Fire Severity,Water Repellency Characteristics and Hydrogeomorphological Changes Following the Christmas 2001 Sydney Forest Fires

Soil water repellency can enhance overland flow and erosion and may be altered by fire. The Christmas 2001 bushfires near Sydney allowed investigation of the relationship between fire severity, water repellency and hydrogeomorphological changes. For two sub-catchments with differences in fire severities in Nattai National Park, south-west of Sydney, this paper considers: (1) the links between fire severity based on SPOT image analysis and ground observation of fire severity and repellency; (2) the textural and organic/minerogenic characteristics of eroded sediment; and (3) erodibility, erosion and deposition of soils in both catchments. Ground surveys show that image analysis reflects well the degree of vegetation consumption by fire, but cannot adequately predict the degree of ground litter consumption, associated soil heating and repellency effects. Fire had varying effects on repellency, leaving it unchanged, destroying it or enhancing it, depending on the soil temperature reached. The main post-fire hydrogeomorphological changes have been widespread erosion and colluvial and alluvial deposition of topsoil in foot-slope locations and river systems, but only localised redistribution of the highly erodible, repellent sandy subsurface layer. The fire did not trigger major geomorphological change in the study area, but fires probably cause important topsoil and nutrient depletion and may also affect water quality.     

Statewide Estimates of Undiscovered Deposits of Gold,Silver, Copper,Lead, and Zinc

Estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits on a statewide basis offer a different perspective on the nation's undiscovered resources of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. Mean estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits statewide were extracted from the estimates of undiscovered deposits nationwide. More than 50 undiscovered deposits are estimated to occur in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin. Estimating the number of undiscovered deposits statewide serves as a measure of a state's total remaining mineral resources in known conventional deposit types.     

Particle transport and distribution on the Mars Science Laboratory mission: Effects of triboelectric charging

We report on the nature of fine particle (<150 μm) transport under simulated martian conditions, in order to better understand the Mars Science Laboratory’s (MSL) sample acquisition, processing and handling subsystem (SA/SPaH). We find that triboelectric charging due to particle movement may have to be controlled in order for successful transport of fines that are created within the drill, processed through the Collection and Handling for In situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) sample handing system, and delivered to the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instruments. These fines will be transferred from the surface material to the portioner, a 3 mm diameter, 8 mm deep distribution center where they will drop ∼2 cm to the instrument inlet funnels. In our experiments, movement of different material including terrestrial analogs and martian soil simulants (Mars Mojave Simulant - MMS) resulted in 1-7 nanocoulombs of charge to build up for several different experimental configurations. When this charging phenomenon occurs, several different results are observed including particle clumping, adherence of material on conductive surfaces, or electrostatic repulsion, which causes like-charged particles to move away from each other. This electrostatic repulsion can sort samples based upon differing size fractions, while adhesion causes particles of different sizes to bind into clods. Identifying these electrostatic effects can help us understand potential bias in the analytical instruments and to define the best operational protocols to collect samples on the surface of Mars.     

Prospects for astrometry with the Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), a large optical telescope having an aperture of 2.4 meters and a length of 8.8 meters, is being developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This telescope will be placed into earth orbit by the space shuttle. Astrometric observations with the HST are made using a Fine Guidance Sensor which is capable of measuring the position of one object relative to another with an accuracy of ±0.002 arcseconds. The astrometric user of HST will be provided with an Astrometric Data Reduction Software package (ADRS). The variety of astrometric problems to be investigated with HST is discussed.     

Connection Between Chromospheric Events and Photospheric Dynamics

We analyzed chromospheric events and their connection to oscillation phenomena and photospheric dynamics. The observations were done with the New Solar Telescope of Big Bear Solar Observatory using a broad-band imager at the wavelength of a TiO band and FISS spectrograph scanning Ca?ii and Hα spectral lines. The event in Ca?ii showed strong plasma flows and propagating waves in the chromosphere. The movement of the footpoints of flux tubes in the photosphere indicated flux tube entanglement and magnetic reconnection as a possible cause of the observed brightening and waves propagating in the chromosphere. An upward propagating train of waves was observed at the site of the downflow event in Hα. There was no clear relationship between photospheric waves and the Ca?ii and Hα events. Our observations indicate that chromospheric waves that were previously thought to originate from the photosphere may be generated by some events in the chromosphere as well.     

The shielding effect of small-scale martian surface geometry on ultraviolet flux

The atmosphere of Mars does little to attenuate incoming ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Large amounts of UV radiation sterilize the hardiest of terrestrial organisms within minutes, and chemically alter the soil such that organic molecules at or near the surface are rapidly destroyed. Thus the survival of any putative martian life near the surface depends to a large extent on how much UV radiation it receives. Variations in small-scale geometry of the surface such as pits, trenches, flat faces and overhangs can have a significant effect on the incident UV flux and may create “safe havens” for organisms and organic molecules. In order to examine this effect, a 1-D radiative transfer sky model with 836 meshed points (plus the Sun) was developed which includes both diffuse and direct components of the surface irradiance. This model derives the variation of UV flux with latitude and an object's Geometric Shielding Ratio (a ratio which describes the geometry of each situation). The best protection is offered by overhangs with flux reduced to a factor of 1.8±0.2×10⁻⁵ of the unprotected value, a reduction which does not vary significantly by latitude. Pits and cracks are less effective with a reduction in UV flux of only up to 4.5±0.5×10⁻³ for the modeled scenarios; however, they are more effective for the same geometric shielding ratio than overhangs at high latitudes due to the low height of the Sun in the sky. Lastly, polar faces of rocks have the least effective shielding geometry with at most a 1.1±0.1×10⁻¹ reduction in UV flux. Polar faces of rocks are most effective at mid latitudes where the Sun is never directly overhead, as at tropical latitudes, and never exposes the back of the rock, as at polar latitudes. In the most favorable cases, UV flux is sufficiently reduced such that organic in-fall could accumulate beneath overhanging surfaces and in pits and cracks. As well, hardy terrestrial microorganisms such as Bacillus pumilus could persist for up to 100 sols on the outer surfaces of typical spacecraft or several tens of martian years in the most shielded surface niches.     

The critical inclination problem — 30 years of progress

The critical inclination problem in artificial satellite theory, first discovered 30 years ago, has aroused great interest and provoked much discussion and controversy in the intervening years. It was this problem which essentially provided the seed corn for the development of the theory of the Ideal Resonance Problem (IRP). The latter theory provides good first-approximation solutions to a number of important resonance problems in celestial mechanics. It is not applicable, however, to certain other interesting resonant systems within the solar system. For these resonances a new fundamental mathematical model of resonance, in the spirit of the IRP, has recently been formulated and successfully applied.This paper reviews the history of the critical inclination problem and highlights the controversies it has generated over the years. The Problem's strong connection with the IRP is outlined with both thenormal andabnormal forms featuring. Finally, with reference to the critical inclination problem, the essential properties of the newer fundamental model are described and compared with the IRP. A strong correspondence is established between recent independent investigations of a variety of resonance problems and earlier work of Andoyer.     

Carbonate equilibria in hydrothermal systems: First ionization of carbonic acid in NaCl media to 300°C

The ionization quotients of aqueous carbon dioxide (carbonic acid) have been precisely determined in NaCl media to 5 m and from 50° to 300°C using potentiometric apparatus previously developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The pressure coefficient was also determined to 250°C in the same media. These results have been combined with selected information in the literature and modeled in two ways to arrive at the best fits and to derive the thermodynamic parameters for the ionization reaction, including the equilibrium constant, activity coefficient quotients, and pressure coefficients. The variation with temperature of the two fundamental quantities $\text{Δ}\text{V}\text{?}{}^{\mathrm{o}}$ and $\text{Δ}\text{C}\text{?}{}^{\mathrm{o}}{}_{\mathrm{p}}$ were examined along the saturation vapor pressure curve and at constant density. The results demonstrated again that for reactions with minimal electrostriction changes the magnitudes and variations of $\text{Δ}\text{C}\text{?}{}^{\mathrm{o}}{}_{\mathrm{p}}$ and $\text{Δ}\text{V}\text{?}{}^{\mathrm{o}}$ with temperature are small and, in addition, $\text{Δ}\text{C}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{p}}$ and $\text{Δ}\text{V}\text{?}$ are approximately independent of salt concentration.The results have also been applied to an examination of the solubility of calcite as a function of pH (in a given NaCl medium) for the neutral to acidic region both for systems with fixed CO₂ pressure and systems where the calcium ion concentration equals the concentration of carbon. The pH of saturated solutions of calcite with P_CO2 of 12 bars increases from 5.1 to 5.5 between 100° and 300°C.     

Fresh Ammonia Ice Clouds in Jupiter: I. Spectroscopic Identification, Spatial Distribution, and Dynamical Implications

We report the first spectroscopic detection of discrete ammonia ice clouds in the atmosphere of Jupiter, as discovered utilizing the Galileo Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS). Spectrally identifiable ammonia clouds (SIACs) cover less than 1% of the globe, as measured in complete global imagery obtained in September 1996 during Galileo's second orbit. More than half of the most spectrally prominent SIACs reside within a small latitudinal band, extending from 2° to 7° N latitude, just south of the 5-μm hot spots. The most prominent of these are spatially correlated with nearby 5-μm-bright hot spots lying 1.5°-3.0° of latitude to the north: they reside over a small range of relative longitudes on the eastward side of hot spots, about 37% of the longitudinal distance to the next hot spot to the east. This strong correlation between the positions of hot spots and the most prominent equatorial SIACs suggests that they are linked by a common planetary wave. Good agreement is demonstrated between regions of condensation predicted by the Rossby wave model of A. J. Friedson and G. S. Orton (1999, Bull. Am. Astron. Assoc31, 1155-1156) and the observed longitudinal positions of fresh ammonia clouds relative to 5-μm hot spots. Consistency is also demonstrated between (1) the lifetime of particles as determined by the wave phase speed and cloud width and (2) the sedimentation time for 10-μm radius particles consistent with previously reported ammonia particle size by T. Y. Brooke et al. (1998, Icarus136, 1-13). A young age (<two days) for most SIAC cloud particles is indicated. To the south, the most prominent SIACs are located to the northwest of the Great Red Spot, in a region where a westward flow of jovian air, diverted approximately 10° of latitude northward by the Great Red Spot, encounters a large eastward flow. SIACs have been observed repeatedly by NIMS at this location during Galileo's first four years in Jupiter orbit. It is speculated that due to the three-dimensional interactions of these flows, relatively large amounts of ammonia gas are steadily transported from the sub-cloud troposphere (below the ∼600-mbar level) to the high troposphere, nearly continuously forming fresh ammonia ice clouds to the northwest of the Great Red Spot.