Green Lake Landslide and other giant and very large postglacial landslides in Fiordland,New Zealand     

Graham T. Hancox  Nick D. Perrin 《Quaternary Science Reviews》2009,28(11-12):1020-1036

Green Lake Landslide is an ancient giant rock slide in gneiss and granodiorite located in the deeply glaciated Fiordland region of New Zealand. The landslide covers an area of 45 km² and has a volume of about 27 km³. It is believed to be New Zealand's largest landslide, and possibly the largest landslide of its type on Earth. It is one of 39 known very large (10⁶–10⁷ m³) and giant (≥10⁸ m³) postglacial landslides in Fiordland discussed in the paper. Green Lake Landslide resulted in the collapse of a 9 km segment of the southern Hunter Mountains. Slide debris moved up to 2.5 km laterally and 700 m vertically, and formed a landslide dam about 800 m high, impounding a lake about 11 km long that was eventually infilled with sediments. Geomorphic evidence supported by radiocarbon dating indicates that Green Lake Landslide probably occurred 12 000–13 000 years ago, near the end of the last (Otira) glaciation. The landslide is described, and its geomorphic significance, age, failure mechanism, cause, and relevance in the region are discussed, in relation to other large landslides and recent earthquake-induced landslides in Fiordland. The slope failure occurred on a low-angle fault zone undercut by glacial erosion, and was probably triggered by strong shaking (MM IX–X) associated with a large (≥ M 7.5–8) earthquake, on the Alpine Fault c. 80 km to the northwest. Geology was a major factor that controlled the style and size of Green Lake landslide, and in that respect it is significantly different from most other gigantic landslides. Future large earthquakes on the Alpine Fault in Fiordland are likely to trigger more very large and giant landslides across the region, causing ground damage and devastation on a scale that has not occurred during the last 160 years, with potentially disastrous effects on towns, tourist centres, roads, and infrastructure. The probability of such an event occurring within the next 50 years may be as high as 45%.  相似文献   

The Orion nebula (M42) Herbig–Haro object, HH 201, within the tip of a molecular finger     

M. F. Graham  J. Meaburn  M. P. Redman 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2003,343(2):419-426

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Magnetic Reconnection, Turbulence, and Collisionless Shock     

Hantao Ji  Russell Kulsrud  Masaaki Yamada 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2005,298(1-2):219-226

A short summary of recent progress in measuring and understanding turbulence during magnetic reconnection in laboratory plasmas is given. Magnetic reconnection is considered as a primary process to dissipate magnetic energy in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. A central question concerns why the observed reconnection rates are much faster than predictions made by classical theories, such as the Sweet–Parker model based on MHD with classical Spitzer resistivity. Often, the local resistivity is conjectured to be enhanced by turbulence to accelerate reconnection rates either in the context of the Sweet–Parker model or by facilitating setup of the Pestchek model. Measurements at a dedicated laboratory experiment, called MRX or Magnetic Reconnection Experiment, have indicated existence of strong electromagnetic turbulence in current sheets undergoing fast reconnection. The origin of the turbulence has been identified as right-hand polarized whistler waves, propagating obliquely to the reconnecting field, with a phase velocity comparable to the relative drift velocity. These waves are consistent with an obliquely propagating electromagnetic lower-hybrid drift instability driven by drift speeds large compared to the Alfven speed in high-beta plasmas. Interestingly, this instability may explain electromagnetic turbulence also observed in collisionless shocks, which are common in energetic astrophysical phenomena.  相似文献   

Mid-infrared, Hα and radio continuum images of an unusual H ii region, G308.70 + 0.60     

Martin Cohen  Anne J. Green  Quentin A. Parker  Stacy Mader  Russell D. Cannon 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2002,336(3):736-746

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Comparison of results from several AOGCMs for global and regional sea-level change 1900–2100     

J. M. Gregory  J. A. Church  G. J. Boer  K. W. Dixon  G. M. Flato  D. R. Jackett  J. A. Lowe  S. P. O'Farrell  E. Roeckner  G. L. Russell  R. J. Stouffer  M. Winton 《Climate Dynamics》2001,18(3-4):225-240

 Sea-level rise is an important aspect of climate change because of its impact on society and ecosystems. Here we present an intercomparison of results from ten coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) for sea-level changes simulated for the twentieth century and projected to occur during the twenty first century in experiments following scenario IS92a for greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols. The model results suggest that the rate of sea-level rise due to thermal expansion of sea water has increased during the twentieth century, but the small set of tide gauges with long records might not be adequate to detect this acceleration. The rate of sea-level rise due to thermal expansion continues to increase throughout the twenty first century, and the projected total is consequently larger than in the twentieth century; for 1990–2090 it amounts to 0.20–0.37 m. This wide range results from systematic uncertainty in modelling of climate change and of heat uptake by the ocean. The AOGCMs agree that sea-level rise is expected to be geographically non-uniform, with some regions experiencing as much as twice the global average, and others practically zero, but they do not agree about the geographical pattern. The lack of agreement indicates that we cannot currently have confidence in projections of local sea-level changes, and reveals a need for detailed analysis and intercomparison in order to understand and reduce the disagreements. Received: 1 September 2000 / Accepted: 20 April 2001  相似文献   

Integral field spectroscopy with the GEMINI multiobject spectrographs     

Jeremy Allington-Smith  Graham Murray  Robert Content  George Dodsworth  Bryan W. Miller  James Turner  Inger Jorgensen  Isobel Hook 《Experimental Astronomy》2002,13(1):1-37

We describe the integral field unit (IFU) which converts the Gemini Multiobject Spectrograph (GMOS) installed on the Gemini-North telescope to an integral field spectrograph,which produces spectra over a contiguous field of view of 7 × 5 arcsec with spatial sampling of 0.2 arcsecover the wavelength range 0.4-1.0 μm.GMOS is converted to this mode by the remote insertion of the IFU into thebeam in place of the masks used for the multiobject mode. A separate fieldof half the area of the main field, but otherwise identical, is alsoprovided to improve background subtraction. The IFU contains 1500lenslet-coupled fibres and was the first facility of any type for integralfield spectroscopy employed on an 8/10 m telescope.We describe the design, construction and testing of the GMOS IFU and present measurements of the throughput both in the laboratory and at the telescope. We compare these with a theoretical prediction made before construction started. All are in good agreement with each other, with the on-telescope throughput exceeding 60% (averaged over wavelength). Finallywe show an example of data obtained during commissioning to illustrate the power of the device.  相似文献   

Biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in north Norfolk,UK     

Richard C. Preece  Simon A. Parfitt  G. Russell Coope  Kirsty E. H. Penkman  Philippe Ponel  John E. Whittaker 《第四纪科学杂志》2009,24(6):557-580

Considerable debate surrounds the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in East Anglia following some recent stratigraphical reinterpretations. Resolution of the stratigraphy here is important since it not only concerns the glacial history of the region but also has a bearing on our understanding of the earliest human occupation of north‐western Europe. The orthodox consensus that all the tills were emplaced during the Anglian (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12) has recently been challenged by a view assigning each major till to a different glacial stage, before, during and after MIS 12. Between Trimingham and Sidestrand on the north Norfolk coast, datable organic sediments occur immediately below and above the glacial succession. The oldest glacial deposit (Happisburgh Till) directly overlies the ‘Sidestrand Unio‐bed’, here defined as the Sidestrand Hall Member of the Cromer Forest‐bed Formation. Dating of these sediments therefore has a bearing on the maximum age of the glacial sequence. This paper reviews the palaeobotany and describes the faunal assemblages recovered from the Sidestrand Unio‐bed, which accumulated in a fluvial environment in a fully temperate climate with regional deciduous woodland. There are indications from the ostracods for weakly brackish conditions. Significant differences are apparent between the Sidestrand assemblages and those from West Runton, the type site of the Cromerian Stage. These differences do not result from contrasting facies or taphonomy but reflect warmer palaeotemperatures at Sidestrand and a much younger age. This conclusion is suggested by the higher proportion of thermophiles at Sidestrand and the occurrence of a water vole with unrooted molars (Arvicola) rather than its ancestor Mimomys savini with rooted molars. Amino acid racemisation data also indicate that Sidestrand is significantly younger than West Runton. These data further highlight the stratigraphical complexity of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ and support the conventional view that the Happisburgh Till was emplaced during the Anglian rather than the recently advanced view that it dates from MIS 16. Moreover, new evidence from the Trimingham lake bed (Sidestrand Cliff Formation) above the youngest glacial outwash sediments (Briton's Lane Formation) indicates that they also accumulated during a Middle Pleistocene interglacial – probably MIS 11. All of this evidence is consistent with a short chronology placing the glacial deposits within MIS 12, rather than invoking multiple episodes of glaciation envisaged in the ‘new glacial stratigraphy’ during MIS 16, 12, 10 and 6. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

The second order characteristic condition for plastic flow     

Graham Weir  Roger Young 《国际地质力学数值与分析法杂志》2003,27(15):1299-1316

In this paper the second order characteristic (discontinuous bifurcation) condition is derived for the granular flow (fully plastic) equations. This second order bifurcation equation is shown to be formally identical to the first order localization requirement during steady elastoplastic deformation provided the elastic compliance tensor is substituted for the product of the plastic multiplier with the flow Hessian. For isotropic yield and flow functions the invariant form of the characteristic condition is given in detail, as well as an alternative expression in adapted co‐ordinates. The characteristic condition can be regarded as defining a hardening function which is maximized to identify the critical angles. When the method is applied to 3D Coulomb flow, Mohr's 3D fracture plane conditions are obtained uniquely. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Searching for Planetary Eclipses in Open Clusters: NGC 7086     

Russell Robb  John Vincent  Joanne Rosvick 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2006,304(1-4):215-217

In an attempt to discover planetary eclipses, we observed the open cluster NGC 7086. On one night we observed the cluster and standard stars through the B and V filters, enabling us to make a colour-magnitude diagram. Plots of the differential magnitudes were inspected for variability, but no planetary eclipses were found. New variable stars were discovered and their light curves show some of them to be eclipsing binary stars. The location on the colour-magnitude diagram of some of the variable stars is consistent with cluster membership.  相似文献   

Fast neutral particles as probes of the extent of Io's exosphere     

M. M. Cowee  Y-L. Wang  C. T. Russell   《Planetary and Space Science》2003,51(14-15):945

The spatial extent of ion cyclotron waves at Io has been interpreted as requiring a multistep acceleration and transport process: exospheric ions are accelerated outward (relative to Jupiter) due to the corotation electric field, neutralized due to charge exchange in the surrounding exosphere, and then reionized after traveling far across magnetic field lines, at which point they generate the waves. The trajectories of the particles away from Io are sensitive to the location of their initial ionization. This paper examines the spatial distributions of fast neutrals produced under varying conditions in order to provide constraints on the possible structure and nature of the Io exosphere. While a rapid onset of cyclotron waves at a specific location around Io can be modeled with a single, point-source region of ions, such as might occur over a volcano, the regional extent of the waves suggests multiple or distributed sources.  相似文献