A note on the Delta Aurigid meteor stream

Seven doubly photographed meteors reported in the literature are shown to be members of the Delta Aurigids, which now appear to extend from September 29 to October 18. Visual observations from the second half of activity in 1980 reveal a zenith hourly rate of no more than 2 or 3. The mean orbital elements of the stream point to an unknown short period (115 years) retrogade comet as a parent.     

The time behavior of temperature and emission measure in X-ray flares

X-ray observations from Vela-5 spacecraft of five flares occurring in November and December 1969 were leduced to temperatures and emission measures as a function of time. This reduction was done assuming a thermal spectrum including free-free and free-bound emission. A phenomenological model is proposed to explain the nature of the time behavior of the temperature and emission measure.Solar Division, Kitt Peak National Observatory, P. O. Box 4130, Tucson, Arizona 85717.Major USAF, AFWL/SAY, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico.     

HCN formation on Jupiter: The coupled photochemistry of ammonia and acetylene

A model is presented for the formation of HCN in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere of Jupiter by ultraviolet photolysis of the C₂H₅N isomer aziridine, a product of the recombination of NH₂ and C₂H₃ radicals, which originate, respectively, from ammonia photolysis and addition of H atoms to acetylene. An HCN column density of ～ 2 × 10¹⁷ cm^?2 in the tropopause region, which is comparable to that observed by A. T. Tokunaga, S. C. Beck, T. R. Geballe, J. H. Lacy, and E. Serabyn (Icarus48, 283–289, 1981), is predicted when vertical mixing is slow above the ammonia cloudtops. Sensitivity of the HCN column density to the individual rate constants and the eddy diffusion coefficient profile is discussed, as is the possibility of the existence of additional HCN-yielding pathways. Ammonia, which is saturated in the upper troposphere, is strongly depleted by photolysis in the lower stratosphere. Phosphine is also strongly depleted by photolysis and its abundance in the upper troposphere is shown to depend strongly on vertical mixing in the tropopause region. The possibility of the formation of phosphirane, the P-containing analog of aziridine, is considered but found to be substantially less probable than aziridine.     

Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Environmental Change at the Sunshine Locality, North-Central Nevada, U.S.A.

Sedimentological, faunal, and archaeological investigations at the Sunshine Locality, Long Valley, Nevada reveal a history of human adaptation and environmental change at the last glacial–interglacial transition in North America's north-central Great Basin. The locality contains a suite of lacustrine, alluvial, and eolian deposits associated with fluvially reworked faunal remains and Paleoindian artifacts. Radiocarbon-dated stratigraphy indicates a history of receding pluvial lake levels followed by alluvial downcutting and subsequent valley filling with marsh-like conditions at the end of the Pleistocene. A period of alluvial deposition and shallow water tables (9,800 to 11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) correlates to the Younger Dryas. Subsequent drier conditions and reduced surface runoff mark the early Holocene; sand dunes replace wetlands by 8,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. The stratigraphy at Sunshine is similar to sites located 400 km south and supports regional climatic synchroneity in the central and southern Great Basin during the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene. Given regional climate change and recurrent geomorphic settings comparable to Sunshine, we believe that there is a high potential for buried Paleoindian features in primary association with extinct fauna elsewhere in the region yet to be discovered due to limited stratigraphic exposure and consequent low visibility.     

Mechanisms of crustal uplift and subsidence at the Yellowstone caldera,Wyoming

Leveling surveys in 1923, 1976, and each year from 1983 to 1993 have shown that the east-central part of the Yellowstone caldera, near the base of the Sour Creek resurgent dome, rose at an average rate of 14±1 mm/year from 1923 to 1976 and 22±1 mm/year from 1976 to 1984. In contrast, no detectable movement occurred in the same area from 1984 to 1985 (-2±5 mm/year), and from 1985 to 1993 the area subsided at an average rate of 19±1 mm/year. We conclude that uplift from 1923 to 1984 was caused by: (1) pressurization of the deep hydrothermal system by fluids released from a crystallizing body of rhyolite magma beneath the caldera, then trapped beneath a self-sealed zone near the base of the hydrothermal system; and (2) aseismic intrusions of magma into the lower part of the sub-caldera magma body. Subsidence since 1985 is attributed to: (1) depressurization and fluid loss from the deep hydrothermal system, and (2) sagging of the caldera floor in response to regional crustal extension. Future intrusions might trigger renewed eruptive activity at Yellowstone, but most intrusions at large silicic calderas seem to be accommodated without eruptions. Overpressurization of the deep hydrothermal system could conceivably result in a phreatic or phreatomagmatic eruption, but this hazard is mitigated by episodic rupturing of the self-sealed zone during shallow earthquake swarms. Historical ground movements, although rapid by most geologic standards, seem to be typical of inter-eruption periods at large, mature, silicic magma systems like Yellowstone. The greatest short-term hazards posed by continuing unrest in the Yellowstone region are: (1) moderate to large earthquakes (magnitude 5.5–7.5), with a recurrence interval of a few decdes; and (2) small hydrothermal explosions, most of which affect only a small area (<0.01 km²), with a recurrence interval of a few years.     

Hatching,estuarine transport,and distribution of larval and early juvenile Atlantic tomcod,Microgadus tomcod,in the Hudson River

Atlantic tomcod larvae, hatching in late February and early March 1975 and 1976 into a regime of accelerating river flows, were moved rapidly downriver from milepoint 42–54 (MP 0 is the estuary mouth) to the most seaward reaches of the estuary. This resulted in a spatiotemporal distribution markedly different from that of other Hudson River fish species. Peak tomcod density on posthatch sampling dates was observed most frequently at the George Washington Bridge station (MP 11). Correlation between movements of the 1.0‰ salt front and movements of the age-0 tomcod population was high (r=0.82); and may have been enhanced by high freshwater flows. The population epicenter was always seaward of the 1.0‰ salt front and mean distance between the two was 16–17 km. Moved by tidal and freshwater flows, the tomcod population oscillated between MP 0 and MP 43 during March–May 1973–1976. Location of the population epicenter after mid march was predicted (r²=0.76) to be seaward of the Tappan Zee Bridge (MP 30) when freshwater flows were greater than 450 m³ s^?1. During flow regimes greater than 1,290 m³ s^?1, the epicenter was predicted to be seaward of the George Washington Bridge (MP 11). An optimum-allocation sampling design for age-0 tomcod showed that 58% of the total effort from mid March to early June should be directed to the river region between MP 0 and MP 24, a region largely ignored in previous studies. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A01BY066 00013     

Climatological and hydrographic influences on nearshore food webs off the southeastern United States: bacterioplankton dynamics

Bacterioplankton productivity, numbers, and cell specific activity were studied in nearshore waters of the southeastern U.S. continental shelf during seasons of maximum freshwater discharge. In April 1984, coastal waters were stratified from normal spring discharge and typical northeastward wind stress. In April 1985, shelf waters were vertically homogeneous due to below normal runoff and southwestward wind stress. In 1984, nearshore bacterial productivity ranged from 7.0 to 14.7 × 10⁶ cells l⁻¹ h⁻¹ and midshelf rates were 40–50% less. In 1985, nearshore productivity ranged from 0.9 to 2.4 × 10⁶ cells 1⁻¹ h⁻¹, and productivity was extremely patchy over the entire shelf. The cell-specific activity (thymidine incorporation per cell) suggests that although productivity was high in 1984, only a fraction of the bacterioplankton was actively growing or incorporating thymidine (0.9–2.9 × 10⁻²¹ mol cell⁻¹ h⁻¹). In 1985, a higher percentage of cells appeared to be active and incorporating thymidine (5–13 × 10⁻²¹mol cell⁻¹h⁻¹) even though productivity was low. Hydrographic conditions along the southeastern coastline may have had a significant impact on the overall community structure and carbon flow through the microbial food web. When coastal waters were stratified in 1984, bacterial biomass was a significant percentage (35–320%) of the phytoplankton biomass. During vertically homogeneous conditions of 1985, bacterial production and biomass were a small percentage (2–13%) of the phytoplankton production and biomass across the shelf. The interannual variation in the microbial food web was attributed to the interannual variability of the southeastern U.S. hydrology due to changes in freshwater discharge and wind direction and intensity. The ecological implications of these results extend to the potential impact of seasonal microbial food webs on nearshore allochothonous and autochothonous organics before removal from the southeastern U.S. coastline.     

The use of assumed displacement fields in finite-element analysis to calculate the gravity effect of crustal deformation

An expression is derived which relates a displacement field u defined on a continuum to the change in gravity (Δg_D) brought about by deformation:

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where GG is the gravitational constant; ρ_R is the pre-deformation density function; V_R is the volume occupied by the continuum before deformation; T_D is a transformation which represents the one-to-one mapping of V_R onto the volume V_A occupied by the continuum after deformation: A₁ = R₁ + U₁(R₁, R₂, R₃)T_D: A₂ = R₂ + U₂ (R₁, R₂, R₃)A₃ = R₃ + U₃ ( R₁, R₂, R₃) where A₁, a₂, A₃, are the Cartesian coordinates of a point in V_A; R₁, R₂, R₃ are the Cartesian coordinates of a point in V_R; U₁, U₂, U₃, are the components of u; and α is the distance from the field point (x, y, z) to a general point in V_A or V_R. The derivation is based on the principle of conservation of mass as stated in continuum mechanics. The formulation of the finite-element procedure for problems in linear elasticity typically involves the selection of an assumed function for u within each element. Unknown constants which characterize the function are determined in terms of nodal displacements. The integral in the first equation above may therefore be evaluated for each element, and the results summed to obtain Δg_D. Convergence to the exact solution for Δg_D depends on the convergence of the finite-element solution for u. The procedure is demonstrated for axisymmetric, torsion-free deformation of a solid of revolution in which the elements are tori of triangular cross-section. These results may be useful in the analysis of gravity change associated with tectonic deformation of the earth's crust.     

Comparison of spawning seasons,age, growth rates,and food of two sympatric species of searobins,Prionotus carolinus and Prionotus evolans,from Long Island Sound

Prionotus carolinus and Prionotus evolans were collected from many locations within Long Island Sound in 1971–1973, and in 1976–1977. Data from earlier collections in Block Island Sound (1943–1945) were also included. A total of 1751 specimens, 960 P. carolinus and 791 P. evolans was examined within these two time periods. Both species entered the Sound in April and spawned during June and July. P. evolans appeared to spawn slightly earlier in summer than P. carolinus. Adults began to leave the Sound after spawning and were usually absent after November. Young-of-the-year were taken regularly from August to November and, occasionally in water over 20 m deep, into February when the bottom water temperature was 1.4°C. At the end of the first growing seasons both species exhibited large variations in standard lengths. Back-calculations from scale annuli measurements indicated that linear growth rates during the juvenile years were similar in both species. However, P. evolans was considerably heavier than P. carolinus. During adulthood P. evolans was not only longer and heavier than P. carolinus, but lived longer. Growth rates are described by the following equations: P. carolinus L_t+1=9.60+0.68 (L_t), and p. evolans L_t+1=7.70+0.80 (L_t). Both species were opportunistic feeders, and crustaceans were clearly the dominant group of prey. Young-of-the-year, between 3–6 cm, ate copepods. As they grew they ate larger prey, such as Neomysis americana, Diastylis quadrispinosus, various species of amphipods of small sizes, and juvenile Crangon septemspinosus. Older fish ate larger sizes of these same prey, a number of species of crabs, juvenile Homarus americanus, and Squilla empusa. Occasionally they ate polychaetes, molluscs, and juvenile fish. Partitioning of the resources of Long Island Sound by these two species appeared to be by prey size. P. evolans ate prey that, on the average, were slightly larger than those eaten by P. carolinus. Furthermore, P. evolans ate a greater amount of nektonic species than P. carolinus, which appeared to prefer benthonic invertebrates.