Initial Venus Express magnetic field observations of the Venus bow shock location at solar minimum

In this study, magnetic field measurements obtained by the Venus Express spacecraft are used to determine the bow shock position at solar minimum. The best fit of bow shock location from solar zenith angle 20-120° gives a terminator bow shock location of 2.14 R_V (1 R_V=6052 km) which is 1600 km closer to Venus than the 2.40 R_V determined during solar maximum conditions, a clear indication of the solar cycle variation of the Venus bow shock location. The best fit to the subsolar bow shock is 1.32 R_V, with the bow shock completely detached. Finally, a global bow shock model at solar minimum is constructed based on our best-fit empirical bow shock in the sunlit hemisphere and an asymptotic limit of the distant bow shock which is a Mach cone under typical Mach number of 5.5 at solar minimum. We also describe our approach to making the measurements and processing the data in a challenging magnetic cleanliness environment. An initial evaluation of the accuracy of measurements shows that the data are of a quality comparable to magnetic field measurements made onboard magnetically clean spacecraft.     

Respiration partitioning in contrasting subtidal sediments: seasonality and response to a spring phytoplankton deposition

Biomass and respiration rates of bacteria, nematodes and macrobenthos were estimated in relation to the deposition of the spring phytoplankton bloom at two contrasting sites in the Southern North Sea: one with fine‐grained sediment close to the coastline and another with highly permeable sediments. Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) was also measured. Bacterial biomass was relatively similar at both stations, whereas nematode and macrobenthic biomass were higher in fine‐grained sediment. In fine sediments, bacterial biomass increased quickly after deposition of the phytoplankton bloom, whereas the response of nematodes and macrobenthos was delayed. In coarser sediments, nematodes and macrobenthos also showed a fast response in terms of density and biomass. Respiration in permeable sediments was mainly dominated by bacteria at all periods of the year. Hence, nematode and macrobenthic respiration did not contribute strongly to SCOC. This is in contrast to the patterns observed in finer sediments, where both macrofauna and nematodes were important oxygen consumers as well. Macrobenthos contributed more to total SCOC than did nematodes in winter. However, shortly after the arrival of phytodetritus at the sea floor, nematodes and macrobenthos contributed equally to the total SCOC, indicating that all benthic size classes should be taken into account when investigating marine benthic respiration rates.     

Compatible potentials and orbits in synodic systems

For a given family of orbits f(x,y) = c ^* which can be traced by a material point of unit in an inertial frame it is known that all potentials V(x,y) giving rise to this family satisfy a homogeneous, linear in V(x,y), second order partial differential equation (Bozis,1984). The present paper offers an analogous equation in a synodic system Oxy, rotating with angular velocity . The new equation, which relates the synodic potential function (x,y), = –V(x, y) + % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaWaaSqaaSqaai% aaigdaaeaacaaIYaaaaaaa!3780!\[\tfrac{1}{2}\]²(x ² + y ²) to the given family f(x,y) = c ^*, is again of the second order in (x,y) but nonlinear.As an application, some simple compatible pairs of functions (x,y) and f(x, y) are found, for appropriate values of , by adequately determining coefficients both in and f.     

Changes in structural and functional diversity of nematode communities during a spring phytoplankton bloom in the southern North Sea

The response of nematode communities to the sedimentation of a spring phytoplankton bloom in a sandy, well-oxygenated sediment at a single station (station 330) in the Southern North Sea was investigated monthly from early March to July 1999. Both structural (nematode density, diversity, vertical distribution and community composition) and functional (feeding type distributions, number of species within feeding groups) characteristics showed considerable changes shortly after the arrival of fresh organic material at the sediment surface. The general increase in numerical densities and diversity was related to changes within the groups of selective deposit-feeding and epistrate-feeding nematodes. It is hypothesised that sedimentation and subsequent remineralisation of fresh organic matter during the spring phytoplankton bloom result in an increase of suitable food items (both living and dead). This, combined with the availability of oxygen, creates conditions in which many nematode species can co-exist.     

Life Strategies in Two Bacterivorous Marine Nematodes: Preliminary Results

Abstract. Temperature dependence of sex ratio and maximal densities of the estuarine, deposit-feeding nematodes Pellioditis marina (Rhabditidae ) and Diplolaimelloides meyli (Monhysreridae ) were investigated in vitro . Both species are characteristic for organically enriched habitats. Data from competition culture experiments with both species are integrated with information from respiration measurements at different temperatures, and from observations on the influence of temperature and bacterial density on uptake rates.
Sex ratio was significantly influenced by temperature in both species, with the highest relative numbers of males at the highest temperatures. Total numbers attained fluctuated only moderately in the 10 to 20 °C interval, but increased and decreased highly significantly at 25 °C for D. meyli and P. marina , respectively.
Respiration at temperatures from 5 °C to 30 °C was measured with nematodes from monospecific cultures using a modified Clark electrode procedure. Respiration was dependent upon temperature in the entire range for P. marina , but not for D. meyli , where only at 25 °C a clear respiratory acceleration was observed.
Feeding experiments with P. marina showed a dominant influence of bacterial density on uptake rates, with a lower but still significant temperature effect.
These data are discussed in relation to the overall life strategies of both species.     

Determination of the mineral composition of similar types of paleosols intercalated in loess sequences

The mineral composition of paleosols intercalated in series of young loess was determined. The following conclusions were drawn:

1. The mineralogical composition of the total soil showed correlation with the ecological conditions having prevailed during sedimentation.
2. The processes of soil formation can be described well by the mineral composition of the fraction of particle size less than 0.002 mm. It displays strong similarities in the fine-dispersed fractions of soils representing identical genetic types from different loess profiles. Since paleosols of identical type are assumed to have formed under similar climatic conditions, the latter can be characterized by the mineral composition of the fine-dispersed fraction.

     

Deep-sea macrourid fishes scavenge on plant material: Evidence from in situ observations

Deep-sea benthic communities primarily rely on an allochthonous food source. This may be in the form of phytodetritus or as food falls e.g. sinking carcasses of nekton or debris of marine macrophyte algae. Deep-sea macrourids are the most abundant demersal fish in the deep ocean. Macrourids are generally considered to be the apex predators/scavengers in deep-sea communities. Baited camera experiments and stable isotope analyses have demonstrated that animal carrion derived from the surface waters is an important component in the diets of macrourids; some macrourid stomachs also contained vegetable/plant material e.g. onion peels, oranges, algae. The latter observations led us to the question: is plant material an attractive food source for deep-sea scavenging fish? We simulated a plant food fall using in situ benthic lander systems equipped with a baited time-lapse camera. Abyssal macrourids and cusk-eels were attracted to the bait, both feeding vigorously on the bait, and the majority of the bait was consumed in <30 h. These observations indicate (1) plant material can produce an odour plume similar to that of animal carrion and attracts deep-sea fish, and (2) deep-sea fish readily eat plant material. This represents to our knowledge the first in situ documentation of deep-sea fish ingesting plant material and highlights the variability in the scavenging nature of deep-sea fishes. This may have implications for food webs in areas where macrophyte/seagrass detritus is abundant at the seafloor e.g. canyon systems and continental shelves close to seagrass meadows (Bahamas and Mediterranean).     

Changes in nematode communities at the long-term sand extraction site of the Kwintebank (southern bight of the north sea)

We investigated the long-term effects of sand extraction activities on the nematode communities from the Kwintebank. Although changes in nematode community composition cannot be completely uncoupled from natural processes, we suggest that the morphological changes in the sandbank and physical disturbance associated with the dredging activities indeed affected nematode community composition. Nematode diversity did not change since the start of the extraction activities but nematode community composition changed significantly. The SIMPER routine identified predatory nematodes to be important for the within group similarity at the start of the exploitation, while similarity in 1997 and 2001 was determined by the contribution of deposit feeding nematodes. In addition, long nematodes, vulnerable to physical disturbance became less important. These changes are attributed to long term changes in sediment characteristics in combination with additional short-term disturbances by the creation and filling of dredge furrows which are related to the extraction activities.     

The Anisotropic Schwarzschild-Type Problem, Main Features

The two-body problem associated to an anisotropic Schwarzschild-type field is being tackled. Both the motion equations and the energy integral are regularized via McGehee-type transformations. The regular vector field exhibits nice symmetries that form a commutative group endowed with an idempotent structure. The physically fictitious flows on the collision and infinity manifolds, as well as the local flows in the neighbourhood of these manifolds, are fully described. Homothetic, spiral, and oscillatory orbits are pointed out. Some features of the global flow are depicted for all possible levels of energy. For the negative-energy case, few things have been done. The positive-energy global flow does not have zero-velocity curves; every orbit is of the type ejection – escape or capture – collision. In the zero-energy case, the collision and infinity manifolds have a very similar structure. The existence of eight trajectories that connect the equilibria on these manifolds is proved. The projectability of the zero-energy global flow completes the full understanding of the problem in this case.