Thermonuclear burning ignition and propagation in surface layers of neutron stars. 1. General study and one-zone model without mass-flow

We develop and study a general model describing ignition and propagation of burning. It is applied to explosive thermonuclear burning in surface layers of neutron stars. For this purpose an one-zone model of a thin surface layer is developed. We study thermonuclear burning ignition and propagation along the layer with its help.     

On the warming of intermediate and deep waters in the equatorial North Atlantic

In July 2000, a transatlantic hydrographic section was made on board the Russian R/V Akademik Ioffe in the northern equatorial region at ～6.5° N on the WOCE (World Ocean Circulation Experiment) A06 line. A significant warming in the layers of intermediate and deep waters in the interior eastern basin is determined from comparison of the section temperature data and those obtained on the WOCE A06 line in 1993. This result, together with the results of the previous studies, indicates a substantial warming of intermediate and upper deep waters above 2800–3000 m in the eastern equatorial North Atlantic during the second half of the 20th century. In the 1000–2000 m layer, temperature has increased by 0.13–0.14°C since 1957.     

A ∼6100 14C yr record of El Niño activity from the Galápagos Islands

Lithostratigrahic and mineralogic analyses of sediments from hypersaline Bainbridge Crater Lake, Galápagos Islands, provide evidence of past El Niño frequency and intensity. Laminated sediments indicate that at least 435 moderate to very strong El Niño events have occurred since 6100 ¹⁴C yr BP (7130 cal yr BP), and that frequency and intensity of events increased at about 3000 ¹⁴C yr BP (3100 cal yr BP). El Niño activity was present between 6100 and 4000 ¹⁴C yr BP (4600 cal yr BP) but infrequent. The Bainbridge record indicates that there has been considerable millennial-scale variability in El Niño since the mid-Holocene.     

Environmental history of an urban lake: a palaeolimnological study of Lake Jyväsjärvi, Finland

Sedimentary diatom frustules and chironomid remains, in addition to the chemical stratigraphy of 32 elements and organic pollutants such as resin acids, PCB, DDT and its metabolites, were studied from core samples taken from Lake Jyväsjärvi in Central Finland (64° 14 N, 25° 47 E). The sediment profile covered over 200 years, with the oldest samples representing a period of very low human interference. The town of Jyväskylä was established on the lake shore in 1837, and the lake received untreated municipal wastewater from the town up until, 1977. A paper mill started operations in 1872 and began discharging effluent into Lake Jyväsjärvi. In recent years this effluent loading has been reduced. Based on the biological and chemical properties of the sediment strata, five developmental phases were distinguished and named as follows: (1) a pre-industrial phase (approximately up until the 1860s); (2) a phase of early changes in the lake ecosystem (from the 1870s to ca. 1940s); (3) a phase of increasing eutrophication (from ca. 1950 to ca. 1965); (4) a phase of severe pollution (from ca. 1966 to the early-1990s); and (5) a phase of recovery, which proceeded more quickly during the late-1990s following long-term hypolimnetic aeration. It was estimated that the ecological status of the lake changed from good to moderate during the second phase. Due to the poor chemical status of the lake (including increased concentrations of harmful substances) and the pronounced changes in diatom and chironomid communities, the ecological status from 1950 to the early-1990s was classified as bad. The present ecological status, after a slow recovery of about 20 years, can be classified as moderate/poor. Chemical analysis of the sediment revealed that some elements (C, N, P, S, Ba, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni and Zn) followed the known history of municipal waste water discharge into the lake, but Hg, Cr and persistent organic pollutants had different stratigraphies, and therefore mainly originated from other sources. Pronounced changes in profundal benthic communities (chironomids) started about 80 years later than those in diatoms, but later changes in chironomid assemblages were greater than those in diatoms.     

Present-day oxidative subsidence of organic soils and mitigation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,California, USA

Subsidence of organic soils in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta threatens sustainability of the California (USA) water supply system and agriculture. Land-surface elevation data were collected to assess present-day subsidence rates and evaluate rice as a land use for subsidence mitigation. To depict Delta-wide present-day rates of subsidence, the previously developed SUBCALC model was refined and calibrated using recent data for CO₂ emissions and land-surface elevation changes measured at extensometers. Land-surface elevation change data were evaluated relative to indirect estimates of subsidence and accretion using carbon and nitrogen flux data for rice cultivation. Extensometer and leveling data demonstrate seasonal variations in land-surface elevations associated with groundwater-level fluctuations and inelastic subsidence rates of 0.5–0.8 cm yr^–1. Calibration of the SUBCALC model indicated accuracy of ±0.10 cm yr^–1 where depth to groundwater, soil organic matter content and temperature are known. Regional estimates of subsidence range from <0.3 to >1.8 cm yr^–1. The primary uncertainty is the distribution of soil organic matter content which results in spatial averaging in the mapping of subsidence rates. Analysis of leveling and extensometer data in rice fields resulted in an estimated accretion rate of 0.02–0.8 cm yr^–1. These values generally agreed with indirect estimates based on carbon fluxes and nitrogen mineralization, thus preliminarily demonstrating that rice will stop or greatly reduce subsidence. Areas below elevations of –2 m are candidate areas for implementation of mitigation measures such as rice because there is active subsidence occurring at rates greater than 0.4 cm yr^–1.     

Invasions in Marine Communities: Contrasting Species Richness and Community Composition Across Habitats and Salinity

While many studies of non-native species have examined either soft-bottom or hard-bottom marine communities, including artificial structures at docks and marinas, formal comparisons across these habitat types are rare. The number of non-indigenous species (NIS) may differ among habitats, due to differences in species delivery (trade history) and susceptibility to invasions. In this study, we quantitatively compared NIS to native species richness and distribution and examined community similarity across hard-bottom and soft-sediment habitats in San Francisco Bay, California (USA). Benthic invertebrates were sampled using settlement panels (hard-bottom habitats) and sediment grabs (soft-bottom habitats) in 13 paired sites, including eight in higher salinity areas and five in lower salinity areas during 2 years. Mean NIS richness was greatest in hard-bottom habitat at high salinity, being significantly higher than each (a) native species at high salinity and (b) NIS richness at low salinity. In contrast, mean NIS richness in soft-bottom communities was not significantly different from native species richness in either high- or low-salinity waters, nor was there a difference in NIS richness between salinities. For hard-bottom communities, NIS represented an average of 79% of total species richness per sample at high salinity and 78% at low salinity, whereas the comparable values for soft bottom were 46 and 60%, respectively. On average, NIS occurred at a significantly higher frequency (percent of samples) than native species for hard-bottom habitats at both salinities, but this was not the case for soft-bottom habitats. Finally, NIS contributed significantly to the existing community structure (dissimilarity) across habitat types and salinities. Our results show that NIS richness and occurrence frequency is highest in hard-bottom and high-salinity habitat for this Bay but also that NIS contribute strongly to species richness and community structure across each habitat evaluated.     

Spatially resolved spectroscopy of the E+A galaxies in the z= 0.32 cluster AC 114

We present spatially resolved intermediate-resolution spectroscopy of a sample of 12 E+A galaxies in the   z = 0.32  rich galaxy cluster AC 114, obtained with the FLAMES multi-integral field unit system on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory. Previous integrated spectroscopy of all these galaxies by Couch & Sharples had shown them to have strong Balmer line absorption and an absence of [O  ii ]λ3727 emission – the defining characteristics of the 'E+A' spectral signature, indicative of an abrupt halt to a recent episode of quite vigorous star formation. We have used our spectral data to determine the radial variation in the strength of Hδ absorption in these galaxies and hence map out the distribution of this recently formed stellar population. Such information provides important clues as to what physical event might have been responsible for this quite dramatic change in star formation activity in the recent past of these galaxies. We find a diversity of behaviour amongst these galaxies in terms of the radial variation in Hδ absorption: four galaxies show little Hδ absorption across their entire extent; it would appear they were misidentified as E+A galaxies in the earlier integrated spectroscopic studies. The remainder show strong Hδ absorption, with a gradient that is either negative (Hδ equivalent width decreasing with radius), flat or positive . By comparison with numerical simulations we suggest that the first of these different types of radial behaviour provides evidence for a merger/interaction origin, whereas the latter two types of behaviour are more consistent with the truncation of star formation in normal disc galaxies with the Hδ gradient becoming increasingly positive with time after truncation. It would seem therefore that more than one physical mechanism is responsible for E+A formation in the same environment.     

Phytoplankton diversity and chlorophyll-A in a polluted estuary

The quantity of phytoplankton in Newark Bay, New Jersey as indicated by chlorophyll-a content of the water, is low in the winter and early spring, and fluctuates greatly during the spring and summer. Chlorophyll-a concentrations are generally less than 20 μg/l until April. Between April and August, three phytoplankton blooms were indicated by chlorophyll-a concentrations as high as 81.4 μg/l. Net phytoplankton diversity values indicated generally eutrophic conditions; however, there was no significant correlation between diversity and chlorophyll-a concentrations. A role of nannoplankton in blooms is indicated.