UV photolysis of quinoline in interstellar ice analogs

Abstract— The polycyclic aromatic nitrogen heterocycle (PANH) quinoline (C₉H₇N) was frozen at 20 K in interstellar ice analogs containing either pure water or water mixed with methanol or methane and exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Upon warming, the photolysis products were analyzed by high‐performance liquid chromatography and nanoscale liquid chromatography‐electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. A suite of hydroxyquinolines, which were formed by the addition of oxygen atoms to quinoline, was observed as the primary product in all the ices. Quinoline N oxide was not formed, but five hydroxyquinoline isomers were produced with no clear dominance of one isomer. Reduction products, formed by hydrogen atom addition, were also created. Ices created at 20 K with H₂O: quinoline ratios of 10:1 to 100:1 showed similar product distributions to those at 122 K, with no apparent temperature or concentration dependence. Increasing the UV dose led to a decrease in overall yield, indicating that quinoline and its products may be photo‐destroyed. Methylquinolines were formed upon photolysis of the methanol‐ and methane‐containing ices. In addition, possible methoxyquinolines or quinoline methylene alcohols were formed in the methanol‐containing ice, while methylhydroxyquinolines were created in the methane‐containing ice. This work indicates that oxidation of PANHs could occur in icy extraterrestrial environments and suggests that a search for such compounds in carbonaceous meteorites could illuminate the possible link between interstellar ice chemistry and meteoritic organics. Given the importance of oxidized and alkylated PANHs to biochemistry, the formation and delivery of such molecules to the early Earth may have played a role in the origin and evolution of life.     

The peculiar motions of early-type galaxies in two distant regions – VI. The maximum-likelihood Gaussian algorithm

The EFAR project is designed to measure the properties and peculiar motions of early-type galaxies in two distant regions. Here we describe the maximum-likelihood algorithm we developed to investigate the correlations between the parameters of the EFAR data base. One-, two- and three-dimensional Gaussian models are constructed to determine the mean value and intrinsic spread of the parameters, and the slopes and intrinsic parallel and orthogonal spread of the Mg₂–Mg b ', Mg₂– σ , Mg b '– σ relations, and the Fundamental Plane. In the latter case, the cluster peculiar velocities are also determined. We show that this method is superior to 'canonical' approaches of least-squares type, which give biased slopes and biased peculiar velocities. We test the algorithm with Monte Carlo simulations of mock EFAR catalogues, and derive the systematic and random errors on the estimated parameters. We find that random errors are always dominant. We estimate the influence of systematic errors resulting from the way clusters were selected, and the hard limits and uncertainties in the selection function parameters for the galaxies. We explore the influence of uniform distributions in the Fundamental Plane parameters and the errors. We conclude that the mean peculiar motions of the EFAR clusters can be determined reliably. In particular, the placement of the two EFAR sample regions relative to the Lauer & Postman dipole allows us to constrain strongly the amplitude of the bulk motion in this direction. We justify a posteriori the use of a Gaussian modelling for the galaxy distribution in the Fundamental Plane space, by showing that the mean likelihood of the EFAR sample is obtained in 10 to 30 per cent of our simulations. We derive the analytical solution for the maximum-likelihood Gaussian problem in N dimensions in the presence of small errors.     

COMPASS: an instrument for measuring the polarization of the CMB on intermediate angular scales

COMPASS is an on-axis 2.6-m telescope coupled to a correlation polarimeter. The entire instrument was built specifically for CMB polarization studies. Careful attention was given to receiver and optics design, stability of the pointing platform, avoidance of systematic offsets, and development of data analysis techniques. Here we describe the experiment, its strengths and weaknesses, and the various things we have learned that may benefit future efforts to measure the polarization of the CMB.     

Wind-stress feedback amplification of abrupt millennial-scale climate changes

The influence of changes in surface wind-stress on the properties (amplitude and period) and domain of existence of thermohaline millennial oscillations is studied by means of a coupled model of intermediate complexity set up in an idealized spherical sector geometry of the Atlantic basin. Using the atmospheric CO₂ concentration as the control parameter, bifurcation diagrams of the model are built to show that the influence of wind-stress changes on glacial abrupt variability is threefold. First, millennial-scale oscillations are significantly amplified through wind-feedback-induced changes in both northern sea ice export and oceanic heat transport. Changes in surface wind-stress more than double the amplitude of the strong warming events that punctuate glacial abrupt variability obtained under prescribed winds in the model. Second, the average duration of both stadials and interstadials is significantly lengthened and the temporal structure of observed variability is better captured under interactive winds. Third, the generation of millennial-scale oscillations is shown to occur for significantly colder climates when wind-stress feedback is enabled. This behaviour results from the strengthening of the negative temperature-advection feedback associated with stronger northward oceanic heat transport under interactive winds.     

Mid-Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum climate simulations with the IPSL model—part I: comparing IPSL_CM5A to IPSL_CM4

The climates of the mid-Holocene (MH), 6,000 years ago, and of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 21,000 years ago, have extensively been simulated, in particular in the framework of the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparion Project. These periods are well documented by paleo-records, which can be used for evaluating model results for climates different from the present one. Here, we present new simulations of the MH and the LGM climates obtained with the IPSL_CM5A model and compare them to our previous results obtained with the IPSL_CM4 model. Compared to IPSL_CM4, IPSL_CM5A includes two new features: the interactive representation of the plant phenology and marine biogeochemistry. But one of the most important differences between these models is the latitudinal resolution and vertical domain of their atmospheric component, which have been improved in IPSL_CM5A and results in a better representation of the mid-latitude jet-streams. The Asian monsoon’s representation is also substantially improved. The global average mean annual temperature simulated for the pre-industrial (PI) period is colder in IPSL_CM5A than in IPSL_CM4 but their climate sensitivity to a CO₂ doubling is similar. Here we show that these differences in the simulated PI climate have an impact on the simulated MH and LGM climatic anomalies. The larger cooling response to LGM boundary conditions in IPSL_CM5A appears to be mainly due to differences between the PMIP3 and PMIP2 boundary conditions, as shown by a short wave radiative forcing/feedback analysis based on a simplified perturbation method. It is found that the sensitivity computed from the LGM climate is lower than that computed from 2 × CO₂ simulations, confirming previous studies based on different models. For the MH, the Asian monsoon, stronger in the IPSL_CM5A PI simulation, is also more sensitive to the insolation changes. The African monsoon is also further amplified in IPSL_CM5A due to the impact of the interactive phenology. Finally the changes in variability for both models and for MH and LGM are presented taking the example of the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which is very different in the PI simulations. ENSO variability is damped in both model versions at the MH, whereas inconsistent responses are found between the two versions for the LGM. Part 2 of this paper examines whether these differences between IPSL_CM4 and IPSL_CM5A can be distinguished when comparing those results to palaeo-climatic reconstructions and investigates new approaches for model-data comparisons made possible by the inclusion of new components in IPSL_CM5A.     

Who and what are carbon markets for? Politics and the development of climate policy

Why have carbon markets been rapidly adopted as policy solutions to climate change in the last decade? Perhaps surprisingly, this question has attracted virtually no attention in the large literature on such markets. The standard arguments given for why carbon markets are good ways to respond to climate change do not explain why such markets have flourished as governance mechanisms in relation to climate. Carbon markets have spread and become taken-for-granted because of the potential they give to certain powerful actors (financiers, specifically) to create new cycles of investment, profits and growth. As a consequence, they make possible a political coalition combining financiers with environmentalists. This coalition has considerable potential to legitimize substantial cuts in carbon emissions in the face of continued opposition from other interests. It is the combination of these two elements – the promotion of specific growth sectors and the construction of a political coalition – that constitutes the principal political virtue of carbon markets. In order to demonstrate this claim, the history of emissions trading is traced and the implication of this analysis is explored for the further building of climate governance centred on carbon markets.     

Scaling and reproducibility of craters produced at the Experimental Projectile Impact Chamber (EPIC), Centro de Astrobiología,Spain

The Experimental Projectile Impact Chamber (EPIC) is a specially designed facility for the study of processes related to wet‐target (e.g., “marine”) impacts. It consists of a 7 m wide, funnel‐shaped test bed, and a 20.5 mm caliber compressed N₂ gas gun. The target can be unconsolidated or liquid. The gas gun can launch 20 mm projectiles of various solid materials under ambient atmospheric pressure and at various angles from the horizontal. To test the functionality and quality of obtained results by EPIC, impacts were performed into dry beach sand targets with two different projectile materials; ceramic Al₂O₃ (max. velocity 290 m s^?1) and Delrin (max. velocity 410 m s^?1); 23 shots used a quarter‐space setting (19 normal, 4 at 53° from horizontal) and 14 were in a half‐space setting (13 normal, 1 at 53°). The experiments were compared with numerical simulations using the iSALE code. Differences were seen between the nondisruptive Al₂O₃ (ceramic) and the disruptive Delrin (polymer) projectiles in transient crater development. All final crater dimensions, when plotted in scaled form, agree reasonably well with the results of other studies of impacts into granular materials. We also successfully validated numerical models of vertical and oblique impacts in sand against the experimental results, as well as demonstrated that the EPIC quarter‐space experiments are a reasonable approximation for half‐space experiments. Altogether, the combined evaluation of experiments and numerical simulations support the usefulness of the EPIC in impact cratering studies.