Matter Decay Research Articles

Recent aragonite cements from intertidal sands near Whitford, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract Aragonite cements have been found in nodules that are presently growing in intertidal sands near Whitford, Auckland, New Zealand. Three factors that may have promoted aragonite precipitation are considered: (1) an increase in the pH of the local groundwater resulting from decay of organic matter in the nearby salt meadows; (2) CO2 degassing of meteoric waters during tidal oscillation of the water table; (3) long residence times of meteoric water within the water table.

On the stagnation and recent turnover of the water in the Baltic

A short description of the hydrography and water balance of the Baltic is given. The different pycnoclines in the Baltic proper are described. The inflow of salt water through the Danish sounds and the development of stagnant conditions in the deep basins are described. The renewal of the stagnant deep water and the “fertilization” of the surface water with nutrients are discussed. The oxygen utilization and the accumulation of nutrients through decay of organic matter in the deep water are described. The formation of ammonia, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide in the stagnant water is briefly explained. The oxygen decrease in the Baltic deep water during the present century and possible reasons to this phenomenon are discussed. The recent stagnation and deep water renewal during 1969 are described by help of figures. The “Baltic Year” programme is described and some results are discussed. The accumulation of phosphate during the stagnation and the spreading of phosphate in the deep water and the “fertilization” of the surface water during the water renewal in 1969 are shown by help of figures. An increased primary production in the surface water is predicted and a prognosis for the future development of the oxygen conditions in the Baltic is given. It is concluded that Man has increased the oxygen utilization in the deep water by the enormously increased discharge of untreated waste water from industries and communities and that the Baltic therefore has been “overstrained”. Finally it is suggested that measures against future waste discharge have to be taken in order to give the Baltic a chance to recover. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1970.tb00520.x

A contribution to the theory of the decay of μ-mesons

This paper deals with the probability of the spontaneous decay of a μ-meson into one electron and one photon and also the probability of two- neutrino annihilation of the positive μ-meson with an electron in condensed matter. These probabilities are compared with the probability of the standard spontaneous decay of the μ-meson (into one electron and two neutrinos). Attention is called to the possibility of still other modes of μ-meson decay in matter.

IV.—Notes on the Growth of Soil

Previous to writing “Suggestions on Denudation,” I had not seen Mr. Darwin's paper “On the Formation of Soil;” since then, having read this essay, it appears to me that instead of Darwin proving “the disappearance of stones, etc., needs no growth of soil,” he advocates in a great measure the statement put forward in “Suggestions on Denudation.” For Darwin clearly proves that any foreign sustance placed on grass land will be gradually covered up by a growth of soil over it. This soil, however, he seems to believe to be entirely due to the labour of earth-worms, who excavate in the ground under the foreign sustance and deposit over it. From this it would appear that this eminent observer considers that the total thickness of the soil is not increased upwards by mould formed from vegetable decay, but that all is taken from below the foreign sustance and placed above it, thereby adding to the thickness of the upper stratum of the mould and diminishing the thickness of the portion below the foreign substance. This, within certain limits, may be correct; but can anyone asset that the decay of the yearly growth of vegetable matter is nil, and that it cannot possibly and its mite, no matter how small, to the thickness of the soil? If the above is the case, how can we account for the growth of peat bogs in Ireland and other countries? On the site of all peat bogs (or the bogs in the low flat country) there originally was vegetable soil, in which trees and lesser plants grew;—on this, by the decay of the vegetable matter, a spongy soil was formed that retarded the drainage, and was well fitted for the growth of such mosses as the Sphagnum, which began to luxuriate.