On the possibility of earth-type habitable planets around 47 UMa

We investigate whether Earth-type habitable planets can in principle exist in the planetary system of 47 UMa. The system of 47 UMa consists of two Jupiter-size planets beyond the outer edge of the stellar habitable zone, and thus resembles our own Solar System most closely compared to all exosolar planetary systems discovered so far. Our study of habitability deliberately follows an Earth-based view according to the concept of Franck and colleagues, which assumes the long-term possibility of photosynthetic biomass production under geodynamic conditions. Consequently, a broad variety of climatological, biogeochemical, and geodynamical processes involved in the generation of photosynthesis-driven life conditions is taken into account. The stellar luminosity and the age of the star/planet system are of fundamental importance for planetary habitability. Our study considers different types of planetary continental growth models and takes into account a careful assessment of the stellar parameters. In the event of successful formation and orbital stability, two subjects of intense research, we find that Earth-type habitable planets around 47 UMa are in principle possible! The likelihood of those planets is increased if assumed that 47 UMa is relatively young (?6 Gyr) and has a relatively small stellar luminosity as permitted by the observational range of those parameters.     

A simple model for lensing by black holes in galactic nuclei

The lensing properties of the Plummer model with a central point mass and external shear are derived, including the image multiplicities, critical curves and caustics. This provides a simple model for a flattened galaxy with a central supermassive black hole. For the Plummer model with black hole, the maximum number of images is four, provided the black hole mass is less than an upper bound which is calculated analytically. This introduces a method to constrain black hole masses by counting images, thus applicable at cosmological distance. With shear, the maximum number of images is six and we illustrate the occurrence of an astroid caustic and two metamorphoses.     

The global Frasnian-Famennian »Kellwasser Event«

During the UppermostP. gigas conodont zone (P. linguiformis zone) the stepwise Frasnian extinction culminates in the global transgressive-regressive Frasnian-Famennian »Kellwasser event«. Most pelagic organisms of the tropical marine environment are more or less affected by this mass extinction. During the early Upper Devonian extinction rates are clearly related to the deposition of black shales and the storage of a great amount of organic carbon in the (shelf) sediments. Contemporaneous positive excursions of the ¹³C recorded from pelagic limestones of Europe and Australia prove a worldwide change in the CO₂ content of the oceans surface water which is in balance with the atmosphere. If the climate is controlled by the CO₂ content of the atmosphere, a cyclic operation process might have developed with the succession: transgression — high organic production — deposition of organic carbon — lowering of CO₂ in the atmosphere — icehouse effect — polar glaciation — regression — erosion of organic carbon and re-supply of CO₂ to the ocean and atmosphere — greenhouse effect — deglaciation — transgression. During the change from a greenhouse to an icehouse effect an overturn of the anoxic oceans probably was one of the causes for the mass killing of low latitude marine organisms.

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Zusammenfassung Während der OberstenP. gigas-Zone (=P. linguiformis-Zone) kulminiert das stufenweise Erlöschen der Frasne Organismen im globalen transgressiv-regressiven »Kellwasser-Ereignis«, das die Frasne-Famenne-Grenze markiert. Die meisten Organismengruppen der tropischen Meere werden mehr oder weniger von dem Massensterben betroffen. Während des tiefen Oberdevons sind die Aussterberaten offensichtlich mit der Ablagerung von Schwarzschiefern verknüpft, in denen eine große Menge organischen Kohlenstoffs auf den Schelfen fixiert wird. Gleichzeitige positive Exkursionen der ¹³C-Kurven, die in pelagischen Kalken aus Europa und Australien gemessen wurden, deuten auf eine weltweite Änderung der CO₂-Gehalte des ozeanischen Oberflächenwassers und der Atmosphäre hin.Sollte das Klima vom CO₂ in der Atmosphäre gesteuert werden, könnte sich folgender Autozyklus entwickelt haben: Transgression — hohe organische Produktion — Ablagerung von organischem Kohlenstoff — Erniedrigung des CO₂-Gehaltes in der Atmosphäre — Abkühlung — polare Vereisung-Regression — Erosion und Oxidation von organischem Kohlenstoff — Erhöhung des CO₂-Gehaltes in der Atmosphäre — Treibhauseffekt — Abschmelzen der polaren Vereisung — Transgression. Aufsteigende anoxische Wässer beim Übergang vom Treibhaus- zum »Kühlhauseffekt« dürften eine der Ursachen für das Massensterben tropischer mariner Organismen gewesen sein.

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Résumé Au cours de la partie supérieure de la zone de conodontes àP. gigas (= zone àP. linguiformis), l'extinction progressive des organismes frasniens a culminé au moment de l'événement de Kellwasser, marqué par une transgression-régression globale à la limite Frasnien-Famennien. La plupart des organismes pélagiques des milieux marins tropicaux ont été affectés à des degrés divers par cette extinction de masse. Pendant le début du Dévonien supérieur, les taux d'extinction sont clairement en relation avec le dépôt de boues noires et le stockage d'une grande quantité de matière organique dans les sédiments de shelf. Simultanément, des variations positives de ¹³C enregistrées dans des calcaires pélagiques d'Europe et d'Australie indiquent un changement modial de la teneur en CO₂ de l'eau de surface des océans et de l'atmosphère.Si on admet que le climat est régi par la teneur en CO₂ de l'atmosphère, le processus cyclique suivant a pu se développer: transgression — forte production organique — dépôt de carbone organique — baisse de la teneur en CO₂ de l'atmosphère — refroidissement — glaciation polaire — régression — érosion et oxydation du carbone organique — élévation de la teneur en CO₂ de l'atmosphère — effet de serre — fusion des glaces polaires — transgression. Lors du passage du stade de l'effet de serre à celui du refroidissement, une remontée des eaux anoxiques océaniques peut être à l'origine de l'extinction de masse des organismes marins tropicaux.

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Cycling of trace metals (Mn, Fe, Mo, U, V, Cr) in deep pore waters of intertidal flat sediments

Trace metals (Mn, Fe, Mo, U, Cr, V) were studied in pore waters of an intertidal flat located in the German Wadden Sea. The study system is an example of a permeable tidal flat system where pore water exchange is affected by tidal driven pressure gradients besides diffusion. Permanently installed in situ samplers were used to extract pore waters down to 5 m depth throughout one year. The samplers were either located close to the tidal flat margin or in central parts of the tidal flat. Despite dynamic sedimentological and hydrological conditions, the general trends with depth in deep tidal flat pore waters are remarkably similar to those observed in deep sea environments. Rates of trace metal cycling must be comparably large in order to maintain the observed pore water profiles. Trace metals further show similar general trends with depth close to the margin and in central parts of the tidal flat. Seasonal sampling revealed that V and Cr vary concurrent with seasonal changes in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration. This effect is most notable close to the tidal flat margin where sulphate, DOC, and nutrients vary with season down to some metres depth. Seasonal variations of Mn, Fe, Mo, and U are by contrast limited to the upper decimetres of the sediment. Their seasonal patterns depend on organic matter supply, redox stratification, and particulate matter deposited on sediment surfaces. Pore water sampling within one tidal cycle provides evidence for pore water advection in margin sediments. During low tide pore water flow towards the creekbank is generated by a hydraulic gradient suggesting that deep pore waters may be seeping out of creekbank sediments. Owing to the enrichment of specific elements like Mn in pore water compared to sea water, seeping pore waters may have an impact on the chemistry of the open water column. Mass balance calculations reveal that the impact of deep pore waters on the Mn budget in the open water column is below 4%. Mn deep pore water discharge of the whole Wadden Sea is estimated to be about 9% of the total dissolved riverine Mn input into the Southern North Sea.     

Determination of fluid/melt partition coefficients by LA-ICPMS analysis of co-existing fluid and silicate melt inclusions: Controls on element partitioning

Analyses of co-existing silicate melt and fluid inclusions, entrapped in quartz crystals in volatile saturated magmatic systems, allowed direct quantitative determination of fluid/melt partition coefficients. Investigations of various granitic systems (peralkaline to peraluminous in composition, log fO₂ = NNO−1.7 to NNO+4.5) exsolving fluids with various chlorinities (1-14 mol/kg) allowed us to assess the effect of these variables on the fluid/melt partition coefficients (D). Partition coefficients for Pb, Zn, Ag and Fe show a nearly linear increase with the chlorinity of these fluid (D_Pb ∼ 6 ∗ m_Cl, D_Zn ∼ 8 ∗ m_Cl, D_Ag ∼ 4 ∗ m_Cl, D_Fe ∼ 1.4 ∗ m_Cl, where m_Cl is the molinity of Cl). This suggests that these metals are dissolved primarily as Cl-complexes and neither oxygen fugacity nor the composition of the melt affects significantly their fluid/melt partitioning. By contrast, partition coefficients for Mo, B, As, Sb and Bi are highest in low salinity (1-2 mol/kg Cl) fluids with maximum values of D_Mo ∼ 20, D_B ∼ 15, D_As ∼ 13, D_Sb ∼ 8, D_Bi ∼ 15 indicating dissolution as non-chloride (e.g., hydroxy) complexes. Fluid/melt partition coefficients of copper are highly variable, but highest between vapor like fluids and silicate melt (D_Cu ? 2700), indicating an important role for ligands other than Cl. Partition coefficients for W generally increase with increasing chlorinity, but are exceptionally low in some of the studied brines which may indicate an effect of other parameters. Fluid/melt partition coefficients of Sn show a high variability but likely increase with the chlorinity of the fluid (D_Sn = 0.3-42, D_W = 0.8-60), and decrease with decreasing oxygen fugacity or melt peraluminosity.     

Oligocene sequence stratigraphy and basin development in the Danish North Sea sector based on log interpretations

Five sequences are defined in the Oligocene succession of the Danish North Sea sector. Two of the sequences, 4.1a and 4.3, have been identified onshore Denmark.Two types of prograding lowstand deposits are recognized. Sand-dominated deposits occur proximally, comprising sharp-based forced regressive deposits covered with prograding low-stand deposits. Clay-dominated prograding lowstand deposits occur distally in the sequences. The highstand deposits are proximally represented by thick prograding sandy deposits and distally by thin and condensed intervals.The main sediment input direction was from the north and the northeast. A succession oif lithofacies, from shallow marine facies dominated by sand to outer shelf facies dominated by clay, is mapped in each of the sequences. An overall southward progradation of the shoreline took place during the Oligocene, interrupted only by minor shoreline retreats.     

Environmental overview of Eckernförde Bay,northern Germany

This environmental overview of Eckernförde Bay (northern Germany) summarizes the results of previous studies relevant to the Office of Naval Research's Coastal Benthic Boundary Layer (CBBL) Baltic field exercise conducted during 1993–1994. Significant environmental characteristics include the following: (1) surface sediment distribution is related to water depth, dictated primarily by hydrodynamic reworking of older glacial deposits; (2) the origin and characteristics of small-scale sedimentary structures depend on storm-generated waves and currents; (3) the proximity of the sea surface and sediment —water interface results in a pelagic—benthic coupling that drives biogeochemical processes and produces organicrich, acoustically turbid sediments; and (4) the bay floor is complicated topographically by pockmarks and manmade sedimentary structures.     

The influence of salinity on the heat-shock protein response of Potamocorbula amurensis (Bivalvia)

For biomarkers to be useful in assessing anthropogenic impacts in field studies involving aquatic organisms, they should not be affected by naturally occurring changes in environmental parameters such as salinity. This is especially important in estuarine environments and for relatively unspecific biomarkers like heat-shock proteins (hsps, stress proteins). In this study, the heat-shock protein response was measured in the euryhaline clam, Potamocorbula amurensis, after exposure to a range of salinities reflecting normal and extreme environmental conditions in Northern San Francisco Bay, California. The ability to raise cellular hsp70 levels in response to heat-shock was significantly impaired in P. amurensis collected from a low (0.5 ppt) salinity field site, and after 14 day exposure to low salinity in the laboratory.