Late Pliocene sand ridges at the western margin of the Barents Sea—do they monitor Late Pliocene glaciations?

Seismic data combined with core analysis of the northwesternmost exploration well on the Norwegian continental margin, well 7316/5-1, has been used to map and discuss the genesis of three well-defined sand ridges. The sand ridges have a NE-SW to N-S orientation and are of Late Pliocene age. The dimensions of the ridges are: height 40 m, length 2–4 km and width 0.5–1 km.In relation to the glaciation models of the Barents Sea, the position of well 7316/5-1, and especially information from a core that penetrated one of the sand ridges, provide important information. The ridges are not, in themselves, diagnostic for grounded glaciers at the margin of the Barents Sea shelf during the Late Pliocene, although the presence of pebbles in a cored section of the ridges may represent ice-dropped material. Whether the possible influx of glaciogenic material is related to local or regional glaciations on the Barents Shelf remains to be evaluated.     

Genesis—An artificial,low velocity “meteor” fall and recovery: September 8, 2004

Abstract— On September 8, 2004, Genesis, a manmade space capsule, plummeted to Earth after almost three years in space. A ground‐based infrasound array was deployed to Wendover, Nevada, to measure the “hypersonic boom” from the reentry, since the expected initial reentry speed of the body was about 11 km/sec. Due to the complete failure of its dual parachute system, we had a unique opportunity to assess the degree of reliability of our previously developed relations for natural meteors and bolides to analyze this well‐characterized manmade body. At ?20–50 km from the nominal trajectory, we succeeded in recording over two minutes of infrasonic signals from Genesis. Here we report on subsequent analyses of these infrasonic data, including an assessment of the expected entry characteristics on the basis of a bolide/meteor/fireball entry model specifically adapted to modeling reentering manmade objects. From these simulations, we were able to evaluate the line source blast wave relaxation radius, the differential acoustic efficiency, etc., to compute an approximate total power balance during entry. Next, we analyzed the detailed signals arriving from Genesis using a numerical, signal detection and wave processing software package (Matseis/Infra_Tool). We established the initial and subsequent arrivals and evaluated its plane wave back azimuths and elevation arrival angles and the degree of maximum, pair‐wise cross‐correlation, its power spectrum, spectrogram analysis, standard seismic f‐k analysis, etc. From the associated entry parameters, we computed the kinetic energy density conservation properties for the propagating line source blast waves and compared these predictions against observed ground‐based infrasound amplitude and wave period data as a function of range. We discovered that previously computed differential acoustic efficiencies were unreliable at Mach numbers below about 10. This is because we had assumed that a line source explosion was applicable, whereas at very low Mach numbers, typical of recovered meteorites, the detailed source characteristics are closer to those of supersonic objects. When corrections for these unphysical, very high efficiencies were made, agreement between theory and observations improved. We also made an assessment for the energy of the blast wave source from the ground‐based infrasound data using several other techniques that were also adapted from previous bolide studies. Finally, we made a top‐down‐bottom‐up assessment of the line source wave normals propagating via refraction downward into the complex middle atmospheric environment. This assessment proved to be generally consistent with the digital signal processing analysis and with the observed time delay between the known Genesis reentry and the infrasonic observations.     

A chromospheric temperature inversion and its implications on millimeter brightness distribution

The brightness temperature curve of the quiet Sun at millimeter wavelengths suggests a possible inversion in the mid-millimeter range. Interpreting this as a result of an actual inversion in the chromospheric temperature structure, and example of a model chromoshere is presented whose calculated temperature curve exhibits such an inversion. This model is then tested for radial brightness distribution at millimeter wavelengths. Comparing the calculated distributions at 3.2 mm and 6 mm with eclipse measurements made with parabolic cylinders at 3.2 mm and 8.6 mm shows qualitative agreement, allowing for instrumental smoothing. It is conluded that a chromospheric temperature inversion, either actual or effective, could account for the inversion suggested by millimeter data and also the complex brightness distributions measured during eclipses with parabolic cylinders.     

The history of environmental change and adaptation in eastern Saloum–Senegal—Driving forces and perceptions

Environmental change in the Sahel–Sudan zone of West Africa has been a major issue in development debates over the last decades. Using remote sensing based land cover change analysis, archival data, national and international statistical data, and household interviews, we analyze the drivers of environmental change in Eastern Saloum in Central East Senegal as well as the local perceptions of these changes and adaptation. Being part of the ground nut basin, Eastern Saloum has witnessed rapid environmental degradation caused by the conversion of forest and savanna areas to agricultural land during the last 20–30 years and by a combination of decline in precipitation, soil degradation, a diversity of policies with little concern for the environment, fluctuating markets and population pressure. Farmers perceive the environmental change mainly as land degradation and poor soil fertility, though recent extensification of agriculture counters this effect and has led to increased vegetation cover in marginal areas. They identified erratic climate, agricultural policies, insufficient food production and desire to increase income as the main drivers of change in the area. We conclude that while climate variability has influenced environmental change in the area, various types of State interventions in agriculture and global market fluctuations appear to have been the main underlying causes of environmental degradation.     

Stardust—An artificial,low‐velocity “meteor” fall and recovery: 15 January 2006

Abstract— On January 15, 2006, Stardust, a man‐made space capsule, plummeted to Earth for a soft landing after spending seven years in space. Since the expected initial speed of the body was about 12.9 km/s, a four‐element ground‐based infrasound array was deployed to Wendover, Nevada, USA, to measure the hypersonic booms from the re‐entry. At a distance of ～33 km from the nominal trajectory, we easily recorded the weak acoustic arrivals and their continued rumbling after the main hypersonic boom arrival. In this paper, we report on subsequent analyses of these data, including an assessment of the expected entry characteristics (dynamics, energetics, ablation and panchromatic luminosity, etc.) on the basis of a bolide/meteor/fireball entry model that was specifically adapted for modeling a re‐entering man‐made object. Throughout the infrasonic data analyses, we compared our results for Stardust to those previously obtained for Genesis. From the associated entry parameters, we were also able to compute the kinetic energy density conservation properties for the propagating line source blast wave and compared the inviscid theoretical predictions against observed ground‐based infrasound amplitude and wave period data as a function of range. Finally, we made a top‐down bottom‐up assessment of the line source wave normals propagating downward into the complex temperature/sound speed and horizontal wind speed environment during January 15, 2006. This assessment proved to be generally consistent with the signal processing analysis and with the observed time delay between the known Stardust entry and the time of observations of infrasound signals, and so forth.     

Analysis of the H ring velocity distribution function near the Martian and Venusian bow shocks by an analytical model

We have studied the H⁺ velocity distribution function at Mars and Venus near the bow shock both in the solar wind and in the magnetosheath by a simple analytical one-dimensional model. We found that over half of the ions in the ring velocity distribution which moved towards the magnetosheath were scattered back into the bow shock. The original ring distribution is destroyed in less than an ion gyro period. Ions contained in the magnetosphere which hit the bow shock bounce back into the solar wind with a maximum energy exceeding twice the energy of solar wind protons. The ions finite gyroradius causes an asymmetric flow in the magnetosheath with respect to the direction of the convective electric field, which can be observed already a few ion gyroradius downstream of the bow shock.     

Appearance of Saturn’s F ring azimuthal channels for the anti-alignment configuration between the ring and Prometheus

In this article we explore the aspect of the F ring with respect to the anti-alignment configuration between the ring and Prometheus. We focus our attention on the shape of the F ring’s azimuthal channels which were first reported by Porco et al. (Porco, C.C., Baker, E., Barbara, J., Beurle, K., Brahic, A., Burns, J.A., Charnoz, S., Cooper, N., Dawson, D.D., Del Genio, A.D., Denk, T., Dones, L., Dyudina, U., Evans, M.W., Giese, B., Grazier, K., Helfenstein, P., Ingersoll, A.P., Jacobson, R.A., Johnson, T.V., McEwen, A., Murray, C.D., Neukum, G., Owen, W.M., Perry, J., Roatsch, T., Spitale, J., Squyres, S., Thomas, P., Tiscareno, M., Turtle, E., Vasavada, A.R., Veverka, J., Wagner, R., West, R. [2005] Science, 307, 1226-1236) and numerically explored by Murray et al. (Murray, C.D., Chavez, C., Beurle, K., Cooper, N., Evans, M.W., Burns, J.A., Porco, C.C. [2005] Nature 437, 1326-1329) who found excellent agreement between Cassini’s ISS reprojected images and their numerical model via a direct comparison. We find that for anti-alignment the channels are wider and go deeper inside the ring material. From our numerical model we find a new feature, an island in the middle of the channel. This island is made up of the particles that have been perturbed the most by Prometheus and only appears when this satellite is close to apoapsis. In addition, plots of the anti-alignment configuration for different orbital stages of Prometheus are obtained and discussed here.     

H,not O or pressure,causes eutectic T depression in the Fe‐FeS System to 8 GPa

The Fe‐FeS system maintains a eutectic temperature of 990 ± 10 °C to at least 8 GPa if starting materials and pressure media are rigorously dehydrated. Literature reports of pressure‐induced freezing point depression of the eutectic for the Fe‐FeS system are not confirmed. Modest addition of oxygen alone is confirmed to cause negligible freezing point depression at 6 GPa. Addition of H alone causes a progressive decrease in the eutectic temperature with P in the Fe‐FeS‐H system to below 965 °C at 6 GPa to below 950 °C at 8 GPa. It is our hypothesis that moisture contamination in unrigorously dried experiments may be an H source for freezing point depression. O released from H₂O disproportionation reacts with Fe and is sequestered as ferropericlase along the sample capsules walls, leaving the H to escape the system and/or enter the Fe‐FeS mixture. The observed occurrence of ferropericlase on undried MgO capsule margins is otherwise difficult to explain, because an alternate source for the oxygen in the ferropericlase layer is difficult to identify. This study questions the use of pressure‐depressed Fe‐S eutectic temperatures and suggests that the lower eutectic temperatures sometimes reported are achieved by moving into the ternary Fe‐S‐H system. These results adjust slightly the constraints on eutectic temperatures allowed for partly solidified cores on small planets. H substantially diminishes the temperature extent of the melting interval in Fe‐S by reducing the melting points of the crystalline phases more than it depresses the eutectic.     

Submillimetre detection of the z=2.83 Lyman-break galaxy, Westphal–MM8, and implications for SCUBA2

We present confusion-limited submillimetre (submm) observations with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope of the   z = 2.83  Lyman-break galaxy (LBG), Westphal–MM8, reaching an 850 μm sensitivity even greater than that achieved in the SCUBA map of the Hubble Deep Field region. The detection of MM8  ( S _850 μm= 1.98 ± 0.48 mJy)  , along with the literature submm detections of lensed LBGs, suggests that the LBG population may contribute significantly to the source counts of submm-selected galaxies in the 1–2 mJy regime. Additionally, submm-luminous LBGs are a viable progenitor population for the recently discovered evolved galaxies at   z ∼ 2–2.5  . These observations represent an important baseline for SCUBA2 observations which will regularly map large regions of the sky to this depth.     

Cometary outbursts – the post-Deep Impact outlook on collisions as possible causes

The possibility of impacts between comets belonging to the Jupiter Family and other small bodies orbiting in the main asteroid belt, and the consequences in relation to cometary activity are discussed. The probability of such events and the jumps in cometary brightness caused by impacts are examined. The results are compared with the results of the Deep Impact mission to Comet 9P/Tempel 1. The main conclusion of this paper is in agreement with previous findings, namely that an impact mechanism cannot be the main cause of the outburst activity of comets.     

A Saturnian gas ring and the recycling of Titan's atmosphere

Atoms which escape Titan's atmosphere are unlikely to possess escape velocity from Saturn, and can orbit the planet until lost by ionization or collision with Titan. It is predicted that a toroidal ring of between ～1 and ～10³ atoms or molecules cm^?3 exists around Saturn at a distance of about 10 times the radius of the visible rings. This torus may be detectable from Earth-orbit and detection of nondetection of it may provide some information about the presence or absence of a Saturnian magnetic field, and the exospheric temperature and atmospheric escape rate of Titan. It is estimated that, if Titan has a large exosphere, ～97% or more of the escaping atoms can be recaptured by Titan, thereby decreasing the effective net atmospheric loss rate by up to two orders of magnitude. With such a reduction in atmospheric loss rates, it becomes more plausible to suggest that satellites previously thought too small to retain an atmosphere may have one. It is suggested that Saturn be examined by Lyman-α and other observations to search for the gaseous torus of Titan. If successful, these could then be extended to other satellites.The effect of a hypothetical Saturnian magnetosphere on the atmosphere of Titan is investigated. It is shown that, if Saturn has a magnetic field comparable to Jupiter's (～10 G at the planetary surface), the magnetospheric plasma can supply Titan with hydrogen at a rate comparable to the loss rates in some of the models of Trafton (1972) and Sagan (1973). A major part of the Saturnian ionospheric escape flux (～ 10²⁷ photoelectrons sec^?1) could perhaps be captured by Titan. At the upper limit, this rate of hydrogen input to the satellite could total ～0.1 atm pressure over the lifetime of the solar system, an amount comparable to estimates of the present atmospheric pressure of Titan.     

Separation of the visible and dark matter in the Einstein ring LBG J213512.73−010143

We model the mass distribution in the recently discovered Einstein ring LBG J213512.73−010143 (the 'Cosmic Eye') using archival Hubble Space Telescope imaging. We reconstruct the mass density profile of the z = 0.73 lens and the surface brightness distribution of the z = 3.07 source and find that the observed ring is best fitted with a dual-component lens model consisting of a baryonic Sersic component nested within a dark matter halo. The dark matter halo has an inner slope of 1.42^+0.24_−0.22, consistent with cold dark matter simulations after allowing for baryon contraction. The baryonic component has a mass-to-light ratio of  1.71^+0.28_−0.38 M_⊙/L _{B ⊙}  which when evolved to the present day is in agreement with local ellipticals. Within the Einstein radius of 0.77 arcsec (5.6 kpc), the baryons account for 46 ± 11 per cent of the projected lens mass. External shear from a nearby foreground cluster is accurately predicted by the model. The reconstructed surface brightness distribution in the source plane clearly shows two peaks. Through a generalization of our lens inversion method, we conclude that the redshifts of both peaks are consistent with each other, suggesting that we are seeing structure within a single galaxy.     

Hydromagnetic wave coupling in the magnetosphere—Plasmapause effects on impulse-excited resonances

Recent analytical and numerical modelling has demonstrated the possibility that impulsively-stimulated compressional hydromagnetic cavity resonances can drive local field-line resonances in the magnetosphere. This paper extends the modelling to include axisymmetric plasmapause structures with realistic radial variation in the magnetospheric cavity. The results show that: (a) the plasmapause plays an important rôle in determining which cavity resonances are dominant; (b) when the wave fields are significantly non-axisymmetric, additional cavity resonances are evident which are at least partly trapped within the plasmasphere; (c) the position of the plasmapause determines where (and whether) cavity resonances couple significantly to field-line resonances; (d) for the small “azimuthal” wavenumber chosen, there is no evidence of a compressional surface wave on the plasmapause.     

CCD images and long-slit spectroscopy of the ring nebula around θ Mus

We present the first digital CCD images and long-slit spectroscopy of the optical ring nebula around the Wolf–Rayet star θ Mus. The CCD images obtained through narrow-band filters centred at [O  iii ] and Hα show that the nebula has a filamentary structure, similar to supernova remnants, mainly seen in [O  iii ]. A spatial detachment between [O  iii ] and Hα images suggests excitation stratification, or multiple rings. An analysis of the physical conditions in the nebula was performed by means of long-slit CCD spectra. The spectral images show that the nebula is of low density and medium excitation. By means of quotients of recombination and collisional spectral line fluxes we determine that the principal excitation mechanism is photoionization. We have determined the electronic temperature and density, and chemical abundances for the oxygen at different sites within the nebula. Nebular chemical abundances are found to be similar to the Galactic ISM, indicating that the nebula is mainly composed of swept up material.     

Crustal properties of Mercury by morphometric analysis of multi‐ring basins on the Moon and Mars

Abstract— We use satellite altitude free‐air and terrain gravity correlations to differentiate regional variations in crustal viscosity and transient cavity diameters of impact basins on the Moon and Mars that we combine with surface roughness for a rheological assessment of the crust of Mercury. For the Moon and Mars, we separate the free‐air anomalies into terrain‐correlated and terrain‐decorrelated components using the spectral properties of the free‐air and computed terrain gravity effects. Adjusting the terrain effects for the terrain‐correlated anomalies yields compensated terrain effects that we evaluate for crustal thickness variations of the impact basins. We interpret the terrain‐correlated anomalies for uncompensated elements of the crustal thickness variations that we find are strongly correlated with the distribution of basin rings from photogeologic analyses. Hence, we estimate the transient cavity diameter from the innermost diameter of the gravity‐inferred rings. Comparing these diameters with the related crustal thickness estimates clearly differentiates regional variations in the crustal rheologies. For the Moon, the analysis points to a farside crust that was significantly more rigid than the nearside crust during bombardment time. For Mars, the growth in transient cavity diameters with apparent crustal age also reflects increased viscosity due to crustal cooling. These results are also consistent with local estimates of surface roughness developed from the root‐mean‐squared topography over 64 times 64° patches centered on the basins. Hence for Mercury where gravity observations are lacking, rheological inferences on its crust may result from comparing photometric estimates of transient cavity diameter and local surface roughness with the lunar and martian estimates. These results for the Beethoven Basin, a typical multi‐ring impact feature of Mercury, suggest that the viscosity of the mercurian crust was relatively great during bombardment time. This enhanced rigidity, despite crustal temperatures that were probably much hotter than those of the Moon and Mars, may reflect an extremely dry crust for Mercury in its early development.