CoRoT-2a Magnetic Activity: Hints for Possible Star–Planet Interaction

CoRoT-2a is a young (≈0.5 Gyr) G7V star accompanied by a transiting hot-Jupiter, discovered by the CoRoT satellite (Alonso et al. Astron Astrophys 482:L21, 2008; Bouchy et al. Astron Astrophys 482:L25, 2008). An analysis of its photospheric activity, based on spot modelling techniques previously developed by our group for the analysis of the Sun as a star, shows that the active regions on CoRoT-2a arised within two active longitudes separated by about 180° and rotating with periods of 4.5221 and 4.5543 days, respectively, at epoch of CoRoT observations (112 continous days centered at ≈2007.6). We show that the total spotted area oscillates with a period of about 28.9 days, a value close to 10 times the synodic period of the planet with respect to the active longitude pattern rotating in 4.5221 days. Moreover, the variance of the stellar flux is modulated in phase with the planet orbital period. This suggests a possible star–planet magnetic interaction, a phenomenon already seen in other extrasolar planetary systems hosting hot-Jupiters.     

From networks to uses patterns: the digital divide as seen from Africa

This paper gives an account of the work carried out in the AFRICA’NTI research network, which gathered together a hundred, mostly African, researchers. The results were presented at the conference on “the North–South Digital Divide” in 2003 and 2004 (see www.africanti.org). From network to uses patterns, it first questions the way in which the subject is defined. This is a controversial question; should we speak of a “ditch” rather than of “fracture”? This depends on the point of view, but also on the geopolitical situation, and is difficult to measure. The digital divide may be less important than it is usually believed. This paper presents several types of approaches dealing with the opportunities of new technologies for Africa, geographical aspects stressing the diversity of the situations considered, and the importance of a multilevel systemic analysis based on case studies. It is shown that a slow down in the dynamics of equipment has been observed in Africa for both mobile telephony and the Internet. This then raises the question of a risk of regression for the continent, based on the idea that inequalities in access and uses of ICTs matter less than whether these uses improve the living conditions of the poor people concerned.     

Community collaboration and climate change research in the Canadian Arctic

Research on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, particularly projects aiming to contribute to practical adaptation initiatives, requires active involvement and collaboration with community members and local, regional and national organizations that use this research for policy-making. Arctic communities are already experiencing and adapting to environmental and socio-cultural changes, and researchers have a practical and ethical responsibility to engage with communities that are the focus of the research. This paper draws on the experiences of researchers working with communities across the Canadian Arctic, together with the expertise of Inuit organizations, Northern research institutes and community partners, to outline key considerations for effectively engaging Arctic communities in collaborative research. These considerations include: initiating early and ongoing communication with communities, and regional and national contacts; involving communities in research design and development; facilitating opportunities for local employment; and disseminating research findings. Examples of each consideration are drawn from climate change research conducted with communities in the Canadian Arctic.     

A semi-empirical wind set-up forecasting model for Lake Champlain

The precision of Lake Champlain's water level estimation is a key component in the flood forecasting process for the Richelieu River. Hydrological models do not typically take into consideration the effects of the wind on the water level (also known as the wind set-up). The objective of this study is to create an empirical wind set-up forecast model for Lake Champlain during high wind events. The proposed model uses wind speed and direction across the Lake, as well as wind gusts as inputs. The model is calibrated to a subset of observations and evaluated on an independent sample, considering four wind speed bins. It is tested and compared to a variant of the Zuider Zee equation on 20 wind set-up events that occurred between 2017 and 2019 using hindcast data from five different numerical weather prediction systems (GDPS, RDPS, HRDPS, NOAA and ECMWF). A quantile mapping-based forecast calibration scheme is implemented for each of the forecast products to correct their biases. Results show that events are successfully predicted by the proposed model at least 72 h in advance. These results are better than the other comparative models found in the literature and tested herein. Overall, significant improvements are obtained by including wind speed and wind gusts from different weather stations.     

Global tectonics and the geoid

A digitised tectonic model, initially built up for regionalization of Rayleigh waves, is applied to the geoid in order to define the mean geoid heights of the following regions: 3 oceanic regions, namely young oceans (0–30 Ma) middle-aged oceans (30–80 Ma) and old oceans (> 80 Ma); trenches and subduction zones; mountains; and shields. The relative importance of the deep sources is damped or enhanced by progressively removing or adding the lower or higher degrees of the geoid. A statistical approach allows us to quantify the success of the correlation between tectonics and these filtered geoids.Significant variations are observed in these correlations for oceanic regions (including subduction zones) with a cut-off between degree-2 and higher degrees. For degrees ? 3, a well-known trend is observed: high values correspond to young oceans (ridges) and low values to old oceans, high values are also obtained for subduction zones. On the contrary, and unexpectedly, for the degree-2 alone a trend reversal is observed: geoid lows are observed over ridges and geoid highs over old oceans; trenches give the same geoid amplitude than old oceans. Clearly this denotes a degree-2 convection pattern connected to plate tectonics. In addition it is shown that the minimum and maximum inertia axes of the surface distribution of young oceans, and independently of old oceans and trenches, coincide with the Earth's equatorial inertia axes (74°E and 164°E), i.e., with the equatorial extremes of the degree-2 geoid.Plate tectonics is uncorrelated with the polar anomaly of the degree-2 geoid, namely the flattening which is not accounted for by Earth rotation. A north-south axisymmetric convection with a degree-2 pattern is proposed to explain this extra flattening; this model is supported by the latitude dependence of the depth of oceanic ridges.     

Giant palaeotsunami in Kiribati: Converging evidence from geology and oral history

For tsunami science within Oceania, the vast Central and Western Pacific (CEWEP) is an anomalous region because of the scarcity of historical tsunami observations and the complete absence of dated palaeotsunami evidence. This paper therefore records the first dated high-magnitude palaeotsunami event within the CEWEP region. A combination of both geological data and oral history is provided for a palaeotsunami that struck remote Makin island, northernmost of the Gilbert Islands in Kiribati, toward the end of the 16th century. A previously undocumented oral tradition of giant waves is well known to the people of Makin. Narration of this legend by the Wiin te Maneaba, traditional storyteller on Makin, provided important details supporting a tsunami hypothesis. The legend preserves credible information surrounding the giant-wave origin of Rebua and Tokia, two prominent subaerial megaclasts of blade and block geometry that were transported 80–130 m shorewards from the reef-edge source and deposited in sideways and inverted orientations. From available hydrodynamic flow transport equations, minimum flow velocities of 7.3–16.3 m s⁻¹ were generated, depending on whether the reefblocks were rotated or lifted onto the reef platform. The youngest U-Th age-dates for fossil corals retrieved from the reefblocks give a maximum age for the palaeotsunami of circa AD 1576. Several far-field Pacific Rim and regional possibilities exist for tsunamigenesis. These include subduction-zone seismicity and catastrophic volcanic eruption, both of which have been linked to earlier (late 15th century) palaeotsunami events recorded elsewhere in the Pacific Islands. However, the available evidence here suggests that the ~AD 1576 Makin palaeotsunami was more likely to have been locally generated by tsunamigenic offshore submarine slope failure close to Makin's western reef, associated with the giant arcuate bight structure that characterizes the northern rim of Butaritari atoll.     

The genesis of Variscan (Hercynian) plutonic rocks: Inferences from Sr,Pb, and O studies on the Maladeta igneous complex,central Pyrenees (Spain)

The Maladeta plutonic complex formed during the latest stages of the Variscan orogeny. It was emplaced into the Paleozoic sedimentary sequence of the Pyrenees. The eastern part, investigated in the present study, consists of an early intrusion of cumulate gabbronorites followed in order of emplacement by the main biotite-hornblende granodiorite, which was itself intruded by two small stocks of two-mica cordierite granite. An ⁸⁷Rb-⁸⁷Sr isochron dates the granodiorite at 277±7 m.y. with an initial (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_o ratio of 0.7117±3. Gabbroic rocks have lower strontium initial ratios, down to 0.7092, while those of granite range from that of the granodiorite up to about 0.715. The three rock types have distinctive ¹⁸O values: 8.7 to 9.6 for the gabbronorites, 9.4 to 10.4 for the granodiorites and 10.3 to 11.8 for the granites. Lead isotopic compositions of rocks and feldspars are all radiogenic. Feldspars give consistent Pb model ages around 280 m.y., with and values of about 9.7 and 4.05, respectively. No pristine, mantle-derived magma was found among the investigated samples and the rocks cannot be related to one another by any simple mechanism of fractional crystallization. Some type of mixing process involving two end members seems to be required: a high-¹⁸O, high-⁸⁷Sr material that is clearly of crustal origin, and a lower-¹⁸O, lower-⁸⁷Sr end member derived from the mantle. Examination of various mixing models does not support magma mixing nor assimilation of crustal rocks by a mafic magma. The most acceptable model involves melting at different levels of a vertically-zoned source in the continental crust; this source was formed by mixing between mantle-derived magmas and crustal metasediments. This material was apparently thickened, tectonically downwarped and partially melted. None of the Maladeta magma-types appear to have been derived at a consuming plate boundary.Contribution Number 3280, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA