Experimental estimation of soil profiles through spatial phases analysis of surface waves

The proposed techniques in recent years for the analysis of superficial waves with multiple transducers have been focused in the identification of different types of waves in the ground. The multistation tests avoid the ambiguous phase unwrapping procedure required to obtain experimental dispersion curves for the SASW technique. However, the soil profiles with stiffness inversion in depth involve the contribution of higher modes, and the inversion process through “apparent” or “effective” dispersion curves presents difficulties since these contributions depend of the transducers layout. The technique proposed herein is based on the test simulation through an updating model with low computational cost and good accuracy that include all propagation modes. Two actual test cases performed with only six transducers shows the advantages of a new objective function called “spatial phase dispersion” whose experimental determination does not require subjective interventions by the analyst.     

Succession and seasonal onset of colonization in subtidal hard‐bottom communities off northern Chile

Although there is extensive information concerning the colonization sequences of benthic communities, little is known about the successional development of subtidal hard‐bottom habitats in highly productive coastal upwelling areas. In these systems, succession is predicted to be fast due to high growth rate of the later dominant colonizers. Using artificial hard substrata a field experiment was conducted in a rocky subtidal area off Northern Chile (Humboldt Current System) and monitored at 3‐month intervals to test the following hypotheses: (i) epibenthic succession may proceed through consecutive replacement of species, (ii) there is a fast convergence rate towards natural communities, and (iii) different seasonal starting points for the colonization will produce different community structure over a 1‐year period of exposure. Panels were installed on a vertical wall at 17 m water depth. Three replicate panels were sampled every 3 months over a period of 27 months. As a reference, six haphazardly selected plots from the surrounding natural community were surveyed at each sampling date. To evaluate how seasonally varying substratum availability affects community development, further panels were exposed for a 12‐month period, starting in four different seasons (n = 3 replicates per season). Community succession was slow and occurred through progressive changes, between early encrusting red corallines, middle Balanus flosculus and late Lagenicella variabilis. After 27 months, the community composition, but not its structure, was similar between experimental and reference communities on surrounding rocky bottoms. Seasonality had no effects and after 1 year of exposure the experimental communities converged towards a common structure. This study indicates that succession of subtidal epibenthic communities follows a slow and predictable pattern with a dominant late colonial species. In addition, aseasonal variability might be more relevant during colonization and succession in this upwelling ecosystem.     

Calcareous algae bioclast contribution to sediment enrichment by arsenic on the Brazilian subtropical coast

Arsenic levels (up to 130 mg kg⁻¹) substantially exceeding the official threshold have recently been documented in beach and nearshore sediments along more than 50 km of coastline in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo between 19°50′ and 20°12′S. In an attempt to assess the sources of this enrichment, we performed a study on arsenic distribution in the main mineral substances and living organisms in the beach environment. Laboratory tests on arsenic retention by beach carbonate debris have also been carried out. The data suggest that sedimentary arsenic occurs largely bound to particles of the calcareous red alga Corallina panizzoi, whereby live specimens contained much smaller amounts of this metalloid than was the case for nonliving material (2.4 and 20.3 mg kg⁻¹, respectively). Experimental tests confirmed the ability of C. panizzoi detritus to retain arsenic at pH intervals and ionic strength characteristic of seawater. There are two potential sources of that metalloid for calcareous debris in sediments: brown macroalgae, which were found to contain high levels of As (up to 66.3 mg kg⁻¹), and ferruginized sandstones (up to 23.0 mg kg⁻¹). We argue that any contribution of brown algae to beach sediment enrichment by As would be minor, and consider the ferrous sandstones from coastal sedimentary rocks of the Barreiras Group as the principal large-scale source of arsenic in the marine environment of Espírito Santo. The experimental data, together with field studies, corroborate the interpretation that arsenic anomalies in sediments with calcareous debris can form when weathered continental rocks even only slightly enriched in As are leached by marine waters, and the As is at least partially retained by biogenic calcareous detritus in nearshore sediments. Considering that rocks of the Barreiras Group are exposed to marine erosion far to the north of Espírito Santo, we estimate that marine sediments containing calcareous material are “anomalously” enriched in As along approximately 2,000 km of the Brazilian tropical coastline.     

A highly symmetric restricted nine-body problem and the linear stability of its relative equilibria

We study a highly symmetric nine-body problem in which eight positive masses, called the primaries, move four by four, in two concentric circular motions such that their configuration is always a square for each group of four masses. The ninth body being of negligible mass and not influencing the motion of the eight primaries. We assume all the nine masses are in the same plane and that the masses of the primaries are \(m_{1}=m_{2}=m_{3}=m_{4}=\tilde{m}\) and m ₅=m ₆=m ₇=m ₈=m and the radii associated to the circular motion of the bodies with mass \(\tilde{m}\) is λ∈[λ ₀,1] and for the bodies with mass m is 1. We prove the existence of central configurations which characterize such arrangement of the primaries and we study the influence of the parameter λ, the ratio of the radii of the two circles, on the masses m and \(\tilde{m}\) . We use a synodical system of coordinates to eliminate the time dependence on the equations of motion. We show the existence of equilibria solutions symmetrically distributed on the four quadrants and their dependence on the parameter λ. Finally, we show that there can be 13, 17 or 25 equilibria solutions depending on the size of λ and we investigate their linear stability.     

MOSAIX: a tool to built large mosaics from GALEX images

Large sky surveys are providing a huge amount of information for studies of the interstellar medium, the galactic structure or the cosmic web. Setting into a common frame information coming from different wavelengths, over large fields of view, is needed for this kind of research. GALEX is the only nearly all-sky survey at ultraviolet wavelengths and contains fundamental information for all types of studies. GALEX field of view is circular embedded in a squared matrix of 3840×3840 pixels. This fact makes it hard to get GALEX images properly overlapped with the existing astronomical tools such as Aladin or Montage. We developed our own software for this purpose. In this article, we describe this software and makes it available to the community.     

A unified model for bedform development and equilibrium under unidirectional,oscillatory and combined‐flows

The development of bedforms under unidirectional, oscillatory and combined‐flows results from temporal changes in sediment transport, flow and morphological response. In such flows, the bedform characteristics (for example, height, wavelength and shape) change over time, from their initiation to equilibrium with the imposed conditions, even if the flow conditions remain unchanged. These variations in bedform morphology during development are reflected in the sedimentary structures preserved in the rock record. Hence, understanding the time and morphological development in which bedforms evolve to an equilibrium stage is critical for informed reconstruction of the ancient sedimentary record. This article presents results from a laboratory flume study on bedform development and equilibrium development time conducted under purely unidirectional, purely oscillatory and combined‐flow conditions, which aimed to test and extend an empirical model developed in past work solely for unidirectional ripples. The present results yield a unified model for bedform development and equilibrium under unidirectional, oscillatory and combined‐flows. The experimental results show that the processes of bedform genesis and growth are common to all types of flows, and can be characterized into four stages: (i) incipient bedforms; (ii) growing bedforms; (iii) stabilizing bedforms; and (iv) fully developed bedforms. Furthermore, the development path of bedform; growth exhibits the same general trend for different flow types (for example, unidirectional, oscillatory and combined‐flows), bedform size (for example, small versus large ripples), bedform shape (for example, symmetrical or rounded), bedform planform geometry (for example, two‐dimensional versus three‐dimensional), flow velocities and sediment grain sizes. The equilibrium time for a wide range of bed configurations was determined and found to be inversely proportional to the sediment transport flux occurring for that flow condition.     

Geometrical estimators as a test of Gaussianity in the cosmic microwave background

We investigate the power of geometrical estimators on detecting non-Gaussianity in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In particular the number, eccentricity and Gaussian curvature of excursion sets above (and below) a threshold are studied. We compare their different performance when applied to non-Gaussian simulated maps of small patches of the sky, which take into account the angular resolution and instrumental noise of the Planck satellite. These non-Gaussian simulations are obtained as perturbations of a Gaussian field in two different ways which introduce a small level of skewness or kurtosis in the distribution. A comparison with a classical estimator, the genus, is also shown. We find that the Gaussian curvature is the best of our estimators in all the considered cases. Therefore we propose the use of this quantity as a particularly useful test to look for non-Gaussianity in the CMB.     

Ruprecht 55: an OB association at the edge of our Galaxy

We present new spectroscopy in the optical range and 21-cm H  i data covering the Ruprecht 55 (Ru 55) field in the Puppis window where several authors have proposed the existence of one (or two) clusters.
We have determined new MK spectral types for about 50 stars in the region, finding 43 OB-type stars among them. LS 985 was found to be an O9 V + O9.5 III binary and it is the earliest type of star in our observed sample.
We have identified a stellar OB association (Ru 55), which is most likely related to a depletion detected in our H  i data, as: (i) they are located at the same distance (6 kpc), within observational errors; (ii) both have similar radial velocities (∼67 km s⁻¹); (iii) current OB stars could have provided the energy needed to blow the cavity; (iv) the dynamical time-scale for the hole buildup matches the age estimated for the earliest OB stars; and (v) LS 985 might be responsible for ionizing the H  i cavity inner walls close to it.     

Aridity indices to assess desertification susceptibility: a methodological approach using gridded climate data and cartographic modeling

Natural Hazards - Desertification is a land degradation phenomenon with dire and irreversible consequences, affecting different regions of the world. Assessment of spatial climate susceptibility to...