Post-solidification cooling and the age of Io's lava flows

The modeling of thermal emission from active lava flows must account for the cooling of the lava after solidification. Models of lava cooling applied to data collected by the Galileo spacecraft have, until now, not taken this into consideration. This is a flaw as lava flows on Io are thought to be relatively thin with a range in thickness from ∼1 to 13 m. Once a flow is completely solidified (a rapid process on a geological time scale), the surface cools faster than the surface of a partially molten flow. Cooling via the base of the lava flow is also important and accelerates the solidification of the flow compared to the rate for the ‘semi-infinite’ approximation (which is only valid for very deep lava bodies). We introduce a new model which incorporates the solidification and basal cooling features. This model gives a superior reproduction of the cooling of the 1997 Pillan lava flows on Io observed by the Galileo spacecraft. We also use the new model to determine what observations are necessary to constrain lava emplacement style at Loki Patera. Flows exhibit different cooling profiles from that expected from a lava lake. We model cooling with a finite-element code and make quantitative predictions for the behavior of lava flows and other lava bodies that can be tested against observations both on Io and Earth. For example, a 10-m-thick ultramafic flow, like those emplaced at Pillan Patera in 1997, solidifies in ∼450 days (at which point the surface temperature has cooled to ∼280 K) and takes another 390 days to cool to 249 K. Observations over a sufficient period of time reveal divergent cooling trends for different lava bodies [examples: lava flows and lava lakes have different cooling trends after the flow has solidified (flows cool faster)]. Thin flows solidify and cool faster than flows of greater thickness. The model can therefore be used as a diagnostic tool for constraining possible emplacement mechanisms and compositions of bodies of lava in remote-sensing data.     

Infrared observations of serendipitous hard Chandra X-ray sources

We present observations of a sample of optically faint, hard X-ray sources of the kind likely to be responsible for much of the hard X-ray background. We confirm that such sources are easily detected in the near-infrared, and find that they have a featureless continuum suggesting that the active nucleus is heavily obscured. The infrared colours of the majority of the targets observed are consistent with absorbed elliptical host galaxies at z =1–2. It is likely that we are observing some of the brighter members of the important new class of X-ray type II quasars.     

Dissolved organic carbon dynamics in two streams draining forested catchments at loch ard,Scotland

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was measured at four or eight hour intervals between mid-1989 and mid-1991 in two catchments in west central Scotland. The experimental catchment had been recently clear-felled and the control remained under forest. The amount of DOC varied during individual storm events following the stream hydro-graph. Maximum variations were found in the summer half-year and in the clear-felled catchment. There was also evidence of the exhaustion of DOC in the later events of a sequence. Differences between the catchments were related to catchment characteristics and to land-use change. The reduced magnitude of variation in DOC with discharge in the control stream was due to the influence of a wetland area through which the stream flowed. The mean DOC concentrations were similar in the two streams and annual exports were 15 g m^?2 from the control and 16g m^?2 from the felled catchment. The stream draining the clear-felled catchment had greater high flow DOC concentrations in the summer half-year, probably due to the effect of greater mean summer temperatures on DOC release and of the greater supply of organic debris in the stream channel.     

Spine–sheath polarization structures in four active galactic nuclei jets

We present the results of multifrequency (15 + 8 + 5 GHz) polarization Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the three BL Lacertae objects 0745+241, 1418+546 and 1652+398 together with 5-GHz VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP) observations of 1418+546 and 1.6- and 5-GHz VSOP observations of the blazar 1055+018. The jets of all these sources have polarization structure transverse to the jet axis, with the polarization E vectors aligned with the jet along the jet spine and 'sheaths' of orthogonal E vectors at one or both edges of the jet. The presence of polarization aligned with the jet near the 'spine' may indicate that the jets are associated with helical B fields that propogate outward with the jet flow; the presence of orthogonal polarization near the edges of the jet may likewise be a consequence of a helical jet B field, or may be owing to an interaction with the ambient medium on parsec scales. We have tentatively detected interknot polarization in 1055+018 with E aligned with the local jet direction, consistent with the possibility that the jet of this source is associated with a helical B field.     

Reliability assessment of serviceability performance of braced retaining walls using a neural network approach

In urban environments, one major concern with deep excavations in soft clay is the potentially large ground deformations in and around the excavation. Excessive movements can damage adjacent buildings and utilities. There are many uncertainties associated with the calculation of the ultimate or serviceability performance of a braced excavation system. These include the variabilities of the loadings, geotechnical soil properties, and engineering and geometrical properties of the wall. A risk‐based approach to serviceability performance failure is necessary to incorporate systematically the uncertainties associated with the various design parameters. This paper demonstrates the use of an integrated neural network–reliability method to assess the risk of serviceability failure through the calculation of the reliability index. By first performing a series of parametric studies using the finite element method and then approximating the non‐linear limit state surface (the boundary separating the safe and ‘failure’ domains) through a neural network model, the reliability index can be determined with the aid of a spreadsheet. Two illustrative examples are presented to show how the serviceability performance for braced excavation problems can be assessed using the reliability index. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HIGH POSSIL AND STRATHMORE—A STUDY OF TWO L6 CHONDRITES

High Possil and Strathmore are the first (1804) and last (1917) meteorite falls, respectively, of the three recorded in Scotland. Olivine compositions and total Fe contents in High Possil (Fa_25.2; 21.35 wt %) and Strathmore (Fa_25.3; 20.6 wt %) confirm their classification as L-group chondrites (Mason, 1963), and the presence of abundant plagioclase feldspar shows that both chondrites belong to petrologic type 6. Both chondrites display thermal and mechanical alteration attributable to moderate shock-loading appropriate to facies c (High Possil) and c-d (Strathmore) (Dodd and Jarosewich, 1979). Incipient shock-melting of metal and troilite in both chondrites is the first described from Lc chondrites, and differences in the responses of metallic and silicate minerals to shock-loading are discussed.