Quantitative morphometric analysis of the Jama River profile in a tectonically active margin (Northwestern Ecuador)

The longitudinal profile of a river channel can be described in function of mathematical expressions. The logarithmic fit is the most used method to describe the relative equilibrium of a channel elevation profile. Rivers showing zones of high channel gradient and convex-upward profiles can be evaluated in function of the offset distance with respect to the logarithmic curve. The Jama River profile has been constructed using differential GPS data for the downstream reach and 4-m-grid DEM data base for the remaining headward profile. The resulting longitudinal profile shows a prominent knickpoint of about 80 m in elevation characterized by sharp local convexity. The offset distance in vertical direction from the logarithmic plot is interpreted as the successive accumulation of multiple uplift episodes associated with the Jama Fault System activity. The horizontal offset is suggested to represent the remaining retreated distance for the upstream propagation of the Jama knickpoint. The highly resistant Cretaceous rocks outcropping along the Jama knickpoint reach acts as an inflection point between two subprofiles that show well-fitted logarithmic curves, thereby representing a temporary partitioned equilibrium along the Jama River profile.     

Planar deformation features and impact glass in inclusions from the Vredefort Granophyre,South Africa

Abstract— The Vredefort Granophyre represents impact melt that was injected downward into fractures in the floor of the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa. This unit contains inclusions of country rock that were derived from different locations within the impact structure and are predominantly composed of quartzite, feldspathic quartzite, arkose, and granitic material with minor proportions of shale and epidiorite. Two of the least recrystallized inclusions contain quartz with single or multiple sets of planar deformation features. Quartz grains in other inclusions display a vermicular texture, which is reminiscent of checkerboard feldspar. Feldspars range from large, twinned crystals in some inclusions to fine‐grained aggregates that apparently are the product of decomposition of larger primary crystals. In rare inclusions, a mafic mineral, probably biotite or amphibole, has been transformed to very fine‐grained aggregates of secondary phases that include small euhedral crystals of Fe‐rich spinel. These data indicate that inclusions within the Vredefort Granophyre were exposed to shock pressures ranging from <5 to 8–30 GPa. Many of these inclusions contain small, rounded melt pockets composed of a groundmass of devitrified or metamorphosed glass containing microlites of a variety of minerals, including K‐feldspar, quartz, augite, low‐Ca pyroxene, and magnetite. The composition of this devitrified glass varies from inclusion to inclusion, but is generally consistent with a mixture of quartz and feldspar with minor proportions of mafic minerals. In the case of granitoid inclusions, melt pockets commonly occur at the boundaries between feldspar and quartz grains. In metasedimentary inclusions, some of these melt pockets contain remnants of partially melted feldspar grains. These melt pockets may have formed by eutectic melting caused by inclusion of these fragments in the hot (650 to 1610 °C) impact melt that crystallized to form the Vredefort Granophyre.     

The geology of 433 Eros

Abstract— The global high‐resolution imaging of asteroid 433 Eros by the Near‐Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker spacecraft has made it possible to develop the first comprehensive picture of the geology of a small S‐type asteroid. Eros displays a variety of surface features, and evidence of a substantial regolith. Large scale facets, grooves, and ridges indicate the presence of at least one global planar structure. Directional and superposition relations of smaller structural features suggest that fracturing has occurred throughout the object. As with other small objects, impact craters dominate the overall shape as well as the small‐scale topography of Eros. Depth/diameter ratios of craters on Eros average ～0.13, but the freshest craters approach lunar values of ～0.2. Ejecta block production from craters is highly variable; the majority of large blocks appear to have originated from one 7.6 km crater (Shoemaker). The interior morphology of craters does not reveal the influence of discrete mechanical boundaries at depth in the manner of craters formed on lunar mare regolith and on some parts of Phobos. This lack of mechanical boundaries, and the abundant evidence of regolith in nearly every high‐resolution image, suggests a gradation in the porosity and fracturing with depth. The density of small craters is deficient at sizes below ～200 m relative to predicted slopes of empirical saturation. This characteristic, which is also found on parts of Phobos and lunar highland areas, probably results from the efficient obliteration of small craters on a body with significant topographic slopes and a thick regolith. Eros displays a variety of regolith features, such as debris aprons, fine‐grained “ponded” deposits, talus cones, and bright and dark streamers on steep slopes indicative of efficient downslope movement of regolith. These processes serve to mix materials in the upper loose fragmental portion of the asteroid (regolith). In the instance of “ponded” materials and crater wall deposits, there is evidence of processes that segregate finer materials into discrete deposits. The NEAR observations have shown us that surface processes on small asteroids can be very complex and result in a wide variety of morphologic features and landforms that today seem exotic. Future missions to comets and asteroids will surely reveal still as yet unseen processes as well as give context to those discovered by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft.     

Twist transport in strongly torsioned astrophysical flux tubes

Riemannian geometrical effects on the expansion of the electron magnetohydrodynamical (EMH) superconductivity modeled twisted nonplanar thin magnetic flux tubes are considered. A solution is found which represents almost incompressible plasma flows, where the twist of flux tube is computed in terms of the continuous variation of its cross-section. It is shown that the twist increases in regions where twisted flux tube expands as in Parker’s conjecture. From computation of compression along the tube we show that when the torsion is weak a centrifugal or vorticity effect on the longitudinal direction of the tube enhances the screening effect on the “superconductor”. Throughout the paper we consider helical flux tubes where torsion and curvature of the tube are constants. Thus we show that the Parker’s conjecture is valid in a continuos manner for these type II superconducting twisted flux tubes. Throughout the paper we adopt the approximation that the radial component of the magnetic field varies so slowly along the tube axis that it can be approximated to zero along the tube. It is suggested that the models discussed here may also be applied to DNA and nanotubes.     

Direct Propagation of Photospheric Acoustic <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> Modes into Nonmagnetic Solar Atmosphere

Solar p modes are one of the dominant types of coherent signals in Doppler velocity in the solar photosphere, with periods showing a power peak at five minutes. The propagation (or leakage) of these p-mode signals into the higher solar atmosphere is one of the key drivers of oscillatory motions in the higher solar chromosphere and corona. This paper examines numerically the direct propagation of acoustic waves driven harmonically at the photosphere, into the nonmagnetic solar atmosphere. Erdélyi et al. (Astron. Astrophys. 467, 1299, 2007) investigated the acoustic response to a single point-source driver. In the follow-up work here we generalise this previous study to more structured, coherent, photospheric drivers mimicking solar global oscillations. When our atmosphere is driven with a pair of point drivers separated in space, reflection at the transition region causes cavity oscillations in the lower chromosphere, and amplification and cavity resonance of waves at the transition region generate strong surface oscillations. When driven with a widely horizontally coherent velocity signal, cavity modes are caused in the chromosphere, surface waves occur at the transition region, and fine structures are generated extending from a dynamic transition region into the lower corona, even in the absence of a magnetic field.     

Potential neutrino signals in a northern hemisphere neutrino telescope from galactic gamma-ray sources

Neutrino energy spectra have been calculated based on the recently measured energy spectra of Galactic very high energy γ-ray sources. Based on these neutrino spectra the expected event rates in the ANTARES neutrino telescope and KM3NeT, a future neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea with an instrumented volume of one km³, have been calculated. For the brightest γ-ray sources we find event rates of the order of one neutrino per year. Although the neutrino event rates are comparable to the background from atmospheric neutrinos the detection of individual sources seems possible.     

Magnetic Fields for the Laboratory Simulation of Astrophysical Objects

Strong magnetic fields were generated using a fast pulsed power generator, to investigate the interaction of plasma flows with magnetic fields and magnetized background plasmas. The inductive loads used in these experiments were designed using a filament and a finite element modeling approaches. Magnetic fields up to 2 MG (200 T) were measured by using the Faraday rotation technique.     

Lunar surface agglutinates: Mapping composition anomalies

From the Clementine UVVIS imagery of the lunar surface, the abundance of agglutinates in the lunar regolith and their composition in terms of FeO and Al₂O₃ oxides have been predicted. Data on the spectral, chemical, and mineralogic measurements of about 30 lunar soil samples from the Lunar Samples Characterization Consortium (LSCC) collection were used. The fulfilled prognosis confirms that the mare agglutinates are enriched in Al₂O₃ and depleted of FeO, while the highland agglutinates are depleted of Al₂O₃ and enriched in FeO. This behavior can be caused by the global transport of the lunar surface material induced by cosmogenic factors.