β-FeOOH · Cln (akaganéite) and Fe1-xO (wüstite) in hot brine from the Atlantis II Deep (Red Sea) and the uptake of amino acids by synthetic β-FeOOH · Cln

A yellowish brown precipitate in samples of Red Sea hot brine has been identified as β-FeOOH · Cl_n (akaganéite) by Guinier-Hägg X-ray diffraction techniques, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction and electron excited X-ray fluorescence. Microcrystals of Fe_1-xO (wüstite) were also identified by electron diffraction. Synthetic β-FeOOH · Cl_n characterized by the same techniques was identical with the brine precipitate.Bonding between β-FeOOH · Cl_n and ¹⁴C labeled amino acids is pH dependent: between pH 3 and pH 7.6 amino acids were bound to the extent of 40 to 60% or 0.6 to 0.9 mmol per kg of iron oxide hydroxide. Some selectivity in affinity for different amino acids was observed, however, the effect is insufficient to explain the unusual distribution in the Atlantis II Deep brine reported in the literature.     

Geothermal investigations in the Bohus granite area in southwestern Sweden

Heat generation and heat flow were determined for the Bohus granite massif in western Sweden. This is the start of a major program concerning geothermal energy in Sweden. Neutron activation analyses, temperature measurements, thermal conductivity measurements have been carried out. As was expected the result, 76 mW m⁻², shows that even old Precambrian shields locally exhibit much higher values than normal.     

Origin and evolution of the earth-moon system

The origin and evolution of the Earth-Moon system is studied by comparing it to the satellite systems of other planets. The normal structure of a system of secondary bodies orbiting around a central body depends essentially on the mass of the central body. The Earth with a mass intermediate between Uranus and Mars should have a normal satellite system that consists of about half a dozen satellites each with a mass of a fraction of a percent of the lunar mass. Hence, the Moon is not likely to have been generated in the environment of the Earth by a normal accretion process as is claimed by some authors.Capture of satellites is quite a common process as shown by the fact that there are six satellites in the solar system which, because they are retrograde, must have been captured. There is little doubt that the Moon is also a captured satellite, but its capture orbit and tidal evolution are still incompletely understood.The Earth and the Moon are likely to have been formed from planetesimals accreting in particle swarms in Kepler orbits (jet streams). This process leads to the formation of a cool lunar interior with an outer layer accreted at increasingly higher temperatures. The primeval Earth should similarly have formed with a cool inner core surrounded in this case by a very strongly heated outer core and with a mantle accreted slowly and with a low average temperature but with intense transient heating at each individual impact site.     

Hummock corridors in the south‐central sector of the Fennoscandian ice sheet,morphometry and pattern

Subglacial conditions strongly influence the flow of ice‐sheets, in part due to the availability of melt water. Contemporary ice sheets are retreating and are affected by increased melting as climate warms. The south Swedish uplands (SSU) were deglaciated during the relatively warm Bølling‐Allerød interval, and by studying the glacial landforms there it is possible to increase the understanding of the subglacial environment during this period of warming. Across the study area, vast tracts of hummocks have long been recognized. However, recent mapping shows a pattern of elongated zones of hummocks radially oriented, hereafter referred to as ‘hummock corridors’. Morphometric parameters were measured on the hummock corridors using a 2 m horizontal resolution digital elevation model. Corridor width varies between 0.2 and 4.9 km and their length between 1.5 and 11.8 km. A majority of hummock corridors are incised in drumlinised till surfaces. The pattern of hummock corridors shows a clear relation to the overall ice‐flow. Further, hummock corridors do not follow topographic gradients, and in at least one place an esker overlies hummocks on the corridor floor. The lateral spacing of hummock corridors and corridor morphology are similar to tunnel valleys, eskers and glaciofluvial corridors reported elsewhere. Such relationships support a subglacial genesis of the corridors in the SSU by water driven by the subglacial hydraulic gradient and that hummock corridors are forms that can be identified as tunnel valleys and glaciofluvial corridors (GFC). Ages were assigned to hummock‐corridor cross‐sections from a deglacial reconstruction of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. By comparing the frequency of corridors per age interval with climate variations from a Greenland ice core, we hypothesize that an increase in the number of corridors is related to the Bølling‐Allerød warming, indicating a higher rate of delivery of surface melt water to the bed at this time. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Origin and evolution of the solar system,II

(7)Formation of celestial bodies. The basic concepts of the accretional process are discussed, and the inadequacy of the contractional model is pointed out. A comparison is made between the general pre-planetary state on the one hand and the present state in the asteroidal region on the other. A model for accretion of resonance-captured grains leading to the formation of resonance-captured planets and satellites is suggested.(8)Spin and accretion. The relation between the accretional process and the spin of planets is analyzed.(9)Accretion of planets and satellites. It is shown that jet streams are a necessary intermediate stage in the formation of celestial bodies. The time sequence of planet formation is analyzed, and it is shown that the newly accreted bodies have a characteristic internal heat structure; the cases of the Earth and the Moon are considered in detail. A region of high initial temperature is found at 0.4 of the present Earth radius, whereas the culminating temperature of the Moon is near its present surface. An accretional heat wave is found to proceed outwards, and may produce the observed differentiation features.     

Long-lived spiral structure inN-body simulations: work in progress

Work is in progress for constructing physically consistentN-body models capable of supporting a long-lived spiral structure. Such models would represent a missing link between theory and observations of disc galaxies.     

Positioning fisheries in a changing world

Marine capture fisheries face major and complex challenges: habitat degradation, poor economic returns, social hardships from depleted stocks, illegal fishing, and climate change, among others. The key factors that prevent the transition to sustainable fisheries are information failures, transition costs, use and non-use conflicts and capacity constraints. Using the experiences of fisheries successes and failures it is argued only through better governance and institutional change that encompasses the public good of the oceans (biodiversity, ecosystem integrity, sustainability) and societal values (existence, aesthetic and amenity) will fisheries be made sustainable.     

Structure and evolutionary history of the solar system,IV

In this fourth and last part of our analysis, the first section (14) contains a study of the chemical composition of the planets and satellites. A sharp distinction is made between the large quantity of speculations about the interiors of the bodies and the rather meagerfacts known with a reasonable degree of certainty. It is shown, however, that the latter are sufficient todisprove the old concept of a Laplacian disc of homogeneous chemical composition. There is asystematic variations in the chemical composition of planets (and probably also of satellites) so that heavy elements are more abundant in the outermost and in the innermost regions of the systems. Section 15 containsa study of meteorites. These have earlier been interpreted in terms of ‘exploded planets’ and condensation processes in thermodynamic equilibrium. It is shown that such models are irreconcilable with the laws of physics and also with the meteoritic observations. These instead are found toprovide abundant information on the processes in jet streams and on early fractionation and condensation. Further work along these lines supplemented with other solar system materials studies may lead to a detailed reconstruction of important events in the evolution of the solar system. Section 16 demonstrates that the location of the different groups of secondary bodies is a result of a plasma phenomenon occurring at the critical velocity limit. These have recently been studied in detail in the laboratory but have not yet been fully applied to astrophysics.Groups of bodies in the planetary and the satellite systems related by the critical velocity shouldhave the same gravitational potential. There are large chemical differences between groups of different gravitational potential. This is reconcilable with the chemical differentiation found in Section 14. Finally, Section 17 deals with thestructure of the different groups of bodies and shows that the mass distributionis a function of the spin of the central body. Summarizing the properties and distribution of bodies in the solar system against this background, it is shown that there isno need for ‘missing planets’ or to explode hypothetical large bodies. Nor is there any justification for involvingdrastic ad hoc changes in the orbits of existing bodies. The scheme is complete in the sense that in all places where groups of bodies are expected, such bodies are actually found. All of the existing bodies are accounted for (with the exception of the small Martian satellites!). The general conclusion is that already with the empirical material now availableit is possible to suggest a series of basic processes leading to the present structure of planet and satellite systems in an internally consistent way. With the expected flow of data from space research the evolution of the solar system may eventually be described with about the same confidence and accuracy as the geological evolution of the Earth.