Contemporary and Post-glacial Rates of Aeolian Deposition in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada

Contemporary and post-glacial rates of aeolian deposition are determined for three small catchments that straddle the alpine-subalpine ecotone in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. From process measurement over a single year, the mean annual regional (allochthonous) rate of aeolian deposition for the catchments is estimated to be approximately 11 g m⁻². The average rate of annual deposition over the post-glacial period is calculated from the soil profiles to be c . 6 g m⁻², although fallout rates are likely to have varied significantly over the Holocene epoch due to changes in climate and catchment conditions. It would appear that the vegetated ground strata in these catchments are net receivers of aeolian dust fallout. Consequently, many of the soils are cumulic in nature and protect the bedrock in these catchments from subaerial weathering. These results have implications for sediment transfers in alpine and sub-alpine environments in southwestern British Columbia.     

State-space representation of radiation forces in time-domain vessel models

The paper presents a method for generating a new and efficient time-domain formulation of the equations of motion for a vessel with frequency-dependent hydrodynamic coefficients. Previous work on this topic has relied on the use of convolution terms, whereas in this work state-space models are used. This leads to a model formulation that is well suited for controller design and simulation.     

Namibia volcanic margin

Two end members of passive margin types are present on the Namibia margin: volcanic and non-volcanic. The central and southern parts of the Namibia margin feature characteristic volcanic margin elements such as thickened initial oceanic crust, seaward dipping reflectors, and high-velocity/density lower crust that extends beneath the rift zone that was formed during initial seafloor spreading in Early Cretaceous. The margin north of the Walvis FZ is non-volcanic in character and probably formed as a result of a ridge jump that occurred after cessation of the initial magmatic activity. The Walvis Ridge forms the boundary between the two margin types and resulted from the persistent magmatism associated with the Tristan plume. MCS data in conjunction with gravity modeling reveal a Paleozoic rift zone beneath the Namibia margin south of the Walvis FZ. The Paleozoic rift zone partly overlaps the Jurassic/Early Cretaceous rift zone which produced the breakup between Africa and South America. We calculate an average stretching value of =1.4 for the Paleozoic rift, based on subsidence modeling. The rift is partly bounded by low-angle faults, related to the orogenic collapse of the Pan-African fold belt, which provided a major Paleozoic sediment source. The offshore continuity of onshore ophiolitic complexes is suggested by the coast parallel high-amplitude magnetic anomaly G, and low-angle detachment faults along the southern part of the margin. The average stretching value for the Jurassic/Early Cretaceous rift is =1.7, which implies a syn-rift displacement on this margin of 70 km. The minimum igneous volume of the South Atlantic LIP was found to be in excess of 3.62×106 km³.     

Frequency of maxima of non-narrow banded stochastic processes

In many engineering problems one deals with quantities that must be considered to be of a stochastic or random nature. This is true for the natural environment such as wind, waves, and earthquakes, which are the driving mechanism behind the loadings on a wide variety of land-based and offshore structures. From a design perspective it is important to determine the expected highest value of a stochastic process, and structural fatigue life. The relevant procedures are reasonably well established for processes that have narrow band spectra, but it is much less clear how to deal with non-narrow band cases. In this paper it is shown that the extremes of a Gaussian, non-narrow band process are asymptotically equal to the extremes calculated according to the narrow band formula. Also demonstrated is that fatigue estimates may, with good accuracy, be based on the narrow band formula unless the bandwidth becomes extremely large. These statements are illustrated by examples of a process with (1) a low pass box spectrum, and (2) a Pierson–Moskowitz wave amplitude spectrum. It is also shown that the bandwidth parameter may in some cases be counter-intuitive, as the Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum has a larger bandwidth parameter than the box spectrum, even when both cover the same frequency range.     

The margin between Senja and Spitsbergen fracture zones: Implications from plate tectonics

Analysis of multichannel seismic data from the continental margin off Svalbard between the Senja and Spitsbergen fracture zones suggests that the transition between continental and oceanic crust is located at or close to the Hornsund Fault Zone. In the Late Paleocene/Early Eoeene (57 m.y.) the region between Svalbard and Northeast-Greenland was subjected to regional shear movements associated with a transform system between the young Lofoten-Greenland Basin and the Arctic Ocean. Approximately 50 m.y. ago the spreading axis migrated to the northeast creating a deep basin north of the Greenland-Senja Fracture Zone forming the passive margin between Bear Island and 76.5°N. North of 76.5°N the regional transform was maintained. At the time of the main reorganization of relative plate motion (36 m.y.) the northern margin evolved. A continental fragment was possibly cut off from the Svalbard margin forming a small microcontinent. The microcontinent appears as the submarine ridge which has been associated with the Hovgaard Fracture Zone. It is suggested that the sediments west of the Hornsund Fault Zone are not older than Eocene in the south and mid-Oligocene in the north. The position of the spreading axis has greatly influenced the margin sedimentation.     

Aerosol extinction and ozone measurements

The effect of aerosol extinction on Dobson measurements of total ozone is investigated, and several recent attempts to resolve this problem are reviewed. It is pointed out that the balloon measurements of Paetzold and his colleagues circumvent this problem: Solar-cycle and quasi-biennial effects can be clearly discerned in the balloon data. It is suggested that Paetzold's data would be ideal for testing stratospheric models and searching for man's effect on the stratospheric ozone layer.