Report of the IAU/IAG Working Group on cartographic coordinates and rotational elements: 2006

Every three years the IAU/IAG Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements revises tables giving the directions of the poles of rotation and the prime meridians of the planets, satellites, minor planets, and comets. This report introduces improved values for the pole and rotation rate of Pluto, Charon, and Phoebe, the pole of Jupiter, the sizes and shapes of Saturn satellites and Charon, and the poles, rotation rates, and sizes of some minor planets and comets. A high precision realization for the pole and rotation rate of the Moon is provided. The expression for the Sun’s rotation has been changed to be consistent with the planets and to account for light travel time     

Ultracompact HII regions: the impact of newly formed massive stars on their environment

Summary Ultracompact (UC)HII regions are manifestations of newly formed massive stars that are still embedded in their natal molecular cloud. They are among the brightest and most luminous single objects in the Galaxy at far infrared and radio wavelengths. Recent high spatial resolution studies, particularly at radio wavelengths, have greatly contributed to our understanding of these dynamic objects and the impact they have on their environment. A summary is given of our current understanding of the physical properties, morphologies, dynamics, number and distribution in the Galaxy, and molecular environments of UCHII regions. Recent models of the circumnebular dust imply that the graphite/silicate abundance ratio is about half that of dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. The dust cocoons are large, cool, and optically thick shortward of a few microns. There are apparently between 1700 and 3000 UCHII regions in the Galaxy. This represents 10–20% of the total O star population. There are too many UCHII regions (just counting those studied with the VLA) to be consistent with the short dynamical lifetimes of this very compact stage of evolution. Both the morphologies and the large number can be understood if UC HII regions are bow shocks. Models of stellar wind supported bow shocks are discussed and consequences for the dynamics and morphologies of the ionized and molecular gas are explored.     

Laser ablation ICP-MS screening of corals for diagenetically affected areas applied to Tahiti corals from the last deglaciation

Fossil corals are unique archives of past seasonal climate variability, providing vital information about seasonal climate phenomena such as ENSO and monsoons. However, submarine diagenetic processes can potentially obscure the original climate signals and lead to false interpretations. Here we demonstrate the potential of laser ablation ICP-MS to rapidly detect secondary aragonite precipitates in fossil Porites colonies recovered by Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 310 from submerged deglacial reefs off Tahiti. High resolution (100 μm) measurements of coralline B/Ca, Mg/Ca, S/Ca, and U/Ca ratios are used to distinguish areas of pristine skeleton from those afflicted with secondary aragonite. Measurements of coralline Sr/Ca, U/Ca and oxygen isotope ratios, from areas identified as pristine, reveal that the seasonal range of sea surface temperature in the tropical south Pacific during the last deglaciation (14.7 and 11 ka) was similar to that of today.     

Challenges and lessons from a wetland LiDAR project: a case study of the Okefenokee Swamp,Georgia, USA

Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) provides opportunities to generate high-quality digital elevation models (DEMs) even in wetland environments. Our project, performed over the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia during the spring of 2010, shows that several, distinctive factors must be considered to ensure successful wetland LiDAR projects. Some of the challenges include selecting optimal flight times in accordance with weather variability and water levels, having effective and quality control protocols, applying and developing filtering and interpolation algorithms, breaklines in swamps and accounting for data striping and noise. While some of these issues are faced in any airborne LiDAR acquisition, many of these require special consideration in a low-slope wetland environment with water saturated soils, widespread shallow water, and sediments and extensive vegetation. An examination of these issues and how they were handled will help in ensuring the success of future LiDAR acquisitions and, in particular, will advance knowledge of producing quality DEMs in wetland environments.     

Dartmoor's overlooked glacial legacy

Traditionally regarded as a relict permafrost and periglacial landscape that lay beyond the limits of Pleistocene glaciation, the granite uplands of northern Dartmoor in south‐west England in fact contain geomorphological evidence for the former existence of a plateau ice cap, making the area the location of the southernmost independent glacier mass in the British Isles. In addition to weakly U‐shaped valleys, the most prominent evidence comprises arcuate and linear bouldery ridges and hummocky valley floor drift, which are interpreted as latero‐frontal moraines deposited by the outlet glacier lobes of a plateau ice cap. Inset sequences of these depositional landforms, in association with meltwater channels, demarcate the receding margins of the glacier lobes. A numerical model of ice cap development shows that a predominantly thin plateau icefield type glaciation is required in order to produce significant ice flow into surrounding valleys. The highest and most extensive plateau areas were occupied by ice for the longest cumulative period of time throughout the Pleistocene, thereby explaining: (1) the lack of tors in such areas as the product of ‘average’ glacial conditions preferentially removing tors or dampening their production rates, (2) the survival of high relief tors during glaciation if they occupied summits too narrow to develop thick and erosive glacier ice, and (3) the survival of subdued tors in areas glaciated less regularly during the Pleistocene.     

Aquifer vulnerability and potential risk assessment: application to an intensely cultivated and densely populated area in Southern Italy

The use of indices, describing aquifer vulnerability and the risk of groundwater pollution, is a basic tool for the implementation of a sound water management plan, especially in densely populated and intensely cultivated areas. In this study, the groundwater contamination risk of the Caserta Plain (Southern Italy) was assessed through the integration of hazards defined on the basis of the different land uses, of the intrinsic vulnerability calculated by applying the SINTACS model and of the groundwater value evaluated by considering water wells density. In order to evaluate the evolution of the risk of groundwater pollution, the proposed methods were applied in the study area for both 2001 and 2009. The resulting specific vulnerability (SINTACS-L) and the risk (GRA) maps, created in a GIS environment, were validated by the comparison with the nitrate concentration distribution. The application of the proposed approach to the study area highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of each method and, at the same time, showed that their combination can provide an overall view of the threats posed to groundwater resources by the human activities affecting the territory. Considering both the benefits and the issues of the proposed approach, overall, the groundwater risk map is thought to be a robust tool to support water managers in defining future plans for water resources exploitation and land use.     

Fluid geochemistry of the Mondragone hydrothermal systems (southern Italy): water and gas compositions vs. geostructural setting

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The geochemistry of natural thermal fluids discharging in the Mondragone Plain has been investigated. Thermal spring emergences are located along the...     

Worldwide photometry and lightcurve observations of 1 Ceres during the 1975–1976 apparition

We present 19 lightcurves of asteroid 1 Ceres obtained during a global campaign in 1975–1976. The synodic period is 0.37812 ± 0.00004 day. The mean absolute V magnitude is 3.61 ± 0.03 and the phase coefficient is 0.40 ± 0.001 mag/deg. The U-B and B-V phase coefficients are +0.0015 ± 0.0007 and +0.0006 ± 0.0003 mag/deg, respectively. The colors at zero phase are B-V = +0.70 ± 0.01 and U-B = +0.41 ± 0.01.