A topographic signature of a hydrodynamic origin for submarine gullies

Submarine gullies - small scale, straight, shallow channels formed in relatively high seafloor-slope settings - are ubiquitous features that play an important role in the general evolution of continental margin morphology. The mechanisms associated with the origin and evolution of submarine gullies are, however, still poorly defined. In this paper we present evidence of a topographic signature of gully erosion in the Cook Strait sector of the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand. This signature indicates that submarine gully initiation is a threshold process driven by unconfined, directionally-stable, fluid or sediment gravity flows accelerating downslope. We propose cascading dense water, a type of current that is driven by seawater density contrast, as the source of these flows. The sensitivity of such ephemeral hydrodynamic events to climate change raises questions regarding implications for future variation of the distribution and magnitude of a significant seafloor erosion process.peer-reviewe

Impact of Psychological Contract Violations: Stories from Educators

Psychological contracts have been researched for over 50 years and have been used as the basis for studies in business, industry, and education. In this study, the researchers aimed to share the impact of psychological contract violations (PCV) upon individuals in educational institutions. Psychological contract literature is focused primarily on the impact of the breach on employee morale, organizational commitment, and work product. This study adds to the literature by giving voice to educators, allowing them to share their stories and provides a foundation for a more extensive research project later. Using a focus group methodology, the researcher allowed the participants to respond to questions pertaining to psychological contract breaches or violations in writing and then followed by an openended question session to give the participants the opportunity to provide additional detail. The educators who took part in the focus groups were asked if they had ever experienced a psychological contract breach related to teaching, service, or research. If they answered yes, they were asked to describe the situation. Teachers enter the profession for many reasons; however, the teachers who leave the profession before retirement often cite workplace issues as a reason for leaving. Understanding the role of PCVs have on the attrition may lead to more teachers remaining in the field, saving institutions financial resources related to the loss of teachers from the field

Probing vibrational modes in silica glass using inelastic neutron scattering with mass contrast

The effective vibrational density of states (VDOS) has been derived from inelastic neutron-scattering data, for isotopically substituted Si O 18 2 and Si O 16 2 glasses, to gain information about the relative contribution to the Si and O partial VDOS. This is a necessary point of comparison for vibrational mode analyses of molecular-dynamics models. The mass contrast has led to a measurable shift between vibrational mode frequencies in the effective VDOS of Si O 18 2 and Si O 16 2, which is well reproduced in an ab initio simulation. The vibrational band centered at 100.2 meV is confirmed to have significantly lower contribution from the oxygen partial VDOS, than the higher (150.3 and 135.8 meV) and lower energy bands (53.3 meV)

The structure of calcium metaphosphate glass obtained from x-ray and neutron diffraction and reverse Monte Carlo modelling

The short range structure of (CaO)(0.5)(P2O5)(0.5) glass has been studied using x-ray and neutron diffraction and modelled using the reverse Monte Carlo method. Using this combination of techniques has allowed six interatomic correlations to be distinguished and fitted to obtain a set of bond lengths and coordination numbers that describe the structure of the glass. The glass consists of metaphosphate chains of phosphate tetrahedra and each phosphate unit has two non-bridging oxygen atoms available for coordination with Ca. The Ca-O correlation was fitted with two peaks at 2.35 and 2.86 angstrom, representing a broad distribution of bond lengths. The total Ca-O coordination is 6.9 and is consistent with distorted polyhedral units such as capped octahedra or capped trigonal prisms. It is found that most non-bridging oxygen atoms are bonded to two calcium atoms. All of these observations are consistent with Hoppe's model for phosphate glasses. Furthermore, the medium range order is revealed to consist of phosphate chains intertwined with apparently elongated clusters of Ca ions, and the Ca-O and Ca-P correlations contributed significantly to the first sharp diffraction peak in x-ray diffraction

Submarine mass movements and their consequences

Submarine spreading is a type of mass movement that involves the extension and fracturing of a thin surficial layer of sediment into coherent blocks and their finite displacement on a gently sloping slip surface. Its characteristic seafloor signature is a repetitive pattern of parallel ridges and troughs oriented perpendicular to the direction of mass movement. We map ~30 km2 of submarine spreads on the upper slope of the Hikurangi margin, east of Poverty Bay, North Island, New Zealand, using multibeam echosounder and 2D multichannel seismic data. These data show that spreading occurs in thin, gently-dipping, parallel-bedded clay, silt and sandy sedimentary units deposited as lowstand clinoforms. More importantly, high-amplitude and reverse polarity seismic reflectors, which we interpret as evidence of shallow gas accumulations, occur extensively in the fine sediments of the upper continental slope, but are either significantly weaker or entirely absent where the spreads are located. We use this evidence to propose that shallow gas, through the generation of pore pressure, has played a key role in establishing the failure surface above which submarine spreading occurred. Additional dynamic changes in pore pressure could have been triggered by a drop in sea level during the Last Glacial Maximum and seismic loading.peer-reviewe

An EXAFS study of rare-earth phosphate glasses in the vicinity of the metaphosphate composition

A study of rare-earth phosphate glasses, in the vicinity of the metaphosphate composition, has been undertaken at different temperatures using the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) facility at the Synchrotron Radiation Source, Daresbury Laboratory, UK. The metaphosphate-like glasses examined contained the rare-earth elements La, Sm. Eu and Gd as R3+ ions. The experiments were carried out at room temperature, 145 and 79 K. The data show that the first shell surrounding rare-earth ions contains only oxygen atoms at a mean distance of similar to 2.2-2.4 Angstrom. The 'Iantfianide contraction' is clearly observed, i.e., the R-O distance decreases with increasing atomic number. The observed R(-O) coordination numbers are in the range 5-7. A second correlation shell was found associated with phosphorus atoms around the central rare-earth atom (similar to 3.5 Angstrom), and another rare-earth:oxygen correlation was also identified (similar to 4 Angstrom). Static disorder dominates the Debye-Waller term, but thermal disorder is not negligible. Within the accuracy of the EXAFS data, no significant structural variations were observed over the temperature range studied. We conclude that the anomalous bulk properties are associated with either subtle structural features or primarily due to rare-earth ion Interactions

Geomorphic response of submarine canyons to tectonic activity: Insights from the Cook Strait canyon system, New Zealand

Active margins host more than half of submarine canyons worldwide. Understanding the coupling between active tectonics and canyon processes is required to improve modeling of canyon evolution and derive tectonic information from canyon morphology. In this paper we analyze high-resolution geophysical data and imagery from the Cook Strait canyon system (CS), offshore New Zealand, to characterize the influence of active tectonics on the morphology, processes, and evolution of submarine canyons, and to deduce tectonic activity from canyon morphology. Canyon location and morphology bear the clearest evidence of tectonic activity, with major faults and structural ridges giving rise to sinuosity, steep and linear longitudinal profi les, cross-sectional asymmetry, and breaks in slope gradient, relief, and slope-area plots. Faults are also associated with stronger and more frequent sedimentary fl ows, steep canyon walls that promote gully erosion, and seismicity that is considered the most likely trigger of failure of canyon walls. Tectonic activity gives rise to two types of knickpoints in the CS. Gentle, rounded and diffusive knickpoints form due to short-wavelength folds or fault breakouts. The more widespread steep and angular knickpoints have migrated through canyonfloor slope failures and localized quarrying and/or plucking. Migration is driven by base-level lowering due to regional margin uplift and deepening of the lower Cook Strait Canyon, and is likely faster in larger canyons because of higher sedimentary flow throughput. The knickpoints, nonadherence to Playfair"s Law, linear longitudinal profiles, and lack of canyon-wide, inverse power law slope-area relationships indicate that the CS is in a transient state, adjusting to perturbations associated with tectonic displacements and changes in base level and sediment fluxes. We conclude by inferring unmapped faults and regions of more pronounced uplift, and proposing a generalized model for canyon geomorphic evolution in tectonically active margins