Analysis of a point sink embedded in a porous elastic half space

Closed-form solutions are presented for the steady-state distributions of displacement, pore pressure and stress around a point sink embedded in a homogeneous, isotropic elastic half space. These solutions have been evaluated for a typical case of a sink (pump) buried in sand and the magnitude of the settlement of the ground surface has been estimated.     

The Zamama-Thor region of Io: Insights from a synthesis of mapping, topography, and Galileo spacecraft data

We have studied data from the Galileo spacecraft's three remote sensing instruments (Solid-State Imager (SSI), Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS), and Photopolarimeter-Radiometer (PPR)) covering the Zamama-Thor region of Io's antijovian hemisphere, and produced a geomorphological map of this region. This is the third of three regional maps we are producing from the Galileo spacecraft data. Our goal is to assess the variety of volcanic and tectonic materials and their interrelationships on Io using planetary mapping techniques, supplemented with all available Galileo remote sensing data. Based on the Galileo data analysis and our mapping, we have determined that the most recent geologic activity in the Zamama-Thor region has been dominated by two sites of large-scale volcanic surface changes. The Zamama Eruptive Center is a site of both explosive and effusive eruptions, which emanate from two relatively steep edifices (Zamama Tholi A and B) that appear to be built by both silicate and sulfur volcanism. A ∼100-km long flow field formed sometime after the 1979 Voyager flybys, which appears to be a site of promethean-style compound flows, flow-front SO₂ plumes, and adjacent sulfur flows. Larger, possibly stealthy, plumes have on at least one occasion during the Galileo mission tapped a source that probably includes S and/or Cl to produce a red pyroclastic deposit from the same vent from which silicate lavas were erupted. The Thor Eruptive Center, which may have been active prior to Voyager, became active again during the Galileo mission between May and August 2001. A pillanian-style eruption at Thor included the tallest plume observed to date on Io (at least 500 km high) and new dark lava flows. The plume produced a central dark pyroclastic deposit (probably silicate-rich) and an outlying white diffuse ring that is SO₂-rich. Mapping shows that several of the new dark lava flows around the plume vent have reoccupied sites of earlier flows. Unlike most of the other pillanian eruptions observed during the Galileo mission, the 2001 Thor eruption did not produce a large red ring deposit, indicating a relative lack of S and/or Cl gases interacting with the magma during that eruption. Between these two eruptive centers are two paterae, Thomagata and Reshef. Thomagata Patera is located on a large shield-like mesa and shows no signs of activity. In contrast, Reshef Patera is located on a large, irregular mesa that is apparently undergoing degradation through erosion (perhaps from SO₂-sapping or chemical decomposition of sulfur-rich material) from multiple secondary volcanic centers.     

Near Infrared Spectra of two Asteroids with low Tisserand Invariant

We present near infrared reflectance spectra from 0.8 to 2.5 μm of two asteroids with low Tisserand invariant, 1373 Cincinnati and 2906 Caltech. We compare our spectra with cometary nuclei and other asteroids in their class. Asteroids Cincinnati and Caltech have Tisserand invariant values of 2.72 and 2.97, respectively, values less than 3 are considered suggestive of cometary origin. The observed spectral slopes in the near-infrared are consistent with both the spectra of cometary nuclei and of primitive asteroids. However, both asteroids have features in the near-infrared that are not seen in cometary nuclei, but are present in other X-type asteroids. 1373 Cincinnati has a sharp slope change between 0.75 and 1.0 μm and 2906 Caltech has a broad and shallow absorption between 1.35 and 2.2 μm. Our attempts to model the visible and near-infrared spectrum of these two objects, with the components successfully used by Emery and Brown (2004, Icarus 164, 104–121) to fit Trojan asteroids, did not yield acceptable fits.Visiting Astronomer at the Infrared Telescope Facility, which is operated by the University of Hawaii under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.     

Elastoplastic analysis of jointed rocks using a coupled finite element and boundary element method

This paper presents a coupled, elastoplastic, finite element and boundary element method for the two-dimensional, non-linear analysis of anisotropic jointed rock. The non-linear and anisotropic behaviour of a jointed rock mass is simulated by representing the mass as an equivalent anisotropic, elastoplastic continuum, so that the influence of the jointing system is ‘smeared’ across the continuum, i.e. the individual joints are not modelled as discrete entities. Numerical examples have been solved to verify the capability, accuracy and efficiency of the present technique. The proposed technique has also been applied to the analysis of tunnel excavation problems in plane strain. The effects of anisotropy and non-linearity of the jointed rock mass during excavation have been investigated in some detail.     

Tracing the star stream through M31 using planetary nebula kinematics

We present a possible orbit for the Southern Stream of stars in M31, which connects it to the Northern Spur. Support for this model comes from the dynamics of planetary nebulae (PNe) in the disc of M31: analysis of a new sample of 2611 PNe obtained using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph reveals ∼20 objects with kinematics inconsistent with the normal components of the galaxy, but which lie at the right positions and velocities to connect the two photometric features via this orbit. The satellite galaxy M32 is coincident with the stream both in position and velocity, adding weight to the hypothesis that the stream comprises its tidal debris.     

The nature and evolution of deep-sea channel systems

Abstract A distinction is drawn between sea-floor canyons, which are incised into bedrock, and fan valleys and deep-sea channels, which are cut in unconsolidated sediment. The formation of continental margin canyons/fans and deep-sea channels is an inevitable consequence of continental margin rifting and sea-floor subsidence. Such submarine sediment transport systems are amongst the longest-lived physiographic features on earth, with the Bounty Channel system being more than 50 Myr old. Many deep-sea channels form the distal part of ocean-margin sediment transport systems, being incised 100–350 m into ocean-floor sediments, traversing great distances over the ocean-basin floor, and generally terminating on an abyssal plain. The course of each deep-sea channel is, however, unique. Channel locations are controlled primarily by inherited basement relief, and, during their evolution, by rates and patterns of lithospheric subsidence and sedimentation. In the early stages of ocean-basin formation, deep-sea channels may issue from the axial parts of marginal rifts, or directly from slope canyon-fan systems. As an ocean basin widens, margin-connected channels may become trapped within the strip of oldest (and therefore deepest) oceanic crust at the continent/ocean interface, and will therefore be margin-parallel features. In some cases, as for the Cascadia Channel, channels may escape from the ocean-margin deep, bypassing the spreading ridge via a fracture zone. Deep-sea channels and their associated sediments are influenced also by global sea-level change, by rate of turbidity current generation from the headward continental margin, by rates of pelagic sediment supply, by differential levee development consequent upon the Coriolis effect, and by the operation of deep-sea current systems with their associated sediment drifts. The survival of deep-sea channels as long-lived features necessitates that rates of long-term subsidence at the channel terminus exceed sediment accumulation.     

Magnetic remanence acquisition in Finnish lake sediments

Summary. Magnetic studies have been carried out on organic sediments from five Finnish lakes to determine the carrier(s) of the stable NRM and to find how the remanence is acquired. Single or pseudo-single domain 'magnetite' is thought to carry the NRM. It was found that drying and cooling sediment samples resulted in a loss of NRM which was attributed to the misalignment of small magnetic particles. Low-field experiments were carried out on sediment samples in different physical states and from the results of these investigations it was concluded that post-depositional processes are important in the acquisition of an NRM. Stabilization of magnetic grains is thought to be due to the growth of gels in the organic sediment rather than to dewatering.