Water vapour content over two Indian sites tested for a millimeter-wave radio observatory

Measurements of the water vapour content over two possible sites for a millimeter-wave radio-observatory in South India are described. The results of the survey, made with an infrared spectral hygrometer built at the Meudon Observatory, France are compared with those of similar surveys made at some other sites in Europe and America.     

Kepone®: Toxicity and bioaccumulation in blue crabs

Two long-term studies were conducted to determine toxicity, uptake and depuration of Kepone in blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus). In the first, Kepone was administered to crabs in seawater (0.03 or 0.3 μg Kepone/I) or food (eastern oyster,Crassostrea virginica, containing 0.25 μg/g Kepone). Uptake of Kepone in 28 days was primarily through the contaminated oysters. When these crabs were held in Kepone-free seawater and fed Kepone-free oysters for 28 days, no loss of the insecticide was evident. There were adverse effects on molting and survival in crabs fed oysters that contained 0.25 μg/g Kepone. A second study was conducted to determine: (1) the depuration of Kepone over a 90-day period in blue crabs fed oysters from the James River, Virginia (containing 0.15 μg/g Kepone); and (2) the effects of Kepone on molting and survival of blue crabs fed James River oysters or laboratory-contaminated oysters that contained 0.15 or 1.9 μg/g Kepone. Crabs fed Kepone-contaminated oysters followed by a diet of Kepone-free oysters for 90 days had detectable concentrations of the insecticide in tissues. Also, blue crabs that ate oysters containing Kepone in concentrations similar to those found in oysters from the James River, died or molted less frequently than crabs fed Kepone-free oysters meats.     

Organic carbon isotope ratios of recent sediments from coastal lagoons of the Gulf of Mexico,Mexico

The stable carbon isotope composition sedimentary organic carbon was determined in the sediments of seven coastal lagoons of the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico. For most of the lagoons the δ¹³C values for sediments ranged from ?20.1 to ?23.9%. Anomalously low values, ?26.8 to 29.3%. were determined in sediments of two of the studied lagoons, probably due to the presence of organic carbon from anthropogenic sources, naturally absent in these environments. The δ¹³C values determined in the tissues of oysters collected at the same time in the different lagoons were very similar to those recorded in the sediments.     

Reconnaissance geochronology of basement rocks from the Amazonas and Maranhão Basins in Brazil

Rb/Sr whole rock as well as K/Ar whole rock and mineral age determinations have been carried out on drill core samples obtained from the crystalline basement underlying the Amazonas and Maranhão Basins in Brazil. The data confirm the existence of an ancient basement under the Upper and Middle Amazonas Basin. The primary age of the granitic rocks is estimated at about 1560 Ma which correlates with recent age data obtained on granitic rocks on both sides of the Amazonas syneclise. In some areas the K/Ar ages show a decrease probably due to the effect of the Nickerie thermal episode described previously in the Guayana Shield.In the basement of the interconnected Lower Amazonas and Maranhão Basins Late Precambrian (Caririan) metamorphism and igneous activity seems to have been pervasive. The data allow the continuation of the Brazilian age province known in northeastern Brazil under the Maranhão Basin, linking this province to the Brasilia-Paraguay orogenic belt of similar age.     

Geophysical transitions across the northwest Atlantic magnetic quiet-zone border

Deep and surface magnetic measurements, gravity and subbottom seismic profiling data have been gathered across a part of the northwest Atlantic smooth-rough magnetic border. These data indicate that the transition involves only a change in the magnetic field, without associated gravity or subbottom topographic signature. Model studies suggest that a change in basement magnetization from 0.010 emu/cm³ to 0.005 emu/cm³ could account for the magnetic field change across the boundary from the rough to the smooth sectors. Various theories previously proposed to explain this magnetic boundary are discussed with respect to these newer data; reduction of basement magnetization by weathering of the proto-Atlantic Ocean floor as described by Drake et al. (1968) is the preferred explanation.     

Stable carbon isotope evidence for two sources of organic matter in coastal sediments: seagrasses and plankton

Organic carbon from sediments collected in Texas seagrass meadows was enriched in ¹³C by an average of 6.6% relative to organic carbon from offshore sediments. Within the South Texas hay system examined. δ¹³C values became increasingly more typical of offshore sediments with increasing distance from seagrass meadows. This permits the use of carbon isotope data as a measure of the relative contributions of seagrasses and plankton to sedimentary organic matter.     

Compositional characteristics of olivines from Apollo 12 samples

The olivine phenocrysts of four basalts (12004, 12008, 12009 and 12022) are concentrically zoned and have core compositions about as magnesian as experimentally produced liquidas olivines, features which suggest fractional crystallization and absence of Fe-Mg reequilibration. In the magnesium- and olivine-rich granular basalt 12035, the olivines are either unzoned or are zoned toward adjacent grains and have compositions more iron-rich than either cumulus olivines or liquidus olivines (should the rock represent the composition of a melt), features which suggest extensive Fe-Mg re-equilibration.     

Alpine tectonics in the Calabrian–Peloritan belt (southern Italy): New 40Ar/39Ar data in the Aspromonte Massif area

This study provides new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological constraints on the age of the Alpine tectonics in the Aspromonte Massif (southern part of the Calabrian–Peloritan belt). This massif exposes the upper units of the Calabride Complex which originated from the European continental margin. The Calabride Complex was incorporated in the Alpine orogenic wedge and then integrated into the Apennines and Maghrebides fold-and-thrust belts. Throughout the Calabride Complex there is evidence for a two stage tectonic history, which remains however rather poorly dated: Alpine nappe stacking is followed by extensional reworking along the former thrust contacts or along new detachment surfaces. Our new ages suggest that exhumation of the uppermost units, which accompanied nappe stacking, probably started at 45 Ma and that the deepest units were almost completely exhumed at 33 Ma. This kinematics probably corresponds to syn-orogenic extension while the end of exhumation is clearly related to the extensional tectonics dated at 28.6 Ma along detachment structures.Our geochronological data reveal a very short lag time between accretional and extensional processes in this part of the Mediterranean Alpine orogenic belt. The direction of extension, when the units are restored to their initial position (i.e. before the opening of the Western Mediterranean basins and the bending of the arc) is NNE–SSW. Such a direction does not fit with the eastward slab-retreat model generally put forward to explain extension in the Western Mediterranean. In contrast, we provide evidence for roughly N–S middle Oligocene extension in the accretionary prism, not previously described in this part of the Mediterranean domain.     

Respiratory Rate and Assessment of Secondary Production in the Holothuroid Holothuria tubulosa (Echinodermata) from Mediterranean Seagrass Beds

Abstract. Respiration in Holothuria tubulosa was investigated in individuals from the Posidonia oceanica meadow off Lacco Ameno (Ischia Island, Italy). Respiratory rates increase with increasing body weight and increasing sea water temperature. Oxygen consumption of an average individual (7g dw body wall) ranges from 0.409 (14 °C) to 1.300 (26 °C) mg O₂· h^-1. Data on population density, mean size of individuals, and annual sea water temperature variations allow an assessment of holothuroid production. Values of 45.65 and 13.75 kJ · m^-2· y^-1 were calculated for shallow (3 to 10 m) and deep (25 to 33 m) areas of the Posidonia meadow, respectively. Holothuroid production shows a bathymetric pattern similar to primary production of the Posidonia -epiphytes complex and the production of Posidonia litter.