Boron isotopes as an artificial tracer     

Quast KW  Lansey K  Arnold R  Bassett RL  Rincon M 《Ground water》2006,44(3):453-466

A field study was conducted using a combination of intrinsic and artificial tracers to estimate travel times and dilution during transport of infiltrate from a reclaimed water infiltration basin to nearby monitoring wells. A major study objective was to validate boric acid enriched in (10)B as an artificial tracer. Basin 10E at the Rio Hondo Spreading Grounds in Whittier, California, was the site of the test. The basin normally receives a mixture of treated municipal waste water, purchased State Project water, and local runoff from the San Gabriel River. Approximately 3.5 kg of (10)B-enriched boric acid was dispersed among 2.05 x 10(5) m(3) of basin water to initiate the experiment. The resultant median delta(11)B in the infiltration basin was -71 per thousand. Prior to tracer addition, the basin water had an intrinsic delta(11)B of +2 per thousand. Local monitoring wells that were used to assess travel times had delta(11)B values of +5 per thousand and +8 per thousand at the time of tracer addition. Analytic results supported an assumption that boron is conserved during ground water transport and that boron enriched in (10)B is a useful artificial tracer. Several intrinsic tracers were used to reinforce the boric acid tracer findings. These included stable isotopes of oxygen (delta(18)O) and hydrogen (deltaD), sulfate concentration, and the boron to chloride ratio. Xenon isotopes, (136)Xe and (124)Xe, also supported boron isotope results. Xenon isotopes were added to the recharge basin as dissolved gases by investigators from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  相似文献   

Thermal convection in the porous methane-soaked regolith of Titan: Investigation of stability     

Leszek Czechowski  Konrad Kossacki 《Icarus》2009,202(2):599-606

Titan is the only body, other than the Earth where liquid is present on the surface. In the present work we consider behavior of methane in the pores of Titan's regolith. Using numerical model we investigate quantitative conditions necessary for the onset of convection. We have found that the methane convection in Titan's regolith is possible. It can be expected in regions where the regolith has sufficiently high porosity, independently of the geothermal heat flux.  相似文献   

GETEMME—a mission to explore the Martian satellites and the fundamentals of solar system physics     

Jürgen Oberst  Valéry Lainey  Christophe Le Poncin-Lafitte  Veronique Dehant  Pascal Rosenblatt  Stephan Ulamec  Jens Biele  J?rn Spurmann  Ralph Kahle  Volker Klein  Ulrich Schreiber  Anja Schlicht  Nicolas Rambaux  Philippe Laurent  Beno?t Noyelles  Bernard Foulon  Alexander Zakharov  Leonid Gurvits  Denis Uchaev  Scott Murchie  Cheryl Reed  Slava G. Turyshev  Jesus Gil  Mariella Graziano  Konrad Willner  Kai Wickhusen  Andreas Pasewaldt  Marita W?hlisch  Harald Hoffmann 《Experimental Astronomy》2012,34(2):243-271

GETEMME (Gravity, Einstein??s Theory, and Exploration of the Martian Moons?? Environment), a mission which is being proposed in ESA??s Cosmic Vision program, shall be launched for Mars on a Soyuz Fregat in 2020. The spacecraft will initially rendezvous with Phobos and Deimos in order to carry out a comprehensive mapping and characterization of the two satellites and to deploy passive Laser retro-reflectors on their surfaces. In the second stage of the mission, the spacecraft will be transferred into a lower 1500-km Mars orbit, to carry out routine Laser range measurements to the reflectors on Phobos and Deimos. Also, asynchronous two-way Laser ranging measurements between the spacecraft and stations of the ILRS (International Laser Ranging Service) on Earth are foreseen. An onboard accelerometer will ensure a high accuracy for the spacecraft orbit determination. The inversion of all range and accelerometer data will allow us to determine or improve dramatically on a host of dynamic parameters of the Martian satellite system. From the complex motion and rotation of Phobos and Deimos we will obtain clues on internal structures and the origins of the satellites. Also, crucial data on the time-varying gravity field of Mars related to climate variation and internal structure will be obtained. Ranging measurements will also be essential to improve on several parameters in fundamental physics, such as the Post-Newtonian parameter ?? as well as time-rate changes of the gravitational constant and the Lense-Thirring effect. Measurements by GETEMME will firmly embed Mars and its satellites into the Solar System reference frame.  相似文献   

X-rays from Venus observed with Chandra     

Konrad Dennerl 《Planetary and Space Science》2008,56(10):1414-1423

X-ray observations of Venus are so challenging that the first detection of Venusian X-rays succeeded only in January 2001, with the Chandra satellite. The X-rays from Venus were found to result from fluorescent scattering of solar X-rays in the Venusian thermosphere. An additional component, caused by charge exchange of highly charged heavy ions in the solar wind with atoms in the Venusian exosphere, was suspected, but could not be unambiguously detected. This was hampered by the fact that the observation occurred during solar maximum, when the solar X-ray flux is highest. In order to investigate the presence of an additional charge exchange component, Venus was observed again in March 2006 and October 2007 with Chandra, taking advantage of the fact that the solar X-ray flux had decreased considerably on its way to solar minimum. In fact, these subsequent observations were able to show that also the Venusian exosphere is emitting X-rays, due to its interaction with the solar wind. Here an overview of all the existing X-ray observations of Venus is presented, including first results from the most recent one, which took place after the arrival of Venus Express, providing the first ever opportunity to combine a remote X-ray observation of a planetary exosphere with simultaneous in situ measurements of the solar wind.  相似文献   

Microlensing by cosmic strings     

Konrad Kuijken  Xavier Siemens  Tanmay Vachaspati 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2008,384(1):161-164

We consider the signature and detectability of gravitational microlensing of distant quasars by cosmic strings. Because of the simple image configuration such events will have a characteristic lightcurve, in which a source would appear to brighten by exactly a factor of 2, before reverting to its original apparent brightness. We calculate the optical depth and event rate, and conclude that current predictions and limits on the total length of strings on the sky imply optical depths of ≲ 10⁻⁸ and event rates of fewer than one event per 10⁹ sources per year. Disregarding those predictions but replacing them with limits on the density of cosmic strings from the cosmic microwave background fluctuation spectrum, leaves only a small region of parameter space (in which the sky contains about 3 × 10⁵ strings with deficit angle of the order of 0.3 milli-seconds) for which a microlensing survey of exposure 10⁷ source years, spanning a 20–40-year period, might reveal the presence of cosmic strings.  相似文献   

Comet 9P/Tempel 1: Sublimation beneath the dust cover     

Konrad J. Kossacki  Slawomira Szutowicz 《Icarus》2008,195(2):705-724

In the current work we analyze properties of the dust mantle, its thickness and thermal conductivity, necessary to reproduce observed rate of water production of Comet 9P/Tempel 1. For this purpose we considered simplified shape of the comet nucleus approximated by the symmetric prolate ellipsoid with smooth surface. We have performed simulations, using models with dust mantle of the thickness either constant, but nonuniform (Model A), or evolving (Model B). The simulated profiles of water production versus time were compared with observations. In addition, we compared the calculated surface temperature with the real temperatures derived from IR observations (the Deep Impact mission). This new double-stage verification procedure, shows that our model A is a good representation for the nucleus of Comet Tempel 1. This indicates, that the dust mantle thickness should be nonuniform, but does not change significantly with time. We show, that reproducing observed high temperatures of the nucleus requires dust mantle, that is almost everywhere thick and has extremely low thermal inertia. The latter should be close to zero as already predicted by others. The agreement between the simulated and measured water production can be obtained when the dust is regionally thin and has the thermal inertia higher than average, according to our simulations about 100 W s^1/2 K⁻¹ m⁻². Such regions should be located in the south hemisphere of the nucleus.  相似文献   

Long-term monitoring of wall paintings affected by soluble salts   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Konrad?ZehnderEmail author 《Environmental Geology》2007,52(2):353-367

Long-term monitoring of wall paintings in historical monuments aims at clarifying involved decay processes and at the same time controlling effects of interventions for conservation. Monitored decay processes relate to the crystallisation of various salts – particularly of nitronatrite and gypsum – from hygroscopic solutions accumulated in the zone of ground moisture. The salts crystallise in response to climatic variations and other environmental changes. Measures for conservation such as protection from water infiltration, reduction of heating temperature and reduction of surface salt accumulation cause a significant slow-down but not a stop of decay. The particular dynamics and causes of remaining slow decay processes are described on three sites in Switzerland: the convent church of Müstair, the crypt in the cathedral of Basel and the crypt in the Grossmünster church of Zürich.  相似文献   

The pattern speed of the bar in NGC 4596     

Joris Gerssen  Konrad Kuijken  Michael R. Merrifield 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1999,306(4):926-930

The pattern speed is a defining parameter of any barred galaxy. A large number of model-dependent techniques have therefore been developed to derive the pattern speed. However, the only model-independent technique for measuring this quantity – the Tremaine–Weinberg method – has hitherto been applied to just one case, the SB0 galaxy NGC 936. In this paper, we apply the technique to a second system, the SBa galaxy NGC 4596. The resulting estimate for the pattern speed is Ω_p=52±13 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹. This result is corroborated by a spectrum obtained along the major axis of the bar in this system. The corotation radius associated with this pattern speed lies just beyond the end of the bar indicating a fast bar. Combining the bar major-axis spectra with data obtained from a Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 image, we also find strong evidence for a nuclear disc.  相似文献   

Rapid decrease of soil erosion rates with soil formation and vegetation development in periglacial areas     

Alessandra Musso  Michael E. Ketterer  Konrad Greinwald  Clemens Geitner  Markus Egli 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2020,45(12):2824-2839

High mountainous areas are geomorphologically active environments which are strongly shaped by redistribution of sediments and soils. With the projected climate warming in the twenty-first century and the continued retreat of glaciers, the area of newly exposed, highly erodible sediments and soils will increase. This presents a need to better understand and quantify erosion processes in young mountainous soils, as an increase in erodibility could threaten human infrastructure (i.e. hydroelectric power, tourist installations and settlements). While soil development is increasingly well understood and quantified, a coupling to soil erosion rates is still missing. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess how soil erosion rates change with surface age. We investigated two moraine chronosequences in the Swiss Alps: one in the siliceous periglacial area of Steingletscher (Sustenpass), with soils ranging from 30 a to 10 ka, and the other in the calcareous periglacial area of Griessgletscher (Klausenpass) with surfaces ranging from age of 110 a to 13.5 ka. We quantified the erosion rates using the ^239+240Pu fallout radionuclides and compared them to physical and chemical soil properties and the vegetation coverage. We found no significant differences between the two parent materials. At both chronosequences, the erosion rates were highest in the young soils (on average 5−10 t ha^-1 a^-1 soil loss). Erosion rates decreased markedly after 3−5 ka of soil development (on average 1−2.5 t ha^-1 a^-1 soil loss) to reach a more or less stable situation after 10−14 ka (on average 0.3–2 t ha^-1 a^-1). Climate change not only causes glacier retreat, but also increased sediment dynamics. Depending on the relief and vegetational development, it takes up to at least 10 ka to reach soil stability. The establishment of a closed vegetation cover with dense root networks seems to be the controlling factor in the reduction of soil erodibility. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

The Deformational Response of a Viscoelastic Solid Earth Model Coupled to a Thermomechanical Ice Sheet Model     

Hannes Konrad  Malte Thoma  Ingo Sasgen  Volker Klemann  Klaus Grosfeld  Dirk Barbi  Zdeněk Martinec 《Surveys in Geophysics》2014,35(6):1441-1458

We apply a coupled thermomechanical ice sheet—self-gravitating viscoelastic solid Earth model (SGVEM), allowing for the dynamic exchange of ice thickness and bedrock deformation, in order to investigate the effect of viscoelastic deformation on ice dynamics and vice versa. In a synthetic glaciation scenario, we investigate the interaction between the ice sheet and the solid Earth deformation, the glacial-isostatic adjustment (GIA), accounting for an atmospheric forcing depending on the ice sheet surface altitude. We compare the results from the coupled model to runs with the common elastic lithosphere/relaxing asthenosphere (ELRA) model, where the lithosphere is represented by a thin plate and the mantle relaxes with one characteristic relaxation time, as well as to a rigid Earth without any deformation. We find that the deformational behaviour of the SGVEM on ice dynamics (i.e. stored ice volume, ice thickness and velocity field) is comparable to the ELRA for an optimal choice of the parameters in steady state, but exhibits differences in the transient behaviour. Beyond the ice sheet, in the region of peripheral forebulge, the differences in the transient surface deformation between ELRA and SGVEM are substantial, demonstrating the inadequacy of the ELRA model for interpreting constraints on GIA in the periphery of the ice sheet, such as sea-level indicators and GPS uplift rates.  相似文献