Search

Scholarly publishing currently is faced by an upsurge in low-quality, questionable "predatory/hijacked" journals published by those whose only goal is profit. Although there are discussions in the literature warning about them, most provide only a few suggestions on how to avoid these journals. Most solutions are not generalizable or have other weaknesses. Here, we use a novel information technology, i.e., blockchains, to expose and prevent the problems produced by questionable journals. Thus, this work presented here sheds light on the advantages of blockchain for producing safe, fraud-free scholarly publishing.

The method of obtaining zircon samples affects estimation of the global U-Pb age distribution. Researchers typically collect zircons via convenience sampling and cluster sampling. When using these techniques, weight adjustments proportional to the areas of the sampled regions improve upon unweighted estimates. Here, grid-area and modern sediment methods are used to weight the samples from a new database of 418,967 U-Pb ages. Preliminary tests involve two age models. Model-1 uses the most precise U-Pb ages as the best ages. Model-2 uses the 206Pb/238U age as the best age if it is less than a 1000 Ma cutoff, otherwise it uses the 207Pb/206Pb age as the best age. A correlation analysis between the Model-1 and Model-2 ages indicates nearly identical distributions for both models. However, after applying acceptance criteria to include only the most precise analyses with minimal discordance, a histogram of the rejected samples shows excessive rejection of the Model-2 analyses around the 1000 Ma cutoff point. Because of the excessive rejection rate for Model-2, we select Model-1 as the preferred model. After eliminating all rejected samples, the remaining analyses use only Model-1 ages for five rock-type subsets of the database: igneous, meta-igneous, sedimentary, meta-sedimentary, and modern sediments. Next, time-series plots, cross-correlation analyses, and spectral analyses determine the degree of alignment among the time-series and their periodicity. For all rock types, the U-Pb age distributions are similar for ages older than 500 Ma, but align poorly for ages younger than 500 Ma. The similarities (>500 Ma) and differences (

Peer review is the most important aspect of reputable journals. Without it, we would be unsure about whether the material published was as valid and reliable as is possible. However, with the advent of the Internet, scientific literature has now become subject to a relatively new phenomenon: fake peer reviews. Some dishonest researchers have been manipulating the peer review process to publish what are often inferior papers. There are even papers that explain how to do it. This paper discusses one of those methods and how editors can defeat it by using a special review ID. This method is easy to understand and can be added to current peer review systems easily.

The current status of academic publishing is worrying. Cybercriminals are now targeting academic audiences, making it necessary to inform both editors and authors about such issues. The latest involves bogus impact factors, which are challenging scholarly publishing. Legitimate impact factors are used by authors and editors to get a general idea of the audience, if any, for a particular piece or journal. The bogus metrics only add confusion in support of the cybercrimes of their initiators. In this paper, we discuss bogus impact factors, victim countries, and try to clarify the phenomena for both authors and editors.

At the moment, scholarly publishing is faced with much academic misconduct and threats such as predatory journals, hijacked journals, phishing, and other scams. In response, we have been discussing this misconduct and trying to increase the awareness of researchers, but it seems that there is a lack of research that presents guidelines for editors to help them protect themselves against these threats. It seems that information security is missing in some parts of scholarly publishing that particularly involves medical journals. In this paper, we explain different types of cyber-attacks that especially threaten editors and academic journals. We then explain the details involved in each type of attack. Finally, we present general guidelines for detection and prevention of the attacks. In some cases, we use small experiments to show that our claim is true. Finally, we conclude the paper with a prioritization of these attacks.

In recent years, the academic world has been faced with much academic misconduct. Examples involve plagiarizing papers, manipulating data, and launching predatory or hijacked journals. The literature exposing these activities is growing exponentially, and so is the presentation of criteria or guidelines for counteracting the problem. Most of the research is focused on predatory or hijacked journal detection and providing suitable warnings. Overlooked in all this is the fact that papers published in these journals are questionable, but nevertheless show up in standard citation databases. We need some way to flag them so future researchers will be aware of their questionable nature and prevent their use in literature review.

Day by day, researchers receive new suspicious e-mails in their inboxes. Many of them do not have sufficient information about these types of e-mails, and may become victims of cyber-attacks. In this short communication, we review current cyber threats in academic publishing and try to present general guidelines for authors.

The physical process that causes cycles in Earth’s precession, obliquity, and eccentricity is well established, and researchers have detected and modeled the orbital cycles for millions of years into the past. The Milankovitch theory postulates that Earth’s orbital cycles contribute to similar periodicity in climatic variation — with the periods of the climatic cycles primarily ranging from 19,000 years to 1,200,000 years. Even while support for the Milankovitch Theory remains strong, opposition to the process of tuning sedimentary records to Milankovitch models has become increasingly vocal. Here, we discuss another negative aspect of orbital tuning that has been ignored to this point. Specifically, orbital tuning contributes to a type of negative analytical bias against research aimed at modifying the Milankovitch theory as well as bias against testing alternatives to the Milankovitch theory, such as the Universal cycle model, presented in this work.

Much has been written about the problem of predatory journals, which encourage would-be authors to publish in unknown, poorly reviewed journals—for a price.1,2 There are websites that list such “journals,” offering a quick check on reliability.3 Mostly, these journals are distinguished by a lack of peer review and large volumes of publishing. Predatory journals also have extremely high acceptance rates and article publication charges. They usually have nonexistent impact factors because they are not indexed by Thomson Reuters. This is because, by not offering much useful information, such nondescript journals are seldom cited. Now, a new, even more pernicious scam has entered the realm of scholarly publication: hijacked journals. Hijacked journals are fake websites of authentic ones, utilizing the title and ISSNs of reputable journals.4 Compared with predatory journals, hijacked journals are more likely to receive papers from authors, because they mimic reputable journals, generally claiming the impact factors that those journals have earned from Thomson Reuters. Predatory journals often claim to have impact factors, but they usually have bogus metrics such as Universal Impact Factor, Global Impact Factor, and so on. If we want to present a correlation between hijacked journals and predatory ones, we can say that article broker companies provide papers for both hijacked journals and predatory publishers. Table 1 compares the URLs of some authentic journals with those of the corresponding websites of the hijacked journals. Each of these are medical journals, including Emergencias (an emergency … Corresponding Author: Mr Mehdi Dadkhah, Department of Computer and Information Technology, Foulad Institute of Technology, Isfahan 8491663763, Fooladshahr, Shohada Blvd., Iran, E-mail: dadkhah80{at}gmail.com

Invalid journals are recent challenges in the academic world and many researchers are unacquainted with the phenomenon. The number of victims appears to be accelerating. Researchers might be suspicious of predatory journals because they have unfamiliar names, but hijacked journals are imitations of well-known, reputable journals whose websites have been hijacked. Hijacked journals issue calls for papers via generally laudatory emails that delude researchers into paying exorbitant page charges for publication in a nonexistent journal. This paper presents a method for detecting hijacked journals by using a classification algorithm. The number of published articles exposing hijacked journals is limited and most of them use simple techniques that are limited to specific journals. Hence we needed to amass Internet addresses and pertinent data for analyzing this type of attack. We inspected the websites of 104 scientific journals by using a classification algorithm that used criteria common to reputable journals. We then prepared a decision tree that we used to test five journals we knew were authentic and five we knew were hijacked.

In this opinion piece, we present a synopsis of our findings from the last 2 years concerning cyber-attacks on web-based academia. We also present some of problems that we have faced and try to resolve any misunderstandings about our work. We are academic information security specialists, not hackers. Finally, we present a brief overview of our methods for detecting cyber fraud in an attempt to present general guidelines for researchers who would like to continue our work. We believe that our work is necessary for protecting the integrity of scholarly publishing against emerging cybercrime.

Studies on continuously improving records of geological, biological, and astronomical events and processes led to increased awareness of common cycles in the records. Here we enhance the analytical scope of earlier discoveries by showing that most of these cycles occur in unison, as a harmonic series. Furthermore, we consider them universal because extra-terrestrial cycles involving quasar and star formation exhibit comparable periods to terrestrial cycles involving volcanism, extinction patterns, and genetic development. The cycles oscillate in multiples of three, cascading into a period-tripled set of cycles. We provide one equation combining the characteristics of 32 theoretical cycles, with periods ranging from 57.3years to 1.64billion years. Our statistical tests show that the astronomical and geological cycles are phase-locked synchronously, while the biological cycles lag. This synchrony suggests a common astronomical cause for geological and biological cycles. Along with the synchrony, the extensiveness of the observed period-tripling indicates that self-similar patterns develop at a universal scale. This suggests that divisible matter is distributed fractally throughout the universe, as postulated by fractal cosmologies, bifurcation theory, and chaos theory.

In recent years, identity theft has been growing in the academic world. Cybercriminals create fake profiles for prominent scientists in attempts to manipulate the review and publishing process. Without permission, some fraudulent journals use the names of standout researchers on their editorial boards in the effort to look legitimate. This opinion piece, highlights some of the usual types of identity theft and their role in spreading junk science. Some general guidelines that editors and researchers can use against such attacks are presented.

Nowadays, web-based applications extend to all businesses due to their advantages and easy usability. The most important issue in web-based applications is security. Due to their advantages, most academic journals are now using these applications, with papers being submitted and published through their websites. As these websites are resources for knowledge, information security is primary for maintaining their integrity. In this opinion piece, we point out vulnerabilities in certain websites and introduce the potential for future threats. We intend to present how some journals are vulnerable and what will happen if a journal can be infected by attackers. This opinion is not a technical manual in information security, it is a short inspection that we did to improve the security of academic journals.

Dear Editor, We read the brief report by Khadem-Rezaiyan and Moghadam, “Hijacking by Email: A New Fraud Method” (1), and would like to present some details and correct some issues in their report. We applaud these authors for increasing awareness of the problem. It appears that the phenomenon is growing faster than attempts to expose it and eliminate it. In paragraph two, the authors used the word “highjack,” while the correct word is “hijack,” which according to the Oxford dictionary (2), includes three different meanings: 1. Illegally seize (an aircraft, ship, or vehicle) while in transit and force it to go to a different destination or use it for one’s own purposes. 2. Steal (goods) by seizing them in transit. 3. Takeover (something) and use it for a different purpose In the academic world, we usually use the term “hijack,” to reflect the third concept. For instance, we use it for exposing hijacked journals. These appear as websites produced under a slightly different name than the websites of the legitimate journals from which they were copied. Researchers are encouraged to submit papers that receive little or no review, have exorbitant page charges, are seldom read or cited, and disappear after the legitimate journals take legal action. This may seem like a mere quibble, but we suggest that this particular fraudulent practice involving scam emails, might better be designated by the term “phishing” instead of “Hijacking by Email.” The authors presented two examples that they believe are a type of “Hijacking by Email.” Actually, they really do not involve hijacking, as no papers are ever published. Indeed, they are clearly phishing attacks. In phishing attacks, hackers use fraudulent emails to lure responders to their fake websites (3). Any sensitive information entered at the fake websites becomes the property of the phishers, as mentioned in the example given by Khadem-Rezaiyan and Moghadam. Phishers then use such data in their subsequent attacks, which contain exact information about researchers once again directing them to a phishing website. Most of these phishing attacks have financial goals, with the gathered information being used for hacking credit cards. Nowadays, a new type of scam is appearing. Some sites and companies claim that they can share authors’ publications such as eBooks and papers between many researchers. They state that their main goal is to promote the books and papers. They list authors’ books as free ebooks, always say there have been more downloads already, and have one-word reviews that are always the same for each of them. They get the credit card numbers from authors and others who sign up, charge them monthly, but seldom have any eBooks. They do not stop the monthly charges after complaints, so applicants are forced have to close their credit card accounts. As mentioned in the report, there are many frauds affecting scholarly publication. Among these are: faked declarations, tempting impact factors, email spoofing, cheating publishers, fake editorial boards, and fake conferences (4). These frauds are proliferating, and researchers should be aware of all of them.

Soil weathering and leaching lead to increased salt concentrations at the wetting front in soils of semiarid and Mediterranean climates. Burial of silty alluvial fan deposits may preserve these salt signatures in paleosols, with the base of each solum being delineated by high electrical conductivity. The buried layer must be thick enough to prevent destruction of the initial signature via leaching. The identification of alluvial strata as paleosol horizons helps to confirm age estimates derived from standard soil descriptions. Several examples illustrate the use of conductivity in delineating late Quaternary soils and paleosols. A soil profile along the Hayward fault had a soil underlain by three paleosols instead of the four paleosols as was first assumed by visual examination. Estimates of soil and paleosol ages were sufficient to assure that no surface fault rupture had occurred during the last 24,000 years. Background conductivity was about 200 μS/cm, while maxima for the soil and three paleosols were 560, 580, 630, and 590 μS/cm, respectively. It was concluded that field electrical conductivity measurements can be used to delineate paleosols.

Soil stratigraphy has played an increasingly important role in determining the recency of fault activity, but its application is not a panacea. Many problems can arise when attempting to use soil stratigraphy to decipher fault activity. Common problems include the following: 1) Site grading before trenching, 2) failure to consider age-related soil science information, 3) failure to understand pedochronology, 4) inadequate carbon dating, 5) the presence of weakly developed old soils, 6) pedogenesis along ancient faults, and 7) failure to recognize bisequa (two-story soils). Common misconceptions when attempting to use soil stratigraphy to date fault activity include the following: 1) A seismic trench can be properly excavated, logged, and buried on the same day; 2) The age of a soil can be obtained by dating the A horizon; 3) The age of a buried paleosol can be obtained by dating its Ab horizon; 4) The C-14 age of pedogenic calcite in a Bk or K horizon measures its mean residence time; and 5) All slickensides are evidence of tectonism. Although the five factors of soil formation make pedochronology relatively imprecise, an evaluation of surficial units and fault features from a soil science perspective often is critical for estimating risk due to fault rupture hazard. Avoiding these common problems and misconceptions involving soils is essential to professional seismic investigations.

The Northridge earthquake toppled three times more concrete block fences that were oriented east-west than those oriented north-south. Toppled fences were twice as likely to fall to the north as to the south. This was discovered during damage causation studies for insurance companies in our survey of more than 200 single-family residences within 29 km of the epicenter. Two hundred nineteen fences were built within 11 degrees of either north (55%) or east (45%), providing an opportunity to study the effect of orientation. Of those fences that were completely toppled, 19 were oriented eastwest, while only 7 were oriented north-south. This preferred direction of damage for toppled fences was observed in all four quadrants about the epicenter and at distances of up to 17 km. In the NW quadrant, immediately above the aftershock zone, all toppled fences were oriented E-W, none were oriented N-S. The 58 fences oriented within 11 degrees of either NE or SE had no preferred direction of damage. In general, the failure rate for all 297 fences correlated with Modified Mercalli Intensity, location on alluvium as opposed to bedrock, and lack of structural reinforcement. [DOI: 10.1193/1.1484509]

Rainfall at the site of Union City, California, during early Holocene time appears to have been about half that of today, 470 mm/yr. We base this conclusion on detailed descriptions and particle-size analyses of 12 soil profiles and 1:20 scale logs of the fluvial stratigraphy in two 100-m-long, 5-m-deep excavations dug perpendicular to the axis of an alluvial fan along the Hayward fault. Subsidence and right-lateral movement along the fault allowed an offset stream to produce a nearly continuous alluvial record documented by 35 14 C ages on detrital charcoal. Bk (calcitic) horizons in paleosols developed in the fan suggest that a relatively dry climatic period occurred from 10 to 7 ka (calendar-corrected ages). The pedogenic calcite exists primarily as vertically oriented filaments and fine, cavernous nodules formed at ped intersections. Soils and paleosols formed before 10 ka or since 7 ka did not have Bk horizons. Bk horizons that were buried suddenly at 7 ka were overlain by leached zones averaging 41 ± 3 cm thick—about half the current depth of leaching.

Current seismic hazard models include two major earthquakes (M ∼ 7) in the San Francisco Bay area that are close in space and time: an 1836 event on the northern Hayward fault and an 1838 event on the peninsula section of the San Andreas fault. Analysis and interpretation of the available historical accounts indicate that the 1836 event occurred east of Monterey Bay, far from the Hayward fault, and was of M ∼ 6¼. Also, the 1838 event was not confined to the 60-km peninsula San Andreas as current models indicate. Instead, faulting probably extended from San Francisco to San Juan Bautista (∼ 140 km), indicating a significantly larger earthquake (M ∼ 7½) than previously thought. Damaging effects of the 1836 earthquake were reported only from Santa Clara to Carmel, and no contemporary effects were reported to the north of Santa Clara or near the Hayward fault. The illusion of an “1836 Hayward earthquake” evolved from a newspaper reminiscence published following the 1868 Hayward earthquake, stating that the 1868 effects in the East Bay were similar to those of an 1836 event. The article describes various strong effects in the East Bay that differ completely from the effects recorded for the 1836 earthquake but are very similar to those documented for the major 1838 San Andreas earthquake that caused extensive damage on both sides of San Francisco Bay. Based on this and other evidence, we conclude that the reminiscence describes the destructive June 1838 effects, but it erroneously indicates the date as June 1836. There is no evidence for any major historical earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area before the 1838 earthquake, back to the founding of Mission San Francisco Dolores in 1776. During the 1838 San Andreas fault earthquake, the shaking intensity in Monterey was as strong as or stronger than during the great 1906 San Andreas fault earthquake. This suggests that the 1838 San Andreas fault rupture may have extended to San Juan Bautista as it did in 1906. Numerous probable aftershocks were felt in the area south of San Juan Bautista. These damaged Carmel and Santa Cruz in 1840, and Alisal, 16 km west of the San Andreas fault, in 1841. The northern end of the 1838 faulting was previously assumed to be 25 km south of San Francisco. However, Mission San Francisco Dolores was damaged in 1838 but not in 1906, suggesting that the 1838 faulting extended to San Francisco. Also, the 1838 aftershocks were felt in Oakland as frequently and violently as those following the major 1868 Hayward earthquake, suggesting that the 1838 faulting on the San Andreas extended to the latitude of Oakland. The 1838 fault segment ruptured again 68 years later as part of the overlapping 1906 San Andreas fault rupture. This, and similar evidence from southern California, indicates that M ∼ 7½ San Andreas fault earthquakes can recur at intervals of 68 years or less when they are followed by M ∼ 8 earthquakes on overlapping segments of the fault.

Measured offsets of well-dated alluvial fan deposits near the Masonic Home in Union City constrain Holocene slip rate of the Hayward fault between 7 and 9 mm/yr. Our best minimum geologic slip rate over the past 8.27 ± 0.08 kyr (i.e., 8270 years) is 8.0 ± 0.7 mm/yr. A steep stream (its channel cut into bedrock) flows southwest out of the East Bay Hills, crosses the fault, and deposits its load on an alluvial fan. We cut two 5-m-deep, fault-parallel trenches 20–30 m southwest of the main fault through the crest of the fan. Walls of the trenches reveal a series of nested distributary channel fills. These channels had cut into old surfaces that are indicated by paleosols developed on flood silts. We distinguished many channel fills by their shape, clast size, flow direction, elevation, and relation to paleosols, enabling us to correlate them between both trenches. Two distinct episodes of fan deposition occurred during the Holocene. Reconstructing the apex positions of these fan units indicates that about 42 ± 6 m and 66 ± 6 m of fault slip has occurred since their inceptions at about 4.58 ± 0.05 ka, and 8.27 ± 0.05 ka, respectively. We lowered the age and age uncertainty of the younger unit from earlier reports based on new multiple radiocarbon dates. The 4.58 ka slip rate of 9.2 ± 1.3 mm/yr is not significantly different at 95% confidence from the 8.27 ka slip rate of 8.0 ± 0.7 mm/yr. Because current regional strain rates are fully consistent with Neogene plate tectonic rates (Lisowski et al., 1991) and the historic surface rate of creep in Union City is only 4.7 ± 0.1 mm/yr (Galehouse, 1994), the larger, ≥8 mm/yr, Holocene slip rate implies that strain is now accumulating on a locked zone at depth. The 8 mm/yr rate is probably minimal because earlier trenching evidence nearby implies that some unknown additional amount of fault deformation occurs outside of the narrow fault zone assumed in measuring slip. Lienkaemper et al. (1991) suggest that the fast creep rate of 9 mm/yr, measured near the southern end of the Hayward fault, may underestimate the deep slip rate, because 1868 surface slip occurred there in addition to the continuing fast creep. If the historic deep slip rate equals the long-term rate, then the 9 mm/yr creep rate reflects the minimum seismic loading rate of the Hayward fault better than the ≥8 mm/yr Holocene rates do.

The Honey Lake fault zone, a major right-lateral fault in the Basin and Range province of eastern California, is one of a broad system of faults that accommodate some of the relative motion between the Pacific and North American plates. These right-lateral faults may have significantly higher slip rates, and thus greater earthquake hazards, than the normal faults for which the Basin and Range is more commonly known. In the Honey Lake Valley, the fault forms a 50-km-long zone of landforms typical of active strike-slip faults. Right-lateral offset of an incised creek channel is used to estimate a Holocene slip rate of between 1.1 and 2.6 mm/yr. A fault exposure in Holocene alluvium shows evidence for at least four late Holocene surface-faulting earthquakes.

The Hayward fault is considered the most likely source of one or more major earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area in the next few decades. Historically, at least one, and probably two, major earthquakes (about M 6.8) occurred along the Hayward fault, one in 1836 and another in 1868. Little is known about the 1836 event, but the 1868 earthquake was accompanied by a surface rupture that extended as much as 41 km along the southern part of the fault. Although the amount of surface slip in 1868 is uncertain, right slip (including afterslip) reached at least several centimeters, and possibly several decimeters in places. This paper documents the spatial variation of creep rate along the Hayward fault since the 1868 earthquake. Creep (aseismic fault slip) occurs over at least 66 km and may extend over the fault's entire 82-km length, of which about 13 km lies underwater. Creep rate seems nearly constant over decades, but short-term variations occur. We derive creep rate mainly from our own systematic surveying of offset cultural features (curbs, fences, and buildings). On each feature we solve directly for accumulated creep by using multiple linear regression. Creep rate mostly falls in the range of 3.5–6.5 mm/yr; but systematic variation occurs along strike. Fault segments with distinctly higher and lower rates generally correspond to parts of the fault most salient from the overall average alinement of the fault. Most distinctive is a 4-km-long section near the south end of the fault that creeps at about 9 mm/yr. Such a high rate has occurred there at least since the 1920s and probably since the 1868 earthquake, as indicated by an offset railroad track built in 1869. We suggest that this 9 mm/yr slip rate may approach the long-term or deep slip rate that controls average recurrence interval between major earthquakes. If so, assuming an elastic rebound model, the potential for slip in large earthquakes below the surficial creeping zone is now ∼1.1 m in the southern (1868) segment of the fault and ≥ 1.4 m in the northern (1836?) segment. Subtracting surface creep rates from a long-term slip rate of 9 mm/yr gives present potential for surface slip in large earthquakes of up to 0.8 m, with an average of 0.6 m in the northern segment and 0.4 m in the southern segment. We present a simple hypothesis for rupture potential that is compatible with historic creep rate, microseismicity distribution, and geodetic data. If seismic rupture occurs on segments 41 km long by 10 km deep (7 km fully locked, 3 km creeping), today's potential for seismic moment release is 1.4 × 1019 and 1.1 × 1019 N m for both 1836? and 1868 segments, respectively, and 2.5 × 1019 N m for both segments jointly. Converting moment to magnitude gives ML 6.8 in the northern segment, ML 6.7 in the southern segment, and ML 7.0 for simultaneous rupture of both.

Neutron activation of volcanic ash followed by gamma-ray detection with a Ge(Li) semiconductor detector and 4096 multichannel analyzer produced rapid analysis for 19 elements. This was demonstrated to be useful for correlating soil parent materials. The trace element compositions of volcanic glass from C horizons of soils along a 450-km transect in Oregon correlate with known ejecta from Mt. Mazama. Concentration of transition metals in upper horizons relative to C horizons occurred in the order Cr > Co > Fe = Sc. Ratios of Na/Fe and Na/Co increased with depth. The abundances of Hf, Th, and the rare earth elements, as well as Sc/Fe ratios, were relatively constant with depth. Stable elemental ratios unique to Mazama ash aided correlation of weathered soil horizons. Some of the soils of northeastern Oregon may have small amounts of St. Helens ash in upper horizons in addition to the predominant Mazama ash.

A rhyolitic volcanic ash bed about 0.3 m thick is exposed in a roadcut along Texas Highway 193 near Mount Blanco in the upper part of a sequence of Pleistocene sedimentary deposits at the type locality of the Blanco Formation, about 59 km northeast of Lubbock, Texas. This ash, here named informally the Guaje ash bed, has chemical and petrographic characteristics closely resembling those of the rhyolitic air-fall tephra (Guaje Pumice Bed) that directly underlies ash flows of Pleistocene age in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. The Guaje Pumice Bed and the ash flows belong to the Otowi Member of the Bandelier Tuff. Properties common to the Guaje ash bed and the Guaje Pumice Bed include: refractive index of glass, 1.497–1.498; microphenocrysts of quartz, sanidine (Or42–44), ferrohedenbergite (Fe51Ca42Mg7), chevkinite, allanite, zircon, and magnetite. Chemical composition of the glass of the Guaje ash bed matches that of the Guaje Pumice Bed for all major elements except K and Na and for trace elements determined by standard chemical analyses, atomic absorption, and neutron activation. Paleomagnetic measurements indicate that the ash has reverse depositional remanent magnetization. Glass shards of the ash have a fission-track age of about 1.4 ± 0.2 m. y. Sanidine from the Guaje Pumice Bed and its genetically related ash-flow sheet in the Jemez Mountains was K-Ar dated at about 1.4 m. y. by R. R. Doell and his colleagues in 1968. Correlation of the Guaje ash bed with the radiometrically dated Guaje Pumice Bed establishes a minimum age of about 1.4 m. y. for the Blanco Formation.

(Received 22 March 1971) Abstract-Clay fractions in soils from a transect of the Mazama ash deposit (6600-yr-old) contained more than 80% amorphous material. Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to compare the trace element composition of the soil clay with the unweathered volcanic glass. The clay fractions had only 10% as much Na as the volcanic glass. Conversely, the rare earth element concentrations were about three times greater and the transition metal concentrations were up to nine times greater in the clay than in the glass. The < 2/z size fraction therefore contained mostly weathering products rather than fine glass. The abundances of Cr, Co, Sc, and Fe in the clay fraction decreased with depth. The Sc/Fe ratio was approximately 4 x 10 -4 for both clay and the unweathered glass. The relationship between ele- mental concentration in clay and fine sand size separates from the same soil horizons indicated that the clay exists in association with the larger size particles, probably as coatings. Dilute nitric acid removed about 80% of the rare earth elements La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Yb, and Lu from the clay. Deferration was necessary to remove Ce, a rare earth element that forms insoluble oxides upon oxidation to the Ce 4+ state. The residue of the KOH dissolution treatment contained 2 : 1 layer silicates that may be derived from primary biotite.

Volcanic ash deposits whose source is the Cascade Mountains area were correlated on the basis of 19 elemental abundances obtained by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). After activation of glassy separates in a TRIGA reactor, gammaray spectra were obtained and analyzed with computer programs. The elements Na, Sm, Sc, Fe, Ce, Hf, and Th were determined with relative standard deviations less than 5%; the precision for La, Co, Eu, Yb, Cs, Ba, and Lu was less than 17%; larger errors were obtained for Rb, Ta, Nd, Tb, and Cr. A statistical method was developed for correlation on the basis of relative elemental compositions unique to the ash deposits. Elemental abundances of Mazama glassy separates were independent of distance from the source. The site to site chemical variability of crystal rich Glacier Peak and St. Helens ash layers was greater than for Mazama and Newberry ashes. The Rb, Yb, Lu, Th, and Ta contents in Newberry glass were more than twice those in Mazama glass. The concentrations of trace elements in Glacier Peak and St. Helens ashes generally were less than one-half those in Mazama glass. The presence of Mazama ash has been confirmed at sites in Oregon, Washington, Alberta, and in sediments of the Pacific Ocean.

The cause of geomagnetic reversals remains a geological mystery. With the availability of improved paleomagnetic databases in the past three years, a reexamination of possible periodicity in the geomagnetic reversal rate seems warranted. Previous reports of cyclicity in the reversal rate, along with the recent discovery of harmonic cycles in a variety of natural events, sparked our interest in reevaluating possible patterns in the reversal rate. Here, we focus on geomagnetic periodicity, but also analyze paleointensity, zircon formation, star formation, quasar formation, supernova, and gamma ray burst records to determine if patterns that occur in other types of data have similar periodicity. If so, then the degree of synchronization will indicate likely causal relationships with geomagnetic reversals. To achieve that goal, newly available time-series records from these disciplines were tested for cyclicity by using spectral analysis and time-lagged cross-correlation techniques. The results showed evidence of period-tripled cycles of 30.44, 91.33, 274, 822, and 2466 million years, corresponding to the periodicity from a new Universal Cycle model. Based on the results, a fractal model of the universe is hypothesized in which sub-electron fractal matter acts as a dynamic medium for large-scale waves that cause the cycles in astronomical and geological processes. According to this hypothesis, the medium of sub-electron fractal matter periodically compresses and decompresses according to the standard laws for mechanical waves. Consequently, the compressions contribute to high-pressure environments and vice versa for the decompressions, which are hypothesized to cause the instabilities that lead to episodic astronomical and geological events.

Neutron activation of glassy separates of volcanic ash resulted in 21 nuclides measurable with instrumental techniques. The relative activities of most of the nuclides distinguish samples from Mount Mazama, Newberry Crater, and Glacier Peak. The usefulness of the technique was assessed by comparing the values for known sources with those from fine ash of uncertain origin. The data strongly suggest Mount Mazama as the source.

Neutron activation analyses confirmed a previous correlation of a white rhyolitic volcanic ash bed with the Bishop Tuff of eastern California. Distinctions were made between the glass fractions of Bishop and Pearlette-like ashes, both of which occur in middle Pleistocene deposits of California, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska. A third type of ash (ash of Green Mountain Reservoir), petrographically similar to the Bishop Tuff, appeared to be chemically distinct. A coefficient was introduced as a simple measure of multivariate similarity. Discriminant function analysis indicated that Mn and Sm were most useful in distinguishing chemically between Bishop, Green Mountain Reservoir, and Pearlette-like ashes. Both statistical methods confirmed conclusions drawn from visual observation of the da a.

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was used to correlate volcanic ash layers in several peat bogs in eastern Oregon. The concentration of 19 elements in glass separates from most of the ash layers indicates correlation with Mazama pumice sampled near Crater Lake, Oregon. Radiocarbon dates of the peat also verify the ash as Mazama. The ash is 18 cm thick at a distance of 450 km from the source. Two other ash layers, one ∼2,775 yr B.P. and one >9,640 yr B.P., occur in bogs of northeastern Oregon.