Detection of overflow events in the shag rocks passage, scotia ridge

During an almost yearlong period of observations made with a current meter in the fracture zone between the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia, several overflow events were recorded at a depth of 3000 meters carrying cold bottom water from the Scotia Sea into the Argentine Basin. The outflow bursts of Scotia Sea bottom water, a mixing product of Weddell Sea and eastern Pacific bottom water, were associated with typical speeds of more than 28 centimeters per second toward the northwest and characteristic temperatures below 0.6 degrees C. The maximum 24-hour average speed of 65 centimeters per second, together with a temperature of 0.29 degrees C, was encountered on 14 November 1980 at a water depth of 2973 meters, 35 meters above the sea floor.     

Ocean warming and sea level rise along the southwest u.s. Coast

Hydrographic time-series data recorded during the past 42 years in the upper 500 meters off the coast of southern California indicate that temperatures have increased by 0.8 degrees C uniformly in the upper 100 meters and that temperatures have risen significantly to depths of about 300 meters. The effect of warming the surface layer of the ocean and there by expanding the water column has been to raise sea level by 0.9 +/- 0.2 millimeter per year. Tide gauge records along the coast are coherent with steric height and show upward trends in sea level that vary from about 1 to 3 millimeters per year.     

Agglomeration of ash in fluidized beds gasifying coal: the godel phenomenon

In a bed of anthracite or bituminous coke fluidized by air at 10 to 15 meters per second at 1200 degrees to 1400 degrees C, molten ash forms beads on the surface of a coke particle, some exuding from its interior. The beads merge and detach them-selves to grow further as loose fluidized ash agglomerates of low carbon content.     

Antarctic ice sheet: preliminary results of first core hole to bedrock

The Antarctic ice sheet at Byrd Station has been core-drilled to bedrock; the vertical thickness of the ice is 2164 meters. Liquid water-indicative of pressure melting-was encountered at the bed. Heat flow through the base of the ice sheet is estimated at 1.8 microcalories per square centimeter per second. The minimum temperature was -28.8 degrees C at 800 meters; maximum ice density, 0.9206 at 1000 meters. Core studies reveal the existence of a chemically pure, structurally stratified sheet comprising bubbly ice to 900 meters that transforms to bubble-free deformed ice, with substantially vertically orientated c-axis structure, below 1200 meters. Below 1800 meters the deformed ice structure gives way to large annealed crystals. Several thin layers of dirt between 1300 and 1700 meters are tentatively identified as volcanic ash, and horizontally banded debris, including fragments of granite, is present in the basal ice.     

Bottom Velocity Observations Directly under the Gulf Stream

Speeds as high as 44 centimeters per second were observed 200 meters above the ocean bottom under the Gulf Stream at 70 degrees W longitude and were associated with time-dependent motion that had a speed range of 40 centimeters per second and a time scale of about 30 days. These deep current fluctuations appear to be coupled with fluctuations in the surface position of the Stream and with surface and bottom current fluctuations 200 kilometers to the north.     

Neptune's Wind Speeds Obtained by Tracking Clouds in Voyager Images

Images of Neptune obtained by the narrow-angle camera of the Voyager 2 spacecraft reveal large-scale cloud features that persist for several months or longer. The features' periods of rotation about the planetary axis range from 15.8 to 18.4 hours. The atmosphere equatorward of -53 degrees rotates with periods longer than the 16.05-hour period deduced from Voyager's planetary radio astronomy experiment (presumably the planet's internal rotation period). The wind speeds computed with respect to this radio period range from 20 meters per second eastward to 325 meters per second westward. Thus, the cloud-top wind speeds are roughly the same for all the planets ranging from Venus to Neptune, even though the solar energy inputs to the atmospheres vary by a factor of 1000.     

Footwall refrigeration along a detachment fault: implications for the thermal evolution of core complexes

Oxygen isotope compositions of epidote and quartz from chloritic breccias that underlie the detachment fault in the metamorphic core complex of the Whipple Mountains yielded quartz-epidote fractionations that range from 4.1 to 6.4 per mil and increase systematically toward the fault. These fractionations give mean temperatures that decrease from approximately 432 degrees C at 50 meters below the fault to approximately 350 degrees C at 12 meters below the fault. This extreme thermal gradient of 82 degrees C over 38 meters (2160 degrees C per kilometer) is best explained by advective heat extraction by means of circulating surface-derived fluids. Models of lithospheric extension consider only conductive cooling resulting from tectonic denudation and thus require revision to include fluid-induced fault-zone refrigeration.     

Simulated increase of hurricane intensities in a CO2-warmed climate

Hurricanes can inflict catastrophic property damage and loss of human life. Thus, it is important to determine how the character of these powerful storms could change in response to greenhouse gas-induced global warming. The impact of climate warming on hurricane intensities was investigated with a regional, high-resolution, hurricane prediction model. In a case study, 51 western Pacific storm cases under present-day climate conditions were compared with 51 storm cases under high-CO2 conditions. More idealized experiments were also performed. The large-scale initial conditions were derived from a global climate model. For a sea surface temperature warming of about 2.2 degrees C, the simulations yielded hurricanes that were more intense by 3 to 7 meters per second (5 to 12 percent) for wind speed and 7 to 20 millibars for central surface pressure.     

Gas exchange-wind speed relation measured with sulfur hexafluoride on a lake

Gas-exchange processes control the uptake and release of various gases in natural systems such as oceans, rivers, and lakes. Not much is known about the effect of wind speed on gas exchange in such systems. In the experiment described here, sulfur hexafluoride was dissolved in lake water, and the rate of escape of the gas with wind speed (at wind speeds up to 6 meters per second) was determined over a 1-month period. A sharp change in the wind speed dependence of the gas-exchange coefficient was found at wind speeds of about 2.4 meters per second, in agreement with the results of wind-tunnel studies. However, the gas-exchange coefficients at wind speeds above 3 meters per second were smaller than those observed in wind tunnels and are in agreement with earlier lake and ocean results.     

Viking first encounter of phobos: preliminary results

During the last 2 weeks of February 1977, an intensive scientific investigation of the martian satellite Phobos was conducted by the Viking Orbiter-1 (VO-1) spacecraft. More than 125 television pictures were obtained during this period and infrared observations were made. About 80 percent of the illuminated hemisphere was imaged at a resolution of about 30 meters. Higher resolution images of limited areas were also obtained. Flyby distances within 80 kilometers of the surface were achieved. An estimate of the mass of Phobos (GM) was obtained by observing the effect of Phobos's gravity on the orbit of VO-1 as sensed by Earth-based radiometric tracking. Preliminary results indicate a value of GM of 0.00066 +/- 0.00012 cubic kilometer per second squared (standard deviation of 3) and a mean density of about 1.9 +/- 0.6 gram per cubic centimeter (standard deviation of 3). This low density, together with the low albedo and the recently determined spectral reflectance, suggest that Phobos is compositionally similar to type I carbonaceous chondrites. Thus, either this object formed in the outer part of the asteroid belt or Lewis's theory that such material cannot condense at 1.5 astronomical units is incorrect. The data on Phobos obtained during this first encounter period are comparable in quantity to all of the data on Mars returned by Mariner flights 4, 6, and 7.     

Early meteorological results from the viking 2 lander

Early results from the meteorological instruments on the Viking 2 lander are presented. As on lander 1, the daily patterns of temperature, wind, and pressure have been highly repetitive during the early summer period. The average daily maximum temperature was 241 degrees K and the diurnal minimum was 191 degrees K. The wind has a vector mean of 0.7 meter per second from the southeast with a diurnal amplitude of 3 meters per second. Pressure exhibits both diurnal and semidiurnal oscillations, although of substantially smaller amplitude than those of lander 1. Departures from the repetitive diurnal patterns begin to appear on sol 37.     

A Comparison of SIR-B Directional Ocean Wave Spectra with Aircraft Scanning Radar Spectra

Directional ocean wave spectra derived from Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) L-band imagery collected off the coast of southern Chile on 11 and 12 October 1984 were compared with independent spectral estimates from two airborne scanning radars. In sea states with significant wave heights ranging from 3 to 5 meters, the SIR-B-derived spectra at 18 degrees and 25 degrees off nadir yielded reasonable estimates of wavelengths, directions, and spectral shapes for all wave systems encountered, including a purely azimuth-traveling system. A SIR-B image intensity variance spectrum containing predominantly range-traveling waves closely resembles an independent aircraft estimate of the slope variance spectrum. The prediction of a U.S. Navy global spectral ocean wave model on 11 October 1984 exhibited no significant bias in dominant wave number but contained a directional bias of about 30 degrees espect to the mean of the aircraft and spacecraft estimates.     

Oxygen isotope ratios in trees reflect mean annual temperature and humidity

Values of the oxygen isotope ratios (delta(18)O) in tree-ring cellulose closely reflect the delta(18)O values in atmospheric precipitation and hence mean annual temperature. The change in delta(18)O in cellulose is 0.41 per mil per degree Celsius for selected near-coastal stations. The values of delta(18)O in precipitation and cellulose also change with altitude, as demonstrated for Mount Rainier, Washington. A temperature lapse rate of 5.2 degrees +/- 0.5 degrees C per 1000 meters calculated from cellulose delta(18)O values agrees with the accepted mean annual lapse rate of 5 degrees C per 1000 meters for this region. Cellulose delta(18)O values and delta(18)O values of carbon dioxide equilibrated with leaf water differ by a fixed 16 per mil.     

Mesoscale ocean eddies in the north pacific: westward propagation

A set of subsurface temperature measurements in the trade wind region northeast of Hawaii reveals large perturbations about the mean state, with zonal wavelengths of 480 kilometers. The perturbations are identified as mesoscale baroclinic eddies, and they appear to drift westward at a rate of 4.7 +/- 2.0 centimeters per second. The large-scale ( 1000 kilometers) baroclinic flow at a depth of 200 meters is 1.5 +/- 0.7 centimeters per second, also toward the west, and comparable in magnitude with the eddy drift velocity; this finding suggests that the eddy drift is strongly influenced by the large-scale flow. Mesoscale eddies have been discovered in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean. Their existence in the Pacific Ocean is now confirmed.     

Heterogeneous catalysis: effect of an alternating electric field

Oxidation of carbon monoxide was studcied in a static reactor at 123 degrees +/- 1 degrees C, wtith NiO as catalyst. An alternating electric field of about 22,000 volts per centimeter, peak to peak, was applied normal to the catalytic Surfaces. The rate of oxidation was thereby enhanced by a factor of 6 at 100 cycles per second, with maximum enhancement at between 100 and 200 cycles per second.     

Venus winds are zonal and retrograde below the clouds

Winds in the lower atmosphere of Venus, inferred from three-dimensional radio interferometric tracking of the descents of the Pioneer day and north probes, are predominantly easterly with speeds of about 1 meter per second near the surface, 50 meters per second at the bottom of the clouds, and more than 200 meters per second within the densest, middle cloud layer. Between about 25 and 55 kilometers altitude the average flow was slanted equatorward, with superimposed wavelike motions and alternating layers of high and low shear.     

Eruptions of the st. Augustine volcano: airborne measurements and observations

Airborne measurements of the effluents from the St. Augustine volcano obtained during a 10-day period of activity showed that aerosol was ejected at the rate of about 10(5) kilograms per second during brief eruptions (3 to 8 minutes). Steadier emissions contained much more water vapor and gaseous sulfur but less aerosol mass. A nuée ardente (glowing avalanche) produced by one eruption reached a maximum average speed of about 50 meters per second.     

Isotopic composition of old ground water from lake agassiz: implications for late pleistocene climate

A uniform oxygen isotope value of -25 per mil was obtained from old ground water at depths of 20 to 30 meters in a thick deposit of clay in the southern part of the glacial Lake Agassiz basin. The lake occupied parts of North Dakota and southern Manitoba at the end of the last glacial maximum and received water from the ice margin and the interior plains region of Canada. Ground water from thick late Pleistocene-age clay deposits elsewhere, a till in southern Saskatchewan, and a glaciolacustrine deposit in northern Ontario show the same value at similar depths. These sites are at about 50 degrees N latitude, span a distance of 2000 kilometers, and like the Lake Agassiz sites, have a ground-water velocity of less than a few millimeters per year. The value of -25 per mil is characteristic of meltwater impounded in the southern basin of Lake Agassiz. This value corresponds to an estimated air temperature of -16 degrees C, compared with the modern temperature of 0 degrees C for this area.     

Formation of Box Canyon, Idaho, by megaflood: implications for seepage erosion on Earth and Mars

Amphitheater-headed canyons have been used as diagnostic indicators of erosion by groundwater seepage, which has important implications for landscape evolution on Earth and astrobiology on Mars. Of perhaps any canyon studied, Box Canyon, Idaho, most strongly meets the proposed morphologic criteria for groundwater sapping because it is incised into a basaltic plain with no drainage network upstream, and approximately 10 cubic meters per second of seepage emanates from its vertical headwall. However, sediment transport constraints, 4He and 14C dates, plunge pools, and scoured rock indicate that a megaflood (greater than 220 cubic meters per second) carved the canyon about 45,000 years ago. These results add to a growing recognition of Quaternary catastrophic flooding in the American northwest, and may imply that similar features on Mars also formed by floods rather than seepage erosion.     

Determination of Venus Winds by Ground-Based Radio Tracking of the VEGA Balloons

A global array of 20 radio observatories was used to measure the three-dimensional position and velocity of the two meteorological balloons that were injected into the equatorial region of the Venus atmosphere near Venus midnight by the VEGA spacecraft on 11 and 15 June 1985. Initial analysis of only radial velocities indicates that each balloon was blown westward about 11,500 kilometers (8,000 kilometers on the night side) by zonal winds with a mean speed of about 70 meters per second. Excursions of the data from a model of constant zonal velocity were generally less than 3 meters per second; however, a much larger variation was evident near the end of the flight of the second balloon. Consistent systematic trends in the residuals for both balloons indicate the possibility of a solar-fixed atmospheric feature. Rapid variations in balloon velocity were often detected within a single transmission (330 seconds); however, they may represent not only atmospheric motions but also self-induced aerodynamic motions of the balloon.