Economic and design considerations for explosive overburden casting

Summary An overview of economics and design consideration for explosive overburden casting is given and the criteria for the successful application of this technique are discussed. These criteria are: blast design, economic considerations and environmental considerations. Explosive overburden casting may effect considerable cost savings if the market for increased production is available. However, if a fixed sales constraint exists the economic benefits of explosive overburden casting may be marginal and an extensive economic analysis is warranted.     

The amount of garbage pollution from merchant ships

The content of ships' waste was analysed on two merchant vessels. The results show a large amount of unnecessary garbage pollution by ships. The disposal at sea of plastic materials, and of all garbage except food waste in certain special areas, is against the Inter-Governmental Marine Consultative Organization (IMCO) 1973 regulations. Ships are ignoring these regulations. The garbage can be a hazard to man and wildlife, apart from being aesthetically displeasing. It is recommended that more responsibility be put with the shipping companies, owners and suppliers to stop this pollution.     

Structure,composition and bulk properties of upland stream gravels

Upland gravel-bedded streams in the U.K. have received only scant attention from both hydrologists and sedimentologists, but are worthy of further investigation. The sedimentology of three small streams in Teesdale in the Pennines has been examined in detail. Grain-size characteristics, bedforms, structure, composition and packing characteristics of these deposits are described, and compared where appropriate with published information. It is argued that a fuller appreciation of gravel bed composition and morphology should eventually contribute to an improved understanding of sediment transport and deposition mechanisms, and, hence, to improved accuracy in sediment transport and deposition estimates.     

Field observations of stratified atmospheric flow above an obstacle

In a study using the plume from the Four Corners power plant, near Farmington, N.M., lee waves were observed during times when the plume flowed across the Hogback. Wavelengths were typically about 1.2 km; wave amplitudes were more variable, ranging from 20 to 100 m. The observed amplitudes imply an obstacle that is broader and shallower than is actually the case. This is in agreement with laboratory studies that show the existence of regions of complex flow both upstream and downstream from an obstacle, which have the effect of broadening the region over which laminar flow occurs. Visual observation, measurement of the plume cross-sectional area both upstream and downstream from the Hogback, and measurement of plume aerosol concentrations show that turbulent and eddy flow over and downwind from the Hogback increase the rate of mixing of the plume with the surrounding atmosphere. This in turn increases the rate at which plume components come into contact with the ground.     

Aluminous goethite: A mössbauer study

Mössbauer measurements at 300 K, 77 K and 4.2 K and X-ray data are presented for synthetic aluminous goethites (α Fe_1?x Al _x OOH) in two series containing up to 15 mole percent aluminium (hydrothermal preparation) and 19 mole percent aluminium (low-temperature preparation). The Mössbauer spectra for specimens at 300 K and 77 K display broadened and relaxed line-shapes with the relaxation rate increasing with aluminium substitution, whereas all the 4.2 K spectra can be described by a single magnetically split spectrum. At 4.2 K the magnitude of this splitting is 505 kOe for pure goethite and it decreases by 0.52 kOe per mole percent aluminium substitution. The absolute value of the recoil-free fraction f at 4.2 K has been measured for pure goethite and for aluminous goethites containing 7, 15 and 19 mole percent aluminium; it increases from f=0.69±0.02 to f=0.89±0.02 in this range. The increase is attributed to a stiffening of the goethite lattice as it contracts to accommodate the smaller aluminium ion. At 300 K f is found to decrease from f=0.65±0.05 for pure goethite to f=0.50±0.03 for goethite with 19 mole percent aluminium.     

Distribution and abundance of macroinvertebrates on certain connecticut tidal marshes,with emphasis on dominant molluscs

The distribution of macroinvertebrates on Connecticut tidal marshes corresponds well with that reported for other marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. The greatest densities and biomass of the ribbed mussel,Geukensia demissa, were found on marshes in the central and western part of the state where both the annual production ofSpartina alterniflora and tidal range are large. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A01BY019 00011     

A thermochemical study of glasses and crystals along the joins silica-calcium aluminate and silica-sodium aluminate

Enthalpies of solution in molten 2PbO · B₂O₃ at 985 K are reported for series of glasses xCa_0.5AlO₂-(1?x)SiO₂ (O ≤ x ≤ 0.99) and xNaAlO₂-(1?x)SiO₂ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.56). The data are compared to values for the corresponding crystalline aluminosilicates and to preliminary data for systems containing KAlO₂ and Mg_0.5AlO₂. The enthalpies of mixing of glasses become more exothermic with increasing basicity of the mono- or divalent oxide. The tendency toward immiscibility on the silica-rich side, indicated by the shape of the heat of mixing curve between x = 0 and x = 0.4, is pronounced in the calcium aluminate system, but not in the sodium aluminate system. The shape of the heat of mixing curve, which is roughly symmetrical about x = 0.5, can be rationalized in terms of glass structure by considering essentially random substitution of Si and Al on a continuous three dimensional tetrahedral framework, with stabilization arising from electrostatic interactions between aluminum and the nonframework cation balancing the destabilizing effects arising from perturbation of the aluminosilicate framework by the nonframework cation. These trends are consistent with the variation of physical properties of aluminosilicate melts.     

Late Pleistocene paleo-oceanography of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: Benthic foraminiferal evidence

Fluctuations in benthic foraminiferal faunas over the last 130,000 yr in four piston cores from the Norwegian Sea are correlated with the standard worldwide oxygen-isotope stratigraphy. One species, Cibicides wuellerstorfi, dominates in the Holocene section of each core, but alternates downcore with Oridorsalis tener, a species dominant today only in the deepest part of the basin. O. tener is the most abundant species throughout the entire basin during periods of particularly cold climate when the Norwegian Sea presumably was ice covered year round and surface productivity lowered. Portions of isotope Stages 6, 3, and 2 are barren of benthic foraminifera; this is probably due to lowered benthic productivity, perhaps combined with dilution by ice-rafted sediment; there is no evidence that the Norwegian Sea became azoic. The Holocene and Substage 5e (the last interglacial) are similar faunally. This similarity, combined with other evidence, supports the presumption that the Norwegian Sea was a source of dense overflows into the North Atlantic during Substage 5e as it is today. Oxygen-isotope analyses of benthic foraminifera indicate that Norwegian Sea bottom waters warmer than they are today from Substage 5d to Stage 2, with the possible exception of Substage 5a. These data show that the glacial Norwegian Sea was not a sink for dense surface water, as it is now, and thus it was not a source of deep-water overflows. The benthic foraminiferal populations of the deep Norwegian Sea seem at least as responsive to near-surface conditions, such as sea-ice cover, as they are to fluctuations in the hydrography of the deep water. Benthic foraminiferal evidence from the Norwegian Sea is insufficient in itself to establish whether or not the basin was a source of overflows into the North Atlantic at any time between the Substage 5e/5d boundary at 115,000 yr B.P. and the Holocene.