Molecular line profiles as diagnostics of protostellar collapse: modelling the 'blue asymmetry' in inside-out infall

The evolution of star-forming core analogues undergoing inside-out collapse is studied with a multipoint chemodynamical model which self-consistently computes the abundance distribution of chemical species in the core. For several collapse periods the output chemistry of infalling tracer species such as HCO⁺, CS and N₂H⁺ is then coupled to an accelerated Λ-iteration radiative transfer code, which predicts the emerging molecular line profiles using two different input gas/dust temperature distributions. We investigate the sensitivity of the predicted spectral line profiles and line asymmetry ratios to the core temperature distribution, the time-dependent model chemistry, as well as to ad hoc abundance distributions. The line asymmetry is found to be strongly dependent on the adopted chemical abundance distribution. In general, models with a warm central region show higher values of blue asymmetry in optically thick HCO⁺ and CS lines than models with a starless core temperature profile. We find that in the formal context of Shu-type inside-out infall, and in the absence of rotation or outflows, the relative blue asymmetry of certain HCO⁺ and CS transitions is a function of time and, subject to the foregoing caveats, can act as a collapse chronometer. The sensitivity of simulated HCO⁺ line profiles to linear radial variations, subsonic or supersonic, of the internal turbulence field is investigated in the separate case of static cores.     

Could giant impacts cripple core dynamos of small terrestrial planets?

Large impacts not only create giant basins on terrestrial planets but also heat their interior by shock waves. We investigate the impacts that have created the largest basins existing on the planets: Utopia on Mars, Caloris on Mercury, Aitken on Moon, all formed at ∼4 Ga. We determine the impact-induced temperature increases in the interior of a planet using the “foundering” shock heating model of Watters et al. (Watters, W.A., Zuber, M.T., Hager, B.H. [2009]. J. Geophys. Res. 114, E02001. doi:10.1029/2007JE002964). The post-impact thermal evolution of the planet is investigated using 2D axi-symmetric convection in a spherical shell of temperature-dependent viscosity and thermal conductivity, and pressure-dependent thermal expansion. The impact heating creates a superheated giant plume in the upper mantle which ascends rapidly and develops a strong convection in the mantle of the sub-impact hemisphere. The upwelling of the plume rapidly sweeps up the impact-heated base of the mantle away from the core-mantle boundary and replaces it with the colder surrounding material, thus reducing the effects of the impact-heated base of the mantle on the heat flux out of core. However, direct shock heating of the core stratifies the core, suppresses the pre-existing thermal convection, and cripples a pre-existing thermally-driven core dynamo. It takes about 17, 4, and 5 Myr for the stratified cores of Mars, Mercury, and Moon to exhaust impact heat and resume global convection, possibly regenerating core dynamos.     

A data‐based mechanistic modelling (DBM) approach to understanding dynamic sediment transmission through Wyresdale Park Reservoir,Lancashire, UK

This paper outlines the application of a new data‐based mechanistic (DBM) modelling methodology to the characterization of the sediment transmission dynamics in a small upland reservoir, Wyresdale Park, Lancashire. The DBM modelling strategy exploits advanced statistical procedures to infer the dynamic model structure and its associated parameters directly from the instrumented data, producing a parametrically efficient, continuous time, transfer function model which relates suspended sediment load at the reservoir inflow to the outflow at the event scale. The associated differential equation model parameters have physical attributes which can be interpreted in terms of sediment transmission processes and associated reservoir trap efficiency. Sedigraph analysis suggests that wind‐induced resuspension episodically supplies an additional load to the reservoir outlet. The stochastic nature of the DBM model makes it ideal for evaluating the effects of uncertainty through Monte Carlo simulations (MCS) for discharge and sediment transmission. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

半荒漠风沙区土地沙漠化生物整治技术的研究

试验证明,土地沙漠化生物整治技术能在半荒漠风沙区取得显著的作用和效果。在柠条、毛条、花棒、杨柴、沙木蓼等灌木树种的适生立地上营造防风固沙林,林后3~4年,灌木就可郁闭成林,流动沙丘完全被控制变为固定沙丘;林下植被结构得以改善,优良品种增多,如能合理开发其饲料等用途,还具有十分可观的经济效益。     

沙坡头地区固沙植被土壤水分动态研究

沙坡头地区始建于1956年的无灌溉人工固沙植被,是我国交通干线防沙体系的成功模式。利用40余年的土壤水分定位观测数据,分析了不同期间建立的固沙植被土壤水分的时空变化特征及对植被的影响。结果表明,固沙植被发展至9~10a后土壤含水量开始明显下降,特别是较深层(>100cm)的含水量下降明显;0~40cm层土壤水分含量与降水相关显著,而降水对40~300cm层土壤水分的含量影响不显著;深根系固沙植物对根际区域水分的利用,进一步恶化了固沙区土壤深层的水分状况,进而抑制了这些植物的生长和生存,间接地影响了原有固沙植被组成和稳定性;经过40多年的演变,固沙植被中优势灌木种的盖度从最大盖度47.6%降至6%~9%,群落中草本和微生物结皮层得到发育。当深根系灌木的盖度降低至6%~9%时,深层土壤可维持一个相对稳定的低含水量。     

Dynamics of mule deer forage in the Sonoran Desert

Forage availability for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Sonoran Desert depends on plant biomass, which is influenced by rainfall. We determined how rainfall, temperature and plant characteristics affected biomass of deer forage. We measured forage biomass, rainfall and temperature every 3 months from April 2000 to December 2002. Quarterly rainfall ranged from <1 to 57 mm, and forage biomass in desert washes fluctuated between 6 and 34 g m⁻². There was a positive relationship between forage biomass and rainfall the previous six months (p<0.001), and a negative relationship between biomass and average temperature the previous 3 months (p<0.001). Quarterly forage growth was positively influenced by rainfall (p<0.001) and negatively influenced by forage biomass (p<0.001). The relationships between deer forage and environmental factors established here will be useful in understanding population ecology of mule deer as part of an interactive model of plant–herbivore dynamics in arid environments.