The Compton and pair creation telescope MEGA

MEGA, short for Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, is the development of a new technology telescope in the energy band 0.4--50\ MeV. The wide energy range of MEGA, which spans nuclear γ-ray lines and energetic continuum spectra, the large field of view, and the capacity for polarimetry enables unique investigations into cosmic nucleosynthesis, particle accelerators around compact objects, and explosive high-energy events. We describe the development and tests of a prototype detector. Results from laboratory tests using radioactive sources and from a beam test calibration are presented and an outlook of a potential space mission is sketched.     

Response of the Atlantic overturning circulation to South Atlantic sources of buoyancy

The heat and salt input from the Indian to Atlantic Oceans by Agulhas Leakage is found to influence the Atlantic overturning circulation in a low-resolution Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM). The model used is the Hamburg Large-Scale Geostrophic (LSG) model, which is forced by mixed boundary conditions. Agulhas Leakage is parameterized by sources of heat and salt in the upper South Atlantic Ocean, which extend well into the intermediate layers.It is shown that the model's overturning circulation is sensitive to the applied sources of heat and salt. The response of the overturning strength to changes in the source amplitudes is mainly linear, interrupted once by a stepwise change. The South Atlantic buoyancy sources influence the Atlantic overturning strength by modifying the basin-scale meridional density and pressure gradients. The non-linear, stepwise response is caused by abrupt changes in the convective activity in the northern North Atlantic.Two additional experiments illustrate the adjustment of the overturning circulation upon sudden introduction of heat and salt sources in the South Atlantic. The North Atlantic overturning circulation responds within a few years after the sources are switched on. This is the time it takes for barotropic and baroclinic Kelvin waves to reach the northern North Atlantic in this model. The advection of the anomalies takes three decades to reach the northern North Atlantic.The model results give support to the hypothesis that the re-opening of the Agulhas Gap at the end of the last ice-age, as indicated by palaeoclimatological data, may have stimulated the coincident strengthening of the Atlantic overturning circulation.     

Minor Mergers of Galaxies: Theory and Observations

We compare results from numerical simulations with observations of edge-on galaxies interacting/merging with a small companion (Schwarzkopf and Dettmar,2000), hereafter S&D00). Observations show a clear influence of the merging and interacting process on disk scale parameters h (radial scalelength), z ₀ (vertical scalelength) and their ratio (h/z ₀), leading to a heating and thickening of the stellar disk. Our numerical simulations show the same behaviour but differ significantly in the magnitude of the change of the disk scale parameters. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Between carbonatite and lamproite—Diamondiferous Torngat ultramafic lamprophyres formed by carbonate-fluxed melting of cratonic MARID-type metasomes

New U-Pb perovskite ages reveal that diamondiferous ultramafic lamprophyre magmas erupted through the Archean crust of northern Labrador and Quebec (eastern Canada) between ca. 610 and 565 Ma, a period of strong rifting activity throughout contiguous Laurentia and Baltica. The observed Torngat carbonate-rich aillikite/carbonatite and carbonate-poor mela-aillikite dyke varieties show a large spread in Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotope ratios with pronounced correlations between isotope systems. An isotopically depleted component is identified solely within aillikites (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i = 0.70323-0.70377; εNd_i = +1.2-+1.8; εHf_i = +1.4-+3.5; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i = 18.2-18.5), whereas some aillikites and all mela-aillikites range to more enriched isotope signatures (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i = 0.70388-0.70523; εNd_i = −0.5 to −3.9; εHf_i = −0.6 to −6.0; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i = 17.8-18.2). These contrasting isotopic characteristics of aillikites/carbonatites and mela-aillikites, along with subtle differences in their modal carbonate, SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Na₂O, Cs-Rb, and Zr-Hf contents, are consistent with two distinctive metasomatic assemblages of different age in the mantle magma source region.Integration of petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic information leads us to propose that the isotopically enriched component originated from a reduced phlogopite-richterite-Ti-oxide dominated source assemblage that is reminiscent of MARID suite xenoliths. In contrast, the isotopically depleted component was derived from a more oxidized phlogopite-carbonate dominated source assemblage. We argue that low-degree CO₂-rich potassic silicate melts from the convective upper mantle were preferentially channelled into an older, pre-existing MARID-type vein network at the base of the North Atlantic craton lithosphere, where they froze to form new phlogopite-carbonate dominated veins. Continued stretching and thinning of the cratonic lithosphere during the Late Neoproterozoic remobilized the carbonate-rich vein material and induced volatile-fluxed fusion of the MARID-type veins and the cold peridotite substrate. Isotopic modelling suggests that only 5-12% trace element contribution from such geochemically extreme MARID-type material is required to produce the observed compositional shift from the isotopically most depleted aillikites/carbonatites towards enriched mela-aillikites.We conclude that cold cratonic mantle lithosphere can host several generations of contrasting vein assemblages, and that each may have formed during past tectonic and magmatic events under distinctively different physicochemical conditions. Although cratonic MARID-type and carbonate-bearing veins in peridotite can be the respective sources for lamproite and carbonatite magmas when present as the sole metasome, their concomitant fusion in a complex source region may give rise to a whole new variety of deep volatile-rich magmas and we suggest that orangeites (formerly Group 2 kimberlites), kamafugites, and certain types of ultramafic lamprophyre are formed in this manner.     

Semantic Interoperability through the Definition of Conceptual Model Transformations

The integration of distributed geospatial data is a great issue in GI Science. Hereby, the collection of data from different systems and different structures as well as across country borders is a problem. We explain a model‐based four‐step approach to conceptual data modelling. Within this approach, we introduce a methodology to map data models on the conceptual level without touching data formats. First, we developed a conceptual mapping language called “UMLT” which is the core of our approach. Furthermore, we integrated UMLT into the Model‐Driven Architecture where a conceptual model mapping is referred to as a platform independent model mapping. Finally, the data format transformation is deduced from the model mapping automatically. This represents the implementation mapping from a platform independent model to a platform specific model. Together with transformation operations for attribute mapping, this approach is a means for effective and enhanced semantic interoperability.     

Geological structure and kinematics of normal faults in the Otway Basin,Australia, based on quantitative analysis of 3‐D seismic reflection data

The Otway Basin in the south of Victoria, Australia underwent three phases of deformation during breakup of the southern Australian margin. We assess the geometry and kinematics of faulting in the basin by analysing a 3‐D reflection seismic volume. Eight stratigraphic horizons and 24 SW‐dipping normal faults as well as subordinate antithetic faults were interpreted. This resulted in a high‐resolution geological 3‐D model (ca. 8 km × 7 km × 4 km depth) that we present as a supplementary 3‐D PDF (Data S1). We identified hard‐ and soft‐linking fault connections over the entire area, such as antithetic faults and relay ramps, respectively. Most major faults were continuously active from Early to Late Cretaceous, with two faults in the northern part of the study area active until at least the Oligocene. Allan maps of faults show tectonic activity continuously waned over this time period. Isopach maps of stratigraphic volumes quantify the amount of syn‐sedimentary movement that is characteristic of passive margins, such as the Otway Basin. We show that the faults possess strong corrugations (with amplitudes above the seismic resolution), which we illustrated by novel techniques, such as cylindricity and curvature. We argue that the corrugations are produced by sutures between sub‐vertical fault segments and this morphology was maintained during fault growth. Thus, they can be used to indicate the kinematics vector of the fault movement. This evidences, together with left‐stepping relay ramps, that 40% of the faults had a small component (up to 25°) of dextral oblique slip as well as normal (dip‐slip) movement.     

Identification and assessment of groundwater flow and storage components of the relict Schöneben Rock Glacier,Niedere Tauern Range,Eastern Alps (Austria)

More than 2,600 relict rock glaciers are known in the Austrian Alps but the knowledge of their hydraulic properties is severely limited. The relict Schöneben Rock Glacier (Niedere Tauern Range, Austria), with an extension of 0.17 km², was investigated based on spring data (2006–2014) and seismic refraction survey. Spring-discharge hydrographs and natural and artificial tracer data suggest a heterogeneous aquifer with a layered internal structure for the relict rock glacier. The discharge behavior exhibits a fast and a delayed flow component. The spring discharge responds to recharge events within a few hours but a mean residence time of several months can also be observed. The internal structure of the rock glacier (up to several tens of meters thick) consists of: an upper blocky layer with a few meters of thickness, which lacks fine-grained sediments; a main middle layer with coarse and finer-grained sediments, allowing for fast flow; and an approximately 10-m-thick basal till layer as the main aquifer body responsible for the base flow. The base-flow component is controlled by (fine) sandy to silty sediments with low hydraulic conductivity and high storage capacity, exhibiting a difference in hydraulic conductivity to the upper layer of about three orders of magnitude. The high storage capacity of relict rock glaciers has an impact on water resources management in alpine catchments and potentially regulates the risk of natural hazards such as floods and related debris flows. Thus, the results highlight the importance of such aquifer systems in alpine catchments.