Modeling of multi-interface, diverging, hydrodynamic experiments for the National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) will soon provide experiments with far more than ten times the energy than has been previously available on laser facilities. In the context of supernova-relevant hydrodynamics, this will enable experiments in which hydrodynamic instabilities develop from multiple, coupled interfaces in a diverging explosion. This paper discusses the design of such blast-wave-driven explosions in which the relative masses of the layers are scaled to those within the star. It reports scaling simulations with CALE to model the global dynamics of such an experiment. CALE is a hybrid, Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian code. The simulations probed the instability growth and multi-interface interactions in mass-scaled systems using different materials. The simulations assist in the target design process and in developing an experiment that can be diagnosed.     

Differential presence of anthropogenic compounds dissolved in the marine waters of Puget Sound, WA and Barkley Sound, BC

Organic compounds were evaluated in March 2010 at 22 stations in Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island Canada and at 66 locations in Puget Sound. Of 37 compounds, 15 were xenobiotics, 8 were determined to have an anthropogenic imprint over natural sources, and 13 were presumed to be of natural or mixed origin. The three most frequently detected compounds were salicyclic acid, vanillin and thymol. The three most abundant compounds were diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), ethyl vanillin and benzaldehyde (∼600 ng L⁻¹ on average). Concentrations of xenobiotics were 10-100 times higher in Puget Sound relative to Barkley Sound. Three compound couplets are used to illustrate the influence of human activity on marine waters; vanillin and ethyl vanillin, salicylic acid and acetylsalicylic acid, and cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid. Ratios indicate that anthropogenic activities are the predominant source of these chemicals in Puget Sound.     

Effect of Deepwater Horizon Oil on Growth Rates of Juvenile Penaeid Shrimps

Marsh shoreline, an important habitat for juvenile penaeid shrimps, was extensively oiled in coastal Louisiana by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. The effect of this spill on growth was examined for brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus aztecus and white shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus held for 7 days in field mesocosms in Barataria Bay during May and August 2011, respectively. The experiments each had 10 treatment combinations, five apparent oil levels, each one with and without added food. Mesocosms were placed in northern Barataria Bay along shorelines that varied in oiling (designated as heavy, moderate, light, very light, or none based on NOAA surveys), and shrimp in half the mesocosms received additional food. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations determined from sediment cores collected at each mesocosm were significantly higher at heavy and moderate than very light shorelines and also higher at moderate than light and none shorelines. Brown shrimp grew more slowly at heavy than very light or none shorelines, and a statistically significant negative relationship was detected between brown shrimp growth rates and sediment PAH concentrations. In August, PAH sediment concentrations had decreased significantly from the values measured in May, no significant difference in white shrimp growth rates was detected among oiling levels, and no relationship was detected between white shrimp growth and sediment PAH concentrations. Both brown shrimp and white shrimp grew more rapidly in mesocosms where food was added. Our study shows that exposure to nonlethal concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons can reduce growth rates of juvenile penaeid shrimps.     

A millennial long March–July precipitation reconstruction for southern-central England

We present a millennial long dendroclimatic reconstruction of spring/summer precipitation for southern-central England. Previous research identified a significant moisture stress signal in ring-width data measured from oak trees growing in southern England. In this study, we build upon this earlier work, specifically targeting south-central England, to derive a well replicated oak ring-width composite chronology using both living and historical material. The data-set includes 352 living trees (AD 1629–2009) and 1540 individual historical series (AD 663–1925). The period expressed by at least 50 trees in any year is AD 980–2009. Calibration experiments identify the optimal seasonal predictand target as March–July precipitation (1901–2007: r² = 0.33). However, comparison with the long Kew Gardens precipitation record indicates a weakening in tree-growth/climate response from ~1800 to 1920 which we speculate may be related to smoke and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions at that time which may have also contributed to a decrease in tree productivity. The time-series derived using the regional curve standardisation method to capture lower frequency information shows a mediaeval period with alternating multi-decade-long dry and wet periods, with AD 1153–1172 being the wettest reconstructed 20-year period in the whole record. Drier conditions are prevalent from ~1300 to the early sixteenth century followed by a period of increasing precipitation levels. The most recent four centuries of the record appear similar to the mediaeval period with multiple decade-long dry and wet periods. The late twentieth century is the second reconstructed wettest period. These centennial hydroclimatic trends are in broad agreement with independent regional scale hydroclimatic reconstructions from tree-ring (East Anglia), historical, speleothem and peat water level proxy archives in the United Kingdom and appear coupled with reconstructed sea surface temperature changes in the North Atlantic which in turn influence the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and westerly airflow across the UK.     

Progress Toward the Study of Laboratory Scale, Astrophysically Relevant, Turbulent Plasmas

Recent results from an ongoing series of Rayleigh-Taylor instability experiments being conducted on the Omega Laser are described. The goal of these experiments is to study, in a controlled laboratory setting, the mixing that occurs at an unstable interface subjected to an acceleration history similar to the explosion phase of a core-collapse supernova. In a supernova, the Reynolds number characterizing this mixing is extremely large (Re > 10¹⁰) and is more than sufficient to produce a turbulent flow at the interface. In the laboratory experiment, by contrast, the spatial scales are much smaller, but are still sufficiently large (Re > 10⁵) to support a turbulent flow and therefore recreate the conditions relevant to the supernova problem. The data from these experiments will be used to validate astrophysical codes as well as to better understand the transition to turbulence in such high energy density systems. The experimental results to date using two-dimensional initial perturbations demonstrate a clear visual transition from a well-ordered perturbation structure consisting of only a few modes to one with considerable modal content. Analysis of these results, however, indicates that while a turbulent spectrum visually appears to be forming, the layer has not yet reached the asymptotic growth rate characteristic of a fully turbulent layer. Recent advances in both target fabrication and diagnostic techniques are discussed as well. These advances will allow for the study of well-controlled 3D perturbations, increasing our ability to recreate the conditions occurring in the supernova.     

Effects of Initial Conditions on Compressible Mixing in Supernova-Relevant Laboratory Experiments

In core-collapse supernovae, strong blast waves drive interfaces susceptible to Rayleigh–Taylor (RT), Richtmyer–Meshkov (RM), and Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instabilities. In addition, perturbation growth can result from material expansion in large-scale velocity gradients behind the shock front. Laser-driven experiments are designed to produce a strongly shocked interface whose evolution is a scaled version of the unstable hydrogen–helium interface in core-collapse supernovae such as SN 1987A. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop an understanding of the effect of hydrodynamic instabilities and the resulting transition to turbulence on supernovae observables that remain as yet unexplained. This paper represents a summary of recent results from a computational study of unstable systems driven by high Mach number shock and blast waves. For planar multimode systems, compressibility effects preclude the emergence of a regime of self-similar instability growth independent of the initial conditions (ICs) by allowing for memory of the initial conditions to be retained in the mix-width at all times. With higher-dimensional blast waves, divergence restores the properties necessary for establishment of the self-similar state, but achieving it requires very high initial characteristic mode number and high Mach number for the incident blast wave. Initial conditions predicted by some recent stellar calculations are incompatible with self-similarity.     

A note on tidal delay by inland seas and harbors

Abstract

The phase shift induced in the tide along a straight coastline by a bay is calculated on the assumptions that the ocean is of uniform depth and that inertial effects are negligible within the bay (but the bay need not be of uniform depth). The inertial effects in the mouth of the bay are incorporated in an amplification factor that allows for the possibility of Helmholtz resonance. The tidal phase delay induced by San Francisco Bay at more northerly points on the California coastline is estimated to be three seconds, which is negligible compared with the observed anomalies between San Francisco and Crescent City. On the other hand, the tidal phase shifts induced by much larger inland seas, such as Hudson's Bay, could be substantial.     

Tidal wave diffraction by channels and bays

Abstract

A Kelvin wave in a semi-infinite ocean with a narrow (compared with the wavelength) continental shelf is diffracted by a narrow gap that feeds any of a second semi-infinite ocean, a semi-infinite channel, a closed channel of finite length, a small bay, or a channel terminated by a bay. An equivalent electrical circuit is constructed, in which the incident-wave displacement in the gap appears as the input voltage and the flow into the gap appears as the input current. Approximations to the elements of this circuit are constructed from a quadratic functional that is derived from the integral equation implied by the boundary-value problem. The phase shift in the diffracted Kelvin wave is calculated, and numerical results are given for representative configurations. The general results are applicable to other tidal waves in the semi-infinite ocean, e.g., a Poincaré wave. A model of San Francisco Bay, opening into the ocean through a short, narrow channel (the Golden Gate) and fed by rivers through a long channel (Carquinez Straits), is constructed. It yields a resonant period of 4.6h and a time delay of 3.6 sec for a semi-diurnal (12.4h) Kelvin wave.