Modes of variability of Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation estimated by AGCMs

The seasonal mean variability of the atmospheric circulation is affected by processes with time scales from less than seasonal to interannual or longer. Using monthly mean data from an ensemble of Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) realisations, the interannual variability of the seasonal mean is separated into intraseasonal, and slowly varying components. For the first time, using a recently developed method, the slowly varying component in multiple AGCM ensembles is further separated into internal and externally forced components. This is done for Southern Hemisphere 500?hPa geopotential height from five AGCMs in the CLIVAR International Climate of the Twentieth Century project for the summer and winter seasons. In both seasons, the intraseasonal and slow modes of variability are qualitatively well reproduced by the models when compared with reanalysis data, with a relative metric finding little overall difference between the models. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is by far the dominant mode of slowly varying internal atmospheric variability. Two slow-external modes of variability are related to El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, and a third is the atmospheric response to trends in external forcing. An ENSO-SAM relationship is found in the model slow modes of variability, similar to that found by earlier studies using reanalysis data. There is a greater spread in the representation of model slow-external modes in winter than summer, particularly in the atmospheric response to external forcing trends. This may be attributable to weaker external forcing constraints on SH atmospheric circulation in winter.     

Cosmogenic radionuclides and mineralogical properties of the Chelyabinsk (LL5) meteorite: What do we learn about the meteoroid?

On February 15, 2013, after the observation of a brilliant fireball and a spectacular airburst over the southern Ural region (Russia), thousands of stones fell and were rapidly recovered, bringing some extremely fresh material for scientific investigations. We undertook a multidisciplinary study of a dozen stones of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, including petrographic and microprobe investigations to unravel intrinsic characteristics of this meteorite. We also study the short and long‐lived cosmogenic radionuclides to characterize the initial meteoroid size and exposure age. Petrographic observations, as well as the mineral compositions obtained by electron microprobe analyses, allow us to confirm the classification of the Chelyabinsk meteorite as an LL5 chondrite. The fragments studied, a few of which are impact melt rocks, contain abundant shock melt veins and melt pockets. It is likely that the catastrophic explosion and fragmentation of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid into thousands of stones was in part determined by the initial state of the meteoroid. The radionuclide results obtained show a wide range of concentrations of ¹⁴C, ²²Na, ²⁶Al, ⁵⁴Mn, ⁵⁷Co, ⁵⁸Co, and ⁶⁰Co, which indicate that the pre‐atmospheric object had a radius >5 m, consistent with other size estimates based on the magnitude of the airburst caused by the atmospheric entry and breakup of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid. Considering the observed ²⁶Al activities of the investigated samples, Monte Carlo simulations, and taking into account the ²⁶Al half‐life (0.717 Myr), the cosmic‐ray exposure age of the Chelyabinsk meteorite is estimated to be 1.2 ± 0.2 Myr. In contrast to the other radionuclides, ¹⁴C showed a very large range only consistent with most samples having been exposed to anthropogenic sources of ¹⁴C, which we associate with radioactive contamination of the Chelyabinsk region by past nuclear accidents and waste disposal, which has also been confirmed by elevated levels of anthropogenic ¹³⁷Cs and primordial ⁴⁰K in some of the Chelyabinsk fragments.     

Hydrogeology and groundwater flow in a basalt-capped Mesozoic sedimentary series of the Ethiopian highlands

A hydrogeological study was undertaken in the Zenako-Argaka catchment, near Hagere Selam in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, during the rainy season of 2006. A geological map was produced through geophysical measurements and field observations, and a fracture zone identified in the north west of the catchment. A perched water table was found within the Trap Basalt series above the laterized upper Aram Aradam Sandstones. A map of this water table was compiled. Water-level variation during the measurement period was at least 4.5?m. Variation in basal flow for the whole catchment for the measurement period was between 12 and 276?m³/day. A groundwater flow model was produced using Visual MODFLOW, indicating the general direction of flow to be towards the south, and illustrating that the waterways have only a limited influence on groundwater flow. The soil water budget was calculated for the period 1995?C2006, which showed the important influence of the distribution of rainfall in time. Although Hagere Selam received some 724?mm of rainfall per year over this period, the strong seasonal variation in rainfall meant there was a water deficit for on average 10?months per year.     

Archaeomagnetic investigation of two mediaeval brick constructions in north Belgium and the magnetic anisotropy of bricks

Archaeomagnetic dates derived from geomagnetic field direction records in baked materials are proposed for a mediaeval brick kiln (from inclination I and declination D) and for bricks from a brick wall (from I only) in northern Belgium. They are used to verify whether a brick chronology based on the format of bricks is feasible in Flanders. The brick kiln yielded a highly reliable average magnetization direction corresponding to an archaeomagnetic date around A.D. 1650, using the British and French geomagnetic field secular variation curves as a reference, at least half a century younger than expected from historical data. The fidelity of the geomagnetic records was controlled by measuring the magnetic anisotropy of the bricks. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) measurements demonstrate that the bricks have a shape related magnetic fabric, which is induced during the molding process. A test to control whether AMS can substitute for the anisotropy of thermo‐remanent magnetization (ATRM) failed because of induced changes during laboratory heating. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The stability of stars with potential-dependent masses

We calculate the effective mass of a spherical star-like object under the assumption that the mass of an object represents a function of the gravitational potential in which it occurs. We show that due to this mass-dependence on the gravitational potential, it is not possible that a star of a larger mass than that of a neutron star shrinks to a point singularity. We present the value of the upper limits to the mass of spherical mass bodies as a function of their radii in a large range of their mass densities.     

Vegetation vis-à-vis climate and glacier history during 12,400 to 5,400 yr BP from Dokriani valley,Garhwal Himalaya,India

Palynological analysis from a 10 m deep sediment profile from Dokriani valley, Garhwal Himalaya, provides temporal variation of vegetation vis-à-vis climate and glacier history of the region. This study reveals that between 12,406 and 10,633 cal yr BP vegetation was sparse when the climate was cool-dry and the glacier snout might had been located at lower elevations in comparison to its present position. Subsequently around 10,633 cal yr BP, an increase in the growth of diversified taxa close to the site, indicates the early Holocene climatic amelioration when glacier might have retreated at faster rate. Further, within Holocene some intermittent cool-dry episodes were recorded around 9,670 to 9,000 cal yr BP and 7,100 cal yr BP when glacier might have shown reduction in retreat rate or came to stagnation.     

Study on seismic behavior of nonplastic silt by means of ring-shear apparatus

The influence of static shear stress on undrained cyclic behavior of nonplastic and low-plasticity silts has been studied by means of undrained cyclic torque-controlled ring-shear tests. The cyclic and post-cyclic behavior of silty soils assumed on sliding surface were investigated to assess the liquefaction potential and cyclically induced deformation of silty slopes. Six different initial static shear stresses corresponding to slope angles from 0° to 25° were examined. To better understand undrained cyclic behavior of silt governed by a change in clay content, three different mixtures were achieved by mixing of nonplastic silt with 0%, 10%, and 20% of commercially available clay. These tests were conducted to simulate field conditions prior to earthquake with initial static shear stresses corresponding to slopes and those with no initial static shear stresses of level grounds. The gradual loss of mobilized undrained cyclic shear resistance after failure and pore water buildup in relation to a number of cycles was observed. The undrained response of the soil to cyclic shear stress loading with the constant amplitude revealed the significant effect of the initial static shear stress on the excess pore water pressure generation and post-failure shear resistance. Test results showed that an increase in the initial static shear stress at the given initial effective normal stress is associated with an increase of mobilized shear resistance at its peak state; however, the actual resistance to liquefaction diminished for both nonplastic and low-plasticity silts. During both cyclic and post-cyclic stages of loading, distinctly different types of shear deformation were identified. In order to evaluate mobility of landslides, a modified conventional brittleness index for seismic loading, , was proposed and used to characterize unlimited deformation of silts.     

Solar wind and spin of small interplanetary particles

The action of the solar corpuscular radiation on the rotational properties of small interplanetary dust particles is investigated. It is shown that the solar wind increases the angular momentum (spin) of the particle. Analytic solutions are presented for dominant terms in which quantities of the orders (v/u) ⁿ ,n 1, are neglected (v is the orbital velocity of dust particle around the Sun andu is the speed of the solar wind particles).     

Third-order geomorphometric variables (derivatives): definition,computation and utilization of changes of curvatures

Third-order geomorphometric variables (based on third derivatives of the altitudinal field) have been neglected in geomorphometry, but their application to the delimitation of surface objects will lead to their increasing significance in future. New techniques of computation, presented and evaluated here, facilitate their use. This paper summarizes recent knowledge concerning definition, computation and geomorphologic interpretation of these variables. Formulae defining various third-order variables are unified based on the physical definition of slope gradient. Methods for their computation are compared from the point of view of method error and error generated by digital elevation model (DEM) inaccuracy. For exact mathematical test surfaces, the most natural and simple variant of the method of central differences (CD2) shows a method error 2–3 times smaller than the other methods used recently in geomorphometry. However, success in coping with DEM inaccuracy depends (for a given grid mesh) on the number and weighting of points from which the derivative is computed. This was tested for surfaces with varying degrees of random error. Here least squares-based methods are the most effective for mixed derivatives (especially for finer grids and less accurate DEMs), while a variant of the CD method, that repeats numerical evaluation of first derivatives (CD1), is the most successful for derivatives in cardinal directions. The CD2 method is generally the most successful for coarser grids where the method error is dominant.

Utilization of third-order variables is documented from examples of terrain feature (ridge, valley and edge) extraction and from a first statistical test of the hypothesis that real segments of the land surface have a tendency to a constant value of some morphometric variable. For detection of (sharp) ridges and valleys, it is shown that the rate of change of tangential curvature is inadequate: rate of change of normal curvature is also required. A basic confirmation of the constant-value tendency is provided.