Powers of engagement: on being engaged, being indifferent; and urban life

Summary This paper explores the dynamics of engagement and disengagement within urban space. It argues that a certain capacity to encounter the world around the self in an active, creative way is central to the self's ability to recognize and care about the places it inhabits and the people encountered within those places. Drawing on the work of Donald Winnicott and Jessica Benjamin, it outlines a framework of self-other psycho-dynamics through which this active, creative encountering may be understood, and examines the violence of indifference that occurs when this everyday creativity is absent.     

鼓丘和巨型冰川线理的冰川摩擦学:剥蚀和沉积的争论之谜得到解决?

冰流是指冰盖中快速流动(高达10 km/a)的区域.冰流通常长达1000 km,宽200 km,嵌入在冰盖中.沿其流动方向形成了低幅度波纹状基岩床.这些波纹状基岩床由一些高度拉伸的沿着流向呈平行状分布的脊和沟槽(巨型冰川线理)组成.这些巨型冰川线理在空间上继承自体积大、拉伸程度低的鼓丘.由于鼓丘核部的地质条件复杂多变且不存在特征性的岩相,同时很难直接观察到现代冰盖下鼓丘的形成,因而鼓丘的起源在世界上仍然是未解之谜.基于新的高分辨率(0.5 m)LiDAR数据绘制的地形图和对更新世古冰流岩床进行野外地质考察表明,鼓丘和巨型冰川线理是底形连续体(后者由前者演化而来).它们由基岩或部分岩石和早期较老的沉积物组成,基于此部分学者提出了鼓丘的侵蚀起源说.本文重点介绍了类似鼓丘和巨型冰川线理的椭圆-流线型和带有沟槽的表面,这些表面广泛形成于多种非冰川的地质环境中(无论是在地球上还是在火星上),它们是由于受限剪切作用下颗粒状碎屑对基底面的磨损所产生的.变质核杂岩中的大型滑脱断层和俯冲带巨型逆冲断层的表面显示出槽状表面,其形状和规模能够与巨型冰川线理相类比.多尺度的断层面上都表现出了逐渐消除的类似鼓丘状的"椭圆形凸起",形成带凹槽的岩石光滑面,从而减少了阻力并允许继续滑动.现代冰流岩床记录的冰下地震的独特"纹理"与凹槽内基底面遭受的局部侵蚀和剪切一致,冰下地貌特征加强了与断层运动学的联系.火山碎屑流、陨石撞击坑周围的溅射毯以及滑坡和块体搬运沉积体系的滑动,它们的下垫面都会形成类似巨型冰川线理的沟槽.在人造和生物材料的摩擦接触表面上,也可以重现这些由粒状"磨损碎屑"(被定义为"第三层")切割形成的类似鼓丘的椭圆形凸起和类似巨型冰川线理的沟槽表面.因此,我们提议将鼓丘和巨型冰川线理作为冰川动力学研究的相关组成部分,可以称之为"磨损痕迹"或者"流向剪切痕".它们是由于不同的冰流速度拖曳粗颗粒的变形冰碛物切割底面(沉积物或者岩石(或其他岩相组合))形成的.地学界颇具争议的鼓丘-冰川线理成因谜团已逐渐清晰.     

Predicting the effects of shade on water temperature in small streams

A computer model for stream water temperature was developed, and tested in a small pasture stream near Hamilton, New Zealand. The model quantifies shading by riparian vegetation, hillsides, and stream banks using three coefficients: canopy angle, topography angle, and canopy shade factor. Shade was measured directly and found to vary significantly along the channel. Using the maximum measured shade, a close match was achieved between observed and predicted daily maximum and minimum water and bed sediment temperature. Model predictions of incoming and outgoing long‐wave radiation flux closely matched measurements, but there were unexplained discrepancies in short‐wave radiation flux. Model predictions indicate that moderate shade levels (c. 70%) may be sufficient in temperate climates to restore headwater pasture stream temperatures to 20°C, an estimate of the thermal tolerance for sensitive invertebrates.     

Biodegradation of petroleum products in experimental plots in Antarctic marine sediments is location dependent

Clean sediment collected from O'Brien Bay, East Antarctica, was artificially contaminated with a mix of Special Antarctic Blend diesel fuel and lubricating oil and deployed in two uncontaminated locations (O'Brien and Sparkes Bays) and a previously contaminated bay (Brown Bay) to evaluate whether a history of prior contamination would influence the biodegradation process. Detailed analysis of the hydrocarbon composition in the sediment after 11 weeks revealed different patterns of degradation in each bay. Biodegradation indices showed that hydrocarbon biodegradation occurred in all three bays but was most extensive in Brown Bay. This study shows that even within a relatively small geographical area, the longevity of hydrocarbons in Antarctic marine sediments can be variable. Our results are consistent with faster natural attenuation of spilt oil at sites with previous exposure to oil but further work is needed to confirm this. Such information would be useful when evaluating the true risk and longevity of oils spills.     

Deep Impact: Optical spectroscopy and photometry obtained at MIRA

We present spectroscopic and photometric observations, spanning the optical UV to the far red, before, during, and after the NASA Deep Impact event of July 4, 2005. The inner 2000 km of the pre- and post-impact coma was about 0.3 magnitude redder in B-R than in the outer coma. The pre-impact spectrum was a faint reflected solar spectrum dominated by molecular emissions extending >40,000 km from the nucleus. The post-impact light curve in R and I showed a rapid rise consistent with an expanding optically thick cloud during the first 18 min after impact. During the next 8 min the cloud became optically thin. Sixty minutes after impact the impact R-band flux reached a plateau at , the comet brightening by a factor of ∼4.3 above its pre-impact value observed in a 15″ aperture. The mean expansion velocity of the grains during the first 49 min was . The spectrum became dominated by scattered sunlight during the first hour after impact. The volume scattering function (VSF) observed 32 min after impact shows strong reddening. At 49 min, however, the VSF shows an additional twofold increase in the blue but only a 20% increase at 5500 Å. Post-impact spectra and R-I photometry showed rapid reddening. The particle size distribution, dominated by 1-2.5 μm particles shortly after impact, changed dramatically during the first hour due to sublimation of water-ice particles of this size. On the night following impact the comet was still substantially brighter than before impact, but R-I had returned to its pre-impact value. B-R remained significantly redder. The ejecta 25 h after impact was fan-shaped subtending ∼180° roughly symmetrical about position angle 225°. The mean expansion velocity 90° from the direction to the Sun was .     

On Selection of Analog Volcanoes

Estimating the occurrence probability of volcanic eruptions with VEI ??3 is challenging in several aspects, including data scarcity. A?suggested approach has been to use a simple model, where eruptions are assumed to follow a Poisson process, augmenting the data used to estimate the eruption onset rate with that from several analog volcanoes. In this model the eruption onset rate is a random variable that follows a gamma distribution, the parameters of which are estimated by an empirical Bayes analysis. The selection of analog volcanoes is an important step that needs to be explicitly considered in this model, as we show that the analysis is not always feasible due to the required over-dispersion in the resulting negative binomial distribution for the numbers of eruptions. We propose a modification to the method which allows for both over-dispersed and under-dispersed data, and permits analog volcanoes to be chosen on other grounds than mathematical tractability.     

Towards a comprehensive distal andesitic tephrostratigraphic framework for New Zealand based on eruptions from Egmont volcano

The chronology and glass composition of 43 andesitic tephra layers in palaeolake sediments in northern New Zealand provide the basis for a fine‐resolution tephrostratigraphy of the interval 10–70 cal. ka. Their ages are constrained by 14 interbedded, (mostly) well‐dated rhyolitic tephra layers. The andesitic tephra have the potential to subdivide time intervals (1–5 kyr) bracketed by well known rhyolitic layers, including periods of rapid climate change such as the last glacial–interglacial transition and the Younger Dryas. The source of the distal andesitic tephra is identified as Egmont volcano (some 270 km S‐SW) on the basis of glass shard composition. The tephra contain high‐K₂O (3–6 wt%) andesitic‐dacitic (SiO₂ = 60–73 wt%) glass, with commonly heterogeneous shard populations (2–10 wt% SiO₂). Within stratigraphic intervals of < 10 kyr, individual tephra layers can be distinguished on the basis of their SiO₂ and K₂O contents, and variability in these contents can also be a distinguishing characteristic. The tephra record greatly extends the dated pyroclastic and geochemical record of Egmont volcano, and demonstrates that the volcano has frequently produced widely dispersed tephra over the last 70 kyr at a generally constant rate. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chronological and palaeomagnetic constraints on widespread welded ignimbrites of the Taupo volcanic zone,New Zealand

 Large volume (100–1000 km³), widespread rhyolitic ignimbrites are the main products of the Taupo volcanic zone (TVZ) of New Zealand, one of the most active silicic volcanic regions on Earth. Several factors have made correlation and the eruptive history of the ignimbrites difficult to resolve, including limited exposure and chronological data, broadly similar lithologies and the lack of stratigraphic successions visible in the field. We have used the isothermal plateau fission track (ITPFT) method on glass shards from the non-welded basal zones to obtain new eruption ages for the widespread units: Ongatiti (1.25±0.12 Ma), Whakamaru group (0.34±0.03 Ma), Matahina (0.34±0.02 Ma), Chimp (0.33±0.02 Ma), Kaingaroa (0.31±0.01 Ma) and Mamaku (0.23±0.01 Ma) ignimbrites. These glasses show little evidence of geochemical alteration and allow the units to be fingerprinted for correlation. The glass ages we have obtained for the late Quaternary units provide an independent check on chronological data obtained from phenocryst phases. The ITPFT method is a useful dating approach for sanidine-poor eruptives which limit the application of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar. Errors as limited as 10–30 ka can be obtained from the weighted mean of several age determinations. The thermoremanent magnetic (TRM) direction recorded in the units provides a means of correlation over a wide area of the TVZ, because each ignimbrite can be distinguished by its unique record of palaeosecular variation. These data indicate that the four separately mapped members of the Whakamaru group represent the same phase of activity, occurring within a period of 100 years. The TRM data indicate that the widespread Ahuroa ignimbrite erupted during an excursion in Earth's magnetic field, perhaps associated with the Cobb Mountain subchron (ca. 1.2 Ma). The youngest widespread welded unit, Mamaku ignimbrite (ca. 0.23 Ma), also erupted during an excursion and may represent a southern hemisphere record of the Pringle Falls geomagnetic episode found in the western United States. The palaeomagnetic and ITPFT data for the widespread late Quaternary ignimbrites suggest a major period of caldera formation at 0.34–0.30 Ma. This interval represents the eruption of multiple units from the Whakamaru caldera, followed by the formation of the Okataina and Reporoa calderas in rapid succession. Received: 20 November 1995 / Accepted: 8 May 1996     

The Kepler Mission: Astrophysics and Eclipsing Binaries

The Kepler Mission is a photometric space mission that will continuously observe a single 100 square degree field of view (FOV) of the sky of more than 100,000 stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region for four or more years with a precision of 14 parts per million (ppm) for a 6.5 hour integration including shot noise for a twelfth magnitude star. The primary goal of the mission is to detect Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. In the process, many eclipsing binaries (EB) will also be detected. Prior to launch, the stellar characteristics will have been determined for all the stars in the FOV with K<14.5. As part of the verification process, stars with transits (about 5%) will need to have follow-up radial velocity observations performed to determine the component masses and thereby separate grazing eclipses caused by stellar companions from transits caused by planets. The result will be a rich database on EBs. The community will have access to the archive for uses such as for EB modeling of the high-precision light curves. A guest observer program is also planned for objects not already on the target list.