Scientific Research using the Electronic Archive of the Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), a collaborative project between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) has been operating since 1990. The European HST Science Data Archive, operated at the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility(ST-ECF) in Garching, Germany, contains all data taken with the scienceinstruments of the HST. The services of the Archive include data browsing,preview, retrieval and re-calibration. Access to the Archive is providedthrough the World Wide Web, data distribution is through the Internet oron bulk media.This paper describes the data products, access to theArchive services, and the procedures for the use of the HST Science DataArchive by qualified scientists from remote locations. The Archive providestools implemented as Java Applets which can be used over the Net. For moresophisticated operations access to a suitable data analysis system isrequired; such software can be downloaded from our site.     

Aragonite–calcite veins of the ‘Erzberg’ iron ore deposit (Austria): Environmental implications from young fractures

The well‐known Erzberg site represents the largest siderite (FeCO₃) deposit in the world. It consists of various carbonates accounting for the formation of prominent CaCO₃ (dominantly aragonite) precipitates filling vertical fractures of different width (centimetres to decimetres) and length (tens of metres). These commonly laminated precipitates are known as ‘erzbergite’. This study focuses on the growth dynamics and environmental dependencies of these vein fillings. Samples recovered on‐site and from mineral collections were analyzed, and these analyses were further complemented by modern water analyses from different Erzberg sections. Isotopic signatures support meteoric water infiltration and sulphide oxidation as the principal hydrogeochemical mechanism of (Ca, Mg and Fe) carbonate host rock dissolution, mobilization and vein mineralization. Clumped isotope measurements revealed cool formation temperatures of ca 0 to 10°C for the aragonite, i.e. reflecting the elevated altitude Alpine setting, but unexpectedly low for aragonite nucleation. The ²³⁸U–²³⁴U–²³⁰Th dating yielded ages from 285·1 ± 3·9 to 1·03 ± 0·04 kyr bp and all samples collected on‐site formed after the Last Glacial Maximum. The observed CaCO₃ polymorphism is primarily controlled by the high aqueous Mg/Ca ratios resulting from dissolution of Mg‐rich host rocks, with Mg/Ca further evolving during prior CaCO₃ precipitation and CO₂ outgassing in the fissured aquifer. Aragonite represents the ‘normal’ mode of erzbergite formation and most of the calcite is of diagenetic (replacing aragonite) origin. The characteristic lamination (millimetre‐scale) is an original growth feature and mostly associated with the deposition of stained (Fe‐rich) detrital particle layers. Broader zonations (centimetre‐scale) are commonly of diagenetic origin. Petrographic observations and radiometric dating support an irregular nature for most of the layering. Open fractures resulting from fault tectonics or gravitational mass movements provide water flow routes and fresh chemical reaction surfaces of the host rock carbonates and accessory sulphides. If these prerequisites are considered, including the hydrogeochemical mechanism, modern water compositions, young U‐Th ages and calculated precipitation rates, it seems unlikely that the fractures had stayed open over extended time intervals. Therefore, it is most likely that they are geologically young.     

Magmatic and tectonic history of Jurassic ophiolites and associated granitoids from the South Apuseni Mountains (Romania)

The Jurassic ophiolites in the South Apuseni Mountains represent remnants of the Neotethys Ocean and belong to the East Vardar ophiolites that contain ophiolite fragments as well as granitoids and volcanics with island-arc affinity. New U–Pb zircon ages, and Sr and Nd isotope ratios give insights into their tectono-magmatic history. The ophiolite lithologies show tholeiitic MOR-type affinities, but are occasionally slightly enriched in Th and U, and depleted in Nb, which indicates that they probably formed in a marginal or back-arc basin. These ophiolites are associated with calc-alkaline granitoids and volcanics, which show trace element signatures characteristic for subduction-enrichment (high LILE, low HFSE). Low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.703836–0.704550) and high ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios (0.512599–0.512616) of the calc-alkaline series overlap with the ratios measured in the ophiolitic rocks (0.703863–0.704303 and 0.512496–0.512673), and hence show no contamination with continental crust. This excludes a collisional to post-collisional origin of the granitoids and is consistent with the previously proposed intra-oceanic island arc setting. The new U–Pb ages of the ophiolite lithologies (158.9–155.9 Ma, Oxfordian to Early Kimmeridgian) and granitoids (158.6–152.9 Ma, latest Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian) indicate that the two distinct magmatic series evolved within a narrow time range. It is proposed that the ophiolites and island arc granitoids formed above a long-lived NE-dipping subduction zone. A sudden flip in subduction polarity led to collision between island arc and continental margin, immediately followed by obduction of the ophiolites and granitoids on top of the continental margin of the Dacia Mega-Unit. Since the granitoids lack crustal input, they must have intruded the Apuseni ophiolites before both magmatic sequences were obducted onto the continental margin. The age of the youngest granitoid (~153 Ma, Late Kimmeridgian) yields an estimate for the maximum age of emplacement of the South Apuseni ophiolites and associated granitoids onto the Dacia Mega-Unit.     

Turbulence in Continental Stratocumulus,Part II: Eddy Dissipation Rates and Large-Eddy Coherent Structures

This study first illustrates the utility of using the Doppler spectrum width from millimetre wavelength radar to calculate the energy dissipation rate and then to use the energy dissipation rate to study turbulence structure in a continental stratocumulus cloud. It is shown that the turbulence kinetic energy dissipation rate calculated from the radar-measured Doppler spectrum width agrees well with that calculated from the Doppler velocity power spectrum. During the 16-h stratocumulus cloud event, the small-scale turbulence contributes 40 % of the total velocity variance at cloud base, 50 % at normalized cloud depth = 0.8 and 70 % at cloud top, which suggests that small-scale turbulence plays a critical role near the cloud top where the entrainment and cloud-top radiative cooling act. The 16-h mean vertical integral length scale decreases from about 160 m at cloud base to 60 m at cloud top, and this signifies that the larger scale turbulence dominates around cloud base whereas the small-scale turbulence dominates around cloud top. The energy dissipation rate, total variance and squared spectrum width exhibit diurnal variations, but unlike marine stratocumulus they are high during the day and lowest around sunset at all levels; energy dissipation rates increase at night with the intensification of the cloud-top cooling. In the normalized coordinate system, the averaged coherent structure of updrafts is characterized by low energy dissipation rates in the updraft core and higher energy dissipation rates surround the updraft core at the top and along the edges. In contrast, the energy dissipation rate is higher inside the downdraft core indicating that the downdraft core is more turbulent. The turbulence around the updraft is weaker at night and stronger during the day; the opposite is true around the downdraft. This behaviour indicates that the turbulence in the downdraft has a diurnal cycle similar to that observed in marine stratocumulus whereas the turbulence diurnal cycle in the updraft is reversed. For both updraft and downdraft, the maximum energy dissipation rate occurs at a cloud depth = 0.8 where the maximum reflectivity and air acceleration or deceleration are observed. Resolved turbulence dominates near cloud base whereas unresolved turbulence dominates near cloud top. Similar to the unresolved turbulence, the resolved turbulence described by the radial velocity variance is higher in the downdraft than in the updraft. The impact of the surface heating on the resolved turbulence in the updraft decreases with height and diminishes around the cloud top. In both updrafts and downdrafts, the resolved turbulence increases with height and reaches a maximum at cloud depth = 0.4 and then decreases to the cloud top; the resolved turbulence near cloud top, just as the unresolved turbulence, is mostly due to the cloud-top radiative cooling.     

A new bivariate Gamma distribution generated from functional scale parameter with application to drought data

Univariate and bivariate Gamma distributions are among the most widely used distributions in hydrological statistical modeling and applications. This article presents the construction of a new bivariate Gamma distribution which is generated from the functional scale parameter. The utilization of the proposed bivariate Gamma distribution for drought modeling is described by deriving the exact distribution of the inter-arrival time and the proportion of drought along with their moments, assuming that both the lengths of drought duration (X) and non-drought duration (Y) follow this bivariate Gamma distribution. The model parameters of this distribution are estimated by maximum likelihood method and an objective Bayesian analysis using Jeffreys prior and Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. These methods are applied to a real drought dataset from the State of Colorado, USA.