HiRISE observations of gas sublimation-driven activity in Mars’ southern polar regions: III. Models of processes involving translucent ice

Enigmatic surface features, known as ‘spiders’, found at high southern martian latitudes, are probably caused by sublimation-driven erosion under the seasonal carbon dioxide ice cap. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) has imaged this terrain in unprecedented details throughout southern spring. It has been postulated [Kieffer, H.H., Titus, T.N., Mullins, K.F., Christensen, P.R., 2000. J. Geophys. Res. 105, 9653-9700] that translucent CO₂ slab ice traps gas sublimating at the ice surface boundary. Wherever the pressure is released the escaping gas jet entrains loose surface material and carries it to the top of the ice where it is carried downslope and/or downwind and deposited in a fan shape. Here we model two stages of this scenario: first, the cleaning of CO₂ slab ice from dust, and then, the breaking of the slab ice plate under the pressure built below it by subliming ice. Our modeling results and analysis of HiRISE images support the gas jet hypothesis and show that outbursts happen very early in spring.     

The effects of deforestation on slope and channel evolution in the tectonically active Darjeeling Himalaya

The main indicators of Quaternary tectonic uplift are the young mountain slopes of the Darjeeling Himalaya, rising straight above the Ganga–Brahmaputra foredeep, fragments of uplifted river terraces and fresh fault scarps. Evidence for the continuation of the uplift includes downcutting of the Tista and other straight rivers in the bedrock, continuing aggradation in the plains and overriding of the metamorphic rocks on the alluvia. Owing to deforestation and extensive land use, the earlier natural tendency of a dominance of channel incision over slope degradation has changed to prevailing aggradation, even in steep valley reaches, caused by intensive slope mass movements and the overloading of the mountain creeks. Aggradation progresses upstream along the rivers dissecting the mountain front.     

Nonlinearity of Nonradial Modes in Evolved Stars

We show that in evolved stars, even at relatively low surfaceamplitudes, nonradial modes become strongly nonlinear in thehydrogen shell source, where the Brunt-Väisälä frequency hasits absolute maximum. The measure of nonlinearity is the productof horizontal displacement times the radial wavenumber, . It becomes large already in evolved -Scuti stars.This nonlinearity presents a major problem for interpretations ofamplitude modulation in RR Lyrae stars in terms of nonradial modeexcitation.     

The progression of flow rates in variable declining rate filter systems

It has been demonstrated that the mathematical model of variable declining rate filters developed by Di Bernardo may be described by (z + 1) non‐linear equations, where z is the number of filters in a bank. Three approximate solutions to this system of equations have been developed and then verified by comparison with numerical solution and published experimental data. Two of these solutions appeared to be very accurate, while the third showed higher, but still acceptable errors of calculation. According to this approximation, flow rates through filters are elements of a geometric progression.     

Filtrate Quality from Different Filter Operations

A brief review of the literature on filtrate quality obtained in constant and variable declining rate operation systems is presented, with the general conclusion that both systems usually produce filtrate of similar quality, assuming the flow‐rate controllers in the constant flow rate system operate properly. A mathematical model of CR (constant rate) filters and VDR (variable declining rate) filters based on the model by Mackie and Zhao (1999) has been described and used to investigate filtrate quality under different operating conditions. A similar quality of filtrate was achieved in computations carried out for both modes of operation, while the total head loss was much lower in the VDR mode. For the same time of filter runs slightly better filtration quality resulted from CR operation, but for different filter runs resulting from the same head loss of flow just before a backwash, the VDR control system produced lower turbidity filtrate.     

Origin and post-glacial evolution of surface cracks: A case study from the area of the Last Glaciation,north-eastern Poland

The analysis of LiDAR-based digital elevation models revealed the existence of groups of longitudinal fractures in the ground in northern Poland at the limit of the ice sheet's extent during its last maximum. Our research on the closed elongated depressions (CEDs) of the Jedwabno test field (Szuć site, north-east Poland) focuses on explaining their origins and their post-glacial history. This region was covered by an ice sheet and glacitectonically active during the Vistulian, and at least some surface fractures are possible witnesses to this activity. Using geomorphological mapping, sedimentological and geophysical research, we assumed it was related that the origin of these features here is associated with groundwater migration at the end of the Vistulian glaciation or later when groundwater flow intensified due to a rapid climate warming that caused permafrost to melt. The thawing of permafrost caused to transition from continuous permafrost to discontinuous, which in turn created groundwater flow that was probably responsible for the development of the surface cracks (fractures). Radiocarbon, palaeobiological (pollen, Cladocera) and geochemical studies allowed for an estimation of the formation time of these unique surface cracks in the Older Dryas. Prevailing conditions were also reconstructed for the later dynamic changes of the end of the Late Vistulian glaciation and in the Late Holocene until the Subatlantic Period (Megalayan stage). The surface cracks with steep slopes, despite their small area, are extraordinary sedimentation traps that have, in a special way, retained an almost complete record of the environmental and climate changes of the Late Glacial. There are sedimentological gaps in the Holocene, especially after the Preboreal (old part of the Greenlandian Stage), caused by changes in water levels, aeolian processes and human activity.     

3D bearing capacity probabilistic analyses of footings on spatially variable c–φ soil

Acta Geotechnica - The paper examines three-dimensional (3D) analyses of the load bearing capacity of square and strip footings on a spatially variable cohesive–frictional (c–φ)...     

Textural properties vs. CEC and EGME retention of Na–X zeolite prepared from fly ash at room temperature

Zeolite Na–X (FAU type) was synthesized from F-class fly ash in simple and economical way. Several months of storage of fly ash in NaOH solution, at room temperature, without any prior treatment, results in the production of material with ca. 50% content of Na–X zeolite. The most efficient reaction takes place at (OH)⁻ activity of 0.1–0.15 mol (OH)⁻/g of ash and at S/L ratio of 33 to 67 g/dm³. Higher S/L value causes an accelerating dissolution–crystallization equilibrium attainment. Cl⁻ ion acts as the inhibitor of this reaction.