic productivity and more oxygen-rich bottom water allowed oxidized sediment to accumulate. Once full interglacial conditions were established, the volume of sea ice produced was insufficient to affect either productivity or the supply of dissolved oxygen and so bottom conditions again became reducing.Similar events probably occurred during the onset of global glacial conditions, and similar oxidized layers probably formed at these times. Such oxidized zones are highly unstable, however, in a reducing environment and, once buried beyond the influence of bacterial and infaunal activities, are depleted of their available oxygen and converted to reduced sediment.     

Phase equilibria involving humite minerals in impure dolomitic limestones

The natural occurrence of critical assemblages among the phases clinohumite, chondrodite, norbergite, tremolite, forsterite, brucite, periclase, diopside, calcite and dolomite, together with experimental and thermochemical data, permits the calculation of phase equilibria governing the stability of the humite group minerals in impure dolomitic limestones. The phase relations are described by 29 divariant (OH-F) continuous reactions, and 11 univariant discontinuous reactions. The equilibrium conditions for these reactions have been calculated and plotted in isobaricT-X(OH-F) andT- phase diagrams. Continuous reactions govern the compositions of (OH-F) solid solutions and the consequent movement of three-phase triangles on the chemographic diagram. Discontinuous reactions result in the appearance or disappearance of a distinct phase assemblage. The pure OH-humite minerals are metastable relative to forsterite+brucite. With increasing fluorine content, clinohumite, followed in turn by chondrodite and norbergite, becomes stable. The stability fields for the individual humite minerals expand to more CO₂-rich fluid compositions with increasing fluorine content and decreasing total pressure. At 1,000 bars, clinohumite can contain a maximum of 58 mole percent fluorine before reacting discontinuously to form chondrodite (X _F=0.61) and forsterite. The stability field for clinohumite+calcite is restricted to fluids with <0.40. At temperatures less than 700°C, the minimum fluorine mole fractions required to stabilize chondrodite and norbergite are 0.31 and 0.62 respectively. At the same conditions, chondrodite can contain a maximum of approximately 85 mole % F. The calculated phase equilibrium boundaries, the range of stable humite compositions and the compositions of coexisting (OH-F) phases are in good overall agreement with natural assemblages. Owing to steepdT/d slopes for several of the humite continuous reactions, the F/(F+OH) ratio of a given humite mineral is a useful indicator of the CO₂/H₂O ratio of the fluid phase.     

Effects of size and temperature on mud crab,Panopeus herbstii,predation on hard clams,Mercenaria mercenaria

Predation byPanopeus herbstii onMercenaria mercenaria was significantly affected by temperature, and the size of predators and prey items. LargerP. herbstii opened more clams and preyed more successfully on larger clams than did smaller crabs. Increase in seed clam size and decrease in water temperature significantly reduced predation. Clam size appeared to be more important than crab satiation in reducing predation rate. Planting larger seed clams in cooler months should help to improve clam survival by reducing the impact ofP. herbstii in culture operations.     

Evaluation of the CORDEX-Africa multi-RCM hindcast: systematic model errors

Monthly-mean precipitation, mean (T_AVG), maximum (T_MAX) and minimum (T_MIN) surface air temperatures, and cloudiness from the CORDEX-Africa regional climate model (RCM) hindcast experiment are evaluated for model skill and systematic biases. All RCMs simulate basic climatological features of these variables reasonably, but systematic biases also occur across these models. All RCMs show higher fidelity in simulating precipitation for the west part of Africa than for the east part, and for the tropics than for northern Sahara. Interannual variation in the wet season rainfall is better simulated for the western Sahel than for the Ethiopian Highlands. RCM skill is higher for T_AVG and T_MAX than for T_MIN, and regionally, for the subtropics than for the tropics. RCM skill in simulating cloudiness is generally lower than for precipitation or temperatures. For all variables, multi-model ensemble (ENS) generally outperforms individual models included in ENS. An overarching conclusion in this study is that some model biases vary systematically for regions, variables, and metrics, posing difficulties in defining a single representative index to measure model fidelity, especially for constructing ENS. This is an important concern in climate change impact assessment studies because most assessment models are run for specific regions/sectors with forcing data derived from model outputs. Thus, model evaluation and ENS construction must be performed separately for regions, variables, and metrics as required by specific analysis and/or assessments. Evaluations using multiple reference datasets reveal that cross-examination, quality control, and uncertainty estimates of reference data are crucial in model evaluations.     

Dynamic response of flexible rockfall barriers under different loading geometries

Flexible steel barriers are commonly constructed on steep hillsides to mitigate rockfall. The evaluation of the dynamic response of proprietary flexible barriers is conventionally performed using full-scale field tests by dropping a weight onto the barriers in accordance with the European test standard ETAG 27. The weight typically has a spherical or polyhedral shape and cannot reproduce more complex rockfall scenarios encountered in the field. A rigid slab may load a barrier over a larger area and its effect has not been investigated. In this study, a calibrated three-dimensional finite-element model was developed to study the performance of vertically and horizontally orientated rockfall barriers under concentrated areal impact loads. A new bilinear force-displacement model was incorporated into the model to simulate the behavior of the energy-dissipating devices on the barriers. The effect of different weight geometries was studied by considering impacts by a rigid single spherical boulder and a rigid slab. Results reveal that areal loading induced by a rigid slab increases the loading on the barrier foundation by up to 40 % in both horizontally and vertically positioned barriers when compared to a concentrated load scenario with a single boulder. This indicates that barriers tested under the current test standard does not give the worst-case scenario in terms of foundation loads, and barrier designers should take into account the possible effect of increased foundation loads by reinforcing the barrier posts and/or increasing their spacing.