OH-initiated degradation of several hydrocarbons in the atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR

Degradation of isoprene, m-xylene, n-octane, propene, and methacrolein by hydroxyl radicals has been studied in the simulation chamber SAPHIR under burden of trace gases as they are typical for the moderately polluted planetary boundary layer. Measured time series of the hydrocarbon mixing ratios and the OH concentrations were used to determine the rate constants. The hydrocarbons were measured with gas chromatography and proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry. OH was measured with the Jülich DOAS (differential optical absorption spectroscopy) instrument. In all cases except methacrolein good agreement was found with the reference rate constants taken from the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM3.1). The data for methacrolein are consistent with the results of Karl et al. (J. Atmos. Chem 55, 2006, doi:) who reported a 12% smaller value. The degradation of hydrocarbons provides an independent method to analyse precision and accuracy of the OH measurements. A precision of better than 4% over a period of nearly 4 months was found. The accuracy is within the limitations given by the light absorption cross section of OH. Both results are consistent with earlier results by Hausmann et al. (J. Geophys. Res. 102:16011–16022, 1997).     

Determination of the material damping ratio and the shear wave velocity with the Seismic Cone Penetration Test

The Seismic Cone Penetration Test (SCPT) is used to determine the variation with depth of the shear (and longitudinal) wave velocity at various sites in Belgium. The cross correlation technique together with a posteriori increase of the sampling frequency proves to be a reliable method to determine wave velocities by the SCPT. Additionally, the Spectral Ratio Slope (SRS) method is applied to Fourier transforms of the measured response to determine the variation of the material damping ratio with depth. This method is applied to synthetic signals computed for three different soil profiles with known characteristics and to the horizontal acceleration time histories that have been measured during SCPT on two sites. The influence of some signal processing techniques commonly applied in the SRS method is studied. A remarkable influence of the window length, applied on the predicted signals, on the computed material damping ratio is found, especially its scattering. It is therefore concluded that the use of a window function should be avoided wherever possible. On one of the two test sites, results of Resonant Column Tests and Free Torsion Pendulum Tests on undisturbed soil samples have been used to evaluate the values of the shear wave velocity and the material damping ratio as obtained in the in situ test.     

Orogenic structure of the Eastern Alps, Europe, from TRANSALP deep seismic reflection profiling

The TRANSALP Group, comprising of partner institutions from Italy, Austria and Germany, acquired data on a 340 km long deep seismic reflection line crossing the Eastern Alps between Munich and Venice. Although the field work was split into four campaigns, between fall 1998 and summer 2001, the project gathered for the first time a continuous profile across the Alps using consistent field acquisition and data processing parameters. These sections span the orogen itself, at its broadest width, as well as the editor Fred Davey and the two adjacent basins. Vibroseis and explosion data, complementary in their depth penetration and resolution characteristics, were obtained along with wide-angle and teleseismic data. The profile shows a bi-vergent asymmetric structure of the crust beneath the Alpine axis which reaches a maximum thickness of 55 km, and 80–100 km long transcrustal ramps, the southward dipping ‘Sub-Tauern-Ramp’ and the northward-dipping ‘Sub-Dolomites-Ramp’. Strongly reflective patterns of these ramps can be traced towards the north to the Inn Valley and towards the south to the Valsugana thrust belt, both of which show enhanced seismicity in the brittle upper crust. The seismic sections do not reveal any direct evidence for the presence of the Periadriatic Fault system, the presumed equivalent to the Insubric Line in the Western Alps. According to our new evolutionary model, the Sub-Tauern-Ramp is linked at depth with remnants of the subducted Penninic Ocean. The ‘crocodile’-type model describes an upper/lower crustal decoupling and wedging of both the European and the Adriatic–African continents.     

Coulomb interactions in the intracluster medium

In this paper we discuss the effect of Coulomb collisions on the temperature profiles of the intracluster medium in clusters of galaxies, motivated by recent reports of negative temperature gradients in some clusters by Markevitch et al. The time-scale for electrons and protons to reach temperature equilibrium can exceed a few × 10⁹ years beyond radii of a megaparsec, if the intracluster gas is assumed to be at the usual cluster virial temperature. If a cluster merger has occurred within that time causing the protons, but not the electrons, to be rapidly heated then a small negative temperature gradient can result. This gradient is larger in clusters with higher temperatures and steeper density profiles.   Applying these considerations to the cluster of galaxies A2163, we conclude that, more plausibly, the observed gradient is due to a lack of hydrostatic equilibrium following a merger.     

Helmet Streamers with Triple Structures: Weakly Two-Dimensional Stationary States

Recent observations of the solar corona with the LASCO coronagraph on board the SOHO spacecraft have revealed the occurrence of triple helmet streamers even during solar minimum, which occasionally go unstable and give rise to particularly huge coronal mass ejections. We present a method to calculate (semi-)analytically self-consistent stationary configurations of triple helmet streamers which can serve as input for stability considerations and dynamical calculations. The method is based on an asymptotic expansion procedure using the elongated structure of the streamers. The method is very flexible and can be used in both Cartesian and spherical geometry. We discuss the effects of magnetic shear, gravity and field-aligned flow on open field lines. Example solutions illustrating the influence of each of these features on the solution structure are presented.     

Deep hard X-ray source counts from a fluctuation analysis of ASCA SIS images

An analysis of the spatial fluctuations in 15 deep ASCA SIS0 images has been conducted in order to probe the 2–10 keV X-ray source counts down to a flux limit ∼ 2 × 10⁻¹⁴ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹. Special care has been taken in modelling the fluctuations in terms of the sensitivity maps of every one of the 16 regions (5.6 × 5.6 arcmin² each) into which the SIS0 has been divided, by means of ray-tracing simulations with improved optical constants in the X-ray telescope. The very extended 'sidelobes' (extending up to a couple of degrees) exhibited by these sensitivity maps make our analysis sensitive to both faint on-axis sources and brighter off-axis ones, the former being dominant. The source counts in the range (2−12) × 10⁻¹⁴ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹ are found to be close to a Euclidean form which extrapolates well to previous results from higher fluxes and are in reasonable agreement with some recent ASCA surveys. However, our results disagree with the deep survey counts by Georgantopoulos et al. The possibility that the source counts flatten to a sub-Euclidean form, as is observed at soft energies in ROSAT data, is only weakly constrained to happen at a flux < 1.8 × 10⁻¹² erg cm⁻² s⁻¹ (90 per cent confidence). Down to the sensitivity limit of our analysis, the integrated contribution of the sources the imprint of which is seen in the fluctuations amounts to ∼ 35 ± 13 per cent of the extragalactic 2–10 keV X-ray background.     

On the quantitative importance of heterotrophic microplankton in the northern German Wadden Sea

To assess the importance of heterotrophic microplankton in the Wadden Sea, seasonal distribution and biomass of the main subgroups, that is, heterotrophic dinoflagellates, (separated into thecate and athecate forms), tintinnids, and aloricate ciliates, were studied in 1989 and 1990 in a total of six surveys covering the whole area of the northern German Wadden Sea. Heterotrophic microplankton biomass exhibited high spatial and temporal variation, ranging from 0 μg Cl^?1 to 66 μg Cl^?1, with maximum concentrations in spring., Mean stocks were lowest in winter (1.6 μg Cl^?1) and highest in spring (11.7 μg Cl^?1); intermediate concentrations were found in summer (8.5 μg Cl^?1). In winter, the heterotrophic microplankton was dominated by tintinnids. In spring and summer, aloricate ciliates and dinoflagellates made up the largest part of the biomass. A pronounced feature was a shift within the dinoprotist group from athecate to thecate forms in summer. In spring, maxima of athecate dinoflagellate carbon were associated with blooms ofPhaeocystis globosa, indicating a close trophic relationship. From rough estimates of the daily grazing potential, based on microheterotrophic biomass and conversion factors from the literature, it may be concluded that heterotrophic microplankton temporarily share a main role in the transfer of food and energy to higher trophic levels within the pelagic system of the Wadden Sea.     

Population and rangelands in Central Tibet: a GIS-Based Approach

This study focuses on the meso-regional pattern of rangeland ecotypes in Central Tibet in relation to population density. Data on rangelands derive from a recent land-cover GIS database of China based on the 1:1,000,000 Land Use Map of China. Specific kinds of grassland and steppe are analyzed in relation to 466 township-level enumeration units selected from China's 1990 census in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. This methodology offers a finer geographic resolution than in all other available research reports, and results in a more detailed understanding of the kinds of rangeland resources available to Central Tibetan communities. Systemic land cover patterns are mapped, and reveal the importance of local interactions between population and rangeland ecotypes. Alpine meadow and alpine steppe predominate above the cultivation limit at approximately 4,200 m. In the densely settled valleys below this limit, dry steppe and scrub grassland predominate.