Distribution ofPerkinsus marinus in Gulf Coast oyster populations

Prevalence (percent of oysters infected) ofPerkinsus marinus and infection intensity were measured in oysters from 49 sites in the Gulf of Mexico. Prevalence was less than 50% at only one site. Both prevalence and infection intensity were correlated with condition index, salinity, and a measure of local agricultural activity. The regional distribution ofP. marinus was patchy on spatial scales of 300 km or less and 1,500 km or more. Three regional foci of infection could be distinguished: the north central coast of Texas, central Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, and the southwestern coast of Florida. Lowest infection levels were recorded along the north central and northeastern Gulf, particularly east of the Mississippi River. The spatial distribution of infection varied with the salinity regime; however, other factors also explained part of the regional patterns observed. These included factors associated with man’s activities such as agricultural and industrial activity and the average annual temperature regime.     

Polarized absorption spectra of single crystals of lunar pyroxenes and olivines

Measurements have been made of the polarized absorption spectra (360-2200 nm.) of compositionally zoned pyroxene minerals in rocks 10045, 10047 and 10058 and olivines in rocks 10020 and 10022. Specimens in the form of petrographic thin sections were mounted on polarizing microscopes equipped with three-axis universal stage attachments and inserted into a Cary 17 spectrophotometer. The Apollo 11 pyroxenes with relatively high Ti/Fe ratios were chosen initially to investigate the presence of crystal field spectra of Fe²⁺ and Ti³⁺ ions in the minerals.Broad intense bands at about 1000 and 2100 nm. arise from spin-allowed, polarization-dependent transitions in Fe²⁺ ions in pyroxenes. Several weak sharp peaks occur in the visible region. Peaks at 402, 425, 505, 550 and 585 nm. represent spin-forbidden transitions in Fe²⁺ ions, while broader bands at 460–470 nm. and 650–660 nm. are attributed to Ti³⁺ ions. Charge transfer bands, which in terrestrial pyroxenes often extend into the visible region, are displaced to shorter wavelengths in lunar pyroxenes. This feature correlates with the absence of Fe³⁺ ions in these minerals. The magnitudes of the intensity ratios: band 465 nm. (Ti³⁺) to band 1000 nm. (Fe²⁺) are similar to Ti/Fe ratios from lunar pyroxene bulk chemical analyses, suggesting that an appreciable amount of titanium occurs as Ti³⁺ ions in the lunar pyroxenes. The 505 nm. spin-forbidden peak in Fe²⁺, together with absorption at 465 nm. by Ti³⁺, contribute to the pink or pale reddish-brown colors of lunar pyroxenes in transmitted lights.The absorption spectral measurements not only provide information on the redox behavior and crystal chemistry of lunar pyroxenes, but also form a basis for interpreting spectral reflectivity properties of lunar rocks and the Moon's surface.     

Fluid flow, methane fluxes, carbonate precipitation and biogeochemical turnover in gas hydrate-bearing sediments at Hydrate Ridge, Cascadia Margin: numerical modeling and mass balances

A numerical model was applied to investigate and to quantify biogeochemical processes and methane turnover in gas hydrate-bearing surface sediments from a cold vent site situated at Hydrate Ridge, an accretionary structure located in the Cascadia Margin subduction zone. Steady state simulations were carried out to obtain a comprehensive overview on the activity in these sediments which are covered with bacterial mats and are affected by strong fluid flow from below. The model results underline the dominance of advective fluid flow that forces a large inflow of methane from below (869 μmol cm⁻² a⁻¹) inducing high oxidation rates in the surface layers. Anaerobic methane oxidation is the major process, proceeding at a depth-integrated rate of 870 μmol cm⁻² a⁻¹. A significant fraction (14%) of bicarbonate produced by anaerobic methane oxidation is removed from the fluids by precipitation of authigenic aragonite and calcite. The total rate of carbonate precipitation (120 μmol cm⁻² a⁻¹) allows for the build-up of a massive carbonate layer with a thickness of 1 m over a period of 20,000 years. Aragonite is the major carbonate mineral formed by anaerobic methane oxidation if the flow velocity of methane-charge fluids is high enough (≥10 cm a⁻¹) to maintain super-saturation with respect to this highly soluble carbonate phase. It precipitates much faster within the studied surface sediments than previously observed in abiotic laboratory experiments, suggesting microbial catalysis. The investigated station is characterized by high carbon and oxygen turnover rates (≈1000 μmol cm⁻² a⁻¹) that are well beyond the rates observed at other continental slope sites not affected by fluid venting. This underlines the strong impact of fluid venting on the benthic system, even though the flow velocity of 10 cm a⁻¹ derived by the model is relative low compared to fluid flow rates found at other cold vent sites. Non-steady state simulations using measured fluid flow velocities as forcing demonstrate a rapid respond of the sediments within a few days to changes in advective flow. Moreover, they reveal that efficient methane oxidation in these sediments prevents methane outflow into the bottom water over a wide range of fluid flow velocities (<80 cm a⁻¹). Only at flow rates exceeding approximately 100 cm a⁻¹, does dissolved methane break through the sediment surface to induce large fluxes of up to 5000 μmol CH₄ cm² a⁻¹ into the overlying bottom water.     

Flow near a model spur dike with a fixed scoured bed

Three-dimensional flow velocities were measured using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter at a closely spaced grid over a fixed scoured bed with a submerged spur dike. Three-dimensional flow velocities were measured at 3,484 positions around the trapezoidal shaped submerged model spur dike. General velocity distributions and detailed near field flow structures were revealed by the measurement. Clear differences were revealed between flow over fixed flat and scoured beds. Strong lateral flows were the dominant cause of the observed local scour. Shear stresses were higher for the scoured bed than in the flat bed case. Decreasing rates of scour as the scour hole developed were attributed to increases in critical shear stress in the scour holes caused by the increase in the length and magnitude of adverse slopes associated with the two main scour holes.     

THREE-DIMENSIONAL MESOSCALE MODELING OF METEOROLOGICAL FIELDS OVER ZHUJIANG(PEARL)RIVER DELTA

The CSU-RAMS-2A was used to simulate the meteorological fields over the Zhujiang River Delta in South China.Initialized from a horizontally homogeneous atmosphere,real topography and inhomogeneous surface boundary condi-tions,the model was run with thermal and terrain forcing.The modeling results of winter and summer cases are com-pared with those observed.The similarity of the predicted distributions of winds,temperatures and humidities to the ob-served patterns permits us to conclude that the mesoscale distribution of meteorological elements for the two study datesis the result of the thermal and dynamical forcing by the underlying surface and topography.     

Comparison between TVD-MacCormack and ADI-type solvers of the shallow water equations

A total variation diminishing (TVD) modification of the MacCormack scheme is developed for simulating shallow water dynamics on a uniform Cartesian grid. Results obtained using conventional and deviatoric forms of the conservative non-linear shallow water equations (SWEs) are compared for cases where the bed has a varying topography. The comparisons demonstrate that the deviatoric form of the SWEs gives more accurate results than the conventional form, in the absence of numerical balancing of the flux-gradient and source terms. A further comparison is undertaken between the TVD-MacCormack model and an alternating direction implicit (ADI) model for cases involving steep-fronted shallow flows. It is demonstrated that the ADI model is unable to predict trans-critical flows correctly, and artificial viscosity has to be introduced to remove spurious oscillations. The TVD-MacCormack model reproduces all flow regimes accurately. Finally, the TVD-MacCormack model is used to predict a laboratory-scale dyke break undertaken at Delft University of Technology. The predictions agree closely with the experimental data, and are in excellent agreement with results from an alternative Godunov-type model.     

The mineralogy of Ba- and Zr-rich alkaline pegmatites from Gordon Butte,Crazy Mountains (Montana,USA): comparisons between potassic and sodic agpaitic pegmatites

At Gordon Butte (Crazy Mountains, Montana), agpaitic nepheline-syenite pegmatites intrude potassic alkaline rocks (principally, malignites and nepheline microsyenites). All pegmatite veins are composed predominantly of potassium feldspar, nepheline, prismatic aegirine, barytolamprophyllite, wadeite, eudialyte, loparite-(Ce) and altered rinkite ("vudyavrite") embedded in spherulitic and fibrous aegirine. Well-differentiated veins contain "pockets" filled with calcite, fluorapatite, mangan-neptunite, Mn-Ti-enriched prismatic aegirine, calcium catapleiite, and an unidentified Ca-Ti silicate. The potassium feldspar corresponds to Ba-rich sanidine with relatively low Na contents. The nepheline contains low levels of SiO₂ and elevated Fe contents. The compositions of nepheline cluster in the lower portion of the Morozewicz-Buerger convergence field, indicating low-temperature crystallization and/or chemical re-equilibration of this mineral. The association of sanidine with nearly stoichiometric nepheline is unusual for agpaitic rocks and probably reflects inhibition of Al/Si ordering in the feldspar by Ba. At least four types of clinopyroxene can be distinguished on the basis of their morphology and composition. All these types correspond to Al- and Ca-poor aegirine (typically <0.6 and 2.6 wt% Al₂O₃ and CaO, respectively). The overall evolutionary trend of clinopyroxene in the Gordon Butte rocks is from Fe-poor diopside to aegirine-augite in the malignites and nepheline microsyenites, and culminates with the pegmatitic aegirine. This trend is characteristic for potassic alkaline complexes and results from preferential partitioning of Fe²⁺ into biotite during the magmatic crystallization. Barytolamprophyllite in the pegmatites is primary (as opposed to deuteric); only a few crystals contain a core composed of lamprophyllite. The evolutionary history of the Gordon Butte pegmatites can be subdivided into primary, agpaitic, and deuteric stages. The earliest paragenesis to crystallize included accessory zircon and thorite. Sr-rich loparite also precipitated relatively early serving as a major repository for Sr, REE, and Nb. During the agpaitic stage, diverse titano- and zircono-silicates (barytolamprophyllite, eudialyte, wadeite, and rinkite, among others) consumed most of the Ba, Sr, Ti, Zr, and Nb still remaining in the melt. The final stage in the evolution of the pegmatites involved interaction of the earlier-formed mineral assemblages with deuteric fluids. In common with the Rocky Boy pegmatites, Sr-REE-Na-rich fluorapatite, Ba-Fe titanates and REE-bearing carbonates (ancylite, calcio-ancylite, and bastnäsite-parisite series) are chief products of the deuteric stage. The alteration of the primary mineral assemblages by deuteric fluids also produced muscovite-zeolite pseudomorphs after nepheline, replacement of wadeite and eudialyte by catapleiite-group minerals, re-deposition of Ba in the form of hyalophane, baotite, and benitoite, and cation leaching from rinkite, eudialyte, and loparite. The mineralogy of the pegmatites from Gordon Butte, other potassic complexes, and sodic agpaitic occurrences is compared in detail.     

Timing and duration of partial melting and magmatism in the Variscan Montagne Noire gneiss dome (French Massif Central)

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Unravelling the detailed pressure–temperature–time-deformation (P–T–t-D) evolution of magmatic and metamorphic rocks provides...     

Un type de minéralisations épigénétiques familières: les filons à antimoine du Massif Central français. Hypothèse de la sécrétion latérale

Résumé Les filons antimonifères étudiés sont encaissés dans les terrains métamorphiques du socle hercynien (district cévenol, district de Brioude-Massiac), ou dans les grès autuniens formant la base de la couverture sédimentaire (Buzeins). La plupart sont contrôlés par des failles de direction NE. Ils sont aussi sous la dépendance de métallotectes lithostratigraphiques plus ou moins stricts. D'autre part, le socle et les dépôts détritiques de base de la couverture sédimentaire (Stéphanien, Autunien) sont caractérisés par une forte anomalie géochimique antimonifère. Les roches encaissant les filons représentent la source possible de l'antimoine, mais aussi du soufre et de tous les éléments des minéraux de gangue. Ces résultats tendent à montrer la familiarité des concentrations filoniennes par rapport à leur encaissant. L'hypothèse d'une concentration par «sécrétion latérale» est étayée par les profils de distribution de l'antimoine en traces à proximité des filons (mise en évidence de zones de drainage probables). Le contenu des filons antimonifères serait donc hérité, par remobilisations successives, d'un stock métallique déjà présent dans les roches avant le métamorphisme.

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The antimoniferous lodes studied in this paper are formed either in the metamorphic rocks of the Hercynian basement (Cévennes and Brioude-Massiac districts), or in the Autunian sandstones which form the lowest part of the sedimentary cover (Buzeins). Most of them are controlled by faults of a NE trend. They also depend upon more or less strict lithostratigraphic metallotects. Moreover, a high antimoniferous geochemical anomaly characterises the rocks of the basement and of the lowest detrital deposits of the sedimentary cover (Stephanian, Autunian). The host rocks of the lodes are a possible source for antimony, and also for sulfur, as for all the elements of the gangue minerals. These results tend to show the consanguinity of the lode concentrations with their enclosing rocks. The hypothesis of a concentration by lateral secretion is supported by the curves of Sb distribution in the rocks near the lodes (revealing probable areas of leaching). The contents of Sb lodes would consequently be inherited, by successive remobilizations, from the metal contents which were already included in the rocks before metamorphism.

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Cette publication résume une Thèse d'Etat, dirigée par M. le Professeur P. Routhier, présentée le 2 Avril 1971 à la Faculté des Sciences de l'Université de Paris VI (11 quai Saint-Bernard, Paris 5°).