An algorithm to resolve γ-rays from charged cosmic rays with DAMPE

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE),also known as Wukong in China,which was launched on 2015 December 17,is a new high energy cosmic ray and γ-ray satellite-borne observatory.One of the main scientific goals of DAMPE is to observe Ge V-Te V high energy γ-rays with accurate energy,angular and time resolution,to indirectly search for dark matter particles and for the study of high energy astrophysics. Due to the comparatively higher fluxes of charged cosmic rays with respect to γ-rays,it is challenging to identify γ-rays with sufficiently high efficiency,minimizing the amount of charged cosmic ray contamination. In this work we present a method to identify γ-rays in DAMPE data based on Monte Carlo simulations,using the powerful electromagnetic/hadronic shower discrimination provided by the calorimeter and the veto detection of charged particles provided by the plastic scintillation detector. Monte Carlo simulations show that after this selection the number of electrons and protons that contaminate the selected γ-ray events at～10 Ge V amounts to less than 1% of the selected sample.Finally,we use flight data to verify the effectiveness of the method by highlighting known γ-ray sources in the sky and by reconstructing preliminary light curves of the Geminga pulsar.     

Mineralogy and temperature of crater Haulani on Ceres

We investigate the region of crater Haulani on Ceres with an emphasis on mineralogy as inferred from data obtained by Dawn's Visible InfraRed mapping spectrometer (VIR), combined with multispectral image products from the Dawn Framing Camera (FC) so as to enable a clear correlation with specific geologic features. Haulani, which is one of the youngest craters on Ceres, exhibits a peculiar “blue” visible to near‐infrared spectral slope, and has distinct color properties as seen in multispectral composite images. In this paper, we investigate a number of spectral indices: reflectance; spectral slopes; abundance of Mg‐bearing and NH₄‐bearing phyllosilicates; nature and abundance of carbonates, which are diagnostic of the overall crater mineralogy; plus a temperature map that highlights the major thermal anomaly found on Ceres. In addition, for the first time we quantify the abundances of several spectral endmembers by using VIR data obtained at the highest pixel resolution (~0.1 km). The overall picture we get from all these evidences, in particular the abundance of Na‐ and hydrous Na‐carbonates at specific locations, confirms the young age of Haulani from a mineralogical viewpoint, and suggests that the dehydration of Na‐carbonates in the anhydrous form Na₂CO₃ may be still ongoing.     

Stream nitrate uptake and transient storage over a gradient of geomorphic complexity,north‐central Colorado,USA

The understanding of nutrient uptake in streams is impeded by a limited understanding of how geomorphic setting and flow regime interact with biogeochemical processing. This study investigated these interactions as they relate to transient storage and nitrate uptake in small agricultural and urban streams. Sites were selected across a gradient of channel conditions and management modifications and included three 180‐m long geomorphically distinct reaches on each of two streams in north‐central Colorado. The agricultural stream has been subject to historically variable cattle‐grazing practices, and the urban stream exhibits various levels of stabilisation and planform alteration. Reach‐scale geomorphic complexity was characterised using highly detailed surveys of channel morphology, substrate, hydraulics and habitat units. Breakthrough‐curve modelling of conservative bromide (Br^?) and nonconservative nitrate (NO₃^?) tracer injections characterised transient storage and nitrate uptake along each reach. Longitudinal roughness and flow depth were positively associated with transient storage, which was related to nitrate uptake, thus underscoring the importance of geomorphic influences on stream biogeochemical processes. In addition, changes in geomorphic characteristics due to temporal discharge variation led to complex responses in nitrate uptake. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social–ecological memory in urban gardens—Retaining the capacity for management of ecosystem services

Many ecosystem services are in decline. Local ecological knowledge and associated practice are essential to sustain and enhance ecosystem services on the ground. Here, we focus on social or collective memory in relation to management practice that sustains ecosystem services, and investigate where and how ecological practices, knowledge and experience are retained and transmitted. We analyze such social–ecological memory of allotment gardens in the Stockholm urban area, Sweden. Allotment gardens support ecosystem services such as pollination, seed dispersal and pest regulation in the broader urban landscape. Surveys and interviews were preformed over a four-year period with several hundreds of gardeners. We found that the allotment gardens function as communities-of-practice, where participation and reification interact and social–ecological memory is a shared source of resilience of the community by being both emergent and persistent. Ecological practices and knowledge in allotment gardens are retained and transmitted by imitation of practices, oral communication and collective rituals and habits, as well as by the physical gardens, artifacts, metaphors and rules-in-use (institutions). Finally, a wider social context provides external support through various forms of media, markets, social networks, collaborative organizations, and legal structures. We exemplify the role of urban gardens in generating ecosystem services in times of crisis and change and conclude that stewards of urban green areas and the social memory that they carry may help counteract further decline of critical ecosystem services.     

Middle miocene deduction and late miocene beginning of collision registered in the hengchun peninsula: Geodynamic implications for the evolution of Taiwan

Taiwan is located in the axis of the Manila Trench. It results from an oblique collision between the northernmost part of the Luzon arc and the Chinese passive margin. This active collision follows the subduction of the Oligocene-Miocene oceanic crust of the South China Sea along the Manila Trench. The tectonized Chinese margin emerged in the Hengchun peninsula (South Taiwan). Gentle folds which are delineated by the Quaternary reefal limestones demonstrate Recent deformations. These folds deformed a thick detrital sequence of Miocene age (Ssuchung Chi series) which was previously strongly folded and thrust westward (axis NS-N20) upon the Renting mélange of Latest Miocene age. These main deformations, sealed by the Middle Pliocene, are the evidence for the onset of collision in this part of Taiwan at the end of the Miocene. Because of its obliquity, the collision started already in the northern part of Taiwan during the Late Miocene (6-7-8 Ma ?).The Ssuchung Chi series, a sequence of proximal turbidites, has contained, since the Middle Miocene (NN 6~13 Ma), fragments of an Oligocene to Lower Miocene oceanic crust. This ophiolitic material is very similar to the East Taiwan Ophiolite of the Coastal Range. It originated most probably from a slice of South China Sea crust obducted in Middle Miocene times (13–14 Ma) upon the Chinese margin (North of the Hengchun peninsula). This obduction occurred 7 to 8 Ma before the beginning of collision. These results make it possible to propose an evolutionary model for Taiwan from the Oligocene to the Recent, with the different phases of a collision between a volcanic arc and a passive margin.     

Structure of the upper mantle in the Northeastern Atlantic close to the azores-gibraltar ridge from surface-wave and body-wave observations

Phase velocities of teleseismic Rayleigh waves have been measured in the central North Atlantic on both sides of the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge (AGR) by means of a specially designed long-period station network. The dispersion data obtained were regionalized and then subjected to a “hedgehog” inversion, which gives a set of upper mantle models compatible with the observational data within specified error bounds.Reasonable model solutions were selected by using regional body-wave observations, such as P_n- and S_n-wave velocities determined from earthquakes along the AGR. The S_(itn) velocities measured indicate that the shear-wave velocity in the mantle part of the lithosphere is much higher on the northern side of the AGR. Strongly negative P-wave residuals in this area indicate faster seismic propagation than implied by the Jeffreys-Bullen travel-time tables, while propagation is much slower in the Gulf of Cadiz area. Furthermore the residuals show a clear difference for paths through oceanic and continental domains and suggest that the transition between these two domains extends much further into the ocean on the southern side of the AGR than on the northern side.The proposed model for the structure of the upper mantle in that region shows that there exists a pronounced velocity contrast across the AGR. Thickening of the lithospheric plate with increasing plate age is indicated to the south of the ridge. The greatest thickness is reached close to the continental margin within a zone about 500 km wide, whose velocity close to the Canary Islands and Madeira is significantly lower, probably due to the well-known volcanic activity there. These observations together with the travel time residuals reveal that this zone seems to be of a transitional nature somewhere between a continental and oceanic structure.     

Crustal structure beneath Spain from deep seismic sounding experiments

Major tectonic units of Spain have been investigated by deep seismic sounding experiments since 1974 to determine crustal structures and to delineate their differences. These areas are the central part of the Hercynian Meseta, and the Alpine chains: the Betic Cordillera in the south, including the Balearic promontory and the Alboran Sea, and the Pyrenees in the north.The main features of the crust and the upper mantle along a NNE-SSW cross-section from the Pyrenees to the Alboran Sea are described.The crust under the Meseta is typical of Hercynian areas found elsewhere in Europe, with an average thickness of 31 km, whereas the two Alpine regions are characterized by very large lateral inhomogeneities, such as rapid thickening of the crust to 50 and 40 km under the Pyrenees and the Betics, respectively. The deep-reaching E-W-trending North Pyrenean fault has a throw of 10–15 km at the base of the crust. A P_n velocity of 8.1 km s^?1 is found under the entire Iberian Peninsula.In the Alboran Sea, strongly varying thicknesses of sediments, shallow variable depths to the Moho (～ 13 km under the Alboran ridge), and strong variations of P_n velocity between 7.5 and 8.2 km s^?1 have been found.     

Reconstructions of spring/summer precipitation for the Eastern Mediterranean from tree-ring widths and its connection to large-scale atmospheric circulation

This study represents the first large-scale systematic dendroclimatic sampling focused on developing chronologies from different species in the eastern Mediterranean region. Six reconstructions were developed from chronologies ranging in length from 115 years to 600 years. The first reconstruction (1885–2000) was derived from principal components (PCs) of 36 combined chronologies. The remaining five, 1800–2000, 1700–2000, 1600–2000, 1500–2000 and 1400–2000 were developed from PCs of 32, 18, 14, 9, and 7 chronologies, respectively. Calibration and verification statistics for the period 1931–2000 show good levels of skill for all reconstructions. The longest period of consecutive dry years, defined as those with less than 90% of the mean of the observed May–August precipitation, was 5 years (1591–1595) and occurred only once during the last 600 years. The longest reconstructed wet period was 5 years (1601–1605 and 1751–1755). No long term trends were found in May–August precipitation during the last few centuries. Regression maps are used to identify the influence of large-scale atmospheric circulation on regional precipitation. In general, tree-ring indices are influenced by May–August precipitation, which is driven by anomalous below (above) normal pressure at all atmospheric levels and by convection (subsidence) and small pressure gradients at sea level. These atmospheric conditions also control the anomaly surface air temperature distribution which indicates below (above) normal values in the southern regions and warmer (cooler) conditions north of around 40°N. A compositing technique is used to extract information on large-scale climate signals from extreme wet and dry summers for the second half of the twentieth century and an independent reconstruction over the last 237 years. Similar main modes of atmospheric patterns and surface air temperature distribution related to extreme dry and wet summers were identified both for the most recent 50 years and the last 237 years. Except for the last few decades, running correlation analyses between the major European-scale circulation patterns and eastern Mediteranean spring/summer precipitation over the last 237 years are non-stationary and insignificant, suggesting that local and/or sub-regional geographic factors and processes are important influences on tree-ring variability over the last few centuries.