Vapor-phase interactions and diffusion of organic solvents in the unsaturated zone

This article presents an analysis of the interactions and static movement of 37 organic solvents as vapors through the unsaturated soil zone. The physicochemical interactions of the organic vapors with unsaturated soil materials were emphasized with focus on diffusive, and adsorptive interactions. Fick's Law and porous media diffusion coefficients for most of the solvent vapors were either compiled or estimated; coefficients were not available for some of the fluorinated solvents. The adsorption of some of the solvent vapors by silica was concluded to be due to hydrogen bond formation with surface silanol groups. Heats of adsorption data for different adsorbents were also compiled. There were very few data on the adsorption of these solvent vapors by soils, but it appears that the magnitude of adsorption of nonpolar solvents is reduced as the relative humidity of the vapor-solid system is increased. Consequently, the interaction of the vapors may then separated into two processes; (1) gas-water partitioning described by Henry's Law constants, and (2) solid-water adsorption coefficients which may be estimated from liquid-solid partition coefficients (K _d values).     

Sr isotopic heterogeneity in primitive basaltic rocks,southeastern Australia: correlation with mantle metasomatism

Rb/Sr data for seven basaltic provinces (K-Ar ages 50-0 Ma) in southeastern Australia imply isotopic heterogeneities in the mantle sources. The total range of ⁸⁷Sr/ ⁸⁶Sr is 0.7031–0.7054. Effects of crustal contamination are negligible, since the rocks analyzed represent primary or primitive magma compositions. The inferred scales of heterogeneity range from <1 km for small intraprovince variations, to in the order of 100 km for the larger differences between provinces.Correlation of regional high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in basaltic rocks with the presence of amphibole-bearing upper mantle xenoliths suggests that the degree of metasomatic activity in the underlying mantle is a major control on the Rb/Sr and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values of mantle source volumes and partial melts derived from these. Xenolith data also indicate that both pervasive metasomatism and the presence of crystallized melts or cumulates as veins and dykes in mantle wall rock are possible mechanisms for metasomatic additions.Mantle isochrons can be constructed both within some provinces and between provinces. However, episodic metasomatism in the mantle source regions, with correlated enrichment in Rb/Sr and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, can produce artificial isochrons which may have no relevance to mantle differentiation events.     

Apatite as an indicator mineral for mineral exploration: trace-element compositions and their relationship to host rock type

Over 700 apatite grains from a range of rock types have been analysed by laser-ablation microprobe ICPMS for 28 trace elements, to investigate the potential usefulness of apatite as an indicator mineral in mineral exploration. Apatites derived from different rock types have distinctive absolute and relative abundances of many trace elements (including rare-earth elements (REE), Sr, Y, Mn, Th), and chondrite-normalised trace-element patterns. The slope of chondrite-normalised REE patterns varies systematically from ultramafic through mafic/intermediate to highly fractionated granitoid rock types. (Ce/Yb)_cn is very high in apatites from carbonatites and mantle-derived lherzolites (over 100 and over 200, respectively), while (Ce/Yb)_cn values in apatites from granitic pegmatites are generally less than 1, reflecting both HREE enrichment and LREE depletion. Within a large suite of apatites from granitoid rocks, chemical composition is closely related to both the degree of fractionation and the oxidation state of the magma, two important parameters in determining the mineral potential of the magmatic system. Apatite can accept high levels of transition and chalcophile elements and As, making it feasible to recognise apatite associated with specific types of mineralisation. Multivariate statistical analysis has provided a user-friendly scheme to distinguish apatites from different rock types, based on contents of Sr, Y, Mn and total REE, the degree of LREE enrichment and the size of the Eu anomaly. The scheme can be used for the recognition of apatites from specific rock types or styles of mineralisation, so that the provenance of apatite grains in heavy mineral concentrates can be determined and used in geochemical exploration.     

Spectroscopic binaries near the North Galactic Pole

Photoelectric radial-velocity observations, begun independently at Cambridge and at Ames by the respective authors and now including results from no fewer than six radial-velocity spectrometers, show that the K1 III star HR 4793 is a spectroscopic binary; it has a circular orbit with a period of 111 days and the quite modest amplitude of 7kms^-1     

Analyzing Animal Movement Characteristics From Location Data

When individuals of a species utilize an environment, they generate movement patterns at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Field observations coupled with location technologies (e.g. GPS tags) enable the capture of detailed spatio‐temporal data regarding these movement patterns. These patterns contain information about species‐specific preferences regarding individual decision‐making, locational choices and the characteristics of the habitat in which the animal resides. Spatial Data Mining approaches can be used to extract repeated spatio‐temporal patterns and additional habitat preferences hidden within large spatially explicit movement datasets. We describe a method to determine the periodicity and directionality in movement exhibited by a migratory bird species. Results using a High Arctic‐nesting Svalbard Barnacle Goose movement data yielded undetected patterns that were secondarily corroborated with expert field knowledge. Individual revisits by the geese to specific locations in the breeding and wintering grounds of Svalbard, Norway and Solway, Scotland, occurred with a periodicity of 334 days . Further, the orientation of this movement was detected to be mostly north‐south. During long‐range migration the geese use the north‐south oriented Norwegian islands as “stepping stones”, Short‐range movement between mudbank roosts to feeding fields in Solway also retained a north‐south orientation.     

Analysis of multiple enteric viral targets as sewage markers in coral reefs

Water and coral mucus samples were collected from throughout the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Dry Tortugas for three years and were analyzed for human enteric viruses (enteroviruses, noroviruses, hepatitis A virus and adenoviruses) as conservative markers of human sewage using molecular methods. Of the 100 coral and water samples collected, 40 contained genetic material from one or more human enteric viruses. DNA-based adenoviruses were detected widely, in 37.8% of samples and at 91% of stations, including ‘pristine’ reefs in the Dry Tortugas; however, the detection rate was 12% for the RNA-based enteroviruses and noroviruses (hepatitis A virus was never detected). The disparity between the prevalence of RNA- and DNA-based viruses suggests the need for additional work to determine the utility of adenovirus as marker of human sewage.     

Composite spectra Paper 15: HD 216572, a triple system containing a short-period, double-lined secondary

We analyse 81 optical spectra of the composite-spectrum binary HD 216572, and show that the primary is a cool giant of type G8 III while the secondary is a double-lined binary consisting of two nearly identical B9 dwarfs in a 1.18-d orbit. The inner system undergoes partial eclipses, whose photometry we model to derive the physical parameters of both secondary stars. The outer system does not eclipse. We isolate the combined spectrum of the secondary by spectral subtraction, and from 48 separate radial-velocity measurements of both secondary components we obtain a triple-lined orbit solution from which we determine the individual masses of all three stars and the inclinations of both the inner and the outer orbits. The period of the outer system is 55 d, which is surprisingly short for a giant star, and our detection of small but non-negligible amounts of variable chromospheric emission in the Ca  ii K line is not unlike that detected in other systems with comparably short periods. The secondary components are in a circular orbit and are rotating at about  95 ± 10 km s⁻¹  ; although their surface-to-surface separation is only  4 R_⊙  the stars are not noticeably distorted geometrically by such close proximity. All three stars appear to be in synchronous rotation in their respective orbits. We derive fairly accurate Hertzsprung–Russell diagram positions for all three stars and compare them to evolutionary tracks calculated for the respective stellar masses, but cannot reconcile the age of the cool giant with that of the B stars.     

Linking continental deep subduction with destruction of a cratonic margin: strongly reworked North China SCLM intruded in the Triassic Sulu UHP belt

The collision between the North and South China cratons in Middle Triassic time (240–225 Ma) created the world’s largest belt of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. U–Pb ages, Hf isotope systematics and trace element compositions of zircons from the Xugou, Yangkou and Hujialing peridotites in the Sulu UHP terrane mainly record a ~470 Ma tectonothermal event, coeval with the Early Paleozoic kimberlite eruptions within the North China craton. This event is interpreted as the result of metasomatism by fluids/melts derived from multiple sources including a subducting continental slab. The peridotites also contain zircons with ages of ~3.1 Ga, and Hf isotope data imply a component ≥3.2 Ga old. Most zircon Hf depleted mantle model ages are ~1.3 Ga, suggesting that the deep subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the southeastern margin of the North China craton experienced a intense mid-Mesoproterozoic metasomatism by asthenospheric components, similar to the case for the eastern part of this craton. Integrating data from peridotites along the southern margin of the craton, we argue that the deep lithosphere of the cratonic margin (≥3.2 Ga old), from which the Xugou, Yangkou and Hujialing peridotites were derived, experienced Proterozoic metasomatic modification, followed by a strong Early Paleozoic (~470 Ma) tectonothermal event and the Early Mesozoic (~230 Ma) collision and northward subduction of the Yangtze craton. The Phanerozoic decratonization of the eastern North China craton, especially along its southern margin, was not earlier than the Triassic continental collision. This work also demonstrates that although zircons are rare in peridotitic rocks, they can be used to unravel the history of specific lithospheric domains and thus contribute to our understanding of the evolution of continental cratons and their margins.