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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Heat flow and thermal processes in the Jornada delMuerto, New Mexico

Most heat flow data in rifts are uncertain largely because of hydrologic disturbances in regions of extensive fracturing. Estimates of heat flow in deep petroleum tests within a large basin of the Rio Grande rift, which has suffered little syn-rift fracturing, may begin to provide clearer insight into the relationships between high heat flow and crustal thinning processes. The Jornada del Muerto is a large basin located in the Rio Grande rift of south central New Mexico. The region of interest within the Jornada del Muerto is centered about 30 km east of the town of Truth or Consequences, and is approximately 60 km north-south by 30 km east-west. High heat flows are estimated for the region. Values increase from about 90 mWm(-2) in the northern part of the study area to about 125 mWm(-2) in the southern part. These high heat flows are rather enigmatic because in the immediate vicinities of the sites there is little evidence of Cenozoic volcanism or syn-rift extensional tectonics. It is suggested that the geothermal anomaly in the southern Jornada del Muerto (approx. 125 to approx. 95 mWm(-2) results from some type of mass movement-heat transfer mechanism operating in the crust just below the elastic layer. This conclusion is consistent with the geologic and geophysical data which describe a thin crust, apparently devoid of features indicative of extensional-tectonics in the upper part of the lastic crust.

Reiter, M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Munsell color analysis of Landsat color-ratio-composite images of limonitic areas in southwest New Mexico

The causes of color variations in the green areas on Landsat 4/5-4/6-6/7 (red-blue-green) color-ratio-composite (CRC) images, defined as limonitic areas, were investigated by analyzing the CRC images of the Lordsburg, New Mexico area. The red-blue-green additive color system was mathematically transformed into the cylindrical Munsell color coordinates (hue, saturation, and value), and selected areas were digitally analyzed for color variation. The obtained precise color characteristics were then correlated with properties of surface material. The amount of limonite (L) visible to the sensor was found to be the primary cause of the observed color differences. The visible L is, is turn, affected by the amount of L on the material's surface and by within-pixel mixing of limonitic and nonlimonitic materials. The secondary cause of variation was vegetation density, which shifted CRC hues towards yellow-green, decreased saturation, and increased value.

Kruse, F. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Ragland - An LL3.4 chondrite find from New Mexico

The Ragland, New Mexico, chondrite was found in 1978. It consists of a single stone of 12.16 kg that broke into three pieces. The stone is moderately weathered and has a pronounced chondritic texture. Bulk composition favors an LL classification, and modal analysis and oxygen isotopic composition are consistent with this. The thermoluminescence sensitivity of 0.056 + or - 0.020 normalized to Dhajala, compositional variability of olivine (mean Fa 18.3, sigma = 10.1) and low-Ca pyroxene (mean Fs 14.6, sigma = 6.7), and Ca concentrations in olivine indicate metamorphic subtype 3.4 + or - 0.1. The isotopically heavy oxygen composition, which is characteristic of subtypes 3.0-3.1, may be a primary characteristic and not a result of weathering. Low concentrations of radiogenic Ar-40 and planetary Ar-36 suggest noble gas loss.

Recca, S. I.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Block rotations in the Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico

Paleomagnetic data from 13 sites of intrusive and extrusive rocks associated with the Oligocene Espinaso Formation around the Ortiz mountains, New Mexico, indicate mean magnetic directions of I = 42.1 deg and D = 337.8 deg, with a corresponding pole position of 67.9 deg N latitude and 142.3 deg E longitude. From comparison with the expected Oligocene direction, 17.8 + or - 11.3 deg of counterclockwise rotation is found, and the similar rotations for Oligocene and Pliocene age rocks suggests that motion has occurred in the past 5 m.y. Data support the previously suggested diamond-shaped crustal block extending from the San Luis basin southward to the Albuquerque basin bounded by well-defined recently active fault zones. The size of the block, the counterclockwise nature of rotation and the timing of motion are supported by geologic and structural data. The counterclockwise rotation of the block has resulted in uplift at the acute ends of the block and subsidence at the obtuse ends, and the driving mechanism may be left slip along the rift.

Brown, L. L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Accretion, metamorphism, and brecciation of ordinary chondrites - Evidence from petrologic studies of meteorites from Roosevelt County, New Mexico

The olivines and pyroxenes from twenty-nine ordinary chondrites from Roosevelt County, New Mexico are examined. The mineralogical properties of the chondrites studied are described. Correlations between mineral compositions and petrologic type and between petrologic type and bulk chemistry are analyzed. It is observed that mean CaO concentrations in olivine show significant variations among equilibrated chondrites, but these are not correlated with petrologic type; the degree of heterogeneity of FeO concentrations in olivines of types 4-6 is not correlated with the degree of metamorphism; and mean FeO concentrations of silicates show average increases of 3-5 percent from type 4 to type 6 in each group.

Scott, Edward R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Remote sensing of chlorophyll concentrations in the northern Gulf of Mexico

During a 17 month period (November 1978 - March 1980), phytoplankton pigment concentrations were remotely sensed in the northern Gulf of Mexico using the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS). A total of 29 CZCS orbits were processed into pigment (chlorophyll a + phaeopigments) images and then geometrically warped to a Mercator projection. A correction factor of 1.67 was applied to the pigment concentrations to correct for the tendency of the standard fluorometric method to underestimate chlorophyll a concentrations. The spatial and temporal distributions of pigment fronts were quite variable during this time series. Constant features observed throughout the pigment imagery were the entrainment of coastal waters offshore. The most extensive entrainments occurred during intrusions of the Loop Current. For the 17 month survey, the mean HPLC-corrected pigment concentration was 3.30 + or - 1.45 mg/cu m.

Trees, Charles C.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Comparative functional ultrastructure of two hypersaline submerged cyanobacterial mats - Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and Solar Lake, Sinai, Egypt

The ultrastructure of the submerged microbial mat from the Solar Lake (SL), Egypt, was compared to that of samples from the Guerrero Negro (GN), Mexico, salt pans. The locations and distributions of the main organisms were determined light microscopy, and the corresponding ultrathin sections were examined under TEM; chemical microprofile analyses were carried out on the day of sampling for microscopic studies. Both communities were found to be dominated by Microleus chthonoplastes, although several morphological species found in the GN mat were absent from the SL mat, including the Tropica nigra and the 'big' Microleus chthonoplastes component. The chemical microprofiles of oxygen, sulfide, pH, and the oxygenic photosynthesis in the two mats were virtually identical. In both mats, the photic zone was restricted to the upper 800 microns of the mat, and oxygenic photosynthesis was detected down to 600 microns.

D'Amelio, Elisa D'antoni↗
NASA NTRS1989

Remote sensing and numerical modeling of suspended sediment in Laguna de Terminos, Campeche, Mexico

It is necessary to understand the complex physical processes at work in coastal lagoons in order to manage them effectively. Improved methods of data collection and analysis must be found to provide synoptic, timely hydrodynamic information because of the sheer size of some lagoons and the difficulty of acquiring in situ data (particularly in the tropics). This paper summarizes research to model salinity and suspended sediment distributions in Laguna de Terminos, Mexico, using (1) a coupled hydrodynamic and dispersion model and (2) analysis of two Landsat Thematic Mapper images collected on November 25, 1984 and April 24, 1987. Atmospherically corrected chromaticity data derived from Thermatic Mapper data were significantly correlated with modeled total suspended sediment concentrations for the two dates. Comparison between numerically modeled and remotely sensed suspended sediment maps at 1.5 x 1.5 km resolution yielded a covariation map useful for identifying areas of discrepancy between the remotely sensed data and model output.

Jensen, John R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The accumulation rate of meteorite falls at the earth's surface - The view from Roosevelt County, New Mexico

The discovery of 154 meteorite fragments within an 11-sq km area of wind-excavated basins in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, permits a new calculation of the accumulation rate of meteorite falls at the earth's surface. Thermoluminescence dating of the coversand unit comprising the prime recovery surface suggests the maximum terrestrial age of the meteorites to be about 16.0 ka. The 68 meteorite fragments subjected to petrological analyses represent a minimum of 49 individual falls. Collection bias has largely excluded carbonaceous chondrites and achondrites, requiring the accumulation rate derived from the recovered samples to be increased by a factor of 1.25. Terrestrial weathering destroying ordinary chondrites can be modeled as a first-order decay process with an estimated half-life of 3.5 + or - 1.9 ka on the semiarid American High Plains. Having accounted for the age of the recovery surface, area of field searches, pairing of finds, collection bias and weathering half-life, an accumulation rate of 940 falls/a per 10 to the 6th sq km is calculated for falls greater than 10 g total mass. This figure exceeds the best-constrained previous estimate by more than an order of magnitude. One possible reason for this disparity may be the extraordinary length of the fall record preserved in the surficial geology of Roosevelt County. The high accumulation rate determined for the past 16 ka may point to the existence of periods when the meteorite fall rate was significantly greater than at present.

Zolensky, Michael E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Classification of five new chondrite finds from Roosevelt County, New Mexico

Five small, weathered meteorites recovered from Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA, are called Roosevelt County 066-070. Based on optical microscopy and electron microprobe analysis of mafic minerals, RC 066-070 are classified as L5a chondrites. RC 068 and 069 are tentatively paired. RC 066 and RC 067 are not paired with RC 068 and RC 069. RC 066, 067 and 070 do not appear to be paired with each other or with RC 001-031.

Pun, Aurora↗
NASA NTRS1991

On the seasonal phytoplankton concentration and sea surface temperature cycles of the Gulf of Mexico as determined by satellites

Multiyear series of coastal zone color scanner (CZCS) and AVHRR observations are presently used to derive monthly climatologies of near-surface phytoplankton pigment concentration and SST for the Gulf of Mexico; these, in combination with 1946-1987 SST data and NOAA hydrographic profile data covering 1914-1985, show that the most important single factor controlling seasonal cycle surface-pigment concentration is the depth of the mixed layer. The CZCS images indicate that seasonal variation seaward of the continental shelf is synchronous throughout the Gulf. The combination of ocean color and IR images allows year-round observation of surface circulation spatial structure in the Gulf, as well as of the dispersal pattern of the Mississippi River's plume.

Mueller-Karger, Frank E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Soil emissions of nitric oxide in a seasonally dry tropical forest of Mexico

Soil emissions of NO were measured at the Chamela Biological Station, Mexico, using soil covers and a field apparatus of NO detection based on CrO3 conversion of NO to NO2 and detection of NO2 by chemiluminescence with Luminol. Mean NO fluxes from forest soils ranged from 0.14 to 0.52 ng NO-N/sq cm/hr during the dry season and from 0.73 to 1.27 ng NO-N/sq cm/hr during the wet season. A fertilized floodplain pasture exhibited higher fluxes, but an unfertilized upland pasture, which represents the fastest growing land use in the region, had flux rates similar to the forest sites. Wetting experiments at the end of the dry season caused large pulses of NO flux, equaling 10 percent to 20 percent of the estimated annual NO emissions of 0.5-1.0 kg N/ha from the forest sites. Absence of a forest canopy during the dry season and the first wet season rain probably results in substantial NO(x) export from the forest system that may be important to regional atmospheric chemical processes. Wetting experiments during the wet season and a natural rain event had little or no stimulatory effect on NO flux rates.

Davidson, Eric A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Chronological evaluation of urban growth and area expansion in Aguascalientes, Mexico using remotely sensed and ancillary mapped data

The study describes some efforts to assist the mapping procedure of Mexican towns and cities by focusing on the analysis of urban changes that have occurred in the city of Aguascalientes. To evaluate urban growth trends in Aguascalientes, historic maps of land cover, aerial photography, and SPOT data were reviewed between the period of 1857 and 1988 to determine urban boundaries. Additional analyses focused on identifying the extent and pattern of growth in reference to urban development plans initiated in 1978, and on assessing the impact of relocating people and industry after the Mexico City earthquake. Results from the study indicate a steady growth in areal expansion and population in the Aguascalientes area between 1978 and 1988.

Falquier, Leticia G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Spinel-bearing, Al-rich chondrules in two chondrite finds from Roosevelt County, New Mexico - Indicators of nebular and parent body processes

Two rare spinel-bearing Al-rich chondrules are identified in chondrite finds from Roosevelt County, New Mexico-RC 071 (L4) and RC 072 (L5). These chondrules have unusual mineralogies dominated by highly and asymmetrically zoned Al-Cr-rich spinels. Two alternatives exist to explain the origin of this zoning-fractional crystallization or metamorphism. Fractional crystallization formed the zoning of the trivalent cations and caused a localized depletion in chromites around the large Al-Cr-rich spinels. Diffusive exchange and partitioning of Fe and Mg between olivine and spinel during parent-body metamorphism can explain the asymmetric zoning of these elements. The bulk compositions of the chondrules suggest affinities with the Na-Al-Cr-rich chondrules, as would be expected from the abundance of Al-Cr-rich spinels. The most important factors are the temperature to which the molten chondrule was heated and the cooling rate during crystallization. These two chondrules cooled rapidly from near the liquidus, as indicated by the zoning, occurrence and sizes of spinels, radiating chondrule textures and localized chromite depletions.

Mccoy, Timothy J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Large-scale atmospheric controls on local precipitation in tropical Mexico

Sixty-five percent of the short term variability in southern Mexican precipitation is accounted for by the large-scale circulation. Empirical relationships between sea level and 500 mb circulation fields, and the local precipitation in Chiapas, Mexico, are derived using a neural net. Although much of the rainfall is a result of convective processes, the neural net captures the onset of the precipitation season, and the phase of individual precipitation events. The analysis indicates that both of these aspects of the precipitation regime are controlled to a large extent by the atmospheric circulation.

Hewitson, Bruce C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The age of the meteorite recovery surfaces of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA

We have obtained minimum age estimates for the sand units underlying the two largest meteorite deflation surfaces in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA, using thermoluminescence dating techniques. The dates obtained ranged from 53.5 (+/- 5.4) to 95.2 (+/- 9.5) ka, and must be considered lower limits for the terrestrial ages of the meteorites found within these specific deflation surfaces. These ages greatly exceed previous measurements from adjacent meteorite-producing deflation basins. We find that Roosevelt County meteorites are probably terrestrial contemporaries of the meteorites found at most accumulation zones in Antarctica. The apparent high meteorite accumulation rate reported for Roosevelt County by Zolensky et al. (1990) is incorrect, as it used an age of 16 ka for all Roosevelt County recovery surfaces. We conclude that the extreme variability of terrestrial ages of the Roosevelt County deflation surfaces effectively precludes their use for calculations of the meteorite accumulation rate at the Earth's surface.

Zolensky, Michael E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Monitoring Colima Volcano, Mexico, using satellite data

The Colima Volcanic Complex at the western end of the Mexican Volcanic Belt is the most active andesitic volcano in Mexico. Short-wavelength infrared data from the Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite were used to determine the temperature and fractional area of radiant picture elements for two January data acquisitions in 1985 and 1986. The 1986 data showed four 28.5 m by 28.5 m pixels (picture elements) whose hot subpixel components had temperatures ranging from 511-774 C and areas of 1.8-13 sq m. The 1985 data had no radiating areas above background temperatures. Ground observations and measurements in November 1985 and February 1986 reported the presence of hot fumaroles at the summit with temperatures of 135-895 C. This study demonstrates the utility of satellite data for monitoring volcanic activity.

Abrams, Michael↗