An extended investigation of Helios 1 and 2 observations: The interplanetary magnetic field between 0.3 and 1 AU

Helios-1 and 2 spacecraft allowed a detailed investigation of the radial dependence of the interplanetary magnetic field components between 0.3 and 1 AU. The behaviour of the radial component B _ris in a very good agreement with Parker's model (B _r r ^-2) and the azimuthal component B also shows a radial dependence which is close to theoretical predictions (B r ^-1). Experimental results for the normal component B and for the field magnitude B are consistent with those from previous investigations. The relative amplitude of the directional fluctuations with periods less than 12 hr is essentially independent of heliocentric distance, while their power decreases approximately as r ^–3 without any appreciable difference between higher and lower velocity regimes.Also at Laboratorio Plasma nello Spazio, CNR, Frascati.     

A minimal dynamical model for tidal synchronization and orbit circularization

We study tidal synchronization and orbit circularization in a minimal model that takes into account only the essential ingredients of tidal deformation and dissipation in the secondary body. In previous work we introduced the model (Escribano et al. in Phys. Rev. E, 78:036216, 2008); here we investigate in depth the complex dynamics that can arise from this simplest model of tidal synchronization and orbit circularization. We model an extended secondary body of mass m by two point masses of mass m/2 connected with a damped spring. This composite body moves in the gravitational field of a primary of mass M ≫ m located at the origin. In this simplest case oscillation and rotation of the secondary are assumed to take place in the plane of the Keplerian orbit. The gravitational interactions of both point masses with the primary are taken into account, but that between the point masses is neglected. We perform a Taylor expansion on the exact equations of motion to isolate and identify the different effects of tidal interactions. We compare both sets of equations and study the applicability of the approximations, in the presence of chaos. We introduce the resonance function as a resource to identify resonant states. The approximate equations of motion can account for both synchronization into the 1:1 spin-orbit resonance and the circularization of the orbit as the only true asymptotic attractors, together with the existence of relatively long-lived metastable orbits with the secondary in p:q (p and q being co-prime integers) synchronous rotation.     

Analysis of Cassini/CIRS limb spectra of Titan acquired during the nominal mission II: Aerosol extinction profiles in the 600–1420 cm spectral range

We have analyzed the continuum emission of limb spectra acquired by the Cassini/CIRS infrared spectrometer in order to derive information on haze extinction in the 3–0.02 mbar range (∼150–350 km). We focused on the 600–1420 cm⁻¹ spectral range and studied nine different limb observations acquired during the Cassini nominal mission at 55°S, 20°S, 5°N, 30°N, 40°N, 45°N, 55°N, 70°N and 80°N. By means of an inversion algorithm solving the radiative transfer equation, we derived the vertical profiles of haze extinction coefficients from 17 spectral ranges of 20-cm⁻¹ wide at each of the nine latitudes. At a given latitude, all extinction vertical profiles retrieved from various spectral intervals between 600 and 1120 cm⁻¹ display similar vertical slopes implying similar spectral characteristics of the material at all altitudes. We calculated a mean vertical extinction profile for each latitude and derived the ratio of the haze scale height (H_haze) to the pressure scale height (H_gas) as a function of altitude. We inferred H_haze/H_gas values varying from 0.8 to 2.4. The aerosol scale height varies with altitude and also with latitude. Overall, the haze extinction does not show strong latitudinal variations but, at 1 mbar, an increase by a factor of 1.5 is observed at the north pole compared to high southern latitudes. The vertical optical depths at 0.5 and 1.7 mbar increase from 55°S to 5°N, remain constant between 5°N and 30°N and display little variation at higher latitudes, except the presence of a slight local maximum at 45°N. The spectral dependence of the haze vertical optical depth is uniform with latitude and displays three main spectral features centered at 630 cm⁻¹, 745 cm⁻¹ and 1390 cm⁻¹, the latter showing a wide tail extending down to ∼1000 cm⁻¹. From 600 to 750 cm⁻¹, the optical depth increases by a factor of 3 in contrast with the absorbance of laboratory tholins, which is generally constant. We derived the mass mixing ratio profiles of haze at the nine latitudes. Below the 0.4-mbar level all mass mixing ratio profiles increase with height. Above this pressure level, the profiles at 40°N, 45°N, 55°N, at the edge of the polar vortex, display a decrease-with-height whereas the other profiles increase. The global increase with height of the haze mass mixing ratio suggest a source at high altitudes and a sink at low altitudes. An enrichment of haze is observed at 0.1 mbar around the equator, which could be due to a more efficient photochemistry because of the strongest insolation there or an accumulation of haze due to a balance between sedimentation and upward vertical drag.     

A seasonal climate model of the atmospheres of the giant planets at the voyager encounter time: I. Saturn's stratosphere

A radiative seasonal model which incorporates a multilayer radiative transfer treatment at wave-lengths longward of 7 μm is presented and applied to Saturn's stratosphere. Opacities due to H₂-He, CH₄, C₂H₂, and C₂H₆ are included. Season-dependent insolation is shown to produce a strong hemispheric asymmetry decreasing with depth at the Voyager encounter times, and seasonal amplitudes of 30°K at the poles are predicted in the high stratosphere. The ring-modulated dependence of the insolation and the orbital eccentricity are shown to have a significant effect. Calculations agree closely with the Voyager 1 and 2 radio occultation ingress profiles recorded at 76°S and 36.5°S for CH₄/H₂ = 3.5 + 1.4/? 1.0 × 10^?3;the estimated errors include modeling systematic errors and uncertainties in the occultations profiles. The possible role of aerosols in the stratospheric heating is analyzed. The Voyager 2 egress profile recorded at 31°S cannot be reproduced by calculations. Some constraints on the C₂H₂ and C₂H₆ abundances are derived. The upper portion of the occultation profiles (p < 3mbar) can be matched for C₂H₂/H₂ = 1.0 + 1.3/?0.6 × 10^?7, C₂H₆/H₂ = 1.5 + 1.8/?0.9 × 10^?6 at 76°S and C₂H₂/H₂ = 4 + 6/?4 × 10^?8, C₂H₆/H₂ = 6 + 9/?6 × 10^?7 at 36.5°N. At the northern occultation latitude, the discrepancy with the concentrations derived from analysis of IRIS spectra by R. Courtin, D. Gautier, A. Marten, B. Bézard, and R. Hanel (1984, Astrophys. J.287) can be explained by a sharp variation of the mixing ratios of these gases with altitude in the upper stratosphere. Other interpretations are discussed.     

Latitudinal variations of CO and OCS in the lower atmosphere of Venus from near-infrared nightside spectro-imaging

Spectro-imaging of Venus' nightside in the 2.3-μm window provides a powerful means of probing the lower atmosphere in the 25-40 km altitude range. We present observations recorded at the NASA/IRTF in February 2003 and August 2004, using the SpeX spectro-imager in the 2.1-2.5-μm region. Abundances of CO and OCS have been derived as a function of latitude for different longitudes. The CO abundance increases by about 15% between the equatorial region and higher latitudes (±40°). No longitudinal or temporal variations are observed. The OCS abundance shows the opposite variation in observational sets with sufficient S/N. These variations and anticorrelation are consistent with upwelling motions in the equatorial region and downwelling at higher latitudes.     

Dendrochronologie

Zusammenfassung Die Dendrochronologie arbeitet mit der Jahresschichtung des Holzes. Der Zuwachs gleichzeitig wachsender Hölzer ist ähnlich. Diese Forschungsrichtung braucht viel Material zur Herstellung typischer Mittelkurven. Mit Hilfe der Überbrückungsmethode kommt man örtlich sehr weit zurück. Schwierigkeiten liegen in der gesetzmäßigen Abnahme der Ähnlichkeit von Jahresringkurven mit der Entfernung voneinander. Neben einer absoluten Chronologie sind in Deutschland relative Chronologien aus Jungsteinzeit und Bronzezeit erarbeitet worden. Die Dendrochronologie kann gewisse Aussagen über Klimaschwankungen machen.     

Garnet reequilibration and growth in the eclogite facies and geodynamical evolution near peak metamorphic conditions

Caledonian eclogite-facies metamorphism partially reworking Grenvillian granulite-facies anorthosite allows us to study the processes of garnet reequilibration at high pressure and to reconstruct the evolution of the unit near metamorphic peak conditions. Our results indicate that eclogite-facies metamorphism happened in two successive phases: first, inherited granulitic garnet was fractured and reequilibrated from their boundaries (crystal or fracture rims); then eclogite-facies minerals were crystallised in the fractures as overgrowths on inherited garnets. The reequilibration of inherited garnets is achieved through Fe²⁺Mg⁻¹ exchange, whereas eclogite-facies garnets crystallised during the subsequent phase are notably richer in Ca than un- and re-equilibrated granulitic garnet. Pseudosection construction shows that this lack in Ca reequilibration cannot be related to variations in thermodynamic conditions (a _H2O, reacting system composition) between the two phases. From the compilation of the available data, the reequilibration of granulitic garnet seems to be controlled by the inefficient intra- and inter-granular transport properties of Ca compared to Fe²⁺ and Mg. While these kinetic factors confine garnet reequilibration to Fe²⁺Mg⁻¹ exchange, the extent of reequilibration along this exchange vector is controlled by partitioning with adjacent omphacite. On the contrary to the diffusional reequilibration of granulitic garnet that lasted for several My according to our modelling of the diffusional relaxation, the strong compositional gradients between eclogite-facies and reequilibrated garnets, which are almost unaffected by diffusional reequilibration, provide evidence that rapid exhumation followed the crystallisation of eclogite-facies minerals. We propose that the movement reversal itself, from burial to exhumation, and associated deformation and fluid flow, triggered this crystallisation event. The resulting evolution near metamorphic peak conditions is therefore strongly asymmetrical: on the one hand, the prograde diffusional relaxation profiles indicate slow movement during the last stages of burial, whereas the unaffected retrograde overgrowth indicates fast exhumation rates.     

Primary productivity and phytoplankton size fraction dominance in a temperate North Atlantic estuary

The composition, productivity, and standing crop of net (>20 μm) and nano-(<20 μm) phytoplankton of Peconic Bay, Long Island, New York was examined from June 1978 through May 1979. Nanoplankton, primarily small solitary flagellates, chlorophytes, and diatoms, dominated from May through September accounting for 88.5% of the productivity and 88.1% of the standing crop (measured as chlorophyll a). An apparent net plankton bloom began in December and continued through March. The dominant organism through most of the winter bloom was the chain-forming diatom Skeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cl. Net plankton at this time represented 66.4% of the standing crop. For both size fractions, productivity/chlorophyll a (g C per g chl a per d, integrated through the euphotic zone) was a function of light energy over the year with the exception of a few sampling dates during the post-winter bloom period. Assimilation numbers (g C per g chl a per h at saturating light intensities) were a function of temperature between 0 and 20°C. Nitrogen deficiency did not appear to be a factor in regulating phytoplankton growth rate through the euphotic zone, as ratios of ¹⁴C assimilation for dark bottles enriched with NH₃ and with no enrichment exhibited no relationship to environmental dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations. Zooplankton grazing pressure appeared to have been an important factor in regulating the upper limit of phytoplankton biomass and in influencing size fraction dominance. Dominance of one phytoplankton size fraction over the other on any given date was not based on physiological differences between the two groups since both fractions were composed of the same species. Apparent net phytoplankton blooms (in terms of productivity and chlorophyll a) were artifacts of increased chain lengths of nanoplankton diatoms such as Skeletonema costatum, and to a lesser extent, Thalassiosira nordenskioldii Cl. and Detonula confervacea (Cl.) Gran, rather than to the dominance of large, solitary cells.     

Mantle source heterogeneity in subduction zones: constraints from elemental and isotope (Sr,Nd, and Pb) data on Vulcano Island,Aeolian Archipelago,Italy

Mineralogy and Petrology - Vulcano is part of the Aeolian volcanic arc in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Its products were emplaced through multiple episodes of edifice building and collapse since...