Petrogenesis of Mid-Proterozoic Granitic Magmas: Examples from Central and West Texas

Circa 1.1 Ga granitic magmatism in Texas was manifested as two compositional groups: (1) the 1.12 Ga Red Bluff granitic suite in west Texas; and (2) 1.12-1.07 Ga granites of the Llano uplift of central Texas. Both suites share some characteristics typical of \u27anorogenic\u27 granites (e.g. potassium- and iron-rich bulk compositions, Fe-rich hydrous silicates, emplacement conditions involving low oxygen fugacities and water contents) and exhibit similar isotopic characteristics. However, rock associations, mineral chemistries, and trace element compositions of the two suites are distinct and no single petrogenetic model for the two suites is possible. The Red Bluff granitic suite includes cogenetic syenites, quartz syenites and granites; transitional ferrobasaltic dikes are also present. In contrast, syenitic and mafic rocks are not associated with the Llano granites. The Llano granites contain biotite and calcic amphibole with lower Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratios compared to those occurring in the Red Bluff rocks. Alkali amphiboles (e.g. arfvedsonite) occur in the Red Bluff granites but not in the Llano granites. The Red Bluff granitoids are characterized by high FeOT/MgO ratios, high (Na2O+K2O), high concentrations of HFSE and rare earth elements (REE), and other features typical of A-type, \u27within-plate\u27 granites [e.g. the Pikes Peak batholith (PPB)]. The Llano granites are geochemically distinct with generally higher P2O5 and Sr, lower Na2O, FeOT/MgO, Zr, Y and REE, and much lower Ta and Nb. Nd isotopic data overlap between the two granite suites and have \u27juvenile\u27 signatures. However, trace element data suggest different petrogeneses for the two suites. The Red Bluff suite is interpreted as having a direct derivation from mantle sources via extended fractional crystallization of basaltic parental magmas, with minor crustal assimilation. The Llano granites appear to represent anatectic melts derived from slightly older, juvenile crustal sources; some melts underwent fractional crystallization controlled by feldspar and accessory minerals. The petrology and geochemistry of ~1.1 Ga granites in Texas indicate that they should not be considered as part of a single \u27anorogenic\u27 magmatic event. The Red Bluff granitic suite was emplaced into a shelf sequence, north of the Grenville Front, within a broad zone characterized by mild extension. In contrast, Llano granites are late-stage intrusions emplaced into multiply deformed and metamorphosed crust, south of the Grenville Front, during or after waning stages of Grenville orogenesis

Principles of resilient coding for plant ecophysiologists

Plant ecophysiology is founded on a rich body of physical and chemical theory, but it is challenging to connect theory with data in unambiguous, analytically rigorous and reproducible ways. Custom scripts written in computer programming languages (coding) enable plant ecophysiologists to model plant processes and fit models to data reproducibly using advanced statistical techniques. Since many ecophysiologists lack formal programming education, we have yet to adopt a unified set of coding principles and standards that could make coding easier to learn, use and modify. We identify eight principles to help in plant ecophysiologists without much programming experience to write resilient code: (i) standardized nomenclature, (ii) consistency in style, (iii) increased modularity/extensibility for easier editing and understanding, (iv) code scalability for application to large data sets, (v) documented contingencies for code maintenance, (vi) documentation to facilitate user understanding; (vii) extensive tutorials and (viii) unit testing and benchmarking. We illustrate these principles using a new R package, {photosynthesis}, which provides a set of analytical and simulation tools for plant ecophysiology. Our goal with these principles is to advance scientific discovery in plant ecophysiology by making it easier to use code for simulation and data analysis, reproduce results and rapidly incorporate new biological understanding and analytical tools

Кераміка для техніки

The benthic invertebrates fauna of most of the saline lakes of the Sud Lipez region (Bolivia, Altiplano) has been until now quite unstudied. Samples collected during an extensive survey of 12 lakes and two small inflow rivers allow a first list of the main macroinvertebrates living in the biotopes. The heterogeneous nature of these saline lakes with their freshwater springs and phreatic inflows offers a variety of habitats to macroinvertebrates. The benthic fauna in lakes with salinity > 10 g l-1 is not so low in density but includes few species and is dominated by Orthocladinae and Podonominae larvae. In contrast, the freshwater springs and inflows are colonized by a diverse fauna with a mixture of both freshwater and saline taxa, but dominated by Elmidae and Amphipoda. The lakes are quite isolated and, apart from some cosmopolitan organisms, their fauna can be quite distinctive. (Résumé d'auteur

Saturated Zone Plumes in Volcanic Rock: Implications for Yucca Mountain

This paper presents a literature survey of the occurrences of radionuclide plumes in saturated, fractured rocks. Three sites, Idaho National laboratory, Hanford, and Oak Ridge are discussed in detail. Results of a modeling study are also presented showing that the length to width ratio of a plume starting within the repository footprint at the Yucca Mountain Project site, decreases from about 20:1 for the base case to about 4:1 for a higher value of transverse dispersivity, indicating enhanced lateral spreading of the plume. Due to the definition of regulatory requirements, this lateral spreading does not directly impact breakthrough curves at the 18 km compliance boundary, however it increases the potential that a plume will encounter reducing conditions, thus significantly retarding the transport of sorbing radionuclides

Groundwater “fast paths” in the Snake River Plain aquifer: Radiogenic isotope ratios as natural groundwater tracers

Preferential flow paths are expected in many groundwater systems and must be located because they can greatly affect contaminant transport. The fundamental characteristics of radiogenic isotope ratios in chemically evolving waters make them highly effective as preferential flow path indicators. These ratios tend to be more easily interpreted than solute-concentration data because their response to water-rock interaction is less complex. We demonstrate this approach with groundwater {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr ratios in the Snake River Plain aquifer within and near the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. These data reveal slow-flow zones as lower {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr areas created by prolonged interaction with the host basalts and a relatively fast flowing zone as a high {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr area

Impact of quality of evidence on the strength of recommendations: an empirical study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence is necessary but not sufficient for decision-making, such as making recommendations by clinical practice guideline panels. However, the fundamental premise of evidence-based medicine (EBM) rests on the assumed link between the quality of evidence and "truth" and/or correctness in making guideline recommendations. If this assumption is accurate, then the quality of evidence ought to play a key role in making guideline recommendations. Surprisingly, and despite the widespread penetration of EBM in health care, there has been no empirical research to date investigating the impact of quality of evidence on the strength of recommendations made by guidelines panels.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The American Association of Blood Banking (AABB) has recently convened a 12 member panel to develop clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for the use of fresh-frozen plasma (FFP) for 6 different clinical indications. The panel was instructed that 4 factors should play a role in making recommendation: quality of evidence, uncertainty about the balance between desirable (benefits) and undesirable effects (harms), uncertainty or variability in values and preferences, and uncertainty about whether the intervention represents a wise use of resources (costs). Each member of the panel was asked to make his/her final judgments on the strength of recommendation and the overall quality of the body of evidence. "Voting" was anonymous and was based on the use of GRADE (Grading quality of evidence and strength of recommendations) system, which clearly distinguishes between quality of evidence and strength of recommendations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Despite the fact that many factors play role in formulating CPG recommendations, we show that when the quality of evidence is higher, the probability of making a strong recommendation for or against an intervention dramatically increases. Probability of making strong recommendation was 62% when evidence is "moderate", while it was only 23% and 13% when evidence was "low" or "very low", respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We report the first empirical evaluation of the relationship between quality of evidence pertinent to a clinical question and strength of the corresponding guideline recommendations. Understanding the relationship between quality of evidence and probability of making (strong) recommendation has profound implications for the science of quality measurement in health care.</p

Distribution, Abundance and Molecular Analysis of Genus Barbadocladius Cranston & Krosch (Diptera, Chironomidae) in Tropical, High Altitude Andean Streams and Rivers

The distribution of the genus Barbadocladius Cranston & Krosch (Diptera: Chironomidae), previously reported from Chile to Bolivia, has extended northwards. Larvae, pupae and pupal exuviae of this genus have been found in the high mountain tropical streams of Peru to 9°22′56″, but are restricted to very high altitude streams (altitudes over 3,278 m asl) compared to the lower altitude streams (below 1,100 m asl) in which the genus is reported in Chile and Argentina. Based on morphological studies, both described species in the genus, Barbadocladius andinus Cranston & Krosch and Barbadocladius limay Cranston & Krosch, have been found in Peru as pupae or pupal exuviae. Morphological analysis of the larvae and pupae revealed no differences between the two described species from Patagonia and Peru, which are of similar size and with a similar armament of hooklets and spines in pupal tergites and sternites. However, molecular analysis of larvae and pupae revealed that in Peru, there are at least two different evolutionary lines, one distributed widely and another restricted to one site. Phylogenetic analysis (using cox1 mitochondrial sequences) of all available sequences of Barbadocladius shows that the Chilean and Argentinean material differs from that of Peru. Therefore, a total of four molecular segregates are identified, although morphologically, neither larvae nor the pupae may be differentiated

Inferring Airflow Across Martian Dunes From Ripple Patterns and Dynamics

Large ripples form striking patterns on the slopes of martian sand dunes which can be mapped and tracked using high-resolution optical images. The ripples vary in orientation, wavelength, plan-view morphology, and rates of migration. The variations in the ripple patterns are recognized to signal the effects of the regional and local winds and feedbacks between winds and dune topography. We examine the ripple patterns and the motion of these ripples to interpret airflow dynamics around dunes in the dune field at Nili Patera. We find that coincident changes in ripple patterns and migration rates in dune wakes indicate reattachment lengths of 4–7 brink heights. This reattachment length is similar to length scales of flow reattachment for airflow over dunes measured on Earth despite the differences in aeolian environment. Furthermore, ripples on dune flanks are shown to behave according to terrestrial models for ripple development on steep slopes. Compensating for these slope effects allows them to act as indicators of dune-modified and regional wind directions. Changes in ripple patterns and migration rates also signal the response of dunes and airflow during dune collisions. Collectively, we find that differences in ripple patterns connected to changes in migration rate provide information on airflow over and around dunes. This detailed assessment of ripple measurement and ripple migration rates advances the use of ripples on martian dunes and sand sheets to infer dune- and field-scale wind dynamics. These measurements also indicate that the low density atmosphere on Mars does not significantly modify the behavior of wind-topography interactions compared to Earth. Such observations provide targets for computational fluid dynamic and large-eddy simulation models seeking to reveal complex airflows across dune fields both on Earth and on Mars

A Study of Cosmic Ray Composition in the Knee Region using Multiple Muon Events in the Soudan 2 Detector

Deep underground muon events recorded by the Soudan 2 detector, located at a depth of 2100 meters of water equivalent, have been used to infer the nuclear composition of cosmic rays in the "knee" region of the cosmic ray energy spectrum. The observed muon multiplicity distribution favors a composition model with a substantial proton content in the energy region 800,000 - 13,000,000 GeV/nucleus.Comment: 38 pages including 11 figures, Latex, submitted to Physical Review