Impact of quarrying gypsum in a semidesert karstic area (Sorbas,SE Spain)

The Messinian gypsum of Sorbas is intensively karstified, with hundreds of dolines and numerous, highly unusual exo- and endokarstic forms. Amongst these the tumuli are especially spectacular, as are the large caverns, adorned with numerous speleothems, some of which have not been described anywhere else in the World. The extraction of the gypsum has impacted practically all the elements of the environment (landscape, water, soil, subsoil, flora, fauna, etc.) and, in particular, all of the karstic forms. In addition to endangering the caves and the natural treasures that they contain, it affects the surface waters, markedly modifying the hydrographic network. Groundwaters, which now occur in the bottom of a quarry, are also affected.     

Characterization of permineralized kerogen from an Eocene fossil fern

The processes of organic maturation that occur during the permineralization of fossils and the detailed chemistry of the resulting products are incompletely understood. Primary among such processes is the geochemical alteration of biological matter to produce kerogen, such as that which comprises the cell walls of the fossils studied here: essentially unmetamorphosed, Eocene plant axes (specimens of the fossil fern Dennstaedtiopsis aerenchymata cellularly permineralized in cherts of the Clarno Formation of Oregon and the Allenby Formation of British Columbia). The composition and molecular structure of the kerogen that comprises the cell walls of such axes were analyzed using ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy (UV–Raman), solid state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹³C NMR) and pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (py–GC–MS).Cellularly well-preserved fern axes from both geologic units exhibit similar overall molecular structure, being composed primarily of networks of aromatic rings and polyene chains that, unlike more mature kerogens, lack large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) constituents. The cell walls of the Allenby Formation specimens are, however, less altered than those of the Clarno chert, exhibiting more prevalent oxygen-containing and alkyl functional groups and comprising a greater fraction of rock mass.The study represents the first demonstration of the effectiveness (and limitations) of the combined use of UV–Raman, ¹³C NMR and py–GC–MS for the analysis of the kerogenous cell walls of chert-permineralized vascular plants.     

Acceleration of black hole universe

Recently, Zhang slightly modified the standard big bang theory and developed a new cosmological model called black hole universe, which is consistent with Mach’s principle, governed by Einstein’s general theory of relativity, and able to explain all observations of the universe. Previous studies accounted for the origin, structure, evolution, expansion, and cosmic microwave background radiation of the black hole universe, which grew from a star-like black hole with several solar masses through a supermassive black hole with billions of solar masses to the present state with hundred billion-trillions of solar masses by accreting ambient matter and merging with other black holes. This paper investigates acceleration of the black hole universe and provides an alternative explanation for the redshift and luminosity distance measurements of type Ia supernovae. The results indicate that the black hole universe accelerates its expansion when it accretes the ambient matter in an increasing rate. In other words, i.e., when the second-order derivative of the mass of the black hole universe with respect to the time is positive $\ddot{M}(t) > 0$ . For a constant deceleration parameter $q = -M(t) \ddot{M}(t)/\dot{M}(t) \sim-0.6$ , we can perfectly explain the type Ia supernova measurements with the reduced chi-square to be very close to unity, χ _red～1.0012. The expansion and acceleration of black hole universe are driven by external energy.     

Forward-Modeling of Doppler Shifts in EUV Spectral Lines

The interpretation of red- and blueshifts in EUV spectral observations remains a challenge that could provide important clues to the heating processes in the solar atmosphere. Hinode/EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) observations near the footpoints of coronal loops show blueshifts for emission lines with temperatures above 1 MK and redshifts for lines below 1 MK. The implications are addressed through numerical modeling of loop dynamics. The simulation results are converted into synthetic EIS observations. A single one-dimensional loop cannot reproduce the observed behavior. However, persistent red- and blueshifts can be understood as a collective spectral signature of a bundle of 10 or more loops that have an average temperature of around 1 MK and evolve in a similar way: small-scale heating events occur randomly along each loop on a timescale of several minutes. Strong blueshifts are accompanied by low intensities. The power-law index of the energy distribution has a minor role in determining the average Doppler shifts.     

3XMM J185246.6+003317 as transient neutron star

We performed an X‐ray timing and spectral analysis of the variable source 3XMM J185246.6+003317 to investigate its physical nature. The data from all observations of 3XMMJ185246.6+003317 conducted by XMM‐Newton EPIC MOS1 and MOS2 with the same instrumental setup in 2004–2009 were reprocessed to form a homogenous data set of solar barycenter corrected photon arrival times and high S/N spectra of 3XMM J185246.6+003317. A Bayesian method for the search, detection, and estimation of the parameters of a periodic signal of unknown shape was employed, as developed by Gregory & Loredo (1992, 1993). The results show that 3XMM J185246.6+003317 is a transient neutron star with the genuine spin‐period of 23.11722 (23.11711–23.11727) s and its derivative of 5.3(0.3–5.5)×10^–11 s s^–1, implying a characteristic age of 7 (6–104) kyr, if the period derivative can be ascribed to the genuine spin‐down rate of the neutron star. The rotational‐phase averaged X‐ray spectra at the different brightness periods can be fitted with a highly absorbed blackbody model with different temperatures. The phase‐folded light curves in different energy bands with high S/N ratio show a double‐peaked profile; the variations depend on time and energy, indicating that radiation emerges from at least two emitting areas. The spectra at the phases corresponding to the maxima in the phase‐folded light curve show different spectral parameters of absorbed blackbody radiation, i.e. the hotter one has a smaller size. The source is detected only from September 2008 to April 2009 with persistently decreasing brightness, but not before, even though it was observed by XMM. Hence, it is a transient neutron star or a binary system hosting it. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Observed interstellar magnetized supershells and stellar-wind theories

Early theories of stellar winds from an association of OB stars predicted the formation of a common superbubble enclosed by athin, dense supershell, through the combined effort of the winds from the stars at the center. These early theories were adequate for explaining the primary observational features (defined as: shell age, outer radius, shell speed, shell mass, shell energy), but they were not adequate to explain the secondary features (defined as: shell thickness, shell magnetic field, shell gas density). A recently published theory for a stellar-wind-bubble and supershell, predicting a range ofthick supershells, can now be compared with the secondary observational features.Using the observed parameters from all large (> 100 pc) interstellar magnetized supershells near the sun (< 1 kpc away), I assemble for comparison with stellar-wind theories: (a) the primary observational features of these shells — I find: large shell age, large outer radius, low shell speed, large shell mass, large shell energy; and (b) some of their secondary observational features — I find: thick shell, low shell magnetic field strengh, low shell gas density.     

A quantitative model of coherent,stimulated emission in astrophysical jets

On the basis of issues raised by observations of BL Lac objects and the qualitative jet model proposed by Bakeret al. in 1988, we have been led to consider the quantitative role of coherent, stimulated emission in jets and construct a new jet model of blazars in which a relativistic electron beam with an axial symmetric, power-law distribution is injected from the central engine into the jet plasma. We study quantitatively the synchrotron emission of the relativistic electron beams. Using the weak turbulent theory of plasma, we discuss the interaction between relativistic electron beams and jet plasma, and the roles of stimulated emission. The main results are:

1. The synchrotron emission increases sensitively with the increase of the angle between the direction of the beam and the magnetic field. When the direction of the beam is vertical to the magnetic field, the synchrotron emission reaches its maximum, i.e. the emitted waves are beamed in the direction of the jet axis. We suggest that radio selected BL Lac objects belong to this extreme classification.
2. The synchrotron emission of the relativistic beam increases rapidly with the increase of the Lorentz factor of the relativistic electron,γ, whenγ ≤ 22.5, then decreases rapidly with increase ofγ.
3. The stimulated emission also increases with increasing Lorentz factorγ of the relativistic electrons whenγ ≤ 35 and then decreases with the increasingγ. The maximum stimulated emission and the maximum synchrotron emission occur at different frequencies. Stimulated emission is probably very important and reasonable flare mechanism in blazars.
4. The rapid polarization position angle (PA) swings may arise from the interaction between the relativistic electron beam and the turbulent plasma.