Nature of the small main belt Asteroid 3169 Ostro

We present a set of rotational lightcurve measurements of the small main belt Asteroid 3169 Ostro. Our observations reveal an unambiguous, double-peaked rotational lightcurve with a peak-to-peak variation up to 1.2±0.05 mag and a synodic period of 6.509±0.001 h. From the large flux variation and the overall shape of the lightcurves, we suggest that 3169 Ostro could be a tightly bound binary or a contact binary, similar to the Trojan Asteroid 624 Hektor. A shape model of this system is proposed on the assumption that 3169 Ostro is a Roche binary described by a pair of homogeneous elongated bodies, with a size ratio of 0.87, in hydrostatic equilibrium and in circular synchronous motion around each other. The direction of the spin axis is determined modulo 180° by its J2000 ecliptic coordinates λ₀=50±10°, β₀=±54±5°. The binary interpretation and the pole solution adequately fit the earlier photometric observations made in 1986 and 1988. However, additional supporting lightcurves are highly desirable especially in the next mutual events occurrence of 2008 and 2009 in order to remove the pole ambiguity and to confirm unambiguously the binary nature of 3169 Ostro.     

Controls on knickpoint migration in a drainage network of the moderately uplifted Ardennes Plateau,Western Europe

Much research has been devoted to the development of numerical models of river incision. In settings where bedrock channel erosion prevails, numerous studies have used field data to calibrate the widely acknowledged stream power model of incision and to discuss the impact of variables that do not appear explicitly in the model's simplest form. However, most studies have been conducted in areas of active tectonics, displaying a clear geomorphic response to the tectonic signal. Here, we analyze the traces left in the drainage network 0.7 My after the Ardennes region (western Europe) underwent a moderate 100–150 m uplift. We identify a set of knickpoints that have traveled far upstream in the Ourthe catchment, following this tectonic perturbation. Using a misfit function based on time residuals, our best fit of the stream power model parameters yields m = 0.75 and K = 4.63 × 10^‐8 m^‐0.5y^‐1. Linear regression of the model time residuals against quantitative expressions of bedrock resistance to erosion shows that this variable does not correlate significantly with the residuals. By contrast, proxies for position in the drainage system prove to be able to explain 76% of the residual variance. High time residuals correlate with knickpoint position in small tributaries located in the downstream part of the Ourthe catchment, where some threshold was reached very early in the catchment's incision history. Removing the knickpoints stopped at such thresholds from the data set, we calculate an improved m = 0.68 and derive a scaling exponent of channel width against drainage area of 0.32, consistent with the average value compiled by Lague for steady state incising bedrock rivers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Global Context of Solar Activity During the Whole Heliosphere Interval Campaign

The Whole Heliosphere Interval (WHI) was an international observing and modeling effort to characterize the 3-D interconnected ??heliophysical?? system during this solar minimum, centered on Carrington Rotation 2068, March 20??C?April 16, 2008. During the latter half of the WHI period, the Sun presented a sunspot-free, deep solar minimum type face. But during the first half of CR 2068 three solar active regions flanked by two opposite-polarity, low-latitude coronal holes were present. These departures from the quiet Sun led to both eruptive activity and solar wind structure. Most of the eruptive activity, i.e., flares, filament eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), occurred during this first, active half of the interval. We determined the source locations of the CMEs and the type of associated region, such as active region, or quiet sun or active region prominence. To analyze the evolution of the events in the context of the global solar magnetic field and its evolution during the three rotations centered on CR 2068, we plotted the CME source locations onto synoptic maps of the photospheric magnetic field, of the magnetic and chromospheric structure, of the white light corona, and of helioseismological subsurface flows. Most of the CME sources were associated with the three dominant active regions on CR 2068, particularly AR 10989. Most of the other sources on all three CRs appear to have been associated with either isolated filaments or filaments in the north polar crown filament channel. Although calculations of the flux balance and helicity of the surface magnetic features did not clearly identify a dominance of one region over the others, helioseismological subsurface flows beneath these active regions did reveal a pronounced difference among them. These preliminary results suggest that the ??twistedness?? (i.e., vorticity and helicity) of subsurface flows and its temporal variation might be related to the CME productivity of active regions, similar to the relationship between flares and subsurface flows.     

Allochthonous and autochthonous organic matter in surface waters in Karelia

A relationship between indirect chemical indices of organic matter content of surface waters and light absorption in the visible and ultraviolet ranges is discussed. The allochthonous and autochthonous types of organic matter are found to essentially differ in the rate of light absorption. Techniques are proposed for the calculation of the concentrations of allochthonous and autochthonous organic matter by the integral rate of light consumption in the visible region and the bichromate oxidability of water, as well as by three indirect indices: chemical oxygen demand, permanganate oxidability, and water color index. The mean concentrations of allochthonous and autochthonous organic matter in large lakes (Ladoga, Onega, and Baikal) and in rivers and smaller water bodies in Karelia (>300 water objects) are analyzed. Allochthonous organic matter was found to predominate in most surface waters of Karelia (>80%), while allochthonous organic matter predominates only in lakes with a small specific catchment area (supposedly, <5) and in highly eutrophic lakes.     

Estimating groundwater recharge for a freshwater lens in an arid region: Formative and stability assessment

The formation of subsurface freshwater lenses on top of brackish groundwater is a fascinating hydrologic phenomenon that creates groundwater supplies of great potential value in arid regions. Information on the recharge quantity and mechanism of these lenses is both scarce and uncertain. This study examines the formation and macroscale stability of the Rawdatain freshwater lens in Kuwait, for which significant pre-development data are available. The Rawdatain is a large (150 million m³) subsurface freshwater lens overlying brackish groundwater compared to the other freshwater lenses in the Arabian Peninsula. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) density-dependent groundwater flow model is tested against the following data targets to estimate long-term diffuse and focused groundwater recharge: (i) groundwater head, (ii) total dissolved solids (TDS) groundwater concentration, (iii) volume and vertical thickness of stored groundwater of three different water quality TDS ranges (0–700, 700–1000 and 1000–2000 mg/L) and (iv) geometrical shape features of the lens along cross-sections. To better represent the spatial variation in TDS, six different recharge zones were assigned to allocate diffuse and focused recharge conditions. Twelve recharge rate scenarios, encompassing a wide range of feasible long-term average annual recharge values (200,000–5,000,000 m³/year), were tested against the multiple targets and compared with the groundwater age of the Rawdatain lens. Based on comparison with data targets, the long-term average annual recharge is estimated to be 500,000 m³/year. Scenarios of reduced recharge, which may occur due to changes in land-use or climate, demonstrate the extremely slow response of the lens, which is in agreement with the slow development and formation of the lens (>2,000 years). Within a 100-year time frame, a 50% reduction in annual recharge reduces the lens volumes by 21, 17 and 9% for the three water quality categories, respectively. This study demonstrates the stability of freshwater lenses in arid regions and also provides methodology for similar focused rainfall recharge freshwater lenses.     

New U–Pb isotopic data for detrital zircons from metasedimentary sequences of northwestern Taimyr

This work presents the U–Pb (LA–ICP–MS) data of detrital zircons from metasedimentary sequences of northwestern Taimyr. An analysis of the youngest populations of detrital zircons testifies to the wide distribution of Cambrian sequences in the study area, but not Precambrian sequences as was considered earlier, and the need for a substantial revision of the stratigraphic scheme of this area. The detrital zircon age distribution shows that the Timan margin of the Baltic paleocontinent was a major provenance area of the Cambrian sediments in northern and northwestern Taimyr, as well as the coeval sediments of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago.     

The spacetime gravitational field of a deformable body

The high-resolution analysis of orbit perturbations of terrestrial artificial satellites has documented that the eigengravitation of a massive body like the Earth changes in time, namely with periodic and aperiodic constituents. For the space-time variation of the gravitational field the action of internal and external volume as well as surface forces on a deformable massive body are responsible. Free of any assumption on the symmetry of the constitution of the deformable body we review the incremental spatial (“Eulerian”) and material (“Lagrangean”) gravitational field equations, in particular the source terms (two constituents: the divergence of the displacement field as well as the projection of the displacement field onto the gradient of the reference mass density function) and the `jump conditions' at the boundary surface of the body as well as at internal interfaces both in linear approximation. A spherical harmonic expansion in terms of multipoles of the incremental Eulerian gravitational potential is presented. Three types of spherical multipoles are identified, namely the dilatation multipoles, the transport displacement multipoles and those multipoles which are generated by mass condensation onto the boundary reference surface or internal interfaces. The degree-one term has been identified as non-zero, thus as a “dipole moment” being responsible for the varying position of the deformable body's mass centre. Finally, for those deformable bodies which enjoy a spherically symmetric constitution, emphasis is on the functional relation between Green functions, namely between Fourier-/ Laplace-transformed volume versus surface Love-Shida functions (h(r),l(r) versus h ^′(r),l ^′(r)) and Love functions k(r) versus k ^′(r). The functional relation is numerically tested for an active tidal force/potential and an active loading force/potential, proving an excellent agreement with experimental results. Received: December 1995 / Accepted: 1 February 1997     

Global travertine deposition modulated by oscillations in climate

Travertine deposits are important records of past fluid flow in the Earth's crust, and document fluid migration through both tectonic activity and changes in climate. While many studies hint at possible relationships between travertine formation and global climate, none have investigated these connections on a global scale. Here we compile 1649 published travertine ages from six continents to test the hypothesis that global and/or regional changes in climate regulate travertine deposition. Peaks in bedded travertine ages occur with main frequencies that correspond to 100‐kyr changes in global climate, where most peaks occur during glacial terminations or interglacial periods, including a large peak that coincides with the Early Holocene climatic optimum. Time–series analysis also suggests a possible connection with 41‐kyr obliquity cycles. At regional scales, many peaks also correspond with local times of high precipitation or wet conditions. This can be attributed to higher groundwater recharge rates, providing the necessary water to form travertine. Many bedded travertine‐depositing systems may therefore be water‐limiting and sufficient CO₂ may be present even during times of no travertine deposition. Exceptions to this conclusion are banded vein travertine deposits, which typically form during times of dry climate when water tables are low. Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.