Three-dimensional cathodoluminescence imaging and electron backscatter diffraction: tools for studying the genetic nature of diamond inclusions

As a step towards resolving the genesis of inclusions in diamonds, a new technique is presented. This technique combines cathodoluminescence (CL) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) using a focused ion beam–scanning electron microscope (FIB–SEM) instrument with the aim of determining, in detail, the three-dimensional diamond zonation adjacent to a diamond inclusion. EBSD reveals that mineral inclusions in a single diamond have similar crystallographic orientations to the host, within ±0.4°. The chromite inclusions record a systematic change in Mg# and Cr# from core to the rim of the diamond that corresponds with a ~80°C decrease of their formation temperature as established by zinc thermometry. A chromite inclusion, positioned adjacent to a boundary between two major diamond growth zones, is multi-faceted with preferred octahedral and cubic faces. The chromite is surrounded by a volume of non-luminescent diamond (CL halo) that partially obscures any diamond growth structures. The CL halo has apparent crystallographic morphology with symmetrically oriented pointed features. The CL halo is enriched in ~200 ppm Cr and ~80 ppm Fe and is interpreted to have a secondary origin as it overprints a major primary diamond growth structure. The diamond zonation adjacent to the chromite is complex and records both syngenetic and protogenetic features based on current inclusion entrapment models. In this specific case, a syngenetic origin is favoured with the complex form of the inclusion and growth layers indicating changes of growth rates at the diamond–chromite interface. Combined EBSD and 3D-CL imaging appears an extremely useful tool in resolving the ongoing discussion about the timing of inclusion growth and the significance of diamond inclusion studies.     

Vertical and horizontal distribution of coccolithophores in the Caribbean Sea

Coccolithophores are one of the major, living phytoplankton groups and play important roles in geochemical cycles and climate. They are a particularly dominant group in oligotrophic waters, yet a lot more needs to be learned about their horizontal and vertical distributions. Coccolithophores were collected at different photic depths from 15 stations across the Caribbean Sea during cruise 35/1 of the RV Meteor from April to May 1996. A total of 67 species was identified, with an average of 19 species per station. Coccolithophores were encountered at nearly all stations but abundances were fairly low (10²-10³ cells 1^-1). Coccolithophore assemblages in the four oceanographical provinces identified (Granada Basin waters, Atlantic surface waters, northern Caribbean waters, and Pedro Bank waters) differed in their species composition and abundances. Abundance peaks occurred near the surface and in the deeper photic zone (140-150 m) just below the deep chlorophyll-a maximum at the top of the nitrate nutricline.     

Size-dependent, Spatial, and Temporal Variability of Juvenile Walleye Pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) Feeding at a Structural Front in the Southeast Bering Sea

Abstract. The waters surrounding the Pribilof Islands are an important nursery ground for juvenile walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), an important forage fish in the pelagic food web of the productive Bering Sea shelf region. The diet of juvenile pollock was studied in two consecutive years along a transect line crossing from a well‐mixed coastal domain, through a frontal region to stratified water farther offshore. Variability in stomach fullness was high and evidence for increased feeding intensity in the front was weak. Prey diversity and prey size generally increased with increasing fish size, shifting from predominantly small copepods to larger, more evasive prey items such as euphausiids, crab megalopae and fish. The diet of the fish reflected changes in the relative abundance of copepods and euphausiids in the prey fields between years. Juvenile pollock showed increased feeding rates at dusk, and stomach fullness as well as prey condition were generally lowest just before sunrise; however, the proportion of euphausiids increased in the diet of pollock caught at night, suggesting that some food was also ingested during darkness. Juvenile pollock and their euphausiid prey both vertically migrated above the thermocline at night, although each had a different daytime depth.     

Predicting bed form roughness: the influence of lee side angle

Flow transverse bedforms (ripples and dunes) are ubiquitous in rivers and coastal seas. Local hydrodynamics and transport conditions depend on the size and geometry of these bedforms, as they constitute roughness elements at the bed. Bedform influence on flow energy must be considered for the understanding of flow dynamics, and in the development and application of numerical models. Common estimations or predictors of form roughness (friction factors) are based mostly on data of steep bedforms (with angle-of-repose lee slopes), and described by highly simplified bedform dimensions (heights and lengths). However, natural bedforms often are not steep, and differ in form and hydraulic effect relative to idealised bedforms. Based on systematic numerical model experiments, this study shows how the hydraulic effect of bedforms depends on the flow structure behind bedforms, which is determined by the bedform lee side angle, aspect ratio and relative height. Simulations reveal that flow separation behind bedform crests and, thus, a hydraulic effect is induced at lee side angles steeper than 11 to 18° depending on relative height, and that a fully developed flow separation zone exists only over bedforms with a lee side angle steeper than 24°. Furthermore, the hydraulic effect of bedforms with varying lee side angle is evaluated and a reduction function to common friction factors is proposed. A function is also developed for the Nikuradse roughness (k _s), and a new equation is proposed which directly relates k _s to bedform relative height, aspect ratio and lee side angle.     

Circulation of shelf waters in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight,South Africa

Ship-based acoustic Doppler current profiler (S-ADCP) technology, used in survey mode, has enabled near- synoptic views of the in situ 3-D current field in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Bight to be elucidated for the first time. Data acquired by the research vessels RS Africana and RS Algoa in June 2005, September 2007, March 2009 and July 2010 are presented. Each S-ADCP dataset showed similar circulation characteristics whereby the continental slope and outer shelf of the KZN Bight were strongly influenced by the south-westward flowing Agulhas Current. This was particularly evident in the extreme north between Cape St Lucia and Richards Bay where the shelf is narrowest and velocities exceeded 200 cm s?1. The widening of the bight to the south moves the Agulhas Current further from the coast, resulting in a diminishing velocity gradient on the outer shelf which terminates around the midshelf axis. The southern region of the bight was mostly influenced by the Durban cyclonic eddy (Durban Eddy), and in June 2005 and September 2007, by a cyclonic ‘swirl’ that occupied the entire southern half of the KZN Bight, the latter identified by a combination of S-ADCP-, satellite-derived SST- and ocean colour data. Satellite data showed low-chlorophyll offshore water to move into this swirl and northwards along the inner- and midshelf, reaching the Thukela River. Inner-shelf circulation north of the Thukela River was weak (<20 cm s?1) and highly variable. Satellite-tracked surface drogues deployed in the Durban Eddy found their way into the northward coastal current in the KZN Bight, with velocities exceeding 90 cm s?1 at times. The drogues also highlighted the strong influence of wind, especially in the northern bight between Durnford Point and Cape St Lucia, with residence times on the shelf exceeding 14 days, suggesting this region to be of biological importance particularly for recruitment.