6,591 research outputs found
The distribution of selected elements and minerals in soil of the conterminous United States
In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a low-density (1 site per 1600 km2, 4857 sites) geochemical andmineralogical survey of soil of the conterminous United States as part of the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project. Three soil samples were collected, if possible, from each site; (1) a sample from a depth of 0 to 5 cm, (2) a composite of the soil A-horizon, and (3) a deeper sample from the soil C-horizon or, if the top of the C-horizon was at a depth greater than 100 cm, from a depth of approximately 80–100 cm. The \u3c2 mm fraction of each sample was analysed for a suite of 45 major and trace elements following near-total multi-acid digestion. The major mineralogical components in samples from the soil A- and C-horizons were determined by a quantitative X-ray diffraction method using Rietveld refinement. Sampling ended in 2010 and chemical and mineralogical analyses were completed in May 2013.Maps of the conterminous United States showing predicted element and mineral concentrations were interpolated from actual soil data for each soil sample type by an inverse distance weighted (IDW) technique using ArcGIS software. Regional- and national-scale map patterns for selected elements and minerals apparent in interpolated maps are described here in the context of soil-forming factors and possible human inputs. These patterns can be related to (1) soil parent materials, for example, in the distribution of quartz, (2) climate impacts, for example, in the distribution of feldspar and kaolinite, (3) soil age, for example, in the distribution of carbonate in young glacial deposits, and (4) possible anthropogenic loading of phosphorus (P) and lead (Pb) to surface soil. This new geochemical and mineralogical data set for the conterminous United States represents a major step forward from prior national-scale soil geochemistry data and provides a robust soil data framework for the United States now and into the future
The monoid of queue actions
We investigate the monoid of transformations that are induced by sequences of
writing to and reading from a queue storage. We describe this monoid by means
of a confluent and terminating semi-Thue system and study some of its basic
algebraic properties, e.g., conjugacy. Moreover, we show that while several
properties concerning its rational subsets are undecidable, their uniform
membership problem is NL-complete. Furthermore, we present an algebraic
characterization of this monoid's recognizable subsets. Finally, we prove that
it is not Thurston-automatic
Lithium in LMC carbon stars
Nineteen carbon stars that show lithium enrichment in their atmospheres have
been discovered among a sample of 674 carbon stars in the Large Magellanic
Cloud. Six of the Li-rich carbon stars are of J-type, i.e. with strong 13C
isotopic features. No super-Li-rich carbon stars were found. The incidence of
lithium enrichment among carbon stars in the LMC is much rarer than in the
Galaxy, and about five times more frequent among J-type than among N-type
carbon stars. The bolometric magnitudes of the Li-rich carbon stars range
between -3.3 and -5.7. Existing models of Li-enrichment via the hot bottom
burning process fail to account for all of the observed properties of the
Li-enriched stars studied here.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, Latex; in press, MNRA
Stochastic Feedback and the Regulation of Biological Rhythms
We propose a general approach to the question of how biological rhythms
spontaneously self-regulate, based on the concept of ``stochastic feedback''.
We illustrate this approach by considering the neuroautonomic regulation of the
heart rate. The model generates complex dynamics and successfully accounts for
key characteristics of cardiac variability, including the power spectrum,
the functional form and scaling of the distribution of variations, and
correlations in the Fourier phases. Our results suggest that in healthy systems
the control mechanisms operate to drive the system away from extreme values
while not allowing it to settle down to a constant output.Comment: 15 pages, latex2e using rotate and epsf, with 4 ps figures. Submitted
to PR
High-order Harmonic Generation and Dynamic Localization in a driven two-level system, a non-perturbative solution using the Floquet-Green formalism
We apply the Floquet-Green operator formalism to the case of a
harmonically-driven two-level system. We derive exact expressions for the
quasi-energies and the components of the Floquet eigenstates with the use of
continued fractions. We study the avoided crossings structure of the
quasi-energies as a function of the strength of the driving field and give an
interpretation in terms of resonant multi-photon processes. From the Floquet
eigenstates we obtain the time-evolution operator. Using this operator we study
Dynamic Localization and High-order Harmonic Generation in the non-perturbative
regime
J-type Carbon Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud
A sample of 1497 carbon stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud has been observed
in the red part of the spectrum with the 2dF facility on the AAT. Of these, 156
have been identified as J-type (i.e. 13C-rich) carbon stars using a technique
which provides a clear distinction between J stars and the normal N-type carbon
stars that comprise the bulk of the sample, and yields few borderline cases. A
simple 2-D classification of the spectra, based on their spectral slopes in
different wavelength regions, has been constructed and found to be related to
the more conventional c- and j-indices, modified to suit the spectral regions
observed. Most of the J stars form a photometric sequence in the K - (J-K)
colour magnitude diagram, parallel to and 0.6 mag fainter than the N star
sequence. A subset of the J stars (about 13 per cent) are brighter than this J
star sequence; most of these are spectroscopically different from the other J
stars. The bright J stars have stronger CN bands than the other J stars and are
found strongly concentrated in the central regions of the LMC. Most of the
rather few stars in common with Hartwick and Cowley's sample of suspected CH
stars are J stars. Overall, the proportion of carbon stars identified as J
stars is somewhat lower than has been found in the Galaxy. The Na D lines are
weaker in the LMC J stars than in either the Galactic J stars or the LMC N
stars, and do not seem to depend on temperature.Comment: 19 pages, 21 figures, Latex; in press, MNRA
Photonic superdiffusive motion in resonance line radiation trapping - partial frequency redistribution effects
The relation between the jump length probability distribution function and
the spectral line profile in resonance atomic radiation trapping is considered
for Partial Frequency Redistribution (PFR) between absorbed and reemitted
radiation. The single line Opacity Distribution Function [M.N. Berberan-Santos
et.al. J.Chem.Phys. 125, 174308 (2006)] is generalized for PFR and used to
discuss several possible redistribution mechanisms (pure Doppler broadening,
combined natural and Doppler broadening and combined Doppler, natural and
collisional broadening). It is shown that there are two coexisting scales with
a different behavior: the small scale is controlled by the intricate PFR
details while the large scale is essentially given by the atom rest frame
redistribution asymptotic. The pure Doppler and combined natural, Doppler and
collisional broadening are characterized by both small and large scale
superdiffusive Levy flight behaviors while the combined natural and Doppler
case has an anomalous small scale behavior but a diffusive large scale
asymptotic. The common practice of assuming complete redistribution in core
radiation and frequency coherence in the wings of the spectral distribution is
incompatible with the breakdown of superdiffusion in combined natural and
Doppler broadening conditions
Constraining Disk Parameters of Be Stars using Narrowband H-alpha Interferometry with the NPOI
Interferometric observations of two well-known Be stars, gamma Cas and phi
Per, were collected and analyzed to determine the spatial characteristics of
their circumstellar regions. The observations were obtained using the Navy
Prototype Optical Interferometer equipped with custom-made narrowband filters.
The filters isolate the H-alpha emission line from the nearby continuum
radiation, which results in an increased contrast between the interferometric
signature due to the H-alpha-emitting circumstellar region and the central
star. Because the narrowband filters do not significantly attenuate the
continuum radiation at wavelengths 50 nm or more away from the line, the
interferometric signal in the H-alpha channel is calibrated with respect to the
continuum channels. The observations used in this study represent the highest
spatial resolution measurements of the H-alpha-emitting regions of Be stars
obtained to date. These observations allow us to demonstrate for the first time
that the intensity distribution in the circumstellar region of a Be star cannot
be represented by uniform disk or ring-like structures, whereas a Gaussian
intensity distribution appears to be fully consistent with our observations.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A
The Amateur Sky Survey Mark III Project
The Amateur Sky Survey (TASS) is a loose confederation of amateur and
professional astronomers. We describe the design and construction of our Mark
III system, a set of wide-field drift-scan CCD cameras which monitor the
celestial equator down to thirteenth magnitude in several passbands. We explain
the methods by which images are gathered, processed, and reduced into lists of
stellar positions and magnitudes. Over the period October, 1996, to November,
1998, we compiled a large database of photometric measurements. One of our
results is the "tenxcat" catalog, which contains measurements on the standard
Johnson-Cousins system for 367,241 stars; it contains links to the light curves
of these stars as well.Comment: 20 pages, including 4 figures; additional JPEG files for Figures 1,
2. Submitted to PAS
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