POLAR investigation of the Sun—POLARIS

The POLAR Investigation of the Sun (POLARIS) mission uses a combination of a gravity assist and solar sail propulsion to place a spacecraft in a 0.48 AU circular orbit around the Sun with an inclination of 75° with respect to solar equator. This challenging orbit is made possible by the challenging development of solar sail propulsion. This first extended view of the high-latitude regions of the Sun will enable crucial observations not possible from the ecliptic viewpoint or from Solar Orbiter. While Solar Orbiter would give the first glimpse of the high latitude magnetic field and flows to probe the solar dynamo, it does not have sufficient viewing of the polar regions to achieve POLARIS’s primary objective: determining the relation between the magnetism and dynamics of the Sun’s polar regions and the solar cycle.

HiRISE observations of gas sublimation-driven activity in Mars’ southern polar regions: II. Surficial deposits and their origins

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been used to monitor the seasonal evolution of several regions at high southern latitudes and, in particular, the jet-like activity which may result from the process described by Kieffer (JGR, 112, E08005, doi:10.1029/2006JE002816, 2007) involving translucent CO₂ ice. In this work, we mostly concentrate on observations of the Inca City (81°S, 296°E) and Manhattan (86°S, 99°E) regions in the southern spring of 2007. Two companion papers, [Hansen et al. this issue] and [Portyankina et al. this issue], discuss the surface features in these regions and specific models of the behaviour of CO₂ slab ice, respectively. The observations indicate rapid on-set of activity in late winter initiating before HiRISE can obtain adequately illuminated images (Ls < 174° at Inca City). Most sources become active within the subsequent 8 weeks. Activity is indicated by the production of dark deposits surrounded by brighter bluer deposits which probably arise from the freezing out of vented CO₂ [Titus et al., 2007. AGU (abstract P41A-0188)]. These deposits originate from araneiform structures (spiders), boulders on ridges, cracks on slopes, and along linear cracks in the slab ice on flatter surfaces. The type of activity observed can often be explained qualitatively by considering the local topography. Some dark fans are observed to shorten enormously in length on a timescale of 18 days. We consider this to be strong evidence that outgassing was in progress at the time of HiRISE image acquisition and estimate a total particulate emission rate of >30 g s⁻¹ from a single typical jet feature. Brighter deposits at Inca City become increasingly hard to detect after Ls = 210°. In the Inca City region, the orientations of surficial deposits are topographically controlled. The deposition of dark material also appears to be influenced by local topography suggesting that the ejection from the vents is at low velocity (<10 m s⁻¹) and that a ground-hugging flow process (a sort of “cryo-fumarole”) may be occurring. The failure up to this point to obtain a clear detection of outgassing though stereo imaging is consistent with low level transport. The downslope orientation of the deposits may result from the geometry of the vent or from catabatic winds. At many sites, more than one ejection event appears to have occurred suggesting re-charging of the sources. Around Ls = 230°, the brightness of the surface begins to drop rapidly on north-facing slopes and the contrast between the dark deposits and the surrounding surface reduces. This indicates that the CO₂ ice slab is being lost completely in some areas at around this time. By Ls = 280°, at Inca City, the ice slab has effectively gone. CRISM band ratios and THEMIS brightness temperature measurements are consistent with this interpretation.     

HiRISE observations of gas sublimation-driven activity in Mars’ southern polar regions: III. Models of processes involving translucent ice

Enigmatic surface features, known as ‘spiders’, found at high southern martian latitudes, are probably caused by sublimation-driven erosion under the seasonal carbon dioxide ice cap. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) has imaged this terrain in unprecedented details throughout southern spring. It has been postulated [Kieffer, H.H., Titus, T.N., Mullins, K.F., Christensen, P.R., 2000. J. Geophys. Res. 105, 9653-9700] that translucent CO₂ slab ice traps gas sublimating at the ice surface boundary. Wherever the pressure is released the escaping gas jet entrains loose surface material and carries it to the top of the ice where it is carried downslope and/or downwind and deposited in a fan shape. Here we model two stages of this scenario: first, the cleaning of CO₂ slab ice from dust, and then, the breaking of the slab ice plate under the pressure built below it by subliming ice. Our modeling results and analysis of HiRISE images support the gas jet hypothesis and show that outbursts happen very early in spring.     

HiRISE observations of gas sublimation-driven activity in Mars’ southern polar regions: I. Erosion of the surface

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has imaged the sublimation of Mars’ seasonal CO₂ polar cap with unprecedented detail for one complete martian southern spring. In some areas of the surface, beneath the conformal coating of seasonal ice, radially-organized channels are connected in spidery patterns. The process of formation of this terrain, erosion by gas from subliming seasonal ice, has no earthly analog. The new capabilities (high resolution, color, and stereo images) of HiRISE enable detailed study of this enigmatic terrain. Two sites are analyzed in detail, one within an area expected to have translucent seasonal CO₂ ice, and the other site outside that region. Stereo anaglyphs show that some channels grow larger as they go uphill - implicating gas rather than liquid as the erosive agent. Dark fans of material from the substrate are observed draped over the seasonal ice, and this material collects in thin to thick layers in the channels, possibly choking off gas flow in subsequent years, resulting in inactive crisscrossing shallow channels. In some areas there are very dense networks of channels with similar width and depth, and fewer fans emerging later in the season are observed. Subtle variations in topography affect the channel morphology. A new terminology is proposed for the wide variety of erosional features observed.     

Limits on the trapping of atmospheric CH4 in martian polar ice analogs

Recent detection of methane (CH₄) on Mars has generated interest in possible biological or geological sources, but the factors responsible for the reported variability are not understood. Here we explore one potential sink that might affect the seasonal cycling of CH₄ on Mars - trapping in ices deposited on the surface. Our apparatus consisted of a high-vacuum chamber in which three different Mars ice analogs (water, carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide clathrate hydrates) were deposited in the presence of CH₄ gas. The ices were monitored for spectroscopic evidence of CH₄ trapping using transmission Fourier-Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and during subsequent sublimation of the ice films the vapor composition was measured using mass spectrometry (MS). Trapping of CH₄ in water ice was confirmed at deposition temperatures <100 K which is consistent with previous work, thus validating the experimental methods. However, no trapping of CH₄ was observed in the ice analogs studied at warmer temperatures (140 K for H₂O and CO₂ clathrate, 90 K for CO₂ snow) with approximately 10 mTorr CH₄ in the chamber. From experimental detection limits these results provide an upper limit of 0.02 for the atmosphere/ice trapping ratio of CH₄. If it is assumed that the trapping mechanism is linear with CH₄ partial pressure and can be extrapolated to Mars, this upper limit would indicate that less than 1% is expected to be trapped from the largest reported CH₄ plume, and therefore does not represent a significant sink for CH₄.     

A photohabitable zone in the martian snowpack? A laboratory and radiative-transfer study of dusty water-ice snow

Dusty water-ice snowpacks on Mars may provide a habitable zone for DNA based photosynthetic life. Previous work has over estimated the depths and thicknesses of such photohabitable zones by not considering the effect of red dust within the snowpack. For the summer solar solstice, at 80°N and a surface albedo of 0.45, there is a calculated photohabitable zone in the snowpack between depths of 5.5 and 7.5 cm. For an albedo of 0.62, there is a calculated photohabitable zone in the snowpack between depths of 8 and 11 cm. A coupled atmosphere-snow radiative-transfer model was set to model the Photosynthetic Active Radiation and DNA dose rates through water-ice snow at the north polar region of Mars. The optical properties of the polar caps were determined by creating a laboratory analogue to the Mars north polar deposits, and directly measuring light penetration and albedo. It is important for future exobiology missions to the polar regions of Mars to consider the implications of these findings, as drilling to depths of ∼11 cm should be sufficient to determine whether life exists within the martian snows, whether it is photosynthetic or otherwise, as at this depth the snow cover will provide a permanent protection from DNA damaging UV radiation.     

板桥凹陷沙三段沉积体系与物源分析

板桥凹陷位于黄骅坳陷中北部，沙三段是区内的主要生储油岩系。根据沉积环境、沉积特征及重矿物组合分布特征分析，板桥凹陷沙三段沉积期在湖盆的陡岸发育冲积扇-扇三角洲-深水浊积扇-深湖沉积体系以及近岸水下扇-深湖沉积体系，不同的物源区通过边界断层的运动控制着沉积体系的发育。在盆地的裂陷兴盛期，北部燕山褶皱带物源经过北唐凹陷和海河断层，于长芦一带形成扇三角洲，并进一步向板桥凹陷中央推进，形成板桥深水浊积扇沉积体；西北部的沧县隆起物源则沿着不同的入口，在沧东大断裂下降盘形成近岸水下扇和扇三角洲，它们也可进一步向凹陷深处推进而形成深水浊积体。应用沉积体系分布与油气聚集的规律，处于沉积体系的中间相带的扇三角洲和深水浊积扇，具有良好的油气生储组合，是断陷湖盆中有利的勘探目标。     

中国地区地磁场的球冠谐和分析

本文根据中国及其邻近地区的地磁三分量绝对测量资料,利用球冠谐和分析方法,计算出中国地区地磁剩余场的冠谐模型,地磁剩余场△X,△Y,△Z的模型均方根偏差分别为106.9,89.7,137.6 nT.提出由地磁场的国际参考地磁场和地磁剩余场的冠谐模型组成的联合模型作为中国参考地磁场的模型,它能较好地表示中国地磁场的分布.以地磁场的联合模型为正常背景场,计算出三分量磁异常的冠谐模型,并分析了磁异常的基本特征,它将为深入研究中国岩石层结构提供新证据.     

First-order asymptotic theory of the polar phase shift of Rayleigh waves

The precision of measurement of surface-wave phase velocities at very long periods has reached a point where the exact, rather than asymptotic, form of the spherical harmonics must be considered in order to compute theoretical phase velocities or phase delays. The zeroth-order (i.e. constant) polar phase shift afterBrune et al. (1961) applies only between stations antipodal to each other. Everywhere else a correction for incomplete polar phase shift must be applied even if the waves do not cross a pole between the stations. The correction can exceed one percent of the total phase delay and thus be of the same order as the expected regional anomalies. It depends on the epicentral distance on the signal period and on the focal mechanism; the latter dependence can make the practical application cumbersome. We derive first-order asymptotic formulae for the correction of local phase velocities and total phase travel times of Rayleigh waves.Contribution No. 247 of the Institute of Geophysics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich.     

对流输运在TOI断裂形成等离子体云块中的作用研究

极盖等离子体云块是极区电离层常见特征之一,其形成演化过程是当前重要研究课题.光电离高密度等离子体在对流输送作用下从日侧穿过极隙,通过极盖到达夜侧,已成为共识.日侧磁场重联作用下的极区对流输运过程,在舌状等离子体结构（TOI）"断裂"形成极盖等离子体云块中发挥重要作用.利用极区全域GPS/TEC观测数据,结合SuperDARN雷达实测的对流速度,对等离子体云块形成过程进行案例研究,重点分析两种TOI断裂形成等离子体云块的发生机制.研究结果显示,等离子体对流输运过程在TOI断裂形成等离子体云块过程中发挥关键性作用,对流形态或局部对流速度矢量急剧变化都可能导致TOI结构不稳定,使TOI结构断裂形成等离子体云块.