The causes for geographical variations in OS187/OS186 at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary

Researchers at Yale has approached the problem of the osmium isotopic composition of marine deposits formed in contact with both oxidized and reduced bottom waters. The measured (187) Os/(186) Os ratios of modern bulk sediment can be explained using mixing equations involving continental detrital, volcaniclastic, cosmogenic and hydrogeneous components. These studies show that sediments deposited under reducing marine conditions contain a hydrogenous component which is enriched in Re and has a radiogenic (187) Os/(186) Os ratio. The presence of such a hydrogenous component in the marine fish clay at Stevns Klint can account for the elevation of its (187) Os/(186) Os ration above the expected meteoritic value. Mass balance considerations require the Re/Os ratio of the phase precipitated from the terminal Cretaceous sea at Stevns Klint to have been about one tenth the value observed in contemporary deposits in the Black Sea, assuming Re has not been lost (or Os gained) subsequent to precipitation. In continental sections, the elevation of the (187) Os/(186) Os ratio in boundary layers may be due to precipitation from continental waters of crustally-derived radiogenic osmium either contemporaneous with the meteoritic (or mantle) osmium deposition or later during diagenesis

Enhanced ocean observational capability

Coastal oceans are vital to world health and sustenance. Technology that enables new observations has always been the driver of discovery in ocean sciences. In this context, we describe the first at sea deployment and operation of an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS) for continuous measurement of trace elements in seawater. The purpose of these experiments was to demonstrate that an ICPMS could be operated in a corrosive and high vibration environment with no degradation in performance. Significant advances occurred this past year due to ship time provided by Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD), as well as that funded through this project. Evaluation at sea involved performance testing and characterization of several real-time seawater analysis modes. We show that mass spectrometers can rapidly, precisely and accurately determine ultratrace metal concentrations in seawater, thus allowing high-resolution mapping of large areas of surface seawater. This analytical capability represents a significant advance toward real-time observation and understanding of water mass chemistry in dynamic coastal environments. In addition, a joint LLNL-SIO workshop was convened to define and design new technologies for ocean observation. Finally, collaborative efforts were initiated with atmospheric scientists at LLNL to identify realistic coastal ocean and river simulation models to support real-time analysis and modeling of hazardous material releases in coastal waterways

Sources of groundwater nitrate revealed using residence time and isotope methods

Nitrate concentrations approaching and greater than the maximum contaminant level (MCL) are impairing the viability of many groundwater basins as drinking water sources. Nitrate isotope data are effective in determining contaminant sources, especially when combined with other isotopic tracers such as stable isotopes of water and tritium-helium ages to give insight into the routes and timing of nitrate inputs to the flow system. This combination of techniques is demonstrated in Livermore, CA, where it is determined that low nitrate reclaimed wastewater predominates in the northwest, while two flowpaths with distinct nitrate sources originate in the southeast. Along the eastern flowpath, {delta}{sup 15}N values greater than 10{per_thousand} indicate that animal waste is the primary source. Diminishing concentrations over time suggest that contamination results from historical land use practices. The other flowpath begins in an area where rapid recharge, primarily of low-nitrate imported water (identified by stable isotopes of water and a tritium-helium residence time of less than 1 year), mobilizes a significant local nitrate source, bringing groundwater concentrations up to 53 mg NO{sub 3} L{sup -1}. In this area, artificial recharge of imported water via local arroyos increases the flux of nitrate to the regional aquifer. The low {delta}{sup 15}N value (3.1{per_thousand}) in this location implicates synthetic fertilizer. In addition to these anthropogenic sources, natural nitrate background levels between 15 and 20 mg NO{sub 3} L{sup -1} are found in deep wells with residence times greater than 50 years

Fuzzy cellular model for on-line traffic simulation

This paper introduces a fuzzy cellular model of road traffic that was intended for on-line applications in traffic control. The presented model uses fuzzy sets theory to deal with uncertainty of both input data and simulation results. Vehicles are modelled individually, thus various classes of them can be taken into consideration. In the proposed approach, all parameters of vehicles are described by means of fuzzy numbers. The model was implemented in a simulation of vehicles queue discharge process. Changes of the queue length were analysed in this experiment and compared to the results of NaSch cellular automata model.Comment: The original publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co

Spin-Boson Hamiltonian and Optical Absorption of Molecular Dimers

An analysis of the eigenstates of a symmetry-broken spin-boson Hamiltonian is performed by computing Bloch and Husimi projections. The eigenstate analysis is combined with the calculation of absorption bands of asymmetric dimer configurations constituted by monomers with nonidentical excitation energies and optical transition matrix elements. Absorption bands with regular and irregular fine structures are obtained and related to the transition from the coexistence to a mixing of adiabatic branches in the spectrum. It is shown that correlations between spin states allow for an interpolation between absorption bands for different optical asymmetries.Comment: 15 pages, revTeX, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Towards a realistic microscopic description of highway traffic

Simple cellular automata models are able to reproduce the basic properties of highway traffic. The comparison with empirical data for microscopic quantities requires a more detailed description of the elementary dynamics. Based on existing cellular automata models we propose an improved discrete model incorporating anticipation effects, reduced acceleration capabilities and an enhanced interaction horizon for braking. The modified model is able to reproduce the three phases (free-flow, synchronized, and stop-and-go) observed in real traffic. Furthermore we find a good agreement with detailed empirical single-vehicle data in all phases.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

A realistic two-lane traffic model for highway traffic

A two-lane extension of a recently proposed cellular automaton model for traffic flow is discussed. The analysis focuses on the reproduction of the lane usage inversion and the density dependence of the number of lane changes. It is shown that the single-lane dynamics can be extended to the two-lane case without changing the basic properties of the model which are known to be in good agreement with empirical single-vehicle data. Therefore it is possible to reproduce various empirically observed two-lane phenomena, like the synchronization of the lanes, without fine-tuning of the model parameters