Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences - Volume 30, 2002
Volume 30, 2002
- Preface
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- Review Articles
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Modeling Complex, Nonlinear Geological Processes1
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 35–64More Less▪ AbstractWe review selected geological processes to which numerical modeling has been applied, with the aim of describing some of the general approaches and applications of the modeling. All of these examples involve multiphase fluid flow, in some cases coupled with heat transport and phase changes. First, we describe modeling approaches to a human-made geological system—a potential underground radioactive waste repository. Next, we describe recent advances in modeling two-phase flow through random heterogeneous porous media. We review recent modeling studies of fluid processes in magmatic systems, especially focusing on melting and crystallization induced by magma chambers. Finally, several research directions are suggested, including improving our understanding of the linkage between small-scale and field-scale processes, coupling across regimes (e.g., surface water and ground water), and further developments in the modeling of stochastic geological processes.
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Dating the Time of Origin of Major Clades: Molecular Clocks and the Fossil Record
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 65–88More Less▪ AbstractMolecular and paleontological data provide independent means of estimating when groups of organisms evolved in the geological past, but neither approach can be considered straightforward. The single most fundamental obstacle to developing an accurate estimate of times of origination from gene sequence data is variation in rates of molecular evolution, both through time and among lineages. Although various techniques have been proposed to circumvent this problem, none unambiguously allow the components of time and rate to be separated. Furthermore, problems of establishing accurate calibration points, correctly rooted phylogenies, and accurate estimates of branch length remain formidable. Conversely, paleontological dates fix only the latest possible time of divergence, and so probabilistic methods are required to set a lower boundary on origination dates. Realistic confidence intervals that take preservational biases into account are only just becoming available.
Although molecular and paleontological approaches to dating often agree reasonably well, there are two notable areas of disagreement; when mammal and bird orders originated and when the major phyla originated. The discrepancy in dating bird/mammal ordinal origins probably reflects a global rock-record bias. Paleontological sampling in the Late Cretaceous is still too restricted geographically to draw any firm conclusions about the existence of a pre-Tertiary record for modern orders of bird or mammal from anywhere other than North America. Dating the time of origin of phyla is more complicated, and is confounded by both preservational biases and problems of molecular clock estimation.
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Modern Integrations of Solar System Dynamics
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 89–112More Less▪ AbstractUntil the early 1990s, numerical simulations of Solar System dynamics were done using accurate but slow integrators. The typical timescales were on the order of a million years, apart from exceptions achieved by considering averaged equations or using specifically designed supercomputers. In the last decade, new numerical integration methods for Solar System dynamics have been introduced. The mixed variable symplectic method (Wisdom & Holman 1991) has permitted the study, in the absence of close encounters, of the evolution of planets and small bodies on timescales comparable to the age of the Solar System. The regularized mixed variable scheme (Levison & Duncan 1994) has allowed the compilation of statistics on the evolution of thousands of near-Earth asteroids and comets, from their source regions to their dynamical elimination. The Symba and the Mercury codes (Duncan et al. 1998, Chambers 1999), which treat close encounters between massive bodies in a symplectic way, have permitted the simulations of planetary accretion and of the early phase of the highly chaotic evolution of the Solar System. This paper reviews the most exciting results obtained with these new integrators. Emphasis is given to the conceptual steps that these works represent in our understanding of Solar System dynamics.
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Implications of Extrasolar Planets for Understanding Planet Formation
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 113–148More Less▪ AbstractThe observed properties of extrasolar planets and planetary systems are reviewed, including discussion of the mass, period, and eccentricity distributions; the presence of multiple systems; and the properties of the host stars. In all cases, the data refer to systems with ages in the Ga range. Some of the properties primarily reflect the formation mechanism, while others are determined by postformation dynamical evolutionary processes. The problem addressed here is the extraction of information relevant to the identification of the formation mechanism. The presumed formation sites, namely disks around young stars, therefore, must provide clues at times much closer to the actual formation time. The properties of such disks are briefly reviewed. The amount of material and its distribution in the disks provide a framework for the development of a model for planet formation. The strengths of, as well as the problems with, the two major planet formation mechanisms—gravitational instability and core accretion–gas capture—are then described. It is concluded that most of the known planetary systems are best explained by the accretion process. The timescales for the persistence of disks and for the formation time by this process are similar, and the mass range of the observed planets, up to approximately 10 Jupiter masses, is naturally explained. The mass range of 5–15 Jupiter masses probably represents an overlapping transition region, with planetary formation processes dominating below that range and star formation processes dominating above it.
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Scaling of Soil Moisture: A Hydrologic Perspective
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 149–180More Less▪ AbstractSoil moisture is spatially and temporally highly variable, and it influences a range of environmental processes in a nonlinear manner. This leads to scale effects that need to be understood for improved prediction of moisture dependent processes. We provide some introductory material on soil moisture, and then review results from the literature relevant to a variety of scaling techniques applicable to soil moisture. This review concentrates on spatial scaling with brief reference to results on temporal scaling. Scaling techniques are divided into behavioral techniques and process-based techniques. We discuss the statistical distribution of soil moisture, spatial correlation of soil moisture at scales from tens of meters to thousands of kilometers and related interpolation and regularization techniques, and the use of auxiliary variables such as terrain indices. Issues related to spatially distributed deterministic modeling of soil moisture are also briefly reviewed.
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Streamflow Necessary for Environmental Maintenance
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 181–206More Less▪ AbstractIn the last decades, insights from the fields of ecology, geomorphology, and hydrology have been applied to the question of the streamflows necessary for environmental maintenance. For instance, determining the streamflow needed for spawning by salmon or trout requires ascertaining how much water, for how long, and at what time it will be needed? And what flows are necessary for the sustenance of streamside vegetation? Answers to these and similar questions have been sought to minimize environmental degradation in the development or relicensing of water projects, in restoring riverine ecosystems, and in balancing multiple uses for limited water resources. In this contribution, the varieties of environmental maintenance flows applied to rivers are described, as are their fundamental principles. These environmental maintenance flows include flows to maintain aesthetics and recreation, streambed sediment size and its mobility, the channel, its features and continuity, and the floodplain, its wetness regime, and riparian vegetation.
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Petrology of Subducted Slabs
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 207–235More Less▪ AbstractThe subducted lithosphere is composed of a complex pattern of chemical systems that undergo continuous and discontinuous phase transformation, through pressure and temperature variations. Volatile recycling plays a major geodynamic role in triggering mass transfer, melting, and volcanism. Although buoyancy forces are controlled by modal amounts of the most abundant phases, usually volatile-free, petrogenesis and chemical differentiation are controlled by the occurrence of minor phases, most of them volatile-bearing. Devolatilization of the subducted lithosphere is a continuous process distributed over more than 300 km of the slab-mantle interface. Melting of the subducted crust, if any, along sufficiently hot P-T paths, is governed by fluid-absent reactions, even though the difference between fluid and melt vanishes at pressures above the second critical end point. The density distribution at a depth of 660 km suggests episodic penetration in space and time of subducted slabs into the lower mantle and sinking down to the D″ region at the core-mantle boundary.
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Geodynamo Simulations—How Realistic Are They?
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 237–257More Less▪ AbstractThe past seven years have seen significant advances in computational simulations of convection and magnetic field generation in the Earth's core. Although dynamically self-consistent models of the geodynamo have simulated magnetic fields that appear in some ways quite similar to the geomagnetic field, none are able to run in an Earth-like parameter regime because of the considerable spatial resolution that is required. Here we discuss some of the subtle compromises that have been made in current models and propose a grand challenge for the future, requiring significant improvements in numerical methods and spatial resolution.
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Modern Imaging Using Seismic Reflection Data*
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 259–284More Less▪ AbstractImaging using seismic reflection data has undergone tremendous advances over the past few years. The advances have been fostered in part by the availability of faster computers that have made more reliable algorithms for migration imaging feasible. The conventional approach to migration imaging, ray-based Kirchhoff migration, has been improved by the use of multiple-valued traveltime tables, ray amplitudes, and ray phases that can be calculated from various ray-tracing implementations. Wave-equation imaging, based on implementations of solutions of the wave equation, one-way wave equation, and approximations to the Lippmann-Schwinger equation, has become tractable. Wave-equation methods take account of wave phenomena such as focusing, defocusing, and diffraction that are important in many geological environments where imaging is used for petroleum exploration. There have also been applications of various types of migration imaging in basic studies of Earth structure. Such studies have been made to investigate deep Earth structure and large-scale lithospheric structure using waveforms from teleseisms as sources.
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Prelude to the Cambrian Explosion
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 285–306More Less▪ AbstractThe Prelude began with the origin of Metazoa, perhaps between 720 and 660 million years ago (mya), and ended with the geologically abrupt appearance of crown bilaterian phyla that began between 530 and 520 mya. The origin and early evolution of phyla cannot be tracked by fossils during this interval, but molecular phylogenetics permits reconstruction of their branching topology, whereas molecular developmental evidence supports hypotheses for the evolution of the metzoan genome during the rise of complex bodyplans. A flexible architecture of genetic regulation was in place even before the appearance of crown sponges, permitting increases in gene expression events as bodyplan complexity rose. Neoproterozoic bilaterians were chiefly small-bodied but likely diverse, whereas in the earliest Cambrian, between 543 and approximately 530–520 mya, bodies that were complex by marine invertebrate standards evolved in association with body-size increases.
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Pluto and Charon: Formation, Seasons, Composition
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 307–345More Less▪ AbstractPluto and Charon, once thought to be a singular system in an odd orbit at the edge of the solar system, are now known as members of a vast population of icy bodies beyond Neptune. Models for the occurrence of the odd orbit and formation of these bodies in the context of the total population are reviewed. Pluto's orbital characteristics, coupled with the existence of volatiles on the surface, suggest that large-scale seasonal change should occur on the surface. Models of seasonal variability are discussed, past and current observations are examined for evidence of variability, and a straw-man model of seasonal changes is proposed. Finally, recent observations of the surface composition of Charon are discussed and compared with observations of other similarly sized icy bodies in the outer Solar System.
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Geologic Structure of the Uppermost Oceanic Crust Created at Fast- to Intermediate-Rate Spreading Centers
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 347–384More Less▪ AbstractGeological investigations of major fault scarps (“tectonic windows”) and DSDP/ODP Drill Holes provide direct views of the uppermost oceanic crust generated at fast- to intermediate-rate spreading centers. These areas reveal a consistent upper crustal structural geometry with basaltic lava flows defining a pattern of downward increasing (“inward”) dip toward the spreading center at which they formed and dikes in the lavas and underlying sheeted dike complex showing a similar degree of “outward” dip. Widespread fracturing, faulting, and hydrothermal metamorphism accompanied magmatic construction. These geological relationships can be interpreted in terms of dramatic, asymmetrical, subaxial subsidence of upper crustal rock units that diminishes across the very narrow (few kilometers wide) zone of lava accumulation and dike intrusion at the ridge axis. This type of crustal structure is in accord with some existing models of spreading but augments these idealized views with more realistic geological complexity.
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Volcanoes, Fluids, and Life at Mid-Ocean Ridge Spreading Centers
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 385–491More Less▪ AbstractThe recent recognition of a potentially vast, unexplored hot microbial biosphere associated with active volcanism along the global mid-ocean ridge network has fundamentally shifted concepts of how planets and life coevolve. Many processes intrinsic to the dynamics of the spreading center volcanic system provide partial or complete nutritional fluxes that support diverse microbial communities that thrive under extreme conditions on and beneath the seafloor. Mantle melting, volcanism, and fluid-rock reactions transport volatiles from the asthenosphere to the hydrosphere. Volcanic heat and exothermic reactions drive circulation of nutrient-rich fluids from which chemosynthetic organisms gain metabolic energy. In turn, many of these organisms symbiotically support macrofaunal communities that populate the vents. Long-term seafloor observatories will allow exploration of linkages between volcanism and this newly discovered biosphere. Such approaches may provide essential new information about our own planet while providing critically needed insights into how we can explore other planets for life.
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Mantle Mixing: The Generation, Preservation, and Destruction of Chemical Heterogeneity
Vol. 30 (2002), pp. 493–525More Less▪ AbstractObservations of the geochemical diversity of mid-oceanic ridge and ocean-island basalts have traditionally been attributed to the existence of large-scale mantle heterogeneity. In particular, the layered convection model has provided an important conceptual basis for discussing the chemical evolution of the Earth. In this model, a long-term boundary is assumed between a well-mixed and depleted upper mantle and a heterogeneous and more primitive lower mantle. The existence of high 3He/4He in ocean-island sources has been used to argue for the preservation of a primitive component in the deep mantle. Nevertheless, a primitive deep layer is difficult to reconcile with the abundant lithophile isotopic evidence for recycling of oceanic crust and the lack of preservation of primitive mantle. In addition, the widespread acceptance of geophysical evidence for whole mantle flow has made straightforward application of the layered convection model problematic. Model calculations show that whole mantle convection with present day heat flow and surface velocities is sufficiently vigorous to mix large-scale heterogeneity to an extent that is incompatible with the geochemical observations. Several concepts have been proposed in recent years to resolve the apparent conflicts between the various observational constraints and theoretical interpretations. The suggestions include the presence of deeper layering, preservation of highly viscous blobs, core mantle interaction, and strong temporal variations in mantle dynamics. Although these models generally appear to solve parts of the puzzle, at present no single model is able to account for all of the major observations. The reconciliation of conflicting evidence awaits improvements in observational and experimental techniques integrated with better model testing of hypotheses for the generation and destruction of mantle heterogeneity.
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Fossil Plants as Indicators of the Phanerozoic Global Carbon Cycle
D.J. Beerling, and D.L. RoyerVol. 30 (2002), pp. 527–556More Less▪ AbstractDevelopments in plant physiology since the 1980s have led to the realization that fossil plants archive both the isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2 and its concentration, both critical integrators of carbon cycle processes through geologic time. These two carbon cycle signals can be read by analyzing the stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of fossilized terrestrial organic matter and by determining the stomatal characters of well-preserved fossil leaves, respectively. We critically evaluate the use of fossil plants in this way at abrupt climatic boundaries associated with mass extinctions and during times of extreme global warmth. Particular emphasis is placed on evaluating the potential to extract a quantitative estimate of the δ13C of atmospheric CO2 because of the key role it plays in understanding the carbon cycle. We critically discuss the use of stomatal index and stomatal ratios for reconstructing atmospheric CO2 levels, especially the need for adequate replication, and present a newly derived CO2 record for the Mesozoic that supports levels calculated from geochemical modeling of the long-term carbon cycle. Several suggestions for future research using stable carbon isotope analyses of fossil terrestrial organic matter and stomatal measurements are highlighted.
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Previous Volumes
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Volume 52 (2024)
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Volume 51 (2023)
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Volume 50 (2022)
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Volume 49 (2021)
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Volume 48 (2020)
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Volume 47 (2019)
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Volume 46 (2018)
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Volume 45 (2017)
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Volume 44 (2016)
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Volume 43 (2015)
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Volume 42 (2014)
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Volume 41 (2013)
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Volume 40 (2012)
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Volume 39 (2011)
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Volume 38 (2010)
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Volume 37 (2009)
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Volume 36 (2008)
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Volume 35 (2007)
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Volume 34 (2006)
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Volume 33 (2005)
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Volume 32 (2004)
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Volume 31 (2003)
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Volume 30 (2002)
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Volume 29 (2001)
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Volume 28 (2000)
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Volume 27 (1999)
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Volume 26 (1998)
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Volume 25 (1997)
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Volume 24 (1996)
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Volume 23 (1995)
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Volume 22 (1994)
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Volume 21 (1993)
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Volume 20 (1992)
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Volume 19 (1991)
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Volume 18 (1990)
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Volume 17 (1989)
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Volume 16 (1988)
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Volume 15 (1987)
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Volume 14 (1986)
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Volume 13 (1985)
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Volume 12 (1984)
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Volume 11 (1983)
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Volume 10 (1982)
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Volume 9 (1981)
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Volume 8 (1980)
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Volume 7 (1979)
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Volume 6 (1978)
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Volume 5 (1977)
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Volume 4 (1976)
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Volume 3 (1975)
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Volume 2 (1974)
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Volume 1 (1973)
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Volume 0 (1932)