The effect of the Jessica grounding on subtidal invertebrate and plant communities at the Galápagos wreck site

Impacts of the grounding of the oil tanker Jessica off San Cristóbal island, Galápagos, included both effects of oil on biota and also mechanical effects associated with a shallow furrow 50 m x 30 m gouged across the rocky seafloor and wreckage strewn over 7500 m(2). The wreckage represented a minor but potentially chronic source of pollution to the surrounding environment through delayed releases of oil, antifouling compounds and other toxic chemicals, and a possible source of exotic marine taxa. Investigation at the wreck site indicated that impacts on subtidal plant and macro-invertebrate communities were largely confined within 100 m of the wreck site itself. Observed population effects included significant increases in cover of opportunistic algae (filamentous green algae, filamentous red algae and Ulva sp.) and the hydroid Ectopleura media adjacent to the wreck, while densities of the green sea urchin Lytechinus semituberculatus significantly decreased from 0.3 m(-2) adjacent to the wreck to 11 m(-2) at 100 m distance.     

Effects of the Jessica oil spill on artisanal fisheries in the Galápagos

In contrast to local perceptions, the impact on the local Galápagos artisanal fishery of the 16 January 2001 grounding of the Jessica and subsequent oil spill was relatively minor. No significant changes in fishing effort, total fishing catches or catch-per-unit effort were detected after the spill based on analyses of fisheries monitoring data. Nevertheless, large boats tended to move away from sites near the path of the spill following the grounding in 2001, with no fishing recorded from the oil-affected regions of Floreana and southern Isabela in February 2001. The total fishing effort of small boats operating from the Jessica-grounding island of San Cristóbal also declined immediately after the spill, probably in part because such boats were used in clean up operations. During 2001, prices paid to fishers remained stable at levels higher than in 2000, with the notable anomaly that prices fell precipitously to 30% of previous levels during a 1-2 week period in early February 2001. Fish exports remained at similar levels for the years 2000 and 2001; however, as in the previous year, little fish product was exported from Galápagos in the month following the spill, with most fish product dried and stored for up to two months prior to transport to the continent.     

Binary upscaling—the role of connectivity and a new formula

Although recognized as important, measures of connectivity (i.e. the existence of high-conductivity paths that increase flow and allow for early solute arrival) have not yet been incorporated into methods for upscaling hydraulic conductivities of porous media. We present and evaluate a binary upscaling formula that utilizes connectivity information. The upscaled hydraulic conductivity (K) of binary media is determined as a function of the proportions and conductivities of the two materials, the geometry of the inclusions, and the mean distance between them. The use of a phase interchange theorem renders the formula equally applicable to two-dimensional media with inclusions of low K and high K as compared with the matrix. The new upscaling formula is tested on two-dimensional binary random fields spanning a broad range of spatial correlation structures and conductivity contrasts. The computed effective conductivities are compared to what is obtained using self-consistent effective medium theory, the coated ellipsoids approximation, and to a streamline approach. It is shown that, although simple, the proposed formula performs better than available methods for binary upscaling. The use of connectivity information leads to significantly improved behavior close to the percolation threshold. The proposed upscaling formula depends exclusively on parameters that are obtainable from field investigations.     

Helium isotope composition of the early Iceland mantle plume inferred from the Tertiary picrites of West Greenland

Picrites from the 61 million year old Vaigat Formation of the Nuussuaq Peninsula in West Greenland have ³He/⁴He ratios trapped in olivine phenocrysts which range up to 30 times the atmospheric ratio. These high values, measured during gas extraction by crushing in vacuum, are similar to the highest magmatic ³He/⁴He ratios found in young terrestrial volcanic rocks. By analogy with young basalts, in which crushing selectively extracts magmatic helium, any significant cosmogenic ³He appears to be absent in these picrites. Additional evidence for the absence of cosmogenic helium is provided by fusion results on the crushed olivine powders and by a single stepwise crushing experiment, in which only magmatic and radiogenic helium components are resolvable. The West Greenland picrites have Pb, Nd and Sr isotope compositions which overlap those found in picrites from Iceland and in basalts from Loihi Seamount, localities which today also have high ³He/⁴He ratios. Isotopic variations in He, Pb, Nd and Sr for the West Greenland picrites are interpreted to largely result from interaction of the early Iceland mantle plume with the upper mantle during plume ascent and dispersion beneath the continental lithosphere. The presence of high ³He/⁴He ratios in West Greenland, and the onset of magmatism across the North Atlantic Volcanic Province near 62 Ma, supports the hypothesis for very rapid dispersion (>1 m/year) of mantle plume head material during the earliest stages of plume impact, as predicted in recent numerical simulations of plume behavior during thermal mantle convection with non-Newtonian rheology.     

Parametric-historic Procedure for Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis Part I: Estimation of Maximum Regional Magnitude mmax

—A new methodology for probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) is described. The approach combines the best features of the "deductive" (Cornell, 1968) and "historical" (Veneziano et al., 1984) procedures. It can be called a "parametric-historic" procedure.¶The maximum regional magnitude m _max is of paramount importance in this approach and Part I of our work presents some of the statistical techniques which can be used for its evaluation. The work is an analysis of parametric procedures for the evaluation of m _max, when the form of the magnitude distribution is specified. For each of the formulae given there are notes on its origin, assumptions made of its derivation, and some comparisons. The statistical concepts of bias and variance are considered for each formula, and appropriate expressions for these are also given. Also, following Knopoff and Kagan (1977), we shall demonstrate why there must be a finite upper bound to the largest seismic event if the Gutenberg-Richter frequency-magnitude relation is accepted.     

Timescales and mechanisms of fluid infiltration in a marble: an ion microprobe study

Using a recently developed ion microprobe technique, a detailed oxygen isotope map of calcite grains in a coarse-grained marble has been constructed, supported by trace element (Mn, Sr, Fe) analysis and cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging, in order to constrain scales of oxygen isotope equilibrium, timescales and mechanisms of metamorphic fluid infiltration, and fluid sources and pathways. Results are compared with a previous study of this sample (Wada 1988) carried out using a cryo-microtome technique and conventional oxygen isotope analysis. The marble, from the high temperature/low pressure Hida metamorphic belt in north-central Japan, underwent granulite facies followed by amphibolite facies metamorphic events, the latter associated with regional granite intrusion. The CL imaging indicates two types of calcite, a yellow luminescing (YLC) and a purple luminescing (PLC) variety. The YLC, which occupies grain boundaries, fractures, replacement patches, and most of the abundant deformation twin lamellae, post-dates the dominant PLC calcite and maps out fluid pathways. Systematic relationships were established between oxygen isotope and trace element composition, calcite type and texture, based on 74 ¹⁸O/¹⁶O and 17 trace element analyses with 20–30 μ m spatial resolution. The YLC is enriched in Mn and Fe, and depleted in ¹⁸O and Sr compared to PLC, and is much more ¹⁸O depleted than is indicated from conventional analyses. Results are interpreted to indicate infiltration of ¹⁸O-depleted (metamorphic or magmatic) fluid (initial δ¹⁸O = 9‰–10.5‰) along grain boundaries, fractures and deformation twin lamellae, depleting calcite grains in Sr and enriching them in Mn and Fe. The sample is characterised by gross isotopic and elemental disequilibrium, with important implications for the application of chromatographic theory to constrain fluid fluxes in metacarbonate rocks. Areas of PLC unaffected by “short-circuiting” fluid pathways contain oxygen diffusion profiles of ∼10‰/∼200 μm in grain boundary regions or adjacent to fractures/patches. When correction is made for estimated grain boundary/fracture and profile orientation in 3D, profiles are indistinguishable within error. Modelling of these profiles gives consistent estimates of Dt (where D is the diffusion coefficient and t is time) of ∼0.8 × 10⁻⁸ m², from which, using experimental data for oxygen diffusion in calcite, timescales of fluid transport along grain boundaries at amphibolite facies temperatures of ∼10³ to ∼10⁴ years are obtained. These short timescales, which are much shorter than plausible durations of metamorphism, imply that rock permeabilities may be transiently much higher during fluid flow than those calculated from time integrated fluid fluxes or predicted from laboratory measurements. The preservation of ¹⁸O/¹⁶O profiles requires either rapid cooling rates (∼100–600 °C/million years), or, more plausibly, loss of grain boundary fluid such that a dry cooling history followed the transient passage of fluid. The δ¹⁸O/trace element correlations are also consistent with volume diffusion-controlled transport in the PLC. Fluid transport and element exchange occurred by two inter-related mechanisms on short timescales and on different lengthscales – long-distance flow along cracks, grain boundaries and twin lamellae coupled to ∼200 μm-scale volume diffusion of oxygen. Received: 8 December 1997 / Accepted: 18 May 1998     

The pressure and temperature dependence of the elastic properties of single-crystal fayalite Fe2SiO4

The nine adiabatic elastic stiffness constants of synthetic single-crystal fayalite, Fe₂SiO₄, were measured as functions of pressure (range, 0 to 1.0 GPa) and temperature (range, 0 to 40° C) using the pulse superposition ultrasonic method. Summary calculated results for a dense fayalite polycrystalline aggregate, based on the HS average of our single-crystal data, are as follows: V_p = 6.67 km/s; V_s = 3.39km/s; K= 127.9 GPa; μ = 50.3 GPa; (?K/?P)_T = 5.2; (?μ/?P)_T=1.5;(?K/?T)_P= ?0.030 GPa/K;and,(?/?T)_P =-0.013 GPa/K (the pressure and temperature data are referred to 25° C and 1 atm, respectively). Accuracy of the single-crystal results was maintained by numerous cross and redundancy checks. Compared to the single-crystal elastic properties of forsterite, Mg₂SiO₄, the fayalite stiffness constants, as well as their pressure derivatives, are lower for each of the on-diagonal (C _ij for which i=j) values, and generally higher for the off-diagonal (C _ij for which i≠j) data. As a result, the bulk moduli (K) and dK/dP for forsterite and fayalite are very similar, but the rigidity modulus (μ) and dμ/dP for polycrystalline fayalite are much lower than their forsterite counterparts. The bulk compression properties derived from this study are very consistent with the static-compression x-ray results of Yagi et al. (1975). The temperature dependence of the bulk modulus of fayalite is somewhat greater (in a negative sense) than that of forsterite. The rigidity dependencies are almost equivalent. Over the temperature range relevant to this study, the elastic property results are generally consistent with the data of Sumino (1978), which were obtained using the RPR technique. However, some of the compressional modes are clearly discrepant. The elastic constants of fayalite appear to be less consistent with a theoretical HCP model (Leibfried 1955) than forsterite, reflecting the more covalent character of the Fe-O bonding in the former.     

CONSIDERATIONS OF SPECIFICATIONS FOR SMALL FORMAT AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Following the success of the symposium held by the Photogrammetric Society on 31st March, 1987, a second one-day symposium was convened to give further support to the rapidly growing interest in the development of small format photography for aerial survey. This was held at Burlington House, London on 1st November, 1988. Over 70 people attended. Six of the papers are reproduced here, dealing with a range of topics including specifications for and navigation of small format aerial photography, the creation of digital terrain models from 35 mm photography, wildlife surveys in the Arctic and survey photography from model aircraft and tethered balloons.     

An experimental study of the diffusion of oxygen in quartz and albite using an overgrowth technique

Diffusion rates of¹⁸O tracer in quartz ( c, 1 Kb H₂O) and Amelia albite ( 001, 2 Kb H₂O) have been measured, using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). A new technique involving hydrothermal deposition of labelled materials has removed the possibility of pressure solution-reprecipitation processes adversely affecting the experiments. Reported diffusion constants are:-quartz ( c), ,Q=98±7 KJ mol^–1 (600–825° C, 1 Kb); Amelia albite ( 001), ,Q=85±7 KJ mol^–1, (400–600° C, 2 Kb). Measured quartz¹⁸O diffusivities decrease discontinuously at the- transition, reflecting strong structural influences. The reported albite data agree with previously recorded studies, but-quartz data indicate significantly lower activation energies. Possible causes of this discrepancy, and some geological consequences, are noted.     

Mössbauer study of a California desert celadonite and its pedogenically-related smectite

Celadonite from the northwestern Mojave Desert area of California was examined by detailed Mössbauer spectroscopy at temperatures from 10 K to 400 K. In addition to the predominant Fe³⁺ doublet with isomer shift 0.4 mm s^–1 and quadrupole splitting 0.4 mm s^–1, another Fe³⁺ doublet with 0.4, 1.2 mm/s and two Fe²⁺ doublets with 1.1, 1.7, 2.7 mm s^–1 at 300 K were distinguished. The minor Fe³⁺ component is ascribed to dehydroxylated surface sites. Most of the remaining Fe(90%) is M2 cis-OH octahedral in an ordered M⁺–M²⁺ array. However, about 10% is M1 trans-OH Fe²⁺. Isomer shift vs. T gives Debye temperatures of 570 K for Fe³⁺ in M2 and 380 K for both Fe²⁺ sites, indicating greater vibrational freedom for Fe²⁺. Quadrupole splitting vs. T for Fe²⁺ gives a valence electronic energy splitting of 760 cm^–1 between the ground and first excited state for M2. The M1 sites have a more drastic variation in vs. T which indicates not only a lower first excited state but a rhombic distortion at these sites. A proposed explanation is a neighboring M2 site vacancy. The soil clay formed from this celadonite, which is mostly Fe-rich smectite, was also studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy. About half the Fe²⁺ has been oxidized in the clay, but the isomer shifts and quadrupole splittings are essentially the same as in the original celadonite. A texture orientation in the clay absorber was detected by measuring the absorber at 55° to the source radiation. This texture effect produces asymmetric doublets in the usual 90° measurement.