Followup Observations of SDSS and CRTS Candidate Cataclysmic Variables

We present photometry of 11 and spectroscopy of 35 potential cataclysmic variables from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey and vsnet-alerts. The photometry results include quasi-periodic oscillations during the decline of V1363 Cyg, nightly accretion changes in the likely Polar (AM Herculis binary) SDSS J1344+20, eclipses in SDSS J2141+05 with an orbital period of 76+/-2 min, and possible eclipses in SDSS J2158+09 at an orbital period near 100 min. Time-resolved spectra reveal short orbital periods near 80 min for SDSS J0206+20, 85 min for SDSS J1502+33, and near 100 min for CSS J0015+26, RXS J0150+37, SDSS J1132+62, SDSS J2154+15 and SDSS J2158+09. The prominent HeII line and velocity amplitude of SDSS J2154+15 are consistent with a Polar nature for this object, while the lack of this line and a low velocity amplitude argue against this classification for RXS J0150+37. Single spectra of 10 objects were obtained near outburst and the rest near quiescence, confirming the dwarf novae nature of these objects.Comment: 34 pages, 14 figures, in press at A

Henry Cadell’s Experimental Researches in Mountain Building : their lessons for interpreting thrust systems and fold-thrust structures

Funding The Fold-Thrust Research Group has been funded by InterOil, Santos, OilSearch and NAGRA. The original compilation of Cadell’s researches was part of an outreach programme funded by BP. Acknowledgements RWHB is indebted to the late John Mendum for arranging access to Cadell’s notebooks and his field maps that were lodged in the then offices of the British Geological Survey in Murchison House, Edinburgh. This formed part of a collaboration with BGS and the development of the “Assynt’s Geology” website in the early 2000s. Many of the images from Cadell’s notebooks, including his experimental results, were part of this site. Regrettably it has not been maintained and is no longer accessible. Rectifying this loss of resource forms the motivation for this contribution. We thank Juergen Adam and an anonymous referee for construct reviews, together with James Hammerstein for shepherding the manuscript through the editing process, although of course the views expressed in this paper remain the responsibility of the authors alone.Peer reviewedPostprin

Heterotrophic respiration in disturbed forests : a review with examples from North America

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 116 (2011): G00K04, doi:10.1029/2010JG001495.Heterotrophic respiration (RH) is a major process releasing carbon to the atmosphere and is essential to understanding carbon dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Here we review what is known about this flux as related to forest disturbance using examples from North America. The global RH flux from soils has been estimated at 53–57 Pg C yr−1, but this does not include contributions from other sources (i.e., dead wood, heart-rots). Disturbance-related inputs likely account for 20–50% of all RH losses in forests, and disturbances lead to a reorganization of ecosystem carbon pools that influences how RH changes over succession. Multiple controls on RH related to climate, the material being decomposed, and the decomposers involved have been identified, but how each potentially interacts with disturbance remains an open question. An emerging paradigm of carbon dynamics suggests the possibility of multiple periods of carbon sinks and sources following disturbance; a large contributing factor is the possibility that postdisturbance RH does not always follow the monotonic decline assumed in the classic theory. Without a better understanding and modeling of RH and its controlling factors, it will be difficult to estimate, forecast, understand, and manage carbon balances of regions in which disturbance frequency and severity are changing. Meeting this challenge will require (1) improved field data on processes and stores, (2) an improved understanding of the physiological and environmental controls of RH, and (3) a more formal analysis of how model structure influences the RH responses that can be predicted.Support was provided by the U.S. Geologic Survey and the Kaye and Ward Richardson Endowment

HST Images Flash Ionization of Old Ejecta by the 2011 Eruption of Recurrent Nova T Pyxidis

T Pyxidis is the only recurrent nova surrounded by knots of material ejected in previous outbursts. Following the eruption that began on 2011 April 14.29, we obtained seven epochs (from 4 to 383 days after eruption) of Hubble Space Telescope narrowband Ha images of T Pyx . The flash of radiation from the nova event had no effect on the ejecta until at least 55 days after the eruption began. Photoionization of hydrogen located north and south of the central star was seen 132 days after the beginning of the eruption. That hydrogen recombined in the following 51 days, allowing us to determine a hydrogen atom density of at least 7e5 cm^-3 - at least an order of magnitude denser than the previously detected, unresolved [NII] knots surrounding T Pyx. Material to the northwest and southeast was photoionized between 132 and 183 days after the eruption began. 99 days later that hydrogen had recombined. Both then (282 days after outburst) and 101 days later, we detected almost no trace of hydrogen emission around T Pyx. There is a large reservoir of previously unseen, cold diffuse hydrogen overlapping the previously detected, [NII] - emitting knots of T Pyx ejecta. The mass of this newly detected hydrogen is probably an order of magnitude larger than that of the [NII] knots. We also determine that there is no significant reservoir of undetected ejecta from the outer boundaries of the previously detected ejecta out to about twice that distance, near the plane of the sky. The lack of distant ejecta is consistent with the Schaefer et al (2010) scenario for T Pyx, in which the star underwent its first eruption within five years of 1866 after many millennia of quiescence, followed by the six observed recurrent nova eruptions since 1890. This lack of distant ejecta is not consistent with scenarios in which T Pyx has been erupting continuously as a recurrent nova for many centuries or millennia.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures, submitted to the Astrophysical Journa

Interpreting structural geometry in fold-thrust belts : Why style matters

The Fold-Thrust Research Group is funded by InterOil, Oil Search and Santos. We thank David Ferrill and Chris Morley for robust reviews of an early draft of this paper. We also thank Bill Dunne for his patience and his usual editorial rigor – although of course authors alone are responsible for the views expressed here.Peer reviewedPostprin

Fold-thrust structures : where have all the buckles gone?

Special publication title: Folding and Fracturing of Rocks: 50 Years of Research since the Seminal Text Book of J. G. Ramsay We dedicate the paper to the memory of Martin Casey (1948-2008), who did much through good-humored argument to ensure that buckling ideas were not lost to what he called “the Ramping Club” (the thrust belt community). The Fold – Thrust Research Group has been funded by InterOil, OilSearch and Santos. We thank Paul Griffiths and anonymous referee for comments together with Hermann Lebit for scientific editing. The views expressed here of course remain those of the authors.Peer reviewedPostprin

Application Of Dry Gas Seals In Special Purpose Steam Turbines.

LecturePg. 151-158Noncontacting dry gas mechanical face seals are being routinely applied to steam turbines to reduce new construction project costs and improve overall plant operating efficiencies. Historically, most of the applications have been in general purpose turbines. On a recent California refinery expansion project, this innovative seal design was selected for two special purpose steam turbines. Concurrently, a similar turbine for another customer had similar operating conditions and design challenges. During turbine testing, the seals failed. An extensive root cause failure analysis determined that material face combination and operating procedures were the sources of the failures. With the change in materials and procedure, both turbines and three sets of revised seals passed a series of API tests, including a partial load test run. In the fall of 1996, the two turbines were commissioned and have been in operation since

Natural fracture patterns at Swift Reservoir anticline, NW Montana : the influence of structural position and lithology from multiple observation scales

Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge constructive reviews by Amerigo Corradetti and an anonymous reviewer and thank Stefano Tavani for editorial handling. Adam J. Cawood is grateful to David Ferrill, Kevin Smart, and Paul Gillespie for helpful conversations about fracture patterns, although the data and interpretations shown here are of course the sole responsibility of the authors. This study was carried out as part of a University of Aberdeen doctoral programme supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centre for Doctoral Training in Oil and Gas. Additional funding for fieldwork was provided by the University of Aberdeen Fold–Thrust Research Group. Petroleum Experts (formerly Midland Valley Exploration) is acknowledged for allowing the academic use of Move 2016.1 software. Financial support This research has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant no. NE/M00578X/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Fracture distribution on the Swift Reservoir Anticline, Montana : implications for structural and lithological controls on fracture intensity

Title of special publication: Folding and Fracturing of Rocks: 50 Years of Research since the Seminal Text Book of J. G. Ramsay This research was funded by Oil Search Ltd, Santos Ltd and InterOil, through the University of Aberdeen Fold-Thrust Research Group. Electron Microscopy was performed in the ACEMAC Facility at the University of Aberdeen with assistance from John Still. Joyce Neilson is thanked for advice on the use of ImageJ software. Midland Valley are thanked for the use of their Move software for field data collection and model building. We thank Alfred Lacazette and Stefano Tavani for reviewing the manuscript and providing constructive comments.Peer reviewedPostprin