Radioactivity backgrounds in ZEPLIN-III     

H.M. Araújo  D.Yu. AkimovE.J. Barnes  V.A. BelovA. Bewick  A.A. BurenkovV. Chepel  A. CurrieL. DeViveiros  B. EdwardsC. Ghag  A. HollingsworthM. Horn  G.E. KalmusA.S. Kobyakin  A.G. KovalenkoV.N. Lebedenko  A. Lindote  M.I. LopesR. Lüscher  P. MajewskiA. St. J. Murphy  F. Neves  S.M. PalingJ. Pinto da Cunha  R. PreeceJ.J. Quenby  L. ReichhartP.R. Scovell  C. SilvaV.N. Solovov  N.J.T. SmithP.F. Smith  V.N. StekhanovT.J. Sumner  C. ThorneR.J. Walker 《Astroparticle Physics》2012,35(8):495-502

We examine electron and nuclear recoil backgrounds from radioactivity in the ZEPLIN-III dark matter experiment at Boulby. The rate of low-energy electron recoils in the liquid xenon WIMP target is 0.75 ± 0.05 events/kg/day/keV, which represents a 20-fold improvement over the rate observed during the first science run. Energy and spatial distributions agree with those predicted by component-level Monte Carlo simulations propagating the effects of the radiological contamination measured for materials employed in the experiment. Neutron elastic scattering is predicted to yield 3.05 ± 0.5 nuclear recoils with energy 5-50 keV per year, which translates to an expectation of 0.4 events in a 1 yr dataset in anti-coincidence with the veto detector for realistic signal acceptance. Less obvious background sources are discussed, especially in the context of future experiments. These include contamination of scintillation pulses with Cherenkov light from Compton electrons and from β activity internal to photomultipliers, which can increase the size and lower the apparent time constant of the scintillation response. Another challenge is posed by multiple-scatter γ-rays with one or more vertices in regions that yield no ionisation. If the discrimination power achieved in the first run can be replicated, ZEPLIN-III should reach a sensitivity of ∼1 × 10⁻⁸pb · yr to the scalar WIMP-nucleon elastic cross-section, as originally conceived.  相似文献   

Organotin levels in Nazaré canyon (west Iberian Margin, NE Atlantic) and adjacent coastal area   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Sousa AC  Oliveira IB  Laranjeiro F  Takahashi S  Tanabe S  Cunha MR  Barroso CM 《Marine pollution bulletin》2012,64(2):422-426

Organotin compounds (OTs) are ubiquitous in the marine environment and high concentrations (μg g(-1) range) in sediments from different coastal areas around the world have been reported. However, few reports have described the OTs contamination status in the offshore and deep sea environment. This work investigated organotin levels in Nazaré canyon for the first time. Levels of monobutyltin (MBT), dibutyltin (DBT), tributyltin (TBT), diphenyltin (DPT), triphenyltin (TPT), dioctyltin (DOT) and trioctyltin (TOT) were quantified in sediment samples from the upper flanks of the canyon and from the adjacent coastal area. TBT levels detected in the canyon flanks are about two to three orders of magnitude lower than those found in the coastal area. Nevertheless, when quantifiable, TBT levels in the canyon samples were higher than the Environmental Assessment Criteria set for TBT in sediments by the OSPAR Commission indicating that at those locations negative ecological impacts are likely to occur.  相似文献   

The Current Status of Asteroseismology     

C. Aerts  J. Christensen-Dalsgaard  M. Cunha  D. W. Kurtz 《Solar physics》2008,251(1-2):3-20

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K-feldspar IRSL dating of a Pleistocene river terrace staircase sequence of the Lower Tejo River (Portugal,western Iberia)     

António A. Martins  Pedro P. Cunha  Jan-Pieter Buylaert  Sébastien Huot  Andrew S. Murray  Pedro Dinis  Martin Stokes 《Quaternary Geochronology》2010,5(2-3):176-180

We present the results of K-feldspar IRSL dating of the four lower terraces (T3–T6) of the Portuguese Tejo River, in the Arripiado-Chamusca area. Terrace correlation was based upon: a) analysis of aerial photographs, geomorphological mapping and field topographic survey; b) sedimentology of the deposits; and c) luminescence dating. Sediment sampled for luminescence dating gave unusually high dose rates, of between 3.4 and 6.2 Gy/ka and, as a result, quartz OSL was often found to be in saturation. We therefore used the IRSL signal from K-feldspar as the principal luminescence technique. The K-feldspar age results support sometimes complex geomorphic correlations, as fluvial terraces have been vertically displaced by faults (known from previous studies). Integration of these new ages with those obtained previously in the more upstream reaches of the Tejo River in Portugal indicates that the corrected K-feldspar IRSL ages are stratigraphically and geomorphologically consistent over a distance of 120 km along the Tejo valley. However, we are sceptical of the accuracy of the K-feldspar ages of samples from the T3 and T4 terraces (with uncorrected D_e values >500 Gy). In these cases the Dose Rate Correction (DRC) model puts the natural signals close to luminescence saturation, giving a minimum corrected D_e of about 1000 Gy, and thus minimum terrace ages; this may even be true for those doses >200 Gy. Luminescence dating results suggest that: T3 is older than 300 ka, probably ca. 420–360 ka (～Marine Isotope Stage [MIS]11); T4 is ca. 340–150 ka (～MIS9-6); T5 is 136–75 ka (～MIS5); T6 is 60–30 ka (MIS3); an aeolian sand unit that blankets T6 and some of the older terraces is 30–≥12 ka. Collectively, the luminescence ages seem to indicate that regional river downcutting events may be coincident with periods of low sea level (associated, respectively, with the MIS10, MIS6, MIS4 and MIS2).  相似文献   

Longitudinal variability of the equatorial counter electrojet during the solar cycle 24     

Soares  Gabriel  Yamazaki  Yosuke  Matzka  Jürgen  Pinheiro  Katia  Stolle  Claudia  Alken  Patrick  Yoshikawa  Akimasa  Uozumi  Teiji  Fujimoto  Akiko  Kulkarni  Atul 《Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica》2019,63(2):304-319

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica - Ground and space-based geomagnetic data were used in the investigation of the longitudinal, seasonal and lunar phase dependence of the equatorial counter...  相似文献   

Investigation of dynamic cable–deck interaction in a physical model of a cable‐stayed bridge. Part I: modal analysis     

E. Caetano  A. Cunha  C. A. Taylor 《地震工程与结构动力学》2000,29(4):481-498

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The use of fractal geometry to determine the impact of inlet migration on the dynamics of a seagrass landscape     

A.H. Cunha  R.P. Santos 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2009,84(4):584-590

The use of fractal geometry to evaluate seagrass scaling behavior and the persistence of seagrass landscape patterns in relation to a disturbance is presented in this paper.Ria Formosa is a dynamic barrier-island system with a migrating inlet that creates a cyclic disturbance in a seagrass landscape. Seagrass patches which develop in the intertidal and shallow subtidal areas of Ria Formosa were digitized from a temporal sequence of aerial photographs, from 1980 to 1998. The methodology used to evaluate seagrass scaling behavior was proposed by Meltzer and Hastings (1992), and relates the frequency distribution of patch size with the existence of patch size-related patterns. The Hurst exponent was calculated to assess the temporal persistence of the seagrass landscape. Univariate regression was used to investigate relations between temporal persistence and disturbance. The existence of patch size-related patterns was identified for all years suggesting shifts in generating processes occurring at different domains of scales in the seagrass landscape. The results enforces the idea that it is important to recognize the existence of diverse processes occurring at different domains of scales and, emphasizes the importance of evaluating issues of temporal and spatial scale while trying to understand changes in seagrass landscapes. The Hurst exponent estimates show that although the migration and relocation of the inlet affected this system the evolutionary trajectory of the seagrass landscape is persistent, i.e., the patch dynamics observed is stable. Furthermore, persistence values were different for differently sized patches, small patches having lower persistence then larger patches.  相似文献   

Impact of atmospheric gravity waves on the jovian ionosphere     

Daniel Barrow  Katia I. Matcheva 《Icarus》2011,211(1):609-622

We investigate the effects of atmospheric gravity waves on the vertical and horizontal structure of the ionosphere of Jupiter. The presented non-linear, two-dimensional model of the jovian ionosphere allows for spatially and temporally varying neutral wind and temperature fields and tracks the time evolution of six ionospheric species, , and . An analytical approach is used to validate the model results for linear, small-amplitude waves and to elucidate the mechanisms that leads to perturbations in the density of the main ion species, H⁺ and . We demonstrate that the long-lived H⁺ ions are perturbed directly by wave dynamics whereas short-lived ions such as are perturbed by chemical interactions with other perturbed ion species. The model is then applied using larger gravity wave amplitudes consistent with observations. Atmospheric gravity waves propagating at high altitudes create layers of enhanced electron density similar to the system of layers observed during the J0-ingress radio occultation of the Galileo spacecraft. Our best fit to the J0-ingress observation is achieved using an 82 min period forcing wave with horizontal and vertical wavelengths of 500 km and 60 km respectively, and peaks at 510 km above the 1 bar pressure level. We further investigate the effects of the wave-induced ion flux on the background ionospheric structure and demonstrate that in the presence of a gravity wave the background density profiles of the H⁺ and ions are significantly modified. We also find that the column density of has variations that can exceed 10% as the wave propagates.  相似文献   

Performance of the veto detector incorporated into the ZEPLIN-III experiment     

C. Ghag  D.Yu. AkimovH.M. Araújo  E.J. BarnesV.A. Belov  A.A. BurenkovV. Chepel  A. CurrieL. DeViveiros  B. EdwardsV. Francis  A. HollingsworthM. Horn  G.E. KalmusA.S. Kobyakin  A.G. KovalenkoV.N. Lebedenko  A. Lindote  M.I. LopesR. Lüscher  K. LyonsP. Majewski  A.St J. MurphyF. Neves  S.M. PalingJ. Pinto da Cunha  R. PreeceJ.J. Quenby  L. ReichhartP.R. Scovell  C. SilvaV.N. Solovov  N.J.T. SmithP.F. Smith  V.N. StekhanovT.J. Sumner  C. ThorneR.J. Walker 《Astroparticle Physics》2011,35(2):76-86

The ZEPLIN-III experiment is operating in its second phase at the Boulby Underground Laboratory in search of dark matter WIMPs. The major upgrades to the instrument over its first science run include lower background photomultiplier tubes and installation of a plastic scintillator veto system. Performance results from the veto detector using calibration and science data in its first six months of operation in coincidence with ZEPLIN-III are presented. With fully automated operation and calibration, the veto system has maintained high stability and achieves near unity live time relative to ZEPLIN-III. Calibrations with a neutron source demonstrate a rejection of 60% of neutron-induced nuclear recoils in ZEPLIN-III that might otherwise be misidentified as WIMPs. This tagging efficiency reduces the expected untagged nuclear recoil background from neutrons during science data taking to a very low rate of ?0.2 events per year in the WIMP acceptance region. Additionally, the veto detector provides rejection of 28% of γ-ray induced background events, allowing the sampling of the dominant source of background in ZEPLIN-III - multiple scatter γ-rays with rare topologies. Since WIMPs will not be tagged by the veto detector, and tags due to γ-rays and neutrons are separable, this population of multiple scatter events may be characterised without biasing the analysis of candidate WIMP signals in the data.  相似文献   

Geoarchaeology of Pleistocene open-air sites in the Vila Nova da Barquinha-Santa Cita area (Lower Tejo River basin, central Portugal)     

António A. Martins  Pedro P. Cunha  Luiz Osterbeek  Stefano Grimaldi  Jan-Pieter Buylaert  João Matos 《Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. Geologists' Association》2010,121(2):128-140

This paper aims to provide insight into human occupation and landscape change during the Pleistocene in a central area of the Lower Tejo basin (Portugal). Detailed geomorphological mapping, coupled with lithostratigraphy, sedimentology and luminescence dating, supports the identification of a complete terrace staircase sequence. It consists of six gravely terraces located below the culminant (Pliocene) basin unit. A chronological framework for the sedimentary sequences and associated human industries is proposed and correlated with marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS): T1 terrace, not dated; T2, not dated; T3, >300 ka; T4, ∼300-160 ka (MIS8, MIS7 and MIS6); T5, ∼136-75 ka (MIS5); T6, ∼62-30 ka (MIS3); colluvium and aeolian sands, ∼30-14 ka (MIS2); valley fill deposits, ∼14 ka to present (MIS1). The oldest artefacts were found at the base of the T4 terrace, with the local stratigraphic level dated to ≥175 ± 6 ka (Middle Pleistocene). The lithic assemblages collected from distinct stratigraphic levels (T4, T5 top, T6 terraces and colluvium) are characterized by the predominance of opportunistic technological choices, a feature that can be attributed partly to the preferential exploitation of the available raw material, dominated by local-sourced quartzites and quartz pebbles. The adaptation to local raw material (texture and volume), together with subsistence patterns and behaviours, could explain the rarity of Acheulian types (handaxes and cleavers) and picks in the T4 terraces of the Tejo tributaries; this is in contrast to the same terrace of the Tejo valley, in which these types are found. Interpretation of the environmental conditions (controlled by climate and glacio-eustatic sea-level changes) affecting the hunter-gatherer human groups is also presented.  相似文献