A self-consistent model of the jovian plasma sheet

An axially-symmetric, rapidly-rotating magnetosphere containing low-energy plasma is considered. The resulting plasma sheet is presumed isothermal and thin compared with the radius of the sheet. Solutions of the model equations are found which include the effects of centrifugal, pressure and electro-magnetic forces. These solutions show that the sheet has a constant thickness and that the pressure decays exponentially with distance from the equatorial plane. The calculated curves for the magnetic induction field are compared with the observed field of Jupiter.     

Does transported seagrass provide an important trophic link in unvegetated, nearshore areas?

The contribution of detritus from seagrass and other primary producers to faunal production in unvegetated nearshore areas was examined primarily using stable isotopes. Fish, macroinvertebrates, meiofauna and primary producers (seagrasses, macroalgae, seston and benthic microalgae) were sampled from sites in south-western Australia. All samples were analysed for δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values and fish gut contents were determined. δ¹³C values for seagrasses in the region were high compared to other macrophytes, ranging from 49.9 to −8.2‰ compared to −19.8 to −12.6‰ for macroalgae. The δ¹⁵N values ranged between 4.0 and 7.7‰ for the red, brown and green algae, and between 3.2 and 5.9‰ for seagrasses. Seston and benthic microalgae samples had a mean δ¹³C value of −12.8 and −14.0‰, respectively, and their δ¹⁵N values were comparable to the macroalgae. All invertebrate fauna had mean δ¹³C values considerably lower than seagrasses. However, individual samples harpacticoid copepods and polychaetes had a value as high as −11.7‰. δ¹⁵N values for consumers were higher than those of the primary producers, except for copepods and amphipods. The δ¹³C values for fish had a relatively small range, between −16.6 and −13.1‰, and the δ¹⁵N values of fish were elevated compared to the invertebrates and primary producers, ranging mostly between 10.0 and 12.6‰. Mixing model analysis based on δ¹³C values indicated that seagrass ranked low as a likely carbon source for all invertebrates other than harpacticoid copepods at a single site and some samples of polychaetes. The δ¹³C values for fish were similar to those of a combination of harpacticoid and calanoid copepods, amphipods and polychaetes. The consumption of harpacticoid copepods by some fish species indicates that Amphibolis and Posidonia species in south-western Australia can contribute to the food web of unvegetated nearshore areas as detritus, but brown algae is likely to make a greater contribution. At least for the time of year that was sampled, the flow of detrital seagrass material into the foodweb may be mediated by specific detrivores, in this case harpactacoid copepods, rather than by all detritivores.     

The drying up of Britain? A national estimate of changes in seasonal river flows from 11 Regional Climate Model simulations

As climate change may modify the hydrological cycle significantly, understanding the impact on river flow is important because it affects long‐term water resources planning. Here, we describe a high‐resolution British assessment of changes in river flows in the 2050s under 11 different realisations of HadRM3. In winter, river flows may either increase or decrease, with a wide range of possible decreases in summer flow. These results should encourage adaptation that copes with a broad range of future hydrological conditions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of a numerical model of the British–Irish ice sheet using relative sea‐level data: implications for the interpretation of trimline observations

The glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) of the British Isles is complex due to the interplay between local and non‐local signals. A number of recent studies have modelled the GIA response of the British Isles using relative sea‐level data. This study extends these previous analyses by using output from a numerical glaciological model as input to a GIA model. This is a necessary step towards more realistic GIA models, and although there have been similar studies for the major late Pleistocene ice sheets, this is the first study to do so for the British Isles. We test three reconstructions, classed as ‘minimal’, ‘median’ and ‘maximal’ in terms of their volume at maximum extent, and find it is possible to obtain good data–model fits. The minimal reconstruction is clearly preferred by the sea‐level data. The ice reconstructions tested were not constrained by geomorphological information of past ice extent (lateral and vertical). As a consequence, the reconstructions extend further than much of this information suggests, particularly in terms of ice thickness. It is notable, however, that the reconstructions produce good fits to many sea‐level data from central, mountainous regions (e.g. Scottish highlands), which lends support to the suggestion that trimlines, often used as an constraint on the palaeo ice surface location, are in fact features formed at the transition from warm‐ to cold‐based ice and so mark a minimum constraint on the ice surface altitude. Based on data–model misfits, suggestions are made for improving the ice model reconstructions. However, in many locations, the cause of the misfit could be due to non‐local, predominantly Fennoscandian ice and so interpretation is not straightforward. As a result, we suggest that future analyses of this type consider models and observations for both Fennoscandia and the British Isles. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding soil‐pipe flow and its role in ephemeral gully erosion

The role of soil pipeflow in ephemeral gully erosion is not well understood. Experiments were conducted on continuous soil pipes to better understand the role of internal erosion of soil pipes and its relation to ephemeral gully development. Soil beds of 140 cm length, 100 cm width and 20 cm depth had a single soil pipe of different initial sizes (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mm diameter) extend from a water reservoir to the outlet. Experiments were run on Providence silt loam and Smithdale loam soils under a constant head of 15 cm established for 30 min. Either the tunnel collapsed or the head could not be maintained. Soil pipes that were initially 2 and 4 mm clogged instantaneously at their mouth and did not exhibit flow, whereas, pipes initially ≥ 6 mm enlarged by 268, 397, and 699% on average for the 6, 8, and 10 mm diameters, respectively. Critical shear stress values were found to be essentially zero, and erodibility values gave erosion indexes that were extremely high. The rapid internal erosion resulted in erratic flow and sediment concentrations with periods of no flow as pipes were temporarily clogged followed by surges of high flow and high sediment concentrations. Tensiometers within 6 cm of the soil pipes did not exhibit pressure increases typically associated with pipe clogging. Flow through 10 mm diameter soil pipes exhibited tunnel collapse for both soils tested. Tunnel collapse typically occurred within minutes of flow establishment suggesting that ephemeral gullies could be misinterpreted as being caused by convergent surface flow if observations were made after the runoff event instead of when flow is first established through soil pipes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ultraluminous and hyperluminous infrared galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and 6dF Galaxy Survey

We present a result of cross-correlating the Infrared Astronomical Satellite Faint Source Catalogue with the spectroscopic catalogues of galaxies in the Fourth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Final Data Release of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and the Second Data Release of the 6dF Galaxy Survey. We have identified 324 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) including 190 newly discovered ULIRGs, and two hyperluminous infrared galaxies. Adding these new ULIRGs, we increase the number of known ULIRGs by about 30 per cent. The reliability of the cross-correlation is estimated using the likelihood ratio method. The incompleteness of our sample introduced by the identification procedure in this study is estimated to be about 5 per cent. Our sample covers the redshift range of   z = 0.037–0.517  with a median redshift of     , which is larger than that     of the sample of previously known ULIRGs.     

Postglacial relative sea‐level observations from Ireland and their role in glacial rebound modelling

The British Isles have been the focus of a number of recent modelling studies owing to the existence of a high‐quality sea‐level dataset for this region and the suitability of these data for constraining shallow earth viscosity structure, local to regional ice sheet histories and the magnitude/timing of global meltwater signals. Until recently, the paucity of both glaciological and relative sea‐level (RSL) data from Ireland has meant that the majority of these glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) modelling studies of the British Isles region have tended to concentrate on reconstructing ice cover over Britain. However, the recent development of a sea‐level database for Ireland along with emergence of new glaciological data on the spatial extent, thickness and deglacial chronology of the Irish Ice Sheet means it is now possible to revisit this region of the British Isles. Here, we employ these new data to constrain the evolution of the Irish Ice Sheet. We find that in order to reconcile differences between model predictions and RSL evidence, a thick, spatially extensive ice sheet of ～600–700 m over much of north and central Ireland is required at the LGM with very rapid deglaciation after 21 k cal. yr BP. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An evaluation of temporally adaptive transformation approaches for solving Richards' equation

Developing robust and efficient numerical solution methods for Richards' equation (RE) continues to be a challenge for certain problems. We consider such a problem here: infiltration into unsaturated porous media initially at static conditions for uniform and non-uniform pore size media. For ponded boundary conditions, a sharp infiltration front results, which propagates through the media. We evaluate the resultant solution method for robustness and efficiency using combinations of variable transformation and adaptive time-stepping methods. Transformation methods introduce a change of variable that results in a smoother solution, which is more amenable to efficient numerical solution. We use adaptive time-stepping methods to adjust the time-step size, and in some cases the order of the solution method, to meet a constraint on nonlinear solution convergence properties or a solution error criterion. Results for three test problems showed that adaptive time-stepping methods provided robust solutions; in most cases transforming the dependent variable led to more efficient solutions than untransformed approaches, especially as the pore-size uniformity increased; and the higher-order adaptive time integration method was robust and the most efficient method evaluated.     

Revised ab initio models for H2-H2 collision-induced absorption at low temperatures

A revised ab initio calculation of the H₂-H₂ collision-induced absorption results in significant differences compared with the work of J. Borysow et al. [Borysow, J., Trafton, L., Frommhold, L., Birnbaum, G., 1985. Astrophys. J. 296, 644-654] for wavenumbers greater than 600 cm⁻¹ and temperatures below 120 K. The revision has significant influence on the spectra of Uranus and Neptune, and essentially removes the need for models with “super-solar” helium abundances or stratospheric hazes to explain the spectrum of Uranus.