The Influence of the Electron κ-Distribution in the Solar Corona on the Fe VIII – Fe XV Line Intensities

Changes in the excitation equilibrium of Feviii – Fe xv in the solar corona due to the electron non-thermal κ-distribution are studied. The shape of the distribution affects the electron excitation rate and thus the relative intensities of the spectral lines. Since the shape of the electron distribution function influences also the ionization equilibrium of Fe, both effects change the final intensities of the lines. Possibilities for diagnostics of the shape of the electron distribution in the solar corona are discussed. Synthetic spectrum of Fe for T = 1.58× 10⁶ K and n_e = 10⁸ cm⁻³ is shown together with the synthetic spectra computed with DEM for the quiet Sun.     

On The Origin of The High-Perihelion Scattered Disk: The Role of The Kozai Mechanism And Mean Motion Resonances

We study the transfer process from the scattered disk (SD) to the high-perihelion scattered disk (HPSD) (defined as the population with perihelion distances q > 40 AU and semimajor axes a>50 AU) by means of two different models. One model (Model 1) assumes that SD objects (SDOs) were formed closer to the Sun and driven outwards by resonant coupling with the accreting Neptune during the stage of outward migration (Gomes 2003b, Earth, Moon, Planets 92, 29–42.). The other model (Model 2) considers the observed population of SDOs plus clones that try to compensate for observational discovery bias (Fernández et al. 2004, Icarus , in press). We find that the Kozai mechanism (coupling between the argument of perihelion, eccentricity, and inclination), associated with a mean motion resonance (MMR), is the main responsible for raising both the perihelion distance and the inclination of SDOs. The highest perihelion distance for a body of our samples was found to be q = 69.2 AU. This shows that bodies can be temporarily detached from the planetary region by dynamical interactions with the planets. This phenomenon is temporary since the same coupling of Kozai with a MMR will at some point bring the bodies back to states of lower-q values. However, the dynamical time scale in high-q states may be very long, up to several Gyr. For Model 1, about 10% of the bodies driven away by Neptune get trapped into the HPSD when the resonant coupling Kozai-MMR is disrupted by Neptune’s migration. Therefore, Model 1 also supplies a fossil HPSD, whose bodies remain in non-resonant orbits and thus stable for the age of the solar system, in addition to the HPSD formed by temporary captures of SDOs after the giant planets reached their current orbits. We find that about 12 – 15% of the surviving bodies of our samples are incorporated into the HPSD after about 4 – 5 Gyr, and that a large fraction of the captures occur for up to the 1:8 MMR (a ⋍ 120 AU), although we record captures up to the 1:24 MMR (a ≃ 260 AU). Because of the Kozai mechanism, HPSD objects have on average inclinations about 25°–50°, which are higher than those of the classical Edgeworth–Kuiper (EK) belt or the SD. Our results suggest that Sedna belongs to a dynamically distinct population from the HPSD, possibly being a member of the inner core of the Oort cloud. As regards to 2000 CR₁₀₅ , it is marginally within the region occupied by HPSD objects in the parametric planes (q,a) and (a,i), so it is not ruled out that it might be a member of the HPSD, though it might as well belong to the inner core.     

Dark matter influence on velocity dispersion profiles of clusters of galaxies

We have performed a series ofN-body experiments including the effects of a massive dominant background which follows Schuster's density law in order to simulate clusters of galaxies in which a smoothly distributed dark component is present. The existence of this background is inferred from the weak luminosity segregation observed in clusters which, however, show several characteristics of well-relaxed systems. The comparison of the velocity dispersion profiles of three clusters of galaxies (Coma, Perseus, and Virgo) with those obtained in the numerical experiments allows us to place some constraints on both the distribution and amount of distributed dark material in these clusters. The profiles are rather insensitive to variations in the ratio of the background mass to the mass attached to galaxies (M _b/M_g), but exhibit a strong dependence on their relative concentration. We conclude that highly concentrated background models are not consistent with observations. We find a maximum value for the ratio of the gravitational radius of the galaxies and the background (R _g/R_b) (approximately 0.6) and using previous results (Navarroet al., 1986) we conclude that virial theorem masses underestimate the total mass (M _b+M _g) of the clusters. As a final result, we derive a minimum value for theM _b/M_g ratio. All these conclusions could apply in general if Coma, Perseus, and Virgo constitute a fair sample of the rich clusters of galaxies in the Universe.     

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE AND PLACE IDENTITY IN SPAIN: FROM MONUMENTS TO LANDSCAPES*

In Spain, the birth of interest in the nation's industrial heritage dates from the 1980s and occurred alongside the process of deindustrialization. Policies concerning derelict industrial sites have shifted gradually from destruction to preservation, rehabilitation, and enhancement, and industrial heritage enhancement projects are now widespread in the country. However, a clear mismatching has arisen between institutional and academic initiatives and local communities, which exhibit widespread disinterest in or even rejection of industrial remains. This problematic situation can be related to the utilization of industrial heritage as an economic resource without paying much attention to its connections with memory and identity. Also, the mismatching is due to a positivist approach to industrial heritage whereby the monument and the museum are prioritized. We argue that projects which consider industrial remains as part of cultural landscapes might shorten the gap between the institutional and economic side of industrial heritage and its identity‐building and popular facets.     

Rainfall trends in the Brazilian Amazon Basin in the past eight decades

Rainfall series at 18 stations along the major rivers of the Brazilian Amazon Basin, having data since 1920s or 1930s, are analyzed to verify if there are appreciable long-term trends. Annual, rainy-season, and dry-season rainfalls are individually analyzed for each station and for the region as a whole. Some stations showed positive trends and some negative trends. The trends in the annual rainfall are significant at only six stations, five of which reporting increasing trends (Barcelos, Belem, Manaus, Rio Branco, and Soure stations) and just one (Itaituba station) reporting decreasing trend. The climatological values of rainfall before and after 1970 show significant differences at six stations (Barcelos, Belem, Benjamin Constant, Iaurete, Itaituba, and Soure). The region as a whole shows an insignificant and weak downward trend; therefore, we cannot affirm that the rainfall in the Brazilian Amazon basin is experiencing a significant change, except at a few individual stations. Subregions with upward and downward trends are interspersed in space from the far eastern Amazon to western Amazon. Most of the seasonal trends follow the annual trends, thus, indicating a certain consistency in the datasets and analysis.     

Relationship between climate change and vegetation distribution in the Mediterranean mountains: Manzanares Head valley, Sierra De Guadarrama (Central Spain)

This work analyzes the consequences of climate change in the distribution of the Mediterranean high-mountain vegetation. A study area was chosen at the Sierra de Guadarrama, in the center of the Iberian Peninsula (1,795 to 2,374 m asl). Climate change was analyzed from the record of 18 variables regarding temperature, rainfall and snowfall over the period 1951–2000. The permanence of snow cover (1996–2004), landforms stability and vegetation distribution in 5 years (1956, 1972, 1984, 1991 and 1998) were all analyzed. The Nival Correlation Level of the different vegetation classes was determined through their spatial and/or temporal relationship with several climatologic variables, snow cover duration and landforms. In order to quantify trends and major change processes, areas and percent changes were calculated, as well as Mean Annual Transformation Indices and Transition Matrices. The findings reveal that in the first part of the study period (up to the first half of the 1970s) the temperature rise in the mid-winter months caused the reduction of some classes of nival vegetation, while others expanded, favored by high rainfall, decrease in both maximum temperatures and summer aridity, and longer snow cover duration. The second part of the study period was characterized by the consolidation of the increase in all thermal variables, along with an important reduction in rainfall volume and snow cover duration. As a result, herbaceous plants, which are highly correlated with a long snow permanence and abundance of melting water, have been replaced by leguminous shrubs which grow away from the influence of snow, and which are steadily becoming denser.     

A potentially new type of nonchondritic interplanetary dust particle with hematite,organic carbon,amorphous Na,Ca‐aluminosilicate,and FeO‐spheres

Abstract– We used a combination of different analytical techniques to study particle W7190‐D12 using microinfrared spectroscopy, micro‐Raman spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS). The particle consists mainly of hematite (α‐Fe₂O₃) with considerable variations in structural disorder. It further contains amorphous (Na,K)‐bearing Ca,Al‐silicate and organic carbon. Iron‐bearing spherules (<150 nm in diameter) cover the surface of this particle. At local sites of structural disorder at the hematite surface, the hematite spheres were reduced to FeO in the presence of organic carbons forming FeO‐spheres. However, metallic Fe spheres cannot be excluded based on the available data. To the best of our knowledge, this particle is the first detection of such spherules at the surface of a stratospheric dust particle. Although there is no definitive evidence for an extraterrestrial origin of particle W7190‐D12, we suggest that it could be an IDP that had moved away from the asteroid‐forming region of the early solar system into the outer solar system of the accreting Kuiper Belt objects. After it was released from a Jupiter family comet, this particle became part of the zodiacal cloud. Atmospheric entry flash‐heating caused (1) the formation of microenvironments of reduced iron oxide when indigenous carbon materials reacted with hematite covering its surface resulting in the formation of FeO‐spheres and (2) Na‐loss from Na,Al‐plagioclase. The particle of this study, and other similar particles on this collector, may represent a potentially new type of nonchondritic IDPs associated with Jupiter family comets, although an origin in the asteroid belt cannot be ignored.