Quaternary palaeoenvironments and multi-storey valley fill architecture along the Mezen and Severnaya Dvina river valleys,Arkhangelsk region,NW Russia

The modern Severnaya Dvina and Mezen river systems in the Arkhangelsk region, NW Russia, are located within extensive palaeovalley systems. The palaeovalleys form depressions in bedrock and have controlled the drainage systems in the area at least since the Last Interglacial. Vertically stacked marine to fluvial sediments reflect deposition during fluctuating climate and sea levels.A compilation of lithostratigraphical data collected during the last decade has been coupled with bedrock topography and geomorphology from satellite images in order to describe the valley fill architecture for the two valley systems. Each system has been divided into a number of depositional units (storeys) separated by incision/non-deposition and used to investigate the timing of aggradational versus incisional phases. Time constraints for each phase are provided by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages, and aggradation and incision are linked to independent records of climate and sea level change.The pattern of aggradation and erosion is regional and primarily driven by episodes of increasing and decreasing sediment supply. Aggradation is correlated to times of deglaciation with high sediment supply from the ice margin, release of sediment from ice-dammed lakes and low vegetation and degradation of permafrost on the flood plain. Incision is related to cold intervals with low sediment supply, delayed incision due to isostatic uplift and drainage of ice-dammed lakes. Relative sea level change controls the distribution of marine deposits, which show significant regional variations due to variable isostatic response across the region. Sea level change plays a limited role for fluvial aggradation/incision in the study area.     

Shrinking and Cooling of Flare Loops in a Two-Ribbon Flare

We analyze the evolution of the flare/postflare-loop system in the two-ribbon flare of November 3, 2003, utilizing multi-wavelength observations that cover the temperature range from several tens of MK down to 10⁴ K. A non-uniform growth of the loop system enables us to identify analogous patterns in the height–time, h(t), curves measured at different temperatures. The “knees,” “plateaus,” and “bends” in a higher-temperature curve appear after a certain time delay at lower heights in a lower-temperature curve. We interpret such a shifted replication as a track of a given set of loops (reconnected field lines) while shrinking and cooling after being released from the reconnection site. Measurements of the height/time shifts between h(t) curves of different temperatures provide a simultaneous estimate of the shrinkage speed and cooling rate in a given temperature domain, for a period of almost ten hours after the flare impulsive phase. From the analysis we find the following: (a) Loop shrinkage is faster at higher temperatures – in the first hour of the loop-system growth, the shrinkage velocity at 5 MK is 20 – 30 km s⁻¹, whereas at 1 MK it amounts to 5 km s⁻¹; (b) Shrinking becomes slower as the flare decays – ten hours after the impulsive phase, the shrinkage velocity at 5 MK becomes 5 km s⁻¹; (c) The cooling rate decreases as the flare decays – in the 5 MK range it is 1 MK min⁻¹ in the first hour of the loop-system growth, whereas ten hours later it decreases to 0.2 MK min⁻¹; (d) During the initial phase of the loop-system growth, the cooling rate is larger at higher temperatures, whereas in the late phases the cooling rate apparently does not depend on the temperature; (e) A more detailed analysis of shrinking/cooling around one hour after the impulsive phase reveals a deceleration of the loop shrinkage, amounting to ā ≈ 10 m s⁻² in the T < 5 MK range; (f) In the same interval, conductive cooling dominates down to T ≈ 3 MK, whereas radiation becomes dominant below T ≈ 2 MK; (g) A few hours after the impulsive phase, radiation becomes dominant across the whole T < 5 MK range. These findings are compared with results of previous studies and discussed in the framework of relevant models.     

Localized shock-induced melting of sandstone at low shock pressures (<17.5 GPa): An experimental study

Shock-induced recovery experiments were performed to investigate melt formation in porous sandstones in the low shock pressure regime between 2.5 and 17.5 GPa. The sandstone shocked at 2.5 and 5 GPa is characterized by pore closure, fracturing of quartz (Qtz), and compression and deformation of phyllosilicates; no melting was observed. At higher pressures, five different types of melts were generated around pores and alongside fractures in the sandstone. Melting of kaolinite (Kln), illite (Ill), and muscovite (Ms) starts at 7.5, 12, and 15 GPa, respectively. The larger the amount of water in these minerals (Kln ~14 wt%, Ill ~6–10 wt%, and Ms ~4 wt% H₂O), the higher the shock compressibility and the lower the shock pressure required to induce melting. Vesicles in the almost dry silicate glasses attest to the loss of structural water during the short shock duration of the experiment. The compositions of the phyllosilicate-based glasses are identical to the composition of the parental minerals or their mixtures. Thus, this study has demonstrated that phyllosilicates in shocked sandstone undergo congruent melting during shock loading. In experiments at 10 GPa and higher, iron melt from the driver plate was injected into the phyllosilicate melts. During this process, Fe is partitioned from the metal droplets into the surrounding silicate melts, which induced unmixing of silicate melts with different chemical properties (liquid immiscibility). At pressures between 7.5 and 15 GPa, a pure SiO₂ glass was formed, which is located as short and thin bands within Qtz grains. These bands were shown to contain tiny crystals of experimentally generated stishovite.     

The solar soft X-ray background flux and its relation to flare occurrence

Solar Physics - The soft X-ray background flux (XBF) based on GOES 1–8&;nbsp;Å measurements for the period 1975–2003 is studied. There is strong evidence that in the XBF the...     

Coronal Holes and Solar Wind High-Speed Streams: I. Forecasting the Solar Wind Parameters

We analyze the relationship between the coronal hole (CH) area/position and physical characteristics of the associated corotating high-speed stream (HSS) in the solar wind at 1 AU. For the analysis we utilize the data in the period DOY 25 – 125 of 2005, characterized by a very low coronal mass ejection (CME) activity. Distinct correlations between the daily averaged CH parameters and the solar wind characteristics are found, which allows us to forecast the solar wind velocity v, proton temperature T, proton density n, and magnetic field strength B, several days in advance in periods of low CME activity. The forecast is based on monitoring fractional areas A, covered by CHs in the meridional slices embracing the central meridian distance ranges [−40°,−20°], [−10°,10°], and [20°,40°]. On average, the peaks in the daily values of n, B, T, and v appear delayed by 1, 2, 3, and 4 days, respectively, after the area A attains its maximum in the central-meridian slice. The peak values of the solar wind parameters are correlated to the peak values of A, which provides also forecasting of the peak values of n, B, T, and v. The most accurate prediction can be obtained for the solar wind velocity, for which the average relative difference between the calculated and the observed peak values amounts to %. The forecast reliability is somewhat lower in the case of T, B, and n ( , 30, and 40%, respectively). The space weather implications are discussed, including the perspectives for advancing the real-time calculation of the Sun – Earth transit times of coronal mass ejections and interplanetary shocks, by including more realistic real-time estimates of the solar wind characteristics.     

Comparison of Large-Eddy Simulation Data with Spatially Averaged Measurements Obtained by Acoustic Tomography – Presuppositions and First Results

An attempt is made to compare results oflarge-eddy simulation (LES) in a convective boundarylayer using the model PALM with experimental data obtained from acoustic travel time tomography.This method provides two-dimensional data arrays, which are considered as more suitable forLES-validation than classical local orline-integrated measurements, because the tomographic data are area- or volume-averaged.For a quantitative comparison with experimental data in general, some prerequisites have to be considered: First of all, the initial and boundary conditions of the LES model have to be provided correctly by the experiment. Considering measurement errors, a sensitivity study was performed to investigate the influence of inaccurate initial and boundary conditions on the simulation results.This showed that for determining some boundary conditions, such as the surface temperature and the roughness length, high measurement accuracies are necessary, which are difficult to reach or which at least require considerable extra measurement efforts.The initial and boundary conditions provided by the Lindenberg experiment in 1999 turned out to be of insufficient accuracy to allow quantitative comparisons.However, a qualitative comparison was performed instead to investigate if the acoustic tomography method is a proper method for comparisons with LES models in general.It showed a good qualitative agreement with some quantitative differences. These differences can partly be explained by the sensitivity of the LES to initial and boundary conditions and by the limitations of the acoustic tomography.     

Planktoneustonic algae in the surface films of Lake Zürich: Occurrence and dependence on phytoplankton succession

Samples of surface films and of the underlying bulk water at 0.2 m depth were taken in Lake Zürich on 48 occasions in 1986, 1988 and 1989, with the aim of assessing the appropriateness of applying existing neuston nomenclature to the organisms found in these films, of determining which organisms accumulate there during which periods of time, and of assessing the importance of the phytoplankton community in the development of neustonic biocoenoses. Lake Zürich surface films were found to support a community of high population density, consisting of organisms which had migrated from the benthal or pelagial, or which had entered the film via the atmosphere or inflowing rivers. In all samples, species originating from within the phytoplankton community accounted for the greatest proportion of the total abundance. Several of these species were found to exhibit a special preference for the surface biotope, viz. those with a relative frequency (rF) exceeding 10%, a mean enrichment factor (Ef) exceeding 100, and, in the majority of cases, with a greater concentration of individuals in the surface film than in the underlying bulk water layer. We suggest that only those organisms occurring in the surface films of large water bodies which fulfil the above criteria should be considered as belonging to the planktoneuston, in order to distinguish them from other species, the occurrence of which in surface films is merely coincidental. The fact that planktoneustonic algae are dominant in the surface films of Lake Zürich means that changes in the species composition of the planktonic algal biocoenosis directly affect the species composition of the neustonic algal biocoenosis. Thus, just as in the underlying bulk water, a succession can be observed in the algal biocoenosis of the surface films. However, because of the higher abundance of planktoneustonic algae there, this succession is distinct from that occurring in the pelagial. Factors bringing about these differences which are discussed for the case of the dominant planktoneustonic algae are: alterations in specific gravity; positive phototaxis; and enhancement of growth rates in surface films as compared with the underlying bulk water.     

Pelagic petroleum pollution off the south-west coast of Puerto Rico

Petroleum pollution in the form of floating tar balls and dissolved or dispersed hydrocarbons has been monitored off the south-west coast of Puerto Rico on a weekly basis since November 1980. Tar ball abundance estimates agree well with previously published data for the area. Dissolved/dispersed hydrocarbon concentrations are close to, but below, those found in the Mediterranean Sea and considerably lower than those for more polluted areas. Tar ball abundance is closely related to the intensity of southerly winds. Dissolved/dispersed hydrocarbon concentrations are highest during the fall and coincident with the highest surface water temperatures.     

Heterogeneous accretion,composition and core–mantle differentiation of the Earth

A model of core formation is presented that involves the Earth accreting heterogeneously through a series of impacts with smaller differentiated bodies. Each collision results in the impactor's metallic core reacting with a magma ocean before merging with the Earth's proto-core. The bulk compositions of accreting planetesimals are represented by average solar system abundances of non-volatile elements (i.e. CI-chondritic), with 22% enhancement of refractory elements and oxygen contents that are defined mainly by the Fe metal/FeO silicate ratio. Based on an anhydrous bulk chemistry, the compositions of coexisting core-forming metallic liquid and peridotitic silicate liquid are calculated by mass balance using experimentally-determined metal/silicate partition coefficients for the elements Fe, Si, O, Ni, Co, W, Nb, V, Ta and Cr. Oxygen fugacity is fixed by the partitioning of Fe between metal and silicate and depends on temperature, pressure and the oxygen content of the starting composition. Model parameters are determined by fitting the calculated mantle composition to the primitive mantle composition using least squares minimization. Models that involve homogeneous accretion or single-stage core formation do not provide acceptable fits. In the most successful models, involving 24 impacting bodies, the initial 60–70% (by mass) of the Earth accretes from highly-reduced material with the final 30–40% of accreted mass being more oxidised, which is consistent with results of dynamical accretion simulations. In order to obtain satisfactory fits for Ni, Co and W, it is required that the larger (and later) impactor cores fail to equilibrate completely before merging with the Earth's proto-core, as proposed previously on the basis of Hf-W isotopic studies. Estimated equilibration conditions may be consistent with magma oceans extending to the core–mantle boundary, thus making core formation extremely efficient. The model enables the compositional evolution of the Earth's mantle and core to be predicted throughout the course of accretion. The results are consistent with the late accretion of the Earth's water inventory, possibly with a late veneer after core formation was complete. Finally, the core is predicted to contain ~ 5 wt.% Ni, ~ 8 wt.% Si, ~ 2 wt.% S and ~ 0.5 wt.% O.