Blowing in the wind. II. Creation and redistribution of refractory inclusions in a turbulent protoplanetary nebula

Ca-Al rich refractory mineral inclusions (CAIs) found at 1-6% mass fraction in primitive chondrites appear to be 1-3 million years older than the dominant (chondrule) components which were accreted into the same parent bodies. A prevalent concern is that it is difficult to retain CAIs for this long against gas-drag-induced radial drift into the Sun. We reassess the situation in terms of a hot inner (turbulent) nebula context for CAI formation, using analytical models of nebula evolution and particle diffusion. We show that outward radial diffusion in a weakly turbulent nebula can overcome inward drift, and prevent significant numbers of CAI-size particles from being lost into the Sun for times on the order of 10⁶ years. CAIs can form early, when the inner nebula was hot, and persist in sufficient abundance to be incorporated into primitive planetesimals at a much later time. Small (?0.1 mm diameter) CAIs persist for longer times than large (?5 mm diameter) ones. To obtain a quantitative match to the observed volume fractions of CAIs in chondrites, another process must be allowed for: a substantial enhancement of the inner hot nebula in silicate-forming material, which we suggest was caused by rapid inward drift of meter-sized objects. This early in nebula history, the drifting rubble would have a carbon content probably an order of magnitude larger than even the most primitive (CI) carbonaceous chondrites. Abundant carbon in the evaporating material would help keep the nebula oxygen fugacity low, plausibly solar, as inferred for the formation environment of CAIs. The associated production of a larger than canonical amount of CO₂ might also play a role in mass-independent fractionation of oxygen isotopes, leaving the gas rich in ¹⁶O as inferred from CAIs and other high temperature condensates.     

Towards a theory for type III solar radio bursts

The procedure developed in Smith (1974) to model the radiation source for type III bursts is modified to include scattering of radiation in the source itself. Since the inhomogeneities in the source must have the same statistical properties as the inhomogeneities used in tracing radiation from the source to the observer, these two parts of the type III problem are no longer uncoupled. Thus we use inhomogeneities consistent with the scattering inhomogeneities of Steinberg et al. (1971) and Riddle (1974) and apply the procedure to an archetype ‘fundamental-harmonic’ pair observed at Culgoora on 28 September, 1973 at 0319 UT. We find that it is impossible to model this burst with a source which is homogeneous in the sense that every part of the source has the same energy density in plasma waves. The density inhomogeneities in the source severely hamper amplification of the supposed fundamental. Possible ways out of this dilemma are discussed, including second harmonic pairs and a source with an inhomogeneous distribution of plasma waves. It is concluded that none of the possibilities are completely satisfactory to explain present observations and suggested that critical observations are missing.     

The Distribution and Significance of Evaporitic Weathering Products on Antarctic Meteorites

Abstract— The distribution of white evaporitic deposits differs among different meteorite compositional groups and weathering categories of Antarctic meteorites. Evaporites occur with unusual frequency on carbonaceous chondrites, and are especially common in carbonaceous chondrites of weathering categories A and B. Among achondrites, weathering categories A and A/B show the most examples of evaporite weathering. Unlike carbonaceous chondrites and achondrites, most evaporite-bearing ordinary (H and L) chondrites are from rustier meteorites of weathering categories B and, to a lesser degree, B/C and C. LL chondrites are conspicuous by their complete lack of any evaporitic weathering product. Almost two-thirds of all evaporite-bearing meteorites belong to weathering categories A, A/B, and B. Where chemical data are available, surficial evaporite deposits are associated with elemental anomalies in meteorite interiors. Meteorites of weathering classes B, A/B, and even A may have experienced significant element redistribution and/or contamination as a result of terrestrial exposure. Evaporite formation during terrestrial weathering cannot be neglected in geochemical, cosmochemical, and mineralogical studies of Antarctic meteorites. A lower-case “e” should be added to the weathering classification of evaporite-bearing Antarctic meteorites, to inform meteorite scientists of the presence of evaporite deposits and their associated compositional effects.     

Palaeoproterozoic evaporites in Fennoscandia: implications for seawater sulphate, the rise of atmospheric oxygen and local amplification of the δ13C excursion

This paper addresses global oxygenation and establishment of a marine sulphate reservoir in the Palaeoproterozoic. We report syn-depositional, marine, anhydrite-containing pseudomorphs after Ca-sulphates as widespread throughout the Tulomozero Formation in the SE Fennoscandian Shield, implying that surface waters were oxidized and a large SO marine reservoir was developed as early as 2100 Ma. The Ca-sulphates and associated magnesite and halite precipitated syn-depositionally from oxidized, evolved and modified seawater in coastal playa, sabkha and intertidal flat settings. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹³C of associated ¹³C-rich stromatolitic dolostones were environmentally controlled with the highest ratios occurring in playa and sabkha carbonates. The results imply that the Palaeoproterozoic δ¹³C_carb excursion was amplified by 8‰ by local environmental factors and calls into question many observations of putative δ¹³C global signals reported previously from similar Palaeoproterozoic, evaporitic, dolostones. The local environmental amplification can explain a large regional and intercontinental δ¹³C discrepancy observed in synchronous carbonates.     

The ionospheric impact of the October 2003 storm event on Wide Area Augmentation System

The United States Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS) for civil aircraft navigation is focused primarily on the Conterminous United States (CONUS). Other Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) include the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and the Japanese Multi-transport Satellite-based Augmentation System (MSAS). Navigation using WAAS requires accurate calibration of ionospheric delays. To provide delay corrections for single frequency global positioning system (GPS) users, the wide-area differential GPS systems depend upon accurate determination of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) along radio links. Dual-frequency transmissions from GPS satellites have been used for many years to measure and map ionospheric TEC on regional and global scales. The October 2003 solar-terrestrial events are significant not only for their dramatic scale, but also for their unique phasing of solar irradiance and geomagnetic events. During 28 October, the solar X-ray and EUV irradiances were exceptionally high while the geomagnetic activity was relatively normal. Conversely, 29–31 October was geomagnetically active while solar irradiances were relatively low. These events had the most severe impact in recent history on the CONUS region and therefore had a significant effect on the WAAS performance. To help better understand the event and its impact on WAAS, we examine in detail the WAAS reference site (WRS) data consisting of triple redundant dual-frequency GPS receivers at 25 different locations within the US. To provide ground-truth, we take advantage of the three co-located GPS receivers at each WAAS reference site. To generate ground-truth and calibrate GPS receiver and transmitter inter-frequency biases, we process the GPS data using the Global Ionospheric Mapping (GIM) software developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This software allows us to compute calibrated high resolution observations of TEC. We found ionospheric range delays up to 35 m for the day-time CONUS during quiet conditions and up to 100 m during storm time conditions. For a quiet day, we obtained WAAS planar fit slant residuals less than 2 m (0.4 m root mean square (RMS)) and less than 25 m (3.4 m RMS) for the storm day. We also investigated ionospheric gradients, averaged over distances of a few hundred kilometers. The gradients were no larger than 0.5 m over 100 km for a quiet day. For the storm day, we found gradients at the 4 m level over 100 km. Similar level gradients are typically observed in the low-latitude region for quiet or storm conditions.     

TU Ophiuchi: Mira variable — Not dwarf nova

High-speed photometry, spectroscopy, and visual observations of TU Oph show it to be a Mira variable, not a dwarf nova as originally classified or a UV Cet star as tentatively classified.     

Temporal variability of ultraviolet cloud features in the Venus stratosphere

Statistics on the temporal variability of uv cloud features on Venus during 66 days of nominal mission imaging by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter Cloud Photopolarimeter reveal at least five types of systematic variability on large scales: (1) a low-latitude global-scale wave of period 3.94 ± 0.1 days corresponding to longitudinal motion of the dark equatorial band and propagating westward relative to the mean flow; (2) a midlatitude wave of period 5.20 ± 0.2 days corresponding to wavenumber 1 oscillations of the latitude of the bright polar bands and propagating eastward relative to the mean flow; (3) ～2- to 3-week fluctuations in the slope of longitudinal cloud brightness power spectra at intermediate wavenumbers manifested by variations in the intensity of large bow-shaped features; (4) ～2-month variations in polar region brightness consistent with polar brightening episodes observed from Earth; and (5) a monotonic decrease in the disk-integrated brightness of Venus during the nominal mission which may be either a true time variation or a solar-locked longitudinal dependence of brightness. Small-scale features appear to correlate with large-scale albedo patterns. Specifically, cellular features exist primarily where large-scale dark material is present, while the orientation of streak features with respect to latitude circles oscillates with the same ～4-day period as the large-scale features at low latitudes. The wide range of time scales present in the data suggests the complexity of Venus stratospheric dynamics. Extended observations over many years may be becessary to define the general circulation.     

Radiation properties of pulsar magnetospheres: observation,theory, and experiment

In the three decades since their discovery, the accumulated body of observational data from pulsar sources puts constraints on models that seek to explain their periodic radiation. This paper reviews this data, reports on a VLA search for haloes predicted by an early model, and reinvestigates a magnetospheric disk-field-aligned-current transmission line system as the origin of the observed radiation, with external wave excitation by as yet an unexplained source. Three dimensional, fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations of the pulsar surface and magnetosphere are used to explore the waveshape and polarization properties of the observed radiation.     

NEW APPROACH TO ESTIMATING SOLAR RADIATION FROM SATELLITE IMAGERY*

A significantly less expensive but comparatively accurate means of estimating solar radiation from satellite imagery is demonstrated. Opaque cloud cover is visually extracted from nondigitized, photographic forms of GOES satellite imagery and solar radiation is estimated using this information as input into a relatively simple solar model. Daily root mean square, mean absolute and mean bias errors were 13.2, 8.6 and 1.1 percent, respectively. Maps of the spatial distribution of solar radiation for Arizona are included.