Probing molecular-level transformations of dissolved organic matter: insights on photochemical degradation and protozoan modification of DOM from electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry     

Elizabeth B. Kujawinski  Rossana Del Vecchio  Neil V. Blough  Geoffrey C. Klein  Alan G. Marshall   《Marine Chemistry》2004,92(1-4):23

Molecular-level characterization of natural organic matter (NOM) has been elusive due to the inherent complexity of natural organic mixtures and to the fact that individual components are often polar and macromolecular. Electrospray ionization (ESI) is a “soft” ionization technique that ionizes polar compounds from aqueous solution prior to injection into a mass spectrometer. The highest resolution and mass accuracy of compounds within NOM have been achieved when ESI is combined with an ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometer such as the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR MS). With this technique, individual molecules within a variety of natural organic mixtures can be detected and their elemental composition can be determined. At low mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio, the resolution is high enough to assign exact molecular formulas allowing specific components of these mixtures to be identified. In addition to molecular identification, we can now use ESI FT-ICR MS to examine molecular-level changes in different organic mixtures as a function of relevant geo-processes, such as microbial alterations and photochemistry. Here we present the results from the application of ESI FT-ICR MS to two geochemical questions: (1) the effect of photoirradiation on the molecular composition of fulvic acids and (2) the role of protozoan grazers in the modification of DOM in aquatic systems.  相似文献   

Contributions to atmospheric methane by natural seepages on the U.K. continental shelf [Mar. Geol. 137 (1997) 165–189]     

Alan Judd  Gareth Davies  Jason Wilson  Richard Holmes  Gordon Baron  Ian Bryden 《Marine Geology》1997,140(3-4):427-455

Natural gas seepages occur on the United Kingdom's continental shelf and although published reports suggest that they are very rare, the petroleum industry has identified, but not publicly reported, many more. There is also very little data on the flux of gas from seabed seepages, and even less on the contribution of seepages to atmospheric concentrations of gases such as methane.

Potential gas source rocks include Quaternary and Tertiary peats as well as petroliferous source rocks such as the Carboniferous Coal Measures and the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clays. There are also other organic-rich sediments which are potential source rocks. Together these cover a considerable part of the U.K. continental shelf.

Analogue seismic reflection (pinger) profiles acquired during the British Geological Survey's regional mapping programme have been reviewed to identify water column targets including fish and plumes of gas bubbles. The ability to distinguish targets is critical to an assessment of the distribution of gas seepages. Both theoretical predictions of target identity and the habits of shoaling fish have been investigated in order to identify a method of distinction.

Data from seabed seepages and measurements of seepage rates have been used to establish likely ranges of gas flux rates and the sizes of gas bubbles. The likelihood that a rising bubble will survive and escape into the atmosphere is determined primarily by bubble size and water depth; methane, the principal constituent of seepage gas, is relatively unreactive and sparingly soluble.

The studies have enabled a new estimate of the distribution of gas seepages on the U.K. continental shelf, and of the contribution to atmospheric methane levels. The results suggest that natural gas seepages are significantly more important as a source of methane than had hitherto been established. It is estimated that between 120,000 and 3.5 mtonnes of methane per year come from a continental shelf area of about 600,000 km². This represents between 2% and 40% of the total United Kingdom methane emission. It is suggested that similar contributions arise from other continental shelf areas worldwide, and that geological sources of atmospheric methane are more significant than is generally acknowledged.  相似文献   

Magnetoacoustic-gravity surface waves     

Alan J. Miles  H. R. Allen  B. Roberts 《Solar physics》1992,141(2):205-234

The linearized theory for the parallel propagation of magnetoacoustic-gravity surface waves is developed for an interface of a horizontal magnetic field above a field-free medium. The media either side of the interface are taken to be isothermal. The dispersion relation is obtained for the case of a constant Alfvén speed. In the absence of gravity the interface may support one or two surface modes, determined by the relative temperatures and magnetism of the two media. The effect of gravity on the modes is examined and dispersion diagrams and eigenfunctions are given. In the usual - k _x diagnostic diagram, the domain of evanescence is shown to be divided into two distinct regions determining whether a given mode will have a decaying or growing vertical velocity component. In the absence of a magnetic field the transcendental dispersion relation may be rewritten as a polynomial. This polynomial possesses two acceptable solutions only one of which may exist in any given circumstances (depending on the ratio of the densities). If the gas density within the field exceeds that in the field-free medium, then the f-mode may propagate. The f-mode exists in a restricted band of horizontal wavenumber and only when the field-free medium is warmer than the magnetic atmosphere. An analytical form for the wave speed of the f-mode is obtained for small values of the Alfvén speed. It is shown that the f-mode is related to the fast magnetoacoustic surface wave, merging into that mode at short wavelengths.  相似文献   

High spatial and spectral resolution 10-μm observations of jupiter     

Alan T. Tokunaga  R.F. Knacke  S.T. Ridgway 《Icarus》1980,44(1):93-101

Ten-micrometer spectra of the North Tropical Zone, North Equatorial Belt, and Great Red Spot at a spectral resolution of 1.1 cm^?1 are compared to synthetic spectra. These ground-based spectra were obtained simultaneously with the Voyager 1 encounter with Jupiter in March, 1979. The NH₃ vertical distribution is found to decrease with altitude significantly faster than the saturated vapor pressure curve and is different for the three observed regions. Spatial variability in the NH₃ mixing ratio could be caused by changes in the amount of NH₃ condensation or in the degree of the NH₃ photolysis. The C₂H₆ emission at 12 μm has approximately the same strength at the North Tropical Zone and North Equatorial Belt, but it is 30% weaker at the Great Red Spot. A cooler temperature inversion or a smaller abundance of C₂H₆ could explain the lower C₂H₆ emission over the Great Red Spot.  相似文献   

Shock waves and type II radiobursts in the interplanetary medium     

A. Boischot  A. C. Riddle  J. B. Pearce  J. W. Warwick 《Solar physics》1980,65(2):397-404

The planetary radio astronomy experiment on the Voyager spacecraft observed several type II solar radiobursts at frequencies below 1.3 MHz; these correspond to shock waves at distances between 20R and 1 AU from the Sun. We study the characteristics of these bursts and discuss the information that they give on shock waves in the interplanetary medium and on the origin of the high energy electrons which give rise to the radioemission. The relatively frequent occurence of type II bursts at large distances from the Sun favors the hypothesis of the emission by a longitudinal shockwave. The observed spectral characteristics reveal that the source of emission is restricted to only a small portion of the shock. From the relation between type II bursts, type III bursts and optical flares, we suggest that some of the type II bursts could be excited by type III burst fast electrons which catch up the shock and are then trapped.  相似文献   

Measurements of magnetic fluxes and field strengths in the photospheric network     

Theodore D. Tarbell  Alan M. Title 《Solar physics》1977,52(1):13-25

We present digital pictures of an active region network cell in five quantities, measured simultaneously: continuum intensity, line-center intensity, equivalent width, magnetogram signal, and magnetic field strength. These maps are derived from computer analysis of circularly polarized line profiles of FeI 5250.2; spectral and spatial resolution are 1/40 Å and 1.5, respectively. Measured Zeeman splittings show the existence of strong magnetic fields (1000–1800 G) at nearly all points with a magnetogram signal exceeding 125 G. The mean and rms deviation of the field strengths change by less than 20% over a factor-of-four range of fluxes. From the significant disparity between measured fluxes and field strengths, we conclude that large flux patches (up to 4 across) consist of closely-packed unresolved filaments. The smallest filaments must be less than 0.7 in diameter. We also observe the dark component of the photospheric network, which appears to contain sizable transverse fields.  相似文献   

The dark night sky: Donald D. Clayton. Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co., New York, 1975. 206 pp. $9.95     

Alan P. Lightman 《Icarus》1977,30(2):436-437

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Airborne total eclipse observation of the extreme solar limb at 400 μm     

T. Alan Clark  Rita T. Boreiko 《Solar physics》1982,76(1):117-128

The total solar eclipse of February 26, 1979 was monitored at far infrared wavelengths from the NASA Lear Jet Observatory flying at 12.9 km in the eclipse shadow. The resultant eclipse curve for radiation within a bandwidth of 20 cm^–1 centered upon 25 cm^–1 (400 m) was measured and analysed at an equivalent angular resolution of 1 arc sec over a 100 arc sec region adjacent to the limb to provide information on the intensity distribution of continuum radiation close to this limb. The curve has been compared to predictions derived from models of the solar atmosphere for the specific geometry of this eclipse, and is shown to match most closely that derived from a uniform distribution of radiation across the disk. This is in distinct contrast to the result obtained in the only other comparable experiment, carried out over Africa in 1973 from a supersonic Concorde aircraft, in which an intense but narrow spike of far infrared radiation at the extreme solar limb was inferred from the data. The absence also in the present observations of the significant limb brightening predicted by the HSRA model (in which homogeneity within the source region is assumed) is in substantial agreement with lower resolution results from mountain altitudes. This result is interpreted as further evidence for the presence in the Sun's lower chromosphere of significant inhomogeneity with a scale size of at least 1000 km at this depth.  相似文献   

Solar radio bursts of spectral type II,coronal shocks,and optical coronal transients     

Alan Maxwell  Murray Dryer 《Solar physics》1981,73(2):313-329

The association of solar radio bursts of spectral type II and coronal shocks with solar flare ejecta observed in H, the green coronal line, and white-light coronagraphs is examined. Rather than identifying fast-moving optical coronal transients with outward-travelling shock waves that generate type II radio bursts, as has been suggested in some earlier papers, we suggest that, for the most part, such transients should probably be identified with piston-type phenomena well behind the shock. We then discuss a general model, consisting of three main velocity regimes, in which we relate type II radio bursts and coronal shocks to optically-observed ejecta.  相似文献   

On the petrology and structure of a gravitionally differentiated moon of fission origin     

Alan B. Binder 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》1975,13(4):431-473

In a previous paper, it was shown that the basic properties and the developmental history of a gravitationally differentiated Moon of fission origin match those known for the Moon. In the first part of this report, the models of a differentiated Moon are critically reviewed based on second order considerations of some of the chemical systems used to develope the earlier models and based on new lunar data. As a result, slightly updated models are developed and the results indicate that a Moon of fission origin has a feldspar rich crust (≈70% Or_0.8Ab_5.3An_93.9 with ≈30% pyroxene and olivine) reaching an average depth of ≈65 km. A KREEP rich layer is located at the interface of the crust and the upper mantle. The upper mantle consists of peridotite (≈80% Wo₁₀En₇₀Fs₂₀ and ≈20% Fo_75–80 with ≈3% Al₂O₃ and ≈ 2% TiO₂) and reaches a depth of 300–400 km. Below 300–400 km lies a dunite (≈Fo₉₅) lower mantle. A simple model for the distribution of K, U and Th (and by inference, KREEP) in the differentiated Moon model is developed using a distribution coefficient of 0.1 for the three elements. This coefficient is derived from published data on the distribution of U in Apollo 11 basalts. The simple model successfully accounts for the observed K, U and Th contents of the various mare basalts and upland rocks and yields a heat flow of 21 erg cm^?2s^?1 for the Moon. A model for the fine structure of the peridotite upper mantle of the model Moon is developed based on the TiO₂ and trace element variations observed in the various mare basalts. It is proposed that the upper mantle is rhythmically banded on the scale of 10's of km and that this banding leads to local variations of a factor of ±3 in the K, U and Th content, _-10 ⁺⁵ in the TiO₂ content and _-∞ ⁺² in the olivine content of the peridotite. It is also proposed that this banding leads to large scale horizontal inhomogenuities in the composition of the upper mantle. It is also shown that the formation of the primitive suite of upland rocks is easily explained by the cumulation of plagioclase, which carried varying amounts of pyroxene, olivine and melt with it, during the peritectic crystallization of the last 20% of the differentiating Moon. It is found that the 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratios of the mafics and the An contents of the plagioclases of the rocks are controlled by several factors, the most important of which is the ratio of melt to crystals which together formed the various upland rocks. The inverse relationship between the An contents and the Mg contents of the upland rocks is a direct consequence of the differentiation sequence proposed. The results and models presented in this paper further support the hypothesis that the Moon formed as a result of fission from the proto-Earth.  相似文献