A simple model for air/snow fractionation of aerosol components over the Antarctic Peninsula

A model has been set up to investigate the wet and dry aerosol removal processes which occur in clean air over the Antarctic Peninsula. Input for the model was obtained from bulk chemical analysis and scanning electron microscopy of aerosol and snow samples collected simultaneously at remote sites around the Peninsula. The model predicts that sulphate and sea-salt aerosol will be removed mainly in-cloud by riming of falling snow and ice crystals. Crustal aerosol is principally removed by acting as nuclei for these crystals and by impaction on falling snow. For the largest, locally-generated aerosol dry deposition is indicated as the major removal process. These findings suggest a possible mechanism for the observed air/snow fractionation.     

Observations concerning the nature of maceral fluorescence alteration with time

Distinctive features of the alteration of maceral fluorescence intensity with upon blue-light or UV excitation are related to the level of organic maturation. Alteration has been measured in different media; the results demonstrate clearly that the negative component of the alteration phenomenon is due to photochemical oxidation. Highly weathered bituminous coals do not display negative alteration because the potential for oxidation quenching has been reduced. The positive component of alteration is thought to be due to the creation of additional absorption centers and increased molecular rigidity as a result of photochemical oxidation and the enhancement of cross-linking among mobile phase and network molecules.     

Cretaceous and Eocene lignite deposits, Jackson Purchase, Kentucky

Lignites occur in the Cretaceous McNairy Formation and the Eocene Claiborne Formation in the Jackson Purchase region of western Kentucky. The lone Cretaceous lignite sample has over 18 percent inertodetrinite and 32 percent humodetrinite which, along with the abundant mineral matter, suggests a possible allochthonous origin for the deposit. The Claiborne Formation lignites have higher humic maceral contents than the Cretaceous lignites. Palynology suggests that there was considerable variation in the plant communities responsible for the Claiborne deposits. Differences in the preservation of the various plants is also seen in the variations between the humic types, particularly in the ulminite and humodetrinite contents. Potter and Dilcher (1980) suggested that the Claiborne lignites in the Jackson Purchase and west Tennessee developed in the abandoned oxbows of Eocene rivers. Significant short-distance changes in the peat thickness, flora, and other depositional elements should be expected in such an environment and could easily account for the observed variations in composition.     

ALH85085: a unique volatile-poor carbonaceous chondrite with possible implications for nebular fractionation processes

Allan Hills 85085 is a unique chondrite with affinities to the Al Rais-Renazzo clan of carbonaceous chondrites. Its constituents are less than 50 μm in mean size. Chondrules and microchondrules of all textures are present; nonporphyritic chondrules are unusually abundant. The mean compositions of porphyritic, nonporphyritic and barred olivine chondrules resemble those in ordinary chondrites except that they are depleted in volatile elements. Ca-, Al-rich inclusions are abundant and largely free of nebular alteration; they comprise types similar to those in CM and CO chondrites, as well as unique types. Calcium dialuminate occurs in several inclusions. Metal, silicate and sulfide compositions are close to those in CM-CO chondrites and Al Rais and Renazzo. C1-chondrite clasts and metal-rich “reduced” clasts are present, but opaque matrix is absent. Siderophile abundances in ALH85085 are extremely high (e.g., Fe/Si= 1.7 × solar), and volatiles are depleted (e.g., Na/Si= 0.25 × solar, S/Si= 0.03 × solar). Nonvolatile lithophile abundances are similar to those in Al Rais, Renazzo, and CM and CO chondrites.ALH85085 agglomerated when temperatures in the nebula were near 1000 K, in the same region where Renazzo, Al Rais and the CI chondrites formed. Agglomeration of high-temperature material may thus be a mechanism by which the fractionation of refractory lithophiles occurred in the nebula. Chondrule formation must have occurred at high temperatures when clumps of precursors were small. After agglomeration, ALH85085 was annealed and lightly shocked. C1 and other clasts were subsequently incorporated during late-stage brecciation.     

Comparison of industrial and high-resolution thermal data in a sedimentary basin

Temperature, temperature gradient and heat flow, derived from four wells in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin have been compared with similar quantities derived from maps constructed from industrial data. Individual industrial temperature data may differ from the high-resolution temperature log by up to 30 K, but linear regression of the collected data agrees within 10 K at all points observed. Some evidence suggests that measured conductivities, using drill-cuttings, are biased toward average values. Derived heat flows show agreement of heat flow within 10% within the Mesozoic section. In the Paleozoic section differences are greater, and more varied, with insufficient data for general conclusions. Both styles of measurement provide opportunities for interpretation, each contributing to thermal analysis of sedimentary basins.     

Influence of Casing Materials on Trace-Level Chemicals in Well Water

Four well casing materials — polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and stainless steel 304 (SS 304) and 316 (SS 316) — were examined to determine their suitability for monitoring inorganic and organic constituents in well water.
The inorganic study used a factorial design to test the effect of concentration of mixed metals (arsenic [As], chromium [Cr], lead [Pb], and cadmium [Cd]), pH, and organic carbon. Sample times were 0.5, 4, 8, 24, and 72 hours. Except for slow loss of Pb, PTFE well casings had no significant effect on the concentration of metals in solution. For the other casings, changes in analyte concentration often exceeded 10 percent in eight hours or less and, thus, could bias analyses of samples taken from wells constructed with these materials. Specifically, PVC casings sorbed Pb and leached Cd; SS 316 casings sorbed As and Pb and leached Cd; and SS 304 casings sorbed As, Cr, and Pb and leached Cd. Both stainless steel casing materials showed markedly poorer performance than the PVC casings.
The well casings were also tested for sorption/desorption of 10 organic substances from the following classes: chlorinated alkehes, chlorinated aromatics, nitroaromatics and nitramines. Sample times were 0, 1, 8, 24, and 72 hours, seven days, and six weeks. There were no detectable losses of analytes in any of the sample solutions containing stainless steel well casings. Significant loss of some analytes was observed in sample solutions containing plastic casings, although losses were always more rapid with the PTFE casings than with PVC. Chlorinated organic substances were lost most rapidly. For samples containing PTFE casings, losses of some of these compounds were rapid enough (>10 percent in eight hours) to be of concern for ground water monitoring. Losses of hydrophobic organic constituents in samples containing PTFE casings were correlated with the compound's octanol/water partition coefficient.     

Fluid and enthalpy production during regional metamorphism

Models for regional metamorphism have been constructed to determine the thermal effects of reaction enthalpy and the amount of fluid generated by dehydration metamorphism. The model continental crust contains an average of 2.9 wt % water and dehydrates by a series of reactions between temperatures of 300 and 750° C. Large scale metamorphism is induced by instantaneous collision belt thickening events which double the crustal thickness to 70 km. After a 20 Ma time lag, erosion due to isostatic rebound restores the crust to its original thickness in 100 Ma. At crustal depths greater than 10 km, where most metamorphism takes place, fluid pressure is unlikely to deviate significantly from lithostatic pressure. This implies that lower crustal porosity can only be maintained if rock pores are filled by fluid. Therefore, porosities are primarily dependent on the rate of metamorphic fluid production or consumption and the crustal permeability. In the models, permeability is taken as a function of porosity; this permits estimation of both fluid fluxes and porosities during metamorphism. Metamorphic activity, as measured by net reaction enthalpy, can be categorized as endothermic or exothermic depending on whether prograde dehydration or retrograde hydration reactions predominate. The endothermic stage begins almost immediately after thickening, peaks at about 20 Ma, and ends after 40 to 55 Ma. During this period the maximum and average heat consumption by reactions are on the order 11.2·10^–14 W/cm³ and 5.9·10^–14 W/ cm³, respectively. The maximum rates of prograde isograd advance decrease from 2.4·10^–8 cm/s, for low grade reactions at 7 Ma, to 7·10^–10 cm/s, for the highest grade reaction between 45 and 58 Ma. Endothermic cooling reduces the temperature variation in the metamorphic models by less than 7% (40 K); in comparison, the retrograde exothermic heating effect is negligible. Dehydration reactions are generally poor thermal buffers, but under certain conditions reactions may control temperature over depth and time intervals on the order of 1 km and 3 Ma. The model metamorphic events reduce the hydrate water content of the crust to values between 1.0 and 0.4 wt % and produce anhydrous lower crustal granulites up to 15 km in thickness. In the first 60 Ma of metamorphism, steady state fluid fluxes in the rocks overlying prograde reaction fronts are on the order of 5·10^–11 g/cm²-s. These fluid fluxes can be accommodated by low porosities (<0.6%) and are thus essentially determined by the rate of devolitalization. The quantity of fluid which passes through the metamorphic column varies from 25000 g/cm², within 10 km of the base of the crust, to amounts as large as 240000 g/cm², in rocks initially at a depth of 30 km. Measured petrologic volumetric fluid-rock ratios generated by this fluid could be as high as 500 in a 1 m thick horizontal layer, but would decrease in inverse proportion of the thickness of the rock layer. Fluid advection causes local heating at rates of about 5.9·10^–14 W/cm³ during prograde metamorphism and does not result in significant heating. The amount of silica which can be transported by the fluids is very sensitive to both the absolute temperature and the change in the geothermal gradient with depth. However, even under optimal conditions, the amount of silica precipitated by metamorphic fluids is small (<0.1 vol %) and inadequate to explain the quartz veining observed in nature. These results are based on equilibrium models for fluid and heat transport that exclude the possibility of convective fluid recirculation. Such a model is likely to apply at depths greater than 10 km; therefore, it is concluded that large scale heat and silica transport by fluids is not extensive in the lower crust, despite large time-integrated fluid fluxes.