Evidence for downflow following a coronal transient?

On 11 September 1973 a peculiar prominence was observed. The prominence displayed strong ( 50km s^–1) systematic motions toward and away from the observer. The unusual spectrographic appearance of the prominence might have been due to downflowing material lifted into the corona during an earlier coronal transient.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

On the structure of filaments from centimeter and millimeter observations

From filament observations at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths it is shown that the transition layer between the dense, cool filamentary material and the ambient hot, rarified corona is rather thin, of the order of some hundred kilometers. Hence, the difference in the sizes of filaments in the radio and optical domains is of the order of 1000 km or 2, thus not detectable by the instruments so far used for observations of filaments.NASINRC Resident Research Associate at NASA-GSFC.     

On the nature of some active regions in the microwave range

The radio emission of a selected number of solar active regions has been investigated with high angular resolution at two frequencies: 10 and 17 GHz. By comparing the results of the two observations the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. The brightness temperature distribution of an active region is often composed of very bright cores of small dimension (angular extent θ?20″) imbedded in extended halos of lower brightness.
2. The radio emission of such structures as well as the degree of polarization can be explained with a thermal process. The halos can originate by pure thermal bremsstrahlung while in the case of the very bright cores found at 10 GHz (brightness temperature T _b?1–9 × 10⁶K) the emission at the harmonics of the gyrofrequency is needed.

     

Solar-interplanetary modeling: 3-D solar wind solutions in prescribed non-radial magnetic field geometries

A model is presented which describes the 3-dimensional non-radial solar wind expansion between the Sun and the Earth in a specified magnetic field configuration subject to synoptically observed plasma properties at the coronal base. In this paper, the field is taken to be potential in the inner corona based upon the Mt. Wilson magnetograph observations and radial beyond a certain chosen surface. For plasma boundary conditions at the Sun, we use deconvoluted density profiles obtained from synopticK-coronameter brightness observations. The temperature is taken to be 2 × 10⁶ K at the base of closed field lines and 1.6 x 10⁶K at the base of open field lines. For a sample calculation, we employ data taken during the period of the 12 November 1966 eclipse. Although qualitative agreement with observations at 1 AU is obtained, important discrepancies emerge which are not apparent from spherically symmetric models or those models which do not incorporate actual observations in the lower corona. These discrepancies appear to be due to two primary difficulties - the rapid geometric divergence of the open field lines in the inner corona as well as the breakdown in the validity of the Spitzer heat conduction formula even closer to the Sun than predicted by radial flow models. These two effects combine to produce conductively dominated solutions and lower velocities, densities, and field strengths at the Earth than those observed. The traditional difficulty in solar wind theory in that unrealistically small densities must be assumed at the coronal base in order to obtain observed densities at 1 AU is more than compensated for here by the rapid divergence of field lines in the inner corona. For these base conditions, the value ofβ(ratio of gas pressure to magnetic pressure) is shown to be significantly greater than one over most of the lower corona - suggesting that, for the coronal boundary conditions used here, the use of a potential or force-free magnetic field configuration may not be justified. The calculations of this paper point to the directions where future research on solar-interplanetary modelling should receive priority:

1. better models for the coronal magnetic field structure
2. improved understanding of the thermal conductivity relevant for the solar wind plasma.

     

Point-connected rigid bodies in a topological tree

Identical equations of motion are shown to emerge for a system ofn+1 rigid bodies all interconnected byn points, each of which is common to two bodies, by means of each of the following derivation procedures, all of which employ a kinematical identity developed by Hooker and Margulies: The Hooker-Margulies/Hooker equations; Kane's quasicoordinate formulation of D'Alembert's principle; the combination of Lagrange's generalized coordinate equations and Lagrange's quasicoordinate equations; and the combination of Lagrange's generalized coordinate equations and the vector rotational equationM=H applied to the total system and resolved into a vector basis fixed in a reference body of the system. Thus the previously published Hooker-Margulies/Hooker equations are shown to be the natural result of several derivation procedures other than the Newton-Euler method originally used, provided that the central kinematical identity of the original derivation of Hooker and Margulies is employed.     

A lunar soil evolution model

Comminution, agglutination, and replenishment processes in a lunar soil are modeled by a system of time dependent, linear differential equations. In the model a soil is subdivided into coarse particle, fine particle, and agglutinate fractions. The relative mass abundance of each component in a mature soil is found to be proportional to rates for the reworking processes. Evolution of the grain size distribution from a fresh ejecta blanket to a mature soil is described quantitatively in terms of the changing proportions of the three soil constituents. If size data is available for an immature soil and a mature soil of the same system, rates for the various processes can be calculated under certain simplifying assumptions.     

The hydrogeochemistry of methane: Evidence from English groundwaters

The presence of methane (CH₄) in groundwater is usually only noticed when it rises to high concentrations; to date rather little is known about its production or natural ‘baseline’ conditions. Evidence from a range of non-polluted groundwater environments in England, including water supply aquifers, aquicludes and thermal waters, reveals that CH₄ is almost always detectable, even in aerobic conditions. Measurements of potable waters from Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic carbonate and sandstone aquifers reveal CH₄ concentrations of up to 500 μg/l, but a mean value of < 10 μg/l. However, aquiclude and thermal waters from the Carboniferous and Triassic typically contain in excess of 1500 μg/l. Such high concentrations have so far only been found at redox (Eh) potentials below 0 mV, but in general CH₄ concentration and Eh value are poorly correlated. This suggests a lack of thermodynamic equilibrium, which is confirmed by comparing pe values calculated from the redox couple C(4)/C(− 4) with those derived from Eh. Genesis of CH₄ appears to occur on two timescales: a rapid if low rate of production from labile carbon in anaerobic microsites in the soil, and a much longer, millennium scale of production from more refractory carbon. Methane is rarely measured in groundwater; there is no single ionic determinand which acts universally as a proxy, but a combination of high HCO₃ and low SO₄ concentrations, or the reverse, is an indication that high amounts of CH₄ may be present.     

Na depletion in modern adakites via melt / rock reaction within the sub-arc mantle

Interaction between slab-derived melt and mantle peridotite and the role of slab melt as a metasomatizing agent in the sub-arc mantle is being increasingly recognized. Adakite, the slab melt erupted on the surface, usually exhibits anomalously high MgO, CaO, Cr and Ni contents that indicate interaction with mantle peridotitite. Here we note that Cenozoic adakites have Na₂O contents below 5.8 wt.% with ∼95% samples lower than 5.0 wt.%, and are generally depleted in this component relative to experimental basalt partial melts (mostly beyond 5.0 wt.% and up to 9.0 wt.% Na₂O) produced under 1.5-3.0 GPa conditions that are most relevant to adakite production. We interpret the adakite Na depletion to be also a consequence of the melt / rock reaction that takes place within the hot mantle wedge. During ascent and reaction with mantle peridotite, primary adakite melts gain mantle components MgO, CaO, Cr and Ni but lose Na₂O, SiO₂ and perhaps K₂O to the mantle, leading to Na-rich mantle metasomatism. Selective assimilation of predominately mantle clinopyroxene, some spinel and minor olivine at high T/P has been considered to be an important process in producing high-Mg adakites from primary low-Mg slab melts [Killian, R., Stern, C. R., 2002. Constraints on the interaction between slab melts and the mantle wedge from adakitic glass in peridotite xenoliths. Eur. J. Mineral. 14, 25-36]. In such a process, Na depletion in the assimilated melt is the result of dilution due to the increase in melt mass. Phase relationships in the reaction system siliceous melt + peridotite and quantitative calculation suggest that assimilation of mantle clinopyroxene, olivine and spinel and fractional crystallization of sodic amphibole and orthopyroxene, under conditions of moderate T/P and increasing melt mass, is also an important process that modifies the composition of adakites and causes the Na depletion.     

A critical look at iron paleoredox proxies: New insights from modern euxinic marine basins

Enrichments in reactive iron occur under euxinic marine conditions, that is, where dissolved sulfide is present in the water column. These enrichments result primarily from the export of remobilized iron from the oxic shelf, which is scavenged from the euxinic water column during syngenetic pyrite formation and deposited in the underlying sediments. Strongly elevated ratios of highly reactive iron to total iron (Fe_HR/Fe_T) and total iron to aluminum (Fe_T/Al) and high degrees of pyritization (DOP) are each products of this enrichment process. These paleoredox proxies are among the most faithful recorders of ancient euxinia.Contrary to previous arguments, iron enrichment is decoupled from biogenic sediment inputs, but it does appear to be a uniquely euxinic phenomenon. In other words, we can rule out a major contribution from preferential physical transport of Fe_HR-rich detrital sediment to the deep basin, which could also operate under oxic conditions. Furthermore, enrichment via the shuttling of iron remobilized from oxic shelves appears to be limited by inefficient transport and trapping processes in deep oxic basins. Elevated Fe_T/Al ratios in the euxinic sediments also cannot be a product of internal enhancement of the reactivity of the detrital iron pool without net Fe_HR addition. These conclusions are supported by observations in the modern Black Sea, Orca Basin, and Effingham Inlet.Fe_T/Al ratios are unambiguous recorders of paleoredox even in sediments that have experienced high degrees of metamorphic alteration. However, this study suggests that high siliciclastic accumulation rates can swamp the enrichment mechanism, resulting in only intermediate DOP values for euxinic sediments and Fe_T/Al ratios that mimic the oxic shelf. Such dilution effects are well expressed in Black Sea basinal turbidites and rapidly accumulating muds on euxinic basin margins. Under conditions of persistent euxinia, varying extents of Fe_HR enrichment can illuminate spatial and temporal gradients in siliciclastic sedimentation. The magnitude of enrichment is a function of the source (shelf) to sink (ocean basin) areal ratio, suggesting that iron proxies can also record ocean-scale paleoenvironmental properties through muted enrichments at times of very widespread euxinia. For the first time, manganese data are interpreted in light of the redox shuttle model. As for the iron data, the Black Sea, Orca Basin, and Effingham Inlet show enrichments in total manganese in the deep euxinic basin, suggesting export from the suboxic porewaters of the oxic shelf and scavenging and burial in the basin. The Black Sea data reveal iron and manganese enrichment across the broad, deep euxinic basin, suggesting efficient lateral transport and deep-water mixing tied to the physical properties of the water column.