Complexity in astroplasmas

Ideas of complexity theory – including self-organized criticality – are being applied to the study of turbulence and astroplasmas in the solar system. An RAS MIST meeting in London brought together researchers from different disciplines to compare established paradigms with more recent ideas. Sandra Chapman , Mervyn Freeman and Sean Oughton report.     

Impacts of afforestation on groundwater resources and quality

Plans to double the proportion of land under forest cover in Ireland by the year 2035 have been initiated. The plan, primarily financially driven, ignores potential environmental impacts of forestry, particularly impacts on groundwater resources and quality. Since groundwater supplies almost 25% of Ireland's total potable water, these impacts are important. Field investigations indicate that afforestation leads to a reduction in runoff by as much as 20%, mainly due to interception of rainfall by forest canopies. Clearfelling has the opposite impact. Implications are that uncoordinated forestry practices can potentially exacerbate flooding. Groundwater recharge is affected by forestry, largely due to greater uptake of soil water by trees and to increased water-holding capacity of forest soils, arising from higher organic contents. Recharge rates under forests can be reduced to one tenth that under grass or heathland. Groundwater quality may be affected by enhanced acidification and nitrification under forests, due partly to scavenging of atmospheric pollutants by forest canopies, and partly to greater deposition of highly acid leaf litter. The slower recharge rates of groundwater under forests lead to significant delays in manifestation of deterioration in groundwater quality. Electronic Publication     

Subtidal assemblages on rocky reefs at a cliff-face sewage outfall (North Head, Sydney, Australia): What happened when the outfall was turned off?

For many years, sewage was continuously discharged via inshore outfalls into shallow subtidal habitats around Sydney (New South Wales). In 1990, deepwater ocean outfalls were commissioned and inshore discharge ceased. This study examined the assemblage of organisms found on subtidal cliffs at one inshore outfall to examine differences in, or recovery by, the biota when sewage was no longer discharged. This assemblage was primarily composed of filter-feeding animals (sponges, ascidians, bryozoans, anthozoans) and encrusting algae. Differences and changes in the assemblages at a number of different spatial scales, relative to the assemblages at two reference locations, were examined four times over a 20 month period. Although most taxa showed significant changes over the study period, most of these were unpredictable and varied interactively according to the taxon, plot, depth and location. For most measures, however, the location where sewage had been released lay within the natural variability shown by the reference locations. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to other studies on the effects of sewage on intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats.     

Mapping a Brine Plume Using Surface Geophysical Methods in Conjunction with Ground Water Quality Data

Oil field brine was applied to a gravel roadbed at an instrumented study site in Newark, Ohio, to simulate the use of brine as a deicer on roads in certain areas of Ohio. Brine was applied on a weekly basis eight times during the winter of 1988 as part of the deicing simulation. Eleven wells were installed at the site prior to brine application to permit collection of ground water quality samples. Surface geophysical methods — electrical resistivity and electromagnetic conductivity — were used to map the resulting brine plume. The accuracy of the methods was evaluated by comparing geophysical and ground water quality data. The presence of brine in ground water resulted in a decrease in resistivity and an increase in conductivity. Specific conductance measured in the field was used as a general indicator of the presence of the brine plume in ground water. Chloride concentration was an indicator of brine in the ground water. Results of the surface geophysical surveys correlated best with chloride and dissolved solids concentrations, and with specific conductance in ground water. The surface geophysical methods were found to be useful for qualitative interpretations of ground water quality changes resulting from the application of brine on roads.     

Strontium and oxygen isotope profiles across marble-silicate contacts,Lizzies Basin,East Humboldt Range,Nevada: constraints on metamorphic permeability contrasts and fluid flow

 Sr isotope profiles across marble-silicate rock contacts are used in conjunction with previously published oxygen isotope profiles to constrain fluid movement, porosity and permeability contrasts in migmatitic rocks from Lizzies Basin in the East Humboldt Range, Nevada. The ¹⁸O/¹⁶O systematics in the high-grade sequence have been interpreted to reflect infiltration of ∼2×10² m³/m² of a relatively low ¹⁸O hydrous fluid through the sequence, but with preservation of δ¹⁸O anomalies in thin marble bands due to a 30-fold lower porosity in the marble compared with silicate rocks (Wickham and Peters 1992). The Sr isotope profiles confirm that tracer exchange between marble and silicate rock was primarily by diffusion, and in one case, indicate that porosities differed by less than a factor of four in the ∼10 cm boundary layer which exhibits diffusive modification of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios. This contrasts with modelling of the oxygen isotope profiles which imply porosity contrasts >10 for one marble band and >50 for a second marble band. Either strontium and oxygen isotope diffusion reflect different events (possible if fluid Sr contents varied with time) or porosity varied substantially with the silicate rocks. Oxygen isotope profiles in the deeper part of the metamorphic section in which δ¹⁸O values of silicate rocks have been homogenised and lowered, indicate similar diffusion distances (and thus porosity-time evolution) to oxygen isotopic profiles higher in the section. Comparison of strontium and oxygen isotope diffusion distances constrains fluid Sr contents to between ∼50 and ∼500 ppm deep in the section, but less than ∼10 ppm higher in the section. The difference is related to release of relatively saline, Sr-rich fluids, by the abundant leucogranites and associated skarns deep in the section (cf. Peters and Wickham 1995). Received: 9 December 1994/Accepted: 13 April 1995     

Observations on the biota of an estuarine beach at Hardys Bay (NSW, Australia) following a spillage of aldrin

An industrial accident resulted in a spillage of aldrin onto an estuarine beach at Hardys Bay, New South Wales. Samples of water and sediment were taken 3 weeks later to measure the level of contamination resulting from the spill. The abundances of some intertidal biota were also determined at the site of the spillage and in other uncontaminated areas.

Three weeks after the spill, samples of water were not contaminated by aldrin but samples of sediment from the surface in the vicinity of the drain contained aldrin. In comparison to uncontaminated locations the abundances of crustacea were greatly reduced in the vicinity of the drain but abundances of polychaetes were not significantly different. The field data on the relative susceptibility of the two groups of animals agrees well with laboratory derived LC50 data for crustacea and polychaetes.

The study suggests that degree of contamination of water and sediment may not always be an accurate reflection of acute impact on biota, and that different components of the biota can show different reactions to the presence of a toxic chemical.     

Lunar tidal componentsN 1 andO 2 in the atmospheric pressure

Summary The lunar tidal componentsO ₁(p) andN ₂(p) in the barometric pressure are determined for several observatories for which long series of data are available in machine readable form. AlsoN ₂(p) results are derived from some earlier analyses. The results are compared with those predicted by equilibrium tidal theory.This paper was presented at the General Scientific Assembly of I.A.G.A., held in Madrid in September 1969.     

THE FOREMAN STORY–CLOSURE OF IDAHO FLOWING WELL AFFECTS GROUND WATER IN ENTIRE AREA

Abstract In 1962, a 2,980-foot deep well was drilled for D. I. Foreman in Middle Castle Creek Valley, Owyhee County, Idaho. This well, which flowed approximately 3,600 gpm, yielded water of 170°F from basalt and silicic volcanic formations; original shut-in pressure was 105 psi. However, leakage began to occur around the casing, and in 1967, a suit was filed on behalf of the Idaho Department of Water Administration to have the well repaired.
The Andrew Well Drilling Company, of Idaho Falls, was hired to repair the well, and was on the site in November 1968. Additional casing, packers, and pressure grouting sealed the well adequately. The effect of closure of the foreman well on ground water of the entire area was dramatic. As an example, within 8 hours of closure, water in an observation well 5.7 miles away, rose more than a tenth of a foot. Net increase in this observation well since closure has been 26 feet.     

The solar and lunar daily geomagnetic variation of declination at Trevandrum, 1853–1869

Summary The eye readings of easterly declination at Trevandrum observatory have been analysed to determine solar and lunar daily vatiations. Hourly readings during February 1853 to February 1865 are analysed by Chapman-Miller method. The 8 values read at unequidistant day-time hours during March 1865 to December 1869 are analysed to compute the amplitude and phase of the semimonthly wave at each of the hours separately. The semi-monthly lunar wave obtained from the hourly readings shows a considerable night-time variation. A brief discussion of the results is also given.Contributions from the Earth Physics Branch, No. 323