Purines,pyrimidines and organic carbon in lake sediments — A comparison of sediments from lakes of varying degrees of eutrophication

Sediment cores from the Great Lakes of North America and the Bodensee (Lake Constance) were analysed for purine and pyrimidine contents and total organic carbon. Lakes subject to recent cultural eutrophication showed steep increases in both organic carbon and purine and pyrimidine concentrations in the recently deposited sediments. Analytical results for Lake Huron (oligotrophic) and for a highly eutrophic area of the Bodensee (Gnadensee) appeared remarkably similar, in that only gradual, linear increases were observed in the total organic carbon curves. The curves for total purines and pyrimidines were also less steep for these cores as compared to the others studied. A possible explanation is that both areas represent lakes with no serious, recent changes in productivity. Uracil was found to decrease in concentration faster than any other purine or pyrimidine in the first few centimeters of all cores, supporting previous suggestions of more rapid turnover of this pyrimidine in sediments.     

1300 micron continuum and C18O line mapping of the giant molecular cloud cores in Orion, W49, and W51

We present observations of the 1300 micron continuum emission and the C18O spectral-line emission from three well-studied giant molecular cloud cores: Orion, W49, and W51. The observations were obtained at the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory, and they provide a means to examine the consistency of these two methods to trace the column density structure of molecular clouds. We find a good general correlation between the 1300 micron continuum, which traces the column density of dust, and the C18O J = 2 --> 1 line emission, which traces the column density of molecular gas, when the effects of source temperature are taken into consideration. Moreover, nominal values for the gas and dust abundances and the dust properties reproduce the observed continuum-to-line ratios. Thus, no strong C18O abundance gradients within sources has been found, and it appears that either the C18O emission lines or the submillimeter dust emission may be used to derive the mass column density within molecular clouds accurately.     

Relationships between physical‐geochemical soil properties and erodibility of streambanks among different physiographic provinces of Tennessee,USA

Erosion of cohesive soils in fluvial environments is dependent on physical, geochemical and biological properties, which govern inter‐particle attraction forces and control detachment rates from stream beds and banks. Most erosion rate models are based on the excess shear stress equation where the soil erodibility coefficient (k_d) is multiplied by the difference between the boundary hydraulic shear stress (τ_b) and the soil critical shear stress (τ_c). Both k_d and τ_c are a function of soil properties and must be obtained through in situ field or laboratory testing. Many studies have generated predictive relationships for k_d and τ_c derived from various soil properties. These studies typically were conducted in watersheds within a single physiographic region with a common surficial geology and/or investigated a limited number of soil properties, particularly geochemical properties. With widely reported differences in relationships between τ_c and soil properties, this study investigated differences in predictive relationships for τ_c among different physiographic provinces in Tennessee, USA. Erodibility parameters were determined in the field using a mini‐jet test device. Among these provinces, statistically four unique clusters were identified from a dataset of 128 observations and these data clusters were used to develop predictive models for τ_c to identify dominant properties governing erosion. In these clusters, 16 significant physical and geochemical soil properties were identified for τ_c prediction. Among these soil properties, water content and passing #200 sieve (percentage soil less than 75 μm) were the dominant controlling parameters to predict τ_c in addition to clay percentage (< 2 μm), bulk density, and soil pore water chemistry. This study suggests that unique relationships exist for physiographic provinces that are likely due to soil physical‐geochemical processes associated with surficial geology that determine minerology of the cohesive soil. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RHESSI Data Analysis Software: Rationale and Methods

The Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) performs imaging spectroscopy of the Sun with high spatial and spectral resolution from 3 keV to 17 MeV using indirect Fourier-transform techniques. We review the rationale behind the RHESSI data analysis software, and explain the underlying structure of the software tools. Our goal was to make the large data set available within weeks after the RHESSI launch, and to make it possible for any member of the scientific community to analyze it easily. This paper describes the requirements for the software and explores our decisions to use the SolarSoftWare and Interactive Data Language programming packages, to support both Windows and Unix platforms, and to use object-oriented programming. We also describe how the data are rapidly disseminated and how ancillary data sets are used to enhance the RHESSI science. Finally, we give a schematic overview of some of the data flow through the high-level analysis tools. More information on the data and analysis procedures can be found at the RHESSI Data Center website, http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/rhessidatacenter. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1022444531435     

High-level waste disposal,ethics and thermodynamics

Moral philosophy applied to nuclear waste disposal can be linked to paradigmatic science. Simple thermodynamic principles tell us something about rightness or wrongness of our action. Ethical judgement can be orientated towards the chemical compatibility between waste container and geological repository. A container-repository system as close as possible to thermodynamic equilibrium is ethically acceptable. It aims at unlimited stability, similar to the stability of natural metal deposits within the Earth’s crust. The practicability of the guideline can be demonstrated.     

Search for purines and pyrimidines in the Murchison meteorite

A 1 g interior sample of the Murchison CII meteorite was examined for the presence of purines and pyrimidines by dual-column, ion-exclusion chromatography and ultraviolet spectroscopy. Xanthine, not previously reported in meteorites, was found to be the major purine liberated by extraction with formic acid, with a concentration corresponding to 2.3 μg/g of meteorite. Guanine (0.1 ppm) and hypoxanthine (0.04 ppm) were also tentatively identified. The presence of adenine could not be confirmed. No pyrimidines were detected at concentrations higher than the background level (0.01 ppm) in water, formic acid or strong acid extracts. Silylation of the water extract, however, resulted in the appearance of 4-hydroxypyrimidine, 4-hydroxy-2-methylpyrimidine and 4-hydroxy-6-methylpyrimidine. These compounds are-though to be formed during the silylation procedure from contaminants present in the reagent.     

Interaction between tectonic and erosion processes on the morphogenesis of an Alpine valley: geological and geophysical investigations in the lower Romanche valley (Belledonne massif, western Alps)

In the Belledonne massif, the steep Paleozoic Belledonne Middle Fault (BMF) separates micaschists, displaying numerous landslides, from amphibolites. The massif is incised by the lower Romanche river valley. When crossing the BMF, the valley widens into a lozenge-shaped basin recently interpreted as an active pull-apart type structure associated with a major N110 striking Quaternary fault. Multidisciplinary investigations were carried out in the basin to check if this model has implications on the seismic and landslide hazard assessment. This study demonstrated the existence of a N80 sinistral strike slip Séchilienne Fault Zone (SFZ). This fault zone is suspected to offset the BMF by 375 m across the basin. Geophysical experiments revealed that the bedrock depth increases strongly in the basin, up to 350 m. Our study invalidates the active pull-apart origin of the basin and suggests it results from Quaternary glacial and fluvial erosion processes, magnified by the intersection of two inherited structures, the BMF and the SFZ.