Hydrology of Karamea Bight,New Zealand

The results of a hydrological survey of the Karamea Bight, on the west coast of the South Island, are presented and discussed. The hydrology of the region was dominated by the Westland Current, the river outflow and wind‐induced upwelling. The existence of a southwards flowing undercurrent associated with the upwelling is postulated at 150 m depth over the continental slope, and the name of Westland Undercurrent is proposed for this feature.     

Nitrate levels in subsurface waters of the Waimea Plain,Nelson

In 1969–72, nitrate determinations were made on waters from 122 wells on the Waimea Plain, Nelson, South Island, New Zealand. Four wells showed values above 30 mg NO3‐N/litre with a maximum of 50 mg/litre in one well, fifteen were in the 30–20 mg/litre range, forty‐six were between 20 mg and 10 mg/litre; fifty‐seven were below 10 mg/litre, and in only four wells was the nitrate concentration below 1.0 mg NO3‐N/litre. Where it entered the plain, the Wairoa River usually contained about 0.07 mg NO3‐N/litre, whereas the Waiiti River contained from 0.5 to 2.0 mg NO3‐N/litre.

Mapping of gradients of nitrate level indicated that these might contribute to aquifer definition and to sources of replenishing waters.     

The equatorial shape and gravity field of Mercury from MESSENGER flybys 1 and 2

On 14 January and 6 October 2008 the MESSENGER spacecraft passed within 200 km of the surface of Mercury. These flybys by MESSENGER provided the first observations of Mercury from a spacecraft since the Mariner 10 flybys in 1974 and 1975. Data from the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) provided new information on the equatorial shape of Mercury, and Doppler tracking of the spacecraft through the flybys provided new data on the planet’s gravity field. The MLA passes were on opposite hemispheres of the planet and span collectively ∼40% of the equatorial circumference. The mean elevation of topography observed during flyby 1, in the longitude range 0-90°E, is greater than that seen during flyby 2 in the longitude range 180-270°E, indicating an offset between centers of mass and figure having a magnitude and phase in general agreement with topography determined by Earth-based radar. Both MLA profiles are characterized by slopes of ∼0.015° downward to the east, which is consistent with a long-wavelength equatorial shape defined by a best-fitting ellipse. The Doppler tracking data show sensitivity to the gravitational structure of Mercury. The equatorial ellipticity of the gravitational field, C_2,2, is well determined and correlates with the equatorial shape. The S_2,2 coefficient is ∼0, as would be expected if Mercury’s coordinate system, defined by its rotational state, is aligned along its principal axes of inertia. The recovered value of the polar flattening of the gravitational potential, J₂, is considerably lower in magnitude than the value obtained from Mariner 10 tracking, a result that is problematic for internal structure models. This parameter is not as well constrained as the equatorial ellipticity because the flyby trajectories were nearly in the planet’s equatorial plane. The residuals from the Doppler tracking data suggest the possibility of mascons on Mercury, but flyby observations are of insufficient resolution for confident recovery. For a range of assumptions on degree of compensation and crustal and mantle densities, the allowable crustal thickness is consistent with the upper limit of about 100 km estimated from the inferred depth of faulting beneath a prominent lobate scarp, an assumed ductile flow law for crustal material, and the condition that temperature at the base of the crust does not exceed the solidus temperature. The MESSENGER value of C_2,2 has allowed an improved estimate of the ratio of the polar moment of inertia of the mantle and crust to the full polar moment (C_m/C), a refinement that strengthens the conclusion that Mercury has at present a fluid outer core.     

Non-Rayleigh acoustic scattering characteristics of individual fish and zooplankton

It has long been known that the statistical properties of acoustic echoes from individual fish can have non-Rayleigh characteristics. The statistical properties of echoes from zooplankton are generally less understood. In this study, echoes from individual fish and zooplankton from a series of laboratory measurements from the past decade are investigated. In the experiments, acoustic echoes from various individual organisms were measured over a wide range of frequencies and orientations, typically in 1/spl deg/-3/spl deg/ increments. In the analysis in this paper, the echoes from most of those measurements are grouped according to ranges of orientation, which correspond to typical orientation distributions of these organisms in the natural ocean environment. This grouping provides a distribution of echo values for each range of orientation. This approach, in essence, emulates a field experiment whereby distributions of echoes would be recorded for different distributions of orientations of the organisms. For both the fish and zooplankton data, there are conditions under which the echoes are strongly non-Rayleigh distributed. In some cases, the distribution is quantitatively connected to the physics of the scattering process while, in other cases, the connection is described qualitatively. Exploitation of the animal-specific statistics for classification purposes is suggested.     

High-frequency acoustic volume backscattering in the Georges Bankcoastal region and its interpretation using scattering models

High-frequency (120 and 420 kHz) sound was used to survey sound scatterers in the water over Georges Bank. In addition to the biological sound scatterers (the plankton and micronekton), scattering associated with internal waves and suspended sediment was observed. Volume backscattering was more homogeneous in the vertical dimension (with occasional patches) in the shallow central portion of the Bank where there is significant mixing. In the deeper outer portion of the Bank where the water is stratified, volume backscattering was layered and internal waves modulated the vertical position of the layers in the pycnocline. The internal waves typically had amplitudes of 5-20 m, but sometimes much higher. Species composition and size data from samples of the animals and suspended sediment used in conjunction with acoustic scattering models revealed that throughout the region the animals generally dominate the scattering, but there are times and places where sand particles (suspended as high as up to the sea surface) can dominate. The source of the scattering in the internal waves is probably due to a combination of both animals and sound-speed microstructure. Determination of their relative contributions requires further study     

Estimation of the size of molluscan larval settlement using the death assemblage

The death assemblage is an important source of information about temporal variability in community composition. The living community and the short-term death assemblage have been studied at a sandy-bottom station in the Laguna Madre, Texas. Abundance peaks of living species are usually followed by long-term abundance increases of the same species in the death assemblage. This phenomenon provides a tool for investigating between-sampling-occasion events in the preservable component of the living community. Given a six-week sampling regimen, approximately 90% of all individuals settle, live and die during the period between consecutive sampling occasions and are not collected alive. Thus, larval settlements are consistently underestimated by about 90% from data on the living community. Comparisons of year-to-year variability in settlement and survivorship of settled individuals in the youngest age classes may be considerably in error. Better estimations of actual settlement and survivorship can be made from the death assemblage provided that the rate of taphonomic loss can be quantified. The rate of taphonomic loss can be expressed as the species' half-life, the time required for the destruction of 50% of the individuals that were added to the death assemblage following settlement. Half-lives for the smallest size classes in the death assemblage at this site are about 100 days.     

Reconnaissance guidelines for gold exploration in Central Alaska

Distribution of more than 300 gold-bearing samples from the Livengood (Tolovana) and parts of the Fairbanks and Rampart mining districts in central Alaska, USA, indicate that the concentration of gold in placers is spatially related both to structural features and to Late Cretaceous and (or) Tertiary felsic plutons. The regional consistency of these spatial relationships is demonstrated by proximity analysis using a Geographic Information System (GIS), and suggests a genetic association between faults, felsic plutons, and gold occurrences. The local presence of gold within several of the plutons indicates that these are the source of some of the gold. In addition, some gold occurs proximal to faults where plutons are not present, suggesting that some of the gold was also derived from the country rock.We envision a model whereby weakly mineralized solutions, thermally driven by latent plutonic heat, were enriched by circulation through clastic units that may have had a naturally elevated gold background. The resultant enriched solutions were channeled and reconcentrated along or adjacent to large-scale fault systems. Future exploration to define individual target areas should be directed toward areas where Late Cretaceous and (or) Tertiary felsic plutons occur near major faults.