A tsunami about 1000 years ago in puget sound, washington

Water surged from Puget Sound sometime between 1000 and 1100 years ago, overrunning tidal marshes and mantling them with centimeters of sand. One overrun site is 10 kilometers northwest of downtown Seattle; another is on Whidbey Island, some 30 kilometers farther north. Neither site has been widely mantled with sand at any other time in the past 2000 years. Deposition of the sand coincided-to the year or less-with abrupt, probably tectonic subsidence at the Seattle site and with landsliding into nearby Lake Washington. These findings show that a tsunami was generated in Puget Sound, and they tend to confirm that a large shallow earthquake occurred in the Seattle area about 1000 years ago.     

Seed Discharge in Arceuthobium: A Photographic Study

Photographs, made at a speed of 5 microseconds, of the ejection of the Arceuthobium seed from its fruit, show that tumbling in the vertical plane begins soon after discharge and that most seeds have turned 90 degrees when they have traveled about 6 centimeters. As the seeds leave the fruit they have a viscous sheath around the trailing end that disintegrates after the seeds have traveled about 2 to 3 centimeters. This viscous material does not act as a rudder as has been postulated.     

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.     

Coastal uplift and mortality of intertidal organisms caused by the september 1985 Mexico earthquakes

Coastal uplift associated with the great Mexican earthquake of 19 September 1985 and its principal aftershock produced widespread mortality of intertidal organisms along the coast of the states of Michoacán and Guerrero, Mexico. Measurements of the vertical extent of mortality at ten sites provided estimates of the magnitude of the vertical component of deformation along the coast. Within the affected area, uplift ranged from about 12 centimeters to about 1 meter, and no subsidence was observed. The observations are consistent with models of the tectonic deformation that results from buried slip on a shallow-dipping underthrust fault.     

Galactic X-rays: Variable Sources in Hydromagnetic Waves

Galactic sources of x-rays fluctuating in intensity are explained as being small regions, of enhanced gas density and temperature, emitting thermal Coulomb bremsstrahlung of kiloelectron-volt energies. Hydromagnetic wave motions, of the magnetic fields in the galactic spiral arms, produce the enhanced regions by compressing the clouds of ionized gas to which they are tied by their high electrical conductivity. From the observed periods of fluctuation of a few months, together with the hydromagnetic velocity, it is estimated that the average size of sources does not exceed 10(16) centimeters. By using the formula for Coulomb bremsstrahlung and requiring that the sources shall produce the observed x-ray fluxes, one finds a second estimate of size of sources in agreement at about 1016 centimeters. Such regions are too small to be observable radio sources with current radio telescopes.     

Lunar surface: changes in 31 months and micrometeoroid flux

Comparison of pictures of the lunar surface taken 31 months apart by Surveyor 3 and Apollo 12 show only one change in the areas disturbed by Surveyor: a 2-millimeter particle, in a footpad imprint, that may have fallen in from the rim or been kicked in by an approaching astronaut. Vertical walls 6 centimeters high did not collapse and dark ejecta remained dark. No meteorite craters as large as 1.5 millimeters in diameter were seen on a smooth soil surface 20 centimeters in diameter; this indicates a micrometeoroid flux lower than 4 x 10(-7) micrometeoroids per square meter-second at an energy equivalent to about 3 x 10(-8) gram at 20 kilometers per second. This flux is near the lower limit of previous determinations.     

Lateral diffusion of visual pigment in photorecptor disk membranes

Visual pigment molecules are found to move transversely, but not longitudinally, in both rod and cone outer segments of mud puppy and frog. This is consistent with the idea that they are immersed in a two-dimensional fluid disk membrane. The diffusion coefficient for the motion is about 5 x 10(-9) square centimeters per second at 20 degrees C, corresponding to a root-mean-square molecular displacement of 0.3 micrometer in 1 second.     

Earthquake-caused coastal uplift and its effects on rocky intertidal kelp communities

The coastal uplift(approximately 40 to 60 centimeters) associated with the Chilean earthquake of 3 March 1985 caused extensive mortality of intertidal organisms at the Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, Las Cruces. The kelp belt of the laminarian Lessonia nigrescens was particularly affected. Most of the primary space liberated at the upper border of this belt was invaded by species of barnacles, which showed an opportunistic colonization strategy. Drastic modifications in the environment such as coastal uplift, subsidence, or the effects of the El Ni?o phenomenon are characteristic of the southern Pacific. Modifications in the marine ecosystem that generate catastrophic and widespread mortalities of intertidal organisms can affect species composition, diversity, or local biogeography.     

Postglacial change in sea level in the Western north atlantic ocean

Radioactive carbon determinations of the age of peat indicate that at Bermuda, southern Florida, North Carolina, and Louisiana the relative sea level has risen at approximately the same rate, 2.5 x 10(-3) foot per year (0.76 x 10(-3) meter per year), during the past 4000 years. It is proposed tentatively that this is the rate of eustatic change in sea level. The rise in sea level along the northeastern coast of the United States has been at a rate much greater than this, indicating local subsidence of the land. Between Cape Cod and northern Virginia, coastal subsidence of 13 feet appears to have occurred between 4000 and 2000 years ago and has continued at a rate of about 1 x 10(-3) foot per year since then. On the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, subsidence of 6 feet occurred between 4000 and 3000 years ago; since then sea level has risen at about the eustatic rate. Between 12,000 and 4000 years ago, sea level rose at an average of about 11 x 10(-3) foot per year. The part played by local subsidence or temporary departures from the average rate during this period is uncertain.     

Interstitial nitrate profiles and oxidation of sedimentary organic matter in the eastern equatorial atlantic

Pore-water nitrate concentrations in six pelagic eastern equatorial Atlantic cores increase from bottom water values (22 micromolar) to 40 micromolar at a depth of about 5 centimeters, then decrease to undetectable levels at depths as shallow as 40 centimeters. These nitrate concentrations and concentration gradients reflect zones of oxygen reduction, nitrate reduction, and sulfate reduction in the sediments. The estimated benthic flux of nitrate to the ocean from our data is much less than the total globalflux of nitrate to deep waters, even though these equatorial sediments underlie a productive upwelling zone. The estimated denitrification rate in our study area suggests that pelagic sediments may be important sites of marine denitrification.     

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.     

Subsidence in the northeastern nile delta: rapid rates, possible causes, and consequences

Holocene fluvial and marine deposits have accumulated in a graben-like structure on the northeastern margin of the Nile delta. This part of the delta, which includes Lake Manzala, Port Said, and the northern Suez Canal, has subsided rapidly at rates of up to 0.5 centimeter per year since about 7500 years ago. This subsidence has diverted at last four major distributaries of the Nile River into this region. The combined effects of continued subsidence and sea level rise may flood a large part of the northern delta plain by as much as 1 meter by the year 2100. The impact of continued subsidence, now occurring when sediment input along the coast has been sharply reduced because of the Aswan High Dam, is likely to be substantial, particularly in the Port Said area and as far inland as south of Lake Manzala.     

Streamflow greatly reduced by converting deciduous hardwood stands to pine

Fifteen years after two experimental watersheds in the southern Appalachians had been converted from a mature deciduous hardwood cover to white pine, annual streamflow was reduced about 20 centimeters (20 percent) below that expected for the hardwood cover. Streamflow was reduced during every month, with the largest monthly reductions (1.5 to 3.5 centimeters) occurring in the dormant and early growing seasons.     

Thermoluminescence of lunar samples

Appreciable natural thermoluminescence with glow curve peaks at about 350 degrees centigrade for lunar fines and breccias and above 400 degrees centigrade for crystalline rocks has been recognized in lunar samples. Plagioclase has been identified as the principal carrier of thermoluminescence, and the diference in peak temperatures indicates compositional or structural differences between the feldspars of the different rock types. The present thermoluminescence in the lunar samples is probably the result of a dynamic equilibrium between acquisition from radiation and loss in the lunar thermal environment. A progressive change in the glow curves of core samples with depth below the surface suggests the use of thermoluminescence disequilibrium to detect surfaces buried by recent surface activity, and it also indicates that the lunar diurnal temperature variation penetrates to at least 10.5 centimeters.     

Lunar surface material: spacecraft measurements of density and strength

The relation of the density of the lunar surface layer to depth is probably best determined from spacecraft measurements of the bearing capacity as a function of depth. A comparison of these values with laboratory measurements of the bearing capacity of low-cohesion particulate materials as a function of the percentage of solid indicates that the bulk density at the lunar surface is about 1.1 grams per cubic centimeter and that it increases nearly linearly to about 1.6 grams per cubic centimeter at a depth of 5 centimeters.     

Magnetic Anomalies over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 27{degrees}N

Ten magnetic profiles across the mid-Atlantic ridge near 27 degrees N show trends that are parallel to the ridge axis and symmetrical about the ridge axis. The configuration of magnetic bodies that could account for the pattern supports the Vine and Matthews hypothesis for the origin of magnetic anomalies over oceanic ridges. A polarity-reversal time scale inferred from models for sea-floor spreading in the Pacific-Antarctic ridge and radiometrically dated reversals of the geomagnetic field indicates a spreading rate of 1.25 centimeters per year during the last 6 million years and a rate of 1.65 centimeters per year between 6 and 10 million years ago. A similar analysis of more limited data over the mid-Atlantic ridge near 22 degrees N also indicates a change in the spreading rate. Here a rate of 1.4 centimeters per year appears to have been in effect during the last 5 million years; between 5 and 9 million years ago, an increased rate of 1.7 centimeters per year is indicated. The time of occurrence and relative magnitude of these changes in the spreading rate, about 5 to 6 million years ago and 18 to 27 percent, respectively, accords with the spreading rate change implied for the Juan de Fuca ridge in the northeast Pacific.     

Mass Balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet at High Elevations

Comparison of ice discharge from higher elevation areas of the entire Greenland Ice Sheet with total snow accumulation gives estimates of ice thickening rates over the past few decades. On average, the region has been in balance, but with thickening of 21 centimeters per year in the southwest and thinning of 30 centimeters per year in the southeast. The north of the ice sheet shows less variability, with average thickening of 2 centimeters per year in the northeast and thinning of about 5 centimeters per year in the northwest. These results agree well with those from repeated altimeter surveys, except in the extreme south, where we find substantially higher rates of both thickening and thinning.     

Object distance as a determinant of visual fixation in early infancy

Data from two experiments show that the duration of visual fixation of solid objects by infants aged 6 to 20 weeks varies as a function of object distance between 30 and 90 centimeters. There was no characteristic habituation of fixation of an object at 90 centimeters but there was a marked increase in fixation time when objects were advanced to 30 centimeters (experiment 1). A linear decline in fixation times occurred as the object distance increased from 30 to 90 centimeters with the real size and the angular size of the object held constant (experiment 2). No evidence for visual size constancy in young infants was obtained by this method.     

Splashing of a water drop

Measurements have been made of the number of spray droplets produced by the impact of a water drop on water, and of the charge to mass ratio for these droplets. For a drop 3 millimeters in diameter, the number of spray droplets increases linearly with the fall-distance of the drop over the range 10 to 200 centimeters. When the drop falls 100 centimeters, about 25 spray droplets are produced. The majority of the droplets carry a negative charge, and the ratio of the charge to the mass varies from 4 to 28 electrostatic units per gram.     

Sea floor spreading, topography, and the second layer

Local sea floor topography and also the thickness of the second layer of the oceanic rise-ridge system appear related to the spreading rate in the region. Slow spreading, away from the ridge center at 1 to 2 centimeters per year, is associated with a thick second layer, a central rift, and adjacent rift mountains. Fast spreading, 3 to 4.5 centimeters per year, is associated with a thin second layer and subdued topography lacking any central rift. The volume of lava discharged in this layer per unit time and per unit length along the crest of the whole active system is relatively constant regardless of the spreading rate. Total second layer discharge of the system has been about 5 to 6 cubic kilometers per year during the last several million years.