Microlites and "nanolites" in rhyolitic glass: microstructural and chemical characterization

 We used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study magmatic crystals in the Ben Lomond rhyolite lava dome, Taupo Volcanic Center, New Zealand. Using TEM and SEM to investigate the size distributions of these crystals, we identified three size populations: microphenocrysts (>1.2 μm wide), microlites (>0.6 μm wide), and smaller crystals (<0.6 μm wide) which we term "nanolites". The predominant mineral phases of the microlites and nanolites are augites, pigeonites, and hypersthenes. The compositions and microstructures within these pyroxenes indicate disequilibrium crystallization at approximately 850–900  °C and undercoolings as high as 300  °C from equilibrium crystallization temperatures. Complex microstructures resulting from subsolidus reactions in augite and pigeonite are consistent with moderate cooling rates within the upper obsidian layer of the Ben Lomond rhyolite dome. This study demonstrates the existence of sub-micron magmatic crystals in a rhyolite and illustrates the potential of TEM to provide unique information about the crystallization and cooling histories of glassy volcanic rocks. Received: May 8, 1995 / Accepted: November 27, 1995     

Increased sediment accretion rates following invasion byPhragmites australis: The role of litter

Negative connotations of invasive plants worldwide have implicated them as the bearers of unfavorable ecosystem change. We contrasted 5-yr-old and 20-yr-oldPhragmites populations with pre-invasion areas occupied byTypha spp. andPanicum virgatum in an oligohaline tidal marsh of Chesapeake Bay. Peak live biomass was 3 times greater, while standing dead and litter was twice as great in the 20-yr-oldPhragmites. It is this abundance of concentrated litter on the marsh surface of maturePhragmites populations that we implicate as encouraging the trapping of organic and mineral matter. The rate of vertical accretion in 20-yr-oldPhragmites populations is 3–4 mm yr⁻¹ above the adjacent populations. By integrating the constant initial concentration and constant rate of supply models on individual²¹⁰Pb cores, we estimate thatPhragmites populations require a minimum of 7-yr post-colonization to enhance rates of accretion in this system. In ligh of the considerable loss of marsh habitat from relative sea-level rise, this finding contests the view that invasion creates strictly undesirable change at the ecosystem level.     

How U.S. ocean policy and market power can reform the coral reef wildlife trade

As the world’s largest importer of marine ornamental species for the aquaria, curio, home décor, and jewelry industries, the United States has an opportunity to leverage its considerable market power to promote more sustainable trade and reduce the effects of ornamental trade stress on coral reefs worldwide. Evidence indicates that collection of some coral reef animals for these trades has caused virtual elimination of local populations, major changes in age structure, and promotion of collection practices that destroy reef habitats. Management and enforcement of collection activities in major source countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines remain weak. Strengthening US trade laws and enforcement capabilities combined with increasing consumer and industry demand for responsible conservation can create strong incentives for improving management in source countries. This is particularly important in light of the March 2010 failure of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to take action on key groups of corals.     

Mercury's magnetic field: a thermoelectric dynamo?

Permanent magnetism and conventional dynamo theory are possible but problematic explanations for the magnitude of the Mercurian magnetic field. A new model is proposed in which thermoelectric currents driven by temperature differences at a bumpy core-mantle boundary are responsible for the (unobserved) toroidal field, and the helicity of convective motions in a thin outer core (thickness 10² km) induces the observed poloidal field from the toroidal field. The observed field of 3 × 10⁻⁷ T can be reproduced provided the electrical conductivity of Mercury's semiconducting mantle approaches 10³ Ω⁻¹ m⁻¹. This model may be testable by future missions to Mercury because it predicts a more complicated field geometry than conventional dynamo theories. However, it is argued that polar wander may cause the core-mantle topography to migrate so that some aspects of the rotational symmetry may be reflected in the observed field.     

Transient Behaviour of Tropospheric Ozone Precursors in a Global 3-D CTM and Their Indirect Greenhouse Effects

The global three-dimensional Lagrangian chemistry-transport model STOCHEM has been used to follow the changes in the tropospheric distributions of the two major radiatively-active trace gases, methane and tropospheric ozone, following the emission of pulses of the short-lived tropospheric ozone precursor species, methane, carbon monoxide, NO_x and hydrogen. The radiative impacts of NO_x emissionswere dependent on the location chosen for the emission pulse, whether at the surface or in the upper troposphere or whether in the northern or southern hemispheres. Global warming potentials were derived for each of the short-lived tropospheric ozone precursor species by integrating the methane and tropospheric ozone responses over a 100 year time horizon. Indirect radiative forcing due to methane and tropospheric ozone changes appear to be significant for all of the tropospheric ozone precursor species studied. Whereas the radiative forcing from methane changes is likely to be dominated by methane emissions, that from tropospheric ozone changes is controlled by all the tropospheric ozone precursor gases, particularly NO_xemissions. The indirect radiative forcing impacts of tropospheric ozone changes may be large enough such that ozone precursors should be considered in the basket of trace gases through which policy-makers aim to combat global climate change.     

Magnetism and thermal evolution of the terrestrial planets

Of the terrestrial planets, Earth and probably Mercury possess substantial intrinsic magnetic fields generated by core dynamos, while Venus and Mars apparently lack such fields. Thermal histories are calculated for these planets and are found to admit several possible present states, including those which suggest simple explanations for the observations; whule the cores of Earth and Mercury are continuing to freeze, the cores of Venus and Mars may still be completely liquid. The models assume whole mantle convection, which is parameterized by a simple Nusselt-Rayleigh number relation and dictates the rate at which heat escapes from the core. It is found that completely fluid cores, devoid of intrinsic heat sources, are not likely to sustain thermal convection for the age of the solar system but cool to a subadiabatic, conductive state that can not maintain a dynamo. Planets which nucleate an inner core continue to sustain a dynamo because of the gravitational energy release and chemically driven convection that accompany inner core growth. The absence of a significant inner core can arise in Venus because of its slightly higher temperature and lower central pressure relative to Earth, while a Martian core avoids the onset of freezing if the abundance of sulfur in the core is ?15% by mass. All of the models presented assume that (I) core dynamos are driven by thermal and/or chemical convection; (ii) radiogenic heat production is confined to the mantle; (iii) mantle and core cool from initially hot states which are at the solidus and superliquidus, respectively; and (iv) any inner core excludes the light alloying material (sulfur or oxygen) which then mixes uniformly upward through the outer core. The models include realistic pressure and composition-dependent freezing curves for the core, and material parameters are chosen so that the correct present-day values of heat outflow, upper mantle temperature and viscosity, and inner core radius are obtained for the earth. It is found that Venus and Mars may have once had dynamos maintained by thermal convection alone. Earth may have had a completely fluid core and a dynamo maintained by thermal convection for the first 2 to 3 by, but an inner core nucleates and the dynamo energetics are subsequently dominated by gravitational energy release. Complete freezing of the Mercurian core is prohibited if it contains even a small amount of sulfur, and a dynamo can be maintained by chemical convection in a thin, fluid shell.