Variations in geometric measures of topographic surfaces underlain by fractured granitic plutons

Silicate melts impose systematic fracture patterns on their hosts and their own subsolidus portions as they crystallize and cool to ambient conditions. Weathering of these plutonic bodies accentuates the fractures and produces fragmented topographic surfaces whose geometric measures exceed those of a Euclidean surface. Because geometric measures of these surfaces are potentially indicative of the percolation properties of the fracture network, contours and vertical sections were digitized from 1250000 and 1240000 scale maps, and their statistical fractal dimensions,D, were computed. Regions underlain by granitic plutons with similar fragmentation patterns were found to haveD values ranging from 1.15 to 1.28 within a single pluton. This range of values is caused by noise and several geologic factors. The values contain noise introduced by the map-making and digitizing procedures that amounts toD1.05. However all values lie well above this threshold, and they correlate closely with local differences in weathering. SmallerD values derive from contours where accumulation of screen or glacial erosion has smoothed the surface, whereas largerD values derive from contours along aretes and in unglaciated terrains. In each of these regions, largerD values occur locally where fractures are most frequent and/or continuous. LargeD values were also derived from regions underlain by host rocks that lie in the near-field region of the stress field caused by the pluton. The fractral values derived are apparently related to the magma-hydrothermal event, they can potentially be used to derive properties of the percolation networks that were active during the hydrothermal events.     

Lunar magnetic variations

Displayed daygraphs of magnetic observatory hourly mean values and of lunar magnetic variations reconstructed from spherical harmonic coefficients are used to illustrate the difficulties that arise in separating lunar magnetic effects from those associated with the 27 day recurrence tendency in magnetic activity.     

Melting and premelting of silicates: Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction of Li2SiO3 and Na2SiO3

The isostructural lithium (Li₂SiO₃) and sodium (Na₂SiO₃) metasilicates have been investigated from room temperature up to the melting point by single-crystal Raman spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray powder diffraction. The unit-cell parameters and Raman frequencies of Li₂SiO₃ vary regularly with temperature up to the melting point, which is consistent with the lack of premelting effects in calorimetric measurements. In contrast, Na₂SiO₃ undergoes a transition at about 850 K from orthorhombic Cmc 2₁ symmetry, to a lower symmetry (possibly Pmc 2₁), and shows near 1200 K changes in the Raman spectra that correlate well with the premelting effects as determined from calorimetry observations. In both compounds, a high alkali mobility likely sets in several hundreds of degrees below the melting point. Premelting in Na₂SiO₃ is associated with extensive deformation of the silicate chains as evidenced near the melting point by similarities in the Raman spectra of the crystalline and liquid phases.     

Hydroclimatic change disparity of Peruvian Pacific drainage catchments

Peruvian Pacific drainage catchments only benefit from 2% of the total national available freshwater while they concentrate almost 50% of the population of the country. This situation is likely to lead a severe water scarcity and also constitutes an obstacle to economic development. Catchment runoff fluctuations in response to climate variability and/or human activities can be reflected in extreme events, representing a serious concern (like floods, erosion, droughts) in the study area. To document this crucial issue for Peru, we present here an insightful analysis of the water quantity resource variability of this region, exploring the links between this variability and climate and/or anthropogenic pressure. We first present a detailed analysis of the hydroclimatologic variability at annual timescale and at basin scale over the 1970–2008 period. In addition to corroborating the influence of extreme El Niño events over precipitation and runoff in northern catchments, a mean warming of 0.2 °C per decade over all catchments was found. Also, higher values of temperature and potential and actual evapotranspiration were found over northern latitudes. We chose to apply the Budyko-Zhang framework that characterizes the water cycle as a function of climate only, allowing the identification of catchments with significant climatic and anthropogenic influence on water balance. The Budyko-Zhang methodology revealed that 11 out of 26 initial catchments are characterized by low water balance disparity related to minor climatic and anthropogenic influence. These 11 catchments were suitable for identifying catchments with contrasting change in their hydroclimatic behavior using the Budyko trajectories. Our analysis further reveals that six hydrological catchment responses can be characterized by high sensitivity to climate variability and land use changes.     

Radio Spectra of Three Supernova Remnants: G114.3+0.3, G116.5+1.1 and G116.9+0.2

Presented are new images of supernova remnants G114.3 0.3, G116.5 1.1 and G116.9 0.2 (CTB 1) at 408 MHz from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). We also use the 1420 MHz images from the CGPS in a study of their 408-1420 MHz spectral indices. The flux densities at 408 MHz and 1420 MHz, corrected for flux densities from compact sources within the SNRs, are 12±6 Jy and 9.8±0.8 Jy for Gl 14.3 0.3,15.0±1.5 Jy and 10.6±0.6 Jy for G116.5 1.1, 15.0±1.5 Jy and 8.1±0.4 Jy for G116.9±0.2. The integrated flux density-based spectral indices (Sv∝v-α) areα=0.16±0.41, 0.28±0.09 and 0.49±0.09 for G114.3 0.3, G116.5 1.1 and G116.9 0.2, respectively. Their T-T plot-based spectral indices are 0.68±0.48, 0.28±0.15, and 0.48±0.04, in agreement with the integrated flux density-based spectral indices. New flux densities are derived at 2695 MHz which are significantly larger than previous values. The new 408, 1420 and 2695 MHz flux densities and published values at other frequencies, where images are not available, are fitted after correcting for contributions from compact sources, to derive their multi-frequency spectral indices.     

Cassini UVIS observations of Jupiter's auroral variability

The Cassini spacecraft Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) obtained observations of Jupiter's auroral emissions in H₂ band systems and H Lyman-α from day 275 of 2000 (October 1), to day 81 of 2001 (March 22). Much of the globally integrated auroral variability measured with UVIS can be explained simply in terms of the rotation of Jupiter's main auroral arcs with the planet. These arcs were also imaged by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on Hubble Space Telescope (HST). However, several brightening events were seen by UVIS in which the global auroral output increased by a factor of 2-4. These events persisted over a number of hours and in one case can clearly be tied to a large solar coronal mass ejection event. The auroral UV emissions from these bursts also correspond to hectometric radio emission (0.5-16 MHz) increases reported by the Galileo Plasma Wave Spectrometer (PWS) and Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Spectrometer (RPWS) experiments. In general, the hectometric radio data vary differently with longitude than the UV data because of radio wave beaming effects. The 2 largest events in the UVIS data were on 2000 day 280 (October 6) and on 2000 days 325-326 (November 20-21). The global brightening events on November 20-21 are compared with corresponding data on the interplanetary magnetic field, solar wind conditions, and energetic particle environment. ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) solar wind data was numerically propagated from the Earth to Jupiter with an MHD code and compared to the observed event. A second class of brief auroral brightening events seen in HST (and probably UVIS) data that last for ∼2 min is associated with auroral flares inside the main auroral ovals. On January 8, 2001, from 18:45-19:35 UT UVIS H₂ band emissions from the north polar region varied quasiperiodically. The varying emissions, probably due to auroral flares inside the main auroral oval, are correlated with low-frequency quasiperiodic radio bursts in the 0.6-5 kHz Galileo PWS data.     

The Minimum Step Linkage Algorithm and Cumulative Cost Model for Time‐Dependent Shortest Paths

Real‐word road networks are typically time‐dependent, but research on time‐dependent shortest paths (TDSPs) is not as rich as that on static shortest paths (SSPs). For large networks, some speed‐up techniques are usually applied to compute SSPs. Unfortunately, many of these techniques are impractical for TDSPs, especially the techniques requiring a precomputation because the number of time instances may be incredibly large or even infinite. Therefore, this study introduced a new TDSP technique that is able to overcome the issue of infinite time instances by utilizing network geometry alone for the pre‐computation, namely the Minimum Step Linkage (MSL) algorithm. It works with a data model called Cumulative Cost Model (CCM). The theoretical concepts of the new data model and algorithm are described, and its performances were tested and compared with existing algorithms through a series of simulations.