Summit outgassing as indicated by radon, mercury and pH mapping, Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

Surface geochemical mapping of Rn, Hg and pH on the summit of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, has shown some of the characteristics of outgassing. Rn concentrations measured in shallow ground gas are highest (10 to 155 units, i.e. up to 0.016 nCi/l²²²Rn) over deep structures associated with the summit caldera, low (1 to 5 units) over the upper rift zones (which are underlain by shallow intrusions) and low to negative (1 to -3 units) over most of the volcanically inactive peripheral areas. High Rn concentrations were measured over peripheral well-developed structures such as the Kaoiki and Koae fault systems (45 and 12 units, respectively). The pattern of Rn values broadly suggests the existence of a summit-wide convection system interrupted locally by specific permeable structures. The low pH (3.5 to 5.6) of soils over the caldera is suggested to be largely due to the sulfurous component of the ground gas. The low concentrations of Hg (5 to 80 ppb) in these soils are postulated as being partly a function of subsurface complexing of Hg with the abundant sulfur. The shallow intrusions below the upper rift zones appear to have outgassed much of their sulfur content, so soils in these areas are only slightly acid (5.6 to 6.2), allowing the accumulation of Hg to concentrations of several thousands of ppb. These conditions change during extrusive (and intrusive) events with the increases in shallow subsurface temperatures and volatiles in ground gas producing an increase in Rn concentration, and a decrease in soil Hg due to volatilization. After such events, Rn concentration decreases, and soil Hg increases significantly.     

Correlation coefficient patterns and their interpretation in three basaltic suites

Single stage magmatic fractionation processes result in igneous rock suites in which correlation coefficients between pairs of elements are generally high. The Tertiary lavas of E. Iceland are used as an illustration of this type of behaviour. When a second process such as fractionation at a different pressure, wall-rock assimilation, or mixing with a different magma, occurs, correlation coefficients are altered in a predictable way if the process and the chemical characteristics of the participating rocks, minerals and liquids are known. A computer program has been devised to simulate complete correlation coefficient matrices for any desired two- or multi-stage process e.g. fractional crystallisation coupled with contamination. Basaltic suites from Mahabaleshwar, India and the Rooi Rand, southern Africa show correlation coefficient patterns characteristic of multi-stage evolution, and these are interpreted with the aid of computer simulation. The Mahabaleshwar suite shows clear evidence of contamination by a granitic component. The Rooi Rand rocks however remain problematic.     

A Gill twin propeller-vane anemometer for flux measurements during moderate and strong winds

A wind velocity measuring system based on the Gill propeller anemometer is described. A method of calculating the vertical component, which allows for the non-cosine response and avoids the region of stall and nonlinear operation, is presented. A summary of the possible errors in Reynolds stress and drag coefficient estimates is given. A method of establishing the distance constant using field observations is presented. Finally, some preliminary results and some intercomparisons with other anemometers are described briefly.Now at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, Patricia Bay, B.C., Canada.     

A crystal fractionation model for the basaltic rocks of the New Georgia Group,British Solomon Islands

Study of the data provided by Stanton and Bell (1969) for certain basaltic rocks from the New Georgia Group reveals an apparent discrepancy between compositional variation and the sequence of phenocryst phases available for fractionation. The discrepancy none-the-less appears explicable in terms of two low-pressure crystal fractionation mechanisms. The first of these we term compensated crystal settling, a process which, it is postulated, allows a substantial amount of magma undergoing crystal settling to maintain its overall composition since crystals settling from it are continually replaced by compositionally similar crystals which settle into it from higher levels. The second process involves selective fractionation of phases sinking at different rates. Slow sinking of plagioclase relative to ferromagnesian minerals is believed to produce cumulus enrichment in plagioclase in the upper part of the chamber, the resultant magmas being erupted as highly porphyritic, high-alumina, basaltic andesites.     

Amazonian forest dieback under climate-carbon cycle projections for the 21st century

Summary The first GCM climate change projections to include dynamic vegetation and an interactive carbon cycle produced a very significant amplification of global warming over the 21st century. Under the IS92a business as usual emissions scenario CO₂ concentrations reached about 980ppmv by 2100, which is about 280ppmv higher than when these feedbacks were ignored. The major contribution to the increased CO₂ arose from reductions in soil carbon because global warming is assumed to accelerate respiration. However, there was also a lesser contribution from an alarming loss of the Amazonian rainforest. This paper describes the phenomenon of Amazonian forest dieback under elevated CO₂ in the Hadley Centre climate-carbon cycle model.     

The role of ecosystem-atmosphere interactions in simulated Amazonian precipitation decrease and forest dieback under global climate warming

Summary A suite of simulations with the HadCM3LC coupled climate-carbon cycle model is used to examine the various forcings and feedbacks involved in the simulated precipitation decrease and forest dieback. Rising atmospheric CO₂ is found to contribute 20% to the precipitation reduction through the physiological forcing of stomatal closure, with 80% of the reduction being seen when stomatal closure was excluded and only radiative forcing by CO₂ was included. The forest dieback exerts two positive feedbacks on the precipitation reduction; a biogeophysical feedback through reduced forest cover suppressing local evaporative water recycling, and a biogeochemical feedback through the release of CO₂ contributing to an accelerated global warming. The precipitation reduction is enhanced by 20% by the biogeophysical feedback, and 5% by the carbon cycle feedback from the forest dieback. This analysis helps to explain why the Amazonian precipitation reduction simulated by HadCM3LC is more extreme than that simulated in other GCMs; in the fully-coupled, climate-carbon cycle simulation, approximately half of the precipitation reduction in Amazonia is attributable to a combination of physiological forcing and biogeophysical and global carbon cycle feedbacks, which are generally not included in other GCM simulations of future climate change. The analysis also demonstrates the potential contribution of regional-scale climate and ecosystem change to uncertainties in global CO₂ and climate change projections. Moreover, the importance of feedbacks suggests that a human-induced increase in forest vulnerability to climate change may have implications for regional and global scale climate sensitivity.     

Calibration of a land-surface model using data from primary forest sites in Amazonia

Summary A land-surface model (MOSES) was tested against observed fluxes of heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide for two primary forest sites near Manaus, Brazil. Flux data from one site (called C14) were used to calibrate the model, and data from the other site (called K34) were used to validate the calibrated model. Long-term fluxes of water vapour at C14 and K34 simulated by the uncalibrated model were good, whereas modelled net ecosystem exchange (NEE) was poor. The uncalibrated model persistently underpredicted canopy conductance (g _c ) from mid-morning to mid-afternoon due to saturation of the response to solar radiation at low light levels. This in turn caused a poor simulation of the diurnal cycles of water vapour and carbon fluxes. Calibration of the stomatal conductance/photosynthesis sub-model of MOSES improved the simulated diurnal cycle of g _c and increased the diurnal maximum NEE, but at the expense of degrading long-term water vapour fluxes. Seasonality in observed canopy conductance due to soil moisture change was not captured by the model. Introducing realistic depth-dependent soil parameters decreased the amount of moisture available for transpiration at each depth and led to the model experiencing soil moisture limitation on canopy conductance during the dry season. However, this limitation had only a limited effect on the seasonality in modelled NEE.     

Experimental and theoretical bond critical point properties for model electron density distributions for earth materials

Generalized X-ray scattering factor model experimental electron density distributions and bond critical point, bcp, properties generated in recent studies for the earth materials stishovite, forsterite, fayalite and cuprite with high energy single crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction data and those generated with high resolution diffraction data for coesite and senarmonite were found to be adequate and in relatively good agreement, ~5% on average, with those calculated with quantum chemical methods with relatively robust basis sets. High resolution low energy single crystal diffraction data, recorded for the molecular sieve AlPO₄-15, were also found to yield model electron density distribution values at the bcp points for the AlO and PO bonded interactions that are in relatively good to moderately good agreement with the theoretical values, but the Laplacian values of the distribution at the points for the two bonded interactions were found to be in relatively poor agreement. In several cases, experimental bcp properties, generated with conventional low energy X-ray diffraction data for several rock forming minerals, were found overall to be in poorer agreement with the theoretical properties. The overall agreement between theoretical bcp properties generated with computational quantum methods and experimental properties generated with synchrotron high energy radiation not only provides a basis for using computational strategies for studying and modeling structures and their electron density distributions, but it also provides a basis for improving our understanding of the crystal chemistry and bonded interactions for earth materials. Theoretical bond critical point properties generated with computational quantum methods are believed to rival the accuracy of those determined experimentally. As such the calculations provide a powerful and efficient method for evaluating electron density distributions and the bonded interactions for a wide range of earth materials.Dedicated to Professor Robert F. Stewart of Carnegie Mellon University on his retirement for his brilliant and original work modeling electron density distributions.     

Assessing agreement of measurements and predictions in geomorphology

Commonly in geomorphology measurements by different methods are compared to see how far they agree (i.e. are equal), as are predictions from models and corresponding observations. Such assessment usually employs scatter plots, correlation and possibly regression. More appropriate and more effective methods include plotting differences versus means and summary by concordance correlation and other measures of agreement. These methods, some new to geomorphology, are explained and discussed with a variety of examples using fluvial, hillslope, glacial and coastal data.     

Assessing catchment-scale spatial and temporal patterns of groundwater and stream salinity

Understanding catchment-scale patterns of groundwater and stream salinity are important in land- and water-salinity management. A large-scale assessment of groundwater and stream data was undertaken in the eastern Mt Lofty Ranges of South Australia using geographical information systems (GIS), regional scale hydrologic data, hydrograph separation and hydrochemical techniques. Results of the study show: (1) salts were mostly of marine origin (75%), while sulfate and bicarbonate from mineral weathering comprised most of the remainder, (2) elevated groundwater salinities and stable water isotopic compositions similar to mean rainfall indicated that plant transpiration was the primary salt accumulation mechanism, (3) key factors explaining groundwater salinity were geology and rainfall, with overall catchment salinity inversely proportional to average annual rainfall, and groundwater salinity ‘hotspots’ (EC >8 mS/cm) associated with geological formations comprising sulfidic marine siltstones and shales, (4) shallow groundwater correlated with elevated stream salinity, implying that baseflow contributed to stream salt loads, with most of the annual salt load (estimated to be 24,500 tonnes) occurring in winter when baseflow volume was highest. Salt-load analysis using stream data could be a practical, low-cost technique to rapidly target the investigation of problem areas within a catchment.