Spectrum estimation using maximum entropy and multiresolution considerations

Summary Given a sample autocovariance sequence of finite length for some observed random process, the spectrum estimation problem involves the extension of this sequence for the required Fourier transformation. The maximum entropy approach which is based on the optimal use of information contents, leads to a dual sequence of reflection coefficients with reciprocal spectrum of the process. The estimation of the maximum entropy spectrum implies results identical to those using autoregressive modeling in one dimension under appropriate white noise assumptions. In cases of a non-white noise component, the approach is generalized to an autoregressive-moving-average model. Recent developments in multiresolution analysis with spectral domain decompositions also offer possibilities of subband spectrum estimation for specific applications. Using a simulated data sequence with two close frequencies, the estimated spectrum from a two-level decomposition with autoregressive modeling shows better resolution than with conventional processing. Geodetic and geophysical applications are briefly indicated.     

Comparative Analysis of a Transition Region Bright Point with a Blinker and Coronal Bright Point Using Multiple EIS Emission Lines

Since their discovery 20 year ago, transition region bright points have never been observed spectroscopically. Bright point properties have not been compared with similar transition region and coronal structures. In this work we have investigated three transient quiet Sun brightenings including a transition region bright point (TR BP), a coronal bright point (CBP) and a blinker. We use time-series observations of the extreme-ultraviolet emission lines of a wide range of temperature T (logT=5.3?–?6.4) from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) onboard the Hinode satellite. We present the EIS temperature maps and Doppler maps, which are compared with magnetograms from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) onboard the SOHO satellite. Doppler velocities of the TR BP and blinker are ≤?25 km?s^?1, which is typical of transient TR phenomena. The Doppler velocities of the CBP were found to be ≤?20 km?s^?1 with exception of those measured at logT=6.2 where a distinct bi-directional jet is observed. From an EM loci analysis we find evidence of single and double isothermal components in the TR BP and CBP, respectively. TR BP and CBP loci curves are characterized by broad distributions suggesting the existence of unresolved structure. By comparing and contrasting the physical characteristics of the events we find that the BP phenomena are an indication of multi-scaled self-similarity, given the similarities in both their underlying magnetic field configuration and evolution in relation to EUV flux changes. In contrast, the blinker phenomena and the TR BP are sufficiently dissimilar in their observed properties as to constitute different event classes. Our work is an indication that the measurement of similar characteristics across multiple event types holds class-predictive power, and is a significant step towards automated solar atmospheric multi-class classification of unresolved transient EUV sources. Finally, the analysis performed here establishes a connection between solar quiet region CBPs and jets.     

Decision Analysis for Leachate Control at a Fractured Rock Landfill

The municipal landfill at the Complexe Environnemental de Saint-Michel (CESM) in Montreal, which is the third largest in North America, is located in a former quarry in fractured limestone. Impressive measures are taken to monitor and control biogas and leachate generated at the site. Leachate containment is presently performed with a pumping well completed within the waste. The efficiency of the well in controlling off-site leachate migration is questioned because field observations strongly suggest that the nearby former Francon quarry is diverting local ground water flow. To address this issue, four additional hydraulic control options are considered: (1) increased pumping at the existing waste well; (2) new pumping wells in the rock on the eastern limit of the site; (3) new injection wells in the rock on the eastern limit; and (4) combination of new injection wells at the same location and new water supply wells upgradient of the landfill. We evaluated the four hydraulic control options at the CESM using two coupled models: (1) a decision model based on an objective function weighting the risk, costs, and benefits of each option translated into dollar units; and (2) a numerical ground water flow model to represent the effect of operational conditions and ascertain success. Decision analysis offers a quantitative unbiased tool to evaluate the potential and relative cost of each option, but qualitative considerations and judgment still must be used for a complete evaluation. Our analysis confirms that scenario 4, which was the intuitively favored option, represents the best containment strategy.     

A possible link between gabbros bearing High Temperature Iddingsite alteration and huge pegmatoid intrusions: The Society Islands, French Polynesia

This paper reports new field observations and new petrological, textural and geochemical data on two gabbroic intrusions and one pegmatoid dyke from the French Polynesian islands Maupiti and Bora Bora, respectively. Olivine crystals from the Faataufi and Barque de Hiro gabbros (Maupiti) include High Temperature Iddingsite (HTI), exhibiting three distinct morphological facies. Chemical and crystallographical data performed by electron microprobe, scanning microscope, X-ray diffractometry and Near InfraRed spectroscopy show that HTI results from modifications of olivine structure through intense hydroxylation and Fe-oxidation. The HTI-free 120 m-wide Cloche de Hiro dyke (Bora Bora) exhibits a textural zonation from heterogranular/intergranular gabbro (peripheral part) to typical pegmatoid (inner area). We propose a textural tetrahedral classificatory diagram which can be used to clearly distinguish the textural characteristics of the pegmatoids from those of the other coarse-grained samples. Through comparison with a lava flow containing vesicle-rich segregation sheets, we suggest that the Cloche de Hiro dyke may correspond to a huge segregation structure derived from a Maupiti-type HTI-bearing gabbro through a vapor-differentiation process. Both intrusions might be considered as representative of two superposed levels in a vertically arranged magmatic complex. In this view, the Maupiti gabbroic bodies would represent the lower part of the postulated system. Under high oxygen fugacity, olivine crystals would have undergone important modifications of their structure, leading to HTI. The huge Bora Bora pegmatoid dyke would be the upper part of the complex. After expulsion from the HTI-bearing gabbroic solidification zone by build-up of gas pressure, vesicle-rich residual melt would have gathered into a shallow level and crystallized there as a pegmatoid body.     

Contrasting the effects of climatic, nutrient, and oxygen dynamics on subfossil chironomid assemblages: a paleolimnological experiment from eutrophic High Arctic ponds

Nutrients from the waste products of large seabird colonies can enter freshwater ecosystems, markedly altering water quality and biotic assemblages, especially in nutrient-poor regions like the Canadian High Arctic. Here, we investigate the influence of nutrient-rich seabird wastes on freshwater larval chironomid assemblages from two distinct seabird colonies. The study sites include four ponds dominated by northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) at Cape Vera, Devon Island, as well as one pond near a large group of common eider ducks (Somateria mollissima borealis) on Tern Island (unofficial name) near Cornwallis Island, Nunavut. The rare combination of nutrient-enriched and well-oxygenated waters allowed us to contrast the effects of nutrients, oxygen, and temperature on chironomid community structure in shallow Arctic ponds using sediment cores. Despite highly elevated nutrient levels, the subfossil assemblages were dominated by cold stenotherms typical of oligotrophic waters. Although nutrient inputs appear to have increased chironomid head capsule numbers due to enhanced food availability, the fertilization had little direct effect on assemblage composition, at least at the taxonomic level achievable based on fossil material. The presence of low abundances of eutrophic/anoxic taxa, such as Chironomus plumosus-type, suggests that biogeographic barriers to dispersal are not influencing the assemblages. These data demonstrate that, in the presence of high concentrations of dissolved oxygen, nutrient enrichment had little direct effect on chironomid community composition in shallow Arctic ponds.     

Performance of D-Bolts Under Dynamic Loading

In this work, dynamic test results of D-bolts are presented. The rock bolt specimens studied are 20 and 22 mm in diameter and 0.8–1.5 m in section length. The bolts were tested at an impact velocity of 5.4–6.2 m/s and with impact energy varying from 10 to 60 kJ. In total, over 50 drop tests were conducted during a period of three years. The dynamic tests show that a D-bolt section of 22 mm × 1.5 m can sustain an impact of 56 kJ of a dynamic impact and absorb 60 kJ of energy prior to failure. The maximum impact energy of the 22 mm bolt is thus 37 kJ/m of bolt and the maximum energy absorption is 40 kJ/m. The displacement of the D-bolt increases linearly with the impact energy. A theoretical solution has been obtained for the relationship between the impact energy and the displacement of the bolt. It states that the energy absorption of a D-bolt section is proportionally related to the volume of the bolt section and the tensile strength and ultimate strain of the bolt material. It was also found that the magnitude of the impact energy determines whether or not the bolt fails, while the impact momentum determines how long the impact lasts. The impact duration increases linearly with momentum as long as the bolt shank does not fail.     

From sea to land: assessment of the bio-transport of phosphorus by penguins in Antarctica

In Antarctica, the marine ecosystem is dynamically interrelated with the terrestrial ecosystem. An example of the link between these two ecosystems is the biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus. Biovectors, such as penguins, transport phosphorus from sea to land, play a key role in this cycle. In this paper, we selected three colonies of penguins, the most important seabirds in Antarctica, and computed the annual quantity of phosphorus transferred from sea to land by these birds. Our results show that adult penguins from colonies at Ardley Island, the Vestfold Hills, and Ross Island could transfer phosphorus in the form of guano at up to 12 349, 167 036, and 97 841 kg/a, respectively, over their breeding period. These quantities are equivalent to an annual input of 3.96×109–1.63×1010 kg of seawater to the land of Antarctica. Finally, we discuss the impact of phosphorus on the ice-free areas of the Antarctica.     

Spherical harmonic analysis and synthesis for global multiresolution applications

 On the Earth and in its neighborhood, spherical harmonic analysis and synthesis are standard mathematical procedures for scalar, vector and tensor fields. However, with the advent of multiresolution applications, additional considerations about convolution filtering with decimation and dilation are required. As global applications often imply discrete observations on regular grids, computational challenges arise and conflicting claims about spherical harmonic transforms have recently appeared in the literature. Following an overview of general multiresolution analysis and synthesis, spherical harmonic transforms are discussed for discrete global computations. For the necessary multi-rate filtering operations, spherical convolutions along with decimations and dilations are discussed, with practical examples of applications. Concluding remarks are then included for general applications, with some discussion of the computational complexity involved and the ongoing investigations in research centers. Received: 13 November 2000 / Accepted: 12 June 2001     

L'origine métasédimentaire du gisement de magnétite de Forsyth,Province de Québec,Canada

Résumé L'étude porte sur un amas lenticulaire vertical de magnétite massive et grossièrement grenue, situé dans la province métamorphique de Grenville. Mesurant entre 10 et 40 m de puissance, 100 à 300 m de longueur, et d'une profondeur moyenne d'environ 150 m, le gisement contient 4 millions de tonnes titrant en moyenne 47,8% Fe. Cet amas se distingue des autres dépôts de magnétite du Grenville par sa teneur en fer beaucoup plus élevée et par l'abondance de membres carbonatés dans ses épontes cristallophylliennes. Le minerai est du type eulysite. Sa paragenèse fondamentale consiste en fayalite, magnétite, augite, diopside, grenat, graphite, pyrrhotine et calcite. En se fondant sur les analyses chimiques de 21 échantillons prélevés systématiquement en travers du gisement, ses principaux oligo-éléments sont le Ti (1050 ppm), Mn (1150 ppm), V (50 ppm), Ni (10 ppm) et Cr (25 ppm), auxquels s'ajoute 0,5% S sous forme pyrrhotine et de traces de pyrite et chalcopyrite. Compte tenu des faciès minéralogiques relevés et des caractères chimiques recensés, le gisement de Forsyth semble s'être formé sous une pression de 7 à 8 Kb et à une température de 720 °C ± 20, soit sous des conditions apparentées au début du faciès granulite. A défaut d'une hypothèse rigoureuse pour expliquer ce type particulier de gisement, les auteurs proposent une origine métasédimentaire. Un épais niveau de sidérose riche en impuretés d'argile et de calcaire dolomitique se serait transformé en minerai de magnétite sous l'influence d'un métamorphisme régional très poussé, où le graphite par son caractère réducteur aurait contrôlé les principales réactions chimiques de formation du minerai.

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This study bears on a steeply dipping lense of massive coarse-grained magnetite located in the Grenville metamorphic province. The deposit is 10–40 m thick, 100–300 m long and about 150 m deep, with some 4 million tons averaging 47.8% Fe. It differs from other magnetite deposits of the Grenville in being appreciably higher grade and having an abundance of carbonate facies in its highly metamorphosed wallrocks. The ore is a eulysitic type. Its essential paragenesis consists of fayalite, magnetite, augite, diopside, garnet, graphite, pyrrhotite and calcite. On the basis of 21 samples taken systematically across the orebody, its main trace elements appear to be Ti (1050 ppm), Mn (1150 ppm), V (50 ppm), Ni (10 ppm) and Cr (25 ppm), plus 0.5% S in the form of pyrrhotite and traces of pyrite and chalcopyrite. On the basis of chemical-mineralogical relationships, the Forsyth orebody is assumed to have been formed under a pressure of 7–8 Kb and at a temperature of 720 °C ± 20, that is under conditions corresponding to the lower granulite facies. Although this deposit is difficult to explain, the writers view it as having originated from a thick sedimentary layer of siderite containing numerous argillaceous and dolostone impurities, which was later transformed into magnetite ore under the reducing influence of ubiquitous graphite and intense regional metamorphism.

     

Comparison of methods for marine gravity determination from satellite altimetry data in the Labrador Sea

One-year average satellite altimetry data from the Exact Repeat Missions (ERM) of GEOSAT have been used to determine marine gravity disturbances in the Labrador Sea region using the inverse Hotine approach with FFT techniques. The derived satellite gravity information has been compared to shipboard gravity as well as gravity information derived by least-squares collocation (LSC), GEMT3 and OSU91A geopotential models in the Orphan Knoll area. The RMS and mean differences between satellite and shipboard gravity disturbances are about 8.0 and 2.8 mGal, respectively. There is no significantly difference between the results obtained using FFT and LSC.