The Radio Supernebula in NGC 5253

It was recently pointed out that the distribution of times between solar flares (the flare waiting-time distribution) follows a power law for long waiting times. Based on 25 years of soft X-ray flares observed by Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite instruments, it is shown that (1) the waiting-time distribution of flares is consistent with a time-dependent Poisson process and (2) the fraction of time the Sun spends with different flaring rates approximately follows an exponential distribution. The second result is a new phenomenological law for flares. It is shown analytically how the observed power-law behavior of the waiting times originates in the exponential distribution of flaring rates. These results are argued to be consistent with a nonstationary avalanche model for flares.     

VLA Imaging of the Disk Surrounding the Nearby Young Star TW Hydrae

The TW Hydrae system is perhaps the closest analog to the early solar nebula. We have used the Very Large Array to image TW Hya at wavelengths of 7 mm and 3.6 cm with resolutions of 0&farcs;1 ( approximately 5 AU) and 1&farcs;0 ( approximately 50 AU), respectively. The 7 mm emission is extended and appears dominated by a dusty disk of radius greater than 50 AU surrounding the star. The 3.6 cm emission is unresolved and likely arises from an ionized wind or gyrosynchrotron activity. The dust spectrum and spatially resolved 7 mm images of the TW Hya disk are fitted by a simple model with temperature and surface density described by radial power laws, T&parl0;r&parr0;~r-0.5 and Sigma&parl0;r&parr0;~r-1. These properties are consistent with an irradiated gaseous accretion disk of mass approximately 0.03 M middle dot in circle with an accretion rate approximately 10-8 M middle dot in circle yr-1 and viscosity parameter alpha=0.01. The estimates of mass and mass accretion rates are uncertain since the gas-to-dust ratio in the TW Hya disk may have evolved from the standard interstellar value.     

Simple models for estimating period‐shift and damping in soil

This study describes the development of a simple, heuristic manual calculation procedure for estimating the site period‐shift factor and soil damping ratio, with appropriate considerations for the level of shaking, impedance contrast between soil and bedrock interface and the plasticity of the soil layers. Essentially, the analogy of a building shear‐frame has been used to represent the seismic response behaviour of a soil column. The proposed procedure has been verified by comparing the predictions with results obtained directly from non‐linear shear wave analyses of soil column models. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Barium uptake and adsorption in diatoms

Using trace metal-defined culture conditions, we measured the cellular barium concentration in cultures of the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii. In cultures with low Fe concentration, at a typical surface seawater Ba concentration of 35 to 40 nmol/L, the cellular Ba was 0.5 μmol/mol P (∼0.04 μg/g dw), much below all previously published values for phytoplankton. When the Fe concentration in the growth medium was increased, the measured “cellular” Ba increased proportionally to the particulate Fe. Under conditions of ferric hydroxide precipitation, similar particulate Ba concentrations were measured in the absence and the presence of cells for a given concentration of particulate Fe. Thus, the bulk of the particulate Ba in such experiments was not truly intracellular but adsorbed on precipitated Fe hydroxides associated with the cell surface. A similar mechanism likely explains the high cellular Ba concentrations reported by previous investigators who utilized relatively high ratios of Fe to EDTA concentrations in the growth medium, resulting in Fe precipitation. On the basis of our results, it seems highly unlikely that intracellular uptake by living phytoplankton explains the vertical flux of Ba in oceanic waters. But the adsorption of Ba on Fe hydroxides that is seen in laboratory experiments must also occur in the oceans and contribute to Ba transport in the upper part of the water column. To be significant, however, such a mechanism would require that the particles that transport Ba out of the surface have a markedly lower Ba/Fe ratio than is measured in the average suspended material.     

Distribution Functions of Tsunami Wave Heights

The problem of describing the distribution functions of tsunami wave heights is discussed. Data on runup heights obtained in field surveys of several tsunamis for the last decade are used to calculate the empirical distribution functions. It is shown that the log-normal distribution describes the observed data well. This means that the irregular topography and coastline are major factors which influence the height distribution. The power distribution related with the geometric decay of the propagated wave is a good approximation for one event (Sulawesi, January 1, 1996) only. Results of a numerical simulation of the tsunami event in the Japan (East) Sea on July 12, 1993 are presented. It is shown that the computed wave height distribution, obtained by using the runup correction in the framework of nonlinear shallow-water theory, is in good agreement with the observed height distribution. Simulations are used to study the transformation of the distribution function on different distances from the source.     

An SF<Subscript>6</Subscript> Tracer Study of the Flow Dynamics in the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel: Implications for Dissolved Oxygen Dynamics

A sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) tracer release experiment was conducted in the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel (DWSC) to quantify mixing and transport rates. SF₆ was injected in the San Joaquin River upstream of the DWSC and mapped for 8 days. From the temporal change in SF₆ distributions, the longitudinal dispersion coefficient (K _x ) was determined to be 32.7 ± 3.6 m² s⁻¹ and the net velocity was 1.75 ± 0.03 km day⁻¹. Based on the decrease in SF₆ inventory during the experiment, the pulsed residence time for waters in the DWSC was estimated at ∼17 days. Within the DWSC from Stockton downstream to Turner Cut, dissolved oxygen concentrations maintained a steady state value of 4 mg l⁻¹. These values are below water quality objectives for the time of year. The low flow rates observed in the DWSC and the inability of oxygen-rich waters from downstream to mix into the DWSC upstream of Turner Cut contribute to the low dissolved oxygen concentration.     

The photoionization mechanism of LINERs: stellar and nonstellar

We present high quality spectroscopic observations of a sample of 14 low ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs). Starlight removal is achieved by the subtraction of a suitable absorption-line template galaxy, allowing accurate measurements of emission lines. We use these line fluxes to examine the possible excitation mechanisms of LINERs. We suggest that LINERs with weak [O I] 6300 emission ([O I]/H < 1/6) may beH II regions photoionized by unusually hot O-type stars. LINERs with [O I]/H < 1/6 may be powered by photoionization from a nonstellar continuum. This is supported by the detection of broad h emission, a correlation between line width and critical density, and point-like X-ray emission in several of these objects.