Seismicity of the Bering Glacier region and its relation to tectonic and glacial processes

We relocated over 1000 earthquakes of magnitude > 0.1 occurring between 1973 and 2001 in the Bering Glacier region of southern Alaska. We used first-motion data from these events to determine focal mechanisms and directly invert for stress orientations. Our results indicate that much of the seismicity in the region is occurring within the North American plate in a zone where an inferred structure, which lies beneath Bering Glacier, intersects the Chugach-St. Elias fault system. Stress-field analysis indicates that the events in the Bering Glacier surge reservoir region are likely occurring on northeast-trending thrust faults, consistent with previous modeling that suggested thrust faulting would be enhanced in regions of ice draw down. We also observe a stress field compatible with either high-angle normal or reverse faulting in regions located northwest of the Bering Glacier. This may indicate localized complexities in interactions between the Bering Glacier structure and the Chugach-St. Elias fault system.     

Evolution of a small intraplate basaltic lava field: Jerrabattgulla Creek,upper Shoalhaven River catchment,southeast New South Wales

The Jerrabattgulla Creek basalts are in the upper catchment of the Shoalhaven River of southeastern New South Wales. The basalts erupted into a narrow, north-draining valley and modified the local drainage system, re-routing the paleo-Jerrabattgulla Creek, preserving a series of sub-basaltic quartzose gravels with silcretes in the paleovalley. The paleovalley indicates that a north-flowing drainage existed in this place in the Miocene. The high-relief, narrow valley has preserved a volcanic stratigraphy allowing the magmatic evolution of this small lava field to be determined. The lavas have a large compositional range from olivine nephelinite through to quartz tholeiite, which is unusual in such a small lava field. They represent three distinct magma batches, most likely from an amphibole–apatite metasomatised sub-continental lithospheric mantle, and underwent fractional crystallisation of olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase and assimilated upper crust. The lava field underwent temporal change from dominantly alkaline, to mixed alkaline and subalkaline, to dominantly alkaline magmatism over the course of its evolution.     

Consumption-based GHG emission accounting: a UK case study

Global GHG emissions continue to rise, with nearly a quarter of it due to trade that is not currently captured within global climate policy. In the context of current trade patterns and limited global cooperation on climate change, the feasibility of consumption-based emissions accounting to contribute to a more comprehensive (national) policy framework in the UK is investigated. Consumption-based emissions results for the UK from a range of models are presented, their technical robustness is assessed, and their potential application in national climate policy is examined using examples of policies designed to reduce carbon leakage and to address high levels of consumption. It is shown that there is a need to include consumption-based emissions as a complementary indicator to the current approach of measuring territorial emissions. Methods are shown to be robust enough to measure progress on climate change and develop and inform mitigation policy. Finally, some suggestions are made for future policy-oriented research in the area of consumption-based accounting that will facilitate its application to policy.

Policy relevance

Emissions embodied in trade are rapidly increasing and there is thus a growing gap between production emissions and the emissions associated with consumption. This is a growing concern due to the absence of a global cap and significant variation in country-level mitigation ambitions. Robust measurements of consumption-based emissions are possible and provide new insights into policy options. This includes trade-related policy (e.g. border carbon adjustments) and domestic policies (e.g. resource efficiency strategies). As climate policy targets deepen, there is a need for a broad range of policy options in addition to production and technological solutions. Consumption-based emissions are complementary to production-based emissions inventories, which are still the most accurate estimate for aggregated emissions at the global level. However, without consumption-based approaches, territorial emissions alone will not provide a complete picture of progress in regional and national emissions reduction.     

Can in situ geochemical measurements be more fit-for-purpose than those made ex situ?

It is argued that the selection of the most appropriate geochemical measurement technique should be based upon the fitness of its measurement results for any specified purpose, regardless of whether the measurement are made in situ or ex situ. Using this approach, in situ measurements made in the field are shown to have some definite advantages over those made ex situ in a laboratory. A case study is used to show that there are cases where in situ measurements can be more fit-for-purpose than their ex situ equivalents. This is primarily because the uncertainty of both types of measurement is usually limited by the uncertainty arising from the field sampling process. That uncertainty is mainly caused by small-scale heterogeneity (in space or time) in the analyte concentration within the environmental material (e.g. soil, water or air).     

Radio source calibration for the Very Small Array and other cosmic microwave background instruments at around 30 GHz

Accurate calibration of data is essential for the current generation of cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. Using data from the Very Small Array (VSA), we describe procedures which will lead to an accuracy of 1 per cent or better for experiments such as the VSA and CBI. Particular attention is paid to the stability of the receiver systems, the quality of the site and frequent observations of reference sources. At 30 GHz the careful correction for atmospheric emission and absorption is shown to be essential for achieving 1 per cent precision.
The sources for which a 1 per cent relative flux density calibration was achieved included Cas A, Cyg A, Tau A and NGC 7027 and the planets Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. A flux density, or brightness temperature in the case of the planets, was derived at 33 GHz relative to Jupiter which was adopted as the fundamental calibrator. A spectral index at ∼30 GHz is given for each.
Cas A, Tau A, NGC 7027 and Venus were examined for variability. Cas A was found to be decreasing at 0.394 ± 0.019 per cent yr⁻¹ over the period 2001 March to 2004 August. In the same period Tau A was decreasing at 0.22 ± 0.07 per cent yr⁻¹. A survey of the published data showed that the planetary nebula NGC 7027 decreased at 0.16 ± 0.04 per cent yr⁻¹ over the period 1967–2003. Venus showed an insignificant (1.5 ± 1.3 per cent) variation with Venusian illumination. The integrated polarization of Tau A at 33 GHz was found to be 7.8 ± 0.6 per cent at position angle =148°± 3°.     

A method for activity calculations in saline and mixed solvent solutions at elevated temperature and pressure: A framework for geological phase equilibria calculations

Quantitative thermodynamic calculations that involve aqueous fluids have proved difficult because of the complexity of the interactions that occur within the fluids. Existing thermodynamic models are difficult to apply to mixed solvent or highly saline solutions at P > 0.3 GPa and T > 300 °C. This work constructs a method for activity-composition calculations in saline, mixed solvent, supercritical aqueous solutions. Mixing is formulated on a mole-fraction scale in terms of a set of independent end-members that describe composition and speciation within the solution. The ideal mixing term takes speciation into account and avoids problems with the common ion effect. Non-ideal interactions are represented by an activity coefficient term that combines a limited form of Debye-Hückel and a van Laar formulation. This approach, referred to as the DH-ASF model, is thermodynamically valid over a wide range of P, T and fluid composition. The value of the model lies in its broad applicability, and small number of calibration parameters. Experimental data from the literature for the systems NaCl-H₂O, KCl-H₂O, H₂O-SiO₂-CO₂, H₂O-NaCl-CO₂, H₂O-NaCl-SiO₂ and for H₂O-albite melts have been used to calibrate the DH-ASF model. Calculations were performed using Thermocalc, computer software that calculates equilibria for mineral-based chemical systems.¹ The model represents the data to within experimental error in most cases. Conditions modelled include pressures between 0.2 and 1.4 GPa, temperatures between 500 and 900 °C, and x_H2O from 0.1 to 1. Calibrated parameters are consistent with expectations based on the conceptual model for the fluid, and are relatively insensitive to changes in pressure and temperature for most examples. The DH-ASF model is thermodynamically valid for a range of P-T conditions that includes pressures from 0.1 to 2 GPa and temperatures from 200 to 1000 °C. A lack of experimental data restricts calibration of the model for many end-members. However, it may be possible to neglect parameters associated with end-members present in small amount. In this case, or with new experimental data for calibrations, the DH-ASF model allows previously inaccessible geological systems and processes to be modelled.     

Improving fluorometry as a source tracking method to detect human fecal contamination

In a continuing effort to develop inexpensive source tracking methods to detect human fecal contamination in environmental waters, targeted sampling was combined with fluorometry. Targeted sampling works by identifying hot spots of fecal contamination through multiple samplings over ever-decreasing distances. Fluorometry identifies human fecal contamination by detecting optical brighteners, primarily from laundry detergents. Because organic matter fluoresces and interferes with fluorometry, two locations were chosen for sampling: waters relatively low in organic matter at Mayagüez Bay, Puerto Rico, and waters relatively high in organic matter at St. Simons Island, Georgia. In Puerto Rico, targeted sampling and fluorometry quickly and easily identified two hot spots of human fecal contamination in the Yagüez River, which flows through the city of Mayagüez. Another source tracking method, detection of theesp gene, confirmed their human origin. On St. Simous Island, targeted sampling and fiuorometry identified two hot spots of potential human fecal contamination. Detection of theesp gene confirmed the human origin of one site but not the other, most likely because background organic matter fluorescence interfered with fhiorometry. A separate experiment showed that adding a 436-um emission filter to the fluorometer reduced this background fluorescence by > 50%. With the 436-nm Filter in place, another sampling was conducted on St. Simons Island, and the second hot spot was identified as fecal contamination from birds. As long as the fluorometer was equipped with a 436-nm filter and organic matter concentrations were considered, targeted sampling combined with fluorometry was a relatively inexpensive method for identifying human fecal contamination in water.     

南极Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川的物质平衡及Amery冰架底部物质通量的估算

利用现场观测与遥感数据对Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川的物质平衡及其在Amery冰架的底部融化与冻结状况进行了估算. 结果表明, 澳大利亚组织的Lambert冰川盆地(LGB)考察路线的上游地区, Lambert与Mellor冰川分别为(3.9±2.1)和(2.1±2.4) Gt·a^-1的正平衡, 而Fisher冰川基本处于平衡状态. 上游地区总的正平衡为(5.9±4.9) Gt·a^-1. 考察路线以下, 3条冰川均处于负平衡, 总的负平衡为(-8.5±5.8) Gt·a^-1. 整个Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川均接近于平衡状态. 3条冰川总净平衡为(-2.6±6.5) Gt·a^-1. 前人认为GL线(1970年代初澳大利亚在LGB建立的冰川运动观测点的连线)以上的内陆盆地处于显著正平衡, 可能是因为过高地估算了总积累量, 并低估了穿过GL线的冰通量. 靠近Amery冰架南端着地线, 冰架底部的平均融化速率为(-23.0±3.5) m冰·a^-1, 向下游方向快速减小, 并在距冰架最南端约300 km处过渡为底部冻结. 沿3条冰川在Amery冰架的冰流带(flowband), 冻结速率约介于(0.5±0.1)~(1.5±0.2) m 冰·a^-1. 由于冰流带底部的融化, 流入冰架的内陆冰损失了大约80%±5%. 3条冰流带底部总融化和总冻结分别为(50.3±7.5)和(7.0±1.1) Gt 冰·a^-1, 这要比前人通过模拟和海洋观测估算的整个Amery冰架底部总融化和总冻结还要大很多.