The initial giant umbrella cloud of the May 18th, 1980, explosive eruption of Mount St. Helens

The initial eruption column of May 18th, 1980 reached nearly 30 km altitude and released 10¹⁷ joules of thermal energy into the atmosphere in only a few minutes. Ascent of the cloud resulted in forced intrusion of a giant umbrella-shaped cloud between altitudes of 10 and 20 km at radial horizontal velocities initially in excess of 50 m/s. The mushroom cloud expanded 15 km upwind, forming a stagnation point where the radial expansion velocity and wind velocity were equal. The cloud was initiated when the pyroclastic blast flow became buoyant. The flow reduced its density as it moved away from the volcano by decompression, by sedimentation, and by mixing with and heating the surrounding air. Observations indicate that much of the flow, covering an area of 600 km², became buoyant within 1.5 minutes and abruptly ascended to form the giant cloud. Calculations are presented for the amount of air that must have been entrained into the flow to make it buoyant. Assuming an initial temperature of 450°C and a magmatic origin for the explosion, these calculations indicate that the flow became buoyant when its temperature was approximately 150°C and the flow consisted of a mixture of 3.25 × 10¹¹ kg of pyroclasts and 5.0 × 10¹¹ kg of air. If sedimentation is considered, these figures reduce to 1.1 × 10¹¹ kg of pyroclasts and 1.0 × 10¹¹ kg of air.     

A test of the semyenov prediction technique in the central Aleutian Islands

The earthquake-prediction technique based on systematic temporal variations in the ratio of the two body-wave velocities has been tested for selected events in the central Aleutian Islands. The goal was to determine if the phenomenon occurs for earthquakes in an active island arc. Two groups of earthquakes were selected, each in a concentrated source volume and well-placed with respect to the available local seismograph network, one relatively shallow (20 km) and the other along the thrust zone (about 45 km deep).Observational difficulties inherent to an island arc, namely the depth of the hypocenters, the high noise levels, and the complex geology, limit the number of events available for analysis and cause considerable scatter in the data. Nevertheless, a positive result, in which the velocity ratio decreased by about 5%, was obtained for at least one event in the shallow group for which there were sufficient preceding events to establish a definite trend. No premonitory changes were seen for the deeper source volume.A simple extension of the theory of the Wadati diagram permits an estimate of the velocity ratio in the overlying layers as well as in the source medium. The data indicate that under Amchitka Island, the velocity ratio is 1.82 (Poisson's ratio 0.28) in the upper 10 km and 1.71–1.72 (Poisson's ratio 0.24) from 10 km to at least 45 km.     

Carbon content and carbonate 13C abundances in the Early Precambrian Swaziland sediments of South Africa

Carbon content (0.02–0.68% organic), carbonate content (0–69.7%) and carbonate ¹³C abundances (${}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{7.5?+2.3‰}$) were obtained on samples from the Swaziland sediments of South Africa, which are among the oldest known sedimentary rocks on earth (> 3·10⁹ years old). The carbon chemistry of these sediments may serve as evidence for early life and/or for products of chemical evolution. The variation of organic and carbonate carbon concentrations in different sedimentary horizons seems to be controlled by differences in depositional and diagenetic histories. The carbonate δ ¹³C values did not vary significantly from the ordinary range of Phanerozoic limestone values.     

Distribution of rubidium between sodic sanidine and natural silicic liquid

Phenocrysts of sodic sanidine from twelve upper Cenozoic units of silicic ash-flow tuff and lava from the Western United States contain from 0.25 to 0.45 the Rb present in the associated groundmass materials. The ratios of potassium to rubidium in the sanidines are, on the average, about four times greater than those of the groundmass. Separation of phenocrystic sanidine from salic melts provides an efficient method for raising the Rb content and lowering the K/Rb ratio of the melts, although the amount of differentiation probably is limited by continuous reequilibration of the alkalis between crystal and liquid phases through ion exchange. Syenites of cumulate origin will have appreciably lower Rb contents and higher K/Rb ratios than the melts from which they precipitated. Available data on the distribution of Rb between synthetic biotite and K-sanidine demonstrate that the separation of biotite probably will not deplete salic melts in Rb relative to K.Publication authorized by the Director, U.S. Geological Survey.On leave from the Department of Geological Sciences, Harvard University.     

Über die Erzeugung großräumiger homogener Magnetfelder zum Studium des Verhaltens von Magnetkompassen und Kompensiermitteln auf verschiedenen magnetischen Breiten

Zusammenfassung Zur Herstellung schwacher, homogener Magnetfelder wird die Verwendung quadratförmiger Rahmenspulen vorgeschlagen, die gegenüber gleich großen Kreisringspulen den Vorteil einer größeren Homogenität des Feldes bieten. Es wird die Feldverteilung auf der Achse und in der Ebene einer Quadratspule angegeben. Für die Kombination von zwei Quadratspulen wird die Ermittlung eines optimalen Spulenabstandes gezeigt für die Fälle, daß entweder größte lineare Ausdehnung des homogenen Bereichs auf der Feldachse oder größte flächenhafte Ausdehnung in der Mittelebene des Feldes gefordert wird. Im Helmholtzfall, für den der Abstand der Quadratspulen zum 0,5445fachen der Kantenlänge berechnet wird, erweist sich der räumliche Bereich mit 1 % Feldstärkeabweichung gegen den Feldmittelpunkt um rund 72 % größer als bei einer gleich großen Helmholtzspule der üblichen Form.

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On the production of uniform magnetic fields of great volume for studying the behaviour of magnetic compasses and adjusting devices in different magnetic latitudes

Summary For the production of weak uniform magnetic fields it is proposed to use square frame coils which in contrast to circular coils of the same size offer the advantage of a greater field homogeneity. The field distribution on the axis and in the plane of a square coil is indicated. For the use of two combined square coils the determination of the optimum coil separation is given for the cases that there should either be required greatest linear extension of the uniform range on the axis or greatest homogeneous area in the median plane of the field. In the Helmholtz case, for which the separation between the square coils is calculated to the 0,5445th part of the edge's lenght the volume with 1 %deviation from the field intensity in the centre is by 72 % larger than that of a usual Helmholtz coil of the same size.

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Sur la production des champs magnétiques homogènes de grand volume pour l'étude du comportement des compas magnétiques et des dispositifs de réglage par différentes latitudes magnétiques

Résumé Pour pouvoir produire des champs magnétiques faibles et homogènes on propose d'employer des bobines à cadres carrés qui en comparaison avec des bobines annulaires de la même grandeur offrent l'avantage d'une homogénéité supérieure du champ magnétique. La distribution du champ sur l'axe et dans le plan d'une bobine à cadre carré est indiquée. Pour l'emploi de deux bobines combinées à cadres carrés on montre de quelle manière on peut déterminer la distance optimale pour les cas où il est nécessaire de demander de la plus grande extension linéaire de la région homogène sur l'axe du champ ou de la plus grande aire homogène dans le plan central. En cas des bobines Helmholtz dont la distance pour des bobines à cadres carrés a été déterminé à la 0,5445^e partie de la longueur de l'arête, le volume homogène avec une déviation de 1 % de l'intensité en comparaison avec l'intensité du centre du champ dépasse de 72 % le volume d'une bobine Helmholtz de la même grandeur et du type usuel.

     

Accuracy assessments of recent earth gravity models using crossover altimetry

Summary The calibrated variance-covariance matrices of the harmonic geopotential coefficients of the recent combined model JGM 2 has been tested and verified by independent crossover altimetry from TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS 1 using the Latitude Lumped Coefficients in the southern oceans area. Although orbits are not yet available for these missions with other recent models for which error matrices have been released, by comparison with JGM 2 results and field differences we also confirm that the error matrices for the satellite model GRIM 4S4p and the combined data model JGM 3 are also generally valid. Projections of these matrices for a variety of inclinations show that many unused orbits of even moderate altitude (≈ 800 km) will still yield trajectory crossover errors at a level of many tens of centimeters even with the latest orbitgeopotential models.     

Ship-board measurements and estimations of air-sea fluxes in the western tropical pacific during TOGA COARE

Direct air-sea flux measurements were made on R/V Kexue #1 at 4 ° S, 156 ° E during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean-Atmospheric Response Experiment (COARE) Intensive Observation Period (IOP). An array of six accelerometers was used to measure the motion of the anchored ship, and a sonic anemometer and Lyman-α hygrometer were used to measure the turbulent wind vector and specific humidity. The contamination of the turbulent wind components by ship motion was largely removed by an improvement of a procedure due to Shao based on the acceleration signals. The scheme of the wind correction for ship motion is briefly outlined. Results are presented from data for the best wind direction relative to the ship to minimize flow distortion effects. Both the time series and the power spectra of the sonic-measured wind components show swell-induced ship motion contamination, which is largely removed by the accelerometer correction scheme. There was less contamination in the longitudinal wind component than in the vertical and transverse components. The spectral characteristics of the surface-layer turbulence properties are compared with those from previous land and ocean results. Momentum and latent heat fluxes were calculated by eddy correlation and compared to those estimated by the inertial dissipation method and the TOGA COARE bulk formula. The estimations of wind stress determined by eddy correlation are smaller than those from the TOGA COARE bulk formula, especially for higher wind speeds, while those from the bulk formula and inertial dissipation technique are generally in agreement. The estimations of latent heat flux from the three different methods are in reasonable agreement. The effect of the correction for ship motion on latent heat fluxes is not as large as on momentum fluxes.     

Pulsed Air Sparging in Aquifers Contaminated with Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquids

Air sparging was evaluated for remediation of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) present as dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) in aquifers. A two-dimensional laboratory tank with a transparent front wall allowed for visual observation of DNAPL mobilization. A DNAPL zone 50 cm high was created, with a PCE pool accumulating on an aquitard. Detailed process control and analysis yielded accurate mass balances and insight into the mass-transfer limitations during air sparging. Initial PCE recovery rates were high, corresponding to fast removal of residual DNAPL within the zone influenced directly by air channels. The vadose zone DNAPL was removed within a few days, and the recovery in the extracted soil vapors decreased to low values. Increasing the sparge rate and pulsing the air injection led to improved mass recovery, as the pulsing induced water circulation and increased the DNAPL dissolution rate. Dissolved PCE concentrations both within and outside the zone of air channels were affected by the pulsing. Inside the sparge zone, aqueous concentrations decreased rapidly, matching the declining effluent PCE flux. Outside the sparge zone, PCE concentrations increased because highly contaminated water was pushed away from the air injection point. This overall circulation of water may lead to limited spreading of the contaminant, but accelerated the time-weighted average mass removal by 40% to 600%, depending on the aggressiveness of the pulsing. For field applications, pulsing with a daily or diurnal cycling time may increase the average mass removal rate, thus reducing the treatment time and saving in the order of 40% to 80% of the energy cost used to run the blowers. However, air sparging will always fail to remove DNAPL pools located below the sparge point because the air will rise upward from the top of a screen, unless very localized geological layers force the air to migrate horizontally. Unrecognized presence of DNAPL at chlorinated solvent sites residual and pools could potentially hamper success of air sparging cleanups, since the presence of small DNAPL pools, ganglia or droplets can greatly extend the treatment time.     

Daily variability in abundance and population characteristics of tidal salt-marsh fauna

Nekton and macrocrustacean population levels and characteristics were studied in two similar tidal marsh creeks. Absolute and area-adjusted data were analyzed to determine variability resulting from daily population fluctuations. Two sampling schemes—intensive 3-d seasonal and periodic 1-d—were examined by constructing probability matrices to compare the accuracy of data comparisons resulting from each scheme. The probability of inaccuracies in comparisons of abundance using nonreplicated sampling schemes ranged from 0% to 100%. Significant differences between consecutive day data were observed for population characteristics such as blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) sex ratios, spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) length-weights, killifish: sciaenid ratios, and killifish: blue crab ratios. These data support the need to account for short-term variability when assessing mobile aquatic fauna abundance in estuarine wetlands.