Comparison of 4D tomographic mapping versus thin-shell approximation for ionospheric delay corrections for single-frequency GPS receivers over North America

The majority of navigation satellite receivers operate on a single frequency. They compensate for the ionospheric delay using either an ionospheric model which typically only corrects for 50% of the delay or a thin-shell map of the ionosphere. A 4D tomographic imaging technique is used to map the free electron density over the full-height of the ionosphere above North America during autumn 2003. The navigation solutions computed using correction based upon the thin-shell and the full-height maps are compared in this paper. The maps are used to calculate the excess propagation delay on the L1 frequency experienced by GPS receivers at selected locations across North America. The excess delay is applied to correct the single-frequency pseudorange observations at each location, and the improvements to the resulting positioning are calculated. It is shown that the thin-shell and full-height maps perform almost as well as a dual-frequency carrier-smoothed benchmark and for most receivers better than the unfiltered dual-frequency benchmark. The full-height corrections perform well and are considerably better than thin-shell corrections under extreme storm conditions.     

On the relevance of iron adsorption to container materials in small-volume experiments on iron marine chemistry: Fe-aided assessment of capacity, affinity and kinetics

Iron chemistry in seawater has been extensively studied in the laboratory, mostly in small-volume sample bottles. However, little has been reported about iron wall sorption in these bottles. In this paper, radio-iron ⁵⁵Fe was used to assess iron wall adsorption, both in terms of capacity, affinity and kinetics. Various bottle materials were tested. Iron sorption increased from polyethylene/polycarbonate to polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA)/high-density polyethylene/polytetrafluoroethylene to glass/quartz, reaching equilibrium in a 25–70 h period. PMMA was studied in more detail: ferric iron (Fe(III)) adsorbed on the walls of the bottles, whereas ferrous iron (Fe(II)) did not. Considering that in seawater the inorganic iron pool mostly consists of ferric iron, the wall will be a factor that needs to be considered in bottle experiments.The present data indicate that for PMMA with specific surface (S)-to-volume (V) ratio S/V, both iron capacity (42 ± 16 × 10^− 9 mol/m² or 1.7 × 10^− 9 mol/L recalculated for the S/V-specific PMMA bottles used) and affinity (log K_Fe'W = 11.0 ± 0.3 m²/mol or 12.4 ± 0.3 L/mol, recalculated for the S/V-specific PMMA bottles used) are of similar magnitude as the iron capacity and -affinity of the natural ligands in the presently used seawater and thus cannot be ignored.Calculation of rate constants for association and dissociation of both Fe'L (iron bound to natural occurring organic ligands) and Fe'W (iron adsorbed on the wall of vessels) suggests that the two iron complexes are also of rather similar kinetics, with rate constants for dissociation in the order of 10 ⁻⁴–10^− 5 L/s and rate constants for association in the order of 10⁸ L/(mol s). This makes that iron wall sorption should be seriously considered in small-volume experiments, both in assessments of shorter-term dynamics and in end-point observations in equilibrium conditions. Therefore, the present data strongly advocate making use of iron mass balances throughout in experiments in smaller volume set-ups on marine iron (bio) chemistry.     

A note on the significance of the assemblage calcite-quartz-plagioclase-paragonite-graphite

The biotite zone assemblage: calcite-quartz-plagioclase (An₂₅)-phengite-paragonite-chlorite-graphite, is developed at the contact between a carbonate and a pelite from British Columbia. Thermochemical data for the equilibrium paragonite+calcite+2 quartz=albite+ anorthite+CO₂+H₂O yields: $$\log f{\text{H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O}} + \log f{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} = 5.76 + 0.117 \times 10^{ - 3} (P - 1)$$ for a temperature of 700°K and a plagioclase composition of An₂₅. By combining this equation with equations describing equilibria between graphite and gas species in the system C-H-O, the following partial pressures: \(P{\text{H}}_2 {\text{O}} = 2572{\text{b, }}P{\text{CO}}_2 = 3162{\text{b, }}P{\text{H}}_2 = 2.5{\text{b, }}P{\text{CH}}_4 = 52.5{\text{b, }}P{\text{CO}} = 11.0{\text{b}}\) are obtained for \(f{\text{O}}_2 = 10^{ - 26}\) . If total pressure equals fluid pressure, then the total pressure during metamorphism was approximately 6 kb. The total fluid pressure calculated is extremely sensitive to the value of \(f{\text{O}}_2\) chosen.     

PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION OF MAXIMUM KURTOSIS PHASE ESTIMATION1

Methods of minimum entropy deconvolution (MED) try to take advantage of the non-Gaussian distribution of primary reflectivities in the design of deconvolution operators. Of these, Wiggins’(1978) original method performs as well as any in practice. However, we present examples to show that it does not provide a reliable means of deconvolving seismic data: its operators are not stable and, instead of whitening the data, they often band-pass filter it severely. The method could be more appropriately called maximum kurtosis deconvolution since the varimax norm it employs is really an estimate of kurtosis. Its poor performance is explained in terms of the relation between the kurtosis of a noisy band-limited seismic trace and the kurtosis of the underlying reflectivity sequence, and between the estimation errors in a maximum kurtosis operator and the data and design parameters. The scheme put forward by Fourmann in 1984, whereby the data are corrected by the phase rotation that maximizes their kurtosis, is a more practical method. This preserves the main attraction of MED, its potential for phase control, and leaves trace whitening and noise control to proven conventional methods. The correction can be determined without actually applying a whole series of phase shifts to the data. The application of the method is illustrated by means of practical and synthetic examples, and summarized by rules derived from theory. In particular, the signal-dominated bandwidth must exceed a threshold for the method to work at all and estimation of the phase correction requires a considerable amount of data. Kurtosis can estimate phase better than other norms that are misleadingly declared to be more efficient by theory based on full-band, noise-free data.     

Coalification in Carboniferous sediments from the Lötschberg base tunnel

Vitrinite reflectance (Rr), proximate analysis and carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C) have been used to characterise coal samples from two zones of Late Carboniferous sediments (Gastern and Ferden) in the Aar massif where they are penetrated by the Lötschberg base tunnel (constructed between 1999 and 2005). Samples are characterised by variable ash yields (21.7–93.9%; dry basis); those with ash yields of less than ~50% and with volatile matter content (V;dry ash-free basis) within the limits 2 < V% ≤ 8 are anthracite. Values of Rr range from 3.89% to 5.17% and indicate coalification to the rank of anthracite and meta-anthracite in both Gastern and Ferden Carboniferous zones. Samples of anthracite and shale from the Gastern Carboniferous exhibit a relatively small range in δ¹³C values (–24.52‰ to –23.38‰; mean: –23.86‰) and are lighter than anthracite samples from the Ferden Carboniferous (mean: –22.20‰). The degree of coalification in the Gastern and Ferden Carboniferous zones primarily depends on the maximum rock temperature (T) attained as a result of burial heating. Vitrinite reflectance based estimates of T range from ~290° –360 °C. For a proposed palaeogeothemal gradient of 25 ° C/km at the time of maximum coalification the required overburden is attributable to relatively thin autochtonous Mesozoic/Cenozoic sedimentary cover of the Aar massif and Gastern granite and deep tectonic burial beneath advancing Helvetic, Ultrahelvetic and Prealpine (Penninic) nappes in Early Oligocene to Miocene.     

Consolidation properties and structural alteration of Old Alluvium

Acta Geotechnica - We present experimental observations and a conceptual model for understanding the compression and swelling characteristics of Old Alluvium (OA) from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Prior...     

Geology and regional significance of the Sarnoo Hills,eastern rift margin of the Barmer Basin,NW India

The Barmer Basin is a poorly understood rift basin in Rajasthan, northwest India. Exposures in the Sarnoo Hills, situated along the central eastern rift margin of the Barmer Basin, reveal a sedimentary succession that accumulated prior to the main Barmer Basin rift event, and a rift‐oblique fault network that displays unusual geometries and characteristics. Here, we present a comprehensive study of Lower Cretaceous sedimentology on the basin margin, along with a detailed investigation of rift‐oblique faults that are exposed nowhere else in the region and provide critical insights into Barmer Basin evolution. Lower Cretaceous sediments were deposited within a rapidly subsiding alluvial plain fluvial system. Subsequent to deposition, the evolving Sarnoo Hills fault network was affected by structural inheritance during an early, previously unrecognised, rift‐oblique extensional event attributed to transtension between India and Madagascar, and formed a juvenile fault network within the immediate rift‐margin footwall. Ghaggar‐Hakra Formation deposition may have been triggered by early rifting which tectonically destabilised the Marwar Craton prior to the main northeast–southwest Barmer Basin rift event. The identification of early rifting in the Barmer Basin demonstrates that regional extension and the associated rift systems were established throughout northwest India prior to the main phase of Deccan eruptions. Inheritance of early oblique fault systems within the evolving Barmer Basin provides a robust explanation for poorly understood structural complications interpreted in the subsurface throughout the rift. Critically, the presence of syn‐rift sedimentary successions within older oblique rift systems obscured beneath the present‐day Barmer Basin has significant implications for hydrocarbon exploration.     

The impact of the Laacher See Volcano (11 000 yr B.P.) on terrestrial vegetation and diatoms

Late-glacial lake sediments containing the Laacher See Tephra (LST, 11 000 yr B.P.) have been analyzed for their pollen and diatom content at three sites at varying distances from the volcano and on different bedrock geologies. The aim was to test the null hypothesis that this major volcanic eruption had no effect on terrestrial pollen or aquatic diatom assemblages. The pollen spectra at all sites show a short-lived increase in grass pollen following the LST. Partial redundancy analysis and associated Monte Carlo permutation tests suggest, however, that the LST had no statistically significant effect at two sites but it had a statistically significant impact on the pollen assemblages at the site nearest (60 km) to the volcano.The diatom assemblages at the three sites changed individualistically after the LST deposition, with increases inAchnanthes minutissima at one site, an expansion ofAulacoseira species at another, and an increase ofAsterionella formosa andFragilaria brevistriata at the third site. Partial redundancy analysis and associated permutation tests suggest a statistically significant change in diatoms in relation to the LST and associated changes in sediment lithology at the one site situated on acidic bedrock. No significant impacts were found at the sites on volcanic or calcareous rocks. Due to the interaction between tephra and sediment lithology, it is not possible to conclude if the statistically significant diatom changes were a direct result of the LST deposition or an indirect result of lithological changes following LST deposition.This is the first paper in a series of papers published in this issue on high-resolution paleolimnology. These papers were presented at the Sixth International Paeolimnology Symposium held 19–21 April, 1993 at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Dr A. F. Lotter and Dr. M. Sturm served as guest editors for these papers.