Early successional processes of basaltic lava ecosystems on Mt.Etna (Sicily) with additional comparative studies of Mauna Loa (Hawaii)

A thesis submitted to the University of Luton in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Primary succession on the basaltic lava flows of Mt.Etna was studied usmg chronosequence theory to investigate the first 500 years of ecosystem development. Separate experiments were conducted to look at how plant species, nutrient availability and lichen activity on the lava changed over time under different conditions based on the site location (age, aspect and altitude on the volcano). By comparing the results of these different areas of study, close links were observed between soil development and nutrient availability. Lichens were found to be an important stage in primary succession introducing biomass to form a developing soil as well as weathering the lava surface. The plant species present on the lava were found to change as plants first colonised the lava and were then replaced as further species appeared over time. Nutrient availability was investigated in living plant material by measurement of the enzyme nitrate reductase and also in the developing soil. Two large inputs of nitrogen were observed in the chronosequences. An early input believed to be lichen derived and another steadily increasing input associated with the soil. The biomass of the nitrogen fixing lichen Stereocaulofl vesuvianum on the lava flows was found to change over time with a rapid increase over the first 100 years of the chronosequence followed by a slower decline as competition and shading from vascular plants covered available habitat. S. vesuvianum was also found to be an efficient weathering agent on the lava altering the surface morphology. This weathering was observed qualitatively by detailed visual examination of the lava surface by scanning electron microscopy. Weathering was also measured quantitatively using an intelligent machine vision computer system, to collate the surface changes of many images simultaneously and compare surface change to a baseline chronosequence, allowing discrimination of fine differences in the extent of weathering. Two of the experiments conducted on Mt.Etna (nitrate reductase activity and lichen weathering) were repeated on a second volcano, Mauna Loa (Hawaii). This tested if the trends observed on Etna were typical of primary succession on lava and the impact of a different climate regime (tropical) compared to Etna (temperate). Nitrate reductase activity was found to be very low in the primary colonising species studied on Hawaii indicating that nitrogen is limited on the early lava flows. Lichen weathering by Stereocaulon vulcani on Hawaii was found to occur in a comparable manner to S. vesuvianum on Etna, and was similarly controlled by the lichen biomass and associated climatic conditions

An ALMA Constraint on the GSC 6214-210 B Circum-Substellar Accretion Disk Mass

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of GSC 6214-210 A and B, a solar-mass member of the 5-10 Myr Upper Scorpius association with a 15 $\pm$ 2 Mjup companion orbiting at $\approx$330 AU (2.2"). Previous photometry and spectroscopy spanning 0.3-5 $\mu$m revealed optical and thermal excess as well as strong H$\alpha$ and Pa~$\beta$ emission originating from a circum-substellar accretion disk around GSC 6214-210 B, making it the lowest mass companion with unambiguous evidence of a subdisk. Despite ALMA's unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution, neither component was detected in our 880 $\mu$m (341 GHz) continuum observations down to a 3-$\sigma$ limit of 0.22 mJy/beam. The corresponding constraints on the dust mass and total mass are <0.15 Mearth and <0.05 Mjup, respectively, or <0.003% and <0.3% of the mass of GSC 6214-210 B itself assuming a 100:1 gas-to-dust ratio and characteristic dust temperature of 10-20 K. If the host star possesses a putative circum-stellar disk then at most it is a meager 0.0015% of the primary mass, implying that giant planet formation has certainly ceased in this system. Considering these limits and its current accretion rate, GSC 6214-210 B appears to be at the end stages of assembly and is not expected to gain any appreciable mass over the next few Myr.Comment: Accepted to ApJ

High magnetization aqueous ferrofluid: A simple one-pot synthesis

A one-step polyol method was utilized to prepare a stable aqueous iron/iron oxide ferrofluid. The dried powders were characterized by x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry for the determination of phase, morphology, and magnetic properties. To show its potential for imaging applications, the ferrofluid was also investigated as a magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent

Protoplanetary Disk Masses in the Young NGC 2024 Cluster

We present the results from a Submillimeter Array survey of the 887 micron continuum emission from the protoplanetary disks around 95 young stars in the young cluster NGC 2024. Emission was detected from 22 infrared sources, with flux densities from ~5 to 330 mJy; upper limits (at 3sigma) for the other 73 sources range from 3 to 24 mJy. For standard assumptions, the corresponding disk masses range from ~0.003 to 0.2Msolar, with upper limits at 0.002--0.01Msolar. The NGC 2024 sample has a slightly more populated tail at the high end of its disk mass distribution compared to other clusters, but without more information on the nature of the sample hosts it remains unclear if this difference is statistically significant or a superficial selection effect. Unlike in the Orion Trapezium, there is no evidence for a disk mass dependence on the (projected) separation from the massive star IRS2b in the NGC 2024 cluster. We suggest that this is due to either the cluster youth or a comparatively weaker photoionizing radiation field.Comment: ApJ, in pres

Effects of Na2S and (NH4)2S edge passivation treatments on the dark current-voltage characteristics of GaAs pn diodes

We have investigated the dark current-voltage characteristics of GaAs pn homojunctions whose surfaces have been passivated with NuzS and (NH4)2S chemical treatments. Reductions in 2kTpcrimeter recombination currents by a factor of 3.2 were obtained for the two treatments. A shunt leakage, observed at low forward bias for the NazS treated devices, is virtually eliminated with the {NH4hS treatment. It is also shown that even the high quality, large area (0.25 cm1 ) pn diodes used in this study are dominated by 2kTedge currents before passivation

2MASS Studies of Differential Reddening Across Three Massive Globular Clusters

J, H, and K_S band data from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) are used to study the effects of differential reddening across the three massive Galactic globular clusters Omega Centauri, NGC 6388, and NGC 6441. Evidence is found that variable extinction may produce false detections of tidal tails around Omega Centauri. We also investigate what appears to be relatively strong differential reddening towards NGC 6388 and NGC 6441, and find that differential extinction may be exaggerating the need for a metallicity spread to explain the width of the red giant branches for these two clusters. Finally, we consider the implications of these results for the connection between unusual, multipopulation globular clusters and the cores of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph).Comment: 40 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in Oct. 2003 A

Two-Phase Flow Simulations of Surface Waves in Wind-Forced Conditions

The paper is devoted to two-phase flow simulations and investigates the ability of a diffusive interface Cahn-Hilliard Volume-of-Fluid model to capture the dynamics of the air-sea interface at geophysically relevant Reynolds numbers. It employs a hybrid filtered/averaging Improved Detached Eddy Simulation method to model turbulence, and utilizes a continuum model to account for surface tension if the diffuse interface is under-resolved by the grid. A numerical wind-wave tank is introduced to limit computational costs and results obtained for two wind-wave conditions are analyzed in comparison to experimental data at matched Reynolds numbers. The focus of the comparison is on both time-averaged and wave-coherent quantities, and includes pressure, velocity as well as modeled and resolved Reynolds stresses. In general, numerical predictions agree well with the experimental measurements and reproduce many wave-dependent flow features. Reynolds stresses near the water surface are found to be especially important in modulating the critical layer height. It is concluded that the diffusive interface approach proves to be a promising method for future studies of air-sea interface dynamics in geophysically relevant flows