Genetic diversity and population structure of the franciscana dolphin,Pontoporia blainvillei,in Southern Buenos Aires,Argentina

The franciscana dolphin, Pontoporia blainvillei, is endemic to the coastal waters of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean and the most endangered dolphin in the area. Four Franciscana Management Areas (FMAs) are currently recognised; however, results of genetic studies suggest the requirement for additional FMAs and highlight the need for more detailed studies in the southern extreme of the species distribution. With this aim, we studied the genetic diversity and population structure of the species analysing an mtDNA control region fragment (434?bp) in 44 individuals collected in four sampling sites located in Southern Buenos Aires. Haplotype diversity (H?=?0.75?±?0.05) was mostly higher than the observed in endangered or near threatened odontocetes. Population structure analyses suggest that three different genetic populations should be recognised within FMA IV: Northern, Eastern and Southern Buenos Aires. Altogether, these results should be taken into account in future conservation plans for the species.     

Mineralogical applications of the lattice constant variance-covariance matrices

Summary Direct and reciprocal lattice constant variance-covariance matrices when involved in the Law of Propagation of Errors can be used to gain a full evaluation of the error terms in mineralogical quantities expressed in terms of lattice constants. Properties and relationships which mutually connect the two matrices are discussed, with emphasis placed on physical dimensions. A practical application is given by calculating the error terms in the structural indicators (bc) and (^**) of alkali feldspars. The differences between values obtained by using both variances plus covariances and those obtained using variances alone, are very small. However, as the calculations are completely automated, the full formulation using variances plus covariances represents a suitable better approach.

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Mineralogische Anwendungen der Varianz-Kovarianz-Matrizen der Gitterkonstanten

Zusammenfassung Varianz-Kovarianz-Matrizen der direkten und reziproken Gitterkonstanten können beim Fehlerfortpflanzungsgesetz benützt werden, um eine vollständige Auswertung der Fehlerausdrücke mineralogischer Größen, ausgedrückt durch Gitterkonstanten, zu erhalten. Eigenschaften und Beziehungen, welche diese beiden Matrizen gegenseitig verknüpfen, werden mit Betonung physikalischer Dimensionen diskutiert. Eine praktische Anwendung wird gegeben, indem die Fehlerausdrücke der strukturellen Indikatoren (bc) und (^**) von alkalifeldspäten berechnet werden. Die Differenzen zwischen den Werten, die bei Benützung von Varianzen und Kovarianzen, bzw. nur von Varianzen erhalten wurden, sind sehr klein. Da aber die Berechnungen voll automatisiert sind, bietet die vollständige Formulierung mit Varianzen plus Kovarianzen eine brauchbare bessere Methode.

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With 1 Figure     

Highly ordered monoclinic K-feldspars from Haut Boréon anatexites,Argentera Massif,Maritime Alps

Summary In microperthitic alkali feldspars from the Haut Boréon anatexites in the Argentera Massif, Maritime Alps, the dominant K-rich phases are devoid of grid twinning but usually show weak uneven extinction. They consist of monoclinic forms characterized by (a) highly ordered Si,Al distributions in theT-sites, (b) weak but systematic residual strain due to coherency with the exsolved Na-rich phase, and (c) not very pure compositions ranging from 0.85 to 0.88 mole fraction KAlSi₃O₈. Weak triclinic peaks in X-ray powder patterns and the evidence of incipient formation of M-twinning and the diagonal association in single-crystal X-ray photographs indicate that the dominant monoclinic K-rich phases have undergone a partial transformation into triclinic material. The microperthites investigated appear to be the expression of a relatively rapid thermal history which started and terminated at temperatures higher than those experienced by the microperthites from the Mt. Pélago anatexites, which are exposed to the West of the Haut Boréon anatexites.

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Monokline K-Feldspäte mit hohem Ordnungsgrad aus Anatexiten des Haut Boréon, Argentera Massiv Seealpen

Zusammenfassung In den mikroperthitischen Alkalifeldspäten der Anatexite des Haut Boréon im Argentera Massiv (Seealpen) zeigen die vorherrschenden monoklinen Phasen keine Zwillingsgitterung, aber gewöhnlich schwach unregelmäßige Auslöschung. Sie bestehen aus monoklinem Kali-feldspat, der 1, durch eine weitgehend geordnete Si,Al-Verteilung auf denT-Positionen, 2. durch schwache aber systematische Spannungen, welche durch die Kohärenz mit der entmischten Na-reichen Phase verursacht sind, und 3, durch eine nicht sehr scharfe Zusammensetzung, die von 0,85 bis 0,88 Molenbruch KAlSi₃O₈ schwankt, charakterisiert ist. Schwache trikline Maxima in den Röntgen-Pulverdiagrammen sowie der Hinweis auf beginnende M-Verzwilligung und diagonale Assoziation in Röntgen-Einkristallaufnahmen weisen darauf hin, daß die vorherrschenden monoklinen Phasen partiell in triklines Material umgewandelt wurden. Die untersuchten Mikroperthite scheinen eine relativ rasche thermische Geschichte zu widerspiegeln, die bei höheren Temperaturen begann und endete als jene, welche die westlich des Haut Boréon aufgeschlossenen Anatexite des Mt. Pélago erlitten.

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With 6 Figures     

A kinetic approach to cosmic-ray-induced streaming instability at supernova shocks

We show that a purely kinetic approach to the excitation of waves by cosmic rays in the vicinity of a shock front leads to predict the appearance of a non-Alfvénic fast-growing mode which has the same dispersion relation as that previously found by Bell in 2004 by treating the plasma in the magnetohydrodynamic approximation. The kinetic approach allows us to investigate the dependence of the dispersion relation of these waves on the microphysics of the current which compensates the cosmic ray flow. We also show that a resonant and a non-resonant mode may appear at the same time and one of the two may become dominant on the other depending on the conditions in the acceleration region. We discuss the role of the unstable modes for magnetic field amplification and particle acceleration in supernova remnants at different stages of the remnant evolution.     

On the role of injection in kinetic approaches to non-linear particle acceleration at non-relativistic shock waves

The dynamical reaction of the particles accelerated at a shock front by the first-order Fermi process can be determined within kinetic models that account for both the hydrodynamics of the shocked fluid and the transport of the accelerated particles. These models predict the appearance of multiple solutions, all physically allowed. We discuss here the role of injection in selecting the real solution, in the framework of a simple phenomenological recipe, which is a variation of what is sometimes referred to as thermal leakage. In this context we show that multiple solutions basically disappear and when they are present they are limited to rather peculiar values of the parameters. We also provide a quantitative calculation of the efficiency of particle acceleration at cosmic ray modified shocks and we identify the fraction of energy which is advected downstream and that of particles escaping the system from upstream infinity at the maximum momentum. The consequences of efficient particle acceleration for shock heating are also discussed.     

On the escape of particles from cosmic ray modified shocks

Stationary solutions to the problem of particle acceleration at shock waves in the non-linear regime, when the dynamical reaction of the accelerated particles on the shock cannot be neglected, are known to show a prominent energy flux escaping from the shock towards upstream infinity. On physical grounds, the escape of particles from the upstream region of a shock has to be expected in all those situations in which the maximum momentum of accelerated particles,   p _max  , decreases with time, as is the case for the Sedov–Taylor phase of expansion of a shell supernova remnant, when both the shock velocity and the cosmic ray induced magnetization decrease. In this situation, at each time t , particles with momenta larger than   p _max( t )  leave the system from upstream, carrying away a large fraction of the energy if the shock is strongly modified by the presence of cosmic rays. This phenomenon is of crucial importance for explaining the cosmic ray spectrum detected at the Earth. In this paper, we discuss how this escape flux appears in the different approaches to non-linear diffusive shock acceleration, and especially in the quasi-stationary semi-analytical kinetic ones. We apply our calculations to the Sedov–Taylor phase of a typical supernova remnant, including in a self-consistent way particle acceleration, magnetic field amplification and the dynamical reaction on the shock structure of both particles and fields. Within this framework, we calculate the temporal evolution of the maximum energy reached by the accelerated particles and of the escape flux towards upstream infinity. The latter quantity is directly related to the cosmic ray spectrum detected at the Earth.     

The gamma ray background from large scale structure formation

Hierarchical clustering of dark matter halos is thought to describe well the large scale structure of the universe. The baryonic component of the halos is shock heated to the virial temperature while a small fraction of the energy flux through the shocks may be energized through the first order Fermi process to relativistic energy per particle. It has been proposed that the electrons accelerated in this way may upscatter the photons of the universal microwave background to gamma ray energies and indeed generate a diffuse background of gamma rays that compares well to the observations. In this paper, we calculate the spectra of the particles accelerated at the merger shocks and re-evaluate the contribution of structure formation to the extragalactic diffuse gamma ray background (EDGRB), concluding that this contribution adds up to at most 10% of the observed EDGRB.