Unique solutions of solar wind models with thermal conductivity

The solutions of a radially symmetrical solar wind model with thermal conductivity are discussed in the neighborhood of the loci of the critical points, called the critical line, and at infinity. It is shown that for constant mass and total energy flux the conditions at infinity are related uniquely to the conditions at the critical line. Furthermore the requirement that the solution is continuous and has the proper behavior at infinity will determine uniquely one specific point on the critical line through which the solution has to pass.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Low frequency spectra of type III solar radio bursts

Flux density spectra have been determined for ninety-one simple type III solar bursts observed by the Goddard Space Flight Center radio astronomy experiment on the IMP-6 spacecraft during 1971 and 1972. Spectral peaks were found to occur at frequencies ranging from 44 kHz up to 2500 kHz. Half of the bursts peaked between 250 kHz and 900 kHz, corresponding to emission at solar distances of about 0.3 to 0.1 AU. Maximum burst flux density sometimes exceeds 10^–14 W m^–2 Hz^–1. The primary factor controlling the spectral peak frequency of these bursts appears to be variation in intrinsic power radiated by the source as the exciter moves outward from the Sun, rather than radio propagation effects between the source and IMP-6. Thus, a burst spectrum strongly reflects the evolution of the properties of the exciting electron beam, and according to current theory, beam deceleration could help account for the observations.     

Early Holocene brackish closed basin conditions in Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada: microfossil (thecamoebian and pollen) evidence

Microfossils have been critical in unravelling the complex postglacial history of Georgian Bay. Thecamoebians (testate amoebae/rhizopods) record paleolimnological conditions, and pollen stratigraphy allows correlation across the basin, where sedimentation has been spatially and temporally discontinuous. Because parts of Georgian Bay have been non-depositional or erosional since the end of the Nipissing transgression (~5,000 (5,800 cal) BP), early Holocene features are exposed on the lakebed. Among these are shoreline features, such as submerged beaches and relict channels, associated with low-level Lake Hough that was driven far below the level of basin overflow. Cores taken throughout Georgian Bay record the existence of closed basin conditions that persisted several centuries around 7,500 (8,300 cal) BP, corresponding to the late Lake Hough lowstand. Evidence for hydrologic closure includes a low-diversity centropyxid-dominated thecamoebian fauna around the boundary between pollen subzones 2a and 2b in the Flowerpot Beach core, Flowerpot and Killarney basins, and in Severn Sound. This low-diversity centropyxid-dominated fauna is interpreted as recording the development of slightly brackish conditions as a result of a hydrologic deficit associated with relatively arid conditions in the Great Lakes basin during the early Holocene pine zone (~8,800–7,200 (9,900–8,050 cal) BP). The rest of the Holocene record in Georgian Bay (where it is preserved) is more diverse and dominated by difflugiid thecamoebians: predominantly Difflugia oblonga prior to human settlement, and Cucurbitella tricuspis since high-density human occupation and agriculture (and resulting eutrophication) began with the Wendat First Nations people around Severn Sound about 750 years ago. The implication that water budget fluctuations leading to discernible variations in lake level and water chemistry occurred in the relatively recent geologic past is significant to studies of global climate change and resource management in the Great Lakes, one of the world’s largest freshwater resources.     

A revised approach to water footprinting to make transparent the impacts of consumption and production on global freshwater scarcity

Through the interconnectedness of global business, the local consumption of products and services is intervening in the hydrological cycle throughout the world to an unprecedented extent. In order to address the unsustainable use of global freshwater resources, indicators are needed which make the impacts of production systems and consumption patterns transparent. In this paper, a revised water footprint calculation method, incorporating water stress characterisation factors, is presented and demonstrated for two case study products, Dolmio^® pasta sauce and Peanut M&M's^® using primary production data. The method offers a simple, yet meaningful way of making quantitative comparisons between products, production systems and services in terms of their potential to contribute to water scarcity. As such, capacity is created for change through public policy as well as corporate and individual action. This revised method represents an alternative to existing volumetric water footprint calculation methods which combine green and blue water consumption from water scarce and water abundant regions such that they give no clear indication about where the actual potential for harm exists.     

Spectral analysis of the 91bg-like Type Ia SN 2005bl: low luminosity, low velocities, incomplete burning

The properties of underluminous Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) of the 91bg subclass have yet to be theoretically understood. Here, we take a closer look at the structure of the dim SN Ia 2005bl. We infer the abundance and density profiles needed to reproduce the observed spectral evolution between −6 d and  +12.9 d  with respect to B maximum. Initially, we assume the density structure of the standard explosion model W7; then we test whether better fits to the observed spectra can be obtained using modified density profiles with different total masses and kinetic energies. Compared to normal SNe Ia, we find a lack of burning products especially in the rapidly expanding outer layers  ( v ≳ 15 000 km s⁻¹)  . The zone between ∼8500 and 15 000 km s⁻¹ is dominated by oxygen and includes some amount of intermediate-mass elements. At lower velocities, intermediate-mass elements dominate. This holds down to the lowest zones investigated in this work. This fact, together with negligible-to-moderate abundances of Fe-group elements, indicates large-scale incomplete Si burning or explosive O burning, possibly in a detonation at low densities. Consistently with the reduced nucleosynthesis, we find hints of a kinetic energy lower than that of a canonical SN Ia: the spectra strongly favour reduced densities at  ≳13 000 km s⁻¹  compared to W7, and are very well fitted using a rescaled W7 model with original mass  (1.38 M_⊙)  , but a kinetic energy reduced by ∼30 per cent (i.e. from  1.33 × 10⁵¹  to  0.93 × 10⁵¹ erg  ).     

Isotopic evidence (Sr/Sr, δLi) for alteration of the oceanic crust at deep-rooted mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz, NE Atlantic Ocean

The chemical and isotopic composition of pore fluids is presented for five deep-rooted mud volcanoes aligned on a transect across the Gulf of Cadiz continental margin at water depths between 350 and 3860 m. Generally decreasing interstitial Li concentrations and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios with increasing distance from shore are attributed to systematically changing fluid sources across the continental margin. Although highest Li concentrations at the near-shore mud volcanoes coincide with high salinities derived from dissolution of halite and late-stage evaporites, clayey, terrigenous sediments are identified as the ultimate Li source to all pore fluids investigated. Light δ⁷Li values, partly close to those of hydrothermal vent fluids (δ⁷Li: +11.9‰), indicate that Li has been mobilized during high-temperature fluid/sediment or fluid/rock interactions in the deep sub-surface. Intense leaching of terrigenous clay has led to radiogenic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7106) in pore fluids of the near-shore mud volcanoes. In contrast, non-radiogenic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7075) at the distal locations are attributed to admixing of a basement-derived fluid component, carrying an isotopic signature from interaction with the basaltic crust. This inference is substantiated by temperature constraints from Li isotope equilibrium calculations suggesting exchange processes at particularly high temperatures (>200 °C) for the least radiogenic pore fluids of the most distal location.Advective pore fluids in the off-shore reaches of the Gulf of Cadiz are influenced by successive exchange processes with both oceanic crust and terrigenous, fine-grained sediments, resulting in a chemical and isotopic signature similar to that of fluids in near-shore ridge flank hydrothermal systems. This suggests that deep-rooted mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz represent a fluid pathway intermediate between mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal vent and shallow, marginal cold seep. Due to the thicker sediment coverage and slower fluid advection rates, the overall geochemical signature is shifted towards the sediment-diagenetic signal compared to ridge flank hydrothermal environments.     

Multi-metal contaminant dynamics in temporarily flooded soil under sulfate limitation

In many river basins, floodplain soils have accumulated a variety of metal contaminants, which might be released during periods of flooding. We investigated the dynamics of copper, cadmium, lead, zinc, and nickel in a contaminated freshwater floodplain soil under a realistic sulfate-limited flooding regime in microcosm experiments. We found that most contaminants were initially mobilized by processes driven by the reductive dissolution of Fe(III) and Mn(IV, III) (hydr)oxides. Subsequently, bacterial sulfate respiration resulted in the transformation of the entire available sulfate (2.3 mmol/kg) into chromous reducible sulfur (CRS). Cu K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy revealed that the soil Cu speciation changed from predominantly Cu(II) bound to soil organic matter (SOM) intermittently to 14% metallic Cu(0) and subsequently to 66% copper sulfide (Cu_xS). These Cu_xS precipitates accounted for most of the formed CRS, suggesting that Cu_xS was the dominant sulfide phase formed in the flooded soil. Sequential metal extractions, in agreement with CRS results, suggested that easily mobilizable Cd was completely and Pb partially sequestered in sulfide precipitates, controlling their dissolved concentrations to below detection limits. In contrast, Zn and Ni (as well as Fe) were hardly sequestered into sulfide phases, so that micromolar levels of dissolved Zn and Ni (and millimolar dissolved Fe(II)) persisted in the reduced soil. The finding that Cu, Cd, and Pb were sequestered (but hardly any Zn, Ni, and Fe) is consistent with the thermodynamically predicted sulfide ladder following the increasing solubility products of the respective metal sulfides. The observation that Cd and Pb were sequestered in sulfides despite the presence of remaining SOM-bound Cu(II) suggested that the kinetics of Cu(II) desorption, diffusion, and/or Cu_xS precipitation interfered with the sulfide ladder. We conclude that the dynamics of multiple metal contaminants are intimately coupled under sulfate limitation by the relative thermodynamic stabilities and formation kinetics of the respective metal sulfides.     

Nucleation and crystallization of otavite, witherite, calcite, strontianite, hydrozincite, and hydrocerussite by CO2 membrane diffusion technique

Otavite, witherite, calcite, strontianite, hydrozincite and hydrocerussite nucleation was induced by CO₂ diffusion through a polyethylene membrane into a metal bearing solution. Nucleation and ongoing precipitation was followed at 25 ± 1 °C by the chemical evolution of the solution and the consumption of sodium hydroxide (pH-stat conditions). X-ray diffraction patterns as well as FT-infrared and Raman spectra confirmed the formation of well crystallized solids, except for less crystalline hydrozincite. In several experiments simonkolleite and laurionite precipitated concurrently with hydrozincite and hydrocerussite. The carbonate end-member minerals, smithsonite and cerussite, however were not formed. Carbonate minerals crystallized as spherical aggregates of thin layered otavite, spherical orientated witherite needles, rhombohedral calcite, pseudo-hexagonal strontianite laths, fibrous lumps of hydrozincite and planar hexagonal hydrocerussite crystals. Crystal and aggregate sizes range between 1 and 100 μm. Nucleation occurred at well defined reaction times and distinct critical supersaturation indices (SI_crit). The time for nucleation at constant pH decreased as the initial metal concentration increased for a given solid. The SI_crit values decreased in the order of hydrocerussite (3.2), otavite (2.5), strontianite (1.6), witherite (0.9) and calcite (0.7).