Excitation of Sr ii lines in Eta Carinae

We study the nature of the peculiar [Sr  ii ] and Sr  ii emission filament found in the ejecta of Eta Carinae. To this purpose we carry out ab initio calculations of radiative transition probabilities and electron impact excitation rate coefficients for Sr  ii . Then we build a multilevel model for the system which is used to investigate the physical condition of the filament and the nature of the observed allowed and forbidden Sr  ii optical emission. It is found that the observed spectrum is consistent with the lines being pumped by the continuum radiation field in a mostly neutral region with electron density near 10⁷ cm⁻³. Under these conditions, the observed emission can be explained without the need for a large Sr overabundance.     

广东2008年低温雨雪冰冻灾害及气象应急响应

2008年初我国南方遭受了百年一遇低温雨雪冰冻灾害,广东的受灾程度属80年一遇,造成了重大经济损失和严重社会影响.分析发现:灾害过程在近年来最严重的一次拉尼娜事件背景下发生的,与欧亚地区持续大气环流异常密切相关.在北脊南槽和西太平洋副高偏北偏强的形势下,冷暖气流在我国南方地区频繁交汇,使对流层中低层形成逆温层和局地经向环流产生异常,造成了此次持续低温雨雪冰冻过程.面对灾害引发的公共事件,广东省气象部门打破常规、准确预警,启动预案,通过媒体和公共事件预警信息发布平台,及时传播权威的公共预警信息,为安定民心、稳定社会、减少灾害起到积极作用.灾后反思发现,山区冰灾的监测、灾害的评估、公共信息发布等的能力和规范均亟待加强.     

Layering stratigraphy of eastern Coprates and northern Capri Chasmata, Mars

Distinct competent layers are observed in the slopes of eastern Coprates Chasma, part of the Valles Marineris system on Mars. Our observations indicate that the stratigraphy of Coprates Chasma consists of alternating thin strong layers and thicker sequences of relatively weak layers. The strong, competent layers maintain steeper slopes and play a major role in controlling the overall shape and geomorphology of the chasmata slopes. The topmost competent layer in this area is well preserved and easy to identify in outcrops on the northern rim of Coprates Chasma less than 100 m below the southern Ophir Planum surface. The volume of the topmost emplaced layer is at least 70 km³ and may be greater than 2100 km³ if the unit underlies most of Ophir Planum. The broad extent of this layer allows us to measure elevation offsets within the north rim of the chasma and in a freestanding massif within Coprates Chasma where the layer is also observed. Rim outcrop morphology and elevation differences between Ophir and Aurorae Plana may be indicative of the easternmost extent of the topmost competent layer. These observations allow an insight into the depositional processes that formed the stratigraphic stack into which this portion of the Valles Marineris is carved, and they present a picture of some of the last volcanic activity in this area. Furthermore, the elevation offsets within the layer are evidence of significant subsidence of the massif and surrounding material.     

Thermally distinct craters near Hrad Vallis, Elysium Planitia, Mars

Evidence of volcano-ground ice interactions on Mars can provide important constraints on the timing and distribution of martian volcanic processes and climate characteristics. Northwest of the Elysium Rise is Hrad Vallis, a ∼370 m deep, 800 km long sinuous valley that begins in a source region at 34° N, 218° W. Flanking both sides of the source region is a lobate deposit that extends ∼50 km perpendicular from the source and is an average of ∼40 m thick. Previous studies have suggested the formation of the Hrad Vallis source region was the result of explosive magma-ice interaction and that the lobate deposit is a mudflow; here we use newly available MOLA, MOC, and THEMIS data to investigate the evidence supporting this hypothesis. Within the lobate deposit we have identified 12 craters with thermal infrared signatures and morphologies that are distinct from any other craters or depressions in the region. The thermally distinct craters are distinguished by their cool interiors surrounded by warm ejecta in the nighttime THEMIS IR data and warm interiors surrounded by cool ejecta in the daytime THEMIS IR data. The craters are typically 1100-1800 m in diameter (one crater is ∼2300 m across) and 30-40 m deep, but may be up to 70 m. The craters are typically circular and have central depressions (several with interior dune fill) surrounded by ∼1 to >6 concentric fracture sets. The distribution of the craters and their morphology suggests that they are likely the result of the interaction between a hot mudflow and ground ice.     

Light-toned layered deposits in Juventae Chasma, Mars

We examine hypotheses for the formation of light-toned layered deposits in Juventae Chasma using a combination of data from Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), and Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), as well as Mars Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). We divide Juventae Chasma into geomorphic units of (i) chasm wall rock, (ii) heavily cratered hummocky terrain, (iii) a mobile and largely crater-free sand sheet on the chasm floor, (iv) light-toned layered outcrop (LLO) material, and (v) chaotic terrain. Using surface temperatures derived from THEMIS infrared data and slopes from MOLA, we derive maps of thermal inertia, which are consistent with the geomorphic units that we identify. LLO thermal inertias range from ∼400 to 850 J m⁻² K⁻¹ s^−1/2. Light-toned layered outcrops are distributed over a remarkably wide elevation range () from the chasm floor to the adjacent plateau surface. Geomorphic features, the absence of small craters, and high thermal inertia show that the LLOs are composed of sedimentary rock that is eroding relatively rapidly in the present epoch. We also present evidence for exhumation of LLO material from the west wall of the chasm, within chaotic and hummocky terrains, and within a small depression in the adjacent plateau. The data imply that at least some of the LLO material was deposited long before the adjacent Hesperian plateau basalts, and that Juventae Chasma underwent, and may still be undergoing, enlargement along its west wall due to wall rock collapse, chaotic terrain evolution, and exposure and removal of LLO material. The new data allow us to reassess possible origins of the LLOs. Gypsum, one of the minerals reported elsewhere as found in Juventae Chasma LLO material, forms only at low temperatures () and thus excludes a volcanic origin. Instead, the data are consistent with either multiple occurrences of lacustrine or airfall deposition over an extended period of time prior to emplacement of Hesperian lava flows on the plateau above the chasm.     

Low-speed impacts between rubble piles modeled as collections of polyhedra

We present results of modeling rubble piles as collections of polyhedra. The use of polyhedra allows more realistic (irregular) shapes and interactions (e.g. collisions), particularly for objects of different sizes. Rotational degrees of freedom are included in the modeling, which may be important components of the motion. We solved the equations of rigid-body dynamics, including frictional/inelastic collisions, for collections of up to several hundred elements. As a demonstration of the methods and to compare with previous work by other researchers, we simulated low-speed collisions between km-scale bodies with the same general parameters as those simulated by Leinhardt et al. [Leinhardt, Z.M., Richardson, D.C., Quinn, T., 2000. Icarus 146, 133-151]. High-speed collisions appropriate to present-day asteroid encounters require additional treatment of shock effects and fragmentation and are the subject of future work; here we study regimes appropriate to planetesimal accretion and re-accretion in the aftermath of catastrophic events. Collisions between equal-mass objects at low speeds () were simulated for both head-on and off-center collisions between rubble piles made of a power-law mass spectrum of sub-elements. Very low-speed head-on collisions produce single objects from the coalescence of the impactors. For slightly higher speeds, extensive disruption occurs, but re-accretion produces a single object with most of the total mass. For increasingly higher speeds, the re-accreted object has smaller mass, finally resulting in complete catastrophic disruption with all sub-elements on escape trajectories and only small amounts of mass in re-accreted bodies. Off-center collisions at moderately low speeds produce two re-accreted objects of approximately equal mass, separating at greater than escape speed. At high speed, complete disruption occurs as with the high-speed head-on collisions. Head-on collisions at low to moderate speeds result in objects of mostly oblate shape, while higher speed collisions produce mostly prolate objects, as do off-center collisions at moderate and high speeds. Collisions carried out with the same dissipative coefficients (coefficient of restitution ?n=0.8, zero friction) as used by Leinhardt et al. [Leinhardt, Z.M., Richardson, D.C., Quinn, T., 2000. Icarus 146, 133-151] result in a value for specific energy for disruption , somewhat lower than the value of 2 J/kg found by them, while collisions with a lower coefficient of restitution and friction [?n=0.5, ?t=0, μ=0.5, similar to those used by Michel, et al. [Michel, P., Benz, W., Richardson, D.C., 2004. Planet. Space Sci. 52, 1109-1117] for SPH + N-body calculations] yield .     

Transient crater growth in granular targets: An experimental study of low velocity impacts into glass sphere targets

We experimentally studied the formation and collapse processes of transient craters. Polycarbonate projectiles with mass of 0.49 g were impacted into the soda-lime glass sphere target (mean diameters of glass spheres are ∼36, 72, and 220 μm, respectively) using a single-stage light-gas gun. Impact velocity ranged from 11 to 329 m s⁻¹. We found that the transient crater collapses even at laboratory scales. The shape (diameter and depth) of the transient crater differs from that of the final crater. The depth-rim diameter ratios of the final and transient craters are 0.11-0.14 and 0.26-0.27, respectively. The rim diameter of both the transient and final crater depends on target material properties; however, the ratio of final to transient crater diameter does not. This suggests that target material properties affect the formation process of transient craters even in the gravity regime, and must be taken into account when scaling experimental results to planetary scales. By observing impacts into glass sphere targets, we show that although the early stage of the excavation flow does not depend on the target material properties, the radial expansion of the cavity after the end of vertical expansion does. This suggests that the effect of target material properties is specifically important in the later part of the crater excavation and collapse.