A mathematical model of spit growth and barrier elongation: Application to Fire Island Inlet (USA) and Badreveln Spit (Sweden)

A mathematical model of spit growth and barrier elongation adjacent to an inlet (of arbitrary width), supplied by sediment coming from longshore sediment transport, was developed based on the spit growth model proposed by Kraus (1999). The fundamental governing equation is the conservation equation for sand, where the width of the spit is assumed constant during growth. The portion of the longshore sediment transport feeding the spit has been estimated based on the ratio between the depth of the inlet channel and the depth of active longshore transport. Sediment transport from the channel due to the inlet flow, as well as other sinks of sand (e.g., dredging), are taken into account. Measured data on spit elongation at Fire Island Inlet, United States, and at Badreveln Spit, Sweden, were used to validate the model. The simulated results agree well with the measured data at both study sites, where spit growth at Fire Island was restricted by the inlet flow and the growth at Badreveln Spit was unrestricted. The model calculation for Fire Island Inlet indicates that the dredging to maintain channel navigation is the major reason for the stable period observed from 1954 to 1994 at the Fire Island barrier. The average annual net longshore transport rate at the eastern side of the Fire Island inlet obtained in this study was about 220,000 m³/yr, of which approximately 165,000 m³/yr (75% of the net longshore transport) is deposited in the inlet feeding the spit growth, whereas the remaining portion (25%) is bypassed downdrift through the ebb shoal complex.     

日本结构控制的工程应用

提出了包括基础隔震系统、质量阻尼系统和其他阻尼器的结构振动控制系统,阐述了结构控制系统在日本的实际工程应用,同时还介绍了于2000年11月召开的第二届日本结构控制学术会议的情况.     

H 0 from an orientation-unbiased sample of Sunyaev–Zel'dovich and X-ray clusters

We have observed the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effect in a sample of five moderate-redshift clusters with the Ryle Telescope, and used them in conjunction with X-ray imaging and spectral data from ROSAT and ASCA to measure the Hubble constant. This sample was chosen with a strict X-ray flux limit using both the Bright Cluster Sample and the Northern ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) cluster catalogues to be well above the surface brightness limit of the RASS, and hence to be unbiased with respect to the orientation of the cluster. This controls a major potential systematic effect in the SZ/X-ray method of measuring H ₀. Taking the weighted geometric mean of the results and including the main sources of error, namely the noise in the SZ measurement, the uncertainty in the X-ray temperatures and the unknown ellipticity and substructure of the clusters, we find   H ₀= 59⁺¹⁰₋₉ (random)⁺⁸₋₇(systematic) km s⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹  assuming a standard cold dark matter model with  Ω_M= 1.0, Ω_Λ= 0.0  or   H ₀= 66⁺¹¹₋₁₀ ⁺⁹₋₈ km  s⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹  if  Ω_M= 0.3, Ω_Λ= 0.7  .     

The evidence of an early stellar encounter in Edgeworth-Kuiper belt

We investigate the influence of a stellar fly-by encounter on the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects through numerical orbital calculations, in order to explain both mass depletion and high orbital inclinations of the classical Edgeworth-Kuiper belt (CEKB) objects, which have semimajor axis of 42-48 AU and perihelia beyond 35 AU. The observationally inferred total mass of the CEKB is ∼1/10 Earth masses, which is only ∼0.02 of that extrapolated from the minimum-mass solar nebula model. The CEKB consists of bimodal population: “hot population” with inclinations i?0.2-0.6 radians and “cold population” with i?0.1. The observationally suggested difference in size and color of objects between the two populations may imply different origins of the two populations. We find that both the depletion of solid materials in the CEKB and the formation of the hot population are accounted for by a single close stellar encounter with pericenter distance of 80-100 AU and inclination relative to the initial protoplanetary disk ?50°-70°. Such a stellar encounter highly pumps up eccentricities of most objects in the CEKB and then their perihelia migrate within 35 AU. These objects would be removed by Neptune's perturbations after Neptune is formed at or migrates to the current position (30 AU). Less than 10% of the original objects remain in stable orbits with small eccentricities and perihelion distances larger than 35 AU, in the CEKB, which is consistent with the observation. We find that i of the remaining objects are as large as that of the observed hot population. The only problem is how to stop Neptune's migration at ∼30 AU, which is addressed in a separate paper. The depletion by the stellar encounter extends deeply into ∼30-35 AU, which provides the basis of the formation model for the cold population through Neptune's outward migration by Levison and Morbidelli (2003, Nature, 426, 419-421). The combination of our model with Levison and Morbidelli's model could consistently explain the mass depletion, truncation at 50 AU, bimodal distribution in i, and differences in size and color between the hot and the cold populations in the CEKB.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000280

Characteristic infrasound waves observed at Antarctic stations demonstrate physical interaction involving environmental changes in the Antarctic continent and the surrounding oceans.A Chaparraltype infrasound sensor was installed at Syowa Station(SYO;39°E,69°S),East Antarctica,as one of the projects of the International Polar Year(IPY2007—2008).Data continuously recorded during the three seasons in 2008—2010 clearly indicate a contamination of the background oceanic signals(microbaroms)with peaks between 4 and 10 s observed during a whole season.The peak amplitudes of the microbaroms have relatively lower values during austral winters,caused by a larger amount of sea-ice extending around the L(u|")tzow-Holm Bay near SYO,with decreasing ocean wave loading effects.Microbaroms measurements are useful tool for characterizing ocean wave climate,complementing other oceanographic and geophysical data.A continuous monitoring by infrasound sensors in the Antarctic firmly contributes to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty(CTBT) in the southern high latitude,together with the Pan-Antarctic Observations System(PAntOS) under the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research(SCAR).Detailed measurements of the infrasound waves in Antarctica,consequently,could be a new proxy for monitoring regional environmental change as well as the temporal climate variations in the polar regions.     

Mineral chemistry of MUSES‐C Regio inferred from analysis of dust particles collected from the first‐ and second‐touchdown sites on asteroid Itokawa

The mineralogy and mineral chemistry of Itokawa dust particles captured during the first and second touchdowns on the MUSES‐C Regio were characterized by synchrotron‐radiation X‐ray diffraction and field‐emission electron microprobe analysis. Olivine and low‐ and high‐Ca pyroxene, plagioclase, and merrillite compositions of the first‐touchdown particles are similar to those of the second‐touchdown particles. The two touchdown sites are separated by approximately 100 meters and therefore the similarity suggests that MUSES‐C Regio is covered with dust particles of uniform mineral chemistry of LL chondrites. Quantitative compositional properties of 48 dust particles, including both first‐ and second‐touchdown samples, indicate that dust particles of MUSES‐C Regio have experienced prolonged thermal metamorphism, but they are not fully equilibrated in terms of chemical composition. This suggests that MUSES‐C particles were heated in a single asteroid at different temperatures. During slow cooling from a peak temperature of approximately 800 °C, chemical compositions of plagioclase and K‐feldspar seem to have been modified: Ab and Or contents changed during cooling, but An did not. This compositional modification is reproduced by a numerical simulation that modeled the cooling process of a 50 km sized Itokawa parent asteroid. After cooling, some particles have been heavily impacted and heated, which resulted in heterogeneous distributions of Na and K within plagioclase crystals. Impact‐induced chemical modification of plagioclase was verified by a comparison to a shock vein in the Kilabo LL6 ordinary chondrite where Na‐K distributions of plagioclase have been disturbed.     

1998 Compilation of Analytical Data for Five GSJ Geochemical Reference Samples: The "Instrumental Analysis Series"

Analytical data for five GSJ (Geological Survey of Japan) reference samples, the "Instrumental analysis series" received by October 1998, are compiled. The data reported in publications and personal communications were evaluated statistically, taking into account the analytical method and sample preparation. Based on the selected available data, recommended and preferred values for fourteen major and fifty one minor and trace elements are proposed.