Oxygen variance and meridional oxygen supply in the Tropical North East Atlantic oxygen minimum zone

The distribution of the mean oceanic oxygen concentration results from a balance between ventilation and consumption. In the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic, this balance creates extended oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) at intermediate depth. Here, we analyze hydrographic and velocity data from shipboard and moored observations, which were taken along the 23°W meridian cutting through the Tropical North East Atlantic (TNEA) OMZ, to study the distribution and generation of oxygen variability. By applying the extended Osborn–Cox model, the respective role of mesoscale stirring and diapycnal mixing in producing enhanced oxygen variability, found at the southern and upper boundary of the OMZ, is quantified. From the well-ventilated equatorial region toward the OMZ core a northward eddy-driven oxygen flux is observed whose divergence corresponds to an oxygen supply of about 2.4 μmol kg^?1 year^?1 at the OMZ core depth. Above the OMZ core, mesoscale eddies act to redistribute low- and high-oxygen waters associated with westward and eastward currents, respectively. Here, absolute values of the local oxygen supply >10 μmol kg^?1 year^?1 are found, likely balanced by mean zonal advection. Combining our results with recent studies, a refined oxygen budget for the TNEA OMZ is derived. Eddy-driven meridional oxygen supply contributes more than 50 % of the supply required to balance the estimated oxygen consumption. The oxygen tendency in the OMZ, as given by the multidecadal oxygen decline, is maximum slightly above the OMZ core and represents a substantial imbalance of the oxygen budget reaching about 20 % of the magnitude of the eddy-driven oxygen supply.     

Middle Mantle Seismic Structure of the African Superplume

I present the results of statistical hypothesis testing of Grand’s (2002) global tomography model of three-dimensional shear velocity variations for the middle mantle underneath eastern and southern Africa. I apply an F test to evaluate the validity of a model where a tilted, slow-velocity anomaly in the deepest mantle under southern Africa, known as the African superplume, is continuous with a slow-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle under eastern Africa. This null hypothesis is tested against alternative hypotheses, in which various “obstruction volumes” in the middle mantle are constrained to zero perturbation from the one-dimensional reference velocity during the tomographic inversion. I find that there is an equal probability of accepting an alternative hypothesis with a thin “obstruction volume” at 850–1,000 km depth, whereas volumes at other depths are rejected. But the alternative hypothesis, where a connection is forced at 850–1,000 km depth, is rejected. I conclude that the African superplume rises to at least 1,150 km depth, and that the upper mantle slow-velocity anomaly continues from the surface to below the mantle transition zone. I interpret the “obstruction volume” as a weakening of the superplume in the middle mantle.     

Comparative analysis of Venus and Mars magnetotails

We have an unique opportunity to compare the magnetospheres of two non-magnetic planets as Mars and Venus with identical instrument sets Aspera-3 and Aspera-4 on board of the Mars Express and Venus Express missions. We have performed both statistical and case studies of properties of the magnetosheath ion flows and the flows of planetary ions behind both planets. We have shown that the general morphology of both magnetotails is generally identical. In both cases the energy of the light (H⁺) and the heavy (O⁺, etc.) ions decreases from the tail periphery (several keV) down to few eV in the tail center. At the same time the wake center of both planets is occupied by plasma sheet coincident with the current sheet of the tail. Both plasma sheets are filled by accelerated (500-1000 eV) heavy planetary ions. We report also the discovery of a new feature never observed before in the tails of non-magnetic planets: the plasma sheet is enveloped by consecutive layers of He⁺ and H⁺ with decreasing energies.     

Mars Express and Venus Express multi-point observations of geoeffective solar flare events in December 2006

In December 2006, a single active region produced a series of proton solar flares, with X-ray class up to the X9.0 level, starting on 5 December 2006 at 10:35 UT. A feature of this X9.0 flare is that associated MeV particles were observed at Venus and Mars by Venus Express (VEX) and Mars Express (MEX), which were ∼80° and ∼125° east of the flare site, respectively, in addition to the Earth, which was ∼79° west of the flare site. On December 5, 2006, the plasma instruments ASPERA-3 and ASPERA-4 on board MEX and VEX detected a large enhancement in their respective background count levels. This is a typical signature of solar energetic particle (SEP) events, i.e., intensive MeV particle fluxes. The timings of these enhancements were consistent with the estimated field-aligned travel time of particles associated with the X9.0 flare that followed the Parker spiral to reach Venus and Mars. Coronal mass ejection (CME) signatures that might be related to the proton flare were twice identified at Venus within <43 and <67 h after the flare. Although these CMEs did not necessarily originate from the X9.0 flare on December 5, 2006, they most likely originated from the same active region because these characteristics are very similar to flare-associated CMEs observed on the Earth. These observations indicate that CME and flare activities on the invisible side of the Sun may affect terrestrial space weather as a result of traveling more than 90° in both azimuthal directions in the heliosphere. We would also like to emphasize that during the SEP activity, MEX data indicate an approximately one-order of magnitude enhancement in the heavy ion outflow flux from the Martian atmosphere. This is the first observation of the increase of escaping ion flux from Martian atmosphere during an intensive SEP event. This suggests that the solar EUV flux levels significantly affect the atmospheric loss from unmagnetized planets.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis><Subscript>S</Subscript> wave attenuation of South African earthquakes

Quality factor Q, which describes the attenuation of seismic waves with distance, was determined for South Africa using data recorded by the South African National Seismograph Network. Because of an objective paucity of seismicity in South Africa and modernisation of the seismograph network only in 2007, I carried out a coda wave decay analysis on only 13 tectonic earthquakes and 7 mine-related events for the magnitude range 3.6?≤?M _L ?≤?4.4. Up to five seismograph stations were utilised to determine Q _c for frequencies at 2, 4, 8 and 16 Hz resulting in 84 individual measurements. The constants Q ₀ and α were determined for the attenuation relation Q _c(f)?=?Q ₀ f ^α . The result was Q ₀?=?396?±?29 and α?=?0.72?±?0.04 for a lapse time of 1.9*(t _s???t ₀) (time from origin time t ₀ to the start of coda analysis window is 1.9 times the S-travel time, t _s) and a coda window length of 80 s. This lapse time and coda window length were found to fit the most individual frequencies for a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 3 and a minimum absolute correlation coefficient for the envelope of 0.5. For a positive correlation coefficient, the envelope amplitude increases with time and Q _c was not calculated. The derived Q _c was verified using the spectral ratio method on a smaller data set consisting of nine earthquakes and one mine-related event recorded by up to four seismograph stations. Since the spectral ratio method requires absolute amplitudes in its calculations, site response tests were performed to select four appropriate stations without soil amplification and/or signal distortion. The result obtained for Q _S was Q ₀?=?391?±?130 and α?=?0.60?±?0.16, which agrees well with the coda Q _c result.     

Statistical analysis of the observations of the MEX/ASPERA-3 NPI in the shadow

The analyser of space plasma and energetic atoms (ASPERA-3) neutral particle imager (NPI) on board Mars Express (MEX) is devoted to energetic neutral atom (ENA) detection within the Martian environment. These ENAs originate from the interaction between the energetic ions flowing inside the Martian environment and the exospheric neutral gas, thus providing crucial information about the dynamics of this interaction. NPI records the instantaneous angular distribution of the energy-integrated ENA signal. In order to identify recurrent ENA signals in the Martian environment, we have performed a statistical analysis of the NPI data. Count rates have been averaged using different methods in order to be able to discriminate signals coming from the planet, from a selected direction, or from specific planetographic regions at the planetary surface. Possible recurrent ENA signals (about 5×10⁶ (cm² sr s)^?1) are found coming from the terminator direction and above the atmosphere toward nightside when the spacecraft was inside the planetary shadow, mainly close to the shadow edge. Some significant signal was found from the anti-Mars directions in 2005. No statistically significant signal related to pick-up ions from the atmosphere or related to magnetic anomalies above the sensor intrinsic error (estimated as 3×10⁶ (cm² sr s)^?1) was observed. Our analysis shows that particular attention should be given to the use of NPI data when performing statistical studies; in fact, the sensor has some intrinsic limitations due to inadequate UV suppression, difficulties in sector inter-calibrations, and variations in the sector response versus time.     

The accretion powered spin-up of GRO J1750−27

The timing properties of the 4.45 s pulsar in the Be X-ray binary system GRO J1750−27 are examined using hard X-ray data from INTEGRAL and Swift during a type II outburst observed during 2008. The orbital parameters of the system are measured and agree well with those found during the last known outburst of the system in 1995. Correcting the effects of the Doppler shifting of the period, due to the orbital motion of the pulsar, leads to the detection of an intrinsic spin-up that is well described by a simple model including     and     terms of  −7.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ s s⁻¹  and  1 × 10⁻¹⁶ s s⁻²  , respectively. The model is then used to compare the time-resolved variation of the X-ray flux and intrinsic spin-up against the accretion torque model of Ghosh & Lamb; this finds that GRO J1750−27 is likely located 12–22 kpc distant and that the surface magnetic field of the neutron star is  ∼2 × 10¹²  G. The shape of the pulse and the pulsed fraction shows different behaviour above and below 20 keV, indicating that the observed pulsations are the convolution of many complex components.     

The Ultraviolet Spectrometer and Polarimeter on the Solar Maximum Mission

The Ultraviolet Spectrometer and Polarimeter (UVSP) on the Solar Maximum Mission spacecraft is described, including the experiment objectives, system design, performance, and modes of operation. The instrument operates in the wavelength range 1150–3600 Å with better than 2 arc sec spatial resolution, raster range 256 × 256 arc sec², and 20 mÅ spectral resolution in second order. Observations can be made with specific sets of 4 lines simultaneously, or with both sides of 2 lines simultaneously for velocity and polarization. A rotatable retarder can be inserted into the spectrometer beam for measurement of Zeeman splitting and linear polarization in the transition region and chromosphere.Currently at MMTO, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. 85721, U.S.A.     

A spatially-explicit approach for estimating carrying capacity: An application for the Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) in Chesapeake Bay

A spatially-explicit methodology was developed for estimating system carrying capacities of fish stocks, and used to estimate the seasonal and spatial patterns of carrying capacity of Chesapeake Bay for Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus). We used a spatially-explicit three-dimensional (3-D) model that divided the heterogeneous habitat of Chesapeake Bay into over 4,000 cubes. Each cube represented a volume of water that was characterized by a specific set of environmental variables (phytoplankton biomass, temperature, and dissolved oxygen) driven by the 3-D water quality model. Foraging and bioenergetics models transformed the environmental variables into measures of potential growth rates of menhaden. Potential carrying capacity of menhaden was estimated as a function of phytoplankton production, menhaden consumption rate, and potential growth rate, combining phytoplankton production, thermal habitat, and menhaden physiology into one ecological value that is a measure of habitat quality from the perspective of the fish. Seasonal analysis of the Chesapeake Bay carrying capacity for Atlantic menhaden suggested two bottleneck periods: one in early June and a second during the fall. The bottleneck in carrying capacity was at about 10 billion age-0 fish. Annual recruitment of age-0 menhaden for the entire Atlantic coast of the U.S. ranged from 1.2–18.6 billion fish between 1955 and 1986. It appears that carrying capacity of, Chesapeake Bay does not limit the coastwide production of young menhaden. Any conditions such as nutrient reduction strategies, further eutrophication, or global climatic warming, that may influence the carrying capacity during the fall or early June periods, may ultimately alter coastwide abundance of menhaden through changes in Chesapeake Bay carrying capacity.     

Chlorite dissolution in the acid ph-range: a combined microscopic and macroscopic approach

The dissolution of chlorite with intermediate Fe-content was studied macroscopically via mixed flow experiments as well as microscopically via atomic force microscopy (AFM). BET surface area normalized steady state dissolution rates at 25 °C for pH 2 to 5 vary between 10⁻¹² and 10⁻¹³ mol/m^2.s. The order of the dissolution reaction with respect to protons was calculated to be about 0.29. For pH 2 to 4, chlorite was found to dissolve non-stoichiometrically, with a preferred release of the octahedrally coordinated cations. The additional release of octahedrally coordinated cations may be due to the transformation of chlorite to interstratified chlorite/vermiculite from the grain edges inward.In-situ atomic force microscopy performed on the basal surfaces of a chlorite sample, which has been preconditioned at pH 2 for several months, indicated a defect controlled dissolution mechanism. Molecular steps with height differences which correspond to the different subunits of chlorite, e.g. TOT sheet and brucite like layer, originated at surface defects such or compositional inhomogenities or cracks, which may be due to the deformation history of the chlorite sample. In contrast to other sheet silicates, at pH 2 nanoscale etch pits occur on the chlorite basal surfaces within flat terraces terminated by a TOT-sheet as well as within the brucite like layer. The chlorite basal surface dissolves layer by layer, because most of the surface defects are only expressed through single TOT or brucite-like layers. The defect controlled dissolution mechanism favours dissolution of molecular steps on the basal surfaces compared to dissolution of the grain edges. At pH 2 the dissolution of the chlorite basal surface is dominated by the retreat of 14 Å steps, representing one chlorite unit cell.The macroscopic and microscopic chlorite dissolution rates can be linked via the reactive surface area as identified by AFM. The reactive surface area with respect to dissolution consists of only 0.2% of the BET-surface area. A dissolution rate of 2.5 × 10⁻⁹ mol/m²s was calculated from macroscopic and microscopic dissolution experiments at pH 2, when normalized to the reactive surface area.