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A digital computer and multivariate statistical techniques were used to analyze 4-band multispectral data. A representation of the original data for each of the four bands allows a certain degree of terrain interpretation; however, variations in appearance of sites within and between bands, without additional criteria for deciding which representation should be preferred, create difficulties for classification. Investigation of the video data groups produced by principal components analysis and cluster analysis techniques shows that effective correlations with classifications of terrain produced by conventional methods could be carried out. The analyses also highlighted underlying relationships between the various elements. The approach used allows large areas (185 cm by 185 cm) to be classified into fundamental units within a matter of hours and can be applied to those parts of the Earth where facilities for conventional studies are poor or lacking.
Granitoids, felsic volcanic rocks and clastic metasediments are typical rocks in Archean granite-greenstone belts that could have formed from preexisting continentasl crust. The petrogenesis of such rocks is assessed to determine the relative roles of new crust formation or old crust formation or old crust recycling in the formation of granite-greenstone belts.
The freezing of small Martian streams is modelled for a variety of climatic conditions, on the supposition that the Martian atmosphere may have been considerably thicker in the past, at the time of the formation of the valley networks. This model examines the energy balance at the upper and lower surfaces of ice on streams, in order to determine the rate at which ice thickens with time. Results indicate that freezing rates are not strongly dependent on atmospheric pressure, and, under windy conditions, dependence on atmospheric pressure is even weaker. It is noted that the main problem in valley formation is in initiating the flow. Groundwater seepage alone is inadequate, due to the difficulty of groundwater system replenishment.
The study of purple and green sulfur bacterial populations in nature is of interest for the following reasons: (1) high quantities of biomass, with low species diversity can be collected; (2) study of planktonic life permits one to understand the mechanisms, structural as well as physiological, used to maintain their vertical position without sinking; and (3) they are capable of sulfur oxidations and reductions that act as important intermediates in the global sulfur cycle. Purple and green photosynthetic bacteria, moreover, may be responsible for certain geological deposits. Planktonic phototrophic sulfur bacteria were analyzed in relation to their vertical distribution in the water column. Factors, including competition for light, that determine their sedimentation rates and the numerical changes in species and populations were assessed.
In order to exploit the use of thematic mapper (TM) data to obtain vegetation and net primary productivity maps in the boreal forest, three aircraft flights were undertaken over the area near Ely, MN, with the NS 001 Thematic Mapper Simulator. Attention is presently given to an analysis of these 1983 data, which attempted to separate coniferous trees from deciduous ones. Canopy reflectance models and measured optical properties of the scattering elements have been used to deepen understanding of this separability, and to relate the ratio of nadir view reflectances in TM bands 4 and 3 to the overstory leaf area index. A map that is proportional to the leaf area index for deciduous species is presented.
Airborne imaging spectrometer (AIS) data were studied to establish absolute instrumental calibration and to provide atmospheric corrections. Good agreement is found between calculated and measured radiances for uniform surface targets (beaches), but simulations of atmospheric properties with LOWTRAN lead to unreasonably low values of atmospheric precipitable water. Absorptions from CO2 are not detected in the AIS data, but are strongly present in the LOWTRAN model. The apparent low contrast of all atmospheric absorption bands leads to a study of contamination from overlapping spectral orders in the AIS data. The suspected contamination is shown unambiguously to be present beyond 1500 nm. The magnitude remains uncertain. Spectral band filling at 1400 nm cannot be accounted for by order mixing because of the 800 nm blocking filter used. Rough corrections for short wavelength mode observations might be possible if an after-the-fact radiometric calibration of the instrument can be developed.
A concentration process occurring in the melt zone of the Greenland ice cap has produced the richest known deposit of cosmic dust on the surface of the earth. Extraterrestrial particles collected from this region are well preserved and are collectable in large quantities. The collected particles are generally identical to cosmic spheres found on the ocean floor, but a pure glass type was discovered that has not been seen in deep-sea samples. Iron-rich spheres are conspicuously rare in the collected material.
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A multifrequency study of fields containing steep-spectrum radio sources is presented. New spectral and spatial data are used to determine the locations and optical identifications of steep-spectrum sources which previously had either poor positions or questionable correspondence to known sources. X-ray images from the Einstein Observatory provide estimates of the extent, temperature, density, and thermal pressure of hot gas associated with galaxies and clusters of galaxies. From the equations relating synchrotron emission to inverse Compton scattering of 3 K background photons, lower limits to the average magnetic field strength in the source are derived. For the resolved radio sources of known distance, the minimum nonthermal pressure and the corresponding magnetic field strength are also calculated. For the four fields discussed in this paper, it is found that three out of five steep-spectrum sources are embedded in a cluster atmosphere and two are unidentified. Except for unresolved radio structures associated with cores of galaxies, the estimated thermal pressure is sufficient to confine the radio sources.
The rationale was outlined for constructing pressure-temperature-time (P-T-t) paths by using U-Pb dating of garnet produced in thermobarometrically sensitive reactions. In an example from the Pikwitonei granulites of the Northwestern Superior Province of the Canadian Shield, garnets were formed at 2744-2742 Ma, 2700-2689 Ma, and 2605-2590 Ma, the latter events coinciding with times recorded by U-Pb zircon systems. Garnet grew during metamorphism at 6.5 kbar, 630 to 750 C and later at 7.2 to 7.5 kbar, 800 C; the later metamorphism apparently did not exceed the U-Pb closure temperature. The resultant P-T-t path is counterclockwise, with late isobaric cooling, interpreted to result from magmatic heating at an Andean margin.