X-ray Ejecta,White-Light CMEs and a Coronal Shock Wave

We report on a coronal shock wave inferred from the metric type II burst of 13 January 1996. To identify the shock driver, we examined mass motions in the form of X-ray ejecta and white-light coronal mass ejections (CMEs). None of the ejections could be considered fast (> 400 km s^–1) events. In white light, two CMEs occurred in quick succession, with the first one associated with X-ray ejecta near the solar surface. The second CME started at an unusually large height in the corona and carried a dark void in it. The first CME decelerated and stalled while the second one accelerated, both in the coronagraph field of view. We identify the X-ray ejecta to be the driver of the coronal shock inferred from metric type II burst. The shock speed reported in the Solar Geophysical Data (1000–2000 km s^–1) seems to be extremely large compared to the speeds inferred from X-ray and white-light observations. We suggest that the MHD fast-mode speed in the inner corona could be low enough that the X-ray ejecta is supermagnetosonic and hence can drive a shock to produce the type II burst.     

A search for shocked quartz grains in the Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layer

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis suggests that multiple airbursts or extraterrestrial impacts occurring at the end of the Allerød interstadial resulted in the Younger Dryas cold period. So far, no reproducible, diagnostic evidence has, however, been reported. Quartz grains containing planar deformation features (known as shocked quartz grains), are considered a reliable indicator for the occurrence of an extraterrestrial impact when found in a geological setting. Although alleged shocked quartz grains have been reported at a possible Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layer in Venezuela, the identification of shocked quartz in this layer is ambiguous. To test whether shocked quartz is indeed present in the proposed impact layer, we investigated the quartz fraction of multiple Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layers from Europe and North America, where proposed impact markers have been reported. Grains were analyzed using a combination of light and electron microscopy techniques. All samples contained a variable amount of quartz grains with (sub)planar microstructures, often tectonic deformation lamellae. A total of one quartz grain containing planar deformation features was found in our samples. This shocked quartz grain comes from the Usselo palaeosol at Geldrop Aalsterhut, the Netherlands. Scanning electron microscopy cathodoluminescence imaging and transmission electron microscopy imaging, however, show that the planar deformation features in this grain are healed and thus likely to be older than the Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary. We suggest that this grain was possibly eroded from an older crater or distal ejecta layer and later redeposited in the European sandbelt. The single shocked quartz grain at this moment thus cannot be used to support the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.     

Monitoring cross-border trails using airborne digital multispectral imagery and interactive image analysis techniques

The objective of this study was to evaluate image-based procedures for monitoring cross-border foot trails in the US – Mexico border zone in eastern San Diego County using airborne remote sensing techniques. Specifically, digital multi-spectral and multi-temporal imagery from an airborne digital multi-spectral imaging system, digital image processing, and visual image analysis techniques were explored in the context of detecting and delineating new trail features and updating trail GIS layers. Three trail updating approaches: map-to-image (M-I) overlay, map and image-to-image (M/I-I) differencing, map and image-to-image (M/I-I) swiping and two types of spectral transform, PCA and NDVI, were tested and compared. The M-I overlay was found to be the most reliable trail updating approach. The optimal image enhancement method for the M-I overlay approach varied with vegetation structure. PCA imagery yielded better results than NDVI imagery in a highly disturbed area and NDVI imagery performed better in a densely vegetated area. The M/I-I swiping approach was useful for distinguishing misregistered extant trails from new trail features.     

On the inverse dynamo problem in a simplified mean-field model

Inverse dynamo theory seeks to gain information about the motion of a liquid conductor from measurements of the magnetic field in the surrounding vacuum. We consider here a highly simplified model problem, namely a steady α²-dynamo in plane geometry with an α-field varying only in the z-direction normal to the conductor–vacuum interface. Based on perturbation theory about constant-α solutions, we find as many integral conditions on α(z) as modes are present in the vacuum field. This result is corroborated by the complete solution of a special case.     

Potentially Bioavailable Natural Organic Carbon and Hydrolyzable Amino Acids in Aquifer Sediments

This study evaluated the relationship between concentrations of operationally defined potentially bioavailable organic ‐carbon (PBOC) and hydrolyzable amino acids (HAAs) in sediments collected from a diverse range of chloroethene‐‐contaminated sites. Concentrations of PBOC and HAA were measured using aquifer sediment samples collected at six selected study sites. Average concentrations of total HAA and PBOC ranged from 1.96 ± 1.53 to 20.1 ± 25.6 mg/kg and 4.72 ± 0.72 to 443 ± 65.4 mg/kg, respectively. Results demonstrated a statistically significant positive relationship between concentrations of PBOC and total HAA present in the aquifer sediment (p < 0.05). Higher levels of HAA were consistently observed at sites with greater levels of PBOC and first‐order decay rates. Because amino acids are known to be readily biodegradable carbon compounds, this relationship suggests that the sequential chemical extraction procedure used to measure PBOC is a useful indicator of bioavailable carbon in aquifer sediments. This, in turn, is consistent with the interpretation that PBOC measurements can be used for estimating the amount of natural organic carbon available for driving the reductive dechlorination of chloroethenes in groundwater systems.     

Cosmological evolution of the Fanaroff–Riley type II source population

By combining a model for the evolution of the radio luminosity of an individual source with the radio luminosity function, we perform a multidimensional Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the cosmological evolution of the Fanaroff–Riley type II (FR II) radio galaxy population by generating large artificial samples. The properties of FR II sources are required to evolve with redshift in the artificial samples to fit the observations. Either the maximum jet age or the maximum density of the jet environment or both evolve with redshift. We also study the distribution of FR II source properties as a function of redshift. From currently available data we cannot constrain the shape of the distribution of environment density or age, but jet power is found to follow a power-law distribution with an exponent of approximately −2. This power-law slope does not change with redshift out to   z = 0.6  . We also find the distribution of the pressure in the lobes of FR II sources to evolve with redshift up to   z ∼ 1.2  .     

Stress Release and Source Scaling of the 2010–2011 Canterbury,New Zealand Earthquake Sequence from Spectral Inversion of Ground Motion Data

The Canterbury earthquake sequence beginning with the 2010 M _W 7.2 Darfield earthquake is one of the most notable and well-recorded crustal earthquake sequences in a low-strain-rate region worldwide and as such provides a unique opportunity to better understand earthquake source physics and ground motion generation in such a tectonic setting. Ground motions during this sequence ranged up to extreme values of 2.2 g, recorded during the February 2011 M _W 6.2 event beneath the city of Christchurch. A better understanding of the seismic source signature of this sequence, in particular the stress release and its scaling with earthquake size, is crucial for future ground motion prediction and hazard assessment in Canterbury, but also of high interest for other low-to-moderate seismicity regions where high-quality records of large earthquakes are lacking. Here we present a source parameter study of more than 200 events of the Canterbury sequence, covering the magnitude range M _W 3–7.2. Source spectra were derived using a generalized spectral inversion technique and found to be well characterized by the ω ^?2 source model. We find that stress drops range between 1 and 20 MPa with a median value of 5 MPa, which is a factor of 5 larger than the median stress drop previously estimated with the same method for crustal earthquakes in much more seismically active Japan. Stress drop scaling with earthquake size is nearly self-similar, and we identify lateral variations throughout Canterbury, in particular high stress drops at the fault edges of the two major events, the M _W 7.2 Darfield and M _W 6.2 Christchurch earthquakes.