The Younger Dryas in the English Lake District: reconciling geomorphological evidence with numerical model outputs

The geomorphology of the south‐western and central Lake District, England is used to reconstruct the mountain palaeoglaciology pertaining to the Lateglacial and Younger Dryas. Limitations to previous ice‐mass reconstructions and consequent palaeoclimatic inferences include: (i) the use of static (steady‐state) glacier reconstructions, (ii) the assumption of a single‐stage Younger Dryas advance, (iii) greatly varying ice‐volume estimates, (iv) inexplicable spatial variations in ELA (Equilibrium Line Altitude), and (v) a lack of robust extent chronology. Here we present geomorphological mapping based on aerial photography and the NextMap Britain Digital Elevation Model, checked by ground survey. Former glacier extents were inferred and ELAs were calculated using the Balance Ratio method of Osmaston. Independently, a time‐dependant 2‐D ice‐flow model was forced by a regional ELA history that was scaled to the GRIP record. This provided a dynamic reconstruction of a mountain ice field that allowed for non‐steady‐state glacier evolution. Fluctuations in climate during the Younger Dryas resulted in multiple glacial advance positions that show agreement with the location of mapped moraines, and may further explain some of the ELA variations found in previous local and static reconstructions. Modelling based on the GRIP record predicts three phases: an initial maximum extent, a middle minor advance or stillstand, and a pronounced but less extensive final advance. The comparisons find that the reconstructions derived from geomorphological evidence are effective representations of steady‐state glacier geometries, but we do propose different extents for some glaciers and, in particular, a large former glacier in Upper Eskdale.     

Midfrequency "Through-the-Sensor" scattering measurements: a new approach

In this paper, a new paradigm for "through-the-sensor" remote sensing of the seafloor is presented. The methodology has been tailored for use with the AN/SQS-53C sonar found on many U.S. Navy destroyers. Sonar beamformer outputs are processed, and a point georeferenced database of signal attributes is constructed. Corresponding sonar settings and ship navigation information are also included for each database point. Database entries are then fused with environmental characteristics, such as bathymetry and sound speed information. These data may be derived from historical databases, on-site measurements, or a combination of the two. The database is then completed by ambiguity resolution and matching of modeled eigenray paths with database entries in order to associate signal attributes with specific propagation paths. Model inputs are derived from a customized version of the Comprehensive Acoustic System Simulation/Gaussian Ray Bundle eigenray propagation model (CASS/GRAB), which performs propagation estimates over incremental range/depth steps. Illustrations of how the point database may be filtered/constrained, gridded, and displayed are presented. An example of how bottom scattering strength can be derived from the database is presented, followed by an example of a technique for monostatic bottom loss estimation. Results indicate that the approach presented in this paper represents a viable method for conducting "through-the-sensor" measurements of seafloor scattering properties.     

Chromospheric Height and Density Measurements in a Solar Flare Observed with RHESSI – II. Data Analysis

We present an analysis of hard X-ray imaging observations from one of the first solar flares observed with the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft, launched on 5 February 2002. The data were obtained from the 22 February 2002, 11:06 UT flare, which occurred close to the northwest limb. Thanks to the high energy resolution of the germanium-cooled hard X-ray detectors on RHESSI we can measure the flare source positions with a high accuracy as a function of energy. Using a forward-fitting algorithm for image reconstruction, we find a systematic decrease in the altitudes of the source centroids z(ε) as a function of increasing hard X-ray energy ε, as expected in the thick-target bremsstrahlung model of Brown. The altitude of hard X-ray emission as a function of photon energy ε can be characterized by a power-law function in the ε=15–50 keV energy range, viz., z(ε)≈2.3(ε/20 keV)^−1.3 Mm. Based on a purely collisional 1-D thick-target model, this height dependence can be inverted into a chromospheric density model n(z), as derived in Paper I, which follows the power-law function n _e(z)=1.25×10¹³(z/1 Mm)^−2.5 cm⁻³. This density is comparable with models based on optical/UV spectrometry in the chromospheric height range of h≲1000 km, suggesting that the collisional thick-target model is a reasonable first approximation to hard X-ray footpoint sources. At h≈1000–2500 km, the hard X-ray based density model, however, is more consistent with the `spicular extended-chromosphere model' inferred from radio sub-mm observations, than with standard models based on hydrostatic equilibrium. At coronal heights, h≈2.5–12.4 Mm, the average flare loop density inferred from RHESSI is comparable with values from hydrodynamic simulations of flare chromospheric evaporation, soft X-ray, and radio-based measurements, but below the upper limits set by filling-factor insensitive iron line pairs.     

The supernova fragmentation model of solar system formation

We have further developed Brown's model of solar system formation. In this model, each fragment of an ejected supernova shell evolves into a separate solar system. Specifically, we have formulated the reverse-flow hypothesis that may be responsible for the inner, earthlike planets. We have written a computer program with which it is possible to calculate mass distributions within a solar nebula. We have found mass distributions similar to our solar system over a wide range of the model parameters.Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Dept. of Energy under contract W-7405-ENG-36.     

Universal fragmentation

The hypothesis is tested that the Universe underwent hydrodynamic fragmentation at an early stage after the Big Bang. Two empirical functions used to describe such fragmentation on the laboratory scale are compared with the present distribution of total galactic luminosities (withM/L=constant). The comparison supports the hypothesis.Operated by the University of California for U.S. Department of Energy under contrast W-7405-ENG-36.     

Heterogeneous distributions of CO2 may be more important for dissolution and karstification in coastal eogenetic limestone than mixing dissolution

Mixing dissolution, a process whereby mixtures of two waters with different chemical compositions drive undersaturation with respect to carbonate minerals, is commonly considered to form cavernous macroporosity (e.g. flank margin caves and banana holes) in eogenetic karst aquifers. On small islands, macroporosity commonly originates when focused dissolution forms globular chambers lacking entrances to the surface, suggesting that dissolution processes are decoupled from surface hydrology. Mixing dissolution has been thought to be the primary dissolution process because meteoric water would equilibrate rapidly with calcium carbonate as it infiltrates through matrix porosity and because pCO₂ was assumed to be homogeneously distributed within the phreatic zone. Here, we report data from two abandoned well fields in an eogenetic karst aquifer on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, that demonstrate pCO₂ in the phreatic zone is distributed heterogeneously. The pCO₂ varied from less than log ?2.0 to more than log ?1.0 atm over distances of less than 30 m, generating dissolution in the subsurface where water flows from regions of low to high pCO₂ and cementation where water flows from regions of high to low pCO_2. Using simple geochemical models, we show dissolution caused by heterogeneously distributed pCO₂ can dissolve 2.5 to 10 times more calcite than the maximum amount possible by mixing of freshwater and seawater. Dissolution resulting from spatial variability in pCO₂ forms isolated, globular chambers lacking initial entrances to the surface, a morphology that is characteristic of flank margin caves and banana holes, both of which have entrances that form by erosion or collapse after cave formation. Our results indicate that heterogeneous pCO₂, rather than mixing dissolution, may be the dominant mechanism for observed spatial distribution of dissolution, cementation and macroporosity generation in eogenetic karst aquifers and for landscape development in these settings. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.