Mathematical Geosciences - Understanding the subsurface structure and function in the near-surface groundwater system, including fluid flow, geomechanical, and weathering processes, requires... 相似文献
Floating marine debris, particularly derelict fishing gear, is a hazard to fish, marine mammals, turtles, sea birds, coral reefs, and even human activities. To ameliorate the economic and environmental impact of marine debris, we need to efficiently locate and retrieve dangerous debris at sea. Guided by satellite-derived information, we made four flights north of Hawaii in March and April 2005. During these aerial surveys, we observed over 1800 individual pieces of debris, including 122 derelict fishing nets. The largest debris concentrations were found just north of the North Pacific Transition Zone Chlorophyll Front (TZCF) within the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone (STCZ). Debris densities were significantly correlated with sea-surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a concentration (Chla), and the gradient of Chla. A Debris Estimated Likelihood Index (DELI) was developed to predict where high concentrations of debris would be most likely in the North Pacific during spring and early summer. 相似文献
We analyze Wind, ACE, and STEREO (ST-A and ST-B) plasma and magnetic field data in the vicinity of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) crossed by all spacecraft between 22:15 UT on 31 March and 01:25 UT on 1 April 2007 corresponding to its observation at ST-A and ST-B, which were separated by over 1800 RE (or over 1200 RE across the Sun?–?Earth line). Although only Wind and ACE provided good ion flow data in accord with a solar wind magnetic reconnection exhaust at the HCS, the magnetic field bifurcation typical of such exhausts was clearly observed at all spacecraft. They also all observed unambiguous strahl mixing within the exhaust, consistent with the sunward flow deflection observed at Wind and ACE and thus with the formation of closed magnetic field lines within the exhaust with both ends attached to the Sun. The strong dawnward flow deflection in the exhaust is consistent with the exhaust and X-line orientations obtained from minimum variance analysis at each spacecraft so that the X-line is almost along the GSE Z-axis and duskward of all the spacecraft. The observation of strahl mixing in extended and intermittent layers outside the exhaust by ST-A and ST-B is consistent with the formation of electron separatrix layers surrounding the exhaust. This event also provides further evidence that balanced parallel and antiparallel suprathermal electron fluxes are not a necessary condition for identification of closed field lines in the solar wind. In the present case the origin of the imbalance simply is the mixing of strahls of substantially different strengths from a different solar source each side of the HCS. The inferred exhaust orientations and distances of each spacecraft relative to the X-line show that the exhaust was likely nonplanar, following the Parker spiral orientation. Finally, the separatrix layers and exhausts properties at each spacecraft suggest that the magnetic reconnection X-line location and/or reconnection rate were variable in both space and time at such large scales.
The current solar cycle minimum seems to have unusual properties that appear to be related to weak solar polar magnetic fields. We investigate signatures of this unusual polar field in the ecliptic near-Earth interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) for the STEREO period of observations. Using 1 AU OMNI data, we find that for the current solar cycle declining phase to minimum period the peak of the distribution for the values of the ecliptic IMF magnitude is lower compared to a similar phase of the previous solar cycle. We investigate the sources of these weak fields. Our results suggest that they are related to the solar wind stream structure, which is enhanced by the weak polar fields. The direct role of the solar field is therefore complicated by this effect, which redistributes the solar magnetic flux at 1 AU nonuniformly at low to mid heliolatitudes. 相似文献
Abstract— The encounter between the Stardust spacecraft and particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 gave impacts at a relative velocity of 6.1 km s?1 and near perpendicular incidence to the collector surface. Such conditions are well within the performance limits of light gas gun laboratory simulations. For this study, two series of shots were conducted at the University of Kent, firing magnesium silicates (Mg end‐member forsterite, enstatite, diopside and lizardite), followed by a suite of increasingly Ferich olivines (through to Fe end‐member fayalite) into Stardust flight‐spare foils. Preserved residues were analysed using scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X‐ray analyses (SEM/EDX). X‐ray count integrals show that mineral compositions remain distinct from one another after impact, although they do show increased scatter. However, there is a small but systematic increase in Mg relative to Si for all residues when compared to projectile compositions. While some changes in Mg: Si may be due to complex analytical geometries in craters, there appears to be some preferential loss of Si. In practice, EDX analyses in craters on Stardust Al 1100 foil inevitably include contributions from Fe‐ and Si‐rich alloy inclusions, leading to further scattering of element ratios. Such inclusions have complicated Mg: Fe data interpretation. Compositional heterogeneity in the synthetic olivine projectiles also introduces data spread. Nevertheless, even with the preceding caveats, we find that the main groups of mafic silicates can be easily and reliably distinguished in EDX analyses performed in rapid surveys of foil craters, enabling access to a valuable additional collection of cometary materials. 相似文献
Tropical cyclone track forecasts have been improved, and forecast intervals have been extended to five days, owing to improved global and regional numerical model guidance. Critical time requirements that must be met for operational use of the deterministic model track forecasts are summarized for the U.S. and other selected non-U.S. tropical cyclone warning centers. One of the most accurate deterministic model forecasts from the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts arrives too late to be used with other models at the + 6 h warning time, and thus is at least 12 h old before it can be operationally used. The time-critical nature of the tropical cyclone warning system is a major obstacle to operational use of single-model, or proposed multi-model, ensemble prediction system (EPS) mean and spread information, which is 12 h (or 18 h) delayed. This EPS mean and spread must also be superior to the mean and spread of the consensus of deterministic models that are available six hours earlier. These requirements must be met before the EPS tropical cyclone tracks will be operationally useful in specifying the uncertainty in the official track forecasts, which is the next challenge in tropical cyclone track warnings. 相似文献
The oxygen-isotope compositions (obtained by laser fluorination) of hand-picked separates of isolated forsterite, isolated olivine and chondrules from the Tagish Lake carbonaceous chondrite describe a line (δ17O = 0.95 * δ18O − 3.24; R2 = 0.99) similar to the trend known for chondrules from other carbonaceous chondrites. The isolated forsterite grains (Fo99.6-99.8; δ18O = −7.2‰ to −5.5‰; δ17O = −9.6‰ to −8.2‰) are more 16O-rich than the isolated olivine grains (Fo39.6-86.8; δ18O = 3.1‰ to 5.1‰; δ17O = −0.3‰ to 2.2‰), and have chemical and isotopic characteristics typical of refractory forsterite. Chondrules contain olivine (Fo97.2-99.8) with oxygen-isotope compositions (δ18O = −5.2‰ to 5.9‰; δ17O = −8.1‰ to 1.2‰) that overlap those of isolated forsterite and isolated olivine. An inverse relationship exists between the Δ17O values and Fo contents of Tagish Lake isolated forsterite and chondrules; the chondrules likely underwent greater exchange with 16O-poor nebular gases than the forsterite. The oxygen-isotope compositions of the isolated olivine grains describe a trend with a steeper slope (1.1 ± 0.1, R2 = 0.94) than the carbonaceous chondrite anhydrous mineral line (CCAMslope = 0.95). The isolated olivine may have crystallized from an evolving melt that exchanged with 16O-poor gases of somewhat different composition than those which affected the chondrules and isolated forsterite. The primordial components of the Tagish Lake meteorite formed under conditions similar to other carbonaceous chondrite meteorite groups, especially CMs. Its alteration history has its closest affinities to CI carbonaceous chondrites. 相似文献
We present an analysis of small-scale, periodic, solar-wind density enhancements (length scales as small as ≈ 1000 Mm) observed
in images from the Heliospheric Imager (HI) aboard STEREO-A. We discuss their possible relationship to periodic fluctuations of the proton density that have been
identified at 1 AU using in-situ plasma measurements. Specifically, Viall, Kepko, and Spence (J. Geophys. Res.113, A07101, 2008) examined 11 years of in-situ solar-wind density measurements at 1 AU and demonstrated that not only turbulent structures, but also nonturbulent, periodic
density structures exist in the solar wind with scale sizes of hundreds to one thousand Mm. In a subsequent paper, Viall,
Spence, and Kasper (Geophys. Res. Lett.36, L23102, 2009) analyzed the α-to-proton solar-wind abundance ratio measured during one such event of periodic density structures, demonstrating that the
plasma behavior was highly suggestive that either temporally or spatially varying coronal source plasma created those density
structures. Large periodic density structures observed at 1 AU, which were generated in the corona, can be observable in coronal
and heliospheric white-light images if they possess sufficiently high density contrast. Indeed, we identify such periodic
density structures as they enter the HI field of view and follow them as they advect with the solar wind through the images.
The smaller, periodic density structures that we identify in the images are comparable in size to the larger structures analyzed
in-situ at 1 AU, yielding further evidence that periodic density enhancements are a consequence of coronal activity as the solar
wind is formed. 相似文献