Restitution coefficients and sticking velocities of a chondrule analogue colliding on a porous silica layer at impact velocities between 0.1 and 80 m s−1

To study the accretional growth of rimmed chondrules and their agglomerates in the solar nebula, we measured the restitution coefficients, ε, and the sticking velocities to a porous silica layer, v_c, by impacting the silica layer with a glass ball at velocities from 0.1 to 80 m s^?1. We used a porous silica layer covering a basalt block with thicknesses ranging from 1/5 of the glass ball radius to equal to the glass ball radius as a rimmed chondrule analogue, and the porosity of the silica layer was set to be 70%, 80%, 85%, and 90%. Collisional experiments were conducted by means of the free fall method or by the use of a spring gun or a gas gun, allowing us to vary the impact velocity. We used a laser displacement meter to estimate the impact and rebound velocities as well as the acceleration during the collision at impact velocities below 1 m s^?1. As a result, the sticking velocity, v_c, of 90%- and 85%- porosity layers with a thickness equal to 1/2 of the glass ball diameter was 0.44 and 2.4 m s^?1, respectively. On the other hand, we found a distinct barrier to sticking for smaller-porosity layers: the silicate layer with a porosity smaller than 80% never exhibited sticking at any impact velocity below 1 m s^?1. Instead, we observed a rebound effect with restitution coefficients larger than 0.2. In the case of a silica layer with a porosity smaller than 80%, we observed the sub-sticking condition defined by ε < 0.1 at velocities extending from 5 m s^?1 to 70 m s^?1.     

The effect of a thin weak layer covering a basalt block on the impact cratering process

To clarify the effect of a surface regolith layer on the formation of craters in bedrock, we conducted impact-cratering experiments on two-layered targets composed of a basalt block covered with a mortar layer. A nylon projectile was impacted on the targets at velocities of 2 and 4 km s^?1, and we investigated the crater size formed on the basalt. The crater size decreased with increased mortar thickness and decreased projectile mass and impact velocity. The normalized crater volume, π_V, of all the data was successfully scaled by the following exponential equation with a reduction length λ₀: ${\pi }_{\text{V}}=b_0{\pi }_{\text{Y}}^{-b_1}\exp (-\lambda /{\lambda }_0)$, where λ is the normalized thickness T/L_p, T and L_p are the mortar thickness and the projectile length, respectively, b₀ and b₁ are fitted parameters obtained for a homogeneous basalt target, 10^?2.7±0.7 and ?1.4 ± 0.3, respectively, and λ₀ is obtained to be 0.38 ± 0.03. This empirical equation showing the effect of the mortar layer was physically explained by an improved non-dimensional scaling parameter, ${\pi }_{\text{Y}}^1$, defined by ${\pi }_{\text{Y}}^1=Y/({\rho }_{\text{t}}{u}_{\text{p}}^2)$, where u_p was the particle velocity of the mortar layer at the boundary between the mortar and the basalt. We performed the impact experiments to obtain the attenuation rate of the particle velocity in the mortar layer and derived the empirical equation of $\frac{u_{\text{p}}}{v_{\text{i}}}=0.50\exp \left(-\frac{\lambda }{1.03}\right)$, where v_i is the impact velocity of the projectile. We propose a simple model for the crater formation on the basalt block that the surface mortar layer with the impact velocity of u_p collides on the surface of the basalt block, and we confirmed that this model could reproduce our empirical equation showing the effect of the surface layer on the crater volume of basalt.     

New Evidence on the Relief of the Southern Underwater Slope in the South Baikal Basin

A high-resolution bathymetric survey of the entire underwater slope in South Baikal was carried out for the first time by means of the multibeam echosounder. New elements were revealed in the underwater relief of the southern slope of the basin from the Kultuchnaya river to the Mysovka river, and a relevant regionalization was carried out into three areas according to the presence of ancient landforms and the intensity of the processes of their reworking, with the boundaries along the delta-front and the river fan of the Utulik and Pereemnaya. We reconstructed the formation process of the modern relief of this area of the underwater slope and determined a dominant role of the underwater-erosion processes in the formation of the modern relief, with the tectonic movements served as the “trigger” for them. The study revealed a direct correlation between the reworking of the ancient geomorphological surfaces and the occurrence of separate large underwater elevations or group ridges (remnants), canyons and linear depressions. It is determined that the pivotal role in the appearance of the modern relief of the underwater slope in the second area of extensive plano-convex (in section) and fan-shaped (in plan) delta-fronts of large rivers and debris fans enveloping the remnants. The existence of a steep underwater slope from the mouth of the Pereemnaya to the mouth of the Bol’shaya Tel’naya and of two large benches, and also the proximity of the maximum depths of the southern basin at the foot of this slope are explained by a more intense step-like lowering of this part of the lake when compared with the western part of the basin. This also accounts for the absence of large remnants in this part of the slope. The area of occurrence of lacustrine-fluvial and lacustrine-delta deposits of the Tankhoi paleobasin within the southern basin of Baikal is reconstructed. Four new hydrate-bearing structures associated with these deposits and morphologically pronounced in the vertex parts of the remnants were discovered. The morphological exploration indicators of the presence of new accumulations of gas hydrates on the underwater slopes of Baikal have been expanded.     

Assessing and Mitigating N2O Emissions from Agricultural Soils

Agricultural cropping and animal production systems are important sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O). The assessment of the importance of N fertilization from synthetic fertilizer, animal wastes used as fertilizers and from N incorporated into the soil through biological N fixation, to global N2O emissions presented in this paper suggests that this source has been underestimated. We estimate that agricultural systems produce about one fourth of global N2O emissions. Methods of mitigating these emissions are presented which, if adopted globally could decrease annual N2O emissions from cropped soils by about 20%.     

Cooling history of pyroxene chondrules in the Yamato-74191 chondrite (L3)—an electron microscopic study

Fine textures of clinopyroxene in an excentroradial pyroxene chondrule (EPC) and a comb-like pyroxene chondrule (CPC) in the Yamato-74191 chondrite (L3) have been studied by analytical electron microscopy. Both pyroxenes consist of three regions different in composition and texture; core, mantle and marginal regions, though the pyroxenes of the CPC are more Fe-rich than those of the EPC. The core region is the most Mg-rich with no Ca component and commonly shows polysynthetic (100) twins. The mantle region is slightly calcic, and the marginal region shows a rapid increase of Ca outward.The polysynthetic twins, cracks and subgrain boundaries in the core in the EPC and CPC must have formed during the transition from proto-type to clino-type pyroxenes. The exsolution textures in the mantle and marginal regions indicate initial crystallization of pigeonite-C followed by decomposition into pigeonite-P and augite. The decomposition must have taken place by nucleation growth in the mantle region and by spinodal decomposition in the marginal region. The periodicity of 15–20 nm in the spinodal decomposition textures indicates that the cooling rate of the pyroxenes, when passing through about 1000°C, was of the order of a few tens to several degrees centigrade per hour. The cooling history of the chondrules has been explained by a monotonous cooling controlled by the cooling rate of the surrounding medium.     

Effects of light intensity on the production of VSLs from the marine diatom Ditylum brightwellii

Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry - Very short-lived substances (VSLs) are known to play an important role in ozone depletion in the troposphere and stratosphere. Environmental factors that...     

An MHD model for a heliospheric current sheet

A numerical solution of the full set of MHD equations shows the generation of a heliospheric current sheet during the thermal expansion of the corona. Calculations were performed for a compressible plasma taking into account dissipative terms and anisotropy of the thermal conductivity of the magnetized plasma. It is shown that the current sheet is not magnetically neutral. The sheet contains a normal component of the magnetic field, which plays a fundamental role during the formation of the sheet and in the stationary state. The sheet is stable against MHD perturbations, which are apparently carried away by the plasma flow. For the numerical scheme chosen, the minimum sheet thickness is determined by the length of the spatial integration step. The PERESVET code was used for the calculations.     

Distribution and stoichiometry of Al,Mn, Fe,Co, Ni,Cu, Zn,Cd, and Pb in seawater around the Juan de Fuca Ridge

A central theme of the ongoing GEOTRACES program is to improve the understanding of processes occurring at ocean interfaces with continents, sediments, and ocean crust. In this context, we studied the distributions of Al, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb around the Juan de Fuca Ridge (JdFR) in total dissolvable (td), dissolved (d), and labile particulate (lp) fractions, which represent a fraction in unfiltered samples, filtered samples through an AcroPak capsule filter, and the difference between td and d, respectively. Al and Fe were dominated by lp-species, while Ni, Zn, and Cd were dominated by d-species with undetectable amounts of lp-species. Major findings in this study are as follows: (1) The continental margin (CM) provided large sources of Al, Mn, Fe, and Co from the surface to ~2000 m in depth. The supply from CM caused high surface concentrations of dMn and dCo, a subsurface (100–300 m depth) maximum of dCo, and intermediate (500–2000 m depth) maxima of lpAl and lpFe. The supply of dFe from CM was ~10 times that from the high-temperature hydrothermal activity at station BD21, which is located at ~3 km from the Middle Valley venting site and ~ 200 km from Vancouver Island. (2) DPb was maximum at the top layer of North Pacific Intermediate Water, probably owing to isopycnal transport of anthropogenic Pb via advection of subducted surface waters. Although dCo and dPb had different sources in the upper water, they showed a strong linearity below 300 m (r ² = 0.95, n = 38), indicating concurrent scavenging. (3) A high-temperature hydrothermal plume occurred at a depth of 2300 m at BD21, accounting for maxima of dAl, dMn, dFe, lpCu, and lpPb and a minimum of dCu. (4) Strong bottom maxima of lpAl, lpMn, lpFe, lpCo, and lpPb occurred above the abyssal plain at the western foot of the JdFR, indicating resuspension of sediments. However, bottom maxima of d-species were apparent only for dAl and dCu.     

Simplification of strong ground motion considering inelastic responses of structures

Simplification of strong ground motions to 1 cycle sine waves was investigated from the elastic and inelastic earthquake response analyses and response analyses under sine wave input using single‐degree‐of‐freedom systems. Strong ground motions could be simplified to 1 cycle sine waves if large plastic deformations, with ductility factor more than 2, were assumed. This is because the approximate maximum responses from input sine waves are determined by the initial response cycle, due to period elongation and plastic energy dissipation of the systems. A sine wave whose acceleration amplitude is the peak ground acceleration (PGA) and whose period is that of an equivalent 1 cycle sine wave is proposed. The period of an equivalent sine wave is easily obtained from the elastic response acceleration spectrum of a seismic record. This means that the inelastic responses are approximately determined by the PGA and an equivalent 1 cycle sine wave period. Therefore, an equivalent 1 cycle sine wave period provides a single index to express the frequency characteristics of a strong ground motion. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.