Unintended consequences: The spillover effects of common property regulations

The closure of the Hawaiian longline swordfish fishery over the period 2001–2004, which was motivated by the protection of endangered sea turtles, created the elements of a natural experiment that allows identification of the market transfer of catch (and sea turtle bycatch) to other regions. This paper exploits the fact that the vessels in the Hawaiian longline fishery sell their catch in the US fresh swordfish market to analyze the pattern of changes in US fresh and frozen swordfish consumption both before and after the closure regulation was imposed. The mechanisms by which any unintended consequences on endangered sea turtles in other fishery locations in the world are shown to take place through the US swordfish market. At the estimated annual market transfer, a bootstrap analysis of the probability distribution of bycatch rates indicates that the regulation led to an additional 2882 sea turtle interactions at the sample means.     

Dynamic orbit determination and gravity field model improvement from GPS, DORIS and Laser measurements on TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite

Summary. In the framework of the GRIM series of gravity field models, the CNES/GRGS GINS precise orbit determination software has been adapted to dynamic GPS data processing. That is simultaneous processing of all available observables (i.e. GPS, DORIS, Laser) and all available satellite orbits (i.e. GPS, TOPEX/POSEIDON) can now be performed. The TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) mission satellite is equipped with a GPS receiver, a DORIS receiver and a laser reflector that represents an unprecedented opportunity to compare and combine these three tracking systems to estimate orbital parameters and gravity field coefficients. Different combinations including : GPS + DORIS, DORIS + LASER, GPS + DORIS + LASER, have been tested and have shown small but systematic improvement in T/P orbit accuracy when GPS and DORIS data were processed simultaneously. Five tuned gravity field models have been generated by accumulating different combinations of T/P normal equations associated to the GPS, DORIS and Laser data. GPS data have a greater dynamic impact on gravity field spherical harmonics coefficient determination than DORIS and Laser data. Furthermore, the results obtained with the solutions including and T/P normal equations suggest that indeed these different tracking systems are somehow complementary in a dynamic sense. Received 30 March 1995; Accepted 19 September 1996     

Isotopic compositions of S, N and C in soils and vegetation of three forest types in Québec, Canada

The concentrations and the isotopic compositions of S, N and C were studied in soils and in the dominant plant species of three forested watersheds (Québec, Canada) located along a latitudinal and atmospheric deposition gradient. Large increases in S, N and C isotope ratios (up to 3.9‰, 10‰, 2.6‰, respectively) were observed with increasing soil depth at the three watersheds. These increases were accompanied by a strong decrease in elemental concentrations resulting in a strong negative relationship between these two variables. Both S and N concentrations throughout the soil profile and δ³⁴S and δ¹⁵N in the mineral soil appeared to increase with increasing S and N deposition rates and decreasing latitude. A strong positive linear relationship was found between δ³⁴S and δ¹⁵N (R² = 0.72) values and between organic S and N concentrations (R² = 0.96) in soils. The slope of the linear relationship between δ³⁴S and δ¹⁵N (δ³⁴S = f(δ¹⁵N)) indicated that isotopic fractionation was almost 4 times higher for S than for N during transformations that occurred in soil. However, this difference might reflect a higher degree of openness of the S cycle compared to the N cycle rather than an isotope effect per se. Overall, the results suggest that N and S inputs significantly impact the isotope ratios and the concentrations of N and S in the soils, and that S and N were closely associated and subject to similar processes with the same isotopic effects throughout the soil profile. Contrary to most studies, δ³⁴S-SO₄ in stream water of the most northerly site with the lowest S deposition rate was significantly higher than δ³⁴S-SO₄ in atmospheric depositions but similar to the δ³⁴S of the bulk mineral soil. It suggests that the mineral soil actually contributes a large portion of the stream S-SO₄ for this site.     

White mica trace element and boron isotope evidence for distinctive infiltration events during exhumation of deeply subducted continental crust

ABSTRACT

Previous study of subducted continental crust within the Luliang Shan terrane in Northwest China has documented metasomatic formation of thick, hydrated phengite + garnet-rich selvages at the interface between mafic eclogite blocks and quartzofeldspathic host gneiss. Whole rock concentrations of Cs and Ba within the selvage are enriched by two orders of magnitude relative to the eclogite blocks and host gneiss. We performed in situ ion microprobe analyses of Li, Be, B, Rb, Sr, Cs and Ba and δ¹¹B of phengite within the Luliang Shane terrane to better constrain the source(s) of the infiltrating fluid. The phengite within the selvage are enriched in Li, Cs and Ba and yield δ¹¹B values between ?30‰ and ?9‰, values that are lower than mantle values. High Ba/Rb, Cs/Rb coupled with low B/Be, B/Li and highly negative δ¹¹B values indicate that the high-pressure fluid that formed the selvage was derived from highly devolatilized rocks within the subduction channel. In contrast, muscovite, which crystallized in the adjacent host gneiss during a subsequent lower pressure phase of fluid infiltration at approximately 0.9 GPa depths, has much lower Li, Cs and Ba relative to the high-pressure phengite. These retrograde muscovite have very high concentrations of B (up to 5500 ppm) and Be (up to 50 ppm) and high (?2 to +8‰) δ¹¹B values that are consistent with crystallization from a fluid derived from shallower and less devolatilized regions of the subduction zone. Additional host gneiss samples, regionally distributed and kilometres away from the studied area lack the B-rich signature and indicate that the late stage fluids were likely localized to the region near the studied traverse.     

Laser Ablation (193 nm), Purification and Determination of Very Low Concentrations of Solar Wind Nitrogen Implanted in Targets from the GENESIS Spacecraft

The GENESIS space mission recovered ions emitted by the Sun during a 27 month period. In order to extract, purify and determine the very low quantities of solar nitrogen implanted in the GENESIS targets, a new installation was developed and constructed at the CRPG (Nancy, France). It permitted the simultaneous determination of nitrogen and noble gases extracted from the target by laser ablation. The extraction procedure used a 193 nm excimer laser that allowed for surface contamination in the outer 5 nm to be removed, followed by a step that removed 50 nm of the target material, extracting the solar nitrogen and noble gases implanted in the target. Following purification using Ti and Zr getters for noble gases and a Cu-CuO oxidation cycle for N₂, the extracted gases were analysed by static mode (pumps closed) mass spectrometry using electron multiplier and Faraday cup detectors. The nitrogen blanks from the purification section and the static line (30 minutes) were only 0.46 picomole and 0.47 picomole, respectively.     

Oxygen isotopes in single micrometer-sized quartz grains: tracing the source of Saharan dust over long-distance atmospheric transport

Oxygen isotope compositions were measured by ion microprobe in individual micrometer-sized quartz grains extracted from one aerosol sample collected on the Cape Verde Islands and from four surface samples (three soils and one sediment) representing potential source regions of aerosols in Western and Central Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Niger, and Chad). A large range of δ¹⁸O values, from +6.2‰ to +39.3‰ is present within the aerosol quartz grains. The different size fractions of the quartz grains from the surface samples overlap nearly entirely this range but show significant differences in their δ¹⁸O distributions for the different size fractions of the grains (i.e., different modes, different proportions of grains with low or high δ¹⁸O, ...). These differences in δ¹⁸O distributions can be related to different geological formations (i.e., mantle-derived magmatic rocks, crustal magmatic rocks, or sedimentary rocks) outcropping in each region, thus giving a fingerprint of the source region. Quartz grains with unusually high δ¹⁸O values between +30‰ and +40‰ were attributed to lacustrine cherts formed in evaporitic environments (Chad basin).The existence of distinct δ¹⁸O distributions for the surface samples, which reflect regional geology but indicate some transport of the grains, enables the characterization of mixing processes during dust emission in the atmosphere. Particles are mixed at a regional scale in the dust reservoir, but injection of fine particles into the high troposphere occurs as a discrete and localized event with no mixing during the subsequent long-range transport by the easterlies. The comparison of the δ¹⁸O distribution of the quartz from the aerosol sample with the equivalent size fractions in surface samples shows that the Niger area is the more probable source region for the aerosol although the Moroccan source cannot be excluded. This method gives a valuable tool to trace the source region of dust into the atmosphere or into sediment samples, allowing the reconstruction of air mass circulations.     

Release of organic nitrogen compounds from Kerogen via catalytic hydropyrolysis

High hydrogen pressure pyrolysis (hydropyrolysis) was performed on samples of solvent extracted Kimmeridge Clay Formation source rock with a maturity equivalent to ca. 0.35% vitrinite reflectance. We describe the types and distributions of organic nitrogen compounds in the pyrolysis products (hydropyrolysates) using GC-MS. Compounds identified included alkyl-substituted indoles, carbazoles, benzocarbazoles, quinolines and benzoquinolines. The distributions of the isomers of methylcarbazoles, C₂-alkylcarbazoles and benzocarbazoles in the hydropyrolysates were compared to a typical North Sea oil. The hydropyrolysates compared to the North Sea oil, showed increased contributions from alkylcarbazole isomers where the nitrogen group is "exposed" (no alkyl substituents adjacent to the nitrogen functionality) and appreciable levels of benzo[b]carbazole relative to benzo[a]- and benzo[c]carbazoles. Hydropyrolysis is found to be an ideal technique for liberating appreciable quantities of heterocyclic organic nitrogen compounds from geomacromolecules. The products released from the immature Kimmeridge Clay are thought to represent a potential source of nitrogen compounds in the bound phase (kerogen) able to contribute to the free bitumen phase during catagenesis.     

Xenon in Archean barite: Weak decay of Ba, mass-dependent isotopic fractionation and implication for barite formation

In order to investigate radioactive decay of ¹³⁰Ba and ¹³²Ba which have half-lives on the order 10²⁰-10²¹ a, the isotopic composition of xenon has been measured in 3.5 Ga barite of the Dresser Formation, Pilbara, Western Australia. The analyzed samples were collected at about 86 m depth from a diamond drill core (Pilbara Drilling Project). The fact that the sample has been shielded from modern cosmic ray exposure reduces the number of potentially interfering production pathways, simplifying interpretation of the Xe isotope spectrum. This spectrum is clearly distinct from that of either modern or ancient atmospheric Xe. A strong excess of ¹³⁰Xe is identified, as well as other isotopic excursions which are attributed to mass-dependent isotopic fractionation and contributions from products of uranium fission. The mass-dependent fractionation, estimated at 2.1 ± 0.3% amu⁻¹, can be accounted for by mutual diffusion and Rayleigh distillation during barite formation that is consistent with geological constraints. After correction for mass-dependent fractionation, the concentrations of fissiogenic Xe isotopes demonstrate that the U-Xe isotope system has remained closed over 3.5 Ga. From the excess of ¹³⁰Xe, the two successive electron capture half life of this isotope is estimated at 6.0 ± 1.1 × 10²⁰ a, which is 3.4 times faster than previously estimated (Meshik et al., 2001). We could not find evidence of ¹³²Ba decay within our Xe isotope spectra.     

Effects of three oil spill dispersants on marine bacterial populations: I. Preliminary Study. Quantitative Evolution of Aerobes

The effects of three hydrocarbon dispersant agents (Corexit 9527, Hydrogamosol LT and OSR LT 126) on the bacterial flora of the marine environment are analysed in 20-square-metre basins filled with lagoon seawater.Four months after the first treatment, oil slicks were no longer visible, whereas the appearance of the untreated reference slick had hardly changed. The treatment of 10-litre crude-oil slicks causes an appreciable and long lasting increase in the bacterial population.     

Primordial heavy noble gases in the pristine Paris carbonaceous chondrite

The Paris carbonaceous chondrite represents the most pristine carbonaceous chondrite, providing a unique opportunity to investigate the composition of early solar system materials prior to the onset of significant aqueous alteration. A dual origin (namely from the inner and outer solar system) has been demonstrated for water in the Paris meteorite parent body (Piani et al. 2018 ). Here, we aim to evaluate the contribution of outer solar system (cometary‐like) water ice to the inner solar system water ice using Xe isotopes. We report Ar, Kr, and high‐precision Xe isotopic measurements within bulk CM 2.9 and CM 2.7 fragments, as well as Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe isotope compositions of the insoluble organic matter (IOM). Noble gas signatures are similar to chondritic phase Q with no evidence for a cometary‐like Xe component. Small excesses in the heavy Xe isotopes relative to phase Q within bulk samples are attributed to contributions from presolar materials. CM 2.7 fragments have lower Ar/Xe relative to more pristine CM 2.9 fragments, with no systematic difference in Xe contents. We conclude that Kr and Xe were little affected by aqueous alteration, in agreement with (1) minor degrees of alteration and (2) no significant differences in the chemical signature of organic matter in CM 2.7 and CM 2.9 areas (Vinogradoff et al. 2017 ). Xenon contents in the IOM are larger than previously published data of Xe in chondritic IOM, in line with the Xe component in Paris being pristine and preserved from Xe loss during aqueous alteration/thermal metamorphism.