Major cation gradients in DSDP interstitial waters: the role of diffusive exchange between seawater and upper oceanic crust

Interstitial water analyses from DSDP Legs 1–53 were surveyed to identify sites at which the dominant process supporting gradients of major seawater cations is alteration of the underlying oceanic crust. Sites with thin sediment cover are generally without gradients: sites with appreciable sediment accumulation are generally with gradients. The transition is probably the result of cessation of convective circulation within the sediments. A model is developed for the diffusive flux through an accumulating, unreactive sedimentary layer supported by continued reaction within the crust. The model is consistent with the observations provided that convection within the crust extends to depths > 1 km and that convective flow within the sediments ends once 100–150 m of sediment accumulates. The model suggests a steady state gradient inversely proportional to the sedimentation rate: this dependence is apparent in the data, however, some variation in the reaction rate is also required. Fluxes of Mg and Na are systematically related to the flux of Ca which because of its mobility serves as a tracer of hydrolysis of the basalt. When the Ca flux is low, the Mg flux serves as the principal sink for alkalinity produced during basalt hydrolysis. When the Ca flux is high, the Mg flux becomes diffusion-limited and Nabearing alteration phases must form. The fluxes resulting from these alteration reactions exert little influence on either the chemistry of seawater or that of the upper crust.     

The genesis of sediment-hosted,exhalative zinc + lead deposits

Large sediment-hosted lead+zinc deposits like Mount Isa, McArthur River, Navan, Rammelsberg and Sullivan form a distinctive group characterised by stratiform, syngenetic sulphide ores that formed in local basins on the sea floor as a result of protracted hydrothermal activity accompanying continental rifting. Generally there is a development of a sedimentary pre-ore phase mineralization often featuring manganese followed by zinc±lead, iron and chert. Lower main phase zinc+lead lenses are usually almost devoid of copper but Cu tenors increase toward the middle or top of the ore sequences. Hanging wall trace element haloes are common. These characteristics are accounted for by deriving the ore solutions from subsurface convective circulation of modified highly saline seawater. The circulation is initiated during rifting and driven by a high geothermal gradient. As a result of continued extensional strain and cooling of the rock column the brittle-to-ductile transition zone is depressed and the circulation penetrates to greater depth with time. Of the ore metals the downward-penetrating convection fluids first leach and transport zinc and lead, but with increasing temperature are later able to leach and transport some copper. Unless convective circulation ceases the metal sequence generally reverses as the cooling phase sets in. The minimum distance separating major coeval orebodies of this type is 18 km which is a function of the size of the convective systems.     

On deducing the magnetization of the lunar surface from orbital surveys

A combination of orbital photographic, selenochemical and magnetic surveys may elucidate the mechanism by which the lunar surface became magnetized and possibly yield an estimate of the intensity of the ancient magnetizing field and its time variation. The determination of the size and shape of the magnetized regions requires the measurement of the altitude dependence of field, especially at low altitudes (< 100 km) and with a high enough sampling rate to resolve the profile at the edges of magnetized bodies. The planned Lunar Polar Orbiter may well provide the necessary data.     

Serum transferrin polymorphism in grey trout,Cynoscion regalis,from the lower Rappahannock River

Serum transferrin distribution was studied in grey trout, Cynoscion regalis, obtained from the lower Rappahannock River of Virginia. Three phenotypes were observed, representing two codominant alleles at a single gene locus. The distribution of the phenotypes, designated as Tf A, Tf B, and Tf AB, did not differ significantly from that predicted by Hardy-Weinberg analysis.     

Late Pleistocene sea level history of Bermuda

The timing of eustatic sea level fluctuations over the vertical range + 15 to ?11 m has been deduced from ${}^{230}\text{Th}{}^{234}\text{U}$ dating of Bermudan corals and speleothems. On this tectonically stable carbonate island, interglacial periods are characterized by platform submergence, development of patch reefs, and the deposition of littoral and eolian carbonates, whereas glacial periods are times of platform emergence, carbonate diagenesis, soil development, and the deposition of speleothems in caves extending below present sea level. Interglacial periods are observed at about 200,000, 130,000 to 90,000, and 10,000 yr BP to present. The sea level history of the last interglacial period (130,000 to 90,000 yr BP) is complex, consisting of at least two short, distinct episodes of high sea stand (at 125,000 and 97,000 yr BP) superimposed on a longer period of general platform submergence. The sea level data derived from this study are compatible with those from other stable areas such as the Bahamas, but in addition suggest that eustatic sea level changes can be rapid, on the order of 5 to 10 m/1000 yr.     

Saturn A ring surface mass densities from spiral density wave dispersion behavior

We have undertaken an analysis of the Voyager photopolarimeter (PPS) stellar occultation data of Saturn's A ring. The Voyager PPS observed the bright star δ Scorpii as it was occulted by Saturn's main rings during the spacecraft flyby of the Saturn system in 1981. The occultation measurement produced a ring profile with radial resolution of approximately 100 m, and radial structure is evident in the profile down to the resolution limit. We have applied an autoregressive technique to the data for estimating the power spectrum as a function of radius, which has allowed us to identify 40 spiral density waves in Saturn's A ring, associated with the strongest torques due to forcing from the moons. The majority of the detected waves are observed to disperse linearly in regions beginning a few kilometers from the resonance location. We have used the dispersion behavior for those waves to calculate local surface mass densities in the vicinity of each wave. We find that the inner three-quarters of the A ring (up to the beginning of the Encke gap) has an average surface mass density of , while the outer region has an average surface mass density of . The two regions have different mean surface mass densities with a significance of approximately 0.999993, as estimated with a T-statistic, which corresponds to about 4.5σ. While the mean optical depth of the A ring increases slightly with increasing distance from Saturn, we find that it is not significantly correlated with the surface mass density; the two quantities having a linear Pearson's correlation coefficient of r_corr≈−0.03. The variation of mass density, independent of PPS optical depth, is consistent with previous conjectures that the particle size distribution and composition are not constant across the entire A ring, particularly in the very outer portion. We estimate the mass of Saturn's A ring from our surface mass density estimates as 4.9×10²¹ gm, or 8.61×10⁻⁹ of the mass of Saturn, roughly equivalent to the mass of a 110-km diameter icy satellite. This mass is almost 25% smaller than estimates from previous studies, but is well within the expected errors of the derived mass densities. We also identified three previously unstudied features which exhibit linear dispersion. The strongest of these features is tentatively identified as the Janus 13:11 density wave. The other two features do not fall near any known satellite resonances and may represent density waves created by previously undetected satellites.