Photo's from Proceedings of the Third MicroQuasar Workshop; Granada Worshop on Galactic Relativistic Jet Sources – Granada,Spain, 11–13 September 2000

The X-Ray Spectroscopic Explorer (XRASE) has a unique combination of features that will make it possible to address many of NASA's scientific goals. These include how galaxy clusters form, the physics and chemistry of the ISM, the heating of stellar coronae, the amount and content of intergalactic baryonic matter, the mass of black holes and the formation of disks and jets in AGN and galactic binaries. XRASE has a thin foil, multilayered telescope with a large collecting area up to 10 keV, especially in the Fe K region (1100 cm²). Its microcalorimeter array combines high energy resolution (7 eV at 6 keV) and efficiency with a field-of-view of 26 arcmin² . A deep orbit allows for long, continuous observations. Monitoring instruments in the optical (WOM-X), UV (TAUVEX) and hard X-RAY (GRAM) bands will offer exceptional opportunities to make simultaneous multi-wavelength observations.     

局部桩筏基础的设计与施工

以加拿大多伦多市某工程为例,介绍了在复杂地质条件下采用局部桩筏基础(PPRF)的设计及施工问题;探讨了设计PPRF的决定性因素;在保持PPRF设计的完整性前提下,提出了单位沉降量的准则,并用于筏板和桩的设计;计算了PPRF的滑移及转动;最后,采用有效方法对该工程采用的局部桩筏基础进行了计算分析.结果表明,PPRF的设计主要取决于侧向土压力、分布不均的建筑荷载以及地基土的非均匀承载力,工程桩应主要布置在沉降较大的区域,即位于筏板基础承受高压力而土体承载力较低的西北部.探讨局部桩筏基础的设计与施工为该类型工程的基础设计提供了一个新的解决途径.     

Knowing our own history? Geography department archives in the UK

The paper presents an analysis of the returns to a questionnaire survey on the state of department archives within UK departments of geography. The results of the survey are discussed in relation to recent work in geography which has examined the archive as a site for knowledge's making but seldom in its own terms as a resource for the history of geography, and studies within the archival sciences which have considered the archive as something more than a 'storehouse' for collective memory. The paper reveals that the archival record for the history of British geography is at best uneven, and in many departments non-existent, although information on departmental history is held, often as memory, by individual geographers. The paper considers the survey's implications for the future histories of British geography and addresses the nature of the UK geography department archive as resource and responsibility.     

Performance evaluation of active wireline heave compensation systems in marine well logging environments

The basic functionality and performance of a new Schlumberger active wireline heave compensation system on the JOIDES Resolution was evaluated during the sea trial and a 3-year period of the IODP Phase II operations. A suite of software programs was developed to enable real-time monitoring of the dynamics of logging tools, and assess the efficiency of wireline heave compensation during downhole operations. The evaluation of the system effectiveness was performed under normal logging conditions as well as during stationary tests. Logging data were analyzed for their overall quality and repeatability, and to assess the reliability of high-resolution data such as formation microscanner (FMS) electrical images. This revealed that the system reduces 65–80 % of displacement or 88–98 % variance of downhole tool motion in stationary mode under heave conditions of ±0.2–1.5 m and water depths of 300–4,500 m in open holes. Under similar water/heave conditions, the compensator system reduces tool displacement by 50–60 %, or 75–84 % variance in downhole tool motion during normal logging operations. Such compensation efficiency (CE) is comparable to previous compensation systems, but using advanced and upgradeable technologies, and provides 50–85 % heave motion and heave variance attenuation. Moreover, logging down/up at low speeds (300–600 m/h) reduces the system’s CE values by 15–20 %, and logging down at higher speeds (1,000–1,200 m/h) eliminates CE values by 55–65 %. Considering the high quality of the logging data collected, it is concluded that the new system can provide an improved level of compensation over previous systems. Also, if practically feasible, future integration of downhole cable dynamics as an input feedback into the current system could further improve its compensation efficiency during logging operations.     

Sediment supply: The main driver of shelf-margin growth

Despite the obvious importance of sediment supply to shelf-margin architecture and to the potential of margins to contain and bypass deep-water sands, the role of supply in shelf-margin growth has received limited attention. High cross-shelf sediment flux is critically important for the occurrence of deep-water sands, not least on Greenhouse or rapidly subsiding margins where the impact of eustatic sea-level fall may be insufficient to drive sediment delivery out across the shelf into deep-water areas. To draw greater attention to the supply parameter we review a number of shelf margins that have grown chiefly through supply by shelf-edge deltas and associated sediment-gravity flows. Based on structural style and water depth, we recognize two broad types of shelf-margin. Moderately deep-water margins produce clinoforms < 1000 m high and show rates of shelf-edge progradation < 60 km/My and aggradation < 270 m/My, and consequently, infill their basins relatively rapidly, and develop more progradational architectures with morphologically smooth and relatively undeformed slopes. Very deep-water margins produce clinoforms > 1000 m high and generally show rates of shelf-edge progradation < 40 km/My and aggradation < 2500 m/My, and therefore infill their basins more slowly and develop more aggradational architectures with much gravity-driven slope deformation, proneness to failure and ponded architectures (salt or shale driven). On both margin types, long-term (> 1 My) rates of shelf-edge progradation of several tens of km/My tend to be linked to the delivery of relatively large volumes of sand into the deep-water basin. Delivery of this sand beyond the shelf-edge happens despite Greenhouse conditions and is likely recurrent and periodic (delivery cycles in the order of 100′s ky). Such prominent margin growth is a strong indication that sediment influx was relatively high and we refer to these margins as “supply-dominated” shelf margins. The Gulf of Mexico margin is a well-known and data-rich example of a “supply-dominated” shelf-margin during certain times (e.g., Paleocene). In contrast, on both margin types, low rates of shelf-edge progradation are linked to diminished (or even non-existent) and less frequently recurrent deep-water sediment delivery suggestive of relatively low sediment influx. Occurrence of deep-water sand delivery under low sediment influx probably requires fall of relative sea level. The differences between rapidly and slowly prograding margins indicate that sediment supply (and not sea level) is likely to be the key limiting factor on the growth of shelf margins and that sediment supply, as interpreted through progradation rate, can therefore be used to make a first-order prediction of relative amounts of sand passed to deep-water areas.     

Differential developmental toxicity of naphthoic acid isomers in medaka (Oryzias latipes) embryos

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread persistent pollutants that readily undergo biotic and abiotic conversion to numerous transformation products in rivers, lakes and estuarine sediments. Here we characterize the developmental toxicity of four PAH transformation products each structural isomers of hydroxynaphthoic acid: 1H2NA, 2H1NA, 2H3NA, and 6H2NA. Medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) embryos and eleutheroembryos were used to determine toxicity. A 96-well micro-plate format was used to establish a robust, statistically significant platform for assessment of early life stages. Individual naphthoic acid isomers demonstrated a rank order of toxicity with 1H2NA>2H1NA>2H3NA>6H2NA being more toxic. Abnormalities of circulatory system were most pronounced including pericardial edema and tube heart. To determine if HNA isomers were AhR ligands, spatial-temporal expression and activity of CYP1A was measured via in vivo EROD assessments. qPCR measurement of CYP1A induction proved different between isomers dosed at respective concentrations affecting 50% of exposed individuals (EC50s). In vitro, all ANH isomers transactivated mouse AhR using a medaka CYP1A promoter specific reporter assay. Circulatory abnormalities followed P450 induction and response was consistent with PAH toxicity. A 96-well micro-plates proved suitable as exposure chambers and provided statistically sound evaluations as well as efficient toxicity screens. Our results demonstrate the use of medaka embryos for toxicity analysis thereby achieving REACH objectives for the reduction of adult animal testing in toxicity evaluations.     

Geology, failure conditions, and implications of seismogenic avalanches of the 1944 eruption at Vesuvius, Italy

Widespread avalanching occurred at Mt. Vesuvius during its 1944 eruption, the latest activity of this volcano. The 1944 avalanche deposits display many of the morphological and structural features shown by common slides of the slump-earth flow variety, including levees, transverse ridge-and-trough topography, and preserved stratigraphy. The longest avalanche travelled 1.3 km, with an estimated volume of slightly more than one million cubic meters. Avalanches came to rest on moderately-inclined slopes. Internal structure includes low- and high-angle shears and tensional fractures. Deposits are poorly consolidated. Two lithologic types are observed; avalanches composed of both blocks and ash, with blocky rubble forming a capping layer, and avalanches composed almost wholly of ash. Block-and-ash avalanches were triggered where slopes of loose tephra had been preloaded with lava flows. Ash avalanches formed where heavy accumulations of ash were deposited by prevailing winds. Seismic activity accompanying eruption served as a trigger for avalanching.     

Downscaling Landsat-8 land surface temperature maps in diverse urban landscapes using multivariate adaptive regression splines and very high resolution auxiliary data

ABSTRACT

We propose a method for spatial downscaling of Landsat 8-derived LST maps from 100(30?m) resolution down to 2–4?m with the use of the Multiple Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) models coupled with very high resolution auxiliary data derived from hyperspectral aerial imagery and large-scale topographic maps. We applied the method to four Landsat 8 scenes, two collected in summer and two in winter, for three British towns collectively representing a variety of urban form. We used several spectral indices as well as fractional coverage of water and paved surfaces as LST predictors, and applied a novel method for the correction of temporal mismatch between spectral indices derived from aerial and satellite imagery captured at different dates, allowing for the application of the downscaling method for multiple dates without the need for repeating the aerial survey. Our results suggest that the method performed well for the summer dates, achieving RMSE of 1.40–1.83?K prior to and 0.76–1.21?K after correction for residuals. We conclude that the MARS models, by addressing the non-linear relationship of LST at coarse and fine spatial resolutions, can be successfully applied to produce high resolution LST maps suitable for studies of urban thermal environment at local scales.