Geofisica pura e applicata

Dissolution of plagioclase under the physical conditions at shallow to intermediate burial depths is a prime candidate for secondary porosity generation in feldspathic siliciclastic sediments. The diagenetic behavior of granular aggregates of plagioclase feldspar and quartz has been investigated by experimentation performed in a Bridgeman-type pressure vessel. The experiments, each of two weeks duration, simulated pressure-temperature conditions approximating 3.5 km burial depth. By using a double-acting pore-fluid reservoir, solutions of various chemistries were cycled through samples composed of oligoclase or labradorite feldspar and quartz (90:10 wt% respectively). Scanning electron microscope analysis of the post-experiment samples reveals dissolution features and precipitated products. Dissolution voids of ∼10 microns occur typically in areas of maximum stress such as crack-tips and grain contacts. Dissolution on a larger scale is exemplified by topographical smoothing of grain su faces. The dissolved species are subsequently reprecipitated as Ca-enriched overgrowths (possibly zeolites) and clays. These precipitates are found individually on the scale of 10 microns and collectively as surface coatings on both feldspar and quartz grains. Atomic absorption spectroscopic analyses of the pore fluid suggest that the fluid chemistry is consistent with the observed experimental precipitates. These experiments show that clay coatings are unnecessary precursors to grain surface dissolution and that the diagenetic precipitation is not mineral selective. Also, the mass transfer of the dissolved species appears to be localized because grains displaying both dissolution and precipitation features are commonplace. Volume changes due to mineral transformation/alteration may increase secondary porosity if the dissolved species produced from dissolution are only partially involved in reprecipitation and the remaining dissolved material is flushed out by the pore fluids. However, if the mass transfer is primarily local then permeability would significantly decrease as precipitates may choke the pore throats.

A formula has been devised and tested for determining the absolute resistivities of subsurface layers. Three case studies have been made for testing the validity of the formula. The absolute resistivities, have been determined from the slope of the segments of the curve and calculated by intercept method. The depths of the subsurface layers obtained from the intersections of the segments of the curve, agree fairly well with depth of interfaces shown in the bore hole data sections.

A review of the present status of the global warming science is presented in this paper. The term global warming is now popularly used to refer to the recent reported increase in the mean surface temperature of the earth; this increase being attributed to increasing human activity and in particular to the increased concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) in the atmosphere. Since the mid to late 1980s there has been an intense and often emotional debate on this topic. The various climate change reports (1996, 2001) prepared by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), have provided the scientific framework that ultimately led to the Kyoto protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (particularly carbon dioxide) due to the burning of fossil fuels. Numerous peer-reviewed studies reported in recent literature have attempted to verify several of the projections on climate change that have been detailed by the IPCC reports. The global warming debate as presented by the media usually focuses on the increasing mean temperature of the earth, associated extreme weather events and future climate projections of increasing frequency of extreme weather events worldwide. In reality, the climate change issue is considerably more complex than an increase in the earth’s mean temperature and in extreme weather events. Several recent studies have questioned many of the projections of climate change made by the IPCC reports and at present there is an emerging dissenting view of the global warming science which is at odds with the IPCC view of the cause and consequence of global warming. Our review suggests that the dissenting view offered by the skeptics or opponents of global warming appears substantially more credible than the supporting view put forth by the proponents of global warming. Further, the projections of future climate change over the next fifty to one hundred years is based on insufficiently verified climate models and are therefore not considered reliable at this point in time.

The lateral variation of group velocity dispersion of Rayleigh waves has been investigated for Eurasia and its surroundings, and the area has been divided into several regions according to their dispersion characteristics. The continental shelf around Novaya Zemlya and the Baltic Sea were found to have the same dispersion character as high mountainous regions. The same is true for the Black and Caspian Seas. Soft sedimentary layers with great thickness could explain these unexpected results. Rayleigh waves run through the Tibet Plateau with extremely low velocities while they show the least continental character in East Siberia.

A three-level, β-plane, filtered model is used to simulate the Northern Hemisphere summer monsoon. A time-averaged initial state, devoid of sub-planetary scale waves, is integrated through 30 days on a 5° latitude-longitude grid. Day 25 through day 30 integrations are then repeated on a 2.5° grid. The planetary-scale waves are forced by time-independent, spatially varying diabatic heating. Energy is extracted via internal and surface frictional processes. Orography is excluded to simplify synoptic-scale energy sources. During integration the model energy first increases, but stabilizes near day 10. Subsequent flow patterns closely resemble the hemisphere summer monsoon. Climatological features remain quasi-stationary. At 200 mb high pressure dominates the land area, large-scale troughs are found over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the easterly jet forms south of Asia, and subtropical jets develop in the westerlies. At 800 mb subtropical highs dominate the oceans and the monsoon trough develops over the Asian land mass. The planetary scales at all levels develop a realistic cellular structure from the passage of transient synoptic-scale features, e.g., a baroclinic cyclone track develops near 55°N and westward propagating waves form in the easterlies. Barotropic redistribution of kinetic energy is examined over a low-latitude zonal strip using a Fourier wave-space. In contrast to higher latitudes where the zonal flow and both longer and shorter waves are fed by barotropic energy redistribution from the baroclinically unstable wavelengths, the low-latitude waves have a planetary-scale kinetic energy source. Wave numbers 1 and 2 maintain both the zonal flow and all shorter scales via barotropic transfers. Transient and standing wave processes are examined individually and in combination. Wave energy accumulates at wave numbers 7 and 8 at 200 mb and at wave number 11 in the lower troposphere. The 800-mb waves are thermally indirect and in the mean they give energy to the zonal flow. These characteristics agree with atmospheric observation. The energy source for these waves is the three wave barotropic transfer. The implications of examining barotropic processes in a Fourier wave-space, vice the more common approach of separating the flow into a mean plus a deviation are discussed.