Numerical simulation of the weak turbulence excited by a beam of electrons in the interplanetary plasma

The electron distribution functions measured at 1 AU in an electron stream passing the ISEE-3 spacecraft (Lin et al., 1981) are used as input data to a programme which simulates in a one-dimensional model the interaction between fast electrons and plasma waves (quasi-linear relaxation) together with the plasma wave scattering off the background ions. While the computed spectral energy density of the plasma waves excited in resonance with the streaming of electrons is below Zakharov's threshold of strong turbulence, it is sufficiently high to undergo a fast induced scattering off the background ions. The resulting spectrum is concentrated around the wave vector k = 0. Some simple analytic considerations show that this stage leads necessarily to the crossing of Zakharov's threshold and therefore this indirect excitation of strong turbulence seems to play an essential role in understanding the Langmuir turbulence generated by the motion of fast electron beams in the interplanetary plasma.     

Anthropogenic factors and habitat complexity influence biodiversity but wave exposure drives species turnover of a subtropical rocky inter‐tidal metacommunity

Coastal ecosystems are complex and species rich, but are vulnerable to degradation from a variety of anthropogenic activities. Nevertheless, information on inter‐tidal community composition in the Caribbean Basin and at other oceanic sites is lacking. Such information is essential to developing a more comprehensive understanding of rocky inter‐tidal systems and their responses to global change. The goals of this study were to determine the relative importance of environmental (wave power density, wave height), habitat (e.g. algal cover, slope, complexity of rock surfaces) and anthropogenic (distance to roads, population density) factors associated with the structure of local assemblages at multiple shore heights and the regional metacommunity of mobile invertebrates on oceanic rocky inter‐tidal habitats. Environmental characteristics associated with habitat complexity (algal cover, rock surface complexity) and human population density were most strongly associated with abundance and biodiversity of invertebrates. Species richness was positively correlated with surface complexity, but abundance was negatively correlated with both surface complexity and per cent algal cover. By contrast, abundance of invertebrates was positively correlated with human population density, and diversity was negatively correlated with human population density. Abundance of invertebrates was greatest in the mid inter‐tidal zone, whereas diversity was greatest in the lower inter‐tidal zone. Metacommunity structure was Gleasonian, but the gradient along which species turnover occurred was correlated with measures of wave exposure, rather than anthropogenic activity. Unlike in previous studies, mostly at mainland sites, human activity primarily altered dominance patterns of communities, while having relatively little effect on species richness or composition.     

Large bio-geographical shifts in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean: From the subpolar gyre, via plankton, to blue whiting and pilot whales

Pronounced changes in fauna, extending from the English Channel in the south to the Barents Sea in the north-east and off Greenland in the north-west, have occurred in the late 1920s, the late 1960s and again in the late 1990s. We attribute these events to exchanges of subarctic and subtropical water masses in the north-eastern North Atlantic Ocean, associated with changes in the strength and extent of the subpolar gyre. These exchanges lead to variations in the influence exerted by the subarctic or Lusitanian biomes on the intermediate faunistic zone in the north-eastern Atlantic. This strong and persistent bottom-up bio-physical link is demonstrated using a numerical ocean general circulation model and data on four trophically connected levels in the food chain – phytoplankton, zooplankton, blue whiting, and pilot whales. The plankton data give a unique basin-scale depiction of these changes, and a long pilot whale record from the Faroe Islands offers an exceptional temporal perspective over three centuries. Recent advances in simulating the dynamics of the subpolar gyre suggests a potential for predicting the distribution of the main faunistic zones in the north-eastern Atlantic a few years into the future, which might facilitate a more rational management of the commercially important fisheries in this region.     

Identification et Dosages des Substances azotées obtenues par Hydrolyse d'un Acide humique après peracetique

A humic acid extracted from a peat was easily hydrolysed by 6N HCl after oxidation with peracetic acid. The proportion of amino-acids in the hydrolysate was high (11,7 g of aminoacids per 100 g of humic acid), when the proportion of NH₃ was relatively low. 17 aminoacids were identified and titrated. On the opposite, a humic acid with the same origin, which was not oxidised with peracetic acid, gave less amino-acids on hydrolysis, but tenfold more NH₃, which is probably produced by partial decomposition of the amino-acids.     

Lidar observations of volcanic dust over Polish Polar Station at Hornsund after eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull and Grímsvötn

Two significant volcanic eruptions, i.e., Eyjafjallajökull (April–May 2010) and Grímsvötn (May 2011) took place recently in Iceland. Within a few days after eruptions, layers of high aerosol concentration have been observed by multiwavelength lidar of the Polish Polar Station at Hornsund, Svalbard. Measurements of the aerosol’s optical properties indicated a possible presence of volcanic ash transported over the Station. The latter presumption was confirmed by the computed backward trajectories of air masses, showing their paths passing over the location of volcanoes.     

东昆仑活动断裂带西大滩段断层气(Rn,CO2)的释放特征

通过在东昆仑活动断裂带西大滩段进行断层气测试,首次获取了该断裂带中Rn和CO2的释放量。在2004年开挖的2～3m深的探槽内,氡浓度可达20732Bq.m-3,氡发射率可达433mBq.m-2.s-1,远高于在地表的氡浓度505～2380Bq.m-3与氡发射率7～28.19mBq.m-2.s-1(地表氡发射率均值为14.7mBq.m-2.s-1,与世界平均值相当)。从而我们推断该断裂具有从上部第四系覆盖物到深部花岗岩之间的良好连通性。在地表CO2的析出率平均值为18.9g.m-2.d-1,与通常的背景值相当,在探槽中和距离断层1km的地方没有明显的空间变化,但是在断层北侧3km处的一个近乎直立的千枚岩小山上,CO2的析出率却很高,为421g.m-2.d-1,同时该处氡的发射率也高,达503mBq.m-2.s-1,因此,有必要在该断裂附近进行长期监测     

Screening of Mercury and Persistent Organochlorine Pollutants in Long-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melas) in the Faroe Islands

Results of mercury and organochlorine analyses in pooled muscle and blubber samples representing in all 417 long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) sampled in 1997 in the Faroe Islands are presented. The 28 pooled muscle samples from (in all) 9 pods were analysed for total mercury and the same number of pooled blubber samples were analysed for PCB (IUPAC CBs no. 28, 52, 99, 101, 105, 118, 128, 138, 153, 170, 180, 183 and 187), p,p′-DDT and metabolites and o,p′-DDT and metabolites, cis () and trans (γ)-chlordane, cis- and trans-nonachlor, oxychlordane, mirex, hexachlorobenzene, β-HCH and toxaphene (Parlars no. 26 (T2), 32, 50 (T12), 62 (T20) and 69.     

PILOT: a balloon-borne experiment to measure the polarized FIR emission of dust grains in the interstellar medium

Future cosmology space missions will concentrate on measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, which potentially carries invaluable information about the earliest phases of the evolution of our universe. Such ambitious projects will ultimately be limited by the sensitivity of the instrument and by the accuracy at which polarized foreground emission from our own Galaxy can be subtracted out. We present the PILOT balloon project, which aims at characterizing one of these foreground sources, the polarized continuum emission by dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. The PILOT experiment also constitutes a test-bed for using multiplexed bolometer arrays for polarization measurements. This paper presents the instrument and its expected performances. Performance measured during ground calibrations of the instrument and in flight will be described in a forthcoming paper.     

The eccentric frame decomposition of central force fields

The rosette-shaped motion of a particle in a central force field is known to be classically solvable by quadratures. We present a new approach of describing and characterizing such motion based on the eccentricity vector of the two body problem. In general, this vector is not an integral of motion. However, the orbital motion, when viewed from the nonuniformly rotating frame defined by the orientation of the eccentricity vector, can be solved analytically and will either be a closed periodic circulation or libration. The motion with respect to inertial space is then given by integrating the argument of periapsis with respect to time. Finally we will apply the decomposition to a modern central potential, the spherical Hernquist–Newton potential, which models dark matter halos of galaxies with central black holes.