Laser Interferometer Space Antenna double black holes: dynamics in gaseous nuclear discs

We study the inspiral of double black holes, with masses in the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna ( LISA ) window of detectability, orbiting inside a massive circumnuclear, rotationally supported gaseous disc. Using high-resolution smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations, we follow the black hole dynamics in the early phase when gas-dynamical friction acts on the black holes individually, and continue our simulation until they form a close binary. We find that in the early sinking the black holes lose memory of their initial orbital eccentricity if they corotate with the gaseous disc. As a consequence, the massive black holes bind forming a binary with a low eccentricity, consistent with zero within our numerical resolution limit. The cause of circularization resides in the rotation present in the gaseous background where dynamical friction operates. Circularization may hinder gravitational waves from taking over and leading the binary to coalescence. In the case of counter-rotating orbits, the initial eccentricity (if present) does not decrease, and the black holes may bind forming an eccentric binary. When dynamical friction has subsided, for equal mass black holes and regardless their initial eccentricity, angular momentum loss, driven by the gravitational torque exerted on the binary by surrounding gas, is nevertheless observable down to the smallest scale probed (≃1 pc). In the case of unequal masses, dynamical friction remains efficient down to our resolution limit, and there is no sign of formation of any ellipsoidal gas distribution that may further harden the binary. During inspiral, gravitational capture of gas by the black holes occurs mainly along circular orbits; eccentric orbits imply high relative velocities and weak gravitational focusing. Thus, the active galactic nucleus activity may be excited during the black hole pairing process and double active nuclei may form when circularization is completed, on distance scales of tens of parsecs.     

Optical and X-Ray Observations of the Symbiotic System Ag Draconis During Quiescence and Outburst

We review the main characteristics of the symbiotic system AG Draconis, with special emphasis on its optical and X-ray variations. We also discuss the X-ray to visual energy distribution during quiescence and outburst and describe our spectroscopic and X-ray observations during the 2003 outburst. Based on X-ray observations collected with the XMM–Newton Observatory, on INES data from the IUE satellite, and on optical spectra collected with the Asiago–Cima Ekar, Bologna–Loiano and La Palma–Galileo Italian telescopes.     

OH incorporation in nearly pure MgAl2O4 natural and synthetic spinels

Four nearly pure MgAl₂O₄ spinels, of both natural and synthetic occurrence, have been studied by means of X-ray single crystal diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy in order to detect their potential OH content. Absorption bands that can be assigned to OH incorporated in the spinel structure were only observed in spectra of a non-stoichiometric synthetic sample. The absorption intensity of two bands occurring at 3350 and 3548 cm⁻¹ indicate an OH content of 90 ppm H₂O. Based on correlations of OH vibrational frequencies and O-H?O distances, the observed absorption bands correspond to O-H?O distances of 2.77 and 2.99 Å, respectively, which is close to the values obtained by the structure refinements for ^VIO-O_unsh (2.825 Å) and ^IVO-O (3.001 Å). This indicates that one probable local position for hydrogen incorporation is the oxygens coordinating a vacant tetrahedral site. The present spectra demonstrate that the detection limit for OH in Fe-free spinels is in the range 10-20 ppm H₂O. However, at appreciable Fe²⁺ levels, the detection of OH bands becomes hampered due to overlap with strong absorption bands caused by electronic d-d transitions in Fe²⁺ in the tetrahedral position.     

Total content and chemical speciation of arsenic in the polychaete Sabella spallanzanii

An unusual feature has been observed in polychaetes regarding their capacity to accumulate high levels of relatively toxic forms of arsenic in specific tissues. Basal levels of arsenic and distribution of its compounds were investigated in tissues of the Mediterranean polychaete Sabella spallanzanii. Particularly high concentrations were measured in the branchial crown (1036+/-136 microg/g d.w.) and chemical speciation revealed that the predominant form was the relatively toxic dimethylarsinate (DMA). These data suggest a potential role of As as anti-predatory strategy in polychaetes.     

Geophysical Evidence of a Relict Oceanic Crust in the Southwestern Scotia Sea

The southwestern part of the Scotia Sea, at the corner of the Shackleton Fracture Zone with the South Scotia Ridge has been investigated, combining marine magnetic profiles, multichannel seismic reflection data, and satellite-derived gravity anomaly data. From the integrated analysis of data, we identified the presence of the oldest part of the crust in this sector, which tentative age is older than anomaly C10 (28.7 Ma). The area is surrounded by structural features clearly imaged by seismic data, which correspond to gravity lows in the satellite-derived map, and presents a rhomboid-shaped geometry. Along its southern boundary, structural features related to convergence and possible incipient subduction beneath the continental South Scotia Ridge have been evidenced from the seismic profile. We interpret this area, now located at the edge of the south-western Scotia Sea, as a relict of ocean-like crust formed during an earlier, possibly diffuse and disorganized episode of spreading at the first onset of the Drake Passage opening. The successive episode of organized seafloor spreading responsible for the opening of the Drake Passage that definitively separated southern South America from the Antarctic Peninsula, instigated ridge-push forces that can account for the subduction-related structures found along the western part of the South Scotia Ridge. This seafloor accretion phase occurred from 27 to about 10 Ma, when spreading stopped in the western Scotia Sea Ridge, as resulted from the identification of the marine magnetic anomalies.     

Seismic structure and tectonics of the Shackleton Fracture Zone (Drake Passage,Scotia Sea)

The structural framework of the southern part of the Shackleton Fracture Zone has been investigated through the analysis of a 130-km-long multichannel seismic reflection profile acquired orthogonally to the fracture zone near 60° S. The Shackleton Fracture Zone is a 800-km-long, mostly rectilinear and pronounced bathymetric lineation joining the westernmost South Scotia Ridge to southern South America south of Cape Horn, separating the western Scotia Sea plate from the Antarctic plate. Conventional processing applied to the seismic data outlines the main structures of the Shackleton Fracture Zone, but only the use of enhanced techniques, such as accurate velocity analyses and pre-stack depth migration, provides a good definition of the acoustic basement and the architecture of the sedimentary sequences. In particular, a strong and mostly continuous reflector found at about 8.0 s two-way traveltime is very clear across the entire section and is interpreted as the Moho discontinuity. Data show a complex system of troughs developed along the eastern flank of the crustal ridge, containing tilted and rotated blocks, and the presence of a prominent listric normal fault developed within the oceanic crust. Positive flower structures developed within the oceanic basement indicate strike-slip tectonism and partial reactivation of pre-existing faults. Present-day tectonic activity is found mostly in correspondence to the relief, whereas fault-induced deformation is negligible across the entire trough system. This indicates that the E–W-directed stress regime present in the Drake Passage region is mainly dissipated along a narrow zone within the Shackleton Ridge axis. A reappraisal of all available magnetic anomaly identifications in the western Scotia Sea and in the former Phoenix plate, in conjunction with new magnetic profiles acquired to the east of the Shackleton Fracture Zone off the Tierra del Fuego continental margin, has allowed us to propose a simple reconstruction of Shackleton Fracture Zone development in the general context of the Drake Passage opening.     

Seabed Morphology and Pollution Along the Bagnoli Coast (Naples, Italy): a Hypothesis for Environmental Restoration

Abstract. The interaction of coastal and submarine morphology with the hydrodynamic regimes exerts a control on coastal dynamic processes, conditioning the dispersion of sediments and potential pollutants existing in the area. Thus, the study of such parameters is useful in order to define environmental threats. Within the submerged sector of the Bagnoli coast and particularly in the southern part of the investigated area, there are sediment groups composed of very fine sands located in low-energy zones due to wave refraction and diffraction; they can also be found on the sea bottom and on the man-made structures typical of this zone. These areas show high pollutant levels of N, P, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cd, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated bi-phenyls (PCBs). The northern area, a place of high-energy hydrodynamic processes, also shows high concentration levels of pollutants due to the presence of secondary cell circulation.
Morphological research and analysis of textural characteristics of bottom sediments along the Bagnoli coast allowed the actual processes and their evolution in space and time to be defined. It has also been possible to correlate such processes to the seabed morphology system, the wave formations which affect the coast, the complex system of sediment transport, as well as to the man-made interventions in the area. The results of recent chemical analyses of beach sediments and bottom sediments off the Bagnoli coast were also incorporated. They prove the presence of heavy metals, PAHs and PCBs in high and sometimes very high concentrations. Finally, based on the results of research and analyses, a hypothesis for an intervention for environmental restoration has been formulated in order to renaturalise the coast through dredging and treatment of the sand, both on the seabed and on the emerged beach.     

Determination of cadmium(II), copper(II), manganese(II) and nickel(II) species in Antarctic seawater with complexing resins

The strong species of cadmium(II), copper(II), manganese(II) and nickel(II) in an Antarctic seawater sample are investigated by a method based on the sorption of metal ions on complexing resins. The resins compete with the ligands present in the sample to combine with the metal ions. Two resins with different adsorbing strengths were used. Very stable metal complexes were investigated with the strong sorbent Chelex 100 and weaker species with the less strong resin, Amberlite CG-50. Strong species were detected for three of the considered metal ions, but not for Mn(II). Cu(II) is completely linked to species with a side reaction coefficient as high as log α_M(I) = 11.6 at pH = 7.3. The ligand concentration was found to be similar to that of the metal ion, and the conditional stability constant was around 10²⁰ M^− 1. In the considered sample, only a fraction of the metal ions Cd(II) and Ni(II) is bound to the strong ligands, with side reaction coefficients equal to log α_M(I) = 5.5 and 6.5 at pH = 7.3 for Cd(II) and Ni(II), respectively. These findings were confirmed by the test with the weaker sorbent Amberlite CG-50. It can be calculated from the sorption equilibria that neither Mn(II) nor Ni(II) is adsorbed on Amberlite CG-50 under the considered conditions and, in fact, only a negligible fraction of Mn(II) and Ni(II) was adsorbed. A noticeable fraction of Cd(II) was adsorbed on Amberlite CG-50, meaning that cadmium(II) is partially linked to weak ligands, possibly chloride, while no copper(II) was adsorbed on this resin, confirming that copper(II) is only combined in strong species. These results are similar, but not identical, to those obtained for other seawater samples examined in previous investigations.