Is the Response of Estuarine Nekton to Freshwater Flow in the San Francisco Estuary Explained by Variation in Habitat Volume?

Abundance of estuarine biota can vary with freshwater inflow through several mechanisms. One proposed mechanism is that the extent of physical habitat for an estuarine species increases with flow. We estimated the contribution of variation in habitat volume to the responses of eight species of estuarine nekton to changes in freshwater flow in the San Francisco Estuary. Resource selection functions for salinity and depth were developed for each species (and for five additional species) using five monitoring data sets. The TRIM3D hydrodynamic model was run for five steady flow scenarios to determine volume by salinity and depth, and resource selection functions were used as a weighting factor to calculate an index of total habitat for each species at each flow. The slopes of these habitat indices vs. flow were consistent with slopes of abundance vs. flow for only two of the species examined. Therefore, other mechanisms must underlie responses of abundance to flow for most species.     

Web 2.0 collaborations address uncertainty in climate reconstructions of the past millennium

Reducing uncertainty in global temperature reconstructions of the past millennium remains the key issue in applying this record to society’s pressing climate change problem. Reconstructions are collaborative, built on the research of hundreds of scientists who apply their diverse scientific expertise and field and laboratory skill to create the individual proxy reconstructions that underlie the multi-proxy, global average temperature time series. Web 2.0 features have enabled collaborative efforts that improve the characterization of uncertainty. Raw data shared via a repository (the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology) enable new reconstructions from the collection of user-generated data. Standards propagated by expert communities facilitate quality control and interoperability. Open access to data and computer code promote transparency and make the science accessible to a broader audience. Blogs, wikis, and listservs share background information and highlight contentious as well as unique aspects of paleo science. A novel approach now underway, titled the Paleoclimate Reconstruction Challenge, and based on the sharing of simulated data (pseudo-proxies) and reconstruction results, seeks to facilitate method development, further reducing uncertainty. Broadly-useful aspects of the Challenge may find application in other fields.     

On the long-term stability of terrestrial reference frame solutions based on Kalman filtering

The Global Geodetic Observing System requirement for the long-term stability of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame is 0.1 mm/year, motivated by rigorous sea level studies. Furthermore, high-quality station velocities are of great importance for the prediction of future station coordinates, which are fundamental for several geodetic applications. In this study, we investigate the performance of predictions from very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) terrestrial reference frames (TRFs) based on Kalman filtering. The predictions are computed by extrapolating the deterministic part of the coordinate model. As observational data, we used over 4000 VLBI sessions between 1980 and the middle of 2016. In order to study the predictions, we computed VLBI TRF solutions only from the data until the end of 2013. The period of 2014 until 2016.5 was used to validate the predictions of the TRF solutions against the measured VLBI station coordinates. To assess the quality, we computed average WRMS values from the coordinate differences as well as from estimated Helmert transformation parameters, in particular, the scale. We found that the results significantly depend on the level of process noise used in the filter. While larger values of process noise allow the TRF station coordinates to more closely follow the input data (decrease in WRMS of about 45%), the TRF predictions exhibit larger deviations from the VLBI station coordinates after 2014 (WRMS increase of about 15%). On the other hand, lower levels of process noise improve the predictions, making them more similar to those of solutions without process noise. Furthermore, our investigations show that additionally estimating annual signals in the coordinates does not significantly impact the results. Finally, we computed TRF solutions mimicking a potential real-time TRF and found significant improvements over the other investigated solutions, all of which rely on extrapolating the coordinate model for their predictions, with WRMS reductions of almost 50%.     

Experimental petrology,crystallization history,and parental magma characteristics of olivine‐phyric shergottite NWA 1068: Implications for the petrogenesis of “enriched” olivine‐phyric shergottites

Abstract– Northwest Africa (NWA) 1068 is one of the few olivine‐phyric shergottites (e.g., NWA 1068, Larkman Nunatak [LAR] 06319, and Roberts Massif [RBT] 04262) that is not depleted in light rare earth elements (LREE). Its REE pattern is similar to that of the basaltic shergottite Shergotty, suggesting a possible connection between the olivine‐phyric and the basaltic shergottites. To test this possible link, we have investigated the high‐pressure near‐liquidus phase equilibria for the NWA 1068 meteorite bulk composition. Our results show that the NWA 1068 bulk composition does not represent an unmodified mantle‐derived melt; the olivine and pyroxene in our near‐liquidus experiments are more magnesian than in the rock itself, which suggests that NWA 1068 contains cumulate minerals (extra olivine). We have then used these experimental results combined with the pyroxene compositions in NWA 1068 to constrain the possible high‐pressure crystallization history of the parental magma. These results suggest that NWA 1068 had a complex polybaric history. Finally, we have calculated a model parental magma composition for the NWA 1068 meteorite. The calculated parental magma is an evolved basaltic composition which is too ferroan to be a primitive melt directly derived from the mantle. We suggest that it ponded and crystallized at approximately the base of the crust. This provided an opportunity for the magma to become contaminated by an “enriched” crustal component prior to crystallization. The results and modeling from these experiments are applicable not only to the NWA 1068 meteorite, but also to LAR 06319 and possibly any other enriched olivine‐phyric shergottite.     

Primitive olivine‐phyric shergottite NWA 5789: Petrography,mineral chemistry,and cooling history imply a magma similar to Yamato‐980459

Knowledge of Martian igneous basaltic compositions is crucial for constraining mantle evolution, including early differentiation and mantle convection. Primitive magmas provide direct information about their mantle source regions, but most Martian meteorites either contain cumulate olivine or crystallized from fractionated melts. The recently discovered Martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 5789 is an olivine‐phyric shergottite. NWA 5789 has special significance among the Martian meteorites because it appears to represent one of the most magnesian Martian magmas known, other than Yamato (Y) 980459. Its most magnesian olivine cores (Fo₈₅) are in Mg‐Fe equilibrium with a magma of the bulk rock composition, suggesting that the bulk represents a magma composition. Based on the Al/Ti ratio of its pyroxenes, we infer that the rock began to crystallize at a high pressure consistent with conditions in Mars’ lower crust/upper mantle. It continued and completed its crystallization closer to the surface, where cooling was rapid and produced a mesostasis of radiating sprays of plagioclase and pyroxene. The mineralogy, petrology, mineral chemistry, and bulk rock composition of NWA 5789 are very similar to those of Y‐980459. The similarities between the two meteorites suggest that NWA 5789 (like Y‐980459) represents a primitive, mantle‐derived magma composition. They also suggest the possibility that NWA 5789 and Y‐980459 formed in the same lava flow. However, based on the mineralogy and texture of its mesostasis, NWA 5789 must have cooled more slowly than Y‐980459. NWA 5789 will help elucidate the igneous geology and geochemistry of Mars.     

Imaging the Kristineberg mining area with two perpendicular magnetotelluric profiles in the Skellefte Ore District,northern Sweden

New magnetotelluric (MT) data from two perpendicular profiles in the Kristineberg area, northern Sweden, were analysed and modelled. In the Skellefte Ore District, the Kristineberg volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) deposit mine is one of the largest and deepest (1250 m). Seventeen broadband magnetotelluric stations were installed along two existing seismic reflection lines. The profiles were 6 and 12 km long with 500 m and 1 km site spacing, respectively. The obtained MT transfer functions in the period range of 0.0015–200 s are of fairly good quality. Detailed strike and dimensionality analysis reveal consistent but period dependent, strike directions, indicating a change in the geoelectrical strike with depth. From the two‐dimensional inversion of the determinant of the impedance tensor, two stable conductivity models with good data fit were obtained. The addition of seismic reflection information from the co‐located survey, improved the data fit of one of them. Extensive sensitivity analyses helped to delineate the well resolved regions of the models and to determine the position of pronounced boundaries. The results are in good agreement with previous studies, especially regarding the presence of a deep conductor interpreted as a structural basement to the district. They also reveal with more detail the configuration of the main geological units of the Skellefte Ore District, especially of the ore bearing volcanic rocks and the embedded alteration zones.     

Shear Band Formation in Numerical Simulations Applying a Continuum Damage Rheology Model

In seismically active regions, faults nucleate, propagate, and form networks that evolve over time. To simulate crustal faulting processes, including the evolution of fault-zone properties, a rheological model must incorporate concepts such as damage rheology that describe the various stages of the seismic cycle (strain localization, subcritical crack growth and macroscopic failure) while accounting for material degradation and healing and off-fault deformation. Here we study the fundamental patterns of strain-localisation within the framework of a continuum damage rheology by performing a shear band analysis (linear instability analysis) and comparing predictions of shear band orientations with numerical results of the nonlinear problem. We find (analytically and numerically) that the angle between the shear band and the less compressive (transverse) direction is between 47° in compression tests with a strain ratio of 0.25 (highly confined compression test), and 60° for a strain ratio higher than 1.4 (axial compression and transverse extension). In addition we find that shear bands exhibit local dilation (I ₁ > 0) in a wide range of strain ratios excluding only simulations with highly confined compression (which yield compacting shear bands or non-localized deformation). Finally, we discuss the applicability of the damage model for simulating deformation in the seismogenic, brittle crust.     

COMPILING LAND USE MAPS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES

The author outlines a series of recommendations for the compilation of land-use maps used for regional economic planning, based on experience gained in a portion of southwestern Siberia. These recommendations include: (a) selection of an intermediate scale for mapping, suitable for the portrayal of both moderate detail and broad regional patterns, (b) compilation of a series of related environmental-economic maps on a common base, to facilitate comparisons, and (c) portraying on a final map not only land use per se, but incorporating natural limitations and resulting land improvement measures into ratings of existing and potential productivity. An example of the latter is provided, with the map legend organized according to a matrix format. Incorporation of productivity ratings is believed to reduce subjectivity involved in the formulation of planning recommendations. Translated from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1985, No. 2, pp. 92-97.     

Geochemistry of intermediate olivine‐phyric shergottite Northwest Africa 6234, with similarities to basaltic shergottite Northwest Africa 480 and olivine‐phyric shergottite Northwest Africa 2990

Abstract— The newly found meteorite Northwest Africa 6234 (NWA 6234) is an olivine (ol)‐phyric shergottite that is thought, based on texture and mineralogy, to be paired with Martian shergottite meteorites NWA 2990, 5960, and 6710. We report bulk‐rock major‐ and trace‐element abundances (including Li), abundances of highly siderophile elements, Re‐Os isotope systematics, oxygen isotope ratios, and the lithium isotope ratio for NWA 6234. NWA 6234 is classified as a Martian shergottite, based on its oxygen isotope ratios, bulk composition, and bulk element abundance ratios, Fe/Mn, Al/Ti, and Na/Al. The Li concentration and δ⁷Li value of NWA 6234 are similar to that of basaltic shergottites Zagami and Shergotty. The rare earth element (REE) pattern for NWA 6234 shows a depletion in the light REE (La‐Nd) compared with the heavy REE (Sm‐Lu), but not as extreme as the known “depleted” shergottites. Thus, NWA 6234 is suggested to belong to a new category of shergottite that is geochemically “intermediate” in incompatible elements. The only other basaltic or ol‐phyric shergottite with a similar “intermediate” character is the basaltic shergottite NWA 480. Rhenium‐osmium isotope systematics are consistent with this intermediate character, assuming a crystallization age of 180 Ma. We conclude that NWA 6234 represents an intermediate compositional group between enriched and depleted shergottites and offers new insights into the nature of mantle differentiation and mixing among mantle reservoirs in Mars.     

K2O‐rich trapped melt in olivine in the Nakhla meteorite: Implications for petrogenesis of nakhlites and evolution of the Martian mantle

We used new analytical and theoretical methods to determine the major and minor element compositions of the primary trapped liquid (PTLs) represented by melt inclusions in olivine and augite in the Martian clinopyroxenite, Nakhla, for comparison with previously proposed compositions for the Nakhla (or nakhlite) parent magma. We particularly focused on obtaining accurate K₂O contents, and on testing whether high K₂O contents and K₂O/Na₂O ratios obtained in previous studies of melt inclusions in olivine in Nakhla could have been due to unrepresentative sampling, systematic errors arising from electron microprobe techniques, late alteration of the inclusions, and/or boundary layer effects. Based on analyses of 35 melt inclusions in olivine cores, the PTL in olivine, PTL_oliv, contained (by wt) approximately 47% SiO₂, 6.3% Al₂O₃, 9.6% CaO, 1.8% K₂O, and 0.9% Na₂O, with K₂O/Na₂O = 2.0. We infer that the high K₂O content of PTL_oliv is not due to boundary layer effects and represents a real property of the melt from which the host olivine crystallized. This melt was cosaturated with olivine and augite. Its mg# is model‐dependent and is constrained only to be ≥19 (equilibrium Fo = 40). Based on analyses of 91 melt inclusions in augite cores, the PTL in augite, PTL_aug, contained (by wt) 53–54% SiO₂, 7–8% Al₂O₃, 0.8–1.1% K₂O, and 1.1–1.4% Na₂O, with K₂O/Na₂O = 0.7–0.8. This K₂O content and K₂O/Na₂O ratio are significantly higher than inferred in studies of melt inclusions in augite in Nakhla by experimental rehomogenization. PTL_aug was saturated only with augite, and in equilibrium with augite cores of mg# 62. PTL_aug represents the Nakhla parent magma, and does not evolve to PTL_oliv by fractional crystallization. We therefore conclude that olivine cores in Nakhla (and, by extension, other nakhlites) are xenocrystic. We propose that PTL_oliv and PTL_aug were generated from the same source region. PTL_oliv was generated first and emplaced to form olivine‐rich cumulate rocks. Shortly thereafter, PTL_aug was generated and ascended through these olivine‐rich cumulates, incorporating fragments of wallrock that became the xenocrystic olivine cores in Nakhla. The Nakhla (nakhlite) mantle source region was pyroxenitic with some olivine, and could have become enriched in K relative to Na via metasomatism. A high degree of melting of this source produced the silica‐poor, alkali‐rich magma PTL_oliv. Further ascension and decompression of the source led to generation of the silica‐rich, relatively alkali‐poor magma PTL_aug. Potassium‐rich magmas like those involved in the formation of the nakhlites represent an important part of the diversity of Martian igneous rocks.