Eminescu impact structure: Insight into the transition from complex crater to peak-ring basin on Mercury     

Samuel C. Schon  James W. Head  David M.H. Baker  Carolyn M. Ernst  Louise M. Prockter  Scott L. Murchie  Sean C. Solomon 《Planetary and Space Science》2011,59(15):1949-1959

Peak-ring basins represent an impact-crater morphology that is transitional between complex craters with central peaks and large multi-ring basins. Therefore, they can provide insight into the scale dependence of the impact process. Here the transition with increasing crater diameter from complex craters to peak-ring basins on Mercury is assessed through a detailed analysis of Eminescu, a geologically recent and well-preserved peak-ring basin. Eminescu has a diameter (∼125 km) close to the minimum for such crater forms and is thus representative of the transition. Impact crater size-frequency distributions and faint rays indicate that Eminescu is Kuiperian in age, geologically younger than most other basins on Mercury. Geologic mapping of basin interior units indicates a distinction between smooth plains and peak-ring units. Our mapping and crater retention ages favor plains formation by impact melt rather than post-impact volcanism, but a volcanic origin for the plains cannot be excluded if the time interval between basin formation and volcanic emplacement was less than the uncertainty in relative ages. The high-albedo peak ring of Eminescu is composed of bright crater-floor deposits (BCFDs, a distinct crustal unit seen elsewhere on Mercury) exposed by the impact. We use our observations to assess predictions of peak-ring formation models. We interpret the characteristics of Eminescu as consistent with basin formation models in which a melt cavity forms during the impact formation of craters at the transition to peak ring morphologies. We suggest that the smooth plains were emplaced via impact melt expulsion from the central melt cavity during uplift of a peak ring composed of BCFD-type material. In this scenario the ringed cluster of peaks resulted from the early development of the melt cavity, which modified the central uplift zone.  相似文献   

Short‐lived radioactivity in the early solar system: The Super‐AGB star hypothesis     

Maria LUGARO  Carolyn L. DOHERTY  Amanda I. KARAKAS  Sarah T. MADDISON  Kurt LIFFMAN  D. A. GARCÍA‐HERNÁNDEZ  Lionel SIESS  John C. LATTANZIO 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2012,47(12):1998-2012

Abstract– The composition of the most primitive solar system condensates, such as calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions (CAIs) and micron‐sized corundum grains, show that short‐lived radionuclides (SLR), e.g., ²⁶Al, were present in the early solar system. Their abundances require a local or stellar origin, which, however, is far from being understood. We present for the first time the abundances of several SLR up to ⁶⁰Fe predicted from stars with initial mass in the range approximately 7–11 M_⊙. These stars evolve through core H, He, and C burning. After core C burning they go through a “Super”‐asymptotic giant branch (Super‐AGB) phase, with the H and He shells activated alternately, episodic thermal pulses in the He shell, a very hot temperature at the base of the convective envelope (approximately 10⁸ K), and strong stellar winds driving the H‐rich envelope into the surrounding interstellar medium. The final remnants of the evolution of Super‐AGB stars are mostly O–Ne white dwarfs. Our Super‐AGB models produce ²⁶Al/²⁷Al yield ratios approximately 0.02–0.26. These models can account for the canonical value of the ²⁶Al/²⁷Al ratio using dilutions with the solar nebula of the order of 1 part of Super‐AGB mass per several 10² to several 10³ of solar nebula mass, resulting in associated changes in the O‐isotope composition in the range Δ¹⁷O from 3 to 20‰. This is in agreement with observations of the O isotopic ratios in primitive solar system condensates, which do not carry the signature of a stellar polluter. The radionuclides ⁴¹Ca and ⁶⁰Fe are produced by neutron captures in Super‐AGB stars and their meteoritic abundances are also matched by some of our models, depending on the nuclear and stellar physics uncertainties as well as the meteoritic experimental data. We also expect and are currently investigating Super‐AGB production of SLR heavier than iron, such as ¹⁰⁷Pd.  相似文献   

GLACIOLOGICAL STUDIES AT RAE GLACIER,CANADIAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS     

Carolyn P. Lawby  Dan J. Smith  Colin P. Laroque  Melinda M. Brugman 《自然地理学》2013,34(5):425-441

Rae Glacier is a small cirque glacier located in the front ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. In 1990 and 1991 field research was completed to describe the physical glaciology of Rae Glacier and to characterize historical glaciological trends at the site. Ablation and surface movement rates were measured using a network of stakes drilled into the glacier and radio-echo sounding was used to describe local ice depths.

Rae Glacier has experienced a significant loss in size and mass during the historical period, owing to a lengthy interval of negative mass-balance conditions. The glacier has decreased in surface area by over 50% and now contains less than 24% of the ice it did at the end of the last century.

Surface-ice velocity varied between 1.4 and 5.4 m from 1990 to 1991. Rates of ice ablation proved to be highly variable, with steeper areas showing up to 50% more ablation. Combined with data on the emergent flow component of the glacier, the ablation data suggest that the glacier presently is unable to replenish the amount of ice annually being lost to ablation. The glacier has a lag time of 5 to 10 years, which confirms that it is sensitive to climatic fluctuations and responds to changes in mass balance within a very short time. This observation is supported by an estimated response time of 42 years. [Key words: glaciology, Rae Glacier, Canadian Rocky Mountains.]  相似文献   

New Zealand lakes research, 1967–91     

Carolyn W. Burns 《新西兰海洋与淡水研究杂志》2013,47(4):359-379

Research on New Zealand lakes over the past 25 years has focused mainly on eutrophication, measures of water quality, patterns, processes and production in plankton communities, and the spread and growth of submerged adventive macrophytes. Compared with most northern temperate lakes many New Zealand lakes show: low levels of inorganic nitrogen (N) and frequent N‐limitation of phyto‐plankton growth; diffuse, rather than point source, nutrient inflows; a great diversity of optical properties; unusual and often variable timing of plankton growth (attributed to the pervasive influence of New Zealand's oceanic climate); low productivity and biomass of zooplankton, which appear to be limited by food rather than predators; and sensitivity to invasion by adventive macrophytes. Notable research develop‐ments include improved methods of measuring nutrients, empirical predictive models that relate indices of eutrophication to nutrient loading, and significant advancements in methods of quantifying and measuring water colour and clarity.  相似文献   

A temperate,tidal lake‐wetland complex 2. Water quality and implications for zooplankton community structure     

Marc Schallenberg  Carolyn W. Burns 《新西兰海洋与淡水研究杂志》2013,47(2):429-447

Lakes Waihola and Waipori are shallow, coastal, tidal lakes that experience wind‐induced sediment resuspension, saline intrusions, and high inputs of nutrients. To determine the influence of externally‐driven, physical factors on spatial and temporal patterns of water quality in the two lakes, meteorological, hydrological, and water quality data were collected over 1 year. Multivariate analyses indicated that wind energy was driving the main water quality gradient in the lakes, which was primarily related to wind‐induced resuspension of lake sediments. The major, seasonally regulated, non‐tidal freshwater inflow was important in determining nutrient and salinity gradients in the lakes. The main nutrient inputs to the system were identified as the regulated, non‐tidal inflow (the upper Waipori River) and the tidal inflow (lower Waipori River). The impact of water quality gradients on zooplankton community structure in the lakes was assessed by canonical multivariate methods. Salinity gradients, caused by seasonal saltwater intrusions, were strongly related to zooplankton community structure in the lakes. Nutrient gradients (indicative of trophic state) were also related to zooplankton community structure. Although wind‐induced sediment resuspension had the largest impact on water quality in the lakes, it had little impact on the zooplankton community structure in either lake. The relationships between water quality and zooplankton community structure were confounded in Lake Waipori because of its very short hydraulic residence time (annual mean =1.9 days). Zooplankton community structure was resilient to short‐term changes in suspended particulate matter concentrations but not to seasonal changes in salinity. The results of this study support others which have shown impacts of even relatively small variations in salinity on the structure of zooplankton communities. This highlights the vulnerability of zooplankton communities in coastal lakes and wetlands to increasing salinity resulting from sea level rise and global climate change.  相似文献   

Comment on Watanabe et al. (2009)     

Ruth H. Carmichael  Carolyn J. Kovacs 《Marine pollution bulletin》2010,60(2):314-680

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Responses of lake phytoplankton to micronutrient enrichment: a study in two New Zealand lakes and an analysis of published data     

Theresa M. Downs  Marc Schallenberg  Carolyn W. Burns 《Aquatic Sciences - Research Across Boundaries》2008,70(4):347-360

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Polychlorinated biphenyls in fish and shellfish from the Mersey Estuary and Liverpool Bay     

Richard T. Leah  Michael S. Johnson  Les Connor  Carolyn Levene 《Marine environmental research》1997,43(4):345-358

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Unidentified EGRET sources and the extragalactic gamma-ray background     

Vasiliki Pavlidou  Jennifer M. Siegal-Gaskins  Carolyn Brown  Brian D. Fields  Angela V. Olinto 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2007,309(1-4):81-87

The large majority of EGRET point sources remain to this day without an identified low-energy counterpart. Whatever the nature of the EGRET unidentified sources, faint unresolved objects of the same class must have a contribution to the diffuse gamma-ray background: if most unidentified objects are extragalactic, faint unresolved sources of the same class contribute to the background, as a distinct extragalactic population; on the other hand, if most unidentified sources are Galactic, their counterparts in external galaxies will contribute to the unresolved emission from these systems. Understanding this component of the gamma-ray background, along with other guaranteed contributions from known sources, is essential in any attempt to use gamma-ray observations to constrain exotic high-energy physics. Here, we follow an empirical approach to estimate whether a potential contribution of unidentified sources to the extragalactic gamma-ray background is likely to be important, and we find that it is. Additionally, we comment on how the anticipated GLAST measurement of the diffuse gamma-ray background will change, depending on the nature of the majority of these sources.  相似文献   

Population studies of the unidentified EGRET sources     

Jennifer M. Siegal-Gaskins  Vasiliki Pavlidou  Angela V. Olinto  Carolyn Brown  Brian D. Fields 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2007,309(1-4):43-49

The third EGRET catalog contains a large number of unidentified sources. This subset of objects is expected to include known gamma-ray emitters of Galactic origin such as pulsars and supernova remnants, in addition to an extragalactic population of blazars. However, current data allows the intriguing possibility that some of these objects may represent a new class of yet undiscovered gamma-ray sources. Many theoretically motivated candidate emitters (e.g. clumps of annihilating dark matter particles) have been suggested to account for these detections. We take a new approach to determine to what extent this population is Galactic and to investigate the nature of the possible Galactic component. By assuming that galaxies similar to the Milky Way should host comparable populations of objects, we constrain the allowed Galactic abundance and distribution of various classes of gamma-ray sources using the EGRET data set. We find it is highly improbable that a large number of the unidentified sources are members of a Galactic halo population, but that a distribution of the sources entirely in the disk and bulge is plausible. Finally, we discuss the additional constraints and new insights that GLAST will provide.  相似文献