Data analysis pipeline for EChO end-to-end simulations

Atmospheric spectroscopy of extrasolar planets is an intricate business. Atmospheric signatures typically require a photometric precision of 1×10^?4 in flux over several hours. Such precision demands high instrument stability as well as an understanding of stellar variability and an optimal data reduction and removal of systematic noise. In the context of the EChO mission concept, we here discuss the data reduction and analysis pipeline developed for the EChO end-to-end simulator EChOSim. We present and discuss the step by step procedures required in order to obtain the final exoplanetary spectrum from the EChOSim ‘raw data’ using a simulated observation of the secondary eclipse of the hot-Neptune 55 Cnc e.     

Crustal thinning beneath the Rwenzori region, Albertine rift, Uganda, from receiver-function analysis

The Rwenzori mountains in western Uganda, with a maximum elevation of more than 5,000 m, are located within the Albertine rift valley. We have deployed a temporary seismic network on the Ugandan side of the mountain range to study the seismic velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath this section of the rift. We present results from a receiver-function study revealing a simple crustal structure along the eastern rift flank with a more or less uniform crustal thickness of about 30 km. The complexity of inner-crustal structures increases drastically within the Rwenzori block. We apply different inversion techniques to obtain reliable results for the thickness of the crust. The observations expose a significantly thinner crust beneath the Rwenzori range with thickness values ranging from about 20–28 km beneath northern and central parts of the mountains. Our study therefore indicates the absence of a crustal root beneath the Rwenzori block. Beneath the Lake Edward and Lake George basins we detect the top of a layer of significantly reduced S-wave velocity at 15 km depth. This low-velocity layer may be attributed to the presence of partial melt beneath a region of recent volcanic activity.     

Inversion of Scholte wave dispersion and waveform modeling for shallow structure of the Ninetyeast Ridge

The construction of S-wave velocity models of marine sediments down to hundreds of meters below the seafloor is important in a number of disciplines. One of the most significant trends in marine geophysics is to use interface waves to estimate shallow shear velocities which play an important role in determining the shallow crustal structure. In marine settings, the waves trapped near the fluid–solid interface are called Scholte waves, and this is the subject of the study. In 1998, there were experiments on the Ninetyeast Ridge (Central Indian Ocean) to study the shallow seismic structure at the drilled site. The data were acquired by both ocean bottom seismometer and ocean bottom hydrophone. A new type of seafloor implosion sources has been used in this experiment, which successfully excited fast and high frequency (>500 Hz) body waves and slow, intermediate frequency (<20 Hz) Scholte waves. The fundamental and first higher mode Scholte waves have both been excited by the implosion source. Here, the Scholte waves are investigated with a full waveform modeling and a group velocity inversion approach. Shear wave velocities for the uppermost layers of the region are inferred and results from the different methods are compared. We find that the full waveform modeling is important to understand the intrinsic attenuation of the Scholte waves between 1 and 20 Hz. The modeling shows that the S-wave velocity varies from 195 to 350 m/s in the first 16 m of the uppermost layer. Depths levels of high S-wave impedance contrasts compare well to the layer depth derived from a P-wave analysis as well as from drilling data. As expected, the P- to S-wave velocity ratio is very high in the uppermost 16 m of the seafloor and the Poisson ratio is nearly 0.5. Depth levels of high S-wave impedance contrasts are comparable to the layer depth derived from drilling data.     

Sunglitter radiance modulation by internal waves

Summary Quantitative sunglitter radiance modulations at the ocean surface due to internal waves were calculated applying a simple first order theory. The results have been compared with the image data of internal wave signatures northeast of Nantucket Shoals off the coast of Massachusetts, U.S.A., taken by the Earth Terrain Camera (ETC) during the Skylab mission. The maximum magnitudes of sunglitter radiance modulations predicted by the theory are comparable to the satellite image data. The extreme values of calculated modulations depend only weakly on the wavelength of the internal wave signature. This is consistent with the analysed ETC data. On the other hand, the shapes of simulated and measured image intensity transects across an internal wave packet are different. This may possibly be explained by the assumed idealized sinusoidal type of thermocline used in the calculations. The theory predicts that sunglint signatures of internal waves are advected relative to positions of extreme slope regions of the thermocline due to currents.

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Strahldichtemodulation des Sonnenglitzerns durch interne Wellen

Zusammenfassung Quantitative Strahldichtemodulationen des Sonnenglitzerns an der Meeresoberfl?che durch interne Wellen werden unter Verwendung einer einfachen ersten Ordnungstheorie berechnet. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Bilddaten von internen Wellensignaturen nord?stlich von Nantucket Shoals vor der Küste von Massachusetts, U.S.A., verglichen, die w?hrend der Skylab-Mission von der Erdbeobachtungskamera (ETC) aufgenommen wurden. Die Werte der maximalen Strahldichtemodulation des Sonnenglitzerns, die von der Theorie vorhergesagt werden, sind mit den Satellitenbilddaten vergleichbar. Die Extremwerte der berechneten Modulationen h?ngen nur schwach von der Wellenl?nge der internen Wellensignaturen ab. Dieses stimmt mit den analysierten ETC Daten überein. Auf der anderen Seite sind die Kurvenverl?ufe zwischen den simulierten und gemessenen Bildintensit?tsprofilen entlang eines internen Wellenpaketes unterschiedlich. Dieses kann m?glicherweise durch den angenommenen idealisierten sinusf?rmigen Typ der Thermokline erkl?rt werden, der für die Berechnungen verwendet wurde. Die Theorie macht die Vorhersage, da? Signaturen des Sonnenglitzerns von internen Wellen durch Str?mungen advektiert werden relativ zu den Positionen der extremen Neigungsregionen der Thermokline.

     

Globalization, industrial restructuring, and regional development in China

China's rapid growth and structural change since the reform in the late 1970s have generated many intriguing issues for scholarly research. This paper notices the drastic rise of China in foreign investment, export, and ICT production. Through a comprehensive review of the literature on globalization, industrial restructuring and regional development, this paper holds that the research on China is embedded in China's reform process, as well as theoretical development in economic geography. It highlights the important role of institutions and global-local interactions in industrial and regional development.     

State‐Led Innovation at the City Level: Policy Measures to Promote New Energy Vehicles in Shenzhen,China

Unlike many Western countries, the Chinese state has a much more active role in innovation that includes direct involvement with actors in innovation processes and the use of state capacity, money, and power to attain certain goals. With the rise of China, innovation processes that critically depend on state action, often labeled state‐led innovation, have thus received growing scholarly attention. However, only few contributions study the specific sector of new energy vehicles (NEV) and policy measures applied at the city level. This paper examines policy and planning tools used in Shenzhen, China, to assert innovation in the NEV industry, using an evaluation of documents and interviews. The paper finds that a city can play a decisive role in the implementation of innovation policy, and Chinese cities in particular make use of a broad set of innovation support measures ranging from binding quotas, public procurement, and incentives to bans and orders. The findings underline the importance of strong regulatory instruments that do not conform to the Western notion of market‐compliant policy, but nevertheless work effectively in the Chinese context. Moreover, the results highlight how successful policy support for innovation in the NEV can be implemented.     

Cosmogenic neon in mineral separates from Kapoeta: No evidence for an irradiation of its parent body regolith by an early active Sun

Abstract— We present Ne data from plagioclase separates from the solar noble‐gas‐rich meteorite Kapoeta, obtained mainly by in vacuo etching. samples rich in solar gases contain an excess of cosmogenic ne compared to solar‐gas‐poor samples, testifying to an exposure to cosmic rays in the parent body regolith. The ²¹Ne/²²Ne ratio of the excess component is slightly lower than that of the Ne acquired during the meteoroid flight. Model calculations indicate that the observed isotopic composition of the excess Ne can be produced by galactic cosmic rays at a reasonable mean shielding of around a hundred to a few hundred grams per square centimeter. No substantial contribution from Ne produced by solar cosmic rays is needed to explain the data. We therefore conclude that they do not offer evidence for a substantially enhanced flux of solar energetic particles early in solar history, contrary to other claims. This conclusion is in agreement with solar flare track data.     

Synthesis, properties and stability of end member boromuscovite, KAl2[BSi3O10](OH)2

End member boromuscovite, with nearly the ideal composition, was synthesized as a single phase from mixtures of its own composition, or with excess boron and water, at high pressures of between 15 and 30 kbar at 700 °C. The mica synthesized consists of a mixture of 2M₁ and 1M polytypes with the cell dimensions of 2M₁: a=5.071(4), b=8.786(4), c=19.830(89) Å, #=95.84(12)°, V=878.5(1.4) ų; and 1M: a=5.059(5), b=8.819(6), c=10.025(17) Å, #=101.39(57)°, V=438.4(1.3) Å. The IR spectrum shows characteristic differences relative to that of muscovite. DTA registers an endothermic peak due to dehydration breakdown above 680 °C. Seeded experiments indicate that boromuscovite is a high-pressure phase requiring minimum pressures of 3 to 10 kbar at temperatures that concomitantly increase from 300 to 750 °C. At lower pressures, the anhydrous solid assemblage K-feldspar + Al-borate (probably Al₄B₂O₉) coexists with a vapor rich in boric acid. The conversion of this assemblage to boromuscovite is connected with increases in the coordination number of B from [3] to [4], and of Al from [4] to [6]. Above 10 kbar, the boromuscovite stability field is limited along its high-temperature side by congruent (or incongruent?) melting of the mica, starting near 750 °C and 10 kbar and increasing to about 900 °C at 50 kbar, although, at such very high pressures a supercritical fluid may be present. Because, even in the presence of excess-boron fluid, the synthetic mica shows invariable X-ray properties, it is concluded that one B atom per formula unit represents the maximum, and - contrary to olenitic tourmalines - no further substitution of Si by B linked with addition of hydrogen takes place. In contrast to muscovite, KAl₂[AlSi₃O₁₀](OH)₂, end member boromuscovite is not stable under normal P-T conditions of the Continental Crust along a 30 °C/km geotherm, and especially not during the intrusion of acidic igneous rocks including their pegmatites, which may explain its scarcity in nature. However, it may form in the waning hydrothermal stages of deep-seated (>10.5 km) pegmatites and - providing sufficient boron is available - in HP/LT subduction zone environments, where it may carry boron to considerable depths.     

Vodyanitskii mud volcano,Sorokin trough,Black Sea: Geological characterization and quantification of gas bubble streams

Vodyanitskii mud volcano is located at a depth of about 2070 m in the Sorokin Trough, Black sea. It is a 500-m wide and 20-m high cone surrounded by a depression, which is typical of many mud volcanoes in the Black Sea. 75 kHz sidescan sonar show different generations of mud flows that include mud breccia, authigenic carbonates, and gas hydrates that were sampled by gravity coring. The fluids that flow through or erupt with the mud are enriched in chloride (up to ∼650 mmol L⁻¹ at ∼150-cm sediment depth) suggesting a deep source, which is similar to the fluids of the close-by Dvurechenskii mud volcano. Direct observation with the remotely operated vehicle Quest revealed gas bubbles emanating at two distinct sites at the crest of the mud volcano, which confirms earlier observations of bubble-induced hydroacoustic anomalies in echosounder records. The sediments at the main bubble emission site show a thermal anomaly with temperatures at ∼60 cm sediment depth that were 0.9 °C warmer than the bottom water. Chemical and isotopic analyses of the emanated gas revealed that it consisted primarily of methane (99.8%) and was of microbial origin (δD-CH₄ = −170.8‰ (SMOW), δ¹³C-CH₄ = −61.0‰ (V-PDB), δ¹³C-C₂H₆ = −44.0‰ (V-PDB)). The gas flux was estimated using the video observations of the ROV. Assuming that the flux is constant with time, about 0.9 ± 0.5 × 10⁶ mol of methane is released every year. This value is of the same order-of-magnitude as reported fluxes of dissolved methane released with pore water at other mud volcanoes. This suggests that bubble emanation is a significant pathway transporting methane from the sediments into the water column.