Experimental determination of coexisting iron–titanium oxides in the systems FeTiAlO, FeTiAlMgO, FeTiAlMnO, and FeTiAlMgMnO at 800 and 900°C, 1–4 kbar, and relatively high oxygen fugacity

A synthetic, low-melting rhyolite composition containing TiO₂ and iron oxide, with further separate additions of MgO, MnO, and MgO + MnO, was used in hydrothermal experiments to crystallize Ilm-Hem and Usp-Mt solid solutions at 800 and 900°C under redox conditions slightly below nickel–nickel oxide (NNO) to $\approx 3\,\log_{10} f_{{{\text{O}}_{2}}}A synthetic, low-melting rhyolite composition containing TiO₂ and iron oxide, with further separate additions of MgO, MnO, and MgO + MnO, was used in hydrothermal experiments to crystallize Ilm-Hem and Usp-Mt solid solutions at 800 and 900°C under redox conditions slightly below nickel–nickel oxide (NNO) to units above the NNO oxygen buffer. These experiments provide calibration of the FeTi-oxide thermometer + oxygen barometer at conditions of temperature and oxygen fugacity poorly covered by previous equilibrium experiments. Isotherms for our data in Roozeboom diagrams of projected %usp vs. %ilm show a change in slope at ≈ 60% ilm, consistent with the second-order transition from FeTi-ordered Ilm to FeTi-disordered Ilm-Hem. This feature of the system accounts for some, but not all, of the differences from earlier thermodynamic calibrations of the thermobarometer. In rhyolite containing 1.0 wt.% MgO, 0.8 wt.% MnO, or MgO + MnO, Usp-Mt crystallized with up to 14% of aluminate components, and Ilm-Hem crystallized with up to 13% geikielite component and 17% pyrophanite component. Relative to the FeTiAlO system, these components displace the ferrite components in Usp-Mt, and the hematite component in Ilm-Hem. As a result, projected contents of ulv?spinel and ilmenite are increased. These changes are attributed to increased non-ideality along joins from end-member hematite and magnetite to their respective Mg- and Mn-bearing titanate and aluminate end-members. The compositional shifts are most pronounced in Ilm-Hem in the range Ilm_50–80, a solvus region where the chemical potentials of the hematite and ilmenite components are nearly independent of composition. The solvus gap widens with addition of Mg and even further with Mn. The Bacon–Hirschmann correlation of Mg/Mn in Usp-Mt and coexisting Ilm-Hem is displaced toward increasing Mg/Mn in ilmenite with passage from ordered ilmenite to disordered hematite. Orthopyroxene and biotite crystallized in experiments with added MgO and MgO + MnO; their X _Fe varies with and T consistent with equilibria among ferrosilite, annite, and ferrite components, and the chemical potentials of SiO₂ and orthoclase in the liquid. Experimental equilibration rates increased in the order: Opx < Bt < Ilm-Hem < Usp-Mag.     

Influence de l'hydrodynamique sur l'intrusion saline en aquifère karstique côtier

A new method of interpretation of the $Q\text{–}C$ hysteresis (discharge–salinity) during high water is proposed using the data recorded on coastal brackish karstic springs with salinity inversely proportional to the discharge. The method, based on the $Q_{\mathrm{mer}}\text{–}{C}_{\mathrm{T}}$ (seawater discharge–salinity) hysteresis, identifies the effect of the hydrodynamic changes on the flow and transport. Three phenomena are characterized: the emptying of the karstic conduit, the dilution by freshwater and the control of the seawater intrusion in the conduit by the hydraulic head variations. To cite this article: B. Arfib et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Dual polarization radar Lagrangian parameters: a statistics-based probabilistic nowcasting model

The aim of this study is to present a statistics-based Lagrangian nowcasting model to predict intense rainfall convective events based on dual polarization radar parameters. The data employed in this study are from X-band radar collected during the CHUVA-Vale campaign from November 2011 to March 2012 in southeast Brazil. The model was designed to catch the important physical characteristics of storms, such as the presence of supercooled water above 0 °C isotherm, vertical ice crystals in high levels, graupel development in the mixed-phase layer and storm vertical growth, using polarimetric radar in the mixed-phase layer. These parameters are based on different polarimetric radar quantities in the mixed phase, such as negative differential reflectivity (Z _DR) and specific differential phase (K _DP), low correlation coefficient (ρ _hv) and high reflectivity Z _h values. Storms were tracked to allow the Lagrangian temporal derivation. The model is based on the estimation of the proportion of radar echo volume in the mixed phase that is likely to be associated with intense storm hydrometeors. Thirteen parameters are used in this probabilistic nowcasting model, which is able to predict the potential for future storm development. The model distinguishes two different categories of storms, intense and non-intense rain cell events by determining how many parameters reach the “intense” storm threshold.     

A geotechnical perspective of raw earth building

Much research has been devoted over the past 30 years to the development of construction materials that can lower the environmental and economic costs of buildings over their entire life by reducing embodied energy, minimizing air conditioning needs and cutting down demolition waste. In this respect, raw earth is an attractive material because it is natural and largely available. In its simplest form, this material consists of a compacted mixture of soil and water which is put in place with the least possible transformation. Raw earth construction has been practised in ancient times but has only recently been rediscovered thanks to modern technology, which has improved fabrication efficiency. If properly manufactured, raw earth exhibits comparable mechanical characteristics and better hygro-thermal properties than concrete or fired bricks. After a brief historical overview, we discuss the advantages of raw earth construction in terms of environmental impact, energy consumption and indoor air quality together with the main obstacles to its wider dissemination. We also review the hydro-thermo-mechanical behaviour of raw earth in the context of the recent geotechnical literature, by examining the dependency of key parameters such as strength, stiffness and moisture retention on: (a) material variables (e.g. particle size and mineralogy), (b) manufacturing variables (e.g. density and stabilization) and (c) environmental variables (e.g. pore suction, ambient humidity and temperature).     

Differential host use affects fecundity of the gastropod Crepidula onyx

For epibiotic or symbiotic marine invertebrates, alternative host species may differ substantially in quality, and under some circumstances such differences in host quality may lead to the evolution of increased host specificity. However, the fitness consequences of alternative hosts for epibiotic or symbiotic marine invertebrates have rarely been quantified. In Southern California, the gastropod Crepidula onyx is often found as an epibiont on either bay mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) or cone snails (Conus californicus). These hosts differ greatly in maximum size, with possible effects on size at sex change and final size in Cr. onyx, and thus on fecundity. Further, Cr. onyx on the two hosts differ in shell shape, possibly affecting the size of the ctenidium, which Cr. onyx uses for suspension feeding. We examined these potential effects of host use on fitness components in Cr. onyx. Epibionts on mussels reached much larger average sizes than did those on cone snails; further, epibionts on mussels often completed sex change at much larger sizes than did those on cone snails. On average, mussel epibionts had threefold higher average fecundities than did cone snail epibionts. Although there was a slight difference in shell shape between epibionts on the two host species, there was no difference in the scaling of ctenidium area with body size for Cr. onyx from the two hosts. The large average differences in fecundity in epibionts associated with the two alternative hosts suggests that there may be strong selection on host choice at larval settlement.