Seismic Inference using Genetic Algorithms     

Travis S. Metcalfe 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2003,284(1):141-151

A flood of reliable seismic data will soon arrive. The migration to largertelescopes on the ground may free up 4-m class instruments for multi-sitecampaigns, and several forthcoming satellite missions promise to yieldnearly uninterrupted long-term coverage of many pulsating stars. We willthen face the challenge of determining the fundamental properties of thesestars from the data, by trying to match them with the output of ourcomputer models. The traditional approach to this task is to make informedguesses for each of the model parameters, and then adjust them iterativelyuntil an adequate match is found. The trouble is: how do we know that oursolution is unique, or that some other combination of parameters will notdo even better? Computers are now sufficiently powerful and inexpensivethat we can produce large grids of models and simply compare all ofthem to the observations. The question then becomes: what range ofparameters do we want to consider, and how many models do we want tocalculate? This can minimize the subjective nature of the process, but itmay not be the most efficient approach and it may give us a false sense ofsecurity that the final result is correct, when it is really justoptimal. I discuss these issues in the context of recent advances inthe asteroseismological analysis of white dwarf stars.  相似文献   

The Citation Impact of Digital Preprint Archives for Solar Physics Papers   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Travis S. Metcalfe 《Solar physics》2006,239(1-2):549-553

Papers that are posted to a digital preprint archive are typically cited twice as often as papers that are not posted. This has been demonstrated for papers published in a wide variety of journals, and in many different subfields of astronomy. Most astronomers now use the arXiv.org server (astro-ph) to distribute preprints, but the solar physics community has an independent archive hosted at Montana State University. For several samples of solar physics papers published in 2003, I quantify the boost in citation rates for preprints posted to each of these servers. I show that papers on the MSU archive typically have citation rates 1.7 times higher than the average of similar papers that are not posted as preprints, while those posted to astro-ph get 2.6 times the average. A comparable boost is found for papers published in conference proceedings, suggesting that the higher citation rates are not the result of self-selection of above-average papers. Editors’ Note: This paper lies outside the normal purview of Solar Physics papers, however the editors feel that the content is of sufficient importance for all Solar Physics authors and readers to merit its publication.  相似文献   

XMM–Newton observations of three short-period polars: V347 Pav, GG Leo and EU UMa     

Gavin Ramsay  Mark Cropper  K. O. Mason  F. A. Córdova  W. Priedhorsky 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,347(1):95-100

  相似文献   

The status of geological dredging techniques     

R. B. Kidd  Q. J. Huggett  A. T. S. Ramsay 《Marine Geophysical Researches》1990,12(1-2):131-143

Scientific sea-floor dredging is currently used in marine geology primarily by the hard-rock community interested in the recovery of basement rock samples from the unsedimented deep ocean floor. The technique has generally been eclipsed by ocean drilling for recovery of sedimentary rocks, because of perceived uncertainties in the location of sampling and in the representativeness of recovered material. This contribution reviews dredging equipment currently in use by marine geological institutions and refers to pinger attachments that allow precise information on the behaviour of the dredge to be telemetered back to the ship. We argue that improvements in ship navigation and transponder navigation at the seafloor, when used in conjunction with surface and/or deeply towed sidescan and swathemapping surveys, now allow for considerably less uncertainty on the location of dredge sampling. Refined sorting criteria for dredge hauls are now also available. Recent comparisons of regional sample recovery by ocean drilling and by dredge sampling indicate that the dredge hauls can usefully supplement the drilling data in the construction of sedimentary and tectonic histories of seafloor areas.  相似文献   

Mantle circulation models with variational data assimilation: inferring past mantle flow and structure from plate motion histories and seismic tomography   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

Hans-Peter Bunge  C. R. Hagelberg  B. J. Travis 《Geophysical Journal International》2003,152(2):280-301

  相似文献   

Macrobenthic infaunal communities associated with deep‐sea hydrocarbon seeps in the northern Gulf of Mexico          下载免费PDF全文

Travis W. Washburn  Amanda W. J. Demopoulos  Paul A. Montagna 《Marine Ecology》2018,39(3)

There are thousands of seeps in the deep ocean worldwide; however, many questions remain about their contributions to global biodiversity and the surrounding deep‐sea environment. In addition to being globally distributed, seeps provide several benefits to humans such as unique habitats, organisms with novel genes, and carbon regulation. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there are unique seep macrobenthic assemblages, by comparing seep and nonseep environments, different seep habitats, and seeps at different depths and locations. Infaunal community composition, diversity, and abundance were examined between seep and nonseep background environments and among three seep habitats (i.e., microbial mats, tubeworms, and soft‐bottom seeps). Abundances were higher at seep sites compared to background areas. Abundance and diversity also differed among microbial mat, tubeworm, and soft‐bottom seep habitats. Although seeps contained different macrobenthic assemblages than nonseep areas, infaunal communities were also generally unique for each seep. Variability was 75% greater within communities near seeps compared to communities in background areas. Thus, high variability in community structure characterized seep communities rather than specific taxa. The lack of similarity among seep sites supports the idea that there are no specific infauna that can be used as indicators of seepage throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico, at least at higher taxonomic levels.  相似文献   

Some Biases in Sampling Multilevel Piezometers for Volatile Organics     

J. F. Barker  G. C Patrick  L. Lemon  G. M. Travis 《Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation》1987,7(2):48-54

Multilevel piezometers are cost-effective monitoring devices for determining the three-dimensional distribution of solutes in ground water. Construction includes flexible tubing (plastic or Teflon®). Their sampling is subject to a number of'potential biases, particularly: (1) losses of volatile organic solutes via volatilization, (2) sorption onto the flexible tubing of the piezometers, (3) leaching of organics from this tubing, and (4) collection of unrepresentative samples due to inadequate piezometer flushing. It is shown that these biases are minimal or are easily controlled in most situations.
Another source of bias has been recognized. Organic solutes present in ground water above the screened level can penetrate the flexible plastic or Teflon tubing and contaminate the sampled water being drawn through this tubing. Laboratory tests and field results indicate this transmission causes low organic contaminant concentrations to be erroneously attributed to ground water which is free of such contaminants. The transmitted organics apparently desorb from the plastic tubing during flushing of even 40 piezometer volumes.
Recognition of this transmission problem provides for a better interpretation of existing organic contaminant distribution data. Caution is advised when considering the use of these monitoring devices in organic solute contaminant studies.  相似文献   

Crustal strain phenomena in the Solomon Islands, constraints from field evidence, and relationship to the India-Pacific plates' boundary     

W.R.H. Ramsay 《Tectonophysics》1982,87(1-4)

The Solomon Islands lie along the India-Pacific plates' margin and have recorded a history of deformation resulting from the interaction of these two plates. Various kinematic models have been proposed for the Solomons and these have involved a variety of plate tectonic processes. It is pointed out that almost without exception these models have been based on a provincial geological classification of the island group in which it is assumed that two of these provinces—Pacific and Central provinces—commenced their geological development in regions distant from one another. Invariably such models require that Santa Isabel represents part of a collision zone between these two provinces, though field evidence from Santa Isabel for such a collision has in the past been largely lacking.These various kinematic models are examined in the light of more recent field evidence, and a premise on which they have been based—initial separate development for two of the provinces—is questioned. Rather it is here suggested that the Central and Pacific provinces developed in roughly similar positions, one with the other as they occur today, and that they were at least in part separated from Oligocene time onward by a linear peridotite-gabbro ridge, Korighole-Florida high, which acted as a sediment barrier to much of the coarser clastic and volcanogenic sedimentation.The initial development of the Solomon Islands began in an oceanic environment with the extrusion of extensive submarine tholeiitic ‘flood basalts’ and intrusion of associated gabbroic and ultramafic rocks at depth, during the Late Mesozoic to Early Tertiary. This igneous phase occurred with the whole of the island group representing the western margin of the Ontong Java Plateau. Subsequent asymmetric development of the Solomons during the Eocene and Oligocene resulted in uplift, shearing, and the initiation of arc volcanism, plutonism, and arc-related sedimentation in the Central province to the west. In contrast, through much of the Tertiary the Pacific province to the east continued to receive dominantly pelagic sediments before undergoing uplift and renewed deformation in the Pliocene. The recognition that the ophiolite crust in the Solomon Islands represents an autochthonous entity, which has acted as basement to subsequent arc volcanism, has significant implications on geochemical studies of these islands now being undertaken.  相似文献   

The origin of scapolite in the regionally metamorphosed rocks of Mary Kathleen,Queensland, Australia     

C. R. Ramsay  L. R. Davidson 《Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology》1970,25(1):41-51

Scapolite at Mary Kathleen (North-Western Queensland) occurs in calcareous and non-calcareous metapelites, acid and basic metavolcanics and metadolerites. Graphical treatment of the relationship between scapolite composition (Me%) and the host rock oxide ratios CaO/Na₂O and Al₂O₃/(CaO + Na₂O) reveals the following points:

1. The calcareous metapelites are also very sodic.
2. Scapolite in calcareous metapelites is more marialitic than that in low-calcium equivalents.
3. In graphs of Me% against CaO/Na₂O and Al₂O₃/(CaO + Na₂O) the metasediments and the metaigneous rocks show markedly different trends.

It is concluded that scapolite in the metasediments originated by isochemical metamorphism of shales and marls containing evaporitic halite. The local abundance of halite was the main control on the composition and distribution of the scapolite, but the relative abundance of CaO and Na₂O was a modifying factor. In the metaigneous rocks scapolite formed metasomatically during regional metamorphism by the introduction of volatile-rich fluids derived from the adjacent evaporitic sediments. The relative availability of CO₂ and Cl₂ again appears to have been the primary control on scapolite composition and may in turn have been controlled by bulk rock composition.  相似文献   

Evolution of the Bahah province — Central arabian shield     

N.J. Jackson  C.R. Ramsay  M.J. Roobol  D.P.F. Darbyshire 《Precambrian Research》1982,16(4):A25-A26

  相似文献