The composition and crystallinity of the near-surface regions of weathered alkali feldspars

Our ability to identify thin non-stoichiometric and amorphous layers beneath mineral surfaces has been tested by undertaking X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) work on alkali feldspars from pH 1 dissolution experiments. The outcomes of this work were used to help interpret XPS and TEM results from alkali feldspars weathered for <10,000 years in soils overlying the Shap Granite (north-west England). The chemistry of effluent solutions indicates that silica-rich layers a few nanometers in thickness formed during the pH 1 experiments. These layers can be successfully identified by XPS and have lower Al/Si, Na/Si, K/Si and Ca/Si values than the outermost ∼9 nm of unweathered controls. Development of Al-Si non-stoichiometry is coupled with loss of crystal structure to produce amorphous layers that are identifiable by TEM where >∼2.5 nm thick, whereas the crystallinity of albite is retained despite leaching of Na to depths of tens to hundreds on nanometers. Integration of XPS data over the outermost 6-9 nm of naturally weathered Shap feldspars shows that they have stoichiometric Al/Si and K/Si ratios, which is consistent with findings of previous TEM work on the same material that they lack amorphous layers. There is some XPS evidence for loss of K from the outermost couple of nanometers of Shap orthoclase, and the possibility of leaching of Na from albite to greater depths cannot be excluded using the XPS or TEM results. This study demonstrates that the leached layer model, as formulated from laboratory experiments, is inapplicable to the weathering of alkali feldspars within acidic soils, which is an essentially stoichiometric reaction.     

Effects of benthic biology on bottom boundary layer processes, Dry Tortugas Bank, Florida Keys

 An instrumented tetrapod was deployed for three weeks on the Dry Tortugas Bank at a depth of 26 m in February 1995. Bottom roughness was dominated by shrimp burrows and worm mounds with rms roughness amplitudes ranging from 0.47 to 1.75 cm. Logarithmic velocity profiles show apparent total roughness heights ranging from 0.30 to 1.45 cm, values consistent with observed biological roughness. The bed sediments were weakly bound by an algal crust at the sediment–water interface. When this bound layer was scraped away by a mooring that was accidentally dragged, sharp-crested wave-induced ripples appeared within the resulting swath. We conclude that physically induced roughness is biologically suppressed, but if dominant, would be significantly higher than the prevailing biological roughness.     

Structural controls on Tertiary orogenic gold mineralization during initiation of a mountain belt, New Zealand

Two types of structurally controlled hydrothermal mineralization have occurred during folding of fissile schist in southern New Zealand: fold-related mineralization and normal fault-related mineralization. Both types have the same mineralogy and textures, and are dominated by quartz–ankerite veins and silicified breccias with ankeritic alteration. Most mineralized zones are thin (centimetre scale), although host schist is commonly impregnated with ankerite up to 20 m away. Thick (up to 5 m wide) mineralized zones are generally gold-bearing and contain pyrite and arsenopyrite with stibnite pods locally. Some of these auriferous zones have been extensively mined historically despite rugged topography and difficult access. Mineralization occurred during regional tectonic compression in the initial stages of development of the Southern Alps mountain belt at the Pacific–Australian plate boundary in the Miocene. Most of the gold-bearing deposits occur in east to south-east, striking normal faults that cut across mesoscopic folds in a belt that coincides with the southern termination of a regional-scale north trending antiform. Mineralized zones have similar structural control and relative timing to a nearby swarm of Miocene lamprophyre dykes and carbonatites. Limited stable isotopic data (C and O) and trace element geochemistry suggest that there was probably no genetic link between the igneous activity and gold mineralization. However, these two types of fluid flow have been controlled by the same tectonically created crustal plumbing system. This Miocene hydrothermal activity and gold deposition demonstrates that orogenic (mesothermal) mineralization can occur during the inception of an orogenic belt, not just in the latter stages as is commonly believed. These Miocene structures have been preserved in the orogen because the locus of uplift has moved northwards, so the early-formed gold deposits have not yet been structurally overprinted or eroded.     

Sediment Suspension and Deposition Across Restored Oyster Reefs of Varying Orientation to Flow: Implications for Restoration

The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is a prominent ecosystem engineer, whose reefs exhibit strikingly consistent morphologies at multiple spatial scales throughout its North American range. These distinct morphologies are thought to form by interactions of nascent reef structures with hydrodynamics. We carried out two field studies to determine if historical reef configurations applied in a restoration context would improve reef persistence and restoration outcomes. We collected seabed and water column observations across constructed reefs of three orientations representative of those found historically throughout the oyster’s range: parallel or perpendicular to tidal currents or circular. Areas adjacent to reefs were sites of fine sediment trapping, with lower flow velocities, evidence of particle settling, and more fine sediments on the seabed relative to off-reef reference sites. The water column above the reef crest exhibited higher acoustic backscatter, higher flow velocities, and larger particles in suspension, consistent with local erosion of flocculated fine sediment from the reef crest. Perpendicular reefs produced conditions that were more conducive to reef persistence and improved oyster performance, including high flow velocities and enhanced resuspension of sediments from the reef, compared to parallel or circular reefs. Particle trapping in areas between reefs has the potential to inhibit reef growth between existing reef structures, providing support for hypotheses of landscape-scale reef pattern formation. Oyster reef restoration efforts can benefit from this improved understanding of biophysical interactions arising from reef orientation that contribute to sediment dynamics on constructed oyster reefs.     

Sailboat propeller drag

All but the smallest classes of modern keelboats are fitted with inboard engines and consequently, when making way under sail, the craft experience parasitic drag due to trailing propellers and associated appendages. The variety of screw configurations used on sailing boats includes fixed-blade, feathering, and folding set-ups, with blades numbering two or three. Although the magnitude of the resultant drag is thought to have a significant influence on sailing performance, the published literature having regard to this problem is sparse. Here, the aim was to evaluate the drag effect of fixed-blade propellers of types commonly used on sailing craft. The results of towing tank tests on full-scale propellers are presented for the locked shaft condition; these are presented along with reconfigured data from the few previously published sources. For the case in which the propeller is allowed to rotate, tests were conducted on a typical screw with a range of braking torques being applied. It was hypothesised that the performance coefficients of the Wageningen B-Screw Series could be used to characterise adequately the types of screw of interest and that these could be extrapolated to enable prediction of the drag of a freewheeling propeller; an assessment of this formed part of the investigation.     

Experimental test of the wind-shear theory. A reply—rocket-borne magnetometers do measure B

The apparent inconsistencies noted by Whitehead ⁽¹⁾ in the ionization, electron density, wind and magnetic field data of the rocket flights SL 130 and 131 (Hall et al. ⁽²⁾) are resolved by the presentation of further experimental detail. Observational accuracy and in particular the heading correction procedure for the magnetic field values are discussed. It is also pointed out that the interaction of the steady EW wind component with the E _g ionization profile provides an additional contribution to the E _g magnetic field. It is concluded that within the experimental limitations the experiment remains a fair test of the wind-shear theory.     

Morphological response of tidal marshes,flats and channels of the Outer Yangtze River mouth to a major storm

Systematic morphological changes of the coastline of the outer Yangtze River mouth in response to storms versus calm weather were documented by daily surveys of tidal marshes and flats between April 1999 and May 2001 and by boat surveys offshore during this and earlier periods. The largest single event during 1999 to 2001 was Typhoon Paibaian, which eroded the unvegetated tidal flat and lower marsh and led to accretion on the middle-to-upper marsh and in the subtidal channel. The greatest erosion of 21 cm occurred at the border between the marsh and the unvegetated flat due to the landward retreat of the marsh edge during the storm. Strong waves on the flats increased suspended sediment concentration by 10–20 times. On the upper marsh, where the frequency of submergence by astronomical tides is only 3%, Typhoon Paibian led to 4 cm of accretion, accounting for 57% of the net accretion observed over the 2-yr study. Typhoon Paibian led to 4 cm of accretion, accounting for 57% of the net accretion observed over the 2-yr study. Typhoon Paibian and other large storms in the 1990s caused over 50 cm of accretion along the deep axis of the river mouth outlet channel. During calm weather, when hydrodynamic energy was dominated by tides, deposition was centered on the unvegetated flats and lower, marsh with little deposition on the high marsh and erosion in the subtidal channel. Depositional recovery of the tidal flat from typhoon-induced erosion took only several days, whereas recovery of the subtidal channel by erosion took several weeks. A conceptual model for the morphological responses of tidal marshes, flats, and subtidal channels to storms and calm weather is proposed such that sediment continually moves from regions of highest near-bed energy towards areas of lower energy.     

Lithogeochemical localisation of disseminated gold in the White River area, Yukon, Canada

Gold mineralisation in the White River area, 80 km south of the highly productive Klondike alluvial goldfield, is hosted in amphibolite facies gneisses in the same Permian metamorphic pile as the basement for the Klondike goldfield. Hydrothermal fluid which introduced the gold was controlled by fracture systems associated with middle Cretaceous to early Tertiary extensional faults. Gold deposition occurred where highly fractured and chemically reactive rocks allowed intense water–rock interaction and hydrothermal alteration, with only minor development of quartz veins. Felsic gneisses were sericitised with recrystallisation of hematite and minor arsenic mobility, and extensively pyritised zones contain gold and minor arsenic (ca 10 ppm). Graphitic quartzites (up to 5 wt.% carbon) caused chemical reduction of mineralising fluids, with associated recrystallisation of metamorphic minerals (graphite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite) in host rocks and veins, and introduction of arsenic (up to 1 wt.%) to form arsenopyrite in veins and disseminated through host rock. Veins have little or no hydrothermal quartz, and up to 19 wt.% carbon as graphite. Late-stage oxidation of arsenopyrite in some graphitic veins has formed pharmacosiderite. Gold is closely associated with disseminated and vein sulphides in these two rock types, with grades of up to 3 ppm on the metre scale. Other rock types in the White River basement rocks, including biotite gneiss, hornblende gneiss, pyroxenite, and serpentinite, have not developed through-going fracture systems because of their individual mineralogical and rheological characteristics, and hence have been little hydrothermally altered themselves, have little hydrothermal gold, and have restricted flow of fluids through the rock mass. Some small post-metamorphic quartz veins (metre scale) have been intensely fractured and contain abundant gold on fractures (up to 40 ppm), but these are volumetrically minor. The style of gold mineralisation in the White River area is younger than, and distinctly different from, that of the Klondike area. Some of the mineralised zones in the White River area resemble, mineralogically and geochemically, nearby coeval igneous-hosted gold deposits, but this resemblance is superficial only. The White River mineralisation is an entirely new style of Yukon gold deposit, in which host rocks control the mineralogy and geochemistry of disseminated gold, without quartz veins.     

The risk to New Zealand shellfish aquaculture from paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins

New Zealand's reputation as a supplier of high quality food products is vital to the national economy; international consumers are acutely aware of food safety issues and markets are increasingly demanding higher standards. Filter feeding bivalves are particularly sensitive to the nature of the environment in which they are grown, and quality assurance is a major preoccupation of the shellfish aquaculture industry. With the exception of a couple of incidents, most notably the Gymnodinium catenatum blooms in 2000–2003, paralytic shellfish toxin (PST) contamination has, to date, not had an important effect on the economics and sustainability of the industry. However, the dinoflagellate species responsible for producing these toxins are not uncommon in New Zealand coastal phytoplankton communities, and it is important that awareness of the potential risk is maintained. This review summarises what we know about the causes and incidence of PST contamination from research and monitoring over the last 20 years, since it was first identified in New Zealand. It describes the dynamics of major events and their consequences, and evaluates what is likely to happen in the future as aquaculture expands into new areas with known histories of this problem.