Imaging the surface of Mercury using ground-based telescopes

We describe and compare two methods of short-exposure, high-definition ground-based imaging of the planet Mercury. Two teams have recorded images of Mercury on different dates, from different locations, and with different observational and data reduction techniques. Both groups have achieved spatial resolutions of <250 km, and the same albedo features and contrast levels appear where the two datasets overlap (longitudes 270–360°). Dark albedo regions appear as mare and correlate well with smooth terrain radar signatures. Bright albedo features agree optically, but less well with radar data. Such confirmations of state-of-the-art optical techniques introduce a new era of ground-based exploration of Mercury's surface and its atmosphere. They offer opportunities for synergistic, cooperative observations before and during the upcoming Messenger and BepiColombo missions to Mercury.     

Source regions for recruitment of Calanus finmarchicus to Georges Bank: evidence from molecular population genetic analysis of mtDNA

Molecular population genetic analysis has provided evidence that the copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, of the Labrador Current, Gulf of St Lawrence, Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine, and Georges Bank constitute a single, interbreeding population. The DNA sequence of a 350 base pair portion of the mitochondrial large subunit (16S) ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was determined for a total of 72 individuals collected in 1992, and 110 individuals collected in 1993 from these regions. There was significant heterogeneity in haplotype frequencies among the samples collected in 1992, but this heterogeneity did not resolve into regional patterns. The only regional differences seen were between pooled samples of the western N. Atlantic and those of the Norwegian Sea. There were no significant differences in haplotype frequencies among the samples collected in 1993, and fewer haplotypes were observed in these samples. Intraspecific molecular variation was typical of other marine species: there were 29 haplotypes among the 182 individuals sequenced. The frequency distribution of the haplotypes was highly skewed: 128 individuals shared one haplotype and 19 individuals were unique. There were 24 variable sites among the 350 bases sequenced; estimated nucleotide diversity was 0.0042. The genetic character of C. finmarchicus populations in the western N. Atlantic was stable over time in that three of the haplotypes (including the most abundant) occurred in both 1992 and 1993. However, haplotype frequencies differed significantly between the two years. The lack of regional structure in the 1992 samples and the genetic homogeneity of samples collected in 1993 across the domain from the Labrador Current to the Gulf of St Lawrence to Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine indicated that there is significant gene flow across this region. The persistent genetic pattern suggests that the Gulf of St Lawrence may be an important source region for recruitment of C. finmarchicus to Georges Bank. Determination of zooplankton dispersal patterns within high gene flow species will provide information that may not be determined by conventional oceanographic analyses.     

The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility in biotite, muscovite and chlorite single crystals

The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of single crystals of biotite, muscovite and chlorite has been measured in order to provide accurate values of the magnetic anisotropy properties for these common rock-forming minerals. The low-field AMS and the high-field paramagnetic susceptibility are defined. For the high-field values, it is necessary to combine the paramagnetic deviatoric tensor obtained from the high-field torque magnetometer with the paramagnetic bulk susceptibility measured from magnetization curves of the crystals. This leads to the full paramagnetic susceptibility ellipsoid due to the anisotropic distribution of iron cations in the silicate lattice. The ellipsoid of paramagnetic susceptibility, which was obtained for the three phyllosilicates, is highly oblate in shape and the minimum susceptibility direction is subparallel to the crystallographic c-axes. The anisotropy of the susceptibility within the basal plane of the biotite has been evaluated and found to be isotropic within the accuracy of the instrumental measurements. The degree of anisotropy of biotite and chlorite is compatible with previously reported values while for muscovite the smaller than previously published values. The shape of the chlorite AMS ellipsoid for all the samples is near-perfect oblate in contrast with a wide distribution of oblate and prolate values reported in earlier studies. Reliable values are important for deriving models of the magnetic anisotropy where it reflects mineral fabrics and deformation of rocks.     

Inversion of time-dependent nuclear well-logging data using neural networks

The purpose of this work was to investigate a new and fast inversion methodology for the prediction of subsurface formation properties such as porosity, salinity and oil saturation, using time‐dependent nuclear well logging data. Although the ultimate aim is to apply the technique to real‐field data, an initial investigation as described in this paper, was first required; this has been carried out using simulation results from the time‐dependent radiation transport problem within a borehole. Simulated neutron and γ‐ray fluxes at two sodium iodide (NaI) detectors, one near and one far from a pulsed neutron source emitting at ～14 MeV, were used for the investigation. A total of 67 energy groups from the BUGLE96 cross section library together with 567 property combinations were employed for the original flux response generation, achieved by solving numerically the time‐dependent Boltzmann radiation transport equation in its even parity form. Material property combinations (scenarios) and their correspondent teaching outputs (flux response at detectors) are used to train the Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and test data is used to assess the accuracy of the ANNs. The trained networks are then used to produce a surrogate model of the expensive, in terms of computational time and resources, forward model with which a simple inversion method is applied to calculate material properties from the time evolution of flux responses at the two detectors. The inversion technique uses a fast surrogate model comprising 8026 artificial neural networks, which consist of an input layer with three input units (neurons) for porosity, salinity and oil saturation; and two hidden layers and one output neuron representing the scalar photon or neutron flux prediction at the detector. This is the first time this technique has been applied to invert pulsed neutron logging tool information and the results produced are very promising. The next step in the procedure is to apply the methodology to real data.     

Twelve years of tracking 52-Hz whale calls from a unique source in the North Pacific

A unique whale call with 50–52 Hz emphasis from a single source has been tracked over 12 years in the central and eastern North Pacific. These calls, referred to as 52-Hz calls, were monitored and analyzed from acoustic data recorded by hydrophones of the US Navy Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) and other arrays. The calls were noticed first in 1989, and have been detected and tracked since 1992. No other calls with similar characteristics have been identified in the acoustic data from any hydrophone system in the North Pacific basin. Only one series of these 52-Hz calls has been recorded at a time, with no call overlap, suggesting that a single whale produced the calls. The calls were recorded from August to February with most in December and January. The species producing these calls is unknown. The tracks of the 52-Hz whale were different each year, and varied in length from 708 to 11,062 km with travel speeds ranging from 0.7 to 3.8 km/h. Tracks included (A) meandering over short ranges, (B) predominantly west-to-east movement, and (C) mostly north-to-south travel. These tracks consistently appeared to be unrelated to the presence or movement of other whale species (blue, fin and humpback) monitored year-round with the same hydrophones.     

World Data Center-A for Paleoclimatology at the NOAA Paleoclimatology Program,Boulder, CO

Conclusion The World Data Center-A for Paleoclimatology, located in the NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, is committed to providing the scientific community with easy access to all paleoenvironmental data. Efforts to make archived data readily available include international coordination of data acquisition, management, and distribution, sponsoring workshops and data cooperatives to facilitate the compilation of important data sets, development of a browse and visualization software package (PaleoVu), and dispersal of archived data on magnetic media or over ANONYMOUS FTP/INTERNET. The program publishes a semi-annual newsletter that highlights latest developments and accomplishments in the area of paleoenvironmental data for global change research. Contributions to the newsletter are welcome from researchers describing their efforts to coordinate the free flow of paleoclimate data throughout the international scientific community.For information on the program or to be added to the mailing list contact Mrs Mildred England (phone: 303-497-6227; Fax: 303 497-6513; e-mail: MKE@mail.ngdc.noaa.gov), NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Paleoclimatology Program/World Data Center-A for Paleoclimatology, 325 Broadway, E/GC Boulder, CO 80303 USA     

Thicknesses of lunar mare flow fronts

Lunar near-terminator and high-resolution panoramic camera photographs were searched for flow fronts, the edges of flow units in mare areas. Data for twenty areas, including fifteen previously unmeasured areas, are summarized. Height measurements of flow scarps present on the Moon range from 1 to 96 m. More than half (57%) of all flow fronts measured are less than 15 m thick. These observations agree well with other photogeological and experimental observations of flow unit thicknesses on the Moon.     

Perceptions of Food Safety by Urban Consumers in Nanjing,China

The past decade has seen what could reasonably be called an explosion in the number of food-related crises in China. Food safety issues represent a national crisis threatening the physical and psychological health of Chinese citizens, despite the repeated adoption of stringent food safety laws and regulations. This project, based on a stratified random sample of 337 households in Nanjing, assesses perceptions related to different food safety concerns and issues among urban residents and explores differences in perceptions across social strata as defined by socioeconomic and demographic variables using principal component analysis and standard statistical tests.