Abundance and distribution of gold,palladium and iridium in some spinel and garnet lherzolites: implications for the nature and origin of precious metal-rich intergranular components in the upper mantle

The abundance and distribution of Au, Pd, Ir, Cu, Co and Cr has been determined in mantle-derived spinel lherzolite xenoliths in basanites from Mt Porndon (Victoria, Australia) and Kilbourne Hole (New Mexico, U.S.A.) and in garnet lherzolites from the Matsoku and Thaba Putsoa kimberlites (Lesotho). Minerals in the lherzolites concentrate Au, Pd and Ir in the following sequence of increasing platinum group element (PGE) content; garnet, olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, spinel. and demonstrate that there exists a real crystallochemical control on the distribution of PGE. Whole rock PGE abundances calculated from the modal mineralogy are less than actually determined and indicate that the bulk of the PGE (60–80%) occur in a sulphide-rich intergranular component. A metasomatic origin for this component is considered to be unlikely and it is proposed that it represents an immiscible sulphide melt which has been retained in the mantle after extraction of a sulphur saturated basic partial melt. This component may in the case of garnet lherzolites have been modified by metasomatic events in the mantle leading to Au depletion and rare earth element addition. Spinel lherzolites are relatively homogeneous at a given locality but differ in their PGE content regionally. The weighted average abundances of PGE in a spinel lherzolite upper mantle are 0.6 ppb. Au, 4.0 ppb Pd. 3.6 ppb Ir. Garnet lherzolites are very heterogeneous and insufficient data is available to allow calculation of geochemically meaningful averages. Spinel lherzolite-basalt based pyrolite contains 0.9 ppb Au, 4.3 ppb Pd, 3.0 ppb Ir, and indicates that the mantle contains an apparent excess of Au over a calculated abundance based upon the siderophilic equilibrium distribution of Au between core and mantle. This excess is considered to be due to failure to consider the chalcophilic nature of Au in the mantle and not to the addition of a meteoritic component to a mantle equilibrated with the core.     

The isotopic composition of strontium in some South African kimberlites

Strontium isotopic studies of kimberlites reveal no significant differences between the respective whole-rock Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratios of fissure and pipe kimberlites. Kimberlites from the Swartruggens fissure (calcareous micaceous kimberlite) have Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratios of from 0.709 to 0.716, whilst those from the Wesselton pipe have Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratios of from 0.708 to 0.715. Other kimberlites range from 0.706 to 0.715. Samples are considered to be late Cretaceous to early Tertiary and thus the ratios are approximately initial ratios. The Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratios bear no relation to the Rb or Sr content of individual kimberlite bodies. The high initial ratios are not due to bulk assimilation of granitic material in either a kimberlite or carbonatitic magma. Rb-Sr data for garnet peridotites and eclogite xenoliths in kimberlite are not compatible with production of kimberlite by eclogite fractionation from a melt derived from garnet lherzolite. The Sr isotopic composition of kimberlite is compatible with partial melting of garnet mica peridotite. The isotopic composition of liquids formed by partial melting of this rock can be modified by (i) gross contamination with material of low Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratio or (ii) selective diffusion of material of high Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratio into kimberlitic fluids.     

Boundary-layer flow structures associated with particle reentrainment

Measurements of near-surface longitudinal and vertical wind velocity components associated with particle reentrainment from a flat surface have been examined in a wind tunnel. Sparsely covered particle beds were used to assure that observed reentrainment events resulted primarily from the action of fluid forces. Characteristic velocity patterns were found to be associated with a majority of particle reentrainment events examined. These characteristics have been categorized and examined as ensemble averages. The flow pattern most frequently observed during particle reentrainment was termed Ejection-Sweep (E-S) and is very similar to organized fluid motions previously observed in laboratory flows and in the atmospheric boundary layer. A simple two-tiered E-S pattern recognition scheme is described which strives to identify particle reentrainment events objectively based on flow characteristics alone. The first step is to identify potential E-S patterns using criteria which identify a characteristic longitudinal acceleration, and the second step is to use threshold values of pattern characteristics to accept or reject these first-tier patterns. Pattern recognition results are presented in terms of the ability to identify reentrainment events versus false identifications, and show an exponential growth in false identifications with an increasing number of reentrainment events identified.     

Climate change impact on water and salt balances: an assessment of the impact of climate change on catchment salt and water balances in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

Climate change has potentially significant implications for hydrology and the quantity and quality of water resources. This study investigated the impacts of climate change and revegetation on water and salt balance, and stream salt concentration for catchments within the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. The Biophysical Capacity to Change model was used with climate change scenarios obtained using the CSIRO DARLAM 125 (125 km resolution) and Cubic Conformal (50 km resolution) regional climate models. These models predicted up to 25% reduction in mean annual rainfall and a similar magnitude of increase in potential evapotranspiration by 2070. Relatively modest changes in rainfall and temperature can lead to significant reductions in mean annual runoff and salt yield and increases in stream salt concentrations within the Basin. The modelled reductions in mean annual runoff were up to 45% in the wetter/cooler southern catchments and up to 64% in the drier/hotter western and northern catchments. The maximum reductions in salt yield were estimated to be up to 34% in the southern catchments and up to 49% in the northern and western catchments. These changes are associated with average catchment rainfall decreases of 13 to 21%. The results suggest that percentage changes in rainfall will be amplified in runoff. This study demonstrates that climate change poses significant challenges to natural resource management in Australia.     

Potential Carbon Flux from Timber Harvests and Management in the Context of a Global Timber Market

This paper presents carbon flux estimates arising from the effect of increasing demand on harvests and management of industrial forests in a global timber market. Results are presented for specific regions and the globe. Harvests and management of forests are predicted to store an additional 184 Tg (1 Tg = 10¹² grams) of carbon per year in forests and wood products over the next 50 years, with a range of 108 to 251 Tg per year. Although harvests in natural boreal and tropical forest regions will cause carbon releases, new plantation establishment in subtropical emerging regions more than offsets these losses. Unlike many existing studies, these results suggest that harvests and management of North American forests will lead to carbon emissions from that region over the next 50 years. The results are quantitatively sensitive to the assumed growth in demand although the results are qualitatively similar in the sensitivity analysis.     

Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow above and within a forest

A large-eddy simulation has been performed of an atmospheric surface layer in which the lower third of the domain is occupied by a drag layer and heat sources to represent a forest. Subgridscale processes are treated using second-order closure techniques. Lateral boundaries are periodic, while the upper boundary is a frictionless fixed lid. Mean vertical profiles of wind velocity derived from the output are realistic in their shape and response to forest density. Similarly, vertical profiles of Reynolds stress, turbulent kinetic energy and velocity skewness match observations, at least in a qualitative sense. The limited vertical extent of the domain and the artificial upper boundary, however, cause some departures from measured turbulence profiles in real forests. Instantaneous turbulent velocity and scalar fields are presented which show some of the features obtained by tower instrumentation in the field and in wind tunnels, such as the vertical coherence of vertical velocity and the slope of structures revealed by temperature patterns.     

Is there a Caroline plate?

We examine available marine geophysical and seismological data from the Caroline Sea region and conclude that a separate Caroline plate currently exists. The Caroline plate is moving relative to the Pacific plate on its northern and eastern boundaries, the Philippine plate on its western margin, and the Indian and smaller plates along its southern side in New Guinea and the Bismarck Sea area. The southern Yap Trench, the Palau Trench, and an accreting plate boundary within the Ayu Trough manifested as an axial rift valley comprise the Caroline-Philippine plate boundary. On the basis of sediment thickness and subsidence of basement away from the rift, we estimate that the Ayu Trough started to open during the Miocene. The northern section of Pacific-Caroline plate boundary coincides with the Sorol Trough which exhibits both strike-slip and extensional characteristics. The southeastern section of this boundary occurs along the Mussau Trench where Caroline plate underthrusts the Pacific plate. The section of plate boundary between the Sorol Trough and Mussau Trench is characterized by highly unusual deformational tectonics. Convergence between the Pacific and Caroline plates is apparently accommodated here by overthrusting of small slivers of sea floor towards the northeast. The intensity of deformation appears to increase southward towards the Mussau Trench. Our calculated instantaneous angular rotation vector for the Pacific-Caroline plates predicts that convergence rates increase uniformly south along the overthrust and underthrust sections of plate boundary. The transition in tectonic style from overthrusting to underthrusting occurs between 3° and 4°N.     

The potential of natural ecosystem self-purifying measures for controlling nutrient inputs

Most ecosystems have a certain assimilative capacity regarding plant nutrient or biodegradable organic matter. Knowledge of the metabolizing processes of different ecosystems enable the use of natural systems for pollution abatement from agricultural, domestic and industrial sources. Such ecologically engineered natural systems are often very cost efficient. At the Centre for Soil and Environmental Research (JORDFORSK) studies of degradation processes and the fate of plant nutrients in small streams, ponds, wetlands, vegetative filter strips and soil are being conducted in order to gain experience with and develop self purifying methods. Preliminary results show that denitrification in streams remove only a minor part of the annual nitrogen (N) transport (1–15%), but that this process can remove a considerable part of the N transport during summer. Constructed ponds and wetlands in streams draining agricultural areas showed 10–56% retention of soil particles, 23–40% of phosphorous (P) and 5–13% of N. Narrow ponds had a higher efficiency than wide ponds per unit surface area. Short-term experiments with vegetative strips treating agricultural runoff show a sediment removal of over 95%, a P removal from 80–90% and N removal between 60 and 75%. A multistage subsurface constructed wetland treating domestic waste-water removed an average of 97% P, 91% BOD, 80% of suspended solids, 55% N and 99.9% E. coli over the first 18 months of operation. Preliminary results from a multistage plant with constructed ponds and wetlands treating landfill leachate show high treatment efficiency for the same parameters. A rapid infiltration plant in northern Norway showed an average removal of 99% P, 90% COD and 73% N after 4 years of operation. These results show that self purifying measures offer potential for design of pollution abatement systems for agricultural as well as domestic purposes in the Norwegian climate.