X-ray reverberation around accreting black holes

Luminous accreting stellar mass and supermassive black holes produce power–law continuum X-ray emission from a compact central corona. Reverberation time lags occur due to light travel time delays between changes in the direct coronal emission and corresponding variations in its reflection from the accretion flow. Reverberation is detectable using light curves made in different X-ray energy bands, since the direct and reflected components have different spectral shapes. Larger, lower frequency, lags are also seen and are identified with propagation of fluctuations through the accretion flow and associated corona. We review the evidence for X-ray reverberation in active galactic nuclei and black hole X-ray binaries, showing how it can be best measured and how it may be modelled. The timescales and energy dependence of the high-frequency reverberation lags show that much of the signal is originating from very close to the black hole in some objects, within a few gravitational radii of the event horizon. We consider how these signals can be studied in the future to carry out X-ray reverberation mapping of the regions closest to black holes.     

Coherent Structures at a Forest Edge: Properties, Coupling and Impact of Secondary Circulations

Little is known about the influence of coherent structures on the exchange process, mainly in the case of forest edges. Thus, in the framework of the ExchanGE processes in mountainous Regions (EGER) project, measurements of atmospheric turbulence were taken at different heights between a forest and an adjacent clear cutting using sonic anemometers and high-frequency optical gas analyzers. From these turbulence data, dominant coherent structures were extracted using an already existing wavelet methodology, which was developed for homogeneous forest canopies. The aim of this study is to highlight differences in properties of coherent structures between a forest and a clear cutting. Distinct features of coherent exchange at the forest edge are presented and a careful investigation of vertical and horizontal coupling by coherent structures around the surface heterogeneity is made. Within the forest, coherent structures are less frequent but possess larger time scales, indicating that only the largest coherent motions can penetrate through the forest canopy. At the forest edge, there is no crown layer that can hinder the vertical exchange of coherent structures, because these exhibit similar time scales at all heights. In contradiction to that, no improved vertical coupling was detected at the forest edge. This is mainly because the structures captured by the applied routine contribute less to total turbulent fluxes at the edge than within the forest. Thus, coherent structures with time scales between 10 and 40 s are not the dominant exchange mechanism at the forest edge. With respect to the horizontal direction, a consistent picture of coherent transport could be derived: along the forest edge there is mainly good coupling by coherent structures, whereas perpendicular to the forest edge there is mainly decoupling. Finally, it was found that there is a systematic modulation of coherent structures directly at the forest edge: strong ejection motions appear in all time series during the daytime, whereas strong sweeps dominate at night. An effect of wind direction relative to the forest edge is excluded. Consequently, it is hypothesized that this might be an indication of a quasi-stationary secondary circulation above the clear cutting that develops due to differences in surface temperature and roughness. Such circulations might be a relevant turbulent transport mechanism for ecosystem-atmosphere exchange in heterogeneous landscapes.     

Twinned calcite as an indicator of high differential stresses and low shock pressure conditions during impact cratering

Shock-related calcite twins are characterized in calcite-bearing metagranite cataclasites within crystalline megablocks of the Ries impact structure, Germany, as well as in cores from the FBN1973 research drilling. The calcite likely originates from pre-impact veins within the Variscan metagranites and gneisses, while the cataclasis is due to the Miocene impact. Quartz in the metagranite components does not contain planar deformation features, indicating low shock pressures (<7 GPa). Calcite, however, shows a high density (>1/μm) of twins with widths <100 nm. Different types of twins (e-, f-, and r-twins) crosscutting each other can occur in one grain. Interaction of r- and f-twins results in a-type domains characterized by a misorientation relative to the host with a misorientation angle of 35°–40° and a misorientation axis parallel to an a-axis. Such a-type domains have not been recorded from deformed rocks in nature before. The high twin density and activation of different twin systems in one grain require high differential stresses (on the order of 1 GPa). Twinning of calcite at high differential stresses is consistent with deformation during impact cratering at relatively low shock pressure conditions. The twinned calcite microstructure can serve as a valuable low shock barometer.