Classifying GRB 170817A/GW170817 in a Fermi duration–hardness plane

GRB 170817A, associated with the LIGO-Virgo GW170817 neutron-star merger event, lacks the short duration and hard spectrum of a Short gamma-ray burst (GRB) expected from long-standing classification models. Correctly identifying the class to which this burst belongs requires comparison with other GRBs detected by the Fermi GBM. The aim of our analysis is to classify Fermi GRBs and to test whether or not GRB 170817A belongs—as suggested—to the Short GRB class. The Fermi GBM catalog provides a large database with many measured variables that can be used to explore gamma-ray burst classification. We use statistical techniques to look for clustering in a sample of 1298 gamma-ray bursts described by duration and spectral hardness. Classification of the detected bursts shows that GRB 170817A most likely belongs to the Intermediate, rather than the Short GRB class. We discuss this result in light of theoretical neutron-star merger models and existing GRB classification schemes. It appears that GRB classification schemes may not yet be linked to appropriate theoretical models, and that theoretical models may not yet adequately account for known GRB class properties. We conclude that GRB 170817A may not fit into a simple phenomenological classification scheme.     

Plume and bloom: effect of the Mississippi River diversion on the water quality of Lake Pontchartrain

The opening of the Bonnet Carré spillway to prevent flood threat to New Orleans in April 2008 created a sediment plume in the Lake Pontchartrain. The nutrient rich plume triggered a massive algal bloom in the lake. In this article, we have quantified the spatio-temporal distribution of the plume (suspended solids) and the bloom (chlorophyll-a (chl-a)) in the lake using remotely-sensed data. We processed the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite data for mapping the total suspended solids (TSS) and chl-a concentrations. An existing algorithm was used for estimating TSS whereas a novel slope model was developed to predict the per-pixel chl-a concentration. Both algorithms were successful in capturing the spatio-temporal trend of TSS and chl-a concentrations, respectively. Algal growth was found to be inversely related to TSS concentrations and a time lag of ～45 days existed between the spillway opening and the appearance of the first algal bloom at an observation location.     

Late Quaternary paleo sea level geomorphological markers of opposite vertical movements at Salina volcanic island (Aeolian Arc)

Raised marine terraces and submerged insular shelves are used through an integrated approach as markers of relative sea level changes along the flanks of the Salina volcanic island (Aeolian Arc, southern Italy) for the purpose of evaluating its crustal vertical deformation pattern through time. Paleo sea level positions are estimated for the terrace inner margins exposed subaerially at different elevations and the erosive shelf edges recognized offshore at different depths. Compared with the eustatic sea levels at the main highstands (for the terraces) and lowstands (for the shelf edges) derived from the literature, these paleo sea level markers allowed us to reconstruct the interplay among different processes shaping the flanks of the island and, in particular, to quantify the pattern, magnitudes and rates of vertical movements affecting the different sectors of Salina since the time of their formation. A uniform uplift process at rates of 0.35 m ka⁻¹ during the Last Interglacial is estimated for Salina (extended to most of the Aeolian Arc) as evidence of a regional (tectonic) vertical deformation affecting the sub-volcanic basement in a subduction-related geodynamic context. Before that, a dominant subsidence at rates of 0.39–0.56 m ka⁻¹ is instead suggested for the time interval between 465 ka (MIS 12) and the onset of the Last Interglacial (MIS 5.5, 124 ka). By matching the insular shelf edges with the main lowstands of the sea level curve, a relative age attribution is provided for the (mostly) submerged volcanic centres on which the deepest (and oldest) insular shelves were carved, with insights on the chronological development of the older stages of Salina and the early emergence of the island. The shift from subsidence to uplift at the Last Interglacial suggests a major geodynamic change and variation of the stress regime acting on the Aeolian sub-volcanic basement. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of local geological conditions on the macroseismic effects in the town of Strazhitza

Damage caused by the earthquake of 7 December 1986 (M = 5.7) and its aftershocks in low-storey residential buildings in the town of Strazhitza, Bulgaria, situated in the epicentral zone are systematized. A scale of damages is compiled for two types of buildings which is coordinated with the MSK-64 scale. The territorial distribution of the seismic intensity is compared with the results of the detailed engineering-geological study. A correlation between the Quarternary deposit thickness and the observed seismic intensity is obtained.Paper presented at the 21st general assembly of the European Seismological Commission held in Sofia, 1988.     

Analysis of a rigid footing lying on three-layered soil using the finite difference method

A numerical procedure is described for the analysis of the vertical deformation and the stress distribution of the strip footings on layered soil media. Three layers of soil with different stiffness are considered with the middle soil layer the thinnest and most stiff layer. The soil media is discretized and using the theory of elasticity, the governing differential equations are obtained in terms of vertical and horizontal displacements. These equations along with appropriate boundary and continuity conditions are solved by using the finite difference method. The vertical and horizontal displacements, strains and stresses are found at various nodes in the soil media. Parametric studies are carried out to study the effect of the placement depth of the middle soil layer, the relative ratios of the moduli of deformation of the soil layers on the vertical displacement of the footing and the vertical stress distribution. These studies reveal that the middle thin but very stiff layer acts like a plate and redistributes the stresses on the lower soft soil layer uniformly. The displacement on the top and bottom of the middle soil layer is almost the same showing that the compression of the middle layer is negligible as it is very stiff.     

Criteria for the instability of upper-stage plane beds

Calculations of the critical dimensionless bed stresses that obtain when upper-stage plane beds should revert to ripple and dune bed forms are presented. Strong support is given to the Bagnold ‘universal’ plane-bed instability criterion and to a modified criterion suggested by Allen over a wide range of solids grain size. A reinterpretation of the mechanism of plane bed instability is based upon the extent to which significant grain concentrations in plane bed flows increase apparent fluid viscosity and decrease turbulence production over potential bed defects, thereby preventing ripple or dune propagation and growth.     

An Intercomparison of NO2 and OClO Measurements at Arrival Heights, Antarctica during Austral Spring 1996

For several years NO2 and OClO, two species important to understanding ozone destruction in the Antarctic stratosphere, have been measured at Arrival Heights, Antarctica by two groups: New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. Using data independently collected by these two groups during the Austral spring of 1996, it is shown that the two data sets are in extremely close agreement. Besides offering validation of the instrumentation and analysis techniques of both groups, this result provides confidence in the more complete history of these species gained by combining the two data sets.     

Whipple telescope observations of LS I +61 303: 2004–2006

In this paper we present the results of the past two years observations on the galactic microquasar LS I +61 303 with the Whipple 10 m gamma-ray telescope. The recent MAGIC detection of the source between 200 GeV and 4 TeV suggests that the source is periodic with very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission linked to its orbital cycle. The entire 50-hour data set obtained with Whipple from 2004 to 2006 was analyzed with no reliable detection resulting. The upper limits obtained in the 2005–2006 season covered several of the same epochs as the MAGIC Telescope detections, albeit with lower sensitivity. Upper limits are placed on emission during the orbital phases of 0→0.1 and 0.8→1, phases which are not included in the MAGIC data set.      

A pictorial comparison of interplanetary magnetic field polarity,solar wind speed,and geomagnetic disturbance index during the sunspot cycle

Observations of interplanetary magnetic field polarity, solar wind speed, and geomagnetic disturbance index (C9) during the years 1962–1975 are compared in a 27-day pictorial format that emphasizes their associated variations during the sunspot cycle. This display accentuates graphically several recently reported features of solar wind streams including the fact that the streams were faster, wider, and longer-lived during 1962–1964 and 1973–1975 in the declining phase of the sunspot cycle than during intervening years (Bame et al., 1976; Gosling et al., 1976). The display reveals strikingly that these high-speed streams were associated with the major, recurrent patterns of geomagnetic activity that are characteristic of the declining phase of the sunspot cycle. Finally, the display shows that during 1962–1975 the association between long-lived solar wind streams and recurrent geomagnetic disturbances was modulated by the annual variation (Burch, 1973) of the response of the geomagnetic field to solar wind conditions. The phase of this annual variation depends on the polarity of the interplanetary magnetic field in the sense that negative sectors of the interplanetary field have their greatest geomagnetic effect in northern hemisphere spring, and positive sectors have their greatest effect in the fall. During 1965–1972 when the solar wind streams were relatively slow (500 km s^-1), the annual variation strongly influenced the visibility of the corresponding geomagnetic disturbance patterns.Visiting Scientist, Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Arizona.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Future change of climate in South America in the late twenty-first century: intercomparison of scenarios from three regional climate models

Regional climate change projections for the last half of the twenty-first century have been produced for South America, as part of the CREAS (Cenarios REgionalizados de Clima Futuro da America do Sul) regional project. Three regional climate models RCMs (Eta CCS, RegCM3 and HadRM3P) were nested within the HadAM3P global model. The simulations cover a 30-year period representing present climate (1961–1990) and projections for the IPCC A2 high emission scenario for 2071–2100. The focus was on the changes in the mean circulation and surface variables, in particular, surface air temperature and precipitation. There is a consistent pattern of changes in circulation, rainfall and temperatures as depicted by the three models. The HadRM3P shows intensification and a more southward position of the subtropical Pacific high, while a pattern of intensification/weakening during summer/winter is projected by the Eta CCS/RegCM3. There is a tendency for a weakening of the subtropical westerly jet from the Eta CCS and HadRM3P, consistent with other studies. There are indications that regions such of Northeast Brazil and central-eastern and southern Amazonia may experience rainfall deficiency in the future, while the Northwest coast of Peru-Ecuador and northern Argentina may experience rainfall excesses in a warmer future, and these changes may vary with the seasons. The three models show warming in the A2 scenario stronger in the tropical region, especially in the 5°N–15°S band, both in summer and especially in winter, reaching up to 6–8°C warmer than in the present. In southern South America, the warming in summer varies between 2 and 4°C and in winter between 3 and 5°C in the same region from the 3 models. These changes are consistent with changes in low level circulation from the models, and they are comparable with changes in rainfall and temperature extremes reported elsewhere. In summary, some aspects of projected future climate change are quite robust across this set of model runs for some regions, as the Northwest coast of Peru-Ecuador, northern Argentina, Eastern Amazonia and Northeast Brazil, whereas for other regions they are less robust as in Pantanal region of West Central and southeastern Brazil.