Meteoritic material at four Canadian impact craters

Eleven impact melt and 6 basement rock samples from 4 craters were analyzed by neutron activation for Au, Co, Cr, Fe, Ge, Ir, Ni, Os, Pd, Re and Se. Wanapitei Lake, Ontario: the impact melts show uniform enrichments corresponding to 1–2% C1-chondrite material. Interelement ratios ($\text{Co}\text{Cr}$, $\text{Ni}\text{Cr}$, $\text{Ni}\text{Ir}$) suggest that the impacting body was a Cl-, C2-, or LL-chondrite. Nicholson Lake, North West Territory: Ni, Cr and Co are distinctly more enriched than Ir and Au which tentatively suggests an olivine-rich achondrite (nakhlite or ureilite). Gow Lake, Saskatchewan and Mistastin, Labrador: small enrichments in Ir and Ni; both the low $\text{Ir}\text{Ni}$ ratios and low Cr content suggest iron meteorites, but the signals are too weak for conclusive identification.A tentative comparison of meteoritic signatures at 10 large, ≥4km craters and their presumed celestial counterparts (13 Apollo and Amor asteroids) shows more irons and achondrites among known projectile types, and a preponderance of S-type objects, having no known meteoritic equivalent, among asteroids. It is not yet clear that these differences are significant, in view of the tentative nature of the crater identifications (achondrites in particular), and the limited statistics.     

Sedimentation in Lake Biel,an eutrophic,hard-water lake in northwestern Switzerland

A 2-year study of sedimentation in Lake Biel reveals that three major factors can account for the spatial and temporal patterns of tripton sedimentation. Allochthonous inputs of particulate matter mostly derived from the Aare river during spring snowmelt and other high-water periods, provide about 50% of the carbonate and 50% of the siliceous matter collected in sediment traps. Phytoplankton activity in this eutrophic, hard-water lake accounts for the rest of the carbonate and siliceous matter, the latter being mostly diatom frustules. Sedimentation rates are thus highest during periods of maximum river flooding, maximum phytoplankton activity and following the breakdown of the thermocline, at which time trapped particles settle out. Resuspension of sediment is important in at least one basin. Resolution of carbonate appears to be minor.     

A modelling study of open-hole single-well seismic imaging

Single-well, or uni-well, imaging uses an acoustic source and an array of receivers located in the same borehole to image local geological structure. Due to the intrinsic attenuation of the formation it is likely that a source emitting frequencies in the typical cross-well range would be necessary to illuminate structure at distances above 100 m from the borehole. At these frequencies a significant proportion of the source energy is converted into tube-waves which are, for the purpose of these surveys, noise. This paper reports the results of a modelling study designed to assess the feasibility of using existing cross-well hardware, i.e. a piezo-electric source and hydrophone array, modified to run in a single borehole, to perform single-well surveys. In particular we study the case of an open borehole in a gas-filled, low-permeability sandstone reservoir. Our results suggest that the amplitudes of the tube-wave reverberations generated by calliper variations are such that reflections of interest arriving in the time window after the first tube-wave arrival will not be visible. However, reflections may be visible in the time window preceding the first tube-wave arrival provided tube waves from previous shots are not still present and the long source–receiver offsets required to make observations in this window can be incorporated into the tool design.     

Sediment failure and sedimentary framework of the wilmington geotechnical corridor,U.S. atlantic continental margin

Seaward of New Jersey and the Baltimore Canyon Trough, a 7500 km² corridor across the continental margin was studied in detail using geotechnical and geophysical techniques. The objective of the study was to identify the sedimentary pattern and bottom processes which have occurred and are active on the continental margin. Delineation of a mid-Pliocene unconformity, present throughout most of the corridor, permits an evaluation of the Quaternary sedimentation pattern and its variability. Sediment failure characterized by large slide blocks and thin layer slide deposits was found on the continental slope and rise within the Quaternary sediments. Spencer and Wilmington Submarine Canyons have been active in channeling large volumes of sediment to the lower slope and rise. An increase in sediment thickness near Wilmington Canyon indicates the importance and activity of the Delaware Bay drainage system during the Pleistocene. Although both Spencer and Wilmington are as old as late Tertiary the Wilmington Valley on the lower slope and rise is a recent topographic feature. Based on geophysical data the numerous valleys that dissect the continental slope and rise appear to be active periodically in the seaward transport of sediment to the deep sea.     

Deltaic sedimentation in the Devonian of Western Libya

Middle and Upper Devonian deposits from the Aouinet Ouenine Formation in the southern Ghadames Basin of western Libya provide a well exposed example of a deltaic complex containing both progradational and transgressive facies. Progradational facies comprise both laterally accreting and incised distributary channels overlying prodelta deposits. Also present is a progradational beach environment showing build-up from an offshore shelf through nearshore shelf to shoreface and foreshore sub-environments. Over-lying these progradational facies are transgressive tidal-flat, washover-fan, foreshore and nearshore deposits.The characteristics and interrelationships of the different facies are explained by two sedimentation models: progradational facies existed contemporaneously during phases of active sediment supply whereas the transgressive facies existed contemporaneously during periods of diminished or absent detrital influx.     

Regional variations in electricity demand elasticities: The situation in the Central United States

Within the sizable literature on electricity demand relatively little attention is given to regional variations in electricity demand elasticities. This paper investigates 39 electric utility companies having a total of 93 separate operating regions in order to assess the nature of regional electricity demand elasticity variations. Residential, commercial, and industrial demand functions are estimated for each operating region using a flow adjustment model of demand. The resulting electricity price, measure of economic activity, and natural gas price elasticities vary regionally, but not in a systematic manner. The demand elasticities found in each sector range from highly inelastic to highly elastic with the pattern of elasticity variations exhibiting few spatial trends or relationships. Comparisons between operating region results and more aggregated statewide results indicate that statewide and national analysis of electricity demand masks much regional detail — a result which has important implications for energy policy making.     

Cenozoic latitudinal shift of the Hawaiian hotspot and its implications for true polar wander

Pacific plate equatorial sediment facies provide estimates of the northward motion of the Pacific plate that are independent of paleomagnetic data and hotspot tracks. Analyses of equatorial sediment facies consistently indicate less northward motion than analyses of the dated volcanic edifices of the Hawaiian-Emperor chain. The discrepancy is largest 60–70 Ma B.P.; the 60- to 70-Ma equatorial sediment facies data agree with recent paleomagnetic results from deep-sea drilling on Suiko seamount [1] and from a northern Pacific piston core [2]. Equatorial sediment facies data and paleomagnetic data, combined with K-Ar age dates along the Emperor chain [3], indicate a position of the spin axis at 65 Ma B.P. of 82°N, 205°E in the reference frame in which the Pacific Ocean hotspots are fixed. This pole agrees well with the position of the spin axis in the reference frame in which the Atlantic Ocean hotspots and the Indian Ocean hotspots are fixed [4,5], supporting the joint hypotheses that (1) the Pacific Ocean hotspots are fixed with respect to the hotspots in other oceans, (2) the hotspots have shifted coherently with respect to the spin axis, and (3) the time average of the earth's magnetic field 65 Ma B.P. was an axial geocentric dipole. Global Neogene paleomagnetic data suggest that a shift of the mantle relative to the spin axis has been occurring during the Neogene in the same direction as the shift between 65 Ma B.P. and the present. All data are consistent with a model in which the hotspots (and by inference the mantle) have shifted with respect to the spin axis about a fixed Euler pole at a constant rate of rotation for the last 65 Ma.     

A crustal suture and lineament in North Africa

A possible suture between an old craton in West Africa and the Arabian—Nubian shield is marked by a persistent zone of Phanerozoic weakness. This zone extends between the Nile and Niger deltas and passes through the Qattara embayment, along the Bahariya fault, through the Kufra basin, between the Tibesti and Jabal al Uwaynat massifs, through the Bahr el Ghazal and Lake Chad areas, and along the Benoue trough.     

Development of Quaternary stratigraphy in northeastern United States and adjacent Canada

Quaternary stratigraphy in the northeastern region has developed slowly because researchers have been few and because quartzose bedrock and extensive forest have inhibited field study. The earliest stratigraphic studies antedated 1850, but in most parts of the region the stratigraphic units still recognized today were identified in the present century. Ancient and modern sequences are generalized and are shown in charts.