Coastal response to the Holocene transgression in the Bahamas: episodic sedimentation versus continuous sea-level rise

Sedimentological and petrographic study of Holocene deposits in the Eastern Bahamas shows that sedimentation occurred episodically during this period of continually rising sea-level.

The Holocene stratigraphic record exposed on the islands of San Salvador, Lee Stocking and Cat consists of two distinctive units separated by a paleosol: (1) 5000 year-old oolitic eolianites deposited when sea-level was lower than today, and (2) 3000 to 500 year-old bioclastic paleo-beaches and dunes that are congruent with the present stand of sea-level.

A five-stage model that reconciles intermittent sedimentation pattern with continuous sea-level rise is presented. Pre-Holocene topography and changes in the rate of the transgression seem to regulate local⁴ hydrodynamic conditions, which in turn control onset and offset of sedimentary processes.

This Holocene example of episodic sedimentation during an uninterrupted transgression should be considered when studying ancient discontinuities that are systematically interpreted in terms of relative sea-level fall.     

Anharmonicity and high-temperature heat capacity of crystals: the examples of Ca2GeO4, Mg2GeO4 and CaMgGeO4 olivines

Drop-calorimetry determinations of the isobaric heat capacity (C_P) of Mg₂GeO₄, Ca₂GeO₄ and CaMgGeO₄ have been made up to 1700 K. The thermal expansion coefficient (α) of these olivine germanates has been determined from high-temperature X-ray measurements up to 1500 K. From these measurements and available compressibility data, one calculates that the isochoric heat capacity (C_V) exceeds the harmonic limit of Dulong and Petit above 1000–1200 K. Such an intrinsic anharmonic behaviour can be accounted for by introducing anharmonic parameters a_i=(? ln v _i/?T)_V in vibrational modelling of C_V. These parameters are calculated from pressure and temperature shifts of the vibrational frequencies as measured by Raman spectroscopy up to 10 GPa at room temperature and up to 1300 K at 1 bar. A comparison of the Raman spectra of the three germanates with those of natural olivines justifies once again the use of germanates as silicate analogues. Extensive Ca,Mg disordering likely takes place in CaMgGeO₄, beginning at about 1100 K and leading to unusually high increases of the heat capacity and thermal expansion coefficient.     

Modeling of the transport and deposition of tungsten in the scheelite-bearing calc-silicate gneisses of the Montagne Noire,France

Scheelite-bearing calc-silicate gneisses (CSG) oceur in the Montagne Noire within a series of dominant micaschists. Detailed petrographical and mineralogical studies reveal three successive stages of metamorphism and hydrothermal alteration: (1) stage 1, a regional metamorphism at 550°C and 4.5 kb where no mineralization is formed; (2) stage 2a, a hydrothermal alteration at 500 to 450°C and 4 to 3 kb which is characterized by an intense sericitization of feldpars and deposition of Sn in Sn-bearing cale-silicates; and (3) stage 2b, a hydrothermal alteration characterized by the crystallization of idocrasegrossular in CSG with concomittant precipitation of scheelite. Tungsten was transported through the micaschist environment and deposited as scheelite only in the CSG of stage 2b at relatively low pressures. To characterize the mechanism of tungsten transport, tungsten speciation at high P-T and scheelite solubility in aqueous solations buffered by the CSG and by the micaschists assemblages were calculated. It was found that H₂WO ₀ ⁴ , HWO _- ⁴ and WO _2- ⁴ are the dominant tungsten aqueous species in H₂O–NaCl (one molal) solutions at 500°C and 2–4 kb. Calculations also indicate that scheelite deposition is controlled by decreasing pressure and increasing activity of aqueous calcium in this system. This is consistent with the petrographical and mineralogical observations. The consequences of the presence of volatiles (N₂, CH₄, CO₂) in the regional fluids were examined by determining the effect of N₂ on tungsten speciation and scheelite solubility. The addition of N₂ (up to 10 mol%) to the mineralizing fluids results in a marked increase in H₂WO ₀ ⁴ and HWO _- ⁴ concentrations relative to WO _2- ⁴ and in a large decrease of scheelite solubility. This mechanism favours scheelite precipitation and accounts for the commonly observed association of W (and Sn) deposits with graphitic series generating mixed volatiles fluids.     

A gap in the North American Central Plains conductivity anomaly

The palaeotectonic models of the North American continent have been deeply influenced by the concept of a North American Central Plains conductivity anomaly (NACPCA) which was postulated as a result of large area, wide-spaced, array studies, using the Magnetic Deep Sounding (MDS) method.

A recent closely spaced magnetotelluric (MT) survey across this proposed anomaly near the Canadian-U.S. boundary by Jones and Savage (1986) failed to detect the NACPCA at the location suggested by the MDS. However, this survey did verify a conductivity anomaly discovered by Rankin and Kao (1979) and a new anomaly 75 km east of NACPCA. Our present study verifies this latter anomaly and quantitative results are presented. The striking isotropy in apparent resistivity does not prevent the interpretation of anomalous resistivity distributions. This is discussed in the text.

The failure of the MDS array studies to detect our anomaly is readily explainable by the wide station spacing; however, the failure of the MT survey to detect the NACPCA leads us to the conclusion that it may not be a continuous feature.     

Effect of anelastic and scattering structures of the lithosphere on the shape of local earthquake coda

A simple model of single acoustic scattering is used to study the dependence of the shape of local earthquake coda on the anelastic and scattering structures of the lithosphere. The model is applied to the coda of earthquakes located near Stone Canyon, central California, and provides an explanation for the features observed in the data, which include an interesting temporal variation in the coda shape. A surficial layer with aQ of 50 and thickness of 10 or 25 km underlain by a zone with aQ of 1000 extending to the bottom of the lithosphere, together with a scattering scale length,a, that varies with depthz according to the relationa=0.3 exp[-(z/45)²] are found to constitute the simplest structure of the medium compatible with the coda data and with body and surface wave attenuation data. The profile of heterogeneity sizes implies that the scattering strength increases strongly with depth, a constraint required by the necessity to boost the energy of the later coda without forcing the intrinsicQ to be excessively high in the uppermost mantle. This constraint is viewed as an artifact of the single scattering model which overstimates the scattering coefficient due to the neglect of multiple scattering. The observed temporal variation of the signal is difficult to explain by a simple change of the intrinsicQ at some depth. Rather, it is suggested that the scattering properties at depth changed with time through a variation of the fractional rms velocity fluctuation on the order of one percent.     

On the influence of gradients in the angular velocity on the solar meridional motions

If fluctuations in the density are neglected, the large-scale, axisymmetric azimuthal momentum equation for the solar convection zone (SCZ) contains only the velocity correlations and where u are the turbulent convective velocities and the brackets denote a large-scale average. The angular velocity, , and meridional motions are expanded in Legendre polynomials and in these expansions only the two leading terms are retained (for example, where is the polar angle). Per hemisphere, the meridional circulation is, in consequence, the superposition of two flows, characterized by one, and two cells in latitude respectively. Two equations can be derived from the azimuthal momentum equation. The first one expresses the conservation of angular momentum and essentially determines the stream function of the one-cell flow in terms of : the convective motions feed angular momentum to the inner regions of the SCZ and in the steady state a meridional flow must be present to remove this angular momentum. The second equation contains also the integral indicative of a transport of angular momentum towards the equator.With the help of a formalism developed earlier we evaluate, for solid body rotation, the velocity correlations and for several values of an arbitrary parameter, D, left unspecified by the theory. The most striking result of these calculations is the increase of with D. Next we calculate the turbulent viscosity coefficients defined by whereC _ro ⁰ and C _o ⁰ are the velocity correlations for solid body rotation. In these calculations it was assumed that ₂ was a linear function of r. The arbitrary parameter D was chosen so that the meridional flow vanishes at the surface for the rotation laws specified below. The coefficients v _ro ⁱ and v _0o ⁱ that allow for the calculation of C _ro and C _0o for any specified rotation law (with the proviso that ₂ be linear) are the turbulent viscosity coefficients. These coefficients comply well with intuitive expectations: v _ro ¹ and –v _0o ³ are the largest in each group, and v _0o ³ is negative.The equations for the meridional flow were first solved with ₀ and ₂ two linear functions of r ( ₀ ¹ = – 2 × 10 ^–12 cm ^–1) and ( ₂ ¹ = – 6 × 10 ¹² cm ^–1). The corresponding angular velocity increases slightly inwards at the poles and decreases at the equator in broad agreement with heliosismic observations. The computed meridional motions are far too large ( 150m s^–1). Reasonable values for the meridional motions can only be obtained if _o (and in consequence ), increase sharply with depth below the surface. The calculated meridional motion at the surface consists of a weak equatorward flow for gq < 29° and of a stronger poleward flow for > 29°.In the Sun, the Taylor-Proudman balance (the Coriolis force is balanced by the pressure gradient), must be altered to include the buoyancy force. The consequences of this modification are far reaching: is not required, now, to be constant along cylinders. Instead, the latitudinal dependence of the superadiabatic gradient is determined by the rotation law. For the above rotation laws, the corresponding latitudinal variations of the convective flux are of the order of 7% in the lower SCZ.     

SWAN: A study of Solar Wind Anisotropies on SOHO with Lyman alpha sky mapping

On board the SOHO spacecraft poised at L1 Lagrange point, the SWAN instrument is mainly devoted to the measurement of large scale structures of the solar wind, and in particular the distribution with heliographic latitude of the solar wind mass flux. This is obtained from an intensity map of the sky Lyman emission, which reflects the shape of the ionization cavity carved in the flow of interstellar H atoms by the solar wind. The methodology, inversion procedure and related complications are described. The subject of latitude variation of the solar wind is shortly reviewed: earlier Lyman results from Prognoz in 1976 are confirmed by Ulysses. The importance of the actual value of the solar wind mass flux for the equation of dynamics in a polar coronal hole is stressed. The instrument is composed of one electronic unit commanding two identical Sensor Units, each of them allowing to map a full hemisphere with a resolution of 1°, thanks to a two-mirrors periscope system. The design is described in some details, and the rationale for choice between several variants are discussed. A hydrogen absorption cell is used to measure the shape of the interplanetary Lyman line and other Lyman emissions. Other types of observations are also discussed : the geocorona, comets (old and new), the solar corona, and a possible signature of the heliopause. The connexion with some other SOHO instruments, in particular LASCO, UVCS, SUMER, is briefly discussed.     

Fully Equipped to Succeed: Migratory Contingents Seen as an Intrinsic Potential for Striped Bass to Exploit a Heterogeneous Environment Early in Life

Migratory contingents, groups of individuals belonging to the same population that adopt different migratory patterns, have been identified in numerous Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) populations along North American East Coast. We tested the hypothesis that migratory contingents may develop early in life to maximize the exploitation of the variety of habitats faced by a recently introduced fish population. Using the discriminatory power provided by otolith chemistry, we studied early-life history stages of Striped Bass in a recently reintroduced population in the St. Lawrence Estuary. Migratory patterns were inferred using multivariate analysis of four otolith trace elements (Sr, Ba, Mn, and Mg) on juveniles (0+ and 1+). Three migratory contingents were identified during early-life history stages: freshwater residents, oligohaline migrants, and mesohaline migrants. This study demonstrates the rapid establishment, in less than 10 years since initial stocking, of three migratory contingents initiated early in life among the St. Lawrence Striped Bass population. We postulate that diversification provided by the establishment of distinct migratory contingents among early-life history stages promotes the rapid colonization of new environments through the exploration and exploitation of an increased number of nursery habitats.