Temporal variability of global Topex/Poseidon altimetry: tide and annual signals?

Summary The global power of the differences of altimetric sea heights at collocated points in the first 44 cycles of the Topex/Poseidon (T/P) mission, apparently shows the influence of errors in the major tides and long period ocean signals. Results show the principal semidiurnal tides (M2/S2 lumped together) in the Cartwright and Ray (1991) model are probably in error globally by 3–4 cm (rms). The dominant fluctuation in the differences over the 44 cycles (14 months total) arises from an annual signal of 4–6 cm (rms), significantly greater than long term climate data suggests (but with considerable uncertainty due to unresolved semiannual effects).     

Thermomagnetic analysis of magnetite parts of serpentinite samples and results of other investigations

Summary The normal type of serpentinites consists of chrysotile. The magnetite parts are essential parts of the structure of chrysotile serpentinites (primary magnetite). Chrysotile is changed to antigorite by mechanical deformations. The magnetite parts of rock structure are lost and they sat down in the veins of serpentinite rocks (secondary magnetite). In this paper the thermomagnetic diagrams and the results of X-ray investigations of secondary and primary magnetite are described. Some results of susceptibility measurements are given. The secondary magnetite is characterized by a region of oxydation in the interval 280–400° C (secondary magnetite-Fe₂O₃-Fe₂O₃). The oxydation to -Fe₂O₃ is remarkably. On the thermomagnetic diagrams of primary magnetite no typical oxydation region is to be seen. The oxydation: primary magnetite-Fe₂O₃ is very small. The interval of measured susceptibility values amounts to (10–1500)·10^–6 cgs units. The essential variability of the main parts of serpentinite samples is characterized by the great changes of susceptibility values from point to point.The determined values of specific saturation magnetization (Gauss. cm³ g^–1), the X-ray powder data, and some results on remanent magnetization are given.

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Zusammenfassung Die Normaltypserpentinite bestehen aus Chrysotil. Der Magnetit ist Bestandteil der Struktur der Chrysotilserpentinite (primärer Magnetit). Unter dem Einfluß mechanischer Deformationen geht Chrysotil in Antigorit über. Die Magnetitanteile der Gesteinsstruktur gehen verloren und scheiden sich auf Klüften ab (sekundärer Magnetit). In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die thermomagnetischen Abhängigkeiten und die Ergebnisse von Röntgenuntersuchungen des sekundären und primären Magnetits beschrieben. Es werden einige Ergebnisse der Suszeptibilitätsmessungen angeführt. Der sekundäre Magnetit wird durch einen Oxydationsbereich im Temperaturintervall 280–400° C charakterisiert (sekundärer Magnetit-Fe₂O₃-Fe₂O₃). Die Oxydation zu -Fe₂O₃ ist beträchtlich. Die thermomagnetischen Diagramme des primären Magnetits zeigen keinen typischen Oxydationsbereich. Die Oxydation: primärer Magnetit-Fe₂O₃ ist sehr gering. Das Intervall der gemessenen Suszeptibilitätswerte beträgt (10–1500)·10^–6 CGS-Einheiten. Die starke Veränderlichkeit der Hauptbestandteile der Serpentinitproben wird durch die großen Änderungen der Suszeptibilitätswerte von Punkt zu Punkt gekennzeichnet.Die gemessenen Werte der Sättigungsmagnetisierung (Gauss.cm³ g^–1), der Röntgenuntersuchungen und einige Ergebnisse über die remanente Magnetisierung werden gegeben.

     

K-Ar and fission track dating of Darwin Crater Glass

Darwin Glasses from the recently discovered Darwin Crater in Tasmania were dated by the K-Ar and the fission track methods. The ages by both methods agree and yield a combined age of 0.73 ± 0.04 my for the formation of Darwin Crater and Darwin Glass by an impact. Since an accidental coincidence of this age with the age of Australasian tektites is rather unlikely, we suppose that Darwin Crater is one of many — primary or secondary — impact structures caused by the collision of a meteorite or comet with the earth ～ 0.7 my ago in the region of South East Asia and Australia.     

Major and trace elements in igneous rocks from apollo 15

The concentrations of major and trace elements have been determined in igneous rocks from Apollo 15. All materials analyzed have typical depletions of Eu except for minerals separated from sample 15085. Four samples have concentrations of trace elements that are similar to those of KREEP. The samples of mare basalt from Apollo 15 have higher concentrations of FeO, MgO, Mn, and Cr and lower concentrations of CaO, Na₂O, K₂O, and rare-earth elements (REE) as compared to the samples of mare basalt from Apollos 11, 12, and 14. The samples can be divided into two groups on the basis of their normative compositions. One group is quartz normative and has low concentrations of FeO while the other is olivine normative and has high concentrations of FeO. The trace element data indicate that the samples of olivine normative basalt could be from different portions of a single lava flow. At least two and possible three parent magmas can be identified from the samples of the quartz normative group on the basis of their concentration ratios of Sm to Eu. Within each group, the compositions of the samples appear to be related by crystallization of olivine or pyroxene. Significant variations of the ratio of concentration of Sm to Eu cannot be produced without plagioclase-liquid equilibrium. The source material of mare basalt may be depleted in Eu. Alternatively, the magmas may have assimilated a small volume of material similar to KREEP.Paper dedicated to Prof. Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April 1973.     

The stability of motion in a periodic cubic force field

The non-linear differential equation , wherep(t) is a periodic square wave function of time with period , has been integrated by using a table of Jacobian elliptic functions. In the neighborhood of a typical elliptic fixed point, namely that for 11, 12-decimal accuracy has been used to determine a region which is stable.     

Coronal disturbances

Time lapse movies acquired with the Sacramento Peak Observatory 6-in filter coronagraph very infrequently show dramatic transient events. Many of these events (at 1.04 < r/r < 1.20) are correlated with H activity at the limb, especially with large surges and eruptive prominences. Metric or centrimetric radio bursts are found associated with certain types of 5303 coronal events. The heights to which such disturbances will propagate can often be estimated from the green line movie data. We report the results of a study of all the examples of such transients observed during the last 16 years.     

Mapping of Ozone and Water in the Atmosphere of Mars near the 1997 Aphelion

We present absolute abundances and latitudinal variations of ozone and water in the atmosphere of Mars during its late northern spring (L_s=67.3°) shortly before aphelion. Long-slit maps of the a¹Δ_g state of molecular oxygen (O₂) and HDO, an isotopic form of water, were acquired on UT January 21.6 1997 using a high-resolution infrared spectrometer (CSHELL) at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. O₂(a¹Δ_g) is produced by ozone photolysis, and the ensuing dayglow emission at 1.27 μm is used as a tracer for ozone. Retrieved vertical column densities for ozone above ∼20 km ranged between 1.5 and 2.8 μm-atm at mid- to low latitudes (30°S-60°N) and decreased outside that region. A significant decrease in ozone density is seen near 30°N (close to the subsolar latitude of 23.5°N). The rotational temperatures retrieved from O₂(a-X) emissions show a mean of 172±2.5 K, confirming that the sensed ozone lies in the middle atmosphere (∼24 km). The ν₁ fundamental band of HDO near 3.67 μm was used as a proxy for H₂O. The retrieved vertical column abundance of water varies from 3 precipitable microns (pr-μm) at ∼30°S to 24 pr-μm at ∼60°N. We compare these results with current photochemical models and with measurements obtained by other methods.     

Evaluation of pre-CHAMP gravity models `GRIM5-S1' and `GRIM5-C1' with satellite crossover altimetry

 The new GFZ/GRGS gravity field models GRIM5-S1 and GRIM5-C1, currently used as initial models for the CHAMP mission, have been compared with other recent models (JGM 3, EGM 96) for radial orbit accuracy (by means of latitude lumped coefficients) in computations on altimetry satellite orbits. The bases for accuracy judgements are multi-year averages of crossover sea height differences from Geosat and ERS 1/2 missions. This radially sensitive data is fully independent of the data used to develop these gravity models. There is good agreement between the observed differences in all of the world's oceans and projections of the same errors from the scaled covariance matrix of their harmonic geopotential coefficients. It was found that the tentative scale factor of five for the formal standard deviations of the harmonic coefficients of the new GRIM fields is justified, i.e. the accuracy estimates, provided together with the GRIM geopotential coefficients, are realistic. Received: 20 February 2001 / Accepted: 24 October 2001     

Gas saturation prediction and effect of low frequencies on acoustic impedance images at Foinaven Field

Low frequencies are necessary in seismic data for proper acoustic impedance imaging and for petrophysical interpretation. Without lower frequencies, images can be distorted leading to incorrect reservoir interpretation and petrophysical predictions. As part of the Foinaven Active Reservoir Management (FARM) project, a Towed Streamer survey and an Ocean Bottom Hydrophone (OBH) survey were shot in both 1995 and 1998. The OBH surveys contain lower frequencies than the streamer surveys, providing a unique opportunity to study the effects that low frequencies have on both the acoustic impedance image along with petrophysical time‐lapse predictions. Artefacts that could easily have been interpreted as high‐resolution features in the streamer data impedance volumes can be distinguished by comparison with the impedance volumes created from the OBH surveys containing lower frequencies. In order to obtain results from the impedance volumes, impedance must be related to saturation. The mixing of exsolved gas, oil and water phases involves using the Reuss (uniform) or Voigt (patchy approximation) mixing laws. The Voigt average is easily misused by assuming that the end‐points correspond to 0% and 100% gas saturation. This implies that the patches are either 0% gas saturation or 100% gas saturation, which is never the case. Here, the distribution of gas as it comes out of solution is assumed to be uniform until the gas saturation reaches a sufficiently high value (critical gas saturation) to allow gas to flow. Therefore, at low gas saturations the distribution is uniform, but at saturations above critical, it is patchy, with patches that range from critical gas saturation to the highest gas saturation possible (1 minus residual oil and irreducible water saturation).     

Atmospheric Electrification in the Solar System

Atmospheric electrification is not a purely terrestrial phenomenon: all Solar System planetary atmospheres become slightly electrified by cosmic ray ionisation. There is evidence for lightning on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and it is possible on Mars, Venus and Titan. Controversy surrounds the role of atmospheric electricity in physical climate processes on Earth; here, a comparative approach is employed to review the role of electrification in the atmospheres of other planets and their moons. This paper reviews the theory, and, where available, measurements, of planetary atmospheric electricity which is taken to include ion production and ion–aerosol interactions. The conditions necessary for a planetary atmospheric electric circuit similar to Earth’s, and the likelihood of meeting these conditions in other planetary atmospheres, are briefly discussed. Atmospheric electrification could be important throughout the solar system, particularly at the outer planets which receive little solar radiation, increasing the relative significance of electrical forces. Nucleation onto atmospheric ions has been predicted to affect the evolution and lifetime of haze layers on Titan, Neptune and Triton. Atmospheric electrical processes on Titan, before the arrival of the Huygens probe, are summarised. For planets closer to Earth, heating from solar radiation dominates atmospheric circulations. However, Mars may have a global circuit analogous to the terrestrial model, but based on electrical discharges from dust storms. There is an increasing need for direct measurements of planetary atmospheric electrification, in particular on Mars, to assess the risk for future unmanned and manned missions. Theoretical understanding could be increased by cross-disciplinary work to modify and update models and parameterisations initially developed for a specific atmosphere, to make them more broadly applicable to other planetary atmospheres.