Formation of saline groundwaters in the Baltic region through freezing of seawater during glacial periods

Typical Ca---Cl brines occur in crystalline and metamorphic rocks below freshwater horizons at various localities in Sweden and Finland. Total dissolved solids (TDS) range in concentration between 2 and 120 gl⁻¹ and have long been thought to derive from water-rock interactions. The relationships between Na, Cl and Br in these brines suggest, however, that they were derived from freezing of seawater during glacial periods. The brines were subsequently diluted by meteoric waters and their Ca/Mg ratio was increased through water-rock interactions in the subsurface. The hydrogeological model for both the formation of freeze-derived marine brines and their lateral intrusion involves restricted inland marine basins in recent and subrecent polar climatic belts. Seawater in such basins gradually freezes in response to glaciation. The solutes which concentrate in the remaining water body are residual after precipitation of a sequence of minerals which include carbonates, mirabilite and hydrohalite. Hydraulic pressure of the growing ice sheet over the frozen seas is gradually added to the ambient hydrostatic pressure exerted on the brines. This, together with their increased density, increases the intrusional potential of the brines. As the land ice cannot exert hydraulic pressure on continental groundwater in the aquifers, the balance of pressure favours deep landward intrusion of brines. Post-glacial processes cause the subsurface dilution and replacement of the brines both by seawater and fresh waters. The presence of such brines also far from present-day coastal settings reflects the shifting of coastlines as a result of isostatic movements and eustatic sea-level changes associated with glaciation and deglaciation.     

单窗算法的大气参数估计方法

根据地表热辐射传导方程,提出了一个简单可行且精度较高的专门用于从TM6数据中演算地表温度的方法——单窗算法.这一算法把大气和地表状态对地表热传导的影响直接包括在演算公式中.该方法需要两个大气参数进行地表温度的演算,即大气平均作用温度和大气透射率.本文论述这两个大气参数的估计方法:根据大气水分含量或地表附近空气湿度来估计大气透射率;通过分析标准大气剖面资料,尤其是大气水分和气温随高程的变化规律,根据地表温度推算大气平均作用温度.     

The Centurion 18 telescope of the Wise Observatory

We describe the second telescope of the Wise Observatory, a 0.46-m Centurion 18 (C18) installed in 2005, which enhances significantly the observing possibilities. The telescope operates from a small dome and is equipped with a large-format CCD camera. In the last two years this telescope was intensively used in a variety of monitoring projects. The operation of the C18 is now automatic, requiring only start-up at the beginning of a night and close-down at dawn. The observations are mostly performed remotely from the Tel Aviv campus or even from the observer’s home. The entire facility was erected for a component cost of about 70k$ and a labor investment of a total of one man-year. We describe three types of projects undertaken with this new facility: the measurement of asteroid light variability with the purpose of determining physical parameters and binarity, the following-up of transiting extrasolar planets, and the study of AGN variability. The successful implementation of the C18 demonstrates the viability of small telescopes in an age of huge light-collectors, provided the operation of such facilities is very efficient.     

Measuring supermassive black holes via reverberation mapping in the UV

Over the past three decades the reverberation mapping technique was used to measure the central regions of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), their size, velocity field, and the mass of the black hole in the center. This technique was used mainly in the optical with several studies in the UV. Reverberation mapping in the UV adds essential information to the AGN studies. This paper reviews these recent studies done in the UV, presents results from the recent HST campaign toward NGC?5548, and discuss two projects of reverberation mapping of UV emission lines in high-luminosity quasars. The advantages of reverberation mapping in the UV will be discussed as well as the needs from new UV missions in order to be able to advance UV reverberation mapping campaigns.     

Lofted charged dust distribution above the Moon surface

We developed kinetic theory for the charging processes of small dust grains near the lunar surface due to interaction with the anisotropic solar wind plasma. Once charged, these dust grains, which are exposed to the electric field in the sheath region near the lunar surface, could loft and distribute around such heights off the surface where they reach equilibrium with the local gravitational force. Analytical solutions were derived for the charging time, grain floating potential, and grain charge, characterizing the charging processes of small dust grains in a two-component and in a multi-component solar wind plasma, and further highlighting the unique features presented by the high streaming plasma velocity. We have also formulated a novel kinetic theory of sheath formation around an absorbing planar surface immersed in the anisotropic solar wind plasma in the case of a negligible photoelectric effect and presented solutions for the sheath structure. In this study we combined the results from these analyses and provided estimates for the size distribution function of dust that is expected to be lofted in regions dominated by the solar wind plasma, such as near the terminator and in nearby shadowed craters. Corresponding to the two dominant streaming velocity peaks of 300 and 800 km/s, mean dust diameters of 500 and 350 nm, respectively, are expected to be found at equilibrium at heights of relevance to exploration operations, e.g., around 1.5 m height off the lunar surface. In shadowed craters near the terminator region, where isotropic plasma should be dominating, we estimate mean lofted dust diameter of 800 nm around the same 1.5 m height off the lunar surface. The generally applicable solutions could be used to readily calculate the expected lofted size distribution near the lunar surface as a function of plasma parameters, dust grain composition, and other parameters of interest.     

HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY OF GROUNDWATER IN CENTRAL ISRAEL

ABSTRACT

The regional groundwater groups of central Israel include:

1. bicarbonate waters representing the replenishment areas;

2. chloride waters representing the confined and the base-level zones;

3. sulfate waters of the intermediate zones (fig. 2).

These water types were found to fit broadly into five hydrogeographical groups.

The chemical evolution of the ground waters is a function of: a) lithology and solubility of the aquifer components and of the surrounding strata; b) mixing between groundwater bodies of different composition. The first factor is important mainly within the confined zones while the latter is conspicuous in the Rift Valley and adjacent areas.

Groundwater mixing within the Dead Sea basin produces waters with Mg > Na > Ca, and Cl ? SO > HCO₃. Other brines show the order: Ca > Na > Mg. All these brines show compositions different from ocean water.     

Monitoring desertification by remote sensing using the Tasselled Cap transform for long-term change detection

Sensitive areas like oases are threatened by climatic variations and human activities that can catalyze desertification processes. Remote sensing the Earth surface from satellites is a good tool to monitor such types of change through several techniques. In this paper a remote sensing method that has been widely used for vegetated areas is adapted to study dry regions. The method consists of a combination of the Change Vector Analysis and the Tasselled Cap (TC) transform. To adapt it to dryland conditions a new set of parameters for the TC transform is hereby calculated for the Landsat 8 OLI system. The new TC parameters are tested in the analysis of the surface change in Azraq Oasis, Jordan, over a time span of 30 years (1984–2013) for Landsat satellites images. Azraq is considered a good testing site since in the early 1990s it has been subject to a complete drying up of the superficial springs, mainly due to over-exploitation of the groundwater basin. Results show that the chosen technique is able to detect the expected change on the surface, consistent with photo-interpretation and historical information available.     

用陆地卫星TM6数据演算地表温度的单窗算法

陆地卫星 TM数据 (TM6)热波段表示地表热辐射和地表温度变化。长期以来 ,从 TM6数据中演算地表温度通常是通过所谓大气校正法。这一方法需要估计大气热辐射和大气对地表热辐射传导的影响 ,计算过程很复杂 ,误差也较大 ,在实际中应用不多。根据地表热辐射传导方程 ,推导出一个简单易行并且精度较高的演算方法 ,把大气和地表的影响直接包括在演算公式中。该算法需要用地表辐射率、大气透射率和大气平均温度 3个参数进行地表温度的演算。验证表明 ,该方法的地表温度演算较高。当参数估计没有误差时 ,该方法的地表温度演算精度达到 <0 .4℃ ,在参数估计有适度误差时 ,演算精度仍达 <1 .1℃。因该方法适用于仅有一个热波段的遥感数据 ,故称为单窗算法。     

Effects of particulate matter released by a fish farm (Eilat,Red Sea) on survival and growth of Stylophora pistillata coral nubbins

This field study aims to determine whether increased levels of organically enriched particulate matter released by net pen fish farms (Eilat, Red Sea) would affect the growth of nubbins taken from the branching coral Stylophora pistillata. We followed the survival and growth of 1322 nubbins pruned from five colonies that were transplanted at a depth of 6 m in the vicinity of the fish cages and in a reference site, in front of the Interuniversity Institute (IUI). Nubbins were attached on U-shaped PVC plates in three orientations (up, vertical and down positions). After 50 days, survival was high in both localities and no difference was recorded between the spatial orientations. At the fish farm, however, burial of the nubbin's lateral growths and partial coverage of nubbins by settled particulate matter resulted in significant reduction of the lateral growth rates of nubbins settled in the up position as compared to the reference site. On the other hand, faster growth rates were recorded in the vertical set of nubbins at the fish farm when compared with the IUI site. These results strengthen the conclusion that physical effects, rather than nutrient enrichment, may constitute the main cause of stress for minute coral fragments (resembling coral recruits) growing near the vicinity of a fish farm.