The Subtropical Convergence east of New Zealand

Hydrographic data from the region of the Subtropical Convergence east of New Zealand between 177°E and 179°E show that in spring the convergence occurs near the Chatham Rise. North of the Chatham Rise the structure is fairly regular with isolines of temperature and salinity sloping upwards towards the south. To the south of the Chatham Rise the structure is more complex with an apparent intrusion of Subtropical Water into the Sub‐antarctic Water below depths of about 150 m.     

DXL: a sounding rocket mission for the study of solar wind charge exchange and local hot bubble X-ray emission

The Diffuse X-rays from the Local galaxy (DXL) mission is an approved sounding rocket project with a first launch scheduled around December 2012. Its goal is to identify and separate the X-ray emission generated by solar wind charge exchange from that of the local hot bubble to improve our understanding of both. With 1,000 cm² proportional counters and grasp of about 10 cm² sr both in the 1/4 and 3/4 keV bands, DXL will achieve in a 5-min flight what cannot be achieved by current and future X-ray satellites.     

Iron oxides in comet 81P/Wild 2

Abstract– We have used synchrotron Fe‐XANES, XRS, microRaman, and SEM‐TEM analyses of Stardust track 41 slice and track 121 terminal area slices to identify Fe oxide (magnetite‐hematite and amorphous oxide), Fe‐Ti oxide, and V‐rich chromite (Fe‐Cr‐V‐Ti‐Mn oxide) grains ranging in size from 200 nm to ～10 μm. They co‐exist with relict FeNi metal. Both Fe‐XANES and microRaman analyses suggest that the FeNi metal and magnetite (Fe₂O₃FeO) also contain some hematite (Fe₂O₃). The FeNi has been partially oxidized (probably during capture), but on the basis of our experimental work with a light‐gas gun and microRaman analyses, we believe that some of the magnetite‐hematite mixtures may have originated on Wild 2. The terminal samples from track 121 also contain traces of sulfide and Mg‐rich silicate minerals. Our results show an unequilibrated mixture of reduced and oxidized Fe‐bearing minerals in the Wild 2 samples in an analogous way to mineral assemblages seen in carbonaceous chondrites and interplanetary dust particles. The samples contain some evidence for terrestrial contamination, for example, occasional Zn‐bearing grains and amorphous Fe oxide in track 121 for which evidence of a cometary origin is lacking.     

Simultaneous horizontal and vertical acoustic sounding of the atmospheric boundary layer

Some preliminary results from a series of experiments of simultaneous horizontal and vertical acoustic sounding of the atmosphere are described and discussed. The novel horizontal configuration offers some potential for investigating thermal plume motion and characteristics within the boundary layer. It could also be of use in assessing the importance of excess attenuation in quantitative acoustic sounding.     

Effect of climate change on corrosion rates of structures in Australia

As structures built now will be expected to last well past 2064 (50 years) it is vital that the effect of climate change be considered in their design and material selection. In particular changes in the rate of corrosion of metal components must be considered. To this end this study estimates the maximum likely change in the corrosion rate for the year 2070 so it can be included in current design. Changes in corrosion are estimated for 11 coastal and inland locations in Australia. For each station the climatic data (3-hourly) in 2070 is estimated by modifying current data with probable changes based on two climate change models (CSIRO: CSIRO-Mk 3.5 and MRI: MRI-CGCM 3.2.2). The former is for high global warming rate and the later the A1FI scenario. This climatic data is then run the Corrosion “predictor” (a multi-scale process model) to predict corrosion at each location. It is found that significant changes occur with corrosion in coastal locations increasing substantially, in contrast the corrosion at inland locations will decrease moderately. The increase in coastal locations is associated with a greater build up of salt due to less frequent rain evens while the reduction in inland locations is associated with a reduction in RH and thus surface wetness.     

A computational chemical study of penetration and displacement of water films near mineral surfaces

A series of molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on organic–water mixtures near mineral surfaces. These simulations show that, in contrast to apolar compounds, small polar organic compounds such as phenols can penetrate through thin water films to adsorb on these mineral surfaces. Furthermore, additional simulations involving demixing of an organic–water mixture near a surfactant-covered mineral surface demonstrate that even low concentrations of adsorbed polar compounds can induce major changes in mineral surface wettability, allowing sorption of apolar molecules. This strongly supports a two-stage adsorption mechanism for organic solutes, involving initial migration of small polar organic molecules to the mineral surface followed by water film displacement due to co-adsorption of the more apolar organic compounds, thus converting an initial water-wet mineral system to an organic-covered surface. This has profound implications for studies of petroleum reservoir diagenesis and wettability changes.