Collisional heating of interplanetary gas: Fokker-Planck treatment

Interstellar gas streaming through the solar system undergoes both elastic collisions with solar wind ions and destructive, ionizing processes. The Boltzmann equation is set up, with linear Fokker-Planck terms describing the glancing elastic collisions. Solutions combining the dynamical effects of the central force field and the diffusion in velocity space are derived, appropriate to cool gas.For the He component of the streaming gas, if initially at 100 K, the collisional heating dominates inside 2 a.u. upstream and 5 a.u. downstream. A modified formula is given for the density in the downstream wake, as enhanced by gravitational focussing. Calculations of the helium resonant radiation backscatter require substantial modification.     

Constraints on clinopyroxene/melt partitioning of REE, Rb, Sr, Ti, Cr, Zr, and Nb during mantle melting: First insights from direct peridotite melting experiments at 1.0 GPa

Earlier piston-cylinder experiments in our laboratory produced a collection of mantle melting run products at 1.0 GPa that have now been analyzed by ion probe for selected REE, Ti, Cr, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, and Nb. Natural starting materials were used and experiments were run in graphite-lined Pt capsules with the melt separated from the residual minerals into a layer of vitreous carbon spheres (VCS) to circumvent quench modification. The glass phase in 18 run products, representing melt percentages of ∼2-20 wt%, yielded excellent data that were inverted to yield the first estimates ever of clinopyroxene/melt distribution coefficients, Ds, derived from direct peridotite partial melting experiments. Uncertainties were estimated with a Monte Carlo method.For the REE and Y, these Ds were then compared to Ds calculated with the widely-used model of Wood and Blundy (1997) and the two sets overlap at the ±2σ level in 123 of 128 cases (∼96%). This indicates to us that: 1) the experiments analyzed here are well equilibrated with respect to major and trace element distributions, thus supporting the efficacy of the VCS technique and its variation involving diamond (e.g., Baker and Stolper, “Determining the composition of high-pressure mantle melts using diamond aggregates” [1994], Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta58, 2811-2827); 2) the model of Wood and Blundy (1997), calibrated largely on the basis of large melt fraction, inverse- or sandwich-type experiments, describes REE and Y partitioning during peridotite melting well, even very near the solidus; and it suggests that the cpx/melt Ds derived here for other elements, not modeled by the Wood and Blundy formulation, are probably also correct for peridotite melting to within their ±2σ uncertainties. D^sp/liq and D^cpx/liq values for Cr calculated directly from electron microprobe data decrease by about a factor of five with increasing temperature and melt percentage.The degree to which our experiments appear to have equilibrated seems at odds with recent measurements of the diffusivities of REE in diopside which suggest that relatively small percentages of our starting mineral grains should have equilibrated diffusively. Instead, we suggest that equilibration occurs much more rapidly through the processes of recrystallization and grain coarsening, accomplished through dissolution and reprecipitation. This suggestion is supported by the observation that our final grain sizes are typically 5-10 times larger than the ∼10 μm starting sizes, indicating that substantial mass transfer occurred in our experiments, probably mediated by the melt phase in which diffusion is faster.     

Optimization of mooring observations in Northern Bering Sea

The problem of the optimal sampling strategy for moored current velocity observations in the Northern Bering Sea is addressed. We analyze dynamically induced correlations in the North Bering Sea currents and conduct their sensitivity analysis to optimize positions of a limited number of moorings. Optimization of the sampling strategy is performed with respect to robustness of the reconstruction of the North Bering Sea circulation with a particular emphasis on the accurate monitoring of the mean Bering Strait transport. Computations reveal four major regions in the North Bering Sea basin that are highly correlated with the Bering Strait transport. Apart from the regions within the Bering Strait itself, they include the Anadyr Strait and a region 100 km south of the Cape of Prince of Wales. Results of the sensitivity analysis are tested in the framework of twin data experiments with the quasi-stationary and oscillatory background circulations.     

Erosion-driven uplift of the modern Central Alps

We present a compilation of data of modern tectono-geomorphic processes in the Central European Alps which suggest that observed rock uplift is a response to climate-driven denudation. This interpretation is predominantly based on the recent quantification of basin-averaged Late Holocene denudation rates that are so similar to the pattern and rates of rock uplift rates as determined by geodetic leveling. Furthermore, a GPS data-based synthesis of Adriatic microplate kinematics suggests that the Central Alps are currently not in a state of active convergence. Finally, we illustrate that the Central Alps have acted as a closed system for Holocene redistribution of sediment in which the peri-Alpine lakes have operated as a sink for the erosional products of the inner Central Alps.While various hypotheses have been put forward to explain Central Alpine rock uplift (e.g. lithospheric forcing by convergence, mantle processes, or ice melting) we show with an elastic model of lithospheric deformation, that the correlation between erosion and rock uplift rates reflects a positive feedback between denudation and the associated isostatic response to unloading. Thus, erosion does not passively respond to advection of crustal material as might be the case in actively converging orogens. Rather, we suggest that the geomorphic response of the Alpine topography to glacial and fluvial erosion and the resulting disequilibrium for modern channelized and associated hillslope processes explains much of the pattern of modern denudation and hence rock uplift. Therefore, in a non-convergent orogen such as the Central European Alps, the observed vertical rock uplift is primarily a consequence of passive unloading due to erosion.     

Latest Pleistocene and Holocene glacier variations in the European Alps

In the Alps, climatic conditions reflected in glacier and rock glacier activity in the earliest Holocene show a strong affinity to conditions in the latest Pleistocene (Younger Dryas). Glacier advances in the Alps related to Younger Dryas cooling led to the deposition of Egesen stadial moraines. Egesen stadial moraines can be divided into three or in some cases even more phases (sub-stadials). Moraines of the earliest and most extended advance, the Egesen maximum, stabilized at 12.2 ± 1.0 ka based on ¹⁰Be exposure dating at the Schönferwall (Tyrol, Austria) and the Julier Pass-outer moraine (Switzerland). Final stabilization of moraines at the end of the Egesen stadial was at 11.3 ± 0.9 ka as shown by ¹⁰Be data from four sites across the Alps. From west to east the sites are Piano del Praiet (northwestern Italy), Grosser Aletschgletscher (central Switzerland), Julier Pass-inner moraine (eastern Switzerland), and Val Viola (northeastern Italy). There is excellent agreement of the ¹⁰Be ages from the four sites. In the earliest Holocene, glaciers in the northernmost mountain ranges advanced at around 10.8 ± 1.1 ka as shown by ¹⁰Be data from the Kartell site (northern Tyrol, Austria). In more sheltered, drier regions rock glacier activity dominated as shown, for example, at Julier Pass and Larstig valley (Tyrol, Austria). New ¹⁰Be dates presented here for two rock glaciers in Larstig valley indicate final stabilization no later than 10.5 ± 0.8 ka. Based on this data, we conclude the earliest Holocene (between 11.6 and about 10.5 ka) was still strongly affected by the cold climatic conditions of the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal oscillation, with the intervening warming phase having had the effect of rapid downwasting of Egesen glaciers. At or slightly before 10.5 ka rapid shrinkage of glaciers to a size smaller than their late 20th century size reflects markedly warmer and possibly also drier climate. Between about 10.5 ka and 3.3 ka conditions in the Alps were not conducive to significant glacier expansion except possibly during rare brief intervals. Past tree-line data from Kaunertal (Tyrol, Austria) in concert with radiocarbon and dendrochronologically dated wood fragments found recently in the glacier forefields in both the Swiss and Austrian Alps points to long periods during the Holocene when glaciers were smaller than they were during the late 20th century. Equilibrium line altitudes (ELA) were about 200 m higher than they are today and about 300 m higher in comparison to Little Ice Age (LIA) ELAs. The Larstig rock glacier site we dated with ¹⁰Be is the type area for a postulated mid-Holocene cold period called the Larstig oscillation (presumed age about 7.0 ka). Our data point to final stabilization of those rock glaciers in the earliest Holocene and not in the middle Holocene. The combined data indicate there was no time window in the middle Holocene long enough for rock glaciers of the size and at the elevation of the Larstig site to have formed. During the short infrequent cold oscillations between 10.5 and 3.3 ka small glaciers (less than several km²) may have advanced to close to their LIA dimensions. Overall, the cold periods were just too short for large glaciers to advance. After 3.3 ka, climate conditions became generally colder and warm periods were brief and less frequent. Large glaciers (for example Grosser Aletschgletscher) advanced markedly at 3.0–2.6 ka, around 600 AD and during the LIA. Glaciers in the Alps attained their LIA maximum extents in the 14th, 17th, and 19th centuries, with most reaching their greatest LIA extent in the final 1850/1860 AD advance.     

Macroscopic quantum resonators (MAQRO)

Quantum physics challenges our understanding of the nature of physical reality and of space-time and suggests the necessity of radical revisions of their underlying concepts. Experimental tests of quantum phenomena involving massive macroscopic objects would provide novel insights into these fundamental questions. Making use of the unique environment provided by space, MAQRO aims at investigating this largely unexplored realm of macroscopic quantum physics. MAQRO has originally been proposed as a medium-sized fundamental-science space mission for the 2010 call of Cosmic Vision. MAQRO unites two experiments: DECIDE (DECoherence In Double-Slit Experiments) and CASE (Comparative Acceleration Sensing Experiment). The main scientific objective of MAQRO, which is addressed by the experiment DECIDE, is to test the predictions of quantum theory for quantum superpositions of macroscopic objects containing more than 10⁸ atoms. Under these conditions, deviations due to various suggested alternative models to quantum theory would become visible. These models have been suggested to harmonize the paradoxical quantum phenomena both with the classical macroscopic world and with our notion of Minkowski space-time. The second scientific objective of MAQRO, which is addressed by the experiment CASE, is to demonstrate the performance of a novel type of inertial sensor based on optically trapped microspheres. CASE is a technology demonstrator that shows how the modular design of DECIDE allows to easily incorporate it with other missions that have compatible requirements in terms of spacecraft and orbit. CASE can, at the same time, serve as a test bench for the weak equivalence principle, i.e., the universality of free fall with test-masses differing in their mass by 7 orders of magnitude.     

Fast lagrangian particle tracking in unstructured ocean model grids

Ocean Dynamics - Lagrangian particle tracking, based on currents derived from hydrodynamic models, is an important tool in quantifying bio-physical transports in the ocean. Particle tracking in the...     

The early-type galaxies NGC 1407 and NGC 1400 – I. Spatially resolved radial kinematics and surface photometry

This is the first paper of a series focused on investigating the star formation and evolutionary history of the two early-type galaxies NGC 1407 and NGC 1400. They are the two brightest galaxies of the NGC 1407 (or Eridanus-A) group, one of the 60 groups studied as part of the Group Evolution Multi-wavelength Study.
Here, we present new high signal-to-noise ratio long-slit spectroscopic data obtained at the ESO 3.6-m telescope and high-resolution multiband imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope /Advanced Camera for Surveys and wide-field imaging from Subaru Suprime-Cam. We spatially resolved integrated spectra out to ∼0.6 (NGC 1407) and ∼1.3 (NGC 1400) effective radii. The radial profiles of the kinematic parameters v _rot, σ, h ₃ and h ₄ are measured. The surface brightness profiles are fitted to different galaxy light models and the colour distributions analysed. The multiband images are modelled to derive isophotal shape parameters and residual galaxy images. The parameters from the surface brightness profile fitting are used to estimate the mass of the possible central supermassive black hole in NGC 1407. The galaxies are found to be rotationally supported and to have a flat core in the surface brightness profiles. Elliptical isophotes are observed at all radii and no fine structures are detected in the residual galaxy images. From our results, we can also discard a possible interaction between NGC 1400, NGC 1407 and the group intergalactic medium. We estimate a mass of  ∼1.03 × 10⁹ M_⊙  for the supermassive black hole in NGC 1407 galaxy.     

Political Alienation,Rurality and the Symbolic Role of Swedish Wolf Policy

Attitudes towards wolf policy are likely to be driven by perceived differences in political power between urban and rural groups. Using Swedish survey data collected in 2014 and structural equation modeling, I evaluated the effects of political alienation. Political alienation mediated the effect of having an urban or rural place of residence on attitudes towards wolf policy. Politically alienated individuals also preferred more extreme policy options than other respondents, while being less likely to approve of the current wolf policy in Sweden. These findings suggest that political alienation drives attitude polarization in wolf related social conflicts. Awareness of these underlying power asymmetries could possibly increase both policy legitimacy and management efficiency. This highlights the importance of accounting for social context in relation to policy-making and conservation efforts related to wolves.