Photometric analysis of the nucleus of Comet 81P/Wild 2 from Stardust images

The disk-resolved flyby images of the nucleus of Comet 81P/Wild 2 collected by Stardust are used to perform a detailed study of the photometric properties of this cometary nucleus. A disk-integrated phase function from phase angle 11° to about 100° is measured and modeled. A phase slope of 0.0513 ± 0.0002 mag/deg is found, with a V-band absolute magnitude of 16.29 ± 0.02. Hapke’s photometric model yields a single-scattering albedo of 0.034, an asymmetry factor of phase function −0.53, a geometric albedo 0.059, and a V-band absolute magnitude of 16.03 ± 0.07. Disk-resolved photometric modeling from both the Hapke model and the Minnaert model results in 11% model RMS, indicating small photometric variations. The roughness parameter is modeled to be 27 ± 5° from limb-darkening profile. The modeled single-scattering albedo and asymmetry factor of the phase function are 0.038 ± 0.004 and −0.52 ± 0.04, respectively, consistent with those from disk-integrated phase function. The bulk photometric properties of the nucleus of Wild 2 are comparable with those of other cometary nuclei. The photometric variations on the surface of the nucleus of Wild 2 are at a level of or smaller than 15%, much smaller than those on the nucleus of Comet 19P/Borrelly and comparable or smaller than those on the nucleus of Comet 9P/Tempel 1. The similar photometric parameters of the nuclei of Wild 2, Tempel 1, and the non-source areas of fan jets on Borrelly may reflect the typical photometric properties of the weakly active surfaces on cometary nuclei.     

The common convective envelope model for W Ursae Majoris systems and the analysis of their light curves

The common convective envelope model for W UMa systems is used to analyse the light curves of the sixteen systems with spectroscopic mass ratios. From the derived photometric elements, an indication is found that Binnendijk's W-type systems have only shollow common envelopes, which is therefore suggested to be the cause of the difference between A- and W-type systems. It is also suggested that the structure of many contact binaries permits only a shallow common envelope and that further study of such envelopes will yield the modification in the model required if a closer fit to the W-type light curves is to be obtained.The model is also used with mass ratio as an additional photometric element to analyse the light curve of AW UMa. The solution obtained confirms the remarkably small mass ratio of 0.08 found by Mauder and by Mochnacki and Doughty.Originally presented at the IAU Colloquium No. 16 held at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A., September 8–11, 1971.     

Photometric analysis of 1 Ceres and surface mapping from HST observations

The highest resolution (pixel scale 30 km) images of Ceres to date have been acquired by the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard Hubble Space Telescope, through three wide band filters, centered at 535, 335, and 223 nm, covering more than one rotation of Ceres. The lightcurve at 535 nm agrees with earlier observations at V-band [Tedesco, E.F., Taylor, R.C., Drummond, J., Harwood, D., Nickoloff, I., Scaltriti, F., Schober, H. J., Zappala, V., 1983. Icarus 54, 23-29] in terms of magnitude, amplitude, and shape. The 0.04 magnitude lightcurve amplitude cannot be matched by Ceres' rotationally symmetric shape, and is modeled here by albedo patterns. The geometric albedos at the above three wavelengths are measured to be 0.087±0.003, 0.056±0.002, and 0.039±0.003, respectively. V-band geometric albedo is calculated to be 0.090±0.003, consistent with earlier observations [Tedesco, E.F., 1989. In: Binzel, R.P., Gehrels, T., Matthews, M.S. (Eds.), Asteroids II. Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 1090-1138]. A strong absorption band (30%) centered at about 280 nm is observed, but cannot be identified with either laboratory UV spectra or the spectra of Europa or Ganymede. The single-scattering albedo has been modeled to be 0.070±0.002, 0.046±0.002, and 0.032±0.003, respectively. The photometric roughness of Ceres' surface is found to be about 44°±5° from photometric modeling using Hapke's theory, consistent with earlier radar observations [Mitchell, D.L., Ostro, S.J., Hudson, R.S., Rosema, K.D., Campbell, D.B., Velez, R., Chandler, J. F., Shapiro, I.I., Giorgini, J.D., Yeomans, D.K., 1996. Icarus 124, 113-133]. The first spatially resolved surface albedo maps of Ceres at three wavelengths have been constructed from HST observations, as well as the corresponding color maps. Eleven surface albedo features are identified, ranging in scale from 40-350 km. Overall the range of these albedo and color variations is small compared to other asteroids and some icy satellites.     

A geochemical approach to distinguishing competing tectono-magmatic processes preserved in small eruptive centres

Small eruptive centres (SECs) representing short-lived, isolated eruptions are effective samples of mantle heterogeneity over a given area, as they are generally of basaltic composition and show evidence of little magmatic processing. This is particularly powerful in volcanic arcs where the original melting process generating stratovolcanoes is often obscured by additions from the down-going slab (fluids and sediments) and the overlying crust. The Pucón area of southern Chile contains active and dormant stratovolcanoes, Holocene, basaltic SECs and an arc-scale strike-slip fault (the Liquiñe Ofqui Fault System: LOFS). The SECs show unexpected compositional heterogeneity considering their spatial proximity. We present a detailed study of these SECs combining whole rock major and trace element concentrations, U-Th isotopes and olivine-hosted melt inclusion major element and volatile contents to highlight the complex inter-relations in this small but active area. We show that heterogeneity preserved at individual SECs relates to different processes: some start in the melting region with the input of slab-derived fluids, whilst others occur later in a centre’s magmatic history with the influence of crustal contamination prior to olivine crystallisation. These signals are deduced through the combination of the different geochemical tools used in this study. We show that there is no correlation between composition and distance from the arc front, whilst the local tectonic regime has an effect on melt composition: SECs aligned along the LOFS have either equilibrium U-Th ratios or small Th-excesses instead of the large—fluid influenced—U-excesses displayed by SECs situated away from this feature. One of the SECs is modelled as being generated from fluid-enriched depleted mantle, a source which it may share with the stratovolcano Villarrica, whilst another SEC with abundant evidence of crustal contamination may share its plumbing system with its neighbouring stratovolcano Quetrupillán, showing that polygenetic–monogenetic connections are unpredictable. Such marked preservation of individual magmatic histories highlights the isolation of individual melting events even in complex and highly volcanically active areas.     

Upper mantle anisotropy and crust-mantle deformation pattern beneath the Chinese mainland

Over the past 10 years,the number of broadband seismic stations in China has increased significantly.The broadband seismic records contain information about shear-wave splitting which plays an important role in revealing the upper mantle anisotropy in the Chinese mainland.Based on teleseismic SKS and SKKS phases recorded in the seismic stations,we used the analytical method of minimum transverse energy to determine the fast wave polarization direction and delay time of shear-wave splitting.We also collected results of shear-wave splitting in China and the surrounding regions from previously published papers.From the combined dataset we formed a shear-wave splitting dataset containing 1020 parameter pairs.These splitting parameters reveal the complexity of the upper mantle anisotropy image.Our statistical analysis indicates stronger upper mantle anisotropy in the Chinese mainland,with an average shear-wave time delay of 0.95 s;the anisotropy in the western region is slightly larger(1.01 s)than in the eastern region(0.92 s).On a larger scale,the SKS splitting and surface deformation data in the Tibetan Plateau and the Tianshan region jointly support the lithospheric deformation mode,i.e.the crust-lithospheric mantle coherent deformation.In eastern China,the average fast-wave direction is approximately parallel to the direction of the absolute plate motion;thus,the upper mantle anisotropy can be attributed to the asthenospheric flow.The area from the Ordos block to the Sichuan Basin in central China is the transition zone of deformation modes between the east and the west regions,where the anisotropy images are more complicated,exhibiting"fossil"anisotropy and/or two-layer anisotropy.The collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate is the main factor of upper mantle anisotropy in the western region of the Chinese mainland,while the upper mantle anisotropy in the eastern region is related to the subduction of the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate.     

Joint elastic‐electrical effective medium models of reservoir sandstones

Improvements in the joint inversion of seismic and marine controlled source electromagnetic data sets will require better constrained models of the joint elastic‐electrical properties of reservoir rocks. Various effective medium models were compared to a novel laboratory data set of elastic velocity and electrical resistivity (obtained on 67 reservoir sandstone samples saturated with 35 g/l brine at a differential pressure of 8 MPa) with mixed results. Hence, we developed a new three‐phase effective medium model for sandstones with pore‐filling clay minerals based on the combined self‐consistent approximation and differential effective medium model. We found that using a critical porosity of 0.5 and an aspect ratio of 1 for all three components, the proposed model gave accurate model predictions of the observed magnitudes of P‐wave velocity and electrical resistivity and of the divergent trends of clean and clay‐rich sandstones at higher porosities. Using only a few well‐constrained input parameters, the new model offers a practical way to predict in situ porosity and clay content in brine saturated sandstones from co‐located P‐wave velocity and electrical resistivity data sets.     

Arthropod types from Sparth Bottoms in the Howard Collection (Rochdale Museum Service)

Rochdale Museum Service holds a large collection of fossils from the important Carboniferous site of Sparth Bottoms (Lancashire, UK; Middle Coal Measures). Several of these are type specimens donated by Harold Howard in 1939. These objects were stored in the museum basement for several decades, and were thought to have been lost. The types are the holotype of the scorpion Eobuthus holti Pocock, 1911 and the holotype of the crustacean Anthrapalaemon grossarti var. holti Woodward, 1911a. These species were not named after Howard, because the describers thought that Fred Holt was the rightful collector. The holotype of the myriapod Euphoberia woodwardi Baldwin, 1911 (put into synonymy with Palaeosoma robustum Baldwin, 1911) is known to have originally been in the collection, but was not located in a recent survey.     

Mantle structure and dynamics under East Russia and adjacent regions

We present seismic images of the mantle beneath East Russia and adjacent regions and discuss geodynamic implications. Our mantle tomography shows that the subducting Pacific slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under Western Alaska, Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Japan Sea, and Northeast Asia. Many intraplate volcanoes exist in these areas, which are located above the low-velocity zones in the upper mantle above the stagnant slab, suggesting that the intraplate volcanoes are related to the dynamic processes in the big mantle wedge above the stagnant slab and the deep slab dehydration. Teleseismic tomography revealed a low-velocity zone extending down to 660 km depth beneath the Baikal rift zone, which may represent a mantle plume. The bottom depths of the Wadati–Benioff deep seismic zone and the Pacific slab itself become shallower toward the north under Kamchatka Peninsula, and the slab disappears under the northernmost Kamchatka. The slab loss is considered to be caused by the friction between the slab and the surrounding asthenosphere as the Pacific plate rotated clockwise at about 30 Ma ago, and then the slab loss was enlarged by the slab-edge pinch-off by the hot asthenospheric flow and the presence of Meiji seamounts.     

Thermal infrared (8-13 μm) spectra of 29 asteroids: the Cornell Mid-Infrared Asteroid Spectroscopy (MIDAS) Survey

We report the results of the Cornell Mid-IR Asteroid Spectroscopy (MIDAS) survey, a program of ground-based observations designed to characterize the 8-13 μm spectral properties of a statistically significant sample of asteroids from a wide variety of visible to near-IR spectral classes. MIDAS is conducted at Palomar Observatory using the Spectrocam-10 (SC-10) spectrograph on the 200-in Hale telescope. We have measured the mid-infrared spectra of twenty-nine asteroids and have derived temperature estimates from our data that are largely consistent with the predictions of the standard thermal model. We have also generated relative emissivity spectra for the target asteroids. On only one asteroid, 1 Ceres, have we found emissivity features with spectral contrast greater than 5%. Our spectrum of 4 Vesta suggests emissivity variation at the 2-3% level. Published spectra of several of the small number of asteroids observed with ISO (six of which are also included in our survey), which appeared to exhibit much stronger emissivity features, are difficult to reconcile with our measurements. Laboratory work on mineral and meteorite samples has shown that the contrast of mid-IR spectral features is greatly reduced at fine grain sizes. Moreover, the NEAR mission found that 433 Eros is covered by a relatively thick fine-grained regolith. If small bodies in general possess such regoliths, their mid-IR spectral features may be quite subtle. This may explain the evident absence of strong emissivity variation in the majority of the MIDAS spectra.     

Towards dynamic catchment modelling: a Bayesian hierarchical mixtures of experts framework

Despite the abundance of existing hydrological models, there is no single model that has been identified as performing consistently over the range of possible catchment types and catchment conditions. An attractive alternative to selecting a single model is to combine the results from several different hydrological models, thereby providing a more appropriate representation of model uncertainty than is the case otherwise. Methods based on Bayesian statistical techniques provide an ideal means to compare and combine competing models, as they explicitly account for model uncertainty. Bayesian model averaging is one such alternative that combines individual models by weighting models proportional to their respective posterior probability of selection. However, the necessity of having fixed weights for each model over the entire length of the simulation period means that the relative usefulness of different models at different times is not considered. The hierarchical mixtures of experts (HME) framework is an appealing extension of the model averaging framework that allows the individual model weights to be estimated dynamically. Consequently, a model more capable at simulating low flow characteristics attains a higher weight (probability) when such conditions are likely, switching over to a lower weight when catchment storage increases. In this way, different models apply in different hydrological states, with the probability of selecting each model being allowed to depend on relevant antecedent condition characteristics. HME models provide additional flexibility compared with simple combinations of models, by allowing the way that model predictions are combined to depend on predictor variables. Thus, for hydrological models, the ‘switch’ from one model to another can depend on the existing catchment condition. This new modelling framework is applied using a simple conceptual model to 10 selected Australian catchments. The study regions are chosen to vary considerably in terms of size, yield and location. Results from this application are compared with the alternative where a single fixed model structure is applied. Comparison of the model simulations using the maximum log‐likelihood and the Nash‐Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency show that more variance in streamflow was explained by the HME model, compared with the conceptual model alone for each of the catchments investigated. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.