Qal’eh hasan ali maars,central Iran

A group of craters 120 km southeast of Kerman, the largest 1200 m across and 300 m deep, are typical maars, excavated depression with rims of bedded pyroclastic debris. Most of the crater rims are composed entirely of country rock clasts, but the largest crater yields tephrite, composed of phenocrysts of phlogopite, clinopyroxene, and olivine in a groundmass of anorthoclase, analcime, hauyne, clinopyroxene and magnetite, and a cumulate of phlogopite and clinopyroxene with highly potassic glass. The occurrence of hauyne as a ground mass mineral is a rare or unique feature. The maar field lies in the projection to the south of the Nayband fault and, with some flows near that fault, represents a province of Quaternary alkali basalt volcanism.     

Molybdenite in calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions in the Allende meteorite

The first observations of molybdenite in a meteorite have been made in two CaAl-rich inclusions in the Allende chondrite. The mineral occurs as single individuals completely enclosed in high Ni metal (62–64.5 wt. % Ni). The association with refractories is consistent with thermodynamic calculations which predict that Mo is a high temperature condensate even when nucleation constraints are imposed on the formation of a metal phase. Kinetic factors (including nucleation constraints) appear to have played an important role in the formation of molybdenite and the associated sulfides, magnetite and high nickel metal.     

Preliminary mariner 9 report on the geology of Mars

Mariner 9 pictures indicate that the surface of Mars has been shaped by impact, volcanic, tectonic, erosional and depositional activity. The moonlike cratered terrain, identified as the dominant surface unit from the Mariner 6 and 7 flyby data, has proven to be less typical of Mars than previously believed, although extensive in the mid- and high-latitude regions of the southern hemisphere. Martian craters are highly modified but their size-frequency distribution and morphology suggest that most were formed by impact. Circular basins encompassed by rugged terrain and filled with smooth plains material are recognized. These structures, like the craters, are more modified than corresponding features on the Moon and they exercise a less dominant influence on the regional geology. Smooth plains with few visible craters fill the large basins and the floors of larger craters; they also occupy large parts of the northern hemisphere where the plains lap against higher landforms. The middle northern latitudes of Mars from 90 to 150† longitude contain at least four large shield volcanoes each of which is about twice as massive as the largest on Earth. Steep-sided domes with summit craters and large, fresh-appearing volcanic craters with smooth rims are also present in this region. Multiple flow structures, ridges with lobate flanks, chain craters, and sinuous rilles occur in all regions, suggesting widespread volcanism. Evidence for tectonic activity postdating formation of the cratered terrain and some of the plains units is abundant in the equatorial area from 0 to 120° longitude.Some regions exhibit a complex semiradial array of graben that suggest doming and stretching of the surface. Others contain intensity faulted terrain with broader, deeper graben separated by a complex mosaic of flat-topped blocks. An east-west-trending canyon system about 100–200 km wide and about 2500 km long extends through the Coprates-Eos region. The canyons have gullied walls indicative of extensive headward erosion since their initial formation. Regionally depressed areas called chaotic terrain consist of intricately broken and jumbled blocks and appear to result from breaking up and slumping of older geologic units. Compressional features have not been identified in any of the pictures analyzed to data. Plumose light and dark surface markings can be explained by eolian transport. Mariner 9 has thus revealed that Mars is a complex planet with its own distinctive geologic history and that it is less primitive than the Moon.     

REVISED AGE FOR THE GOSSES BLUFF IMPACT STRUCTURE,NORTHERN TERRITORY,AUSTRALIA, BASED ON 40Ar/39Ar DATING

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹ Ar dating of a pumiceous suevite clast from the melt breccia at Gosses Bluff consisting largely of extremely fine-grained sanidine yields a discordant age spectrum, probably reflecting some diffusional loss of argon. High-temperature increments that together yield a near-plateau age of 142.5 Ma are apparently not affected by argon loss and offer the best estimate of the date of the Gosses Bluff event. The event may fall in the latest Jurassic Period, but more likely falls in the earliest Cretaceous, probably in one of the reverse-polarity magnetochrons M16, M17, or M18.     

Geographical object–oriented databases—a case study

ABSTRACT

An Australian standard for Spatial Data Transfer modelled on the draft American standard is likely to be introduced in 1993. The spatial data model is not accommodated by existing DBMS such as relational systems. Using this model as an example, the suitability of object–oriented database systems for geographical databases is demonstrated. Some initial performance figures obtained with the ONTOS system on an example database are given.     

The Temporal Morphology of Infrasound Propagation

Expert knowledge suggests that the performance of automated infrasound event association and source location algorithms could be greatly improved by the ability to continually update station travel-time curves to properly account for the hourly, daily, and seasonal changes of the atmospheric state. With the goal of reducing false alarm rates and improving network detection capability we endeavor to develop, validate, and integrate this capability into infrasound processing operations at the International Data Centre of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Numerous studies have demonstrated that incorporation of hybrid ground-to-space (G2S) enviromental specifications in numerical calculations of infrasound signal travel time and azimuth deviation yields significantly improved results over that of climatological atmospheric specifications, specifically for tropospheric and stratospheric modes. A robust infrastructure currently exists to generate hybrid G2S vector spherical harmonic coefficients, based on existing operational and emperical models on a real-time basis (every 3- to 6-hours) (Drob et al., 2003). Thus the next requirement in this endeavor is to refine numerical procedures to calculate infrasound propagation characteristics for robust automatic infrasound arrival identification and network detection, location, and characterization algorithms. We present results from a new code that integrates the local (range-independent) τp ray equations to provide travel time, range, turning point, and azimuth deviation for any location on the globe given a G2S vector spherical harmonic coefficient set. The code employs an accurate numerical technique capable of handling square-root singularities. We investigate the seasonal variability of propagation characteristics over a five-year time series for two different stations within the International Monitoring System with the aim of understanding the capabilities of current working knowledge of the atmosphere and infrasound propagation models. The statistical behaviors or occurrence frequency of various propagation configurations are discussed. Representative examples of some of these propagation configuration states are also shown.     

The effect of habitat and environmental history on otolith chemistry of barramundi Lates calcarifer in estuarine populations of a regulated tropical river

We examine the microchemistry of otoliths of cohorts of a fished population of the large catadromous fish, barramundi Lates calcarifer from the estuary of a large tropical river. Barramundi from the estuary of the large, heavily regulated Fitzroy River, north-eastern Australia were analysed by making transects of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope and trace metal/Ca ratios from the core to the outer edge. Firstly, we examined the Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca, Mg/Ca and Mn/Ca and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios in otoliths of barramundi tagged in either freshwater or estuarine habitats that were caught by the commercial fishery in the estuary. We used ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios to identify periods of freshwater residency and assess whether trace metal/Ca ratios varied between habitats. Only Sr/Ca consistently varied between known periods of estuarine or freshwater residency. The relationships between trace metal/Ca and river flow, salinity, temperature were examined in fish tagged and recaptured in the estuary. We found weak and inconsistent patterns in relationships between these variables in the majority of fish. These results suggest that both individual movement history within the estuary and the scale of environmental monitoring were reducing our ability to detect any patterns. Finally, we examined fish in the estuary from two dominant age cohorts (4 and 7 year old) before and after a large flood in 2003 to ascertain if the flood had enabled fish from freshwater habitats to migrate to the estuary. There was no difference in the proportion of fish in the estuary that had accessed freshwater after the flood. Instead, we found that larger individuals with of each age cohort were more likely to have spent a period in freshwater. This highlights the need to maintain freshwater flows in rivers. About half the fish examined had accessed freshwater habitats before capture. Of these, all had spent at least their first two months in marine salinity waters before entering freshwater and some did not enter freshwater until four years of age. This contrasts with the results of several previous studies in other parts of the range that found that access to freshwater swamps by larval barramundi was important for enhanced population productivity and recruitment.     

Cross-Spectrum of Wind Speed for Meso-Gamma Scales in the Upper Surface Layer over South-Eastern Australia

Analytical expressions for the cross-spectrum of wind speed are developed for the stochastic simulation of wind power in south-eastern Australia. The expressions are valid for heights above the ground in the range 40–80 m, site separations of 1–30 km, and frequencies of (1/6)–3 cycles h⁻¹. The influence of site separation distance is taken into account, as are variables that are defined for blocks of time. These variables include the mean and standard deviation of wind speed and the mean wind direction. The parameters of the model equations are determined by non-linear least-squares regression with cross-validation over 10 years of wind measurements from 84 towers in south-eastern Australia.