VLBI2010 - The TWIN radio telescope project at Wettzell, Germany

The Twin Telescope Wettzell (TTW) Project is funded to be exec uted during the period of 2008-2011. The design of the TTW was based on the VLBI2010 vision of the corresponding IVS Working Group. In the first two project years the design passed the simulations with respect to its specifications and was approved for production. At the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell a thorough soil analysis was made in order to define the sites for the towers of the new radio telescopes. Meanwhile the construction work has begun and acceptance tests of several telescope parts, e.g. azimuth bearings, took place. The full assembly of the radio telescopes is scheduled for the next two years. In parallel to the construction work at the Wettzell site, the design work for the different feed options progressed

Progressive changes in magma transport at the active Serreta Ridge, Azores

Volcanism in the Eastern Azores Plateau occurs at large central volcanoes and along subaerial and submarine fissure zones, resulting from a mantle melting anomaly combined with transtensional stresses. Volcanic structures are aligned WNW-ESE and NW-SE, reflecting two tectonic stress fields that control the direction of lateral melt transport. Terceira Island is influenced by both stress fields, dividing the island into an eastern and western part. Several submarine volcanic ridges with variable orientations are located west of Santa Barbara, the youngest central volcano on Terceira. Major, trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope compositions from submarine lavas and glasses, in part associated with the 1998-2001 Serreta Ridge eruption, vary between different lava suites, suggesting a formation from different mantle sources. Submarine lavas are more primitive than those from Santa Barbara volcano, indicating that they are not laterally connected with the shallow magma reservoir located in 2- to 5-km depth beneath the central volcano. Mineral thermobarometric data suggest that the older Serreta magmas were laterally transported at depths >5 km from Santa Barbara predominantly in WNW direction. We propose that lithospheric extension controls magma transport from the central volcano to Serreta Ridge. The youngest Serreta lavas differ from Santa Barbara and other submarine ridges in having less radiogenic Pb and higher Hf isotope ratios representing a new magma pulse ascending from the mantle. We conclude that lateral magma transport and the morphology of volcanic ridges are controlled by tectonic stresses in the lithosphere, whereas vertical melt transport is initiated by processes in the mantle.Peer reviewe

Direct measurement of diurnal polar motion by ring laser gyroscopes

We report the first direct measurements of the very small effect of forced diurnal polar motion, successfully observed on three of our large ring lasers, which now measure the instantaneous direction of Earth's rotation axis to a precision of 1 part in 10^8 when averaged over a time interval of several hours. Ring laser gyroscopes provide a new viable technique for directly and continuously measuring the position of the instantaneous rotation axis of the Earth and the amplitudes of the Oppolzer modes. In contrast, the space geodetic techniques (VLBI, SLR, GPS, etc.) contain no information about the position of the instantaneous axis of rotation of the Earth, but are sensitive to the complete transformation matrix between the Earth-fixed and inertial reference frame. Further improvements of gyroscopes will provide a powerful new tool for studying the Earth's interior.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, agu2001.cl

High-Accuracy Ring Laser Gyroscopes: Earth Rotation Rate and Relativistic Effects

The Gross Ring G is a square ring laser gyroscope, built as a monolithic Zerodur structure with 4 m length on all sides. It has demonstrated that a large ring laser provides a sensitivity high enough to measure the rotational rate of the Earth with a high precision of ∆ΩE < 10-8. It is possible to show that further improvement in accuracy could allow the observation of the metric frame dragging, produced by the Earth rotating mass (Lense-Thirring effect), as predicted by General Relativity. Furthermore, it can provide a local measurement of the Earth rotational rate with a sensitivity near to that provided by the international system IERS. The GINGER project is intending to take this level of sensitivity further and to improve the accuracy and the long-term stability. A monolithic structure similar to the G ring laser is not available for GINGER. Therefore the preliminary goal is the demonstration of the feasibility of a larger gyroscope structure, where the mechanical stability is obtained through an active control of the geometry. A prototype moderate size gyroscope (GP-2) has been set up in Pisa in order to test this active control of the ring geometry, while a second structure (GINGERino) has been installed inside the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in order to investigate the properties of a deep underground laboratory in view of an installation of a future GINGER apparatus. The preliminary data on these two latter instruments are presented

Atmospheric data set from the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell during the CONT-17 VLBI campaign

Continuous very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations are designed to obtain highly accurate data for detailed studies of high-frequency Earth rotation variations, reference frame stability, and daily to sub-daily site motions. During the CONT-17 campaign that covered a time span of 15 days between 28 November and 12 December 2017, a comprehensive data set of atmospheric observations was acquired at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell, where three radio telescopes contributed to three different networks which have been established for this campaign. These data were supplemented by weather model data. The data set is made available to all interested users in order to provide an optimal database for the analysis and interpretation of the CONT-17 VLBI data. In addition, it is an outstanding data set for the validation and comparison of tropospheric parameters resulting from different space techniques with regard to the establishment of a common atmosphere at co-location sites. The regularly recorded atmospheric parameters comprise many meteorological quantities (pressure, temperature, humidity, wind, radiation, and precipitation) taken from the local weather station close to the surface, solar radiation intensity, temperatures up to 1000&thinsp;m above the surface from a temperature profiler, total vapor and liquid water content from a water vapor radiometer, and cloud coverage and cloud temperatures from a nubiscope. Additionally, vertical profiles of pressure, temperature, and humidity from radiosonde balloons and from numerical weather models were used for comparison and validation. The graphical representation and comparison show a good correlation in general but also some disagreements in certain weather situations. While the accuracy and the temporal and spatial resolution of the individual data sets are very different, the data as a whole characterize the atmospheric conditions around Wettzell during the CONT-17 campaign comprehensively and represent a sound basis for further investigations (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.895518; Klügel et al., 2018).</p

238U-230Th-226Ra Disequilibria Constraints on the Magmatic Evolution of the Cumbre Vieja Volcanics on La Palma, Canary Islands

A suite of 48 samples, including both historical and prehistoric lavas and some plutonic rocks, have been analysed from the Cumbre Vieja rift, La Palma, Canary Islands. Additionally, mineral–melt partition coefficients have been measured for clinopyroxene, plagioclase, amphibole, titanite and apatite in selected rocks. The lavas range from basanite to phonolite (SiO2 = 41·2–57·5 wt % and MgO = 10–0·8 wt %) in composition and form coherent, curvilinear major and trace element arrays in variation diagrams, irrespective of eruption age. The mafic lavas have typical ocean island incompatible trace element patterns and Sr, Nd and Pb isotope compositions show little variation but have a HIMU-type character. Generation of the parental magmas is inferred to have involved ∼4% dynamic melting of a garnet lherzolite source that may have previously been metasomatized by melts derived from a recycled mafic component containing residual phlogopite. The major process of differentiation to phonotephrite involved fractional crystallization of basanitic magmas that evolved along the same liquid line of descent under similar pressure–temperature conditions. Numerical simulations using the MELTS algorithm suggest that this occurred across a temperature interval from c. 1320 to 950°C at 400 MPa and an oxygen fugacity equivalent to quartz–fayalite–magnetite (QFM), with an initial H2O content of 0·3 wt %. The later stages of differentiation (<5 wt % MgO) were dominated by mixing with partial melts of young syenites formed from earlier magma batches. All of the lavas are characterized by 230Th and 226Ra excesses and (230Th/238U) decreases with decreasing Nb/U and increasing SiO2, with no accompanying change in (226Ra/230Th). To explain the observations, we propose a model in which there was a significant role for amphibole, and more importantly accessory titanite, in decre'asing Nb/U, Ce/Pb and Th/U ratios and increasing or buffering (226Ra/230Th) ratios during the later stages of differentiation and magma mixing. These processes all occurred over a few millennia in small magma batches that were repeatedly emplaced within the mid-crust of the Cumbre Vieja rift system prior to rapid transport to the surface

CUL5-ARIH2 E3-E3 ubiquitin ligase structure reveals cullin-specific NEDD8 activation

An emerging mechanism of ubiquitylation involves partnering of two distinct E3 ligases. In the best-characterized E3-E3 pathways, ARIH-family RING-between-RING (RBR) E3s ligate ubiquitin to substrates of neddylated cullin-RING E3s. The E3 ARIH2 has been implicated in ubiquitylation of substrates of neddylated CUL5-RBX2-based E3s, including APOBEC3-family substrates of the host E3 hijacked by HIV-1 virion infectivity factor (Vif). However, the structural mechanisms remained elusive. Here structural and biochemical analyses reveal distinctive ARIH2 autoinhibition, and activation on assembly with neddylated CUL5-RBX2. Comparison to structures of E3-E3 assemblies comprising ARIH1 and neddylated CUL1-RBX1-based E3s shows cullin-specific regulation by NEDD8. Whereas CUL1-linked NEDD8 directly recruits ARIH1, CUL5-linked NEDD8 does not bind ARIH2. Instead, the data reveal an allosteric mechanism. NEDD8 uniquely contacts covalently linked CUL5, and elicits structural rearrangements that unveil cryptic ARIH2-binding sites. The data reveal how a ubiquitin-like protein induces protein-protein interactions indirectly, through allostery. Allosteric specificity of ubiquitin-like protein modifications may offer opportunities for therapeutic targeting.We thank D. Bollschweiler and T. Schäfer of the cryo-EM facility and we thank the crystallography facility at Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry

Floating stones off El Hierro, Canary Islands: xenoliths of pre-island sedimentary origin in the early products of the October 2011 eruption

The eruption that started off the south coast of El Hierro, Canary Islands, in October 2011 has emitted intriguing eruption products found floating in the sea. These specimens appeared as floating volcanic "bombs" that have in the meantime been termed "restingolites" (after the close-by village of La Restinga) and exhibit cores of white and porous pumice-like material. Currently the nature and origin of these "floating stones" is vigorously debated among researchers, with important implications for the interpretation of the hazard potential of the ongoing eruption. The "restingolites" have been proposed to be either (i) juvenile high-silica magma (e.g. rhyolite), (ii) remelted magmatic material (trachyte), (iii) altered volcanic rock, or (iv) reheated hyaloclastites or zeolite from the submarine slopes of El Hierro. Here, we provide evidence that supports yet a different conclusion. We have collected and analysed the structure and composition of samples and compared the results to previous work on similar rocks found in the archipelago. Based on their high silica content, the lack of igneous trace element signatures, and the presence of remnant quartz crystals, jasper fragments and carbonate relicts, we conclude that "restingolites" are in fact xenoliths from pre-island sedimentary rocks that were picked up and heated by the ascending magma causing them to partially melt and vesiculate. They hence represent messengers from depth that help us to understand the interaction between ascending magma and crustal lithologies in the Canary Islands as well as in similar Atlantic islands that rest on sediment/covered ocean crust (e.g. Cape Verdes, Azores). The occurrence of these "restingolites" does therefore not indicate the presence of an explosive high-silica magma that is involved in the ongoing eruption