Imaging the surface of Mercury using ground-based telescopes

We describe and compare two methods of short-exposure, high-definition ground-based imaging of the planet Mercury. Two teams have recorded images of Mercury on different dates, from different locations, and with different observational and data reduction techniques. Both groups have achieved spatial resolutions of <250 km, and the same albedo features and contrast levels appear where the two datasets overlap (longitudes 270–360°). Dark albedo regions appear as mare and correlate well with smooth terrain radar signatures. Bright albedo features agree optically, but less well with radar data. Such confirmations of state-of-the-art optical techniques introduce a new era of ground-based exploration of Mercury's surface and its atmosphere. They offer opportunities for synergistic, cooperative observations before and during the upcoming Messenger and BepiColombo missions to Mercury.     

A fish hepatocyte model for the investigation of the effects of environmental contaminants

An isolated fish hepatocyte culture system was developed as a models ystem to investigate the mechanisms of action of environmental contaminants. Hepatocytes were isolated from striped bass (Morone saxatilis) by an adaptation of the two stage perfusion technique of Seglen.¹ The system was used to evaluate metal binding protein (MBP) induction in response to cadmium, a primary inducer of metallothionein (MT) in rat hepatocytes. Striped bass hepatocytes appeared to be refractory to the induction of MBP by cadmium, since there was no significant increase in the synthesis of MBP for any of the doses at any of the time points investigated. However, when a similar experiment was performed using rat hepatocytes there was induction of MBP that was related to both dose and time. These comparative experiments indicate that although there are similarities between the hepatocytes of the two species in regard to ³⁵S incorporation into low molecular weight metal-binding proteins, there appear to be significant quantitative differences as well in regard to MBP kinetics. This in vitro model system could potentially be utilized to investigate the toxicological properties of other environmental contaminants.     

Size distribution of colloidal trace metals and organic carbon during a coastal bloom in the Baltic Sea

The physico-chemical speciation of organic carbon and selected metals was measured during a coastal bloom in Ekhagen Bay, Baltic Sea, using ultrafiltration.One important objective with the study was to see if any depletion of trace metals could be measured in the directly bioavailable fraction (<1000 Da, the soluble low molecular weight fraction, LMW) during a plankton bloom. Filters with five different cut-offs were used (1 kD (1000 Da), 5 kD, 10 kD, 100 kD and 0.22 μm) in order to delineate the size distribution of colloidal organic carbon (COC) and trace metals.During the bloom in May, LMW Al, Co, Cu, Mn and Ni concentrations decreased although the colloidal and particulate concentrations were relatively high. Data show that desorption of colloidal and particulate bound trace metals to the LMW fraction was slower than the process depleting the LMW fraction.Estimates of the maximum active uptake of Cu, Ni and Mn by the phytoplankton, and the loss of non-bioactive Al from the LMW fraction, indicate that processes other than active uptake by phytoplankton must contribute to the observed depletion of trace metals in the LMW fraction. Hence, in order to estimate the bioavailable pool of trace metals for plankton during bloom conditions, these other processes must be understood and quantified.Transparent Exopolymeric Particles (TEP, reflecting sugar-rich phytoplankton exudates) increased around eight times during the plankton bloom. We hypothesize that the formation of TEP is a process that might be important for the transfer of trace metals from the LMW to the particulate fraction during the phytoplankton bloom, but the significance of TEP for this depletion in Baltic Sea surface water remains to be shown.     

Nutrients and zooplankton composition and dynamics in relation to the hydrological pattern in a confined Mediterranean salt marsh (NE Iberian Peninsula)

The role of the hydrological regime in the nutrients and zooplankton composition and dynamics has been analysed in five lagoons of La Pletera salt marshes (NE Iberian Peninsula) during a complete hydrological cycle (2002–2003). Two of the lagoons have their origin in the old river mouths while the other three were recently created in the framework of a Life Restoration project. This fact has also allowed us to study the effect of the lagoon age on nutrient and zooplankton composition and dynamics. The salt marsh hydrology is determined by a prolonged period of confinement without water inputs, irregularly interrupted by sudden water inputs due to flooding events (sea storms or intense rainfalls). While the dynamics of oxidized nitrogen compounds in the lagoons depends on the water inputs variability within each hydrological cycle, the internal load of phosphorus, total nitrogen and organic matter is related more to the cumulative mechanisms during the confinement periods. Accumulation processes may be easily related to lagoon age, since old lagoons have higher content of nutrients and organic matter, suggesting that these lagoons progressively accumulate nutrients during the successive confinement events. This is the usual case for most Mediterranean salt marshes without an artificially manipulated water regime. The zooplankton community in La Pletera integrates the effects of both the hydrological regime and the lagoon age since the former determines the temporal pattern of the main zooplankton species and the latter explains differences in composition and structure between old and new lagoons.     

The POC / Th ratio of settling particles isolated using split flow-thin cell fractionation (SPLITT)

The common assumption that the ratio between particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate ²³⁴Th obtained from shallow sediment traps and filterable particles are representative of the ratio in the total particle settling flux should be treated with caution in view of well-known biases associated with tethered shallow sediment traps and the decoupling between size and settling velocity of many natural particle regimes. To make progress toward reliably constraining the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio on truly settling particles, we have tested here a settling collection technique designed to remove any hydrodynamic bias; split flow-thin cell fractionation (SPLITT). These first results from a North Sea fjord and an open Baltic Sea time-series station indicates that the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio on the more complete particle-settling spectrum, isolated with SPLITT, was higher than the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio obtained simultaneously from tethered shallow sediment traps in seven out of seven parallel deployments with an average factor of 210%. The POC / ²³⁴Th ratio from the SPLITT was either in the same range or higher than that obtained on filtered “bulk” particles. To explain this novel data we hypothesize that the slowest settling fraction is organic-matter rich and does not strongly complex ²³⁴Th (i.e., high POC / ²³⁴Th). We suggest that this ultra-slow sinking fraction is better collected by SPLITT than with tethered sediment traps because of minimized hydrodynamic bias.This was tested using the ratio of POC / Al as a tracer of detrital mineral-ballast influenced settling velocity. The higher POC / Al ratios in SPLITT samples relative to in traps is consistent with the hypothesis that SPLITT is better suited for collecting also the slow-settling component of sinking particles. This important slow-settling component appears to here consist primarily of non-APS/TEP components of plankton exudates or other less-strongly ²³⁴Th-complexing organic matter. Further applications of the SPLITT technique are likely to return increasingly new insights on the composition (including “truly settling” POC / ²³⁴Th) of the total spectrum of particles settling out of the upper ocean.     

Zircon M257 ‐ a Homogeneous Natural Reference Material for the Ion Microprobe U‐Pb Analysis of Zircon

We introduce and propose zircon M257 as a future reference material for the determination of zircon U‐Pb ages by means of secondary ion mass spectrometry. This light brownish, flawless, cut gemstone specimen from Sri Lanka weighed 5.14 g (25.7 carats). Zircon M257 has TIMS‐determined, mean isotopic ratios (2s uncertainties) of 0.09100 ± 0.00003 for ²⁰⁶pb/²³⁸U and 0.7392 ± 0.0003 for ²⁰⁷pb/²³⁵U. Its ²⁰⁶pb/²³⁸U age is 561.3 ± 0.3 Ma (unweighted mean, uncertainty quoted at the 95% confidence level); the U‐Pb system is concordant within uncertainty of decay constants. Zircon M257 contains ～ 840 μg g^?1 U (Th/U ～ 0.27). The material exhibits remarkably low heterogeneity, with a virtual absence of any internal textures even in cathodoluminescence images. The uniform, moderate degree of radiation damage (estimated from the expansion of unit‐cell parameters, broadening of Raman spectral parameters and density) corresponds well, within the “Sri Lankan trends”, with actinide concentrations, U‐Pb age, and the calculated alpha fluence of 1.66 × 10¹⁸ g^?1. This, and a (U+Th)/He age of 419 ± 9 Ma (2s), enables us to exclude any unusual thermal history or heat treatment, which could potentially have affected the retention of radiogenic Pb. The oxygen isotope ratio of this zircon is 13.9%o VSMOW suggesting a metamorphic genesis in a marble or calc‐silicate skarn.     

Remote comets and related bodies: VJHK colorimetry and surface materials

Spectrophotometric data show that major compositional groups among outer solar system (OSS) surfaces include bright ices and at least two distinct classes of blackish carbonaceous-like materials, called C-type and RD-type. VJHK colorimetry of asteroids, satellites, and laboratory samples shows that these three classes can be distinguished by VJHK colors. We define an “α index” that denotes the position of objects in VJHK color - color diagrams; it empirically increases with albedo and ice/dirt ratio. We use the above data to define color fields that may be useful in interpreting our observations of eight comets (1980–1981). All eight comets have colors generally resembling RD asteroids and are inconsistent with reflection off clean ice surfaces. The observations suggest that these comets' halos contain RD dirt or dirty ice grains colored by RD dirt, supporting J. Gradie and J. Veverka's [Nature283, 840–842 (1980)] prediction of RD, rather than C, material in comets. Remote Comet P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 was observed both during outburst and quiescence and had the highest α index of any observed comet. Comet α indices appear to be correlated with solar distance. Further work will be needed to clarify possible coloring effects due to particle size, dispersal, and composition. We suggest a number of physical interpretations based on a single two-component mixing model, which assumes that all OSS planetesimals formed primarily from bright ices and dark carboneceous-like dirt, consistent with condensation theory. We discuss differentiation processes that concentrated one component or the other at the surface. All measured OSS interplanetary bodies have surfaces of dark dirt or dark dirty ice colored by the dirt component. Comets, consistent with the Whipple dirty iceberg model, are such objects close enough to the Sun for volatilization to throw dirty ice grains into the coma. In remote comets, the ice component of the grains remains stable, and we see dirty ice grains; in near comets, the ice component vaporizes, and we see dirt grains. A volatile-depleted dusty regolith on P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 and other remote comets could explain their eruptive behavior by means of gas pressure buildup in the porous, weakly bonded dust.     

Assessing the Vibrational Frequencies of the Cathedral of Cologne (Germany) by Means of Ambient Seismic Noise Analysis

Ambient seismic noise measurements were conducted inside the Cathedral of Cologne (Germany) for assessing its frequencies of vibration and for checking whether these occur in the range where soil amplification is expected. If this is the case, damages may increase in case of an earthquake due to an increased structural response of the building. Analysis of the ratio between the horizontal and vertical components of the spectra recorded at stations located inside the building as well as the ratio between the corresponding components of the spectra recorded simultaneously inside the building and at a reference station placed in the basement of the cathedral indicated several modes of vibration. Facilitated by these results an assessment of the seismic vulnerability was attempted for a 2D ground motion scenario using the finite element method.     

A comparison of chironomid biostratigraphy from Lake Vuolep Njakajaure with vegetation, lake-level, and climate changes in Abisko National Park, Sweden

Chironomid remains from the sediment of Lake Vuolep Njakajaure reflect limnological conditions resulting from changing climate and vegetation throughout the Holocene, but do not strictly follow accepted climate trends or the vegetation history based on regional pollen and macrofossil analyses. Chironomid community changes appear to be influenced by organic nutrient input from the surrounding catchment vegetation and lake hydrology, both of which are indirectly responding to some combination of climate change, hypolimnetic oxygen concentration, and changes in basin morphology. The chironomid-based quantitative mean July air-temperature reconstruction differs from other regional quantitative records; this discrepancy is likely related to limnological conditions particular to Lake Vuolep Njakajaure. Comparison of a northern Swedish temperature transfer function and one from western Canada reveals differences in the mean July air-temperature optima of several common taxa, suggesting that the existing conservative estimates of Holocene climate change in northern Sweden may be underestimated due to the limited temperature gradient captured by the Swedish training set.     

Vertical velocities of European coastal sites derived from continuous GPS observations

Vertical velocities of 30 European permanent Global Positioning System (GPS) stations at or close to tide gauge sites are estimated from more than 3 years of continuous observations. The results of two different solution strategies are presented and compared. The first approach accumulates the daily free network normal equations, the second introduces all sets of daily ellipsoidal height estimates and their covariance matrix into a subsequent common least squares adjustment. In both solutions, mean station heights at a reference epoch, linear vertical velocities, height discontinuities and short period height offsets are estimated. The second approach solves in addition for periodic annual signals and for site-specific pressure loading coefficients. The vertical velocities range from +8 mm/year in the center of the Fennoscandian uplift area to –4 mm/year at a few subsiding locations. Apart from these extrema, most of the sites experience only very small vertical motions. The standard deviations from the second approach providing more realistic error estimates are well below 0.15 mm/year. Some specific data problems are discussed.