The channel between Gran Canaria and Tenerife: constructive processes and destructive events during the evolution of volcanic islands

Seismic, sidescan sonar, bathymetric multibeam and ODP (Ocean Drilling Program) data obtained in the submarine channel between the volcanic islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife allow to identify constructive features and destructive events during the evolution of both islands. The most prominent constructive features are the submarine island flanks being the acoustic basement of the seismic images. The build-up of Tenerife started following the submarine stage of Gran Canaria because the submarine island flank of Tenerife onlaps the steeper flank of Gran Canaria. The overlying sediments in the channel between Gran Canaria and Tenerife are chaotic, consisting of slumps, debris flow deposits, syn-ignimbrite turbidites, ash layers, and other volcaniclastic rocks generated by eruptions, erosion, and flank collapse of the volcanoes. Volcanic cones on the submarine island flanks reflect ongoing submarine volcanic activity. The construction of the islands is interrupted by large destructive events, especially by flank collapses resulting in giant landslides. Several Miocene flank collapses (e.g., the formation of the Horgazales basin) were identified by combining seismic and drilling data whereas young giant landslides (e.g., the Güimar debris avalanche) are documented by sidescan, bathymetric and drilling data. Sediments are also transported through numerous submarine canyons from the islands into the volcaniclastic apron. Seismic profiles across the channel do not show a major offset of reflectors. The existence of a repeatedly postulated major NE-SW-trending fault zone between Gran Canaria and Tenerife is thus in doubt. The sporadic earthquake activity in this area may be related to the regional stress field or the submarine volcanic activity in this area. Seismic reflectors cannot be correlated through the channel between the sedimentary basins north and south of Gran Canaria because the channel acts as sediment barrier. The sedimentary basins to the north and south evolved differently following the submarine growth of Gran Canaria and Tenerife in the Miocene.     

O2-O2云反演算法及其在TROPOMI上的应用

利用遥感技术对大气环境污染进行监测时,云是影响痕量气体反演精度的重要因素,因此在痕量气体反演中需要对云的影响进行校正,通常使用的云参数主要是有效云量和云压。本文基于O₂-O₂ 477 nm吸收波段构建了O₂-O₂云反演算法：首先,根据有效云量和云高与连续反射率和O₂-O₂斜柱浓度之间的对应关系,结合假定的云模型利用VLIDORT辐射传输模型建立关于有效云量和云压的查找表;然后,通过差分吸收光谱技术拟合卫星载荷观测的大气层顶辐射,获得O₂-O₂斜柱浓度并计算连续反射率;最后,结合辅助数据,根据查找表进行插值反演获得有效云量和云压。通过将算法应用到OMI观测数据,将反演结果与OMCLDO2产品进行对比验证,有效云量和云压空间分布一致,相关系数R均超过0.97;并还将该算法应用于下一代大气成分监测仪器TROPOMI,与FRESCO+产品对比,有效云量和云压空间分布基本一致,当地表类型为海洋时,有效云量相关系数R大于0.97,云压相关系数R大于0.94,云压反演结果存在一定的区别;通过将O₂-O₂云反演算法和FRESCO+云压反演结果与CALIOP Cloud Layer产品进行对比,结果表明,在低云情况下,O₂-O₂云反演算法线性回归方程斜率为0.782,截距为198.0 hPa,相关系数R为0.850,算法表现优于FRESCO+。而在高云情况下,FRESCO+反演结果更接近CALIOP云压结果。在OMI和TROPOMI上的应用表明O₂-O₂云反演算法在大气云反演中具有较高的准确性和可行性,可以为大气痕量气体反演的校正提供云参数,并为中国同类型卫星载荷的云反演算法提供算法参考。     

Preliminary assessment of the ATHENA/WFI non-X-ray background

We present a preliminary assessment of the non-X-ray background for the WFI on board ATHENA conducted at IAAT in the context of the collaborative background and radiation damage working group activities. Our main result is that in the baseline configuration originally assumed for the camera the requirement on the level of non-X-ray background could not be met. In light of the results of Geant4 simulations we propose and discuss a possible optimization of the camera design and pinpoint some open issues to be addressed in the next phase of investigation. One of these concerns the possible contribution to the non-X-ray background from soft protons and ions funneled to the focal plane through the optics. This is not quantified at this stage, here we just briefly report on our ongoing activities aimed at validating the mechanisms of proton scattering at grazing incidence.     

The STAGES view of red spirals and dusty red galaxies: mass-dependent quenching of star formation in cluster infall

We investigate the properties of optically passive spirals and dusty red galaxies in the A901/2 cluster complex at redshift ∼0.17 using rest-frame near-ultraviolet–optical spectral energy distributions, 24-μm infrared data and Hubble Space Telescope morphologies from the STAGES data set. The cluster sample is based on COMBO-17 redshifts with an rms precision of  σ _cz ≈ 2000 km s⁻¹  . We find that 'dusty red galaxies' and 'optically passive spirals' in A901/2 are largely the same phenomenon, and that they form stars at a substantial rate, which is only four times lower than that in blue spirals at fixed mass. This star formation is more obscured than in blue galaxies and its optical signatures are weak. They appear predominantly in the stellar mass range of  log  M _*/M_⊙=[10, 11]  where they constitute over half of the star-forming galaxies in the cluster; they are thus a vital ingredient for understanding the overall picture of star formation quenching in clusters. We find that the mean specific star formation rate (SFR) of star-forming galaxies in the cluster is clearly lower than in the field, in contrast to the specific SFR properties of blue galaxies alone, which appear similar in cluster and field. Such a rich red spiral population is best explained if quenching is a slow process and morphological transformation is delayed even more. At  log  M _*/M_⊙ < 10  , such galaxies are rare, suggesting that their quenching is fast and accompanied by morphological change. We note that edge-on spirals play a minor role; despite being dust reddened they form only a small fraction of spirals independent of environment.     

Sea‐level and ocean‐current control on carbonate‐platform growth,Maldives, Indian Ocean

Multichannel high‐resolution seismic and multibeam data were acquired from the Maldives‐isolated carbonate platform in the Indian Ocean for a detailed characterization of the Neogene bank architecture of this edifice. The goal of the research is to decipher the controlling factors of platform evolution, with a special emphasis on sea‐level changes and changes of the oceanic currents. The stacking pattern of Lower to Middle Miocene depositional sequences, with an evolution of a ramp geometry to a flat‐topped platform, reflects variations of accommodation, which here are proposed to be primarily governed by fluctuations of relative sea level. Easterly currents during this stage of bank growth controlled an asymmetric east‐directed progradation of the bank edge. During the late middle Miocene, this system was replaced by a twofold configuration of bank development. Bank growth continued synchronously with partial bank demise and associated sediment‐drift deposition. This turnover is attributed to the onset and/or intensification of the Indian monsoon and related upwelling and occurrence of currents, locally changing environmental conditions and impinging upon the carbonate system. Mega spill over lobes, shaped by reversing currents, formed as large‐scale prograding complexes, which have previously been interpreted as deposits formed during a forced regression. On a regional scale, a complex carbonate‐platform growth can occur, with a coexistence of bank‐margin progradation and aggradation, as well as partial drowning. It is further shown that a downward shift of clinoforms and offlapping geometries in carbonate platforms are not necessarily indicative for a sea‐level driven forced regression. Findings are expected to be applicable to other examples of Cenozoic platforms in the Indo‐Pacific region.