Two thermal convection problems of geophysical interest are examined, theoretically. First, convection in the earth's mantle is treated on the basis of a one-dimensional 'strip model'. This model results from further simplification of the well known 'Rayleigh model'. For homogeneous, Newtonian fluids, the strip model yields results similar to those obtained by the Rayleigh method. The strip model is used to determine the critical Rayleigh number for convection in an internally heated two-phase fluid. The critical number depends on the parameters of the phase transition, the physical properties of the fluid, and the depth of the fluid layer. Depending on these factors, a univariant phase transformation may either enhance or hinder convective instability. For the olivine-spinel and spinel-oxides transitions in (MgFe)₂SiO₄ which are thought to take place in the upper mantle, it is shown that the critical Rayleigh number is altered only slightly from the critical number for convection in a fluid with one phase. This result holds both for convection in the entire mantle or convection restricted to the upper mantle. Hence the phase changes are of minor importance regarding the existence of mantle convection in general. A method for estimating the order of magnitude of the displacement of the phase surface as a function of Rayleigh number is outlined for a fluid with only one phase transition. The strip model is also used to treat convection in non-Newtonian fluids obeying a power law rheological equation. If the mantle is governed by a flow law of this type, it appears that convection can take place. Lastly, the procedure for applying the strip model to fluids with variable viscosity and thermal conductivity is outlined. The second convection problem concerns some aspects of convection of fluids in thin vertical fractures in the crust. A steady state model is developed to estimate the magnitude of the mass flow as a function of fracture thickness. It is shown that fractures of the order of a millimeter thick or greater can carry a measurable convective flow. A time dependent model is used to estimate the rate of decay of the mass flow with time. The results indicate that in fractures of the order of a centimeter thick, a measurable decrease of the mass flow takes place after a period of the order of a day. This rapid decay rate suggests that the principal effect of sea water convection in extensive fracture systems which are expected on mid-ocean ridge crests is to cool a volume of crustal rock in the vicinity of the fractures. Circulation of sea water in vertical fractures in the upper crust may provide an explanation of 1) the relatively low conductive heat flow measured at some locations on ocean ridge axes and 2) the very 'noisy' data obtained in the axial zone. / Graduation date: 1972

In this study, the effects of antagonists to the cannabinoid receptors in MCL cell lines were studied. Results presented in this study show that signalling through cannabinoid receptor with antagonists such as SR141716, SR144528 decreases cell viability but hemopressin when analyzing with XTT. The decrease in cell viability by SR141716 is caused by apoptosis triggered after 5 hours of treatment. The CB1 expression was confirmed in all MCL cell lines tested via western blotting but the expression of CB2 and GPR55 – another receptor to which SR141716 has affinity - was not confirmed due to lack of reliable antibodies. Specific agonist to GPR55 – LPI (l-α-lysophosphatidylinositol) showed different response compared to SR141716 which suggests that the effect seen by SR141716 was not induced through GPR55. The effect induced by CB1/CB2 agonist AEA is shown to be neither through CB1 or CB2 alone but possibly on another receptor yet to be described.

I have developed a waveform inversion procedure to invert 3 component broadband seismic data for models of the anisotropic seismic structure of the Earth and applied the technique to an investigation of wave propagation through anisotropic media and earthquake data sampling the upper mantle beneath the East European platform. The procedure combines the conjugate-gradient and very fast simulated annealing methods and attempts to minimize a cross-correlation misfit function comparing data to synthetic seismograms. A series of inversion passes are performed over a range of frequency and time windows to progressively focus in on structural details. The intent is to obtain P and S velocity models that simultaneously match all components of the data (radial, vertical and tangential). The variables in the problem are the seismic velocities ([alpha] and [beta]) as a function of depth. When radial anisotropy is required this set is expanded to include the five variables that determine the seismic velocities in a radially anisotropic medium ([alpha subscript h, alpha subscript v, beta subscript h, beta subscript v, eta]). I investigate the propagation of seismic waves through radially anisotropic media, evaluate which elements of radial anisotropy are best resolved by seismic data and discuss strategies for identifying radial anisotropy in the Earth. S anisotropy, [beta]%, and the horizontal component of P velocity, [alpha subscript h], are typically well resolved by multicomponent seismic data. P anisotropy, [alpha]%, and [eta] are often poorly resolved and trade off with one another in terms of their effect on S[subscript V] arrivals. Erroneous structure will be mapped into models if anisotropy is neglected. The size of the erroneous structure will be proportional to the magnitude of anisotropy present and extend well below the anisotropic zone. The effects of anisotropy on P models produced with an isotropic assumption are most similar to the effects on isotropic S[subscript H] models. When comparing isotropic models, [alpha/beta subscript sh] is therefore often a better measure than [alpha/beta subscript sv] for characterizing mantle petrology. Isotropic S[subscript H], S[subscript V] and P models developed separately using the same data set can provide a good initial estimate of the presence, location and magnitude of anisotropy and those results can be used to create an initial model for an anisotropic inversion solving simultaneously for all 3 components of the data. Finally, I present models for the P and S velocity structure of the upper mantle beneath the East European platform including an analysis of radial anisotropy. The data are 3-component broadband seismograms from strike-slip earthquakes located near the edge of the platform and recorded in Russia and Europe. The timing, amplitude and interference characteristics of direct arrivals (S, P), multiply reflected arrivals (SS, PP), converted phases and surface waves provide very good radial resolution throughout the upper 400 km of the mantle. The platform is underlain by a radially anisotropic seismic mantle lid extending to a depth of 200 km with a largely isotropic mantle below. The model has a positive velocity gradient from 41 km to 100 km depth, and a relatively uniform velocity structure from 100 km to 200 km depth with high S[subscript H] and P[subscript H] velocities (4.77 km /s, 8.45 km/s). Shear anisotropy is uniform at 5% ([beta subscript H] > [beta subscript V]) from 41 to 200 km depth, drops to 2% from 200 to 250 km and is isotropic below that. The average shear velocity from 100 to 250 km is also uniform at 4.65 km/s and the drop in anisotropy is matched by a drop in [beta subscript H] to 4.70 km/s combined with an increase in [beta subscript V] to 4.60 km/s. Below 250 km there is a positive velocity gradient in both P and S velocity down to 410 km. P anisotropy is not well resolved, but P structure mimics the S[subscript H] velocity structure, suggesting that P is also anisotropic within the lid. / text

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This study addresses the influences on ridge basalt chemistry, through analysis of their major and trace element and isotopic composition at scales ranging from individual ridge segments to the entire length of the ridge system. Local-scale studies of basalts along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge shed light on crustal accretion at slow-spreading ridges, and on the nature of plume-ridge interaction in this region. We show that segments must have multiple supplies of magma delivered along their length, but with preferential delivery of magma to segment centers. Plume-ridge interaction near the Azores is not simple two- component mixing between “plume” mantle and “depleted” mantle as previously argued. The elevated highly incompatible trace element ratios possessed by basalts well south of the plume are the definitive sign of a low-degree melt, which can fractionate highly incompatible element ratios. We show that a low-degree melt of plume mantle acts to metasomatize ambient depleted mantle, creating a mixed source that melts to produce the enriched basalts south of the Azores. This metasomatized source is the enriched mixing component that produces the observed geochemical gradient, rather than bulk plume mantle. The latter half of this study is global in scope, involving a carefully compiled ridge basalt geochemical database. This database is unparalleled in size and coverage – including data from portions of the Gakkel and Southwest Indian Ridges and Lau basin that were unavailable in prior data compilations. It includes a catalog of 771 global ridge segments, enabling the calculation of mean MORB by averaging the “segment means”, including weighting on segment length and spreading rate and a quantitative treatment of errors. We show that the mean composition of ocean ridge basalts is more enriched than previously suggested, and argue for a re-definition of “normal MORB”. Segment basalt compositions are individually corrected for crystal fractionation, arriving at parental magma compositions that can be interpreted in terms of mantle processes. The fractionation-corrected mean segment compositions correlate with ridge depth, and with each other, in a manner that is consistent with control by mantle temperature variations. Mantle compositional heterogeneity is also seen, but appears to be a second-order effect. / Earth and Planetary Sciences

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The Drybones Bay kimberlite has offered an opportunity to compare geophysical observations of the mantle lithosphere beneath the southwest Slave craton with geochemical and petrological interpretations through mantle xenoliths and xenocrysts. Coarse-textured garnet and spinel-garnet peridotite xenoliths, and garnet and garnetclinopyroxene xenocrysts were analyzed for a suite of trace elements. The Ni-in-garnet geothermometer (Canil, 1999) yielded equilibration temperatures between 850-1200 DC, and corresponding depths of 90-160 km, assuming a 41m Wm-2 paleogeotherm. This method estimates the thickness of the southwest Slave craton in the Ordovician at approximately 160 km, within the stability field of diamond. Trace element analysis revealed a distinct geochemical anomaly at a depth of approximately 120 km, which marks the transition from wehrlite to metasomatized wehrlite and lherzolite. This anomalous depth has been observed in geophysical studies, and has been interpreted as a structural discontinuity. / Graduate / 0372

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2007. / "Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering"--Cover. Title from Web page (viewed on Mar. 24, 2008). "September 2007." Includes bibliographical references.

The most widely used and accepted composition for the Martian mantle in experimental petrology is the Dreibus and Wänke (1985) proposed composition based on only eight SNC meteorites. This composition is enriched in iron with respect to the Earth, which follows what we see from samples of Mars. The magnesium number (Mg#=Mg/Mg+Fe) of the Dreibus and Wänke (1985) composition is Mg#75, which is iron rich compared to Earth’s Mg# of around 90. However, when experimentally melted as a source for generating Martian basalts, the melt concentrates iron further, higher than the Mars basalt compositions, and requires melting a large percentage of the mantle to reach a composition that is comparable to known Martian basalts. Partial melting experiments of an Mg# 80 mantle composition produced shergottite-like melts with a lower percentage of partial melting than with the Mg#75 compositions. This would be more likely since the Martian mantle would have cooled considerably by the time it would have produced the shergottites, which was only approximately 180 million years ago. The reprised composition is Mg#80 and less iron rich than the DW composition, but more iron-rich than Earth.

Intraplate volcanism that has created the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain is generally thought to be formed by a deep-seated mantle plume. While the idea of a Hawaiian plume has not met with substantial opposition, whether or not the Hawaiian plume shows any geochemical signal of receiving materials from the Earth’s Outer Core and how the plume may or may not be reacting with the overriding lithosphere remain debatable issues. In an effort to understand how the Hawaiian plume works I report on the first in-situ sulfides and bulk rock Platinum Group Element (PGE) concentrations, together with Os isotope ratios on well-characterized garnet pyroxenite xenoliths from the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The sulfides are Fe-Ni Monosulfide Solid Solution and show fractionated PGE patterns. Based on the major elements, Platinum Group Elements and experimental data I interpret the Hawaiian sulfides as an immiscible melt that separated from a melt similar to the Honolulu Volcanics (HV) alkali lavas at a pressure-temperature condition of 1530 ± 100OC and 3.1±0.6 GPa., i.e. near the base or slightly below the Pacific lithosphere. The 187Os/188Os ratios of the bulk rock vary from subchondritic to suprachondritic (0.123-0.164); and the 187Os/188Os ratio strongly correlates with major element, High Field Strength Element (HFSE), Rare Earth Element (REE) and PGE abundances. These correlations strongly suggest that PGE concentrations and Os isotope ratios reflect primary mantle processes. I interpret these correlations as the result of melt-mantle reaction at the base of the lithosphere: I suggest that the parental melt that crystallized the pyroxenites selectively picked up radiogenic Os from the grain boundary sulfides, while percolating through the Pacific lithosphere. Thus the sampled pyroxenites essentially represent crystallized melts from different stages of this melt-mantle reaction process at the base of the lithosphere. I further show that the relatively low Pt/Re ratios of the Hawaiian sulfides and the bulk rock pyroxenites suggest that, upon ageing, such pyroxenites plus their sulfides cannot generate the coupled 186Os-187Os isotope enrichments observed in Hawaiian lavas. Therefore, recycling of mantle sulfides of pyroxenitic parentage is unlikely to explain the enriched Pt-Re-Os isotope systematics of plume-derived lavas.