A non-linear extension of the mixed spectral finite difference model for neutrally stratified turbulent flow over topography

A non-linear extension of the mixed spectral finite difference model for neutrally stratified surface-layer flow over complex terrain is developed. The non-linear terms are treated as additional source terms in the present model. The solution is calculated iteratively in spectral space, while the source terms are evaluated in physical space (at each iteration step) with the help of a Fast Fourier Transform algorithm.Results for simple 2D sinusoidal topography are shown to compare well with full non-linear finite difference results. The method, compared to conventional finite difference methods, has the advantage of rapid convergence and substantial savings in computer time.     

The effect of forestry drainage operations on upland sediment yields: A study of two peat-covered catchments

The suspended sediment yields of two adjacent, paired, catchments on blanket peat in mid-Wales were compared before and after preafforestation drainage works. Catchment A was ploughed whilst an adjacent catchment (B) was left unploughed. After eight months Catchment B was also ploughed. The ploughing strategy in both catchments was designed to minimize sediment loss. However, suspended sediment loss increased 2·5 times following ploughing in Catchment A, whilst no such increase occurred at this time in Catchment B. Subsequently, suspended sediment yields in Catchment B increased 4·8 times after it was ploughed. Organic sediment was lost mainly from furrow sides, and erosion pins showed maximum ground recession in summer, due to peat wastage. Summer desiccation prepared sediment for transport, and organic suspended sediment loads were highest in the autumn. Sediment loads were limited by vegetation colonization and some reduction in sediment loss was due to the presence of unploughed strips adjacent to stream courses.     

REE-fractionated trachytes and dacites from Papua New Guinea and their relationship to andesite petrogenesis

Minor trachyte and dacite temporally associated with, but spatially separated from, arc-trench type volcanoes in Papua New Guinea have distinctive REE abundances similar to experimentally produced and theoretically predicted partial melts of eclogite. However, modelling based on small amounts of equilibrium partial melting indicates that only fractionation involving a garnet-dominated residuum can account for the observed REE patterns if the source rock was subducted oceanic basalt. If the source was geochemically evolved, other mineral phases (e.g., amphibole) are possible in the residuum, and there is no necessity to postulate that the downgoing slab was the source for these magmas. The REE fractionated trachytes and dacites appear to be a part of the nearby late Cenozoic volcanic provinces, and possibly represent minor partial melts which only in unusual tectonic situations arrive unmodified at the Earth's surface.     

Structure of mineral glasses—III. NaAlSi3O8 supercooled liquid at 805°C and the effects of thermal history

The distribution of interatomic distances in amorphous NaAlSi₃O₈ has been determined at 805°C by X-ray radial distribution analysis to investigate structural differences between the glass (T < 763°C) and the supercooled liquid (763°C < T < 1118°C). Except for slight differences attributable to thermal expansion, no significant changes were observed. The sample crystallized during the course of the experiment, but at least one crystal-free data set was obtained. The transition from the inferred six-membered ring structure of the supercooled liquid to the four-membered ring structure of the crystal was clearly visible in radial distribution function (RDF's) determined before and after crystallization.RDF's were also determined at 25°C for two NaAlSi₃O₈ glasses with different histories. The first was derived from a melt that had been cooled slowly from 1600 to 32°C above the melting point (T_f = 1118°C) to detect possible repolymerization to a more ‘crystal-like’ structure as the melt approached T_f. The second glass was prepared by holding a single crystal of Amelia albite at 50°C above T_f to see if the crystalline four-membered ring structure was preserved in melts at temperatures just above the liquidus. No significant differences were observed between these two RDF's and one obtained from a glass quenched from 1800°C. These results suggest that in addition to the destruction of formation of a periodic structure, melting and crystallization in NaAlSi₃O₈ also involves a repolymerization of tetrahedra. This would explain the observed kinetic barrier to melting and crystallization in the anhydrous system and the catalytic effect of small amounts of water or alkali oxide.     

Early Archaean granulite-facies metamorphism south of Ameralik,West Greenland

Relict high-pressure granulite-facies rocks have been found in the Ami?tsoq gneisses and inclusions of the older Akilia supracrustal association, on islands south of Godthåb. Only amphibolite-facies assemblages have been found in Ameralik dykes and younger rocks from this area. The Ami?tsoq gneisses are depleted in Rb and U relative to those of Ameralik and Isua. Well-fitted Pb/Pb and Rb-Sr isochrons on Ami?tsoq granulites indicate that this depletion, correlated with the granulite-facies metamorphism, occurred ca. 3600 Ma ago. Textural features suggest that the present cpx + opc + gnt + plag + qtz + hbl assemblages evolved from earlierintermediate-P assemblages (cpx + opx + plag), probably during cooling from the metamorphic peak. Re-equilibrium of olderintermediate-P assemblages in local environments of low ?_H2O, during the ca. 2800-Ma metamorphism of the Malene supracrustals, is feasible but is considered unlikely. Either interpretation requires crustal thickness of at least 20 km and geothermal gradients of?30°C/km, ca.3600Ma ago. The higher heat production of early Archaean times was apparently dissipated through oceanic, rather than continental, areas.     

Tribulations of Transition

“The black man needs to reflect that he has been America's most fervent Christian—and where has it gotten him? In fact in the white man's hands, in the white man's interpretation … where has Christianity brought the world? It has brought the non-white two-thirds of the human population to rebellion …Only one religion—Islam—had the power to stand and fight the white man's Christianity for a thousand years! Only Islam could keep white Christianity at bay.” (Malcolm X 1965, 449) “At the beginning of the Gulf War the allies went to great lengths to stress that Islam was not an issue, that many Muslim states were fighting on the allies side … The longer war went on, the clearer it became that this part of the war had been lost … What is actually happening is that Islam is becoming the central ideology of the Third World against the first. For long it seemed that Leninism or Maoism would play that role, but it is now clear that Islam has won the race.” (Johnson 1991, 7)     

Dating earthquakes with high-precision thorium-230 ages of very young corals

Mass spectrometric techniques have recently yielded significant increases in precision and sensitivity over previous methods for measuring²³⁰Th abundance in corals. To assess the accuracy of²³⁰Th ages, three corals from Vanuatu, whose ages were known from counting annual growth bands, were analyzed. For each sample, the date of growth determined by²³⁰Th analysis (A.D.1969 ± 3, 1932 ± 5,and1806 ± 5; 2σ uncertainties based on analytical error) was indistinguishable from the date determined by counting bands (A.D. 1971–1973, 1935–1937, and 1804–1810), indicating that the²³⁰Th dates are accurate.²³⁰Th dates were also determined for two adjacent emerged heads from Santo Is., Vanuatu, which were thought to have died when they were raised above sea level during coseismic uplift. The dates (A.D.1864 ± 4, 1866 ± 4) were the same, indicating that the heads died at the same time and consistent with the idea that they were killed by coseismic emergence around A.D. 1865. The difference between this date and the date of the only major historically documented earthquake that caused uplift (A.D. 1973,M_s = 7.5), suggests a seismic recurrence interval of108 ± 4y for Santo. Analogous emerged corals from Malekula Is., Vanuatu yielded²³⁰Th dates that were similar to each other (A.D.1729 ± 3, 1718 ± 5) and are inferred to have died during coseismic emergence around A.D. 1729. In conjunction with the date of the only large historically documented earthquake that caused uplift (A.D. 1965,M_s = 7.5), the recurrence interval for Malekula is236 ± 3y. If similar emerged corals can be found, this appraoch may be extended back in time and to other localities because it appears that such features can now be dated both accurately and precisely.     

Screened Auger Sampling: The Technique and Two Case Studies

The screened auger is a laser-slotted, hollow-stem auger through which a representative sample of ground water is pumped from an aquifer and tested for water-quality parameters by appropriate field-screening methods. Screened auger sampling can be applied to ground water quality remedial investigations, providing:(1) a mechanism for determining a monitoring well's optimal screen placement in a contaminant plume; and (2) data to define the three-dimensional configuration of the contaminant plume.
Screened auger sampling has provided an efficient method for investigating hexavalent chromium and volatile organic compound contamination in two sandy aquifers in Cadillac, Michigan. The aquifers approach 200 feet in thickness and more than 1 square mile in area. A series of screened auger borings and monitoring wells was installed, and ground water was collected at 10-foot intervals as the boreholes were advanced to define the horizontal and vertical distribution of the contaminant plumes. The ability of the screened auger to obtain representative ground water samples was supported by the statistical comparison of field screening results and subsequent laboratory analysis of ground water from installed monitoring wells.     

Overwash occurrence consequent on morphodynamic changes following lagoon outlet closure on a coarse clastic barrier

The reduction in sediment volume of an ebb-tide delta, as a consequence of lagoon outlet closure on a coarse clastic barrier in southeast Ireland, initiated a sequence of beachface and barrier changes downdrift. Elimination of sediment supply to the ebb-delta caused a cessation of downdrift longshore swash bar welding, and led to beach volume reductions which in turn allowed a temporal sequence of beach and nearshore morphodynamic domains to develop. These domains then controlled the sedimentation regime of the barrier adjacent to the old outlet. A temporal sequence of (a) dissipative barrier; (b) reflective barrier; and (c) inner reflective (barrier face)/outer dissipative (subtidal) wave regimes match respectively periods of (a) barrier crest build up by crestal dune development; (b) barrier crest instability (barrier width increasing, barrier height decreasing) due to rhythmic overwash; and (c) a return to barrier crest stability with limited aeolian accretion. Two barriers at different stages in this sequence are discussed.