Transport of three herbicides in ground water at Twin Lake test site,Chalk River,Ontario, Canada

A field tracer test performed under natural flow conditions at the Twin Lake test site, Chalk River Laboratories of the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. in Chalk River, Ontario, Canada, using tritium and three herbicides (Chlortoluron, Terbuthylazine, and Pendimethalin) was interpreted using the dispersion equation with a combined reaction model. The reaction model couples an instantaneous equilibrium reaction governed by a linear adsorption isotherm with a reversible or irreversible kinetic reaction of the first order, and decay. An improved interpretation method consists of a simultaneous fitting of theoretical concentration and mass-recovery curves to the experimental data, which leads to a more reliable determining of reaction models and improves the accuracy of fitting. Tritium served as the reference tracer to determine the flow velocity, dispersivity, and the recovery of the herbicides. Chlortoluron was slightly delayed by equilibrium exchange with strongly reduced concentration due to an irreversible kinetic reaction and/or decay. Terbuthilazine was slightly delayed by equilibrium exchange, with strongly reduced concentration due to a reversible kinetic reaction with some influence of decay. A strong equilibrium reaction and a strong reversible kinetic reaction without degradation governed the transport of Pendimethalin, reducing considerably its concentration. The results obtained show that simulations based only on Kd and decay constant, especially if these parameters are found in the laboratory, may considerably differ from those performed with reaction parameters determined in properly performed field tests. The dominant reaction types, and the values of parameters found in the study, supply useful information on the transport of the investigated herbicides in sandy aquifers under natural flow conditions.     

Magnetic properties of recent sediments in Lake Baikal, Siberia

Mineral magnetic measurements of six ²¹⁰Pb-dated surface cores from different basins of Lake Baikal, Siberia, show temporal records controlled by a range of internal and external processes. With the exception of sediments on the Academician Ridge, there is clear evidence for widespread reductive diagenesis effects on the ferrimagnetic component coupled with neo-formation of paramagnetic iron minerals. Greigite formation, bacterial magnetosome accumulation and turbidite layers may affect the properties of some sediment levels. Concentrations of canted antiferromagnetic minerals (eg. haematite) appear to increase from the 19th century onwards. These minerals are less affected by dissolution processes and probably represent detrital minerals delivered by catchment fluvial processes. The magnetic evidence for recent atmospheric pollution by fossil-fuel combustion processes is weak in all the cores, and supports the findings from studies of spherical carbonaceous particles (SCPs) and heavy metals that pollution is largely restricted to the southern basin. Correlations between recent sediments based on magnetic data may be insecure over long distances or between basins.     

The spatial focus of U.S. interstate migration flows

"Despite the widespread interest in the changing geographies of national migration regimes, it is somewhat remarkable that no widely accepted measure of the spatial concentration or focus exhibited by such geographies has emerged. We examine four of the most popular indices of inequality in this paper and contrast their performance as measures of spatial focus. Adopting the coefficient of variation as our preferred alternative, we go on to examine the spatial focus of aggregate interstate migration steams in the U.S. over time. Then we consider disaggregations of the migration streams by age, race and nativity, and examine the role of states as national redistributors of these same subpopulations."     

Holocene lake-level fluctuations and beach-ridge development along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, USA

Geomorphology of a beach-ridge complex and adjacent lake basins along the northern shore of Lake Michigan records fluctuations in the level of Lake Michigan for the last 8000 to 10 000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. (radiocarbon years Before Present). A storm berm at 204.7–206 m (671.6–675.9 ft) exposed in a sandpit provides evidence of a pre-Chippewa Low lake level that is correlated with dropping water levels of Glacial Lake Algonquin (c. 10 300–10 100 ¹⁴C yr B.P.). Radiocarbon dates from organic material exposed in a river cutbank and basal sediments from Elbow Lake, Mackinac Co., Michigan, indicate a maximum age of a highstand of Lake Michigan at 6900 ¹⁴C yr B.P., which reached as high as 196.7 m (645 ft), during the early-Nipissing transgression of Lake Michigan. Basal radiocarbon dates from beach swales and a second lake site (Beaverhouse Lake, Mackinac Co.) provide geomorphic evidence for a subsequent highstand which reached 192.6 m (632 ft) at 5390±70 ¹⁴C yr B.P.Basal radiocarbon dates from a transect of sediment cores, along with tree-ring data, and General Land Office Surveyor notes of a shipwreck, c. A.D. 1846, reveal a late-Holocene rate for isostatic rebound of 22.6 cm/100 radiocarbon years (0.74 ft/100 radiocarbon years) for the northern shore of Lake Michigan, relative to the Lake Michigan-Lake Huron outlet at Port Huron, Michigan. Changes in sediment stratigraphy, inter-ridge distance, and sediment accumulation rates document a mid- to late-Holocene retreat of the shoreline due to isostatic rebound. This regression sequence was punctuated by brief, periodic highstands, resulting in progressive development over the past 5400 ¹⁴C yr of 75 pairs of dune ridges and swales each formed over an interval of approximately 72 years. Times of lake-level fluctuation were identified at 3900, 3200, and 1000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. based on changes in inter-ridge spacing, shifts in the course of Millecoquins River, and reorientation of beach-ridge lineation. Soil type, dune development, and selected pollen data provide supporting evidence for this chronology. Late-Holocene beach-ridge development and lake-level fluctuations are related to a retreat of the dominant Pacific airmass and the convergence of the Arctic and Tropical airmasses resulting in predominantly meridional rather than zonal air flow across the Great Lakes region.This is the 13th in a series of papers published in this special AMQUA issue. These papers were presented at the 1994 meeting of the American Quaternary Association held 19–22 June, 1994, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Dr Linda C. K. Shane served as guest editor for these papers.     

Ccte d'Ivoire-Ghana margin: seismic imaging of passive rifted crust adjacent to a transform continental margin

During May 1990 and January-February 1991, an extensive geophysical data set was collected over the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana continental margin, located along the equatorial coast of West Africa. The Ghana margin is a transform continental margin running subparallel to the Romanche Fracture Zone and its associated marginal ridge—the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana Ridge. From this data set, an explosive refraction line running ∼ 150 km, ENE-WSW between 3°55'N, 3°21'W and 4°23'N, 2°4'W, has been modelled together with wide-angle airgun profiles, and seismic reflection and gravity data. This study is centred on the Côte d'Ivoire Basin located just to the north of the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana Ridge, where bathymetric data suggest that a component of normal rifting occurred, rather than the transform motion observed along the majority of the equatorial West African margin.
Traveltime and amplitude modelling of the ocean-bottom seismometer data shows that the continental Moho beneath the margin rises in an oceanward direction, from ∼ 24 km below sea level to ∼ 17 km. In the centre of the line where the crust thins most rapidly, there exists a region of anomalously high velocity at the base of the crust, reaching some 8 km in thickness. This higher-velocity region is thought to represent an area of localized underplating related to rifting. Modelling of marine gravity data, collected coincident with the seismic line, has been used to test the best-fitting seismic model. This modelling has shown that the observed free-air anomaly is dominated by the effects of crustal thickness, and that a region of higher density is required at the base of the crust to fit the observed data. This higher-density region is consistent in size and location with the high velocities required to fit the seismic data.     

Newtontoppen granitoid rocks, their geology, chemistry and Rb-Sr age

A post-tectonic Caledonian granite in southern Ny Friesland has been fully mapped and the following new names are proposed: the Chydeniusbreen granitoid suite, consisting of the Raudberget granitoid body in the north; the Newtontoppen granitoid body in the middle; and the Ekkoknausane granitoid body in the south
The contact relationships, internal structures and distribution of various rock types infer an asymmetric lopolith or a harpolith-like body, a large sickle-shaped intrusion stretched in the direction of general tectonic transport, for the Newtontoppen granitoid body.
Seven rock types are described in the Newtontoppen granitoid and four emplacement stages are recognised. The major rock types seem to have an alkali-calcic to alkalic bulk rock chemistry and show a transition between I- and S-type granite derived from anatectic melting of various protoliths under relatively high temperature conditions. Possible later K₂0 introduction modified the earlier formed rock types.
A Rb-Sr whole rock age of 432 ± 10 Ma has been obtained by a seven point isochron with MSDW = 2.59 and an initial Sr isotope ratio = 0.715. This age is approximately 30 Ma older than the previously obtained K-Ar whole rock and Rb-Sr biotite ages, ca. 400 Ma, which represents the period of cooling. The high initial Sr isotope ratio supports the interpretation of an anatectic origin.