Asymmetric mantle dynamics in the MELT region of the East Pacific Rise

The mantle electromagnetic and tomography (MELT) experiment found a surprising degree of asymmetry in the mantle beneath the fast-spreading, southern East Pacific Rise (MELT Seismic Team, Science 280 (1998) 1215–1218; Forsyth et al., Science 280 (1998) 1235–1238; Toomey et al., Science 280 (1998) 1224–1227; Wolfe and Solomon, Science 280 (1998) 1230–1232; Scheirer et al., Science 280 (1998) 1221–1224; Evans et al., Science 286 (1999) 752–756). Pressure-release melting of the upwelling mantle produces magma that migrates to the surface to form a layer of new crust at the spreading center about 6 km thick (Canales et al., Science 280 (1998) 1218–1221). Seismic and electromagnetic measurements demonstrated that the distribution of this melt in the mantle is asymmetric (Forsyth et al., Science 280 (1998) 1235–1238; Toomey et al., Science 280 (1998) 1224–1227; Evans et al., Science 286 (1999) 752–756) at depths of several tens of kilometers, melt is more abundant beneath the Pacific plate to the west of the axis than beneath the Nazca plate to the east. MELT investigators attributed the asymmetry in melt and geophysical properties to several possible factors: asymmetric flow passively driven by coupling to the faster moving Pacific plate; interactions between the spreading center and hotspots of the south Pacific; an off-axis center of dynamic upwelling; and/or anomalous melting of an embedded compositional heterogeneity (MELT Seismic Team, Science 280 (1998) 1215–1218; Forsyth et al., Science 280 (1998) 1235–1238; Toomey et al., Science 280 (1998) 1224–1227; Wolfe and Solomon, Science 280 (1998) 1230–1232; Evans et al., Science 286 (1999) 752–756). Here we demonstrate that passive flow driven by asymmetric plate motion alone is not a sufficient explanation of the anomalies. Asthenospheric flow from hotspots in the Pacific superswell region back to the migrating ridge axis in conjunction with the asymmetric plate motion can create many of the observed anomalies.     

Spatial Variability of Turbulent Fluxes in the Roughness Sublayer of an Even-Aged Pine Forest

The spatial variability of turbulent flow statistics in the roughness sublayer (RSL) of a uniform even-aged 14 m (= h) tall loblolly pine forest was investigated experimentally. Using seven existing walkup towers at this stand, high frequency velocity, temperature, water vapour and carbon dioxide concentrations were measured at 15.5 m above the ground surface from October 6 to 10 in 1997. These seven towers were separated by at least 100m from each other. The objective of this study was to examine whether single tower turbulence statistics measurements represent the flow properties of RSL turbulence above a uniform even-aged managed loblolly pine forest as a best-case scenario for natural forested ecosystems. From the intensive space-time series measurements, it was demonstrated that standard deviations of longitudinal and vertical velocities (_u, _w) and temperature (_T) are more planar homogeneous than their vertical flux of momentum (u_* ²) and sensible heat (H) counterparts. Also, the measured H is more horizontally homogeneous when compared to fluxes of other scalar entities such as CO₂ and water vapour. While the spatial variability in fluxes was significant (>15 %), this unique data set confirmed that single tower measurements represent the canonical structure of single-point RSL turbulence statistics, especially flux-variance relationships. Implications to extending the moving-equilibrium hypothesis for RSL flows are discussed. The spatial variability in all RSL flow variables was not constant in time and varied strongly with spatially averaged friction velocity u_*, especially when u_* was small. It is shown that flow properties derived from two-point temporal statistics such as correlation functions are more sensitive to local variability in leaf area density when compared to single point flow statistics. Specifically, that the local relationship between the reciprocal of the vertical velocity integral time scale (I_w) and the arrival frequency of organized structures (/h) predicted from a mixing-layer theory exhibited dependence on the local leaf area index. The broader implications of these findings to the measurement and modelling of RSL flows are also discussed.     

Monitoring precipitable water vapor in real-time using global navigation satellite systems

This paper addresses real-time monitoring of the precipitable water vapor (PWV) from GNSS measurements and presents some results obtained from 6-month long GNSS PWV experiments using international and domestic GNSS networks. In the real-time GNSS PWV monitoring system a server/client structure is employed to facilitate formation of PWV networks and single-differenced GNSS measurements are utilized to mitigate errors in GNSS satellites’ orbits and clocks. An issue relating to baseline length between the server and clients is discussed in detail and as a result the PWV monitor is configured to perform in two modes depending on the baseline length. The server estimates sequentially the zenith wet delay of the individual stations, which is then converted into the PWV of the stations. We evaluate system performance by comparing the real-time PWV solution with reference solutions including meteorological measurements obtained with radiosondes and deferred-time precision GNSS PWV solutions. Results showed that the standard deviation of difference between the real-time PWV and the reference solutions ranged from 2.1 to 3.4 mm in PWV for a 6-month long comparison, which was improved to 1.4 to 2.9 mm by reducing comparison period to 20 days in winter.     

The charge density distribution and antiferromagnetic properties of azurite Cu3[CO3]2(OH)2

 The structure and bonding in azurite are investigated on the basis of accurate single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. Both spherical IAM and pseudoatom models have been used in the refinements. The deformation electron density: dynamic (IAM) and static (pseudoatom) are mapped for the CO₃ group and for Cu(1) and Cu(2) squares in different sections. The carbonate group in azurite, not constrained to have trigonal symmetry, exhibits peaks in both static and dynamic maps which result from σ-bonds between C–sp² hybrid orbitals and O–p orbitals with some delocalisation of density in the dynamic map because of the thermal motion of oxygens. For the analysis of crystal fields and for the multipole calculations, coordinate systems on the Cu-atoms have been chosen as for a Jahn-Teller octahedron, but with the normal to the square as the z-axis instead of the absent apical oxygens. In both Cu squares there are peaks which result from single Cu–O σ-bonds. Most remarkable is the preferential occupation of the non-bonding 3d orbitals of Cu-atoms being above and below the Cu-squares. The centre of these peaks for the Cu(1)-atom makes an angle with the c-axis ∼53° in the ac plane. This direction corresponds to the maximum magnetic susceptibility at ambient temperature. The real atomic charges of Cu-atoms in azurite determined from multipoles are close to Cu⁺¹. The occupancies of the 3d atomic orbitals show that non-bonding orbitals in both Cu-atoms are most populated, in contrast to bonding orbitals, as is typical for the Jahn-Teller octahedron. The absence of apical oxygens makes this effect even more pronounced. It is suggested that the antiferromagnetic structure below 1.4 K will be collinear and commensurate with b′=2b. Received: 8 September 2000 / Accepted: 6 March 2001     

Manganese fluxes from Mississippi Delta sediments

Massive sediment deposition on the Mississippi River Delta establishes reducing conditions sufficient to bring about Mn dissolution in the top millimeters of sediment. As a result, significant fluxes of dissolved Mn pass from the Delta sediments to the overlying water column. This process is examined by study of chemical partitioning of Mn in river particulates and Delta sediments and from interstitial water chemistry. Remobilized Mn is actively transported away from the Delta area with aluminosilicate detritus thereby providing “excess” Mn to the deep Gulf of Mexico at the expense of the Delta sediments.     

A Multispacecraft Analysis of a Small-Scale Transient Entrained by Solar Wind Streams

The images taken by the Heliospheric Imagers (HIs), part of the SECCHI imaging package onboard the pair of STEREO spacecraft, provide information on the radial and latitudinal evolution of the plasma compressed inside corotating interaction regions (CIRs). A plasma density wave imaged by the HI instrument onboard STEREO-B was found to propagate towards STEREO-A, enabling a comparison between simultaneous remote-sensing and in situ observations of its structure to be performed. In situ measurements made by STEREO-A show that the plasma density wave is associated with the passage of a CIR. The magnetic field compressed after the CIR stream interface (SI) is found to have a planar distribution. Minimum variance analysis of the magnetic field vectors shows that the SI is inclined at 54° to the orbital plane of the STEREO-A spacecraft. This inclination of the CIR SI is comparable to the inclination of the associated plasma density wave observed by HI. A small-scale magnetic cloud with a flux rope topology and radial extent of 0.08 AU is also embedded prior to the SI. The pitch-angle distribution of suprathermal electrons measured by the STEREO-A SWEA instrument shows that an open magnetic field topology in the cloud replaced the heliospheric current sheet locally. These observations confirm that HI observes CIRs in difference images when a small-scale transient is caught up in the compression region.     

Relativistic charged particle precipitation into Jupiter's sub-auroral atmosphere

Longitudinal variations of energetic charged particle precipitation into the jovian sub-auroral atmosphere are modeled based on weak diffusion scattering and variations in the local loss-cone size associated with asymmetries in the VIP-4 magnetic field model. Our scattering model solutions suggest that low latitude observations of enhanced H₃⁺ and X-ray emissions are at least partially due to precipitating energetic particles. The correlation between model results and observations is best in the northern hemisphere at low L (1.5), where the surface magnetic field variation is largest and observations have the highest resolution. Weaker correlations in the southern hemisphere and at higher latitudes, particularly for H₃⁺ emissions, are likely due to the presence of other energy sources, lack of resolution in the observations and limitations in the sub-auroral surface magnetic field model.     

AXIOM: Advanced X‐ray imaging of the magnetosheath

AXIOM (Advanced X‐ray Imaging Of the Magnetosphere) is a concept mission which aims to explain how the Earth's magnetosphere responds to the changing impact of the solar wind using a unique method never attempted before; performing wide‐field soft X‐ray imaging and spectroscopy of the magnetosheath, magnetopause and bow shock at high spatial and temporal resolution. Global imaging of these regions is possible because of the solar wind charge exchange (SWCX) process which produces elevated soft X‐ray emission from the interaction of high charge‐state solar wind ions with primarily neutral hydrogen in the Earth's exosphere and near‐interplanetary space (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A modified light transmission visualization method for DNAPL saturation measurements in 2-D models

In this research, a light transmission visualization (LTV) method was used to quantify dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL) saturation in two-dimensional (2-D), two fluid phase systems. The method is an expansion of earlier LTV methods and takes into account both absorption and refraction light theories. Based on this method, DNAPL and water saturations can rapidly be obtained point wise across sand-packed 2-D flow chambers without the need to develop a calibration curve. A single point calibration step is, however, needed when dyed DNAPL is used to account for the change in the transmission factor at the dyed DNAPL–water interface. The method was applied to measure, for the first time, undyed DNAPL saturation in small 2-D chambers. Known amounts of DNAPL, modeled by tetrachloroethylene (PCE), were added to the chamber and these amounts were compared to results obtained by this LTV method. Strong correlation existed between results obtained based on this method and the known PCE amounts with an R² value of 0.993. Similar experiments conducted using dyed PCE showed a stronger correlation between results obtained by this LTV method and the known amounts of dyed PCE added to the chamber with an R² value of 0.999. The method was also used to measure dyed PCE saturation in a large 2-D model following sparging experiments. Results obtained from image analyses following each sparging event were compared to results obtained by two independent techniques, namely gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analyses and carbon column extraction. There was a good agreement between the results obtained by this LTV method and those obtained by the two independent techniques when experiments were carried out under stable light source conditions and errors in mass balance were minor. The method presented here can be expanded to measure fluid contents in three fluid phase systems and provide a non-destructive, non-intrusive tool to investigate changes in DNAPL architecture and flow characteristics in laboratory experiments.