40Ar/39Ar age of material returned from asteroid 25143 Itokawa

The Hayabusa mission to asteroid 25143, Itokawa, brought back 2000 small particles, which most closely resemble material found in LL4‐6 chondrites. We report an ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 1.3 ± 0.3 Ga for a sample of Itokawa consisting of three grains with a total mass of ~2 μg. This age is lower than the >4.0 Ga ages measured for 75% of LL chondrites but close to one for Y‐790964 and its pairs. The flat ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar release spectrum of the sample suggests complete degassing 1.3 Ga ago. Recent solar heating in Itokawa's current orbit does not appear likely to have reset that age. Solar or impact heating 1.3 Ga ago could have done so. If impact heating was responsible, then the 1.3 Ga age sets an upper bound on the time at which the Itokawa rubble pile was assembled and suggests that rubble pile creation was an ongoing process in the inner solar system for at least the first 3 billion years of solar system history.     

A simple method for locating the fresh water-salt water interface using pressure data

Salt water intrusion is a key issue in dealing with exploitation, restoration, and management of fresh ground water in coastal aquifers. Constant monitoring of the fresh water-salt water interface is necessary for proper management of ground water resources. This study presents a simple method to estimate the depth of the fresh water-salt water interface in coastal aquifers using two sets of pressure data obtained from the fresh and saline zones within a single borehole. This method uses the density difference between fresh water and saline water and can practically be used at coastal aquifers that have a relatively sharp fresh water-salt water interface with a thin transition zone. The proposed method was applied to data collected from a coastal aquifer on Jeju Island, Korea, to estimate the variations in the depth of the interface. The interface varied with daily tidal fluctuations and heavy rainfall in the rainy season. The estimated depth of the interface showed a good agreement with the measured electrical conductivity profile.     

Analysis of satellite and model datasets for variability and trends in Arctic snow extent and depth, 1948–2006

This study aims to investigate the spatiotemporal trends in snow depth (SD) and snow cover extent (SCE) for Arctic lands, excluding Greenland, for the period 1948–2006. The investigation not only delineates how the Arctic regions are manifesting significant annual trends in both SD and SCE, but also provides a comprehensive understanding of their historical context. To achieve these objectives, the combined resources of the hydrological and biogeochemical model (CHANGE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weekly SCE data, and in situ observations of SD were used. Most regions in the Arctic exhibited a significant negative trend in SD over the 59 years of study. The magnitude of the negative trend was stronger in North America than in Eurasia, where the decrease became more significant, starting from the late 1980s, coinciding well with the temperature rise during that time. During the same period, the warming temperature caused a prominent decrease in deeper SDs (i.e., >35 cm), so that the corresponding SCEs exhibited negative anomalies, with the greatest declines being observed at SDs > 55 cm. In contrast, the SCEs for SD ≤ 35 cm showed increased anomalies during the most recent two decades. The increased anomalies signify a sequential result induced by the decrease in the SCEs with deeper SDs, rather than the expansion of snow to snow-free regions. These changes resulted in a northward shift of the shallow SD line, which took place to a highly significant degree in North America. These results suggest that the Arctic SCE and SD will undergo more intense changes in response to the future climate warming.     

Calibration of radar reflectivity measurements from the KMA operational radar network

A systematic procedure for calibrating system gain bias (so-called “calibration error”) of radar reflectivity measurements from the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) operational radar network is presented. First, the RJNI radar located at Jindo Island is calibrated by comparing with radar reflectivities simulated theoretically by a scattering algorithm using drop spectra collected by a disdrometer from June 19 to 29, 2009. Once the RJNI radar is calibrated, the reflectivity measurements from nearby radars are compared with the RJNI radar reflectivities to determine existing gain biases of nearby radars. This radar-radar calibration procedure was repeated with the other radars within the network. For isolating a system gain bias, echoes affected by partial beam blockage due to ground clutter and by attenuation due to precipitation were removed. The system gain biases of the RJNI and RPSN radars were ?3 and ?4.2 dB, respectively, during the experimental period. The RBRI and RDNH radars revealed relatively large biases, above ?8 dB. The other radars (RKSN, RGSN, RSSP, RKWK, RGDK, RIIA, and RMYN) revealed biases from ?6 to ?7 dB. Thus, the reflectivity measurements from all of the KMA radars were severely biased. New R-Z relations of R = 3.350 × 10^?2Z^0.624 (Z = 231.1R ^1.6) for stratiform and R=1.546 × 10^?2 Z ^0.714 (Z = 342.4R ^1.4) for convective precipitations were derived using disdrometer data. Using these R-Z relations, the radar-derived total rainfall amounts from the reflectivity measurements without calibration produced significant underestimations, compared to gauge measurements at about 80 sites, with a normalized bias of about ?56%. On the other hand, after calibrating the above system biases, the radar-derived rainfall amounts corresponded well with the gauge measurements, with a normalized bias of about ?3%. In conclusions, the radar reflectivity measurements from the KMA radar network are severely biased and the procedure presented in this study can be used to resolve the system gain biases.     

Feasibility of an infrared parallax program using the Fan Mountain Tinsley reflector

Despite the continuing importance of ground-based parallax measurements, few active programs remain. Because new members of the solar neighborhood tend towards later spectral types, infrared parallax programs are particularly desirable. Therefore, the astrometric quality of the new infrared camera, FanCam, developed by the Virginia Astronomical Instrumentation Laboratory (VAIL) for the 31-in. (0.8 m) Tinsley reflector at Fan Mountain Observatory was assessed using 68 J-band exposures of an open cluster, NGC 2420, over a range of hour angles during 2005. Positions of 16 astrometric evaluation stars were measured and the repeatability of those positions was evaluated using the mean error in a single observation of unit weight. Overall, a precision of 1.3 ± 0.7 μm in x (RA) and 1.3 ± 0.8 μm in y (Dec) was attained, which corresponds to 0.04″ ± 0.02″ in each axis. Although greater precision is expected from CCDs in the visual and near-infrared, this instrument can achieve precision similar to that of the ESO NTT infrared parallax program. Therefore, measuring parallaxes in the infrared would be feasible using this equipment. If initiated, such a program could provide essential distances for brown dwarfs and very low mass stars that would contribute significantly to the solar neighborhood census.     

Application of the geomechanical facies approach and comparison of exploration and evaluation methods used at Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and Spa Urach (Germany) geothermal sites

Earth-reservoirs are increasingly exploited today with the extraction of resources, such as heat and hydrocarbons, and the large-scale emplacement of waste, such as CO₂ sequestration. The characterization, site investigation, predictive modeling and long-term monitoring are dependent on the processes being investigated and modeled. In most cases complex coupled processes have to be addressed in a geologically complex rock mass system. In this paper we present a conceptual holistic framework known as geomechanical facies linking all the scales of investigation, characterization and reservoir development methods. We demonstrate this concept on the work undertaken during the design and development of the enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) systems at the forefront of European Hot-Dry-Rock (HDR) technology, Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and Spa Urach (Germany). Soultz-sous-Forêts is situated within granitic rocks and an active tectonic graben system in the central part of the Rhine Graben. It presents conditions of lithology, temperature, stress, hydraulics and geochemistry that are very different from those at Spa Urach, located in a very dense gneiss formation in the South German crystalline complex. Spa Urach exhibits more elastic behavior and is set tectonically within an almost inactive strike-slip stress field described in more detail in Sects. “Drill core analysis” and “Hydraulic stimulation at Spa Urach”. This paper compares the exploration and field development methods used at these two sites against the back drop of the geomechanical facies concept. Issues addressed include the key parameters for flow and heat transport properties, coupled hydro-mechanical process identification, the success of the HDR reservoir as a heat exchanger and exploration techniques applicable to the different facies. Identification of the key geomechanical facies gives an indication as to which technologies will prove more efficient in the application of HDR technology. The results of this study will hopefully help in developing heat recovery schemes for the long-term economical operation of future HDR plants and EGS as well as assist in the understanding of engineered geosystems.     

Hydrogeochemistry and environmental isotopes of ground water in Jeju volcanic island,Korea: implications for nitrate contamination

Ground water from springs and public supply wells was investigated for hydrochemistry and environmental isotopes of ³H, ¹⁸O and D in Jeju volcanic island, Korea. The wells are completed in a basaltic aquifer and the upper part of hydrovolcanic sedimentary formation. Nitrate contamination is conspicuous in the coastal area where most of the samples have nitrate concentrations well above 1 mg NO₃ N/l. Agricultural land use seems to have a strong influence on the distribution of nitrate in ground water. Comparison of stable isotopic compositions of precipitation and ground water show that ground water mostly originates from rainy season precipitation without significant secondary modification and that local recharge is dominant. ³H concentration of ground water ranged from nearly zero to 5 TU and is poorly correlated with vertical location of well screens. The occurrence of the ³H‐free, old ground water is due to the presence of low permeability layers near the boundary of the basaltic aquifer and the hydrovolcanic sedimentary formation, which significantly limits ground water flow from the upper basaltic aquifer. The old ground water exhibited background‐level nitrate concentrations despite high nitrate loadings, whereas young ground water had considerably higher nitrate concentrations. This correlation of ³H and nitrate concentration may be ascribed to the history of fertilizer use that has increased dramatically since the early 1960s in the island. This suggests that ³H can be used as a qualitative indicator for aquifer vulnerability to nitrate contamination. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Empirical distributions of galactic λ spin parameters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Using simple dimensional arguments for both spiral and elliptical galaxies, we present formulae to derive an estimate of the halo spin parameter λ for any real galaxy, in terms of common observational parameters. This allows a rough estimate of λ, which we apply to a large volume-limited sample of galaxies taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data base. The large numbers involved (11 597) allow the derivation of reliable λ distributions, as signal adds up significantly in spite of the errors in the inferences for particular galaxies. We find that if the observed distribution of λ is modelled with a lognormal function, as often done for this distribution in dark matter haloes that appear in cosmological simulations, we obtain parameters  λ₀= 0.04 ± 0.005  and  σ_λ= 0.51 ± 0.05  , interestingly consistent with values derived from simulations. For spirals, we find a good correlation between empirical values of λ and visually assigned Hubble types, highlighting the potential of this physical parameter as an objective classification tool.     

Development of a probabilistic approach for rock wedge failure

For rock slope engineering, uncertainty and variability are inherent in data collected on orientation and strength of discontinuities, yielding a range of results. Unfortunately, conventional deterministic analysis based on the factor of safety concept, requires a fixed representative value for each parameter without regard to the degree of uncertainty involved. Therefore, the deterministic analysis fails to properly represent uncertainty and variability, so common in engineering geology studies. To overcome this shortcoming, the probabilistic analysis method was proposed and used for more than a decade in rock slope stability analysis. However, most probabilistic analyses included a deterministic model as part of the analysis procedure causing subsequent problems, which went uncorrected. The objectives of this paper are to develop a solution for these difficulties in probabilistic analyses and to propose an appropriate simulation procedure for the probabilistic analysis of rock wedge failures. As part of the solution, probability of kinematic instability and probability of kinetic instability are evaluated separately to provide a proper, combined evaluation for failure probability. To evaluate the feasibility of this new probabilistic approach, the procedure is applied to a practical example, a major, highway rock cut in North Carolina, USA. Results of the probabilistic approach are compared to those of the deterministic analysis; findings are significantly different, indicating that the deterministic analysis does not depict rock slope variations, particularly where significant scatter in parameter data occurs.