Numerical method for calculating the surface wave field in the presence of caustics

Due to the lateral heterogeneity of the upper layers of the Earth, paths of surface waves deviate from arcs of great circles. Because of the sphericity of the Earth, the paths intersect on a hemisphere opposite to the epicenter and form caustics consisting of two branches, with their tangent point being a cusp. For this reason, the field of surface waves cannot be analyzed in terms of the ray theory at distances larger than 90°. The asymptotic approach to the analysis of the field in the vicinity of such caustics is very ill-suited for numerical implementation. The difficulties of such an approach to the field calculation are aggravated by the fact that such caustics are superimposed in some regions. Therefore, it is suggested to use the theorem of representation, according to which the field within a certain contour is expressed as an integral whose integrand contains values of the function itself, its derivative along the normal to the contour, and Green’s function. The field on the contour (the circle bounding a hemisphere centered at the epicenter) is calculated by the ray method because rays do not intersect on this hemisphere. These data are used for the construction of the field on the opposite hemisphere assumed to be homogeneous, which enables the construction of Green’s function for this hemisphere. This limitation is not very stringent because the configuration of rays and caustics on this hemisphere is mainly determined by the field on the circle. The integral in the representation theorem is calculated numerically. Numerical examples are presented for models in which one caustic or two superimposed caustics form. These calculations yield constraints on variations in the amplitude and phase of the wave. Rayleigh wave fields are also calculated for a model of the real Earth. It is shown that, at some points, the Rayleigh wave spectrum can be strongly distorted because caustics corresponding to different periods differ in shape.     

On the structure of the ‘red’ globular cluster NGC 1806 in the large magellanic cloud

A structural study of the old globular cluster NGC 1806 in the LMC has been carried out by star counts onB- andV-ESO 3.6 m telescope plates with three different limiting magnitude levels. The star density distribution was obtained directly from the surface strip count function with the Plummer formalism and the generalized Schuster law according to Lohmann. This yields beside the central density the structural parametern and the characteristic length parameterR ₀ for each individual colour and magnitude level.The results show that the blue stellar content of NGC 1806 — the horizontal branch stars — is more concentrated towards the cluster center than the red giant and subgiant objects. Also such a dynamical mass segregation is observed for the red giants compared with the subgiants.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.     

Discharge estimation of submarine springs in the Dead Sea based on velocity or density measurements in proximity to the water surface

The Dead Sea is a closed lake, the water level of which is lowering at an alarming rate of about 1 m/year. Factors difficult to determine in its water balance are evaporation and groundwater inflow, some of which emanate as submarine groundwater discharge. A vertical buoyant jet generated by the difference in densities between the groundwater and the Dead Sea brine forms at submarine spring outlets. To characterize this flow field and to determine its volumetric discharge, a system was developed to measure the velocity and density of the ascending submarine groundwater across the center of the stream along several horizontal sections and equidistant depths while divers sampled the spring. This was also undertaken on an artificial submarine spring with a known discharge to determine the quality of the measurements and the accuracy of the method. The underwater widening of the flow is linear and independent of the volumetric spring discharge. The temperature of the Dead Sea brine at lower layers primarily determines the temperature of the surface of the upwelling, produced above the jet flow, as the origin of the main mass of water in the submarine jet flow is Dead Sea brine. Based on the measurements, a model is presented to evaluate the distribution of velocity and solute density in the flow field of an emanating buoyant jet. This model allows the calculation of the volumetric submarine discharge, merely requiring either the maximum flow velocity or the minimal density at a given depth.     

Quartärmollusken und Quartärklima

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

X-ray emission from the W UMa system TZ Bootis

HEAO-B (Einstein) satellite measurements with the Imaging Proportional Counter revealed the W UMa binary system TZ Bootis as an X-ray source. It is estimated that the luminosity ratioL _x/L_vof this system is about 10^–3.8 indicating that TZ Bootis is in the transition region between A- and W-type W UMa systems.     

Process-based interpretation of tracer tests in carbonate aquifers

A tracer test in a carbonate aquifer is analyzed using the method of moments and two analytical advection-dispersion models (ADMs) as well as a numerical model. The numerical model is a coupled continuum-pipe flow and transport model that accounts for two different flow components in karstified carbonate aquifers, i.e., rapid and often turbulent conduit flow and Darcian flow in the fissured porous rock. All techniques employed provide reasonable fits to the tracer breakthrough curve (TBC) measured at a spring. The resulting parameter estimates are compared to investigate how each conceptual model of flow and transport processes that forms the basis of the analyses affects the interpretation of the tracer test. Numerical modeling results suggest that the method of moments and the analytical ADMs tend to overestimate the conduit volume because part of the water discharged at the spring is wrongly attributed to the conduit system if flow in the fissured porous rock is ignored. In addition, numerical modeling suggests that mixing of the two flow components accounts for part of the dispersion apparent in the measured TBC, while the remaining part can be attributed to Taylor dispersion. These processes, however, cannot reasonably explain the tail of the TBC. Instead, retention in immobile-fluid regions as included in a nonequilibrium ADM provides a possible explanation.     

Predation by the black-clawed mud crab,<Emphasis Type="Italic">Panopeus herbstii</Emphasis>, in Mid-Atlantic salt marshes: Further evidence for top-down control of marsh grass production

Although top-down control of plant growth has been shown in a variety of marine systems, it is widely thought to be unimportant in salt marshes. Recent caging experiments in Virginia and Georgia have challenged this notion and shown that the dominant marsh grazer (the periwinkle,Littoraria irrorata) not only suppresses plant growth, but can denude marsh substrate at high densities. In these same marshes, our field observations suggest that the black-clawed mud crab,Panopeus herbstii, is an abundant and potentially important top-down determinant of periwinkle density. No studies have quantitatively examinedPanopeus distribution or trophic interactions in marsh systems, and its potential impacts on community structure remained unexplored. We investigated distribution and feeding habits ofPanopeus in eight salt marshes along the Mid-Atlantic seashore (Delaware-North Carolina). We found that mud crabs were abundant in tall (4–82 ind m^?2), intermediate (0–15 ind m^?2), and short-form (0–5 ind m^?2)Spartina alterniflora zones in all marshes and that crab densities were negatively correlated with tidal height and positively correlated with bivalve density. Excavation of crab lairs r?utinely produced shells of plant-grazing snails (up to 36 lair^?1) and bivalves. Lab experiments confirmed that mud crabs readily consume these abundant marsh molluscs. To experimentally examine potential community effects of observed predation patterns, we manipulated crab and periwinkle densities in a 1-mo field experiment. Results showed thatPanopeus can suppress gastropod abundance and that predation rates increase with increasing snail density. In turn, crab suppression of snail density reduces grazing intensity on salt marsh cordgrass, suggesting presence of a trophic cascade. These results indicate that this previously under-appreciated consumer is an important and indirect determinant of community structure and contribute to a growing body of evidence challenging the long-standing notion that consumers play a minor role in regulating marsh plant growth.