Comparison of production computation methods in a Southeastern North CarolinaSpartina alterniflora salt marsh

Tagging studies ofSpartina alterniflora Loisel showed no significant differences in stem longevity of short, medium, and tall height forms. Mean stem longevity was 7.9 months, and the experimental turnover rate was 1.5 crops per yr. Five methods to measure productivity (peak standing crop, Milner and Hughes, Smalley, Wiegert and Evans, and Lomnicki, et al.) yielded annual net aerial primary production (NAPP) estimates ranging from 214 to 1,038 g dry wt per m² per yr in a stand of shortSpartina. Turnover rates were computed for each of the methods by dividing the respective production value by the peak standing crop (242 g dry wt per m² per yr). Each computed turnover rate was compared with the experimental value of 1.5 crops per yr to ultimately determine that the methods of peak standing crop, Milner and Hughes, and Smalley were underestimates and that the Wiegert and Evans method was an overestimate of NAPP in tidal marsh systems. Based on its calculated turnover rate of 1.9 crops per yr, a modified Lomnicki, et al. method provided the best NAPP estimate (454 g dry wt per m² per yr).     

Calculation of equilibration conditions for garnet granulite and garnet websterite nodules in African kimberlite pipes

Summary Pressure/temperature estimates based on different combinations of calibrated mineralogical thermometers and barometers and alternative assumptions concerning the Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺+Fe³⁺) ratios in the mineral phases are compared for a suite of fourteen nodules. PreferredP/T values have been obtained by simultaneous solution of eq. (12) ofWood (1974) for garnet-orthopyroxene equilibria and theEllis andGreen (1979) equation defining theP,T,X dependence of the Fe²⁺–Mg²⁺ partition coefficient for coexisting garnet and clinopyroxene. However, to obtain realistic results it is first necessary to calculate the Fe³⁺ contents in the minerals—conveniently done on a charge balance basis. The favoured meanP/T estimates of 654±36°C and 10.8±3.1 kbs are compatible with a lower crustal origin for this nodule suite.

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Berechnung von Gleichgewichts-Bedingungen von Granat-Granulit und Granat-Websterit-Xenolithen in afrikanischen Kimberliten

Zusammenfassung Druck-Temperatur-Berechnungen auf Grund verschiedener Kombinationen von kalibrierten mineralogischen Thermometern und Barometern sowie alternativer Modelle der Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺+Fe³⁺)-Verhältnisse in den Mineralen einer Gruppe von 14 Einschlüssen werden verglichen. BevorzugteP/T-Werte ergaben sich durch simultane Lösung der Gl. (12) für Granat-Orthopyroxen-Gleichgewichte vonWood (1974) und der Gleichung vonEllis undGreen (1979), die dieP-T-X-Abhängigkeit des Fe²⁺–Mg²⁺-Verteilungskoeffizienten für koexistierende Granat und Clinopyroxen definiert. Um realistische Ergebnisse zu erhalten, ist es jedoch zuerst notwendig, die Fe³⁺-Gehalte der Minerale zu berechnen, vorzugsweise auf der Grundlage des Ladungsausgleichs. Die bevorzugten Durchschnittswerte von 654°±36°C und 10.8–3.1 kb sind in guter Übereinstimmung mit einer Herkunft aus der unteren Kruste.

     

Suspended sediment in rapid subsurface stormflow on a large field plot

The occurrence of rapid movement of suspended sediment in subsurface stormflow on a large field plot in California is described. Concentrations of over 1000mgl^?1 were recorded in storms of only low to moderate intensity. The observed sediment was composed of uniformly fine-sized particles 4 to 8 μm in diameter. The mode of transport seems different from processes previously reported. Differences in sediment concentrations in different events, levels of ¹³⁷Cs on the sediment, and several other types of evidence indicate that the sediment was detached and entrained at the ground surface by raindrop impact and that the water and sediment flow occurred mainly through macropores in the soil. As conditions similar to those at the study site are not uncommon, it seems probable that the phenomenon may occur in many regions.     

Whitlockite and apatite from lunar rock 14310 and fromÖdegården,Norway

Microprobe analyses show that whitlockite from lunar rocks is enriched in REE relative to the associated apatite, whereas a terrestrial whitlockite is severely depleted in REE relative to the associated apatite. After considering other possibilities, we suggest that the lunar whitlockite originally crystallized as the high-T polymorph, which is capable of taking up excess CaO (and REE?). Inversion to the low-T form has been inhibited by the non-stoichiometry, so that the present “whitlockite” phase is poorly crystalline. Similar relations may exist in terrestrial basalts of low water content, but would be easily overlooked in petrographic studies.     

Sulphur isotope studies of the Mount Gunson copper deposits,Pernatty Lagoon,South Australia

The Mount Gunson copper deposits occur in essentially unmetamorphosed gently-folded Upper Proterozoic sediments, far from any known igneous intrusions. They consist of a number of small ore bodies which can be divided into two groups on the basis of differences in location, texture and mineralogy. The groups are here termed the off-lagoon deposits, which are extensively oxidized and occur in low hills to the west of Pernatty Lagoon, and the lagoon deposits, which are not significantly oxidized and occur in basins of permeable bedrock under the lagoon floor. The topography and drainage of this region appear to have altered little since the Tertiary. This paper presents the results of a sulphur isotope ratio study of sulphide minerals, groundwaters and gypsum samples from the mineralized areas. The isotope ratios recorded for the lagoon sulphides provide an example of the pattern predicted for metal sulphide precipitation due to bacterial reduction of sulphate in an environment with limited replenishment of sulphate. This finding is in accord with the suggestion that the copper sulphides were precipitated during recent geological times in groundwater traps in the permeable bedrock under the lagoon. However, sulphate from groundwater and gypsum in the lagoon is not enriched in the S³⁴ isotope, and hence it is concluded that no significant bacterial reduction of sulphate is occurring in the areas examined at the present time. The isotope ratios recorded for the off-lagoon sulphides, in contrast, fall in a narrower range. They can be interpreted to reflect metal sulphide precipitation by bacterial reduction of sulphate in a fairly open system, with considerable replenishment of sulphate, but they provide no information concerning the time of this precipitation. Mineralogical studies of the sulphide samples show that individual samples contain a mixture of sulphide minerals and that one mineral is usually dominant. It appears, for samples with co-existing chalcopyrite and djurleite, that S³⁴ is preferentially enriched in the chalcopyrite.

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Zusammenfassung Die Mount Gunson-Kupferlagerstätten finden sich in im wesentlichen nicht metamorphisierten, schwach gefalteten ober-proterozoischen Sedimenten, weit entfernt von irgendwelchen bekannten Intrusiven. Sie bestehen aus einer Reihe kleiner Erzkörper, die sich auf Grund ihrer Unterschiede in bezug auf ihren Fundort, ihr Gefüge und ihre Mineralogie in zwei Gruppen unterteilen lassen. Diese beiden Gruppen werden hier als Off-Lagoon-Lagerstätten, die weitgehend oxidiert sind und in niedrigen Hügeln westlich von der Pernatty Lagoon vorkommen, beziehungsweise als Lagoon-Lagerstätten, die nicht significant oxidiert sind und in Becken permeablen Gesteins unter dem Lagunenboden gefunden werden, bezeichnet. Die Topographie und die Abflußverhältnisse scheinen sich in dieser Region seit dem Tertiär nur wenig verändert zu haben. Diese Arbeit zeigt die Ergebnisse einer Analyse der Schwefelisotopen-Verhältnisse von Sulfiden, Grundwasser- und Gips-Proben aus den mineralisierten Bereichen. Die für die Lagunen-Sulfide registrierten Isotopenverhältnisse sind ein Beispiel der für die Metallsulfid-Ausfällung auf Grund von bakterieller Sulfatzufuhr zu erwartenden Verteilung. Dieser Befund stimmt mit der Vorstellung, daß die Kupfersulfide während rezenter geologischer Zeiten in Grundwasserspeichern innerhalb des permeablen Gesteins unter der Lagune ausgefällt worden sind, überein. Die Sulfate aus dem Grundwasser und Gips der Lagune sind jedoch nicht mit dem Isotop S³⁴ angereichert, woraus der Schluß gezogen wird, daß in den untersuchten Gebieten gegenwärtig keine wesentliche bakterielle Reduktion von Sulfaten stattfindet. Im Gegensatz dazu fallen die für die Off-Lagoon-Lagerstätten-Sulfide registrierten Isotopen-Verhältnisse in einen engeren Streuungsbereich. Sie können als Darstellung von Metall-Sulfid-Ausfällung durch bakterielle Reduktion von Sulfaten in einem ziemlich offenen System mit erheblichem Sulfat-Nachschub gedeutet werden, geben aber keine Auskunft über den Zeitpunkt dieser Präzipitation. Mineralogische Untersuchungen der Sulfid-Proben zeigen, daß die einzelnen Proben eine Mischung von Sulfid-Mineralien enthalten und daß gewöhnlich ein Mineral überwiegt. In Proben, die sowohl Kupferkies als auch Djurleit enthalten, scheint S³⁴ vorzugsweise im Kupferkies angereichert zu sein.

     

Metamorphic feldspathization of metavolcanics and granitoids,Avnik area,Turkey

In the Avnik area of the Bingöl massif the Lower Unit consists of basic to felsic metavolcanics (ca. 450 Ma), intruded by granitoids (ca. 350 Ma). These are unconformably overlain by an Upper Unit of micaschists and Permian marbles; both units have been deformed and metamorphosed in Alpine time. The metavolcanics and granitoids are extensively feldspathized and silicified. The granitoids, and basic-intermediate volcanics, are albitized, while felsic volcanics are K-feldspathized. Metasomatism has severely modified K/Rb and Rb/Sr ratios, but not REE patterns, and is inferred to have occurred at relatively low T. Nametasomatism of the Upper Unit micaschists has produced albite porphyroblasts. Metasomatism postdates formation of the Upper Unit sediments, and is probably related to reaction with sea water that infiltrated the basement of volcanics and granitoids during deposition of these sediments. Rb-Sr whole-rock dating of extensively feldspathized intermediate-felsic metavolcanics gives an age of ca. 90 Ma, which suggests that the most extensive reaction coincided with expulsion of the trapped sea water during the early stages of the Alpine orogeny. The distribution of albitization vs. K-felds-pathization suggests that the type of metasomatism was controlled on a local scale by permeability and grain size, rather than by T variations.