Galactic longitude dependence of the intensity ratio of the diffuse interstellar absorption bands at λλ6180 and 4430

Equivalent widths, as published by Seddon, for the diffuse interstellar absorption band at 6180 are compared with photoelectric 4430 indices for ten stars in the northern Milky Way. The intensity ratio is found to depend on galactic longitude in a way similar to that found by Johnson for the ratioA _V /E _B–V of total to selective interstellar absorption.The dependence found, combined with deductions from a tentative identification of the bands as due to negative hydrogen, points to a direction for the galactic magnetic field that is in better agreement with the direction derived from rotation measures of extragalactic sources than with that based on the dust-hypothesis interpretation of interstellar optical polarization.     

The 1s 2s states of negative hydrogen

Term values for the 1s 2s states of H^– are calculated with the use of simple eigenfunction approximations constructed on the basis of available Hartree-type functions for the 1s ² and 2s ² states of the ion. The results seem to support a tentative identification of the interstellar diffuse absorption bands at 4890 and 6180 as due to negative hydrogen.     

Polar 5—an electron accelerator experiment within an aurora. 4. Measurements of the 391.4 nm light produced by an artificial electron beam in the upper atmosphere

The POLAR 5 sounding rocket, launched from Andøya, Norway, on February 1, 1976, was of the “mother-daughter” configuration.A rocket-borne electron accelerator, mounted on the “daughter,” produced a pulsed electron beam with a maximum current of 130 mA and electron energies up to 10 kev.Using a photometer the luminescence at 391.4nm produced by electrons colliding with ambient nitrogen molecules was studied. The observed light at 391.4 nm consisted of low background, with occasional flashes due to the natural auroral excitations, and intense sparkles when the electron beam was emitted.Below 130 km the light observed during beam injection can be explained by excitations of ambient N₂ due to high energy beam electrons.In the altitude range from 150 km to apogee at 220 km, the observed light level during beam emission is fairly constant and much larger than that produced by the high energy beam electrons. A possible source of this light is the excitation of ambient N₂ by an enhanced population of low energy electrons, created by the presence of a beam plasma discharge in the vicinity of the “daughter” payload.     

Challenges in global ballast water management

Ballast water management is a complex issue raising the challenge of merging international regulations, ship's specific configurations along with ecological conservation. This complexity is illustrated in this paper by considering ballast water volume, discharge frequency, ship safety and operational issues aligned with regional characteristics to address ecological risk for selected routes. A re-estimation of ballast water volumes gives a global annual level of 3500 Mton. Global ballast water volume discharged into open sea originating from ballast water exchange operations is estimated to approximately 2800 Mton. Risk based decision support systems coupled to databases for different ports and invasive species characteristics and distributions can allow for differentiated treatment levels while maintaining low risk levels. On certain routes, the risk is estimated to be unacceptable and some kind of ballast water treatment or management should be applied.     

The age as a diagnostic of the dynamics of marine ecosystem models

The constituent-oriented age theory (CAT) worked out by Delhez et al. (1999) is a flexible tool that can be applied to diagnose complex models. It is shown here how this can be used to quantify the pace at which an ecosystem model works. At the cost of the introduction of one additional evolution equation for each compartment of the ecosystem model, the mean age of the biological material forming these compartments can be computed. The information obtained in this way complements the information provided by the concentration data; while the latter measures the standing stocks, the former provides an integrated assessment of the interaction rates and matter fluxes. The benefits of the method are demonstrated with a simple Lotka–Volterra system and a one-dimensional vertical model of the nitrogen cycle in the Ligurian Sea. The theory can be used to study the biological compartments individually or the ecosystem as a whole. In particular, the age is a valuable tool to quantify the overall cycling rate of nitrogen in the food web.Responsible Editor: Phil Dyke     

Melt extraction pathways and stagnation depths beneath the Madeira and Desertas rift zones (NE Atlantic) inferred from barometric studies

The Madeira and Desertas Islands (eastern North Atlantic) show well-developed rift zones which intersect near the eastern tip of Madeira (São Lourenço peninsula). We applied fluid inclusion barometry and clinopyroxene-melt thermobarometry to reconstruct levels of magma stagnation beneath the two adjacent rifts and to examine a possible genetic relationship during their evolution. Densities of CO₂-dominated fluid inclusions in basanitic to basaltic samples from São Lourenço yielded frequency maxima at pressures of 0.57–0.87 GPa (23–29 km depth) and 0.25–0.32 GPa (8–10 km), whereas basanites, basalts and xenoliths from the Desertas indicate 0.3–0.72 GPa (10–24 km) and 0.07–0.12 GPa (2–3 km). Clinopyroxene-melt thermobarometry applied to Ti-augite phenocryst rim and glass/groundmass compositions indicates pressures of 0.45–1.06 GPa (15–35 km; São Lourenço) and 0.53–0.89 GPa (17–28 km; Desertas Islands) which partly overlap with pressures indicated by fluid inclusions. We interpret our data to suggest a multi-stage magma ascent beneath the Madeira Archipelago: main fractionation occurs at multiple levels within the mantle (>15 km depth) and is followed by temporary stagnation within the crust prior to eruption. Depths of crustal magma stagnation beneath São Lourenço and the Desertas differ significantly, and there is no evidence for a common shallow magma reservoir feeding both rift arms. We discuss two models to explain the relations between the two adjacent rift systems: Madeira and the Desertas may represent either a two-armed rift system or two volcanic centres with separate magma supply systems. For petrological and volcanological reasons, we favour the second model and suggest that Madeira and the Desertas root in distinct regions of melt extraction. Magma focusing into the Desertas system off the hotspot axis may result from lithospheric bending caused by the load of the Madeira and Porto Santo shields, combined with regional variations in melt production due to an irregularly shaped plume.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article if you access the article at . A link in the frame on the left on that page takes you directly to the supplementary material.Editorial responsibility: J. Hoefs     

Precipitation,temperature and wind in Norway: dynamical downscaling of ERA40

A novel downscaling approach of the ERA40 (ECMWF 40-years reanalysis) data set has been taken and results for comparison with observations in Norway are shown. The method applies a nudging technique in a stretched global model, focused in the Norwegian Sea (67°N, 5°W). The effective resolution is three times the one of the ERA40, equivalent to about 30 km grid spacing in the area of focus. Longer waves (<T42) in the downscaled solution are nudged towards the ERA40 solution, and thus the large-scale circulation is similar in the two data sets. The shorter waves are free to evolve, and produce high intensities of winds and precipitation. The comparison to observations incorporate numerous station data points of (1) precipitation (#357), (2) temperature (#98) and (3) wind (#10), and for the period 1961–1990, the downscaled data set shows large improvements over ERA40. The daily precipitation shows considerable reduction in bias (from 50 to 11%), and twofold reduction at the 99.9 percentile (from −59 to −29%). The daily temperature showed a bias reduction of about a degree in most areas, and relative large RMSE reduction (from 7.5 to 5.0°C except winter). The wind comparison showed a slight improvement in bias, and significant improvements in RMSE.     

Adaptation in integrated assessment modeling: where do we stand?

Adaptation is an important element on the climate change policy agenda. Integrated assessment models, which are key tools to assess climate change policies, have begun to address adaptation, either by including it implicitly in damage cost estimates, or by making it an explicit control variable. We analyze how modelers have chosen to describe adaptation within an integrated framework, and suggest many ways they could improve the treatment of adaptation by considering more of its bottom-up characteristics. Until this happens, we suggest, models may be too optimistic about the net benefits adaptation can provide, and therefore may underestimate the amount of mitigation they judge to be socially optimal. Under some conditions, better modeling of adaptation costs and benefits could have important implications for defining mitigation targets.     

New analysis of the Mössbauer spectra of olivine basalt rocks from Gusev crater on Mars

The Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, landed on 4 January 2004, in a lava field in Gusev crater on Mars. Samples interpreted as olivine basalt have been investigated with Mössbauer spectroscopy and chemically with Alpha-particle-X-ray spectrometry (APXS).In this contribution we present the results of a new analysis of the Mössbauer spectra of selected rock targets in Gusev crater. The results show that the rock surfaces investigated are inhomogeneous, and show strong enhancement of olivine in the surface layer. By subtraction of the surface signal to obtain the spectrum of the true interior of the rock samples, the measurements show the usual correlation between olivine and iron oxides of olivine basalt.It is argued that the compositional changes observed are related to high temperature oxidation of the rocks, probably during solidification, a process known to lead to anomalously magnetic rocks. The rock Mazatzal is discussed in some detail, and it is suggested that the surface is covered with deposits rich in ferric iron rather than these ferric phases being due to oxidation of the rock. The fact that all the surfaces in this investigation show this same pattern, suggests that the dominating erosion of the surface layer of basaltic rocks at Gusev crater has been mechanical rather than chemical.     

400 years of astrometry: from Tycho Brahe to Hipparcos

Galileo Galilei’s use of the newly invented telescope for astronomical observation resulted immediately in epochal discoveries about the physical nature of celestial bodies, but the advantage for astrometry came much later. The quadrant and sextant were pre-telescopic instruments for measurement of large angles between stars, improved by Tycho Brahe in the years 1570–1590. Fitted with telescopic sights after 1660, such instruments were quite successful, especially in the hands of John Flamsteed. The meridian circle was a new type of astrometric instrument, already invented and used by Ole Rømer in about 1705, but it took a hundred years before it could fully take over. The centuries-long evolution of techniques is reviewed, including the use of photoelectric astrometry and space technology in the first astrometry satellite, Hipparcos, launched by ESA in 1989. Hipparcos made accurate measurement of large angles a million times more efficiently than could be done in about 1950 from the ground, and it will soon be followed by Gaia which is expected to be another one million times more efficient for optical astrometry.