Temporal Evolution of the Solar-Wind Electron Core Density at Solar Minimum by Correlating SWEA Measurements from STEREO A and B

The twin STEREO spacecraft provide a unique tool to study the temporal evolution of the solar-wind properties in the ecliptic since their longitudinal separation increases with time. We derive the characteristic temporal variations at ～?1 AU between two different plasma parcels ejected from the same solar source by excluding the spatial variations from our datasets. As part of the onboard IMPACT instrument suite, the SWEA electron experiment provides the solar-wind electron core density at two different heliospheric vantage points. We analyze these density datasets between March and August 2007 and find typical solar minimum conditions. After adjusting for the theoretical time lag between the two spacecraft, we compare the two density datasets. We find that their correlation decreases as the time difference increases between two ejections. The correlation coefficient is about 0.80 for a time lag of a half day and 0.65 for two days. These correlation coefficients from the electron core density are somewhat lower than the ones from the proton bulk velocity obtained in an earlier study, though they are still high enough to consider the solar wind as persistent after two days. These quantitative results reflect the variability of the solar-wind properties in space and time, and they might serve as input for solar-wind models.     

Waters of the western springs catchment,Auckland

Abstract

Aquifers occur in basalt deposits infilling valleys in the Western Springs catchment of Auckland City, and they discharge into small streams incised along the edges of major lava flows. Total run‐off from the area is >0.261 m³·s^?1. Analyses by standard methods of twelve subsurface and surface waters show that flowing groundwaters have a low level of pollution (dissolved oxygen x = 7.6 mg·l^?1, abuminoid nitrogen x = 0.038 mg·l^?1, and total solids x = 188 mg·l^?1). Surface waters and stagnant groundwater have high, but varying levels of biological activity. Although much of the dissolved solid content of all the waters (e.g., Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, SiO₂) is consistent with the chemistry of the rocks of the catchment, particularly the glassy volcanic tuffs, for surface waters various sources of pollution also make significant contributions (e.g., leaking sewers, sewage overflows, combustion of fossil fuels, fertilisers, zoo animals). Apart from its iron level, the moderate volume (～.0.13 m³·s^?1) of flowing groundwater is of suitable quality for domestic, industrial and irrigation needs.     

Experimental analysis of arsenic precipitation during microbial sulfate and iron reduction in model aquifer sediment reactors

Microbial SO₄²⁻ reduction limits accumulation of aqueous As in reducing aquifers where the sulfide that is produced forms minerals that sequester As. We examined the potential for As partitioning into As- and Fe-sulfide minerals in anaerobic, semi-continuous flow bioreactors inoculated with 0.5% (g mL⁻¹) fine-grained alluvial aquifer sediment. A fluid residence time of three weeks was maintained over a ca. 300-d incubation period by replacing one-third of the aqueous phase volume of the reactors with fresh medium every seven days. The medium had a composition comparable to natural As-contaminated groundwater with slightly basic pH (7.3) and 7.5 μM aqueous As(V) and also contained 0.8 mM acetate to stimulate microbial activity. Medium was delivered to a reactor system with and without 10 mmol L⁻¹ synthetic goethite (α-FeOOH). In both reactors, influent As(V) was almost completely reduced to As(III). Pure As-sulfide minerals did not form in the Fe-limited reactor. Realgar (As₄S₄) and As₂S₃(am) were undersaturated throughout the experiment. Orpiment (As₂S₃) was saturated while sulfide content was low (∼50 to 150 μM), but precipitation was likely limited by slow kinetics. Reaction-path modeling suggests that, even if these minerals had formed, the dissolved As content of the reactor would have remained at hazardous levels. Mackinawite (Fe_1 + xS; x ? 0.07) formed readily in the Fe-bearing reactor and held dissolved sulfide at levels below saturation for orpiment and realgar. The mackinawite sequestered little As (<0.1 wt.%), however, and aqueous As accumulated to levels above the influent concentration as microbial Fe(III) reduction consumed goethite and mobilized adsorbed As. A relatively small amount of pyrite (FeS₂) and greigite (Fe₃S₄) formed in the Fe-bearing reactor when we injected a polysulfide solution (Na₂S₄) to a final concentration of 0.5 mM after 216, 230, 279, and 286 days. The pyrite, and to a lesser extent the greigite, that formed did sequester As from solution, containing 0.84 and 0.23 wt.% As on average, respectively. Our results suggest that As precipitation during Fe-sulfide formation in nature occurs mainly in conjunction with pyrite formation. Our findings imply that the effectiveness of stimulating microbial SO₄²⁻ reduction to remediate As contamination may be limited by the rate and extent of pyrite formation and the solubility of As-sulfides.     

The potential origins and palaeoenvironmental implications of high temporal resolution δO heterogeneity in coral skeletons

δ¹⁸O was determined at high spatial resolution (beam diameter ∼30 μm) by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) across 1-2 year sections of 2 modern Porites lobata coral skeletons from Hawaii. We observe large (>2‰) cyclical δ¹⁸O variations that typically cover skeletal distances equivalent to periods of ∼20-30 days. These variations do not reflect seawater temperature or composition and we conclude that skeletal δ¹⁸O is principally controlled by other processes. Calcification site pH in one coral record was estimated from previous SIMS measurements of skeletal δ¹¹B. We model predicted skeletal δ¹⁸O as a function of calcification site pH, DIC residence time at the site and DIC source (reflecting the inputs of seawater and molecular CO₂ to the site). We assume that oxygen isotopic equilibration proceeds at the rates observed in seawater and that only the aqueous carbonate ion is incorporated into the precipitating aragonite. We reproduce successfully the observed skeletal δ¹⁸O range by assuming that DIC is rapidly utilised at the calcification site (within 1 h) and that ∼80% of the skeletal carbonate is derived from seawater. If carbonic anhydrase catalyses the reversible hydration of CO₂ at the calcification site, then oxygen isotopic equilibration times may be substantially reduced and a larger proportion of the skeletal carbonate could be derived from molecular CO₂. Seasonal skeletal δ¹⁸O variations are most pronounced in the skeleton deposited from late autumn to winter (and coincide with the high density skeletal bands) and are dampened in skeleton deposited from spring to summer. We observed no annual pattern in sea surface temperature or photosynthetically active radiation variability which could potentially correlate with the coral δ¹⁸O. At present we are unable to resolve an environmental cue to drive seasonal patterns of short term skeletal δ¹⁸O heterogeneity.     

Urban greenspace from the inside out: An argument for the approach and a study with city workers

How might the fact that western people now spend so much of their time indoors impact upon techniques for studying urban greenspace experience? This paper takes this question as its starting point before substantiating one possible answer. It does so by using qualitative methods to examine the everyday practices of city professionals in London and what they tell us about the likelihood that this group will ever venture out into the various parks and gardens found around their offices. Many studies have considered which physical arrangements of city greenspace seem to deliver the greatest amounts of human benefit. Yet this kind of endeavour gives us only one part of the puzzle and contextual studies with those now generally found indoors have something important to add. It is with this in mind that the paper discusses how one sample of office workers quite easily forgot about these spaces, how certain social injunctions both pushed them outside and sealed them indoors, and why it sometimes made good sense for them to avoid any areas of local outdoor vegetation during the day. In so doing it highlights contextual dynamics that seem set to make significant impacts on the future of urban environmental experience and offers some novel suggestions about how best to promote positive greenspace relations in cities today.     

Lithogeochemical localisation of disseminated gold in the White River area, Yukon, Canada

Gold mineralisation in the White River area, 80 km south of the highly productive Klondike alluvial goldfield, is hosted in amphibolite facies gneisses in the same Permian metamorphic pile as the basement for the Klondike goldfield. Hydrothermal fluid which introduced the gold was controlled by fracture systems associated with middle Cretaceous to early Tertiary extensional faults. Gold deposition occurred where highly fractured and chemically reactive rocks allowed intense water–rock interaction and hydrothermal alteration, with only minor development of quartz veins. Felsic gneisses were sericitised with recrystallisation of hematite and minor arsenic mobility, and extensively pyritised zones contain gold and minor arsenic (ca 10 ppm). Graphitic quartzites (up to 5 wt.% carbon) caused chemical reduction of mineralising fluids, with associated recrystallisation of metamorphic minerals (graphite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite) in host rocks and veins, and introduction of arsenic (up to 1 wt.%) to form arsenopyrite in veins and disseminated through host rock. Veins have little or no hydrothermal quartz, and up to 19 wt.% carbon as graphite. Late-stage oxidation of arsenopyrite in some graphitic veins has formed pharmacosiderite. Gold is closely associated with disseminated and vein sulphides in these two rock types, with grades of up to 3 ppm on the metre scale. Other rock types in the White River basement rocks, including biotite gneiss, hornblende gneiss, pyroxenite, and serpentinite, have not developed through-going fracture systems because of their individual mineralogical and rheological characteristics, and hence have been little hydrothermally altered themselves, have little hydrothermal gold, and have restricted flow of fluids through the rock mass. Some small post-metamorphic quartz veins (metre scale) have been intensely fractured and contain abundant gold on fractures (up to 40 ppm), but these are volumetrically minor. The style of gold mineralisation in the White River area is younger than, and distinctly different from, that of the Klondike area. Some of the mineralised zones in the White River area resemble, mineralogically and geochemically, nearby coeval igneous-hosted gold deposits, but this resemblance is superficial only. The White River mineralisation is an entirely new style of Yukon gold deposit, in which host rocks control the mineralogy and geochemistry of disseminated gold, without quartz veins.     

An in situ investigation of the preservation and alteration of presolar silicates in the Miller Range 07687 chondrite

Dust grains that formed around ancient stars and in stellar explosions seeded the early solar protoplanetary disk. While most of such presolar grains were destroyed during solar system formation, a fraction of such grains were preserved in primitive materials such as meteorites. These grains can provide constraints on stellar origins and secondary processing such as aqueous alteration and thermal metamorphism on their parent asteroids. Here, we report on the nature of aqueous alteration in the Miller Range (MIL) 07687 chondrite through the analysis of four presolar silicates and their surrounding material. The grains occur in the Fe-rich and Fe-poor lithologies, reflecting relatively altered and unaltered material, respectively. The O-isotopic compositions of two grains, one each from the Fe-rich and Fe-poor matrix, are consistent with formation in the circumstellar envelopes of low-mass Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB)/Red Giant Branch (RGB) stars. The other two grains, also one each from the Fe-rich and Fe-poor matrix, have O-isotopic compositions consistent with formation in the ejecta of type-II supernovae (SNe). The grains derived from AGB/RGB stars include two polycrystalline pyroxene grains that contain Fe-rich rims. The SNe grains include a polycrystalline Ca-bearing pyroxene and a polycrystalline assemblage consistent with a mixture of olivine and pyroxene. Ferrihydrite is observed in all focused ion beam sections, consistent with parent-body aqueous alteration of the fine-grained matrix under oxidizing conditions. The Fe-rich rims around presolar silicates in this study are consistent with Fe-diffusion into the grains resulting from early-stage hydrothermal alteration, but such alteration was not extensive enough to lead to isotopic equilibration with the surrounding matrix.     

The grain size distribution of matrix in primitive chondrites

The matrix of primitive chondrites is composed of submicron crystals embedded in amorphous silicates. These grains are thought to be the remains of relatively unprocessed dust from the inner regions of the protoplanetary disk. The matrix of primitive meteorites is often compared to chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP-IDPs) which are believed to be of cometary origin, having accreted in the outermost regions of the solar nebula. Crystalline grains in CP-IDPs show evidence of a size–density relationship between the silicates and sulfides suggesting that these components experienced sorting prior to accretion. Here, we investigate whether such evidence of sorting is also present in the matrix constituents of primitive chondrites. We report findings from our study of grain size distributions of discrete silicate and opaque (sulfide and metal) grains within the matrix of the primitive meteorites Acfer 094 (C2-ung.), ALHA77307 (CO3), MIL 07687 (C3-ung.), and QUE 99177 (CR2). Mean radii of matrix silicate grains range from 103 nm in QUE 99177 to 2018 nm in MIL 07687. The opaque grains show a wider variation, with average radii ranging from 15 nm in QUE 99177 to 219 nm in MIL07687. Our results indicate that, in contrast to CP-IDPs, the size distribution of matrix components of these primitive meteorites cannot be explained by aerodynamic sorting that took place prior to accretion. We conclude that any evidence of sorting is likely to have been lost due to a greater variety and degree of processing experienced on these primitive chondrites than on cometary parent bodies.     

Applications of situation-dependent intensity and intensity spread predictions based on a weighted analog technique

A version of our situation-dependent intensity prediction (SDIP) is proposed for operational application after three modifications: (i) Ten historical track analogs are matched with Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) official track forecasts rather than besttracks; (ii) Giving two times as much weight to the 72 h — 120 h portion of the track as to the 0–72 h portion to give higher rankings for analog tracks with similar landfall or recurvature positions and timing; and (iii) Weighting both the intensity prediction technique and a new intensity spread guidance product according to new rankings of the track analogs rather than assuming all track analogs are equally likely. These special matchings and weightings of the track analogs in this weighted-analog intensity (WANI) add skill in the 72–120 h forecast intervals in regions where landfalls occur. Viability as an operational technique is demonstrated as the WANI has only 1 kt larger mean absolute errors than the JTWC intensity errors from 12 h through 72 h, and the WANI is 5 kt (20%) better at 120 h. The WANI rank-weighted intensity spreads each 12 h among the 10 best historical track analogs are processed to reduce any intensity bias and calibrated to reduce (increase) the over-determined (under-determined) intensity spreads at early (later) forecast intervals. Thus, the situation-dependent intensity spread guidance is generated that will include about 68% of the verifying intensities at all forecast intervals. Four examples of the WANI intensity predictions and intensity spread guidance are presented to illustrate how the forecaster might use this information in potential landfall and intensity bifurcation situations.     

Using distributed temperature sensing (DTS) technology in acid gas injection design

The use of slickline distributed temperature sensing (SL-DTS) technology is becoming widespread due to its ease of operation and ability to acquire real-time multiple temperature traces inside the wellbore. Injection of treated acid gas (TAG)—a mixture of CO₂ and H₂S—into geologic formations has become an attractive technical and economic option for oil and gas producers and processors who are faced with regulations concerning excess sulfur and greenhouse gas emissions. Acid gas injection (AGI) into geologic formations is more economical and more flexible in dealing with varying TAG compositions than sulfur recovery units (SRUs) using the Claus process. SRUs do not achieve air quality standards and have high operation and maintenance costs. In addition, there is low demand for sulfur and sulfur disposal costs are high. The results of the analysis of SL-DTS data acquired in conjunction with step rate and pressure falloff (PFO) tests are presented in this paper. These tests were conducted to evaluate the injection potential of geologic formations. The injection zone consisted of a carbonate formation characterized by Karst features, vugs, and natural fractures. The SL-DTS data during the initial injection flow rate for the step rate test (SRT) indicated that high permeability zones accepted fluid at lower injection rates. An increasing number of discrete zones began to accept fluid as the injection rate was increased. The results of the SRT provided the fracture pressure of the formation. This information was used to design an AGI program that would avoid fracturing the formation while allowing for the required volume of TAG to be injected. The results of the PFO test provided information on the reservoir pressure and permeability and also indicated the presence of one or more hydraulic fractures. This case study of SL-DTS measurements made during a SRT and a PFO test for the design of an AGI well provides valuable insights into the potential of DTS technology and its use in AGI and carbon capture/sequestration (CCS) operations. Its findings could be applied to analyze injection potential of geological formations not only for AGI projects but also for CCS, and CO₂ enhanced oil recovery opportunities.