Subarcsec 10μm imaging of bipolar flow sources

We have started a program of high-resolution (0.4/pixel) 10m imaging of bipolar outflow sources using the 10m camera CAMIRAS. We present recent results obtained at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope which reveal extended emission or IR companions in several luminous objects. The extended emission we detected probably arises from transiently heated very small grains, while the newly discovered companions could contribute significantly to the outflow activity and extended far-IR emission usually attributed to the main optical source.     

Singularly perturbed solution of coupled model in atmosphere-ocean for global climate

A box model of the interhemispheric thermohaline circulation （THC） in atmosphere-ocean for global climate is considered. By using the multi-scales method, the asymptotic solution of a simplified weakly nonlinear model is discussed. Firstly, by introducing first scale, the zeroth order approximate solution of the model is obtained. Secondly, by using the multi-scales, the first order approximate equation of the model is found. Finally, second order approximate equation is formed to eliminate the secular terms, and a uniformly valid asymptotic expansion of solution is decided. The multi-scales solving method is an analytic method which can be used to analyze operation sequentially. And then we can also study the diversified qualitative and quantitative behaviors for corresponding physical quantities. This paper aims at providing a valid method for solving a box model of the nonlinear equation.     

Ion acceleration and Alfvén wave generation at the Earth’s bow shock

The processes of ion acceleration and Alfvén wave generation by accelerated particles at the Earth’s bow shock are studied within a quasi-linear approach. Steady-state ion and wave spectra are shown to be established in a time of 0.3–4 h, depending on the background level of Alfvénic turbulence in the solar wind. The Alfvén waves produced by accelerated ions are confined within the frequency range 10^?2–1 Hz and their spectral peak with a wave amplitude βB ～ B comparable to the interplanetary magnetic field strength B corresponds to the frequency v = (2–3) × 10^?2 Hz. The high-frequency part of the wave spectrum (v > 0.2 Hz) undergoes damping by thermal ions. The calculated spectra of the accelerated ions and the Alfvén waves generated by them reproduce the main features observed in experiments.     

Groundwater-flow modeling in the Yucatan karstic aquifer, Mexico

The current conceptual model of the unconfined karstic aquifer in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is that a fresh-water lens floats above denser saline water that penetrates more than 40 km inland. The transmissivity of the aquifer is very high so the hydraulic gradient is very low, ranging from 7–10 mm/km through most of the northern part of the peninsula. The computer modeling program AQUIFER was used to investigate the regional groundwater flow in the aquifer. The karstified zone was modeled using the assumption that it acts hydraulically similar to a granular, porous medium. As part of the calibration, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) karstic features play an important role in the groundwater-flow system; (2) a ring or belt of sinkholes in the area is a manifestation of a zone of high transmissivity that facilitates the channeling of groundwater toward the Gulf of Mexico; and (3) the geologic features in the southern part of Yucatan influence the groundwater-flow system. The model shows that the Sierrita de Ticul fault, in the southwestern part of the study area, acts as a flow barrier and head values decline toward the northeast. The modeling also shows that the regional flow-system dynamics have not been altered despite the large number of pumping wells because the volume of water pumped is small compared with the volume of recharge, and the well-developed karst system of the region has a very high hydraulic conductivity. Electronic Publication     

(Re) deposition of loess in southern Limbourg,the Netherlands 3. Field evidence for conditions of deposition of the middle and upper silt loam complexes,and landscape evolution at Nagelbeek

This paper is about conditions and processes during the accumulation of the Upper Pleniglacial Middle and Upper Silt Loam complexes at Nagelbeek, Limbourg, a Weichselian stratigraphical type locality. The complexes correlate with Hesbayan and Brabantian loesses in Belgium, formed between 28,000 and 12,400 yrs BP. They are characterized by sediment features (cracks, mass deformations, and cut-and-fill features) that are ascribed to a cryogenic regimen. The main Middle Silt Loam subunit contains contraction cracks deformed and further modified by masswasting. Intra-Upper-Pleniglacial pedogenic intervals are inferred from three greyish bands, from a truncated weathered zone surmounting the Middle Silt Loam, and from an aeolian-cumulic palaeosol at the base of the Upper Silt Loam. Latter two zones and an intervening erosional unconformity were cryogenically reworked, less than 22,000 yrs BP, to form a complex stratigraphical marker-zone: the ‘Horizon à Langues de Nagelbeek’. Morphological variants of the marker-zone are described. The geomorphic evolution of the Nagelbeek upland, from Saalian to Holocene times, is summarized in unconformity maps and a time diagram.     

Upwelling and the distribution of chlorophyll a within the Bay of Concepción,Chile

The influence of upwelling on the distribution of chlorophyll a within the Bay of Concepción, Chile is discussed in light of continuous measurements of surface in vivo chlorophyll fluorescence and temperature taken simultaneously along horizontal transects, and hydrographic stations' data. Results suggest significant temporal variability both in the distribution of in vivo fluorescence, temperature and salinity within the Bay and in the characteristics of the exchange between the Bay and the adjacent shelf waters, induced by variable upwelling. Upwelling is produced by the predominant south-westerly winds during the summer. Significant variations in the wind direction occur with periods from two to seven days. During active upwelling, exchange is characterized by a surface outflow through the mouth of the Bay and an inflow at depth. Low chlorophyll fluorescence is confined to the upwelling areas on the eastern shore either within or outside the Bay; high chlorophyll fluorescence is confined to the central and western Bay. Density data suggest a three-layered circulation pattern at the mouth of the Bay during the upwelling relaxation involving an inflow both at the surface and bottom and outflow at mid-depth. Associated with this exchange is an active high chlorophyll transport from the Bay to the adjacent coastal waters at mid-depth and inflow of low chlorophyll water from the adjacent shelf at the surface and near the bottom.     

Le Silurien de la région d'Oulad Abbou (Meseta occidentale,Maroc) : une sédimentation péritidale sous contrôle tectonique

In the Oulad Abbou syncline, western coastal Meseta, the Silurian deposits exhibit siliciclastic or mixed siliciclastic/carbonate tidal facies that recorded alkaline basalt flows and syn-sedimentary deformations. These facies are staked into peritidal shallowing upward sequences reflecting the evolution from an infratidal to a supratidal environment. These sequences recorded low-amplitude and high-frequency sea-level variations. The built-up of these rhythmic sequences is related to distensive tectonic that allowed the development of isolated platform from extensive siliciclastic influx. This tectonic event is well recorded in the palaeogeographic evolution of the northern Gondwana platform during the Lower Palaeozoic time. To cite this article: A. Attou, N. Hamoumi, C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Field and petrological evidence for a Late Palaeozoic (Upper Carboniferous–Permian) age of the Erfaulet orthogneiss (Gran Paradiso,western Alps)

In the Gran Paradiso massif (western Alps), the boundary between the Erfaulet orthogneiss and the overlying metasediments (Money Complex) is interpreted as a Late Palaeozoic intrusive contact. Major arguments in favour of this hypothesis are: (i) the obliquity of the sedimentary layering with respect to the contact; (ii) the presence of aplitic dykes within the Money Complex; (iii) the lack of a mylonitic zone; and (iv) rare relics of an early generation of garnet in the Money metasediments, interpreted as evidence of the contact metamorphism of the Erfaulet granite. To cite this article: B. Le Bayon, M. Ballèvre, C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

The Ordovician Sierras Pampeanas–Puna basin connection: Basement thinning and basin formation in the Proto-Andean back-arc

The Ordovician Sierras Pampeanas, located in a continental back-arc position at the Proto-Andean margin of southwest Gondwana, experienced substantial mantle heat transfer during the Ordovician Famatina orogeny, converting Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian metasediments to migmatites and granites. The high-grade metamorphic basement underwent intense extensional shearing during the Early and Middle Ordovician. Contemporaneously, up to 7000 m marine sediments were deposited in extensional back-arc basins covering the pre-Ordovician basement. Extensional Ordovician tectonics were more effective in mid- and lower crustal migmatites than in higher levels of the crust. At a depth of about 13 km the separating boundary between low-strain solid upper and high-strain lower migmatitic crust evolved to an intra-crustal detachment. The detachment zone varies in thickness but does not exceed about 500 m. The formation of anatectic melt at the metamorphic peak, and the resulting drop in shear strength, initiated extensional tectonics which continued along localized ductile shear zones until the migmatitic crust cooled to amphibolite facies P–T conditions. P–T–d–t data in combination with field evidence suggest significant (ca. 52%) crustal thinning below the detachment corresponding to a thinning factor of 2.1. Ductile thinning of the upper crust is estimated to be less than that of the lower crust and might range between 25% and 44%, constituting total crustal thinning factors of 1.7–2.0. While the migmatites experienced retrograde decompression during the Ordovician, rocks along and above the detachment show isobaric cooling. This suggests that the magnitude of upper crustal extension controls the amount of space created for sediments deposited at the surface. Upper crustal extension and thinning is compensated by newly deposited sediments, maintaining constant pressure at detachment level. Thinning of the migmatitic lower crust is compensated by elevation of the crust–mantle boundary. The degree of mechanical coupling between migmatitic lower and solid upper crust across the detachment zone is the main factor controlling upper crustal extension, basin formation, and sediment thickness in the back-arc basin. The initiation of crustal extension in the back-arc, however, crucially depends on the presence of anatectic melt in the middle and lower crust. Consumption of melt and cooling of the lower crust correlate with decreasing deposition rates in the sedimentary basins and decreasing rates of crustal extension.