Icelandic analogs to Martian flood lavas

We report on new field observations from Icelandic lava flows that have the same surface morphology as many Martian flood lava flows. The Martian flood lavas are characterized by a platy-ridged surface morphology whose formation is not well understood. The examples on Mars include some of the most pristine lava on the planet and flows >1500 km long. The surfaces of the flows are characterized by (1) ridges tens of meters tall and wide and hundreds of meters long, (2) plates hundreds of meters to kilometers across that are bounded by ridges, (3) smooth surfaces broken into polygons several meters across and bowed up slightly in the center, (4) parallel grooves 1–10 km long cut into the flow surface by flow past obstacles, and (5) inflated pahoehoe margins. The Icelandic examples we examined (the 1783–1784 Laki Flow Field, the Búrfells Lava Flow Field by Lake Myvatn, and a lava flow from Krafla Volcano) have all these surface characteristics. When examined in detail, we find that the surfaces of the Icelandic examples are composed primarily of disrupted pahoehoe. In some cases the breccia consists of simple slabs of pahoehoe lava; in other cases it is a thick layer dominated by contorted fragments of pahoehoe lobes. Our field observations lead us to conclude that these breccias are formed by the disruption of an initial pahoehoe surface by a large flux of liquid lava within the flow. In the case of Laki, the lava flux was provided by surges in the erupted effusion rate. At Búrfells it appears that the rapid flow came from the sudden breaching of the margins of a large ponded lava flow. Using the observations from Iceland, we have improved our earlier thermal modeling of the Martian flood lavas. We now conclude that these platy-ridged lava flows may have been quite thermally efficient, allowing the flow to extend for >100 km under a disrupted crust that was carried on top of the flow

K-Shell Photoionization of B-like Oxygen (O3+^{3+}) Ions: Experiment and Theory

Absolute cross sections for the {\it K}-shell photoionization of boron-like (B-like) O$^{3+}$ ions were measured by employing the ion-photon merged-beam technique at the SOLEIL synchrotron-radiation facility in Saint-Aubin, France. High-resolution spectroscopy with E/$\Delta$E $\approx$ 5000 ($\approx$ 110 meV, FWHM) was achieved with photon energy from 540 eV up to 600 eV. Several theoretical approaches, including R-Matrix, Multi-Configuration Dirac-Fock and Screening Constant by Unit Nuclear Charge were used to identify and characterize the strong 1s $\rightarrow$ 2p and the weaker 1s $\rightarrow$ 3p resonances observed in the {\it K}-shell spectra of this ion. The trend of the integrated oscillator strength and autoionisation width (natural line width) of the strong $\rm 1s \rightarrow 2p$ resonances along the first few ions of the B-like sequence is discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in J. Phys. B. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1402.051

Diferenciación morfotécnica y diacronismo en el Paleolítico medio catalán

[Resumen] Se hace una revisión crítica del "musteriense", su historia, evolución del término, sistemas de análisis y se plantea la alternativa del "continuum evolutivo dinámico" para su estudio. Aplicamos la tipología analítica y el sistema 1ógico analítico al estudio del Paleolítico Medio catalán, trabajando con los lugares de ocupaci6n de Avetllaners y Diable Coix (La Selva), L'Arbreda H-43 - (Serinya), Ermitons (Garrotxa), Abric Romaní C4 Y'C9 (Anoia) y Les Fonts (Segria). Como resultado de la aplicación de este sistema de trabajo se óbtiene información que permite correlacionar lugares de ocupación en abrigo o cueva con los situados al aire libre, así como interpretar, a través de hip6tesis contrastadas, la funcionalidad y cronología de los yacimientos del Paleolítico Medio catalán.[Abstract] The purpose of this paper is to realize a critical revision of Mousterian evolution of this term, its history and analytic sistems,the alternative by "continuum evolutivo dinámico" is stablished for studying it. We apply the logical-analytical sistem to study middle catalan Paleolithic. We work with the placeof ocuppations at Avetllaners y Diable Coix (La Selva), L'Arbreda H-43 (Serinya), Ermitons (Garrotxa), Abric Romaní C4 y C9 (Anoia) y Les Fonts {Segria) The information that we obtain after the application oí this sistem work permit us, to correlate place oí ocuppations in shelter or cave with other in open air as well as we can interpret, by contrasted hypothesis, the funcionality and t~e cronology of sites in the Middle catalan Paleolithi

K-Shell Photoionization of Singly Ionized Atomic Nitrogen: Experiment and Theory

Absolute cross sections for the K-shell photoionization of C-like nitrogen ions were measured by employing the ion-photon merged-beam technique at the SOLEIL synchrotron radiation facility in Saint-Aubin, France. High-resolution spectroscopy with E/$\Delta$E $\approx$ 7,000 was achieved with the photon energy from 388 to 430 eV scanned with a band pass of 300 meV, and the 399.4 to 402 eV range with 60 meV. Experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions made from the multi-configuration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) and R-matrix methods. The interplay between experiment and theory enabled the identification and characterization of the strong 1s $\rightarrow$ 2p resonances observed in the spectra.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

On the liquid drop model mass formulas and decay of the heaviest nuclei

The coefficients of different macro-microscopic Liquid Drop Model mass formulas have been determined by a least square fitting procedure to 2027 experimental atomic masses. A rms deviation of 0.54 MeV can be reached. The remaining differences come mainly from the determination of the shell and pairing energies. Extrapolations are compared to 161 new experimental masses and to 656 mass evaluations. The different fits lead to a surface energy coefficient of around 17-18 MeV. Finally, decay potential barriers are revisited and predictions of decay half-lives of still unknown superheavy elements are given from previously proposed analytical formulas and from extrapolated Q values

Resilience trinity: safeguarding ecosystem functioning and services across three different time horizons and decision contexts

Ensuring ecosystem resilience is an intuitive approach to safeguard the functioning of ecosystems and hence the future provisioning of ecosystem services (ES). However, resilience is a multi‐faceted concept that is difficult to operationalize. Focusing on resilience mechanisms, such as diversity, network architectures or adaptive capacity, has recently been suggested as means to operationalize resilience. Still, the focus on mechanisms is not specific enough. We suggest a conceptual framework, resilience trinity, to facilitate management based on resilience mechanisms in three distinctive decision contexts and time‐horizons: 1) reactive, when there is an imminent threat to ES resilience and a high pressure to act, 2) adjustive, when the threat is known in general but there is still time to adapt management and 3) provident, when time horizons are very long and the nature of the threats is uncertain, leading to a low willingness to act. Resilience has different interpretations and implications at these different time horizons, which also prevail in different disciplines. Social ecology, ecology and engineering are often implicitly focussing on provident, adjustive or reactive resilience, respectively, but these different notions of resilience and their corresponding social, ecological and economic tradeoffs need to be reconciled. Otherwise, we keep risking unintended consequences of reactive actions, or shying away from provident action because of uncertainties that cannot be reduced. The suggested trinity of time horizons and their decision contexts could help ensuring that longer‐term management actions are not missed while urgent threats to ES are given priority

A review of X-ray laser development at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Recent experiments undertaken at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to produce X-ray lasing over the 5-30 nm wavelength range are reviewed. The efficiency of lasing is optimized when the main pumping pulse interacts with a preformed plasma. Experiments using double 75-ps pulses and picosecond pulses superimposed on 300-ps background pulses are described. The use of travelling wave pumping with the approximately picosecond pulse experiments is necessary as the gain duration becomes comparable to the time for the X-ray laser pulse to propagate along the target length. Results from a model taking account of laser saturation and deviations from the speed of light c of the travelling wave and X-ray laser group velocity are presented. We show that X-ray laser pulses as short as 2-3 ps can be produced with optical pumping pulses of approximate to1-ps

Relative influence of the adeno-associated virus (AAV) type 2 p5 element for recombinant AAV vector site-specific integration.

The p5 promoter region of the adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV-2) rep gene has been described as essential for Rep-mediated site-specific integration (RMSSI) of plasmid sequences in human chromosome 19. We report here that insertion of a full-length or minimal p5 element between the viral inverted terminal repeats does not significantly increase RMSSI of a recombinant AAV (rAAV) vector after infection of growth-arrested or proliferating human cells. This result suggests that the p5 element may not improve RMSSI of rAAV vectors in vivo

4d-inner-shell ionization of Xe+ ions and subsequent Auger decay

We have studied Xe+4d inner-shell photoionization in a direct experiment on Xe+ ions, merging an ion and a photon beam and detecting the ejected electrons with a cylindrical mirror analyzer. The measured 4d photoelectron spectrum is compared to the 4d core valence double ionization spectrum of the neutral Xe atom, obtained with a magnetic bottle spectrometer. This multicoincidence experiment gives access to the spectroscopy of the individual Xe2+4d−15p−1 states and to their respective Auger decays, which are found to present a strong selectivity. The experimental results are interpreted with the help of ab initio calculations.1\. Auflag