Coupling an equation of state and Henry's Law to model the phase equilibria of gases and brines: Examples in the N2–H2O–NaCl system

We propose a thermodynamic model for the mixing of gases in aqueous sodium chloride solutions valid to high pressures, high temperatures, and high ionic strength solutions. Our model couples Henry's Law with any equation of state to reproduce experimental data in the aqueous-rich liquid and gas-rich vapor region. In our model, the chemical potential of the solute in the brine is related to the chemical potential of the solute in pure water through salting-out coefficients. The model reproduces all crucial phenomena of binary (gas–water) and pseudo-binary (gas–water–salt) vapor–liquid mixtures below their critical point. We applied the model to reproduce the phase behavior of nitrogen in water and NaCl brines. Results and discussions are shown.     

A large epeiric methanogenic Bambuí sea in the core of Gondwana supercontinent?

Carbon isotope compositions of both sedimentary carbonate and organic matter can be used as key proxies of the global carbon cycle and of its evolution through time,as long as they are acquired from waters where the dissolved inorganic carbon(DIC)is in isotope equilibrium with the atmospheric CO2.However,in shallow water platforms and epeiric settings,the influence of local to regional parameters on carbon cycling may lead to DIG isotope variations unrelated to the global carbon cycle.This may be especially true for the terminal Neoproterozoic,when Gondwana assembly isolated waters masses from the global ocean,and extreme positive and negative carbon isotope excursions are recorded,potentially decoupled from global signals.To improve our understanding on the type of information recorded by these excursions,we investigate the pairedδ^13Ccarb andδ^13Corg evolution for an increasingly restricted late Ediacaran-Cambrian foreland system in the West Gondwana interior:the basal Bambui Group.This succession represents a 1~(st)-order sedimentary sequence and records two majorδ^13Ccarb excursions in its two lowermost lower-rank sequences.The basal cap carbonate interval at the base of the first sequence,deposited when the basin was connected to the ocean,hosts antithetical negative and positive excursions forδ^13Ccarb andδ^13Corg,respectively,resulting inΔ^13C values lower than 25‰.From the top of the basal sequence upwards,an extremely positiveδ^13Ccarb excursion is coupled toδ^13Corg,reaching values of+14‰and-14‰,respectively.This positive excursion represents a remarkable basin-wide carbon isotope feature of the Bambui Group that occurs with only minor changes inΔ^13C values,suggesting change in the DIC isotope composition.We argue that this regional isotopic excursion is related to a disconnection between the intrabasinal and the global carbon cycles.This extreme carbon isotope excursion may have been a product of a disequilibria between the basin DIC and atmospheric CO2 induced by an active methanogenesis,favored by the basin restriction.The drawdown of sulfate reservoir by microbial sulfate reduction in a poorly ventilated and dominantly anoxic basin would have triggered methanogenesis and ultimately methane escape to the atmosphere,resulting in a^13C-enriched DIC influenced by methanogenic CO2.Isolated basins in the interior of the Gondwana supercontinent may have represented a significant source of methane inputs to the atmosphere,potentially affecting both the global carbon cycle and the climate.     

Derivation of Cloud Index from Geostationary Satellites and Application to the Production of Solar Irradiance and Daylight Illuminance Data

Summary  We investigate in the present paper the relationship between satellite count, global irradiance and other solar and illumination resource components, bringing a particular attention to low solar elevation situations (below 20 °) which are very important in northern latitudes. Our investigation is based on data from two geostationary satellites, METEOSAT and GOES, backed by ground measurements in Switzerland and the northeastern USA. The study of different clear sky normalizations lead to the conclusion that a linear correlation between the global clearness index and the irradiance (like the heliosat method) would be inaccurate for low solar elevations, and therefore for high latitude regions. We developed a model that directly relates an elevation dependent clearness index to the could index. This methodology presents a definite advantage because it can be generalized to address the clearness index of other solar radiation components, besides global irradiance, such as direct irradiance, diffuse illuminance, etc. The correlations described in this paper were developed on the data from Geneva (in the frame of the EC program “Satellight”) and evaluated on two other independent data sets (Albany, USA and Lausanne, Switzerland). Their precisions, on a hourly basis, are respectively 30%, 40% and 60% for the global, diffuse and beam components) (90,55 and 95 W/m²). The use of independent data for thederivation and the validation of the models shows thatthose can be used in a wide range of locations, even if the applicability has to be assessed for very different climates. Received June 27, 1998 Revised February 26, 1999     

When Fields Revert to Forest: Development and Spontaneous Reforestation in Post‐War Puerto Rico

During the past 50 years forests have recolonized extensive areas of Puerto Rico. Between 1950 and 1990 forest cover increased from 9% to 37% of the island's land area. In proportional terms more land has reverted to forest in Puerto Rico than anywhere else on earth during the second half of the twentieth century. This paper explores the geography of this process by matching changes in land cover with the characteristics of the land and communities in Puerto Rico. The reversion of agricultural lands to forest occurred most frequently in humid, upland, coffee‐growing regions characterized by heavy out‐migration and populations of smallholders who earned some of their income from off‐farm sources. These findings suggest that changes in non‐farm labor markets, as well as changes in the political economy of agriculture, have important impacts on the prospects for converting agricultural lands into forests.     

Fisheries management at the tri-national border between Belize,Guatemala and Honduras

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System has considerably changed after a series of natural disturbances, especially hurricanes and extreme coral bleaching, and is further impacted by anthropogenic threats. Located at a tri-national border between Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, the Sapodilla Cayes Range is specifically impacted by tourism, commercial fishing and other anthropogenic activities occurring in the three countries and by the fact that Belize only claims 3 nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zone in the south pending a settlement to a border dispute with Guatemala. This area represents a source of income and food to several coastal communities and to Belize's economy. Key fisheries products harvested in the area by the three countries are the same but fisheries legislations and the number of fishermen are different, creating conflicts between fishermen. This paper summarizes the key problems that arise in southern Belizean fishing waters and the efforts made by the three countries to ensure the sustainability of the fishery.     

Hybrid frequency–time domain models for dynamic response analysis of marine structures

Time-domain models of marine structures based on frequency domain data are usually built upon the Cummins equation. This type of model is a vector integro-differential equation which involves convolution terms. These convolution terms are not convenient for analysis and design of motion control systems. In addition, these models are not efficient with respect to simulation time, and ease of implementation in standard simulation packages. For these reasons, different methods have been proposed in the literature as approximate alternative representations of the convolutions. Because the convolution is a linear operation, different approaches can be followed to obtain an approximately equivalent linear system in the form of either transfer function or state-space models. This process involves the use of system identification, and several options are available depending on how the identification problem is posed. This raises the question whether one method is better than the others. This paper therefore has three objectives. The first objective is to revisit some of the methods for replacing the convolutions, which have been reported in different areas of analysis of marine systems: hydrodynamics, wave energy conversion, and motion control systems. The second objective is to compare the different methods in terms of complexity and performance. For this purpose, a model for the response in the vertical plane of a modern containership is considered. The third objective is to describe the implementation of the resulting model in the standard simulation environment Matlab/Simulink.     

A large encrusting clionaid sponge in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

An excavating sponge, which covers extensive areas of limestone rock, has been found at several locations of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. This zooxanthellate clionaid, brown with yellow oscula, may have an extension of several square meters under the β-form, similar to what has been described in coral reef areas. It has been observed at 3–30 m depth, generally in clear water in the Ionian Sea, Crete, Cyprus and Lebanon. The gross morphology and the spicule characters are described from all the collected specimens. The spicule complement, with variable tylostyles and rare, sometimes absent, thin spirasters, is compared with that of Cliona parenzani Corriero & Scalera-Liaci 1997 from the Apulian coast (Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea), and of several Caribbean and Indo-Pacific clionaid species, which display the same morphology and rather similar spicule characters. The sponge is tentatively identified as C. parenzani , although there are some differences with the type specimens in the highly variable spiculation, suggesting that it may represent a species complex similar to what is known for other species in the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific areas. Although the sponge appears to be closely related to large brown spreading clionaids from tropical areas and was previously practically overlooked in the Eastern Mediterranean, it does not appear to be a recent introduction. It is suggested that it could be a survivor in the warmer area of the Mediterranean of an ancient thermophilous fauna, which did not survive in the colder Western Basin during glacial episodes of the Pleistocene.     

Thermal and exhumation histories of the northern subalpine chains (Bauges and Bornes—France): Evidence from forward thermal modeling coupling clay mineral diagenesis,organic maturity and carbonate clumped isotope (Δ47) data

Assessing the thermal evolution of sedimentary basins over time is a major aspect of modern integrated basin analysis. While the behavior of clay minerals and organic matter with increasing burial is well documented in different geological and thermal settings, these methods are often limited by the temperature ranges over which they can be precisely applied and by the available material. Here, we explore the emergent Δ₄₇ clumped isotope geospeedometry (based on the diffusional redistribution of carbon and oxygen isotopes in the carbonate lattice at elevated temperatures) to refine time‐temperature paths of carbonate rocks during their burial evolution. This study provides a reconstruction of the thermal and exhumation history of the Upper Cretaceous thrust belt series in the western subalpine massifs (Bauges and Bornes, French Alps) by a new approach combining for the first time available data from three independent geothermometers. The investigated area presents two zones affected by contrasting thermal histories. The most external zone has undergone a relatively mild thermal history (T < 70°C) and does not record any significant clay mineral diagenetic transformation. By contrast, the internal zone has experienced tectonic burial (prealpine nappes) in response to thrusting, resulting in overheating (T > 160–180°C) that induced widespread clay mineral diagenetic transformations (progressive illitization from R0 to R1 and R3 illite‐smectite mixed‐layers), organic matter maturation (oil window) and Δ₄₇ thermal resetting with apparent equilibrium temperatures above 160°C. The three employed geothermal indicators conjointly reveal that the investigated Upper Cretaceous rocks have suffered a wide range of burial temperatures since their deposition, with a thermal maximum locally up to 160–180°C. High temperatures are associated with the tectonic emplacement of up to 4 km of prealpine nappes in the northern part of the studied area. Finally, a forward thermal modeling using Δ₄₇, vitrinite reflectance and clay mineral data, is attempted to precisely refine the burial and exhumation histories of this area.     

Diatom assemblages from surface sediments of the Río de la Plata estuary,Uruguay

The Río de la Plata estuary (RdlP) exhibits environmental gradients associated with the freshwater input and oceanic water intrusion. The aim of this study was to assess diatom species distribution in surface sediment samples related to such environmental gradients. The internal section of RdlP was dominated by Aulacoseira spp., Eunotia spp., Staurosirella martyi, Actinocyclus normanii and Thalassiosira baltica, indicatives of low salinity levels and high trophic conditions, associated with the riverine and estuarine regimes. The external section was dominated by Coscinodiscus radiatus, Thalassiosira spp., Paralia sulcata, Cyclotella striata, among other marine taxa, indicatives of high salinity and low trophic conditions, associated with the influence of the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, the intermediate section presents a mixture of both diatom groups representing mixing conditions. The observed diatom species groups capture fairly well the RdlP environmental variability and can be reliably used for paleoenvironmental studies in this and other similar estuarine systems.