Proximity and complexity in the emergence of high technology industry: The oxbridge comparison

This paper examines similarities and differences in the emergence of high-tech enterprise and the growth of associated industry in Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire since the 1960s. These cases are viewed as instances of a generic phenomenon: the emergence and growth of the science-based ‘innovative milieu’. A conceptual scheme drawn from complexity studies is used to introduce explanatory coherence into the apparently scattered and disconnected factors relevant to the genesis of high-tech milieux.     

B0712+472: a new radio four-image gravitational lens

A new four-image gravitational lens system, B0712+472, has been discovered during the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey. This system consists of four flat-spectrum radio images that are also seen on a Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) image, together with the lensing galaxy. We present MERLIN, VLA and VLBA maps and WHT spectra of the system as well as the HST images. The light distribution of the lensing galaxy is highly elongated and so too is the mass distribution deduced from modelling. We suggest a redshift of ∼1.33 for the lensed object; the lens redshift will require further investigation. The discovery of this new system further increases the ratio of four-image to two-image lens systems currently known, exacerbating problems of required ellipticity of matter distributions in lensing galaxies.     

Implications of pre-mesozoic orogeny in the geological evolution of the Himalaya and Indo-Gangetic Plains

An integrated geological analysis of the Himalaya and Indo-Gangetic Plains demonstrates that the Great Vindhyan Basin incorporating large parts of these morphotectonic units were uplifted into an uneven landmass due to the Pre-Mesozoic orogenic cycle. This uneven landmass was eroded off largely during a considerable part of the Devonian and Carboniferous thereby causing partial absence of sedimentary sequences of these periods except in parts of the Tethys Himalaya. The Late Paleozoic epeirogenic movements brought about renewed sedimentation in the Lesser and Tethys Himalayas in the Krol and Tethys Basins, respectively, which was terminated by the Himalayan Orogeny during Late Cretaceous—Early Eocene.     

Trace metals in Choromytilus meridionalis

Concentrations of metals in mature females of the mussel Choromytilus meridionalis are approximately twice those in males and some other trace elements also differ according to sex. If this species is to be used as an indicator of trace-metal pollution, comparative data should relate to individuals of similar size and care must be taken to determine whether differences in trace-metal content are the result of seasonal variations or reflect abnormal metal uptake.     

Decadal variations in a Venus general circulation model

The Community Atmosphere Model (CAM), a 3-dimensional Earth-based climate model, has been modified to simulate the dynamics of the Venus atmosphere. The most current finite volume version of CAM is used with Earth-related processes removed, parameters appropriate for Venus introduced, and some basic physics approximations adopted. A simplified Newtonian cooling approximation has been used for the radiation scheme. We use a high resolution (1° by 1° in latitude and longitude) to take account of small-scale dynamical processes that might be important on Venus. A Rayleigh friction approach is used at the lower boundary to represent surface drag, and a similar approach is implemented in the uppermost few model levels providing a ‘sponge layer’ to prevent wave reflection from the upper boundary. The simulations generate superrotation with wind velocities comparable to those measured in the Venus atmosphere by probes and around 50-60% of those measured by cloud tracking. At cloud heights and above the atmosphere is always superrotating with mid-latitude zonal jets that wax and wane on an approximate 10 year cycle. However, below the clouds, the zonal winds vary periodically on a decadal timescale between superrotation and subrotation. Both subrotating and superrotating mid-latitude jets are found in the approximate 40-60 km altitude range. The growth and decay of the sub-cloud level jets also occur on the decadal timescale. Though subrotating zonal winds are found below the clouds, the total angular momentum of the atmosphere is always in the sense of superrotation. The global relative angular momentum of the atmosphere oscillates with an amplitude of about 5% on the approximate 10 year timescale. Symmetric instability in the near surface equatorial atmosphere might be the source of the decadal oscillation in the atmospheric state. Analyses of angular momentum transport show that all the jets are built up by poleward transport by a meridional circulation while angular momentum is redistributed to lower latitudes primarily by transient eddies. Possible changes in the structure of Venus’ cloud level mid-latitude jets measured by Mariner 10, Pioneer Venus, and Venus Express suggest that a cyclic variation similar to that found in the model might occur in the real Venus atmosphere, although no subrotating winds below the cloud level have been observed to date. Venus’ atmosphere must be observed over multi-year timescales and below the clouds if we are to understand its dynamics.     

Denudation and retreat of the Serra do Mar escarpment in southern Brazil derived from in situ‐produced 10Be concentration in river sediment

The Serra do Mar escarpment, located along the southeastern coast of Brazil, is a high‐elevation passive margin escarpment. This escarpment evolved from the denudation of granites, migmatites and gneisses. The granites outcrop in the form of a ridge along the escarpment crest, due to its differential erosion (‘sugarloaf’ hills) from the surrounding lithologies. Several studies suggest that the passive margin escarpments are actively retreating toward the interior of the continent. However, no prior study has calculated the long‐term denudation rates of Serra do Mar to test this hypothesis. In this study, we measured the in situ‐produced ¹⁰Be concentration in fluvial sediments to quantify the catchment‐wide long‐term denudation rates of the Serra do Mar escarpment in southern Brazil. We sampled the fluvial sediments from ten watersheds that drain both sides of the escarpment. The average long‐term denudation rate of the oceanic side is between 2.1‐ and 2.6‐fold higher than the rate of the continental side: 26.04 ± 1.88 mm ka^‐1 (integrating over between 15.8 ka^‐1 and 46.6 ka^‐1) and 11.10 ± 0.37 mm ka^‐1 (integrating over between 52.9 ka^‐1 and 85.4 ka^‐1), respectively. These rates indicate that the coastal base level is controlling the escarpment retreat toward the continental high lands, which is consistent with observations made at other high‐elevation passive margins around the globe. The results also demonstrate the differential erosion along the Serra do Mar escarpment in southern Brazil during the Quaternary, where drainages over granites had lower average denudation rates in comparison with those over migmatites and gneisses. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the ocean‐facing catchments have been eroded more intensely than those facing the continent. The results also reveal that drainage over the granites decreases the average denudation rates of the ocean‐facing catchments and the ‘sugarloaf’ hills therefore are natural barriers that slowly retreat once they are exhumed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The making of Stars 'R' Us!

The team behind a successful project to broaden the understanding of astrochemistry – Serena Viti, Wendy Brown, Martin McCoustra, Helen Fraser, Nigel Mason and Robert Massey – recount how they went about it and what benefits resulted.     

Origin of Tertiary to Recent EM- and subduction-like chemical and isotopic signatures in Auca Mahuida region (37°–38°S) and other Patagonian plateau lavas

The alkaline volcanic rocks of the 1.8–0.9 Ma Auca Mahuida and post-mid-Pliocene Rio Colorado backarc volcanic fields east of the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone at ~37°–38°S have pronounced intraplate-like chemical signatures with some striking similarities to oceanic DM-EM1-like lavas of the south Atlantic Tristan da Cunha type. These backarc lavas are considered to have formed as a series of mantle batches typified by 4–7 % melting, with decompression melting initiating in a garnet-bearing mantle above a steepening subduction zone, and final equilibration occurring near the base of a ~65- to 70-km-thick lithosphere at temperatures of ~1,350–1,380 °C. Evolved Auca Mahuida mugearite to trachytic samples are best explained by crystal fractionation with limited mixing of partial melts of recently underplated basalts, in line with isotopic signatures that preclude significant radiogenic contamination in a preexisting refractory crust. Higher Ba/La and subtly higher La/Ta ratios than in nearby ~24–20 Ma primitive basalts or oceanic (OIB) lavas are attributed to the residual effects of slab fluids introduced during a shallow subduction episode recorded in the arc-like chemistry of the adjacent 7–4 Ma Chachahuén volcanic complex. Positive Sr, K and Ba spikes on mantle-normalized patterns of both primitive Auca Mahuida and ~24–20 Ma basalts, like those in EM-like OIB basalts, are attributed to mixing of continental lithosphere into the asthenosphere. In Patagonia, this mixing is suggested to have peaked as the South America continent accommodated to major late Oligocene plate convergence changes, as similar Sr, K and Ba spikes and DM-EM1 signatures are absent in ~50–30 Ma backarc lavas north of 51°S, and all of those south of 51°S. Introduction of an EM1-like component associated with lateral mantle flow of a Tristan da Cunha source is largely precluded by its Cretaceous age and distance to Patagonia.     

Were Greek temples oriented towards aurorae?

Ioannis Liritzis and Helen Vassiliou assess the evidence that the Ancient Greeks saw the aurora borealis, and that it was a rare and special event, strongly enough associated with particular gods to build temples of unusual orientation.