On the validity of the chapman-enskog description of the solar wind

The validity of the Chapman-Enskog method in the calculation of the heat conductivity of the solar wind is studied. The predictions of the Chapman-Enskog theory are compared with known results of rarefied gas kinetic theory. The results suggest that the use of the Chapman-Enskog theory to describe the transport processes in the solar wind is not strictly justified.     

Sixty volumes of the Journal du Conseil / ICES Journal of Marine Science

Article 1 of the ICES Convention of 1964 sets out the fundamentalpurposes of the Council and includes as the third and finalpoint: "to publish or otherwise disseminate the results of researchand investigations carried out under its auspices or to encouragethe publication thereof". Publication and dissemination of informationabout the living resources and their environment have been atthe heart of ICES from the first     

Toward a radiometric ice clock: uranium ages of the Dome C ice core

Ice sheets and deep ice cores have yielded a wealth of paleoclimate information based on continuous dating methods while independent radiometric ages of ice have remained elusive. Here we demonstrate the application of (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) measurements to dating the EPICA Dome C ice core based on the accumulation of ²³⁴U in the ice matrix from recoil during ²³⁸U decay out of dust bound within the ice. Measured (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) activity ratios within the ice generally increase with depth while the surface areas of the dust grains are relatively constant. Using a newly designed device for measuring surface area for small samples, we were able to estimate reliably the recoil efficiency of nuclides from dust to ice. The resulting calculated radiometric ages range between 80 ka and 870 ka. Measured samples in the upper 3100 m fall on the previously published age-depth profile. Samples in the 3200–3255 m section show a marked change from 723–870 ka to 85 ka indicating homogenization of the deep ice prior to resetting of the (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) age in the basal layers. The mechanism for homogenization is likely enhanced lateral ice flow due to high basal melting and geothermal heat flux.     

Cliff-top storm deposits on Banneg Island, Brittany, France: Effects of giant waves in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean

This study is based on the morphosedimentary analysis of the cliff-top storm deposits accumulated on the coast of Banneg Island located in the archipelago of Molène (Brittany, France). These CTSDs comprise large, tabular clasts quarried from the upper part of the cliff and the backing scoured platform by giant oceanic storm waves impacting directly the western coast of the island. An analysis of the distribution and the geomorphology of these accumulations were carried out using the DGPS topographic surveys. Most of the clasts are organised into imbricate boulder clusters or ridges deposited between 7.5 and 14.5 masl. 52 accumulations were inventoried from the north to the south of the island, representing a global volume of 1000 m³. The median size of the clasts calculated is equivalent to 0.8 × 0.6 × 0.4 m and a weight of 0.6 t. The largest one measuring 5.3 × 3.9 × 0.5 m (≈ 32 t) is located in the centre of the island (ridge #28). It has been deposited 14 m inland from the edge of the cliff at the elevation of 9 m. Sediment analysis shows that clast sizes become smaller with increasing distance from the shoreline, but there is no relationship between the sorting and the distance inland. A study of the hydrodynamic conditions inducing clast transport was undertaken by an analysis of the wave data from the 1989 to the 1990 winter storms. Models of wave runup indicate that their highest water levels may have reached up to 19 masl, 5 to 10 m higher than the top of the cliff. Submersion by giant storm waves has been more important and frequent in the centre and the south of the island. Wave data over the 1979 to the 2007 period shows that no events as powerful as those of the 1989 to the 1990 winter were recorded during the last 30 years. Yet, it appears that the 1979–1990 decade was characterized by important morphogeneous events while the following period (1990–2007) has experienced a sharp decrease in storm events. These variations could be attributed to the inversion from a negative towards a positive phase in the North Atlantic Oscillation index.     

Phase relationship between sea level and abrupt climate change

Direct traces of past sea levels are based on the elevation of old coral reefs at times of sea level highstands. However, these measurements are discontinuous and cannot be easily correlated with climate records from ice cores. In this study we show a new approach to recognizing the imprint of sea level changes in continuous sediment records taken from the continental slope at locations that were continuously submerged, even during periods of sea level lowstand. By using a sediment core precisely synchronized with Greenland ice cores, we were able to recognize major floods of the Mediterranean continental shelf over the past 270 kyr. During the last glacial period five flooding events were observed at the onset of the warmest Greenland interstadials. Consistent correspondence between warm climate episodes and eustatic sea level rises shows that these global flooding events were generated by pronounced melting of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, due to rapid intensification of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.The method described in this study opens a new perspective for inter-hemispheric synchronization of marine climate records if applied in other continental margins from the Southern Hemisphere or the equatorial regions.     

Extinction, survival and recovery of corals from the Triassic to Middle Jurassic time

Recognizing extinction events and determining their cause at the Triassic/Jurassic (T/J) transition and near the Pliensbachian–Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) boundary is a field of growing interest. We provide arguments for these events through a literature based new evaluation of coral diversity from Triassic to Dogger and a new palaeobiogeographical map. The T/J extinction of corals is clearly related to the breakdown of reef environments. Origination curves show that Hettangian (the lowest Jurassic stage) was not only a survival phase but already rather a recovery phase. Post-extinction evolution of reefs and their survival only in the northernmost margin of the Tethys support the hothouse hypothesis for the T/J extinction event. During Pliensbachian, many new taxa appear, but mostly solitary corals, not really framebuilders. Many of these taxa do not occur anymore during the following stages. The new increase in diversity is related to the development of Bajocian (Middle Jurassic) reefs.     

Toward petascale earthquake simulations

Earthquakes are among the most complex terrestrial phenomena, and modeling of earthquake dynamics is one of the most challenging computational problems in science. Computational capabilities have advanced to a state where we can perform wavefield simulations for realistic three-dimensional earth models, and gain more insights into the earthquakes that threaten California and many areas of the world. The Southern California Earthquake Center initiated a major earthquake research program called TeraShake to perform physics-based numerical simulations of earthquake processes for large geographical regions, at high resolution, and for high frequencies. For a large scale simulation such as TeraShake, optimization problems tend to emerge that are not significant in smaller scale simulations. This involves both large parallel computation and also massive data management and visualization coordination. In this paper, we describe how we performed single-processor optimization of the TeraShake AWM application, optimization of the I/O handling, and optimization of initialization. We also look at the challenges presented by run-time data archive management and visualization. The improvements made to the TeraShake AWM code enabled execution on the 40k IBM Blue Gene processors and have created a community code that can be used by seismologists to perform petascale earthquake simulations.     

Palaeontology,stratigraphy and sedimentology of Woodeaton Quarry (Oxfordshire) and a new microvertebrate site from the White Limestone Formation (Bathonian,Jurassic)

Woodeaton Quarry in Oxfordshire has previously yielded a number of large sauropod vertebrae and other (unpublished) dinosaur remains from a horizon in the Rutland Formation. No review of the wider terrestrial fauna from Woodeaton has been published to date. Here we present an overview of new material recovered from a microvertebrate site at the top of the White Limestone Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian, Great Oolite Group, Retrocostatum Zone) and review the stratigraphy to provide a comprehensive local stratigraphic framework and place the quarry in the correct regional context. The terrestrial fauna is similar to that found from other UK Bathonian microvertebrate sites and includes probable dromaeosaurid theropods, ornithischians, tritylodontids and mammaliaforms such as amphitheriids, docodonts, ‘eutriconodonts’, ‘haramyids’ and multituberculates. Placement of the White Limestone Formation boundaries are clarified with respect to the Rutland and Forest Marble Formations. This indicates that the microvertebrate bed from Woodeaton is slightly older than that of the well-known mammal bed from nearby Kirtlington Quarry.