The possible formation of massive tori in white-dwarf binary systems

Mass exchange in white-dwarf binary systems with mass ratios 0.35–0.55 and total masses exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit could lead to the disruption of the less massive component of the system and the formation of a torus around the more massive component.     

Facies partitioning and sequence stratigraphy of cool-water, mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sediments (Upper Miocene Guadalquivir Domain, southern Spain)

During the late Miocene, the Guadalquivir Basin and its satellite basin, the Ronda Basin, were under Atlantic cool-water influence. The aim of our study is to develop a sequence stratigraphic subdivision of the Ronda Basin fill and to provide models for the cool-water carbonates. The Upper Miocene of the Ronda Basin can be divided into three depositional sequences. Sequence 1 is early Tortonian, Sequence 2 late Tortonian to earliest Messinian, and Sequence 3 Messinian in age. The sediments were deposited in a ramp depositional system. Sequence 1 is dominated by conglomerates and marls. In Sequence 2 and Sequence 3, carbonate deposits dominate in the inner ramp whereas siliciclastics preferentially occur in the middle and outer ramp. Bryomol carbonate sediments occur in all sequences whereas rhodalgal carbonates are restricted to Sequence 3. In bays protected from siliciclastic influx, rhodalgal deposits formed under transgressive conditions. A bryomol factory occurs in zones of continuous siliciclastic supply. This distribution results from facies partitioning during the flooding of the Ronda Basin, which has a rugged and irregular relief. Embayments were protected from siliciclastic influx and provided regions with less hydraulic energy.     

Color redshifts and the age of the stellar population of distant RC radio galaxies

BV RI data are presented for the majority of steep-spectrum objects in the RC catalog with m _R <23.5^m. Previously developed programs are applied to these data to estimate the redshifts and ages of the stellar systems of the host galaxies. Applying this program to the color data (BV RI JHK) for distant radio galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts indicates that this approach provides accurate estimates of the redshifts of such radio galaxies, close to those obtained using field galaxies (～20%). The age estimates are much less trustworthy, but a lower limit to the ages of objects that are not very distant (z<1.5) can be determined with certainty. We have identi fied several galaxies whose formal ages exceed the age of the Universe at the corresponding z in simple Cold Dark Matter models for the Universe. The possibility of using such objects to elucidate the role of “dark energy” is discussed. This paradox disappears in models with cosmological constants (Λ terms) equal to 0.6–0.8.     

Quantitative analysis of variations in depositional sequence thickness from submarine channel levees

Abstract Thickness variations across‐levee and downchannel in acoustically defined depositional sequences from six submarine channel‐levee systems show consistent and quantifiable patterns. The thickness of depositional sequences perpendicular to the channel trend, i.e. across the levee, decreases exponentially, as characterized by a spatial decay constant, k. Similarly, the thickness of sediment at the levee crest decreases exponentially down the upper reaches of submarine channels and can be characterized by a second spatial decay constant, λ. The inverse of these decay constants has units of length and defines depositional length scales such that k^?1 is a measure of levee width and λ^?1 is a measure of levee length. Quantification of levee architecture in this way allowed investigation of relationships between levee architecture and channel dimensions. It was found that these measures of levee e‐folding width and levee e‐folding length are directly related to channel width and relief. The dimensions of channels and levees are thus intimately related, thereby limiting the range of potential channel‐levee morphologies, regardless of allocyclic forcing. A simple sediment budget model relates the product of the levee e‐folding width and e‐folding length to through‐channel volume discharge. A classification system based on the quantitative downchannel behaviour of levee architecture allows identification of a ‘mid‐channel’ reach, where sediment is passively transferred from the through‐channel flow to the levees as an overspilling flow. Downstream from this reach, the channel gradually looses its control on guiding turbidity currents, and the resulting flow can be considered as an unconfined or spreading flow.     

Semi-permeable wormholes and the stability of static wormholes

Physical processes arising when an impermeable wormhole is irradiated by self-gravitating, exotic radiation are considered. It is shown that, in this case, the conditions required for the passage of signals fromanother universe into our own arise only in our Universe, whereas signals cannot pass through the wormhole in the opposite direction. Such wormholes are called semi-permeable. The stability of a static wormhole filled with radial magnetic field and exotic dust with a negative energy density is also considered.     

A groundwater isoscape (δD, δO) for Mexico

Numerous studies have shown that precipitation isocapes drive δD and δ¹⁸O patterns in surficial waters and in terrestrial food webs. While the GNIP (Global Network for Isotopes in Precipitation) dataset provided a key foundation for linking precipitation-terrestrial isoscapes globally, it has insufficient spatial coverage in many countries like Mexico. To overcome this limitation, we hypothesized that shallow phreatic groundwaters in Mexico could be used as an isotopic integrator of long-term seasonally weighted precipitation inputs to the landscape to aid in calibrating spatial H and O isotope datasets for terrestrial, biological and hydrological research. Groundwater was sampled from 234 sites in Mexico at ~ 50 km latitudinal spacing to obtain high spatial resolution and country-wide coverage for the construction of a groundwater isoscape. Our data revealed that shallow groundwater infiltration in Mexico appears largely unaffected by evaporation and reflects seasonally weighted precipitation inputs. These precipitation inputs are primarily biased to summertime when highest rainfall occurs, but a small degree of post-precipitation evaporation revealed a lower d-excess zone that corresponded to the interior semi-arid ecozone. We developed a predictive general linear model (GLM) for hydrogen and oxygen isotopic spatial patterns in Mexican groundwater and then compared the results to a validation subset of our field data, as well external data reported in the literature. The GLM used elevation, latitude, drainage basin (Atlantic vs. Pacific), and rainfall as the most relevant predictive variables. The GLM explained 81% of the overall isotopic variance observed in groundwater, 68% of the variance within our validation subset, and 77% of the variance in the external data set. Our predictive GLM is sufficiently accurate to allow for future ecological, hydrological and forensic isoscape applications in Mexico, and may be an approach that is applicable to other countries and regions where GNIP stations are lacking.     

Using environmental tracers to assess the extent of river–groundwater interaction in a quarried area of the English Chalk

The Swanscombe area of Kent, SE England represents a typical example of a heavily quarried Chalk area currently undergoing re-development. Because the Chalk is also an important aquifer, a good understanding of groundwater movement is required if environmental impacts are to be minimised and the water resource maximised. In particular, the nature of the relationship between the River Darent and groundwater in the Swanscombe Chalk Block requires better characterisation. Here, ‘environmental tracers’ in the form of ambient concentrations of stable isotopes, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) and tritium (³H) are used to investigate this and other aspects of groundwater movement in the vicinity of the quarries. Stable isotopic contrasts indicate little evidence for widespread river infiltration to the regional Chalk aquifer, although stable isotope and ³H data suggest that 20–35% of the abstraction by river-valley public water supply boreholes may be derived from the river. The CFCs, while present at above-modern concentrations in almost all groundwaters, can be used as tracers, indicating basically S–N flowpaths in the area south of the quarries, though sub-karstic conduits associated with areas of Palaeogene cover add a level of uncertainty at the local scale. Simple piston flow residence times based on SF₆ range from 1 to 17 a, but the data are probably better interpreted in terms of mixing between varying amounts of modern recharge derived from the south and deeper stored groundwater. The information gained from environmental tracers can therefore contribute to effective resource management.     

Dissociative velocity rates of oxygen and ozone in the ionosphere

Summary On the basis of the exponential approximation for the distribution of the concentration of molecular oxygen and ozone in given parts of the ionosphere, expressions have been derived for the changes of the dissociative velocity rates of the oxygen components in the ionosphere. The numerical calculations made reveal negligible changes of these rates for heights above 100 km and sufficiently strong variations in the low ionosphere.     

Jebel Khariz: an upper miocene strato-volcano of comenditic affinity on the South Arabian coast

Jebel Khariz, the largest central vent volcano on the south Arabian coast, lies 60 miles (95 km) to the west of Aden and was probably active during the Upper Miocene. The volcanic edifice originally covered some 350 sq. miles (900 km²) and consists of an older, radially dipping main cone sequence of rhyolites, trachytes, basalts and olivine basalts and a younger, horizontal caldera sequence mainly of intermediate lavas, that infilled the caldera subsequent to its formation at a late stage in the history of the volcano. The Khariz volcanic suite, ranging in composition from olivine basalts to per-alkali rhyolites of comenditic affinity, was probably produced by fractionation, in a low pressure regime, of a mildly alkali olivine basalt magma. Noting the abundance of peralkali volcanics associated with the African rift system in Kenya, Ethiopia and on the margins of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, it is tentatively suggested that, at times, the sub-crustal mechanism, responsible for the rift development, might also produce an environment where fusion of the earth’s mantle gave rise to a relatively rare, mildly alkali, ‘parental’ basaltic magma.