Energetic Particles Observed in the CUSP Region During a Storm Recovery Phase

In this paper we report energetic ion behavior and its composition variations observed by the Cluster/RAPID instrument when the spacecraft was travelling in the high latitude magnetospheric boundary region on the day of the 31 March, 2001, strongest magnetic storm in the past 50 years. The Dst index reached −360 nT at about 09:00 UT. During its early recovery phase, large amounts of oxygen and helium ions were observed; the ratio of oxygen to hydrogen in the RAPID energy range reached as high as 250%, which suggests that the observed energetic particles might be of magnetospheric origin. The observations further show that enhanced energetic electron fluxes are confined in a very narrow region, while protons have occupied a larger region, and heavy ions have been observed in an even larger region. The flux of energetic electrons show a slight enhancement in a region where the magnetic field magnitude is around zero. These observed energetic ions could be quasi-trapped by the current sheet in the stagnation region of the cusp.     

Projectile preservation during oblique hypervelocity impacts

Impact angle plays a significant role in determining the fate of the projectile. In this study, we use a suite of hypervelocity impact experiments to reveal how impact angle affects the preservation, distribution, and physical state of projectile residues in impact craters. Diverse types of projectiles, including amorphous silicates, crystalline silicates, and aluminum, in two sizes (6.35 and 12.7 mm), were launched into blocks of copper or 6061 aluminum at speeds between 1.9 and 5.7 km s⁻¹. Crater interiors preserve projectile residues in all cases, including conditions relevant to the asteroid belt. These residues consist of projectile fragments or projectile-rich glasses, depending on impact conditions. During oblique impacts at 30° and 45°, the uprange crater wall preserves crystalline fragments of the projectile. The fragments of water-rich projectiles such as antigorite remain hydrated. Several factors contribute to enhanced preservation on the uprange wall, including a weaker shock uprange, uprange acceleration as the shock reflects off the back of the projectile, and rapid quenching of melts along the projectile–target interface. These findings have two broader implications. First, the results suggest a new collection strategy for flyby sample return missions. Second, these results predict that the M-type asteroid Psyche should bear exogenic, impactor-derived debris.     

Abundance,distribution, and feeding patterns of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Juan de Fuca Eddy

The Juan de Fuca Eddy is a seasonal, counter-clockwise gyre off the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington, USA and British Columbia, Canada that may provide favorable feeding habitat for juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) during their early marine existence. In late September 2002, physical and biological sampling was conducted along two transects of the eddy region. Surface rope trawling was conducted to capture juvenile salmon and other nekton, along with bongo and neuston net tows to examine potential mesozooplanktonic salmon prey. Presence of the Juan de Fuca Eddy was confirmed with vertical water profiles. In addition, nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations collected from 3-m depth were within the range observed in previous studies within the eddy region. In the mesozooplankton community, euphausiids, chaetognaths, and decapod megalopae were common. In the diet of juvenile coho salmon, euphausiids and decapod megalopae were dominant by percent number, and larval and juvenile fish were dominant by percent weight. Feeding intensity (percent body weight) based on stomach contents was variable, but not significantly different among stations. To compare the Juan de Fuca Eddy region with an upwelling area, we sampled along a transect off La Push (LP), Washington, USA which is south of the eddy. The eddy region was found to be less productive than the LP transect. Nutrients were lower, chlorophyll a concentrations were higher, and zooplankton abundance was generally higher along the LP transect than in the eddy region. In addition, more juvenile coho salmon were captured from the LP transect than the eddy region. Prey items in stomachs of salmon from the LP transect were heterogeneous compared to those from the eddy region. Feeding intensity along the LP transect was slightly lower and more variable than in the eddy region, and differences in feeding intensity among LP stations were significant. In addition, feeding intensities among stations nested within regions were significantly different.     

A methodology for making initial estimates of groundwater recharge from groundwater vulnerability mapping

Recharge to an aquifer can be estimated by first calculating the effective rainfall using a soil moisture budgeting technique, and then by applying a recharge coefficient to indicate the proportion of this effective rainfall that contributes to groundwater recharge. In the Republic of Ireland, the recharge coefficient is determined mainly by the permeability and thickness of the superficial deposits (subsoils) that overlie the country’s aquifers. The properties of these subsoils also influence groundwater vulnerability, and a methodology has been developed for determining the recharge coefficient using the groundwater vulnerability classification. The results of four case studies have been used to develop a quantified link between subsoil permeability, aquifer vulnerability, recharge and runoff. Recharge and runoff coefficients are each classed into three groupings: high, intermediate and low. A high recharge coefficient equates to a low runoff coefficient, and vice versa. A GIS-based tool enables preliminary estimates of recharge to be made using these recharge coefficient groupings. Potential recharge is calculated as the product of effective rainfall and recharge coefficient. The actual recharge is then calculated taking account of the ability of the aquifer to accept the available recharge. The methodology could be applied to other temperate climate zones where the main aquifers have a substantial covering of superficial deposits.     

The fusion crust of the Winchcombe meteorite: A preserved record of atmospheric entry processes

Fusion crusts form during the atmospheric entry heating of meteorites and preserve a record of the conditions that occurred during deceleration in the atmosphere. The fusion crust of the Winchcombe meteorite closely resembles that of other stony meteorites, and in particular CM2 chondrites, since it is dominated by olivine phenocrysts set in a glassy mesostasis with magnetite, and is highly vesicular. Dehydration cracks are unusually abundant in Winchcombe. Failure of this weak layer is an additional ablation mechanism to produce large numbers of particles during deceleration, consistent with the observation of pulses of plasma in videos of the Winchcombe fireball. Calving events might provide an observable phenomenon related to meteorites that are particularly susceptible to dehydration. Oscillatory zoning is observed within olivine phenocrysts in the fusion crust, in contrast to other meteorites, perhaps owing to temperature fluctuations resulting from calving events. Magnetite monolayers are found in the crust, and have also not been previously reported, and form discontinuous strata. These features grade into magnetite rims formed on the external surface of the crust and suggest the trapping of surface magnetite by collapse of melt. Magnetite monolayers may be a feature of meteorites that undergo significant degassing. Silicate warts with dendritic textures were observed and are suggested to be droplets ablated from another stone in the shower. They, therefore, represent the first evidence for intershower transfer of ablation materials and are consistent with the other evidence in the Winchcombe meteorite for unusually intense gas loss and ablation, despite its low entry velocity.     

Practical method for drawing a VGP path

A statistical method is proposed for the smoothing of polar wander paths and for giving their confidence limits by the mean of successive ellipses. The method is fully parametrical and is based on the relations between the inertia matrix and the parameters of the Fisher distribution, from which a bivariate form is deduced. An elementary tensorial calculation gives the parameters of the confidence ellipse around a vectorial weighted mean, for any unimodal set of vectors. This model can also be used for other statistical tests, wherever the rotational symmetry hypothesis is not consistent (i.e. the fold test).     

An improved model of the condensation nucleus counter with stereo-photomicrographic recording

Summary A new model of the condensation nucleus counter with stereo-photomicrographic recording is described which is distinguished by perfect symmetry in its construction, reduced turbulence, two separate microscopes with photographic attachments and a novel dark-field illumination which eliminates completely fogging of the graticule even after prolonged use of the instrument. A view-finder microscope permits observations of the graticule so that the instrument can also be used for counting nuclei by eye. When the graticule is removed the droplets can be photographed in space stereoscopically.The use of the counter and its accessories is described and the dimensions and range of the instrument given.

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Zusammenfassung Es wird ein neues Model des Kondensationskernzählers mit stereo-photomikrographischer Registrierung beschrieben, welches sich durch vollkommene Symmetrie der Konstruktion, reduzierte Turbulenz, zwei gesonderte Mikroskope mit photographischen Zusatzeinrichtungen und einer neuartigen Dunkelfeldbeleuchtung auszeichnet, welche das Beschlagen der Zählplatte, selbst nach langem Gebrauche des Instrumentes, völlig eliminiert. Ein Suchermikroskop gestattet die Beobachtung des Zählglases, so dass das Instrument auch als Kernzähler für Augenbeobachtungen gebraucht werden kann. Wenn die Zählplatte entfernt wird, können die Tröpfchen im Raume stereoskopisch photographiert werden.Der Gebrauch des Kernzählers und seines Zugehörs wird beschrieben, sowie die Dimensionen des Instrumentes und der mit ihm mögliche Umfang der Kernzählungen angegeben.

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The research reported in this article has been sponsored and supported in part by the Geophysics Research Directorate of the Air Force Cambridge Research Center, Air Research and Development Command, United States Air Force, under Contract AF 61(052)-26, through the European Office, ARDC in Brussels.     

Investigating the igneous petrogenesis of Martian volcanic rocks using augite quantitative textural analysis of the Yamato nakhlites

To better understand volcanism on planetary bodies other than the Earth, the quantification of physical processes is needed. Here, the petrogenesis of the achondrite Martian Yamato (Y) nakhlites (Y 000593, Y 000749, and Y 000802) is reinvestigated via quantitative analysis of augite (high-Ca clinopyroxene) phenocrysts: crystal size distribution (CSD), spatial distribution patterns (SDP), and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Results from CSD and EBSD quantitative data sets show augite to have continuous uninterrupted growth resulting in calculated minimum magma chamber residence times of either 88–117 ± 6 yr or 9–12 yr. All samples exhibit low-intensity S-LS type crystallographic preferred orientation. Directional strain is observed across all samples with intracrystalline misorientation patterns indicative of (100)[001]:(001)[100] (Y 000593 and Y 000802) and {110}<001>or {110}¹/₂<110> (Y 000749) slip systems. SDP results indicate phenocryst-bearing crystal-clustered rock signatures. Combined findings from this work show that the Yamato nakhlites formed on Mars as individual low-viscosity lava flows or sills. This study shows that through combining these different quantitative techniques over multiple samples, one can more effectively compare and interpret resulting data to gain a more robust, geologically contextualized petrogenetic understanding of the rock suite being studied. The techniques used in this study should be equally applicable to igneous achondrites from other parent bodies.