715 research outputs found
A dynamic explanation for the origin of the western Mediterranean organic-rich layers
The eastern Mediterranean sapropels are among the most intensively investigated phenomena in the paleoceanographic record, but relatively little has been written regarding the origin of the equivalent of the sapropels in the western Mediterranean, the organic-rich layers (ORLs). ORLs are recognized as sediment layers containing enhanced total organic carbon that extend throughout the deep basins of the western Mediterranean and are associated with enhanced total barium concentration and a reduced diversity (dysoxic but not anoxic) benthic foraminiferal assemblage. Consequently, it has been suggested that ORLs represent periods of enhanced productivity coupled with reduced deep ventilation, presumably related to increased continental runoff, in close analogy to the sapropels. We demonstrate that despite their superficial similarity, the timing of the deposition of the most recent ORL in the Alboran Sea is different than that of the approximately coincident sapropel, indicating that there are important differences between their modes of formation. We go on to demonstrate, through physical arguments, that a likely explanation for the origin of the Alboran ORLs lies in the response of the western Mediterranean basin to a strong reduction in surface water density and a shoaling of the interface between intermediate and deep water during the deglacial period. Furthermore, we provide evidence that deep convection had already slowed by the time of Heinrich Event 1 and explore this event as a potential agent for preconditioning deep convection collapse. Important differences between Heinrich-like and deglacial-like influences are highlighted, giving new insights into the response of the western Mediterranean system to external forcing
Nitrogen isotopic evidence for deglacial changes in nutrient supply in the eastern equatorial Pacific
The Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) is a high nutrientâlow chlorophyll region of the ocean. Downcore nitrogen isotope records from the EEP have been previously interpreted as a direct reflection of changes in nutrient consumption. However, the observed changes in sedimentary ÎŽ15N since the last glacial maximum have no coherent relationship with export productivity or an inferred variation in the ironâtoânitrate ratio of the surface waters. Rather, downcore N isotope records in the EEP strongly resemble changes in the extent of water column denitrification as recorded in nearby sedimentary ÎŽ15N records along the western margin of the Americas. This similarity is attributed to the overprinting of the N isotopic composition of nitrate in the EEP through the advection of nitrate westward from the margins in the subsurface. A local nitrogen isotope record of changes in the degree of nutrient consumption is extracted from the bulk sedimentary record by subtracting two different sedimentary ÎŽ15N records of denitrification changes from two new EEP ÎŽ15N records (TR163â22 and ODP Site 1240). The denitrification records used are from 1) the Central American margin (ODP Site 1242) and 2) the South American margin (GeoB7139â2). The degree of consumption in the surface waters declines rapidly from elevated values during the last glacial maximum to a pair of minima around 15 and 11â13 ka, and finally it increases into the Holocene. The derived EEP nitrogen isotope record indicates that the regional peak in export productivity occurred when the supply of nutrients exceeded the apparently high demand. The influx of nutrients during the deglaciation is attributed to the resumption of intense overturning in the Southern Ocean and the release of sequestered CO2 and nutrientârich, O2 poor waters from the deep ocean. This has important implications for understanding the glacialâinterglacial scale variation in intermediate water suboxia and water column denitrification
Tracking primary thermalization events in graphene with photoemission at extreme timescales
Direct and inverse Auger scattering are amongst the primary processes that
mediate the thermalization of hot carriers in semiconductors. These two
processes involve the annihilation or generation of an electron-hole pair by
exchanging energy with a third carrier, which is either accelerated or
decelerated. Inverse Auger scattering is generally suppressed, as the
decelerated carriers must have excess energies higher than the band gap itself.
In graphene, which is gapless, inverse Auger scattering is instead predicted to
be dominant at the earliest time delays. Here, femtosecond
extreme-ultraviolet pulses are used to detect this imbalance, tracking both the
number of excited electrons and their kinetic energy with time- and
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Over a time window of approximately
25 fs after absorption of the pump pulse, we observe an increase in conduction
band carrier density and a simultaneous decrease of the average carrier kinetic
energy, revealing that relaxation is in fact dominated by inverse Auger
scattering. Measurements of carrier scattering at extreme timescales by
photoemission will serve as a guide to ultrafast control of electronic
properties in solids for PetaHertz electronics.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure
Population Inversion in Monolayer and Bilayer Graphene
The recent demonstration of saturable absorption and negative optical
conductivity in the Terahertz range in graphene has opened up new opportunities
for optoelectronic applications based on this and other low dimensional
materials. Recently, population inversion across the Dirac point has been
observed directly by time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
(tr-ARPES), revealing a relaxation time of only ~ 130 femtoseconds. This
severely limits the applicability of single layer graphene to, for example,
Terahertz light amplification. Here we use tr-ARPES to demonstrate long-lived
population inversion in bilayer graphene. The effect is attributed to the small
band gap found in this compound. We propose a microscopic model for these
observations and speculate that an enhancement of both the pump photon energy
and the pump fluence may further increase this lifetime.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
Multi-wavelength characterisation of z~2 clustered, dusty star forming galaxies discovered by Planck
(abridged) We report the discovery of PHz G95.5-61.6, a complex structure
detected in emission in the Planck all-sky survey that corresponds to two
over-densities of high-redshift galaxies. This is the first source from the
Planck catalogue of high-z candidates that has been completely characterised
with follow-up observations from the optical to the sub-millimetre domain.
Herschel/SPIRE observations at 250, 350 and 500 microns reveal the existence of
five sources producing a 500 microns emission excess that spatially corresponds
to the candidate proto-clusters discovered by Planck. Further observations at
CFHT in the optical bands (g and i) and in the near infrared (J, H and K_s),
plus mid infrared observations with IRAC/Spitzer (at 3.6 and 4.5 microns)
confirm that the sub-mm red excess is associated with an over-density of
colour-selected galaxies. Follow-up spectroscopy of 13 galaxies with
VLT/X-Shooter establishes the existence of two high-z structures: one at z~1.7
(three confirmed member galaxies), the other at z~2.0 (six confirmed members).
This double structure is also seen in the photometric redshift analysis of a
sample of 127 galaxies located inside a circular region of 1'-radius containing
the five Herschel/SPIRE sources, where we found a double-peaked excess of
galaxies at z~1.7 and z~2.0 with respect to the surrounding region. These
results suggest that PHz G95.5-61.6 corresponds to two accreting nodes, not
physically linked to one another, embedded in the large scale structure of the
Universe at z~2 and along the same line-of-sight. In conclusion, the data,
methods and results illustrated in this pilot project confirm that Planck data
can be used to detect the emission from clustered, dusty star forming galaxies
at high-z, and, thus, to pierce through the early growth of cluster-scale
structures.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Enhanced electron-phonon coupling in graphene with periodically distorted lattice
Electron-phonon coupling directly determines the stability of cooperative
order in solids, including superconductivity, charge and spin density waves.
Therefore, the ability to enhance or reduce electron-phonon coupling by optical
driving may open up new possibilities to steer materials' functionalities,
potentially at high speeds. Here we explore the response of bilayer graphene to
dynamical modulation of the lattice, achieved by driving optically-active
in-plane bond stretching vibrations with femtosecond mid-infrared pulses. The
driven state is studied by two different ultrafast spectroscopic techniques.
Firstly, TeraHertz time-domain spectroscopy reveals that the Drude scattering
rate decreases upon driving. Secondly, the relaxation rate of hot
quasi-particles, as measured by time- and angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy, increases. These two independent observations are quantitatively
consistent with one another and can be explained by a transient three-fold
enhancement of the electron-phonon coupling constant. The findings reported
here provide useful perspective for related experiments, which reported the
enhancement of superconductivity in alkali-doped fullerites when a similar
phonon mode was driven.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Evidence of reduced surface electron-phonon scattering in the conduction band of Bi_{2}Se_{3} by non-equilibrium ARPES
The nature of the Dirac quasiparticles in topological insulators calls for a
direct investigation of the electron-phonon scattering at the \emph{surface}.
By comparing time-resolved ARPES measurements of the TI Bi_{2}Se_{3} with
different probing depths we show that the relaxation dynamics of the electronic
temperature of the conduction band is much slower at the surface than in the
bulk. This observation suggests that surface phonons are less effective in
cooling the electron gas in the conduction band.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Evidence for enhanced convection of North Pacific Intermediate Water to the low-latitude Pacific under glacial conditions
We provide high-resolution foraminiferal stable carbon isotope (ÎŽ13C) records from the subarctic Pacific and Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) to investigate circulation dynamics between the extra-tropical and tropical North Pacific during the past 60 kyr. We measured the ÎŽ13C composition of the epibenthic foraminiferal species Cibicides lobatulus from a shallow sediment core recovered from the western Bering Sea (SO201-2-101KL; 58°52.52âN, 170°41.45âE; 630âm water depth) to reconstruct past ventilation changes close to the source region of Glacial North Pacific Intermediate Water (GNPIW). Information regarding glacial changes in the ÎŽ13C of sub-thermocline water masses in the EEP is derived from the deep-dwelling planktonic foraminifera Globorotaloides hexagonus at ODP Site 1240 (00°01.31âN, 82°27.76âW; 2921âm water depth). Apparent similarities in the long-term evolution of ÎŽ13C between GNPIW, intermediate waters in the eastern tropical North Pacific and sub-thermocline water masses in the EEP suggest the expansion of relatively 13C-depleted, nutrient-enriched, and northern-sourced intermediate waters to the equatorial Pacific under glacial conditions. Further, it appears that additional influence of GNPIW to the tropical Pacific is consistent with changes in nutrient distribution and biological productivity in surface-waters of the glacial EEP. Our findings highlight potential links between North Pacific mid-depth circulation changes, nutrient cycling, and biological productivity in the equatorial Pacific under glacial boundary conditions
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