Possible long-period oscillations in solar radio emission at microwaves

Long-enduring bursts in the Sun at microwaves can occur in a succession, and rare examples of 41-min periodic structure are shown. The experimental difficulties for identifying such phenomena are discussed; their possible association with oscillations in quiescent prominences is suggested.     

Short-period pulsations observed simultaneously by X-ray and radio waves

From simultaneous high-time-resolution observations of solar X-rays from Hinotori and the millimeter waves at Itapetinga Radio Observatory in Brazil during a solar flare on November 4, 1981 at 1827 UT, short period ( 300 ms) pulsations have been detected in five time intervals of 2 s each. Both a cross-correlation analysis between X-rays and microwaves and a Fourier analysis were made to verify the significance of the quasi-periodic pulsations. The cross-correlation is significant but the pulsations could not be periodic oscillation.on leave of absence from Physical Res. Lab., Ahmedabad, India     

Geospatial cryptography: enabling researchers to access private,spatially referenced,human subjects data for cancer control and prevention

Journal of Geographical Systems - As the volume, accuracy and precision of digital geographic information have increased, concerns regarding individual privacy and confidentiality have come to the...     

Modeling stalagmite growth by first principles of chemistry and physics of calcite precipitation

Growth rates and morphology of stalagmites are determined by the precipitation kinetics of calcite and the supply rates of water to their apex. Current modeling attempts are based on the assumption that precipitation rates decrease exponentially with distance along the surface. This, however, is an arbitrary assumption, because other functions for decrease could be used as well. Here we give a process-oriented model based on the hydrodynamics of a water sheet in laminar radial flow spreading outwards from the apex, and the well known precipitation rates F = α(c − c_eq); c is the actual calcium concentration at distance R from the growth axis, c_eq the equilibrium concentration of calcium with respect to calcite, and α is a kinetic constant. This enables us to calculate the concentration profile c(R) for any point of an actual surface of a stalagmite and consequently the deposition rates of calcite there. The numerical results show that under conditions constant in time the stalagmite grows into an equilibrium shape, which is established, when all points of its surface are shifting vertically by the same distance during a time interval. We also show this by strict mathematical proof. This new model is based entirely on first principles of physics and chemistry. The results show that the modeled precipitation rates can be approximated by a Gaussian decrease along the equilibrium surface. In general from the mathematical proof one finds a relation between the equilibrium radius of the stalagmite, Q the supply rate of water, and α the kinetic constant. This is also verified by numerical calculations. An interesting scaling law is found. Scaling all stalagmites by 1/R_eq and presenting them with the origin at their apex yields identical shapes of all. The shapes of the modeled stalagmites are compared to natural ones and show satisfactory agreement. Finally we explore the effect of varying water supply Q and kinetic constant α on the shape of a growing stalagmite, and estimate the minimum period of change that can be imprinted into the morphology of the stalagmite.     

δC profiles along growth layers of stalagmites: Comparing theoretical and experimental results

The isotopic carbon ratio of a calcite-precipitating solution flowing as a water film on the surface of a stalagmite is determined by Rayleigh distillation. It can be calculated, when the -concentration of the solution at each surface point of the stalagmite and the fractionation factors are known. A stalagmite growth model based entirely on the physics of laminar flow and the well-known precipitation rates of a supersaturated solution of calcite, without any further assumptions, is employed to obtain the spatial distribution of the -concentration, which contributes more than 95% to the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). The δ¹³C profiles are calculated along the growth surface of a stalagmite for three cases: (A) isotopic equilibrium of both CO₂ outgassing and calcite precipitation; (B) outgassing of CO₂ is irreversible but calcite precipitation is in isotopic equilibrium. (C) Both CO₂ outgassing and calcite precipitation are irreversible. In all cases the isotopic shift δ¹³C increases from the apex along the distance on a growth surface. In cases A and B, calcite deposited at the apex is in isotopic equilibrium with the solution of the drip water. The difference between δ¹³C at the apex and the end of the growth layer is independent of the stalagmite’s radius, but depends on temperature. For case A, it is about half the value obtained for cases B and C. In case C, the isotopic composition of calcite at the apex equals that of the drip water, but further out it becomes practically identical with that of case B. The growth model has been applied to field data of stalagmite growth, where the thickness and the δ¹³C of calcite precipitated to a glass plate located on the top of a stalagmite have been measured as function of the distance from the drip point. The calculated data are in good agreement to the observed ones and indicate that deposition occurred most likely under conditions B, eventually also C. A sensitivity analysis has been performed, which shows that within the limits of observed external parameters, such as drip rates and partial pressure of carbon dioxide P_CO2 in the cave, the results remain valid.     

A multibeam antenna for solar MM-wave burst observations with high spatial and temporal resolution

In this paper a new method for the determination of the position of microwave burst sources on the Sun, its implementation and first observational results, are presented. The 13.7 m antenna at Itapetinga with a five-channel receiver operating at 48 GHz and with a time resolution of 1 ms is used. Five horn antennas clustered around the focus of the Cassegrain reflector provide 5 beams diverging by about 2. This configuration allows the observation of different parts of an active region and the determination of the center of the burst position with an accuracy of 5 to 20 depending on the angular distance relative to the antenna axis. The field of view is 2 by 4. The time resolution of 1 ms is suitable to search for fast structures at 48 GHz. A total bandwidth of 400 MHz is used in order to achieve a sensitivity of 0.04 s.f.u. sufficient for the detection of weak bursts. First observational results of the flare on May 11, 1991 show a well-located source position during all stages.Paper presented at the 4th CESRA workshop in Ouranopolis (Greece) 1991.     

Multiple energetic injections in a strong spike-like solar burst

An intense and fast spike-like solar burst was observed with high sensitivity in microwaves and hard X-rays, on December 18,1980, at 19^h21^m20^s UT. It is shown that the burst was built up of short time scale structures superimposed on an underlying gradual emission, the time evolution of which showed remarkable proportionality between hard X-ray and microwave fluxes. The finer time structures were best defined at mm-microwaves. At the peak of the event the finer structures repeat every 30–60 ms (displaying an equivalent repetition rate of 16–20 s^-1). The more slowly varying component with a time scale of about 1 s was identified in microwaves and hard X-rays throughout the burst duration. Similarly to what has been found for mm-microwave burst emission, we suggest that X-ray fluxes might also be proportional to the repetition rate of basic units of energy injection (quasi-quantized). We estimate that one such injection produces a pulse of hard X-ray photons with about 4 × 10²¹ erg, for 25 keV. We use this figure to estimate the relevant parameters of one primary energy release site both in the case where hard X-rays are produced primarily by thick-target bremsstrahlung, and when they are purely thermal, and also discuss the relation of this figure to global energy considerations. We find, in particular, that a thick-target interpretation only becomes possible if individual pulses have durations larger than 0.2 s.     

The current status of mapping karst areas and availability of public sinkhole-risk resources in karst terrains of the United States

Subsidence from sinkhole collapse is a common occurrence in areas underlain by water-soluble rocks such as carbonate and evaporite rocks, typical of karst terrain. Almost all 50 States within the United States (excluding Delaware and Rhode Island) have karst areas, with sinkhole damage highest in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. A conservative estimate of losses to all types of ground subsidence was $125 million per year in 1997. This estimate may now be low, as review of cost reports from the last 15 years indicates that the cost of karst collapses in the United States averages more than $300 million per year. Knowing when a catastrophic event will occur is not possible; however, understanding where such occurrences are likely is possible. The US Geological Survey has developed and maintains national-scale maps of karst areas and areas prone to sinkhole formation. Several States provide additional resources for their citizens; Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania maintain databases of sinkholes or karst features, with Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio providing sinkhole reporting mechanisms for the public.     

The importance of tides for sediment dynamics in the deep sea—Evidence from the particulate-matter tracer 234Th in deep-sea environments with different tidal forcing

Key aspects of deep-ocean fluid dynamics such as basin-scale (residual) and tidal flow are believed to have changed over glacial/interglacial cycles, with potential relevance for climatic change. To constrain the mechanistic links, magnitudes and temporal succession of events analyses of sedimentary paleo-records are of great importance. Efforts have been underway for some time to reconstruct residual-flow patterns from sedimentary records. Attempts to reconstruct tidal flow characteristics from deep-sea sediment deposits, however, are at a very early stage and first require a better understanding of the reflection of modern tides in sediment dynamics. In this context internal (baroclinic) tides, which are formed by the surface (barotropic) tide interacting with seafloor obstacles, are believed to play a particularly important role. Here we compare two modern deep-sea environments with respect to the effect of tides on sediment dynamics. Both environments are influenced by kilometre-scale topographic features but with vastly different tidal forcing: (1) two sites in the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) being surrounded by, or located downstream of, fields of short seamounts (maximum barotropic tidal current velocities ～5 cm s^?1); and (2) a site next to the Anaximenes seamount in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMed) (maximum barotropic tidal current velocities ～0.5 cm s^?1). With respect to other key fluid-dynamical parameters both environments are very similar. Signals of sedimentary particle dynamics, as influenced by processes taking place in the bottom boundary layer, were traced by the vertical water-column distribution of radioactive disequilibria (daughter/parent activity ratios≠1) between the naturally occurring, short-lived (half-life: 24.1 d) particulate-matter tracer ²³⁴Th relative to its very long-lived and non-particle-reactive parent nuclide ²³⁸U. Activity ratios of ²³⁴Th/²³⁸U<1 in water samples collected near the seafloor indicate fast ²³⁴Th scavenging onto particles followed by fast settling of these particles from the sampled parcel of water and, therefore, imply active sediment resuspension and dynamics on time scales of up to several weeks. In the Northeast Atlantic study region tides (in particular internal tides) are very likely to locally push total current velocities near the seafloor across the critical current velocity threshold for sediment erosion or resuspension whereas in the Eastern Mediterranean the tides are much too weak for this to happen. This difference in tidal forcing is reflected in a difference of the frequency of the occurrence of radioactive disequilibria <1 between total ²³⁴Th and ²³⁸U: In the near-bottom water column of the Northeast Atlantic region 59% of samples had detectable ²³⁴Th/²³⁸U disequilibria whereas at the Eastern Mediterranean site this fraction was only 7% (including a few disequilibria >1). The results of this study, therefore, add to the evidence suggesting that tides in the deep sea of the open oceans are more important for sediment dynamics than previously thought. It is hypothesised that (a) tide/seamount interactions in the deep open ocean control the local distribution of erosivity proxies (e.g., distributions of sediment grain sizes, heavy minerals and particle-reactive radionuclides) in sedimentary deposits and (b) the aforementioned topographically controlled sedimentary imprints of (internal) tides are useful in the reconstruction of past changes of tidal forcing in the deep sea.     

Prediction of plagioclase-melt equilibria in anhydrous silicate melts at 1-atm

Many models for plagioclase-melt equilibria have been proposed over the past 30 years, but the focus is increasingly on the effects of water content and pressure. However, many geological and petrological applications concern low pressure and low water systems, such as the differentiation of large terrestrial basaltic magma chambers, and lunar and asteroidal magmatism. There is, therefore, a justified need to quantify the influence of anhydrous liquid composition on the composition of equilibrium plagioclase at 1-atm. With this in mind, a database of over 500 experimentally determined plagioclase-liquid pairs has been created. The selected low pressure, anhydrous, experiments include both natural and synthetic liquids, whose compositions range from basalt to rhyolite. Four equations are proposed, derived from this data. The first is based on a thermodynamically inspired formalism, explicitly integrating the effect of temperature. This equation uses free energies and activities of crystalline anorthite available from the literature. For the activity of anorthite in the liquid phase, it is found that current models of the activity of individual oxides are insufficient to account for the experimental results. We have therefore derived an empirical expression for the variation of anorthite activity in the liquid as a function of melt composition, based upon inversion of the experimental data. Using this expression allows the calculation of plagioclase composition with a relative error less than 10%. However, in light of the fact that temperature is not necessarily known for many petrological applications, an alternative set of T-independent equations is also proposed. For this entirely empirical approach, the database has been divided into three compositional groups, treated independently for regression purposes: mafic–ultramafic, alkali-rich mafic–ultramafic, and intermediate-felsic. This separation into distinct subgroups was found to be necessary to maintain errors below acceptable limits, but results across group boundaries were found to be comparable. Overall, 50% of plagioclase compositions are predicted to within 2% of the experimentally derived value, and 90% to within 5%, representing a significant improvement over existing models.