In Situ Determination of First‐Row Transition Metal,Ga and Ge Abundances in Geological Materials via Medium‐Resolution LA‐ICP‐MS

An in situ, medium‐resolution LA‐ICP‐MS method was developed to measure the abundances of the first‐row transition metals, Ga and Ge in a suite of geological materials, namely the MPI‐DING reference glasses. The analytical protocol established here hinged on maximising the ablation rate of the ultraviolet (UV) laser system and the sensitivity of the ICP‐MS, as well minimising the production of diatomic oxides and argides, which serve as the dominant sources of isobaric interferences. Non‐spectral matrix effects were accounted for by using multiple external calibrators, including NIST SRM 610 and the USGS basaltic glasses BHVO‐2G, BIR‐1G and BCR‐2G, and utilising ⁴³Ca as an internal standard. Analyses of the MPI‐DING reference glasses, which represent geological matrices ranging from basaltic to rhyolitic in composition, included measurements of concentrations as low as < 10⁰ μg g^?1 and as high as > 10⁴ μg g^?1. The new data reported here were found to statistically correlate with the ‘preferred’ reference values for these materials at the 95% confidence level, though with significantly better precision, typically on the order of ≤ 3% (2s_m). This analytical method may be extended to any matrix‐matched geological sample, particularly oceanic basalts, silicate minerals and meteoritic materials.     

The domestic divide: Access to the Internet in New Zealand

We use unit records of the 2006 census to show that access to the Internet in the home varies geographically in New Zealand primarily as a result of demographic and socio‐economic differences among individuals. Of particular significance is the much lower rates of domestic access experienced by Māori and Pacific Island individuals even after controlling for differences in their age, gender, education, income, occupation and settlement type. While differences in Internet access by ethnicity has been noted before, it is the magnitude and persistence of this difference in New Zealand after controlling for correlated factors that renders this study unique. Our results have important implications in an education environment increasingly reliant on Web access, but they also raise questions about the extent of access to the Internet outside the home.     

A Comparative Study of Five Reference Materials and the Lombard Meteorite for the Determination of the Platinum‐Group Elements and Gold by LA‐ICP‐MS

A range of independently characterised reference materials (RMs) for LA‐ICP‐MS, used for the determination of the platinum‐group elements (PGE) and Au in a sulfide matrix, were analysed and compared: 8b, PGE‐A, NiS‐3, Po727‐T1, Po724‐T and the Lombard meteorite. The newly developed RM NiS‐3 was used as the RM for the calibration of all LA‐ICP‐MS analyses and the measured concentrations of the other RMs compared against their published concentrations. This data were also used to assess the consistency of concentrations calibrated against the different RMs. It was found that Po727‐T1 and 8b produced results that were comparable, within uncertainty, for all elements. Po727‐T1 also produced consistent results with NiS‐3 for all elements. All other RMs showed differences for some elements, especially Ru in Po724‐T, and Os, Ir and Au in PGE‐A. The homogeneity of the PGE and Au in each RM was assessed, by comparing the precision of multiple LA‐ICP‐MS spot analyses with the average uncertainty of the signal. Po724‐T, Po727‐T1 and the Lombard meteorite were found to be homogeneous for all elements, but 8b, PGE‐A and NiS‐3 were heterogeneous for some elements. This is the first direct comparison between a range of independently characterised PGE and Au LA‐ICP‐MS RMs.     

Effect of rising atmospheric CO2 on sediment and water 15N interactions in experimental riparian wetland

The experiment was conducted to ascertain net production and consumption rates of ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ and ¹⁵NO₃ ^? for water and sediment in a wetland. This was done using ¹⁵N isotope pool dilution methodology under ambient and elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations in experimental riparian wetlands to obtain the gross N transformation rates. The ¹⁵N budget for sediment was also estimated. The results suggested that the differences in high proportion of ¹⁵N concentration in the overlying water body under elevated CO₂ could be attributed to the low production and high consumption rates of ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ in sediment. The elevated CO₂ effect on production and consumption of NH₄ ⁺ decreased by 144 % (P = 0.014) and increased by 153 % (P = 0.009), respectively. Thereby, ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ production rates are negatively related with ¹⁵NO₃ ^? consumption rates and this accounted for the decreases in net ¹⁵NO₃ ^? consumption under CO₂ enrichment in the wetland sediment by 11 % (P = 0.528). Therefore, ¹⁵NO₃ ^? production and consumption rates may strongly depend on NH₄ ⁺ production. Inorganic ¹⁵N and total ¹⁵N exported from sediment to overlying water body by the effect of CO₂ were 41 % (P = 0.071) and 18 % (P = 0.000), respectively. Therefore, low net ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ production and high ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ consumption rates under elevated CO₂ may partly explain the significant reduction of N from the sediment.     

Velocities and Temperatures of an Ellerman Bomb and Its Associated Features

We investigated the velocity and temperature characteristics of an Ellerman bomb (EB) and its associated features based on observations made with the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) and a broadband TiO filter of the 1.6 meter New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory. In the TiO images of the photospheric level, we found a granular cell expanding in two opposite directions near the site of the EB. When one end of this granule reached the EB site, the transverse speed of the tip of the expanding granule rapidly decreased and the EB brightened. The wings of the Hα profile of the EB indicated that the EB was blueshifted up to 7 km?s^?1. About 260 s after the EB brightening, a surge was seen in absorption and varied from a blueshift of 20 km?s^?1 to a redshift of 40 km?s^?1 seen in the Hα and Ca ii 8542 Å lines. From the Doppler absorption width of the two lines determined by applying the cloud model, we estimated the mean temperature of the surge material to be about 29000 K and the mean speed of nonthermal motion to be about 11 km?s^?1. We discuss the physical implications of our results in terms of magnetic reconnection and processes related to it.     

Infrared Observations from the New Solar Telescope at Big Bear

The 1.6 m clear aperture solar telescope in Big Bear is operational and with its adaptive optics (AO) system it provides diffraction limited solar imaging and polarimetry in the near-infrared (NIR). While the AO system is being upgraded to provide diffraction limited imaging at bluer wavelengths, the instrumentation and observations are concentrated in the NIR. The New Solar Telescope (NST) operates in campaigns, making it the ideal ground-based telescope to provide complementary/supplementary data to SDO and Hinode. The NST makes photometric observations in Hα (656.3 nm) and TiO (705.6 nm) among other lines. As well, the NST collects vector magnetograms in the 1565 nm lines and is beginning such observations in 1083.0 nm. Here we discuss the relevant NST instruments, including AO, and present some results that are germane to NASA solar missions.     

An easily implemented agro-hydrological procedure with dynamic root simulation for water transfer in the crop–soil system: Validation and application

Models for water transfer in the crop–soil system are key components of agro-hydrological models for irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide practices. Many of the hydrological models for water transfer in the crop–soil system are either too approximate due to oversimplified algorithms or employ complex numerical schemes. In this paper we developed a simple and sufficiently accurate algorithm which can be easily adopted in agro-hydrological models for the simulation of water dynamics. We used a dual crop coefficient approach proposed by the FAO for estimating potential evaporation and transpiration, and a dynamic model for calculating relative root length distribution on a daily basis. In a small time step of 0.001 d, we implemented algorithms separately for actual evaporation, root water uptake and soil water content redistribution by decoupling these processes. The Richards equation describing soil water movement was solved using an integration strategy over the soil layers instead of complex numerical schemes. This drastically simplified the procedures of modeling soil water and led to much shorter computer codes. The validity of the proposed model was tested against data from field experiments on two contrasting soils cropped with wheat. Good agreement was achieved between measurement and simulation of soil water content in various depths collected at intervals during crop growth. This indicates that the model is satisfactory in simulating water transfer in the crop–soil system, and therefore can reliably be adopted in agro-hydrological models. Finally we demonstrated how the developed model could be used to study the effect of changes in the environment such as lowering the groundwater table caused by the construction of a motorway on crop transpiration.     

Controls on sediment evacuation from glacially modified and unmodified catchments in the eastern Sierra Nevada,California

The degree of glacial modification in small catchments along the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, controls the timing and pattern of sediment flux to the adjacent fans. There is a close relationship between the depth of fan‐head incision and the pattern and degree of Late Pleistocene catchment erosion by valley glaciers; catchments with significant glacial activity are associated with deeply incised fan heads, whereas fans emerging from glacially unmodified catchments are unincised. We suggest that the depth of fan‐head incision is controlled by the potential for sediment storage during relatively dry ice‐free periods, which in turn is related to the downstream length of the glacially modified valley and creation of accommodation through valley floor slope lowering and glacial valley overdeepening and widening. Significant storage in glacially modified basins during ice‐free periods leads to sediment supply‐limited conditions at the fan head and causes deep incision. In contrast, a lack of sediment trapping allows quasi‐continuous sediment supply to the fan and prevents incision of the fan head. Sediment evacuation rates should thus show large variations in glacially modified basins, with major peaks during glacial and lows during interglacial or ice‐free periods, respectively. In contrast, sediment removal from glacially unmodified catchments in this type of setting should be free of this effect, and will be dominated instead by short‐term variations, modulated for example by changes in vegetation cover or storm frequency. This distinction may help improve our understanding of long‐term sediment yields as a measure of erosional efficiency. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Refinement of the late Quaternary geologic history of Erebus volcano,Antarctica using Ar/Ar and Cl age determinations

Six new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and three cosmogenic ³⁶Cl age determinations provide new insight into the late Quaternary eruptive history of Erebus volcano. Anorthoclase from 3 lava flows on the caldera rim have ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 23 ± 12, 81 ± 3 and 172 ± 10 ka (all uncertainties 2σ). The ages confirm the presence of a second, younger, superimposed caldera near the southwestern margin of the summit plateau and show that eruptive activity has occurred in the summit region for 77 ± 13 ka longer than previously thought. Trachyte from “Ice Station” on the eastern flank is 159 ± 2 ka, similar in age to those at Bomb Peak and Aurora Cliffs. The widespread occurrences of trachyte on the eastern flank of Erebus suggest a major previously unrecognized episode of trachytic volcanism. The trachyte lavas are chemically and isotopically distinct from alkaline lavas erupted contemporaneously in the summit region < 5 km away.