Creating an isotopically similar Earth–Moon system with correct angular momentum from a giant impact

The giant impact hypothesis is the dominant theory explaining the formation of our Moon. However, the inability to produce an isotopically similar Earth–Moon system with correct angular momentum has cast a shadow on its validity. Computer-generated impacts have been successful in producing virtual systems that possess many of the observed physical properties. However, addressing the isotopic similarities between the Earth and Moon coupled with correct angular momentum has proven to be challenging. Equilibration and evection resonance have been proposed as means of reconciling the models. In the summer of 2013, the Royal Society called a meeting solely to discuss the formation of the Moon. In this meeting, evection resonance and equilibration were both questioned as viable means of removing the deficiencies from giant impact models. The main concerns were that models were multi-staged and too complex. We present here initial impact conditions that produce an isotopically similar Earth–Moon system with correct angular momentum. This is done in a single-staged simulation. The initial parameters are straightforward and the results evolve solely from the impact. This was accomplished by colliding two roughly half-Earth-sized impactors, rotating in approximately the same plane in a high-energy, off-centered impact, where both impactors spin into the collision.     

Characteristics of Alkanes in Ferromanganese Nodules of the Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone

This work presents the first results of a comparative study on the composition and distribution of organic matter (OM) (TOC, n-alkanes, pristane, phytane) in ferromanganese nodules and underlying sediments (0–1 cm) from three sites within the Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone, Pacific Ocean. Samples were collected during Cruise 120 of the RSS James Cook in 2015. The studied nodules differ in size, shape, and morphology. The TOC content in the nodules is 0.15% on average with insignificant variations which is less than in the sediments. The molecular composition of n-alkanes in the nodules is mainly determined by modern bacterial activity with high preservation of terrigenous n-alkanes in the environment of the ore deposit formation.     

Design Experience of a Demonstrator Descent Vehicle Introducing Aeroelastic Deployable Structural Elements to Space Engineering

The development project of a prototype demonstrator for a descent vehicle and the possibilities of descent from orbit using aero-elastic braking devices deployable in space and in the atmosphere is considered. The project was carried out jointly by the Lavochkin Scientific Production Association and the Moscow Aviation Institute teams in 2013–2015. The results are evaluated for both the project itself and the cooperation of the two organizations.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Wind</Emphasis>/EPACT Proton Event Catalog (1996 – 2016)

We present the finalized catalog of solar energetic proton events detected by the Wind/EPACT instrument over the period 1996?–?2016. Onset times, peak times, peak proton intensity and onset-to-peak proton fluence are evaluated for the two available energy channels, at about 25 and 50 MeV. We describe the procedure utilized to identify the proton events and to relate them to their solar origin (in terms of flares and coronal mass ejections). The statistical relationships between the energetic protons and their origin (linear and partial correlation analysis) are reported and discussed in view of earlier findings. Finally, the different trends found in the first 8 years of Solar Cycles 23 and 24 are discussed.     

High-frequency monitoring of hydrological and biogeochemical fluxes in forested catchments of southern Chile

The variability of rainfall-dependent streamflow at catchment scale modulates many ecosystem processes in wet temperate forests. Runoff in small mountain catchments is characterized by a quick response to rainfall pulses which affects biogeochemical fluxes to all downstream systems. In wet-temperate climates, water erosion is the most important natural factor driving downstream soil and nutrient losses from upland ecosystems. Most hydrochemical studies have focused on water flux measurements at hourly scales, along with weekly or monthly samples for water chemistry. Here, we assessed how water and element flows from broad-leaved, evergreen forested catchments in southwestern South America, are influenced by different successional stages, quantifying runoff, sediment transport and nutrient fluxes during hourly rainfall events of different intensities. Hydrograph comparisons among different successional stages indicated that forested catchments differed in their responses to high intensity rainfall, with greater runoff in areas covered by secondary forests (SF), compared to old-growth forest cover (OG) and dense scrub vegetation (CH). Further, throughfall water was greatly nutrient enriched for all forest types. Suspended sediment loads varied between successional stages. SF catchments exported 455 kg of sediments per ha, followed by OG with 91 kg/ha and CH with 14 kg/ha, corresponding to 11 rainfall events measured from December 2013 to April 2014. Total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations in stream water also varied with rainfall intensity. In seven rainfall events sampled during the study period, CH catchments exported less nutrients (46 kg/ha TN and 7 kg/ha TP) than SF catchments (718 kg/ha TN and 107 kg/ha TP), while OG catchments exported intermediate sediment loads (201 kg/ha TN and 23 kg/ha TP). Further, we found significant effects of successional stage attributes (vegetation structure and soil physical properties) and catchment morphometry on runoff and sediment concentrations, and greater nutrients retention in OG and CH catchments. We conclude that in these southern hemisphere, broad-leaved evergreen temperate forests, hydrological processes are driven by multiple interacting phenomena, including climate, vegetation, soils, topography, and disturbance history.     

Numerical Simulation of Ionospheric Disturbances Generated by the Chelyabinsk and Tunguska Space Body Impacts

Numerical simulation of atmospheric disturbances during the first hours after the Chelyabinsk and Tunguska space body impacts has been carried out. The results of detailed calculations, including the stages of destruction, evaporation and deceleration of the cosmic body, the generation of atmospheric disturbances and their propagation over distances of thousands of kilometers, have been compared with the results of spherical explosions with energy equal to the kinetic energy of meteoroids. It has been shown that in the case of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, an explosive analogy provides acceptable dimensions of the perturbed region and the perturbation amplitude. With a more powerful Tunguska fall, the resulting atmospheric flow is very different from the explosive one; an atmospheric plume emerges that releases matter from the meteoric trace to an altitude of the order of a thousand kilometers.     

Statistical Characteristics of Meteoroid Parameters in the Earth’s Atmosphere

Statistical characteristics of meteoroids with kinetic energy from 0.1 to 440 kt TNT are estimated based on NASA satellite observations made in 1994–2016. The distributions of the number of falling meteoroids are constructed and analyzed based on the values of their initial kinetic energy, initial velocity, initial mass, altitude, geographic coordinates of the maximum total radiated energy region, and the year of the fall. Correlation dependences “mass–initial kinetic energy,” “maximum total radiated energy region altitude–initial kinetic energy,” and “maximum total radiated energy region altitude–initial velocity (the square of the initial velocity)” are constructed.     

Revisiting the existence of an effective stress for wet granular soils with micromechanics

A possible effective stress variable for wet granular materials is numerically investigated based on an adapted discrete element method (DEM) model for an ideal three‐phase system. The DEM simulations consider granular materials made of nearly monodisperse spherical particles, in the pendular regime with the pore fluid mixture consisting of distinct water menisci bridging particle pairs. The contact force‐related stress contribution to the total stresses is isolated and tested as the effective stress candidate for dense or loose systems. It is first recalled that this contact stress tensor is indeed an adequate effective stress that describes stress limit states of wet samples with the same Mohr‐Coulomb criterion associated with their dry counterparts. As for constitutive relationships, it is demonstrated that the contact stress tensor used in conjunction with dry constitutive relations does describe the strains of wet samples during an initial strain regime but not beyond. Outside this so‐called quasi‐static strain regime, whose extent is much greater for dense than loose materials, dramatic changes in the contact network prevent macroscale contact stress‐strain relationships to apply in the same manner to dry and unsaturated conditions. The presented numerical results also reveal unexpected constitutive bifurcations for the loose material, related to stick‐slip macrobehavior.     

Analytical study of the swing-by maneuver in an elliptical system

The objective of the present paper is to derive a set of analytical equations that describe a swing-by maneuver realized in a system of primaries that are in elliptical orbits. The goal is to calculate the variations of energy, velocity and angular momentum as a function of the usual basic parameters that describe the swing-by maneuver, as done before for the case of circular orbits. In elliptical orbits the velocity of the secondary body is no longer constant, as in the circular case, but it varies with the position of the secondary body in its orbit. As a consequence, the variations of energy, velocity and angular momentum become functions of the magnitude and the angle between the velocity vector of the secondary body and the line connecting the primaries. The “patched-conics” approach is used to obtain these equations. The configurations that result in maximum gains and losses of energy for the spacecraft are shown next, and a comparison between the results obtained using the analytical equations and numerical simulations are made to validate the method developed here.