Tides and Arp's hypothesis about distribution of Hii regions

We discuss Arp's hypothesis that the HII regions are more numerous and more conspicuous on the side of a galaxy facing its companion. Arp's hypothesis seems not to be true if we add to Hodge's sets of galaxies only the most probably tidally-interacting cases.     

The relationship between abundances of meiofauna and their suspected microbial food (diatoms and bacteria)

Samples were taken bi-weekly for one year at a sand site and a mud site in the North Inlet Estuary, Georgetown, South Carolina, for meiofauna, their suspected microbial food (bacteria and diatoms), and associated physical factors. Linear regression techniques were used to correlate food abundance and physical factors with the density of meiofaunal taxa. At both sites diatoms positively correlated with meiofauna taxa, but bacteria did not. Physical factors were not correlated with meiofaunal or microbial abundances at the sand site. Whereas, at the mud site meiofauna and diatom abundances were positively correlated with the depth of the redox layer and inversely correlated with temperature. Peaks of meiofaunal abundance did not follow peaks of food abundance. Analysis of copepods at the species level indicated that taxa response was due to the response of the dominant species. Even though some correlations existed, this study suggests that copepod species and meiofauna at the gross taxonomic level do not respond to changes in potential food abundance. Physical factors apparently influence both meiofauna and diatoms in the same fashion. However, bacterial abundance was not positively correlated with any of the factors studied.     

Geochemistry of groundwater in front of a warm‐based glacier in Southeast Greenland

Groundwater in front of warm‐based glaciers is likely to become a more integrated part of the future proglacial hydrological system at high latitudes due to global warming. Here, we present the first monitoring results of shallow groundwater chemistry and geochemical fingerprinting of glacier meltwater in front of a warm‐based glacier in Southeast Greenland (Mittivakkat Gletscher, 65° 41′ N, 37° 48′ W). The groundwater temperature, electrical conductivity and pressure head were monitored from August 2009 to August 2011, and water samples were collected in 2009 and analyzed for major ions and water isotopes (δD, δ¹⁸O). The 2 yrs of monitoring revealed that major outbursts of glacier water during the ablation season flushed the proglacial aquifer and determined the groundwater quality for the next 2–8 weeks until stable chemical conditions were reached again. Water isotope composition shows that isotopic fractionation occurs in both groundwater and glacier meltwater, but fractionation due to evaporation from near‐surface soil moisture prior to infiltration has the most significant effect. This study shows that groundwater in Low Arctic Greenland is likely to possess a combined geochemical and isotopic composition, which is distinguishable from other water sources in the proglacial environment. However, the shallow groundwater composition at a given time is highly dependent on major outbursts of glacier water in the previous months.     

The particle background of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">X-IFU</Emphasis> instrument

In this paper we are going to review the latest estimates for the particle background expected on the X-IFU instrument onboard of the ATHENA mission. The particle background is induced by two different particle populations: the so called “soft protons” and the Cosmic rays. The first component is composed of low energy particles (< 100s keV) that get funnelled by the mirrors towards the focal plane, losing part of their energy inside the filters and inducing background counts inside the instrument sensitivity band. The latter component is induced by high energy particles (> 100 MeV) that possess enough energy to cross the spacecraft and reach the detector from any direction, depositing a small fraction of their energy inside the instrument. Both these components are estimated using Monte Carlo simulations and the latest results are presented here.     

Contribution of non-pollen palynomorphs to the paleolimnological study of a high-altitude Andean lake (Laguna Verde Alta,Venezuela)

This paper evaluates the potential usefulness of non-pollen palynomorphs or NPPs (microfossils other than pollen and spores present in palynological preparations) contained in lake sediments in the paleolimnological reconstruction of high altitude environments (>4,000 m) from the Venezuelan Andes. A synthetic, quantitative approach is employed, instead of the classical analytical and mostly qualitative approach commonly used so far for NPPs. The main sources of variation are the Pediastrum–Botryococcus alternation and the relationship between these two algae and animal remains such as Acari legs, postabdomina of Cladocera, mandibles of other invertebrates, and an unknown type called LVA-1. Other significant microfossils are remains of Rivularia-type and turbellarian oocytes, including Gyratrix. The sequence initiates around 15,000 calibrated years before present (cal BP) with the deglaciation of the lake catchment, high water levels and still cold climates. A phase of lower lake levels was recorded between about 12,000 and 6,000 cal BP. Temperatures increased by around 9,000 and 7,000 cal BP, and then decreased until 6,000 cal BP. Since that time, both lake levels and temperature increased again and stabilized at about 4,000 cal BP, when they reach modern-like values. These results show a good agreement with previous studies based on pollen, diatom and oxygen isotope analyses, and provide additional paleoecological information, as for example the possibility of a previously unrecorded Younger Dryas signal. The inclusion of quantitative NPP analysis in routine paleolimnological studies using synthetic methods is thus recommended. Possible future improvements are suggested, mainly those related with the development and use of NPP modern analogs.     

Possibilities and limits of prospective GIS land cover modelling—a compared case study: Garrotxes (France) and Alta Alpujarra Granadina (Spain)

This study focuses on the possibilities and the limits of a prospective GIS land cover modelling applied to two case studies (France and Spain). The methodology, based on available GIS tools, consists of using earlier land cover maps and relevant environmental factors (calibration data) to model actual, known land cover to validate the model. The model aggregates Markov chain analysis for time prediction and multi‐critera evaluation, multi‐objective evaluation and cellular automata to perform spatial contiguity of modelled land cover scores. The first results give an accurate, pixel by pixel prediction rate of approximately 75%. An important issue of this study consists of analysing prediction residues to improve the model.     

A Late Tournaisian synmetamorphic folding and thrusting event in the eastern Variscan foreland: 40Ar/39Ar evidence from the phyllites of the Wolsztyn–Leszno High,western Poland

A Variscan foreland in western Poland comprises two NW-trending basement highs, which are concealed under Carboniferous through Triassic strata of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline (FSM). Both highs consist of multiply deformed quartz-sericite - albite - chlorite phyllites of unknown protolith age. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar laser probe dating of white micas in up to 0.5-mm-thick mica layers, which form the S₂ axial-plane foliation in phyllites of the Wolsztyn-Leszno High, yielded an age of 340.1DŽ.6 Ma for the lower greenschists facies metamorphism and probably also for the F₂ folding. This deformation was associated and followed by thrusting, which brought about the basement highs. The latter delivered clasts to overlying late Viséan-early Namurian flysch basin that was mainly sourced from the Saxothuringian Sudetes in which most of the deformation occurred between 345-335 Ma. The FSM basement may represent an independent terrane, referred to as the Wielkopolska terrane, belonging to the Armorican Terrane Assemblage.