Radiative transfer in spherical shell atmospheres: II. Asymmetric phase functions

In this paper we investigate the effects of sphericity on the radiation reflected from a planet with a homogeneous, conservative scattering atmosphere of optical thicknesses of 0.25 and 1.0. We considered a Henyey-Greenstein phase function with asymmetry factors of 0.5 and 0.7. Significant differences were found when these results were compared with the plane-parallel calculations. Also, large violations of the reciprocity theorem, which is only true for plane-parallel calculations, were noted. Results are presented for the radiance versus height distributions as a function of planetary phase angle. These results will be useful to researchers in the field of remote sensing and planetary spectroscopy.     

DOUBLE FOURIER SERIES ANALYSIS OF COCKPIT AND DOLINE KARST NEAR BROWNS TOWN,JAMAICA

Double Fourier series models of two doline and two cockpit landscapes in northern Jamaica, each 2 × 2 km in area, explained 92% and 90%, and 73% and 58% of the variance in the topographic data. The ten most significant waves accounted for 74% and 76%, and 61% and 58% of the variance in each model. The greater importance of frequency pairs of longer wavelength in the doline karst models suggests that there are fewer horizontally and vertically persistent bedrock fractures controlling topographic development in the doline areas than in the cockpit terrains—a fact confirmed by fracture-trace mapping. Frequency pair orientations and powers indicate that north-west- and northeast-trending fractures exert a major influence on topographic development in the cockpit terrains and that east-trending fractures are relatively more important in the doline areas. Further studies are needed to determine if Fourier models of the doline, cockpit, and tower karst styles differ in a consistent fashion and to find out to what extent these differences are related to the bedding, fracture, and relief characteristics of the karst bedrock. [Key words: Jamaica, karst, morphometry, double Fourier series, dolines, cockpits.]     

Evolving Spatial Form of Urban-Rural Interaction in the Pearl River Delta,China

Much of the development literature and the theory of urban transition have been based on an arbitrary division of production space into city and countryside. Despite growing recognition of the need for an integrated approach to urban-rural relations, controversial issues related to the definition and measurement of the phenomenon remain unresolved. This case study of spatial transformation in China’s Pearl River Delta analyzes with greater precision the geographic extent and functional attributes of a zone of urban-rural interaction located outside and between major metropolitan centers. This zone has been the spatial focus of industrial and commercial development, although most of its population remains officially classified as “agricultural.” The peri-urban zone was initially left behind by the central cities in terms of its contribution to the regional economy. After a decade of postreform development, this zone has moved ahead of the central cities and become the region’s main destination for in-migrants and foreign investment. The growth of the zone of urban-rural interaction outside the central cities has absorbed a significant amount of the increased urban population, but it has not brought about a reduction of regional economic inequality because of the persistence of a backward economy in the periphery. Theoretical questions are raised concerning the validity of several fundamental assumptions underlying the conventional model of urban transition.     

PREDICTING WELL PRODUCTIVITY USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS*

Principal components analysis of fracture trace and sinkhole characteristics near 33 wells drawing water from the Ocala aquifer identified three hydrogeologically significant components. Multiple regression analysis using these components as independent variables showed that the flow of water to a well bore is influenced in order of importance by (1) proximity to a zone of high secondary permeability; (2) average aquifer transmissivity near the well; and (3) degree of cavity development in the closest zone of high secondary permeability.     

Experimental determination of HONO mass accommodation coefficients using two different techniques

The mass accommodation coefficient _HONO of gaseous nitrous acid on water surfaces has been determined in a cooperation between the Universities of Strasbourg and Bonn. The droplet train technique (Strasbourg) yielded 0.04<_HONO<0.09 for an estimated surface temperature of 245 K, while the liquid jet technique (Bonn) yielded 0.03<_HONO<0.15 for a surface temperature of 297 K. The uncertainty ranges allow for experimental scatter and estimated uncertainties in diffusion coefficients. The same HONO source and analytical equipment were used for both experiments, which were run in parallel. The results indicate that the exchange rate of HONO between atmospheric water droplets and interstitial air is not inhibited by interfacial resistance.     

The space environment of Mercury at the times of the second and third MESSENGER flybys

The second and third flybys of Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft occurred, respectively, on 6 October 2008 and on 29 September 2009. In order to provide contextual information about the solar wind properties and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near the planet at those times, we have used an empirical modeling technique combined with a numerical physics-based solar wind model. The Wang–Sheeley–Arge (WSA) method uses solar photospheric magnetic field observations (from Earth-based instruments) in order to estimate the inner heliospheric radial flow speed and radial magnetic field out to 21.5 solar radii from the Sun. This information is then used as input to the global numerical magnetohydrodynamic model, ENLIL, which calculates solar wind velocity, density, temperature, and magnetic field strength and polarity throughout the inner heliosphere. WSA-ENLIL calculations are presented for the several-week period encompassing the second and third flybys. This information, in conjunction with available MESSENGER data, aid in understanding the Mercury flyby observations and provide a basis for global magnetospheric modeling. We find that during both flybys, the solar wind conditions were very quiescent and would have provided only modest dynamic driving forces for Mercury's magnetospheric system.     

Morphometric study of pillow-size spectrum among pillow lavas

Measurements of H and V (dimensions in the horizontal and vertical directions of pillows exposed in vertical cross-section) were made on 19 pillow lavas from the Azores, Cyprus, Iceland, New Zealand, Tasmania, the western USA and Wales. The median values of H and V plot on a straight line that defines a spectrum of pillow sizes, having linear dimensions five times greater at one end than at the other, basaltic toward the small-size end and andesitic toward the large-size end. The pillow median size is interpreted to reflect a control exercised by lava viscosity. Pillows erupted on a steep flow-foot slope in lava deltas can, however, have a significantly smaller size than pillows in tabular pillowed flows (inferred to have been erupted on a small depositonal slope), indicating that the slope angle also exercised a control. Pipe vesicles, generally abundant in the tabular pillowed flows and absent from the flow-foot pillows, have potential as a paleoslope indicator. Pillows toward the small-size end of the spectrum are smooth-surfaced and grew mainly by stretching of their skin, whereas disruption of the skin and spreading were important toward the large-size end. Disruption involved increasing skin thicknesses with increasing pillow size, and pillows toward the large-size end are more analogous with toothpaste lava than with pahoehoe and are inferred from their thick multiple selvages to have taken hours to grow. Pseudo-pillow structure is also locally developed. An example of endogenous pillow-lava growth, that formed intrusive pillows between normal pillows, is described from Sicily. Isolated pillow-like bodies in certain andesitic breccias described from Iceland were previously interpreted to be pillows but have anomalously small sizes for their compositions; it is now proposed that they may lack an essential attribute of pillows, namely, the development of bulbous forms by the inflation of a chilled skin, and are hence not true pillows. Para-pillow lava is a common lava type in the flow-foot breccias. It forms irregular flow-sheets that are locally less than 5 cm thick, and failed to be inflated to pillows perhaps because of an inadequate lava-supply rate or too high a flow velocity.     

Biodegradation preference for isomers of alkylated naphthalenes and benzothiophenes in marine sediment contaminated with crude oil

Contamination of coastal marine sediments with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is pervasive, with major sources including anthropogenic activity and natural seepage. Biodegradation serves as a major hydrocarbon sink with evaporation and dissolution responsible for the removal of low boiling range compounds and photo-oxidation acting on many multi-substituted aromatic compounds. In this work, first-order rate constants for aerobic biodegradation were quantified for naphthalene (N), benzothiophene (BT) and their alkylated congeners (1-4 carbon substituents (C1-C4)) in laboratory experiments with oil laden marine sediments from a natural seep. Rate constants were used as proxies for microbial preference, which follows the order: naphthalene > C1N > C2N > C1BT > C2BT > benzothiophene > C3BT > C3N > C4BT > C4N, with some overlap. The application of comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatography further enabled separation and quantification of multiple structural isomers for C2N-C4N and C2BT-C4BT, with 7-12 isomers resolved for each C2N-C4N and 4-7 isomers resolved for each C2BT-C4BT. A strong isomeric biodegradation preference was noted within each of these compound classes, with rate constants varying as much as a factor of 2 for structural isomers of the same compound class. Each isomer was consumed to a low, but non-zero concentration, suggesting that their residual load in sediment may be proportional to the number of structural isomers originally present, in addition to the pattern and the number of alkyl substitutions. The simultaneous first-order biodegradation rates observed for 52 aromatic hydrocarbons resolved in this study, along with reference compounds such as n-alkanes, lends support to the concept of broad scale metabolic specificity during aerobic biodegradation of petroleum.