Periodic solar EUV flux monitored near Venus

A detector sharing the orbital rate of Venus has a unique perspective on solar periodicities. Fourier analysis of the 8.6 year record of solar EUV output gathered by the Langmuir probe on Pioneer Venus Orbiter shows the influences of global oscillation modes located in the convective envelope and in the radiative interior. Seven of the eight lowest angular harmonic r-mode families are detected by their rotation rates which differ almost unmeasurably from ideal theoretical values. This determines a mean sidereal rotation rate for the envelope of 457.9 ± 2.0 nHz which corresponds to a period of 25.3 days. Many frequencies are aliased at ± 106 nHz by modulation from the lowest angular harmonic r-mode in the envelope. The rotation of this mode seems slightly retrograde, -1.5 ± 2.0 nHz, but small positive values are not excluded. We confirm that the rotation of the radiative interior, 381 nHz, is slower than the envelope by detecting g-mode frequencies for angular harmonics, 2 l 6, and a possible first detection of the rotation rate for the l = 1 case. Solar EUV lacks the sudden darkenings (dips) shown by visible irradiance; vortex cores in the photosphere and below are again suggested as a possible explanation.     

Non-divergent oscillations in the solar atmosphere

Non-divergent oscillations having the form of deep water waves are shown to form normal modes or free oscillations of the solar atmosphere under two approximations: the chromosphere-coronal interface behaves like a free surface, and the density scale height is sufficiently large in the convective zone. These modes show the temporal and spatial characteristics of the 300 second chromospheric oscillations.     

Compression of ephemerides

Approximations in the normL ₁ by Chebyshev polynomials are generated to represent astronomical ephemerides over large intervals of time.     

Lamé functions of the first kind generated by computer

The definitions of the Lamé functions and the ellipsoidal coordinates inherent to them are introduced. Proceeding from Lamé's differential equation the four classes of Lamé functions of the first kind are generated by computer with the aid of formula manipulation techniques. For this purpose algebraic expressions for the coefficients in the Lamé polynomials are constructed by virtue of recurrence formulae and presented in tabular as well as machine readable form for further processing. The determination of a parameter appearing in the polynomial coefficients leads to an algebraic eigenvalue problem. It is shown how this eigenvalue problem is amenable to numerical treatment. The polynomial coefficients together with the eigenvalues are characteristic for the Lamé functions and define them completely.     

Complex formation in the ternary system Mg(II)-CO2-H2O

The carbonato and hydrogencarbonato complexes of Mg²⁺ were investigated at 25 and 50° in solutions of the constant ClO₄^? molality (3 M) consisting preponderantly of NaClO₄. The experimental data could be explained assuming the following equilibria: Mg²⁺ + CO_2B + H₂O ag MgHCO⁺₃ + H⁺, $\text{log}{}^1\text{β}{}_1\text{= ?7.64}{}_4\text{± 0.01}{}_7\text{(25°), ?7.46}{}_2\text{± 0.01}{}_1\text{(50°)}$, Mg²⁺ + 2 CO_2g + 2 H₂Oag Mg(HCO₃)⁰₂ ± 2 H⁺, $\text{log}{}^1\text{β}{}_2\text{= ?15.00 ± 0.14 (25°)}$, ?15.37 ± 0.39 (50°), Mg²⁺ + CO_2g + H₂Oag MgCO⁰₃ + 2 H⁺, $\text{log}{}^1\text{k}{}_1\text{= ?15.64 ± 0.06 (25°)}$,?15.23 ± 0.02 (50°), with the assumption γ_MgCO3⁰ = γ_Mg(HCO3)⁰2, ΔG⁰(I = 0) for the reaction MgCO⁰₃ + CO_2g + H₂O = Mg(HCO₃)⁰₂ was estimated to be ?3.9₁ ± 0.8₆ and 0.6 ± 2.4 kJ/mol at 25 and 50°C, respectively. The abundance of carbonate linked Mg(II) species in fresh water systems is discussed.     

Association of spherical and ellipsoidal gravity coefficients of the Earth's potential

A comparison is drawn between the expansion of the potential in spherical harmonics on the one hand and in ellipsoidal harmonics on the other, with the objective of associating the spherical and ellipsoidal gravity coefficients of the Earth's potential.For this purpose the properties of orthogonality of the Lamé functions of the first kind have been tailored to this subject of investigation and become instrumental in establishing the mathematical expressions which relate the two classes of gravity coefficients to each other. In deriving the elements of the transition matrices elliptic integrals have been encountered whose reduction to the three kinds of canonical elliptic integrals is discussed.Presented at the Conference on Celestial Mechanics, Oberwolfach, Germany, August 17–23, 1969.     

Evidence for climatic variability and its impact on human development during the Neolithic from Loughmeenaghan,County Sligo,Ireland

High‐resolution pollen and geochemical analyses conducted on a sediment profile from a small lake in County Sligo, Ireland, revealed that human development during the Neolithic was influenced by pronounced climatic oscillations. The primeval woodland around the lake experienced a considerable transformation coinciding with the elm decline at 3810 BC. The subsequent increase in summer temperatures and decrease in precipitation favoured wheat cultivation in the lake's catchment area, which was practised for approximately 140 years. A shift towards pastoral farming took place with the establishment of exceptionally dry conditions between 3650 and 3560 BC, when lake level and influx of allochthonous material were notably low. The onset of cool and wet conditions at the transition from the Early to Middle Neolithic possibly caused the initial decline of human activity in the area. Periods of particularly high precipitation during the Middle and early Late Neolithic contributed to the abandonment of the area by the first farmers. Comparison of the proxy record from the study site with other palynological and archaeological records from Ireland suggests that climatic variability on the decadal to centennial scale represented a primary control on the nature and duration of farming practices during the Neolithic. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nachweis der allgemeinen Gültigkeit des Gefrierkernspektrums

Zusammenfassung Durch weitere experimentelle Untersuchungen wird festgestellt, dass das an destillierten Wassertropfen ermittelte Gefrierkernspektrum von speziellen Versuchsbedingungen unabhängig ist und auch für Wasserarten mit verschiedenen natürlichen oder künstlichen Verunreinigungen gilt. Es kann ausserdem in allen bisher im Laboratorium und in der Atmosphäre durchgeführten Untersuchungen über die Eiskeimbildung nachgewiesen werden. Dieser Befund stützt als notwendige Bedingung die Deutung des Gefrierkernspektrums durch Strukturänderungen des Wassers und besagt, dass im Laboratorium und in der Atmosphäre dieselben Gefrierkerne vorhanden sind und dass bei der atmosphärischen Eiskeimbildung auch nur die aus Untersuchungen im Laboratorium bekannten Besonderheiten des Gefrieveorgangs (im unterkühlten Wasser) vorliegen.

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Summary Further experimental investigations demonstrate the «Gefrierkernspektrum», which was found for droplets from destilled water, to be independent from special experimental conditions and valid for sorts of water containing natural or artificial impurities, too. Furthermore it can be pointed out from all existing investigations on ice-nucleation, made in laboratory and in the atmosphere. This result supports, as a necessary condition, the interpretation of the «Gefrierkernspektrum» by means of changes in the structure of water itself and proves, that there are the same freezing nuclei both in the laboratory and the fre atmosphere and that ice-nucleation in the atmosphere holds but the same peculiarities of freezing (of supercooled water), known from laboratory work.