ALBERT

Description: The possibility of using the 15% excess U234 activity in oceanic uranium for dating pelagic sediments in the age range 100,000 years to more than 1 m.y. has been explored. Results from a series of analyses of bulk samples, mechanical separates, and acid leach fractions indicate that separation of authigenic uranium from detrital uranium by either mechanical or chemical means is impractical. Measurements on totally dissolved samples reveal that the sediments do not form a closed system; post-depositional migration of U234 in the sedimentary column takes place. Based on the experimental data obtained from three red-clay cores with sedimentation rates ranging from 2 to 6 mm/1000 yr, a model depicting diffusion of the U234 generated within the sediments is proposed. The diffusion equation includes three parameters: sedimentation rate, diffusion coefficient for U234, and fraction of the internally produced U234 subject to mobility. If the amount of U234 lost from these cores is typical, a sizeable part of the U234 excess in the sea must be from this source.

Description: Sixtytwo species of radiolarians have been found in surface sediment in Lindåspollene. Some of these are common in deep-sea sediments from tropical and subtropical latitudes. These warm-water radiolarians are believed to have been introduced during a warm, postglacial period.

Description: Mutterkorn, das Dauermycel des auf Roggenähren wuchernden Fadenpilzes Claviceps purpurea, enthält eine Gruppe hellgelber, schwach saurer, optisch aktiver Farbstoffe. Obwohl die ersten Präparate dieser Farbstoffe schon vor fast 100 Jahren von DRAGENDORFF und Mitarb. (14) isoliert wurden, konnte deren Strukturaufklärung im wesentlichen erst in den letzten Jahren durchgeführt werden. Dies ist darauf zurückzuführen, daß für die Reindarstellung der schwer trennbaren, teilweise diastereomeren Farbstoffe leistungsfähige chromatographische Methoden entwickelt werden mußten (1, 27, 29, 47). Als sich gezeigt hatte, daß diese Farbstoffe eine Naturstoffgruppe aus mehr als 10 Vertretern mit sehr ähnlichen Strukturen bilden, wurde für sie der Sammelname Ergochrome und eine einfache Nomenklatur vorgeschlagen (19, 25, 29).

Description: A new method is proposed for determining absolute surface water paleotemperatures by means of Globigerina bulloides d’Orbigny. This method is based on the relationship between the percentage of sinistral specimens in a population of the species mentioned and the temperature of the water. The advantages and disadvantages of the method proposed are discussed.

Description: Resumen Los autores analizan los resultados générales obtenidos al estudiar los foraminiferos de 29 muestras bentónicas dragadas en la plataforma continental chilena entre 30o y 42o lat. Sur. Las profundidades van desde 12 m hasta 264 m y se incluyeron adernás, varias muestras dei litoral de las bahías de Valparaiso y Concepción. Se registraron un total de 140 especies ‐ 9 de ellas eran planctónicas ‐ pudiéndose subdividir la región estudiada en 2 subprovincias con un límite ubicado entre los 39o y 40o lat. Sur. La fauna es de características ≪templadofrías≫ y el número de especies aumenta con la profundidad; asimismo, él porcentaje de las formas aglutinadas. De las 20 especies descritas por d'Orbigny (1839) en Chile, 12 fueron reencontradas. Las formas planctónicas estan pobremente representadas. Summary The authors analized the general results obtained by studying the foraminifera from 29 benthic samples dredged from the continental shelf of Chile between 30o and 42o southern latitude. The depths are from 12 m to 264 m. In addition various samples from the littoral of the bays of Valparaíso and Concepción were included. The total of species registered was 140 ‐ 9 of them were planktonic ‐ and the studied region was able to be divided in 2 subprovinces with a limit placed between 39o and 40o southern latitude. The fauna is of a ≪temperate‐cold≫ character. The number of species increases with the depth. Also, the same occurs with the percentage of agglutinated forms as compared with the total. Of the 20 species described by d'Orbigny (1839) in Chile, 12 were reencountered. The planktonic species are poorly represented.

Description: Geodetic data along the San Andreas fault between Parkfield and San Francisco, California (latitudes 36°N and 38°N, respectively), have been re-examined to estimate the current relative movement between the American and Pacific plates across the San Andreas fault system. The average relative right lateral motion is estimated to be 32 ± 5 mm/yr for the period 1907-1971. Between 36°N and 37°N it appears that most, if not all, of the plate motion is accommodated by fault creep. Although strain is presumably accumulating north of 37°N (San Francisco Bay area), the geodetic evidence for accumulation is not conclusive.

Description: An analysis of the reproducibility of Geodolite measurements at distances ranging from 1 to 35 km indicates a standard deviation for each length measurement of about σ = (a2 + b2L2)1/2, where a = 3 mm, b = 2 × 10−7, and L is the line length. Thus σ ranges from 3 to 8 mm for line lengths of 1 and 37 km, respectively. Corrections for atmospheric refractivity must be determined from temperature and humidity readings made with an aircraft flying along the line of sight at the time of the range measurements in order to attain this precision. Even at this level of precision, determination of the strain accumulation at sites along the San Andreas fault system will require annual observation of many line lengths over a period of at least 5 years.

Description: This paper summarizes the hydrogeology of the thick carbonate-evaporite sequence that extends from land surface to the oil horizons at depths of about 11,500 feet below sea level in southern Florida. It sets forth the few known facts about the hydrology of the deep water-bearing rocks and discusses a hypothesis concerning the cyclic flow of salt water related to geothermal heating in the Floridan aquifer. Meinzer (1923, p. 30) defined an aquifer as a "formation, a group of formations, or part of a formation that is water bearing." The connotation of quantity was included by the statement: "Few if any formations are entirely devoid of gravity ground water, but those that do not contain enough to be of consequence as a source of supply are not rated as water bearing." The quality of the water does not enter the definition, for if it did, a change in quality (as by salt-water encroachment) would correspondingly convert aquifers to nonaquifers. This paper treats permeable water-bearing beds as aquifers even though the contained water might be a brine seven times as salty as sea water and, therefore, normally not considered a source of supply.

Description: The problems of reproduction of Octopus vulgaris and the seasonal distribution in the sea of planctonic larvae, benthonic juveniles and adults are discussed. The influence of environmental factors on growth is shown by experimental studies in the laboratory, and the difficulties of interpreting field data are emphazised.