A critical state model for sands dependent on stress and density

An elastoplastic model for sands is presented in this paper, which can describe stress–strain behaviour dependent on mean effective stress level and void ratio. The main features of the proposed model are: (a) a new state parameter, which is dependent on the initial void ratio and initial mean stress, is proposed and applied to the yield function in order to predict the plastic deformation for very loose sands; and (b) another new state parameter, which is used to determine the peak strength and describe the critical state behaviour of sands during shearing, is proposed in order to predict simply negative/positive dilatancy and the hardening/softening behaviour of medium or dense sands. In addition, the proposed model can also predict the stress–strain behaviour of sands under three-dimensional stress conditions by using a transformed stress tensor instead of ordinary stress tensor. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Nonlinear Thermal Evolution of Solar Corona Structures

The thermal evolution of structures is investigated for different values of the size of structure. A simplified cooling function and a constant heating mechanism are assumed. Analytical criteria for thermal instability are obtained. It is found that the response of the thermal structure not only depends on the amplitude of the disturbances, but also on whether the disturbance increases or decreases the initial steady temperature. Additionally, the evolution of the structure is examined numerically by using a time-dependent code under the assumption that the inertia terms are small. In particular, the analytical criteria obtained for thermal instability are verified.     

Fluid production and isograd reactions at contacts of carbonate-rich and carbonate-poor layers during progressive metamorphism

ABSTRACT With increasing temperature during prograde metamorphism reactions will occur first at the lithological contacts of mixed pelite and calcsilicate terranes. At these interfaces, a fluid of lower chemical potential of H₂O and CO₂ than that required to produce a fluid in either layer can be produced whether reaction is caused by fluid infiltration or is initially fluid absent. If the interface region does not allow fluid transport then as temperature increases, a fluid pressure greater than lithostatic can develop. At some degree of over-pressure relative to rock pressure, the fluid hydraulically fractures the rock and a gradient in fluid composition away from the contact can be produced. These phenomena occur at the compositional interfaces whenever univariant reactions in the differing layers cross on a temperature vs. mole fraction of CO₂ diagram with slopes of opposite sign. The first occurrence of these reaction products at lithological contacts delineates an isograd that defines temperature as well as the mole fraction of CO₂ at constant pressure in systems open to fluid transport. These isograds can be contrasted with fluid-producing isograds in closed systems. As an illustration of possible effects, the reactions quartz + clinozoisite + muscovite = anorthite + K-feldspar + H₂O and phlogopite + quartz + calcite = tremolite + K-feldspar + H₂O + CO₂ at 4 kbar are analysed and equations for fluid production and transport are developed.     

Relaxation of the Vela pulsar’s angular velocity following its jumps

The dynamics of the vortex lattice in the inner crust of a neutron star is considered. A general equation of motion is obtained and solved under the assumption that there are regions of pinned and of free vortices. By comparing these solutions with observational data for the Vela pulsar, the relative moments of inertia of regions of relaxation with the corresponding characteristic times are calculated for two model stars with different equations of state. It is shown that the theory can be reconciled with observations of the relaxation of pulsar angular velocity only for model stars with extremely stiff equations of state. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 67–76, January–March, 1997.     

Modelling Gas And Dust Release From Comet Hale–Bopp

Numerical simulations of the evolving activity of comet Hale-Bopp are presented, assuming a porous, spherical nucleus, 20 km in radius, made of dust and gas-laden amorphous ice. The main effects included are: crystallization of amorphous ice and release of occluded gas, condensation, sublimation and flow of gases through the pores, changing pore sizes, and flow of dust grains. The model parameters, such as initial pore size and porosity, emissivity, dust grain size, are varied in order to match the observed activity. In all cases, a sharp rise in the activity of the nucleus occurs at a large heliocentric distance pre-perihelion, marked by a few orders of magnitude increase in the CO and the CO₂ fluxes and in the rate of dust emission. This is due to the onset of crystallization, advancing down to a few meters below the surface, accompanied by release of the trapped gases. A period of sustained, but variable, activity ensues. The emission of water molecules is found to surpass that of CO at a heliocentric distance of 3 AU. Thereafter the activity is largely determined by the behaviour of the dust. If a dust mantle is allowed to build up, the water production rate does not increase dramatically towards perihelion; if most of the dust is ejected, the surface activity increases rapidly, producing a very bright comet. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Monahans chondrite and halite: Argon‐39/argon‐40 age,solar gases,cosmic‐ray exposure ages,and parent body regolith neutron flux and thickness

Abstract— The Monahans H‐chondrite is a regolith breccia containing light and dark phases and the first reported presence of small grains of halite. We made detailed noble gas analyses of each of these phases. The ³⁹Ar‐⁴⁰Ar age of Monahans light is 4.533 ± 0.006 Ma. Monahans dark and halite samples show greater amounts of diffusive loss of ⁴⁰Ar and the maximum ages are 4.50 and 4.33 Ga, respectively. Monahans dark phase contains significant concentrations of He, Ne and Ar implanted by the solar wind when this material was extant in a parent body regolith. Monahans light contains no solar gases. From the cosmogenic ³He, ²¹Ne, and ³⁸Ar in Monahans light we calculate a probable cosmic‐ray, space exposure age of 6.0 ± 0.5 Ma. Monahans dark contains twice as much cosmogenic ²¹Ne and ³⁸Ar as does the light and indicates early near‐surface exposure of 13–18 Ma in a H‐chondrite regolith. The existence of fragile halite grains in H‐chondrites suggests that this regolith irradiation occurred very early. Large concentrations of ³⁶Ar in the halite were produced during regolith exposure by neutron capture on ³⁵Cl, followed by decay to ³⁶Ar. The thermal neutron fluence seen by the halite was (2–4) × 10¹⁴ n/cm². The thermal neutron flux during regolith exposure was ～0.4‐0.7 n/cm²/s. The Monahans neutron fluence is more than an order of magnitude less than that acquired during space exposure of several large meteorites and of lunar soils, but the neutron flux is lower by a factor of ≤5. Comparison of the ³⁶Ar_n/²¹Ne_cos ratio in Monahans halite and silicate with the theoretically calculated ratio as a function of shielding depth in an H‐chondrite regolith suggests that irradiation of Monahans dark occurred under low shielding in a regolith that may have been relatively shallow. Late addition of halite to the regolith can be ruled out. However, irradiation of halite and silicate for different times at different depths in an extensive regolith cannot be excluded.