Deformation-Induced Mechanical Instabilities at the Core-Mantle Boundary

Post-Perovskite: The Last Mantle Phase Transition Our understanding of the core-mantle boundary (CMB) region has improved significantly over the past several years due, in part, to the discovery of the post-perovskite phase. Sesimic data suggest that the CMB region is highly heterogeneous, possibly reflecting chemical and physical interaction between outer core material and the lowermost mantle. In this contribution we present the results of a new mechanism of mass transfer across the CMB and comment on possible repercussions that include the initiation of deep, siderophile-enriched mantle plumes. We view the nature of core-mantle interaction, and the geodynamic and geochemical ramifications, as multiscale processes, both spatially and temporally. Three lengthscales are defined. On the microscale (1-50 km), we describe the effect of loading and subsequent shearing of the CMB region and show how this may drive local flow of outer core fluid upwards into D". We propose that larger scale processes operating on a mesoscale (50-300 km) and macroscale regimes (> 300 km) are linked to the microscale, and suggest ways in which these processes may impact on global mantle dynamics

The influences of surface temperature on upwellings in planetary convection with phase transitions

The importance of surface temperature for mantle convection appears with the presence of adiabatic heating and cooling and the release and consumption of latent heat in the presence of phase transitions. For some planetary bodies these effects cannot be neglected. The dimensionless surface temperature T0, which is the ratio between the temperature at the top of the convective region and the temperature drop across the mantle, is close to one for Mars and Venus. For the Earth, T0 lies between 0.2 and 0.5. The dynamical influence of T0 is especially poignant for internally heated convection with temperature-dependent viscosity. There is a tight coupling between the magnitude of the temperature field and the viscosity itself. We have studied temperature-dependent viscosity convection for both low-T0 (0.2) and high-T0 (1.2) situations and with internal heating in mantle convection with two upper-mantle phase transitions. Our results show that within this range of T0 there exist two regimes for the evolution of upwellings in the mantle. In transient situations plumeplume collisions lead to the formation of megaplumes for high-T0 regimes but are less likely to do so for low T0. In the long-term regime, plumes with low T0 are prone to develop from the transition zone with a supply of hot material coming from the shallow lower mantle. In systems with high T0, however, long-lived plumes tend to have deeper mantle origins. In quasi-layered situations high T0 may act as a positive feed-back mechanism in inducing powerful hot upwellings into the upper mantle. Ó 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Modelling planetary dynamics by using the temperature at the core-mantle boundary as a control variable: effects of rheological layering on mantle heat transport

In planetary convection, there has been a great emphasis laid on the usage of the Rayleigh number as a control parameter for describing the vigor of convection. However, realistic mantle rheology not only depends on temperature, pressure, strain-rate and composition, but also on the nature of the dominant creep mechanism, which varies with pressure and also with temperature. It is difficult to study the effects of varying influences from the convective strength without also changing the mantle flow law in the process. We have adopted the approach of using as the sole control parameter, the temperature at the core mantle boundary, T , in modelling planetary dynamics with a composite non-Newtonian and Newtonian CMB rheology, which is temperature-dependent in the upper mantle and both temperature- and pressure-dependent in the lower mantle. Increasing the T strengthens convective vigor and leads to a non-linear increase of averaged temperature, CMB heat-flow and root-mean-squared velocity. The interior viscosity decreases strongly with T and internal heating due to CMB radioactivity. A viscosity maximum is found in the horizontally averaged viscosity profile at a depth around 2000 km. This viscosity hill moves downward with diminishing amplitude in the face of increasing dissipation number and internal heating. The bottom third of the lower mantle appears to be superadiabatic as a consequence of the stiff lower-mantle rheology. The . scaling relationship between the Nusselt Nu number and T shows a relatively insensitive increase of Nu with T .In CMB CMB . terms of an effective Rayleigh number of the whole system, Ra , the power-law exponent of the Nu Ra relationship is E E very low, around 0.12. Strong pressure-dependence of lower-mantle rheology and its large volume relative to the entire mantle would induce a much lower cooling rate of the planet than previous models based on parameterized convection with a temperature-dependent viscosity. q1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Time-dependent geoid anomalies at subduction zones due to the seismic cycle

We model the geoid anomalies excited during a megathrust earthquake cycle at subduction zones, including the interseismic phase and the contribution from the infinite series of previous earthquakes, within the frame of self-gravitating, spherically symmetric, compressible, viscoelastic Earth models. The fault cuts the whole 50 km lithosphere, dips 20\ub0, and the slip amplitude, together with the length of the fault, are chosen in order to simulate an Mw = 9.0 earthquake,while the viscosity of the 170 km thick asthenosphere ranges from 1017 to 1020 Pa s. On the basis of a new analysis from the Correspondence Principle, we show that the geoid anomaly is characterized by a periodic anomaly due to the elastic and viscous contribution from past earthquakes and to the back-slip of the interseismic phase, and by a smaller static contribution from the steady-state response to the previous infinite earthquake cycles. For asthenospheric viscosities from 1017-1018 to 1019-1020 Pa s, the characteristic relaxation times of the Earth model change from shorter to longer timescales compared to the 400 yr earthquake recurrence time, which dampen the geoid anomaly for the higher asthenospheric viscosities, since the slower relaxation cannot contribute its whole strength within the interseismic cycle. The geoid anomaly pattern is characterized by a global, time-dependent positive upwarping of the geoid topography, involving the whole hanging wall and partially the footwall compared to the sharper elastic contribution, attaining, for a moment magnitude Mw = 9.0, amplitudes as high as 6.6 cm for the lowermost asthenospheric viscosities during the viscoelastic response compared to the elastic maximum of 3.8 cm. The geoid anomaly vanishes due to the back-slip of the interseismic phase, leading to its disappearance at the end of the cycle before the next earthquake. Our results are of importance for understanding the post-seismic and interseismic geoid patterns at subduction zones

Residual polar motion caused by coseismic and interseismic deformations from 1900 to present

We challenge the perspective that seismicity could contribute to polar motion by arguing quantitatively that, in first approximation and on the average, interseismic deformations can compensate for it. This point is important because what we must simulate and observe in Earth Orientation Parameter time-series over intermediate timescales of decades or centuries is the residual polar motion resulting from the two opposing processes of coseismic and interseismic deformations. In this framework, we first simulate the polar motion caused by only coseismic deformations during the longest period available of instrumental seismicity, from 1900 to present, using both the CMT and ISC-GEM catalogues. The instrumental seismicity covering a little longer than one century does not represent yet the average seismicity that we should expect on the long term. Indeed, although the simulation shows a tendency to move the Earth rotation pole towards 133\ub0E at the average rate of 16.5mmyr-1, this trend is still sensitive to individual megathrust earthquakes, particularly to the 1960 Chile and 1964 Alaska earthquakes. In order to further investigate this issue, we develop a global seismicity model (GSM) that is independent from any earthquake catalogue and that describes the average seismicity along plate boundaries on the long term by combining information about presentday plate kinematics with the Anderson theory of faulting, the seismic moment conservation principle and a few other assumptions. Within this framework, we obtain a secular polar motion of 8mmyr-1 towards 112.5\ub0E that is comparable with that estimated from 1900 to present using the earthquake catalogues, although smaller by a factor of 2 in amplitude and different by 20\ub0 in direction. Afterwards, in order to reconcile the idea of a secular polar motion caused by earthquakes with our simplest understanding of the seismic cycle, we adapt the GSM in order to account for interseismic deformations and we use it to quantify, for the first time ever, their contribution to polar motion. Taken together, coseismic and interseismic deformations make the rotation pole wander around the north pole with maximum polar excursions of about 1 m. In particular, the rotation pole moves towards about Newfoundland when the interseismic contribution dominates over the coseismic ones (i.e. during phases of low seismicity or, equivalently, when most of the fault system associated with plate boundaries is locked). When megathrust earthquakes occur, instead, the rotation pole is suddenly shifted in an almost opposite direction, towards about 133\ub0E

From QFT to DCC

A quantum field theoretical model for the dynamics of the disoriented chiral condensate is presented. A unified approach to relate the quantum field theory directly to the formation, decay and signals of the DCC and its evolution is taken. We use a background field analysis of the O(4) sigma model keeping one-loop quantum corrections (quadratic order in the fluctuations). An evolution of the quantum fluctuations in an external, expanding metric which simulates the expansion of the plasma, is carried out. We examine, in detail, the amplification of the low momentum pion modes with two competing effects, the expansion rate of the plasma and the transition rate of the vacuum configuration from a metastable state into a stable state.We show the effect of DCC formation on the multiplicity distributions and the Bose-Einstein correlations.Comment: 34 pages, 10 figure

Analysis of microstructure effects on edge crack of thin strip during cold rolling

Edge cracks in cold rolling of the thin strip affect the strip quality and productivity significantly. In this study, an experimental and mechanical investigation on microstructures has been carried out to study the edge crack formation during cold rolling of the thin strip. The effects of the feed material microstructures on the edge crack evolution were studied employing optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Experimental observation indicates that fine grain occurs in hot-rolled microstructure and coarse grain is produced in ferritic rolled microstructure. Different grain sizes affect significantly the formation mechanics of the microcrack, crack initiation, and orientation of crack extension. The grain size and grain boundaries effects on crack retardation are discussed also during edge crack initiation. During the crack growth in coarse grain, most edge crack tips will blunt, which improves the crack toughness by causing less stress concentration. Overall, the fine microstructure shows a good crack initiation resistance, whereas the coarse microstructure has a better resistance to crack propagation. This research provides additional understanding of the mechanism of microstructure influence on edge crack evolution of cold strip rolling, which could be helpful for developing defect-free thin strip

Epstein-Barr virus: clinical and epidemiological revisits and genetic basis of oncogenesis

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is classified as a member in the order herpesvirales, family herpesviridae, subfamily gammaherpesvirinae and the genus lymphocytovirus. The virus is an exclusively human pathogen and thus also termed as human herpesvirus 4 (HHV4). It was the first oncogenic virus recognized and has been incriminated in the causation of tumors of both lymphatic and epithelial nature. It was reported in some previous studies that 95% of the population worldwide are serologically positive to the virus. Clinically, EBV primary infection is almost silent, persisting as a life-long asymptomatic latent infection in B cells although it may be responsible for a transient clinical syndrome called infectious mononucleosis. Following reactivation of the virus from latency due to immunocompromised status, EBV was found to be associated with several tumors. EBV linked to oncogenesis as detected in lymphoid tumors such as Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), Hodgkin's disease (HD), post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) and T-cell lymphomas (e.g. Peripheral T-cell lymphomas; PTCL and Anaplastic large cell lymphomas; ALCL). It is also linked to epithelial tumors such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), gastric carcinomas and oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL). In vitro, EBV many studies have demonstrated its ability to transform B cells into lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). Despite these malignancies showing different clinical and epidemiological patterns when studied, genetic studies have suggested that these EBV- associated transformations were characterized generally by low level of virus gene expression with only the latent virus proteins (LVPs) upregulated in both tumors and LCLs. In this review, we summarize some clinical and epidemiological features of EBV- associated tumors. We also discuss how EBV latent genes may lead to oncogenesis in the different clinical malignancie

Measurement of the cross section for isolated-photon plus jet production in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti- algorithm with radius parameter and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon–jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon–jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from Sherpa and Pythia as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from Jetphox and Sherpa are compared to the measurements