Radon volumetric activity and ion production in the undisturbed lower atmosphere: Ground-based observations and numerical modeling

The results of in situ ground-based observations of radon volumetric activity carried out at the Borok Geophysical Observatory of Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth of the Russian Academy of Sciences (58°04′ N; 38°14′ E) are presented. Modeling the characteristic diurnal variation in the ion production rate in the undisturbed midlatitude lower atmosphere above land is carried out. The Lagrangian stochastic model of turbulent transport is developed in application to determining the vertical profiles of radon activity for 222Rn and 220Rn isotopes and their radioactive decay products. The results calculated by the Lagrangian stochastic model are matched with the analytical solution for the free atmosphere. Based on the model, the estimate is obtained for the rate of radon outflow from the convective boundary layer to the free clear sky atmosphere. The implications of temperature stratification of the atmosphere for the vertical distribution of the ion production rate at the different radon emission rate are explored.     

Tests of a robust eddy correlation system for sensible heat flux

Summary Sensible heat flux estimates from a simple, one-propeller eddy correlation system (OPEC) were compared with those from a sonic anemometer eddy correlation system (SEC). In accordance with similarity theory, the performance of the OPEC system improved with increasing height of the sensor above the surface. Flux totals from the two systems at sites with adequate fetch were in excellent agreement after frequency response corrections were applied. The propeller system appears suitable for long periods of unattended measurement. The sensible heat flux measurements can be combined with net radiation and soil heat flux measurements to estimate latent heat as a residual in the surface energy balance.With 6 Figures     

Mediterranean outflow through the Strait of Gibraltar since 18,000 Years B.P.: Mineralogical and geochemical arguments

Data obtained from mineralogical and geochemical analyses of piston and gravity cores, recovered from an area off Lisbon (Portugal) to the Alboran Sea (Mediterranean), serve as a basis for better understanding the past 18,000 years of hydrological exchanges at Gibraltar. Tracers used in this study are smectite, kaolinite, Ta, Th, La. One of the primary sources of particles both into and out of the Mediterranean is the Guadalquivir River. These particles are transported back into the Atlantic in the Mediterranean outflow water, and deposited along the Iberian slope. No evidence for reversal of this outflow current was found in those cores, since 18,000 years B.P.     

Catastrophic landslides,glacier behaviour and moraine formation – A view from an active plate margin

The influence of large bedrock landslides (“rock avalanches”) on the behaviour of glaciers is incompletely recognised. Here we present an example from an active tectonic margin in South Island, New Zealand where large earthquakes leave a significant imprint on glacial records. We demonstrate that terminal moraines on the western side of the Southern Alps record both ‘ordinary’ (i.e. climate-driven) and landslide-initiated glacial advances. Following consideration of the processes involved in rock avalanche-initiated moraine construction we suggest ways of determining the nature of the advance that built the terminal moraine. The implications of these observations are important in breaking the conventional linkage of individual terminal moraines with climate forcing.     

Reconstruction of Holocene Environmental Changes in North-Western Pacific in Relation to Paleorecord from Shikotan Island

Doklady Earth Sciences - Results of a paleolimnological investigation of a well-dated lake sediment section from Shikotan Island (Southern Kurils) showed that from ca 8.0 to 5.8 cal ka BP a warm...     

Stars with discrepant <Emphasis Type="Italic">υ</Emphasis> sin <Emphasis Type="Italic">i</Emphasis> as derived from Ca II 3933 and Mg II 4481 Å lines. II. Multiple star HD 90569

Axial rotation of a star plays an important role in its evolution, physical condition in its atmosphere and appearance of its spectrum. Methods of determinations of υ sin i are based on comparison of the observed profiles of spectral lines with theoretical ones. Their accuracy depends on the kind and quality of spectrograms as well as on the algorithms used. A frequently used method is the simple comparing of one line, e.g. the Ca II at 3933 Å or Mg ii at 4481 Å. This however, may result in a false value of υ sin i if low dispersion spectra are used. In this work we studied contemporary CCD as well as older photographic spectra of the multiple star HD90569. We determined the projected rotational velocity value to be υ sin i = 11 km/s. Besides formerly reported enhancing of lines of Cr, Fe, Mn and Sr, we found also large overabundances of rare earths, gallium and platinum. Helium, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, aluminium, calcium, scandium and nickel are in deficit. The spectrum of the occultation double was not identified to be of the SB2-type, however, there are some observable evidences that the pair creates a binary with a long orbital period. Despite this there are also observations that leave such interpretation uncertain.     

Investigating the propagation mechanism of unmodelled systematic errors on coordinate time series estimated using least squares

The propagation of unmodelled systematic errors into coordinate time series computed using least squares is investigated, to improve the understanding of unexplained signals and apparent noise in geodetic (especially GPS) coordinate time series. Such coordinate time series are invariably based on a functional model linearised using only zero and first-order terms of a (Taylor) series expansion about the approximate coordinates of the unknown point. The effect of such truncation errors is investigated through the derivation of a generalised systematic error model for the simple case of range observations from a single known reference point to a point which is assumed to be at rest by the least squares model but is in fact in motion. The systematic error function for a one pseudo-satellite two-dimensional case, designed to be as simple but as analogous to GPS positioning as possible, is quantified. It is shown that the combination of a moving reference point and unmodelled periodic displacement at the unknown point of interest, due to ocean tide loading, for example, results in an output coordinate time series containing many periodic terms when only zero and first-order expansion terms are used in the linearisation of the functional model. The amplitude, phase and period of these terms is dependent on the input amplitude, the locations of the unknown point and reference point, and the period of the reference point's motion. The dominant output signals that arise due to truncation errors match those found in coordinate time series obtained from both simulated data and real three-dimensional GPS data.     

Revisiting the abandoned shorelines of Lake George,Australia: a refined optical dating framework

Abandoned shorelines are an important archive used to constrain past fluctuations in the hydrological balance of lakes around the globe. Within Australia, the shorelines preserved at Lake George, NSW, form one of the few shoreline archives in the south-east of the continent that record palaeoenvironmental conditions throughout the late Quaternary. Here, we examined and tested the lake-level record for Lake George constructed in the 1970s by dating a well-preserved shoreline sequence at Luckdale, on the lake's eastern shore, using single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Ten stratigraphic units were identified, and these suggest a late Quaternary highstand for Lake George in MIS 3, with fluctuations superimposed upon an overall drying trend throughout MIS 2 and into the present. At Luckdale, the highest four shoreline-associated units were deposited ~13 to 19 m above lake base and date to between 39 ± 2 and 29 ± 1 ka ago. Our study pushes back the timing of maximum lake depth at Lake George to at least MIS 3, rather than MIS 2. The overall drying trend is supported by similar reductions in both Riverine Plain fluvial activity and other associated lake-level records from within the Murray basin.     

Diamond formation and source carbonation: mineral associations in diamonds from Namibia

Mineral inclusions in diamonds from Namibia document a range of mantle sources, including eclogitic, websteritic and peridotitic parageneses. Based on unusual textural features a group of inclusions showing websteritic, peridotitic and transitional chemical features is assigned to an 'undetermined suite' (12% of the studied diamonds). The mutual characteristic of this group is the occurrence of lamellar intergrowths of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene. In addition, the 'undetermined suite' is associated with a number of uncommon phases: in one diamond MgCO₃ is enclosed by clinopyroxene. Other minerals that form touching inclusions with the pyroxene lamellae are (1) a SiO₂ phase observed in three diamonds, together with CaCO₃ in one of them, (2) phlogopite and a Cr-rich 'titanate' (probably lindsleyite). The inclusions document a metamorphic path of decreasing pressures and temperatures after entrapment in diamond. First, homogeneous low-Ca clinopyroxenes were entrapped at high temperatures. They subsequently exsolved orthopyroxene and probably also SiO₂ (coesite) on cooling along a P,T trajectory that did not allow garnet to be exsolved as well. Phlogopite, carbonates and LIMA phases are the result of overprint of a peridotitic source rock by a carbon-rich agent. The resulting unusual, olivine-free mineral association and the host diamonds are interpreted as products of extensive carbonation of the peridotite.