The developmental history of Adirondack (N.Y.) lakes

We utilized paleoecological techniques to reconstruct long-term changes in lake-water chemistry, lake trophic state, and watershed vegetation and soils for three lakes located on an elevational gradient (661–1150 m) in the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State (U.S.A.). Diatoms were used to reconstruct pH and trophic state. Sedimentary chrysophytes, chlorophylls and carotenoids supplied corroborating evidence. Pollen, plant macrofossils, and metals provided information on watershed vegetation, soils, and biogeochemical processes. All three lakes were slightly alkaline pH 7–8 and more productive in the late-glacial. They acidified and became less productive at the end of the late-glacial and in the early Holocene. pH stabilized 8000–9000 yr B.P. at the two higher sites and by 6000 yr B.P. at the lowest. An elevational gradient in pH existed throughout the Holocene. The highest site had a mean Holocene pH close to or below 5; the lowest site fluctuated around a mean of 6. The higher pH and trophic state of the late-glacial was controlled by leaching of base cations from fresh unweathered till, a process accelerated by the development of histosols in the watersheds as spruce-dominated woodlands replaced tundra. An apparent pulse of lake productivity at the late-glacial-Holocene boundary is correlated with a transient, but significant, expansion of alder (Alnus crispa) populations. The alder phase had a significant impact on watershed (and hence lake) biogeochemistry. The limnological changes of the Holocene and the differences between lakes were a function of an elevational gradient in temperature, hydrology (higher precipitation and lower evapotranspiration at higher elevation), soil thickness (thinner tills at higher elevation), soil type (histosols at higher elevation), vegetation (northern hardwoods at lower elevation, spruce-fir at higher), and different Holocene vegetational sequences in the three watersheds.This is the thirteenth of a series of papers to be published by this journal that was presented in the paleolimnology sessions organized by R. B. Davis and H. Löffler for the XIIth Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), which took place in Ottawa, Canada in August 1987. Dr. Davis is serving as guest editor of this series.     

Environmental effects of the use of oil-based drilling muds in the North Sea

The environmental effects of oil-based drilling mud cuttings have been evaluated using all the data available from monitoring around North Sea platforms. Beneath the platforms making extensive use of oil-based drilling muds the natural sediment is buried by cuttings and the hydrocarbon concentration 250 m from the platforms may be 1000 times background, but the concentration gradient is very steep and background levels are usually reached 2000–3000 m from the platform.The extent of the biological effects appear to be greater from the use of oil-based muds than from water-based muds. Beyond the area of physical smothering the effects of oil-based mud cuttings may be due to organic enrichment or to the toxicity of the aromatic fraction of the oil. Despite the large scale of inputs, in all the fields studied the major deleterious biological effects occurred within 500 m of the platform. Surrounding the area of major impact was a transition zone in which subtle biological effects could be detected as community parameters returned to normal, generally within 400–1000 m.The shape and extent of this zone varied and was largely determined by the current regime and scale of the drilling operation. Elevated hydrocarbon concentrations were detected beyond the areas of biological effects.     

The use of sorting curves in studying K2O alteration in interbedded greywacke and argillite

The chemical composition of unaltered greywacke-argillite sequences varies both abruptly and gradationally across short distances of a few centimeters to meters. These original variations are sufficient to mask changes in K₂O (and other oxides) resulting from hydrothermal alteration. Sorting curves for unaltered samples present K₂O contents in terms of two relatively immobile oxides SiO₂ and Al₂O₃. This allows an estimated of the original pre-alteration K₂O content of altered samples, from which gains and losses can then be calculated.     

Paleoecological investigation of recent lake acidification in the Adirondack Mountains,N.Y.

Paleoecological analysis of the sediment record of 12 Adirondack lakes reveals that the 8 clearwater lakes with current pH < 5.5 and alkalinity < 10 eq l^-1 have acidified recently. The onset of this acidification occurred between 1920 and 1970. Loss of alkalinity, based on quanitative analysis of diatom assemblages, ranged from 2 to 35 eq l^-1. The acidification trends are substantiated by several lines of evidence including stratigraphies of diatom, chrysophyte, chironomid, and cladoceran remains, Ca:Ti and Mn:Ti ratios, sequentially extracted forms of Al, and historical fish data. Acidification trends appear to be continuing in some lakes, despite reductions in atmospheric sulfur loading that began in the early 1970s. The primary cause of the acidification trend is clearly increased atmospheric deposition of strong acids derived from the combustion of fossil fuels. Natural processes and watershed disturbances cannot account for the changes in water chemistry that have occurred, but they may play a role. Sediment core profiles of Pb, Cu, V, Zn, S, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, magnetic particles, and coal and oil soot provide a clear record of increased atmospheric input of materials associated with the combustion of fossil fuels beginning in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The primary evidence for acidification occurs after that period, and the pattern of water chemistry response to increased acid inputs is consistent with current understanding of lake-watershed acidification processes.This is the second of a series of papers to be published by this journal which is a contribution of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) project. Drs. D.F. Charles and D.R. Whitehead are guest editors for this series.     

Selective withdrawal of rotating stratified fluid

A simple theory and some experimental observations are presented of the transient withdrawal of rotating, stratified fluid in a field of gravity. The problem is confined to axisymmetric geometry and negligible viscosity. It is predicted that the withdrawal initially proceeds like non-rotating selective withdrawal, but at a time equal to $\text{3√}\text{3}\text{2?}$ there is a transition to a rotation-dominated selective withdrawal process which requires that fluid come from distances above and/or below the inlet given by the time-dependent formula $\text{(?Qt/2πr}{}_0\text{N)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$. Experimental observations are given which are in approximate agreement with the predictions.     

Discriminant analysis involving CO2/CaO and arsenic in gold exploration

Pervasive carbonatization of metabasalts is characteristic of many large gold-producing regions such as the Timmins district. Weight per cent CO₂ however, does not readily identify specific potential gold-bearing targets. Molar CO₂/CaO ratios, which reflect proportions of calcite and dolomite, and ppm arsenic are somewhat more effective than weight per cent CO₂. The most effective indicator of gold mineralization is provided by a discriminant function involving both molar CO₂/CaO and As.     

Earth observations during space shuttle mission STS‐34: 18–23 October 1989

Abstract

Although high‐resolution microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors possess all‐weather capability for mapping soil moisture from spaceborne platforms, continuous temporal and spatial monitoring of this important hydrological parameter has been relatively limited. However, the recent launch of operational SAR sensors aboard various satellites have made possible synoptic soil moisture monitoring a reality. Such systems operate over a wide range of frequencies, look angles, and polarization combinations, and thus show synergistic advantages when combined for estimating soil moisture patterns. Two soil moisture inversion algorithms have been developed using as inputs radar backscattering data at L, S, and C bands in the microwave frequency range. These models have been tested using radar image simulation with speckle added. It is observed that the neural network algorithm yields superior results in mapping actual soil moisture patterns over the linear statistical inversion technique, although both models show comparable errors in soil moisture estimation. We infer that using statistical estimation errors alone for comparison purposes may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the advantages of one soil moisture inversion algorithm over another.     

Hydrologic changes associated with the October 28, 1983, Idaho earthquake

Significant hydrologic changes were observed after the magnitude 7.3 earthquake that occurred on October 28, 1983, in central Idaho. Groundwater levels rose by as much as 3 meters near the epicenter. Discharge in many streams and springs increased, in some instances by more than 100%. One warm spring ceased flowing for several days; the flow then resumed and peaked at about nine times its original rate. Available data show no significant changes in water quality following the earthquake.     

Instabilities of fluid conduits in a flowing earth — are plates lubricated by the asthenosphere?

Summary A laboratory and theoretical study of the stability of conduits of buoyant fluid in a viscous shear flow has been conducted. The object of the study is to explain the formation of discrete islands in island chains such as the Hawaiian Emperor seamount chain, and to investigate a new method by which the variation of shear with depth in the mantle may be determined. The conduits were made by injecting oil into a more viscous oil of greater density. Initially a growing chamber of lower viscosity oil formed near the injector, but when the chamber got sufficiently large it rose as a buoyant spheroid. Behind this trailed a vertical cylindrical conduit through which fluid could continue to rise to the surface as long as the source continued. If the more viscous fluid was sheared laterally the conduit was gradually rotated to a more horizontal position. The diameter of the conduit increased with time due to a decreasing component of gravitational force along the axis of the conduit. When the conduit was tilted to more than 60° with the vertical, it began to go unstable by developing bumps which ultimately initiated a new chamber which rose to a new spot. In addition, if the Reynolds number of the conduit was greater than approximately ten, an axisymmetric wavy instability appeared in the walls of the conduit and the conduit had to be tilted less before a new chamber was initiated. If shear under the Pacific plate has to tilt buoyant mantle plumes to as much as 60° to form the relatively regular island chains associated with hot spots, most of the shear would be found in a zone with a vertical extent of less than 200 km.