The effect of renovation of long-term temperate grassland on N2O emissions and N leaching from contrasting soils

pre-printRenovation of long-term grassland is associated with a peak in soil organic N mineralisation which, coupled with diminished plant N uptake can lead to large gaseous and leaching N losses. This study reports on the effect of ploughing and subsequent N fertilisation on the N2O emissions and DON/NO3− leaching, and evaluates the impact of ploughing technique on the magnitude and profile of N losses. This study was carried out on isolated grassland lysimeters of three Irish soils representing contrasting drainage properties (well-drained Clonakilty, moderately-drained Elton and poorly-drained Rathangan). Lysimeters were manually ploughed simulating conventional (CT) and minimum tillage (MT) as two treatments. Renovation of grassland increased N2O flux to a maximum of 0.9 kg N2O–N ha− 1 from poorly-drained soil over four days after treatment. Although there was no difference between CT and MT in the post-ploughing period, the treatment influenced subsequent N2O after fertiliser applications. Fertilisation remained the major driver of N losses therefore reducing fertilisation rate post-planting to account for N mineralised through grassland renovation could reduce the losses in medium to longer term. Leaching was a significant loss pathway, with the cumulative drainage volume and N leached highly influenced by soil type. Overall, the total N losses (N2O + N leached) were lowest from poorly and moderately draining soil and highest for the well draining soil, reflecting the dominance of leaching on total N losses and the paramount importance of soil properties

A variational model for fracture and debonding of thin films under in-plane loadings

We study fracture and debonding of a thin stiff film bonded to a rigid substrate through a thin compliant layer, introducing a two-dimensional variational fracture model in brittle elasticity. Fractures are naturally distinguished between transverse cracks in the film (curves in 2D) and debonded surfaces (2D planar regions). In order to study the mechanical response of such systems under increasing loads, we formulate a dimension-reduced, rate-independent, irreversible evolution law accounting for both transverse fracture and debonding. We propose a numerical implementation based on a regularized formulation of the fracture problem via a gradient damage functional, and provide an illustration of its capabilities exploring complex crack patterns, showing a qualitative comparison with geometrically involved real life examples. Moreover, we justify the underlying dimension-reduced model in the setting of scalar-valued displacement fields by a rigorous asymptotic analysis using Γ-convergence, starting from the three-dimensional variational fracture (free-discontinuity) problem under precise scaling hypotheses on material and geometric parameters. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

The XMM Cluster Outskirts Project (X-COP): thermodynamic properties of the intracluster medium out to R 200 in Abell 2319

Aims. We present the joint analysis of the X-ray and Sunyaev Zel’dovich(SZ) signals in Abell 2319, the galaxy cluster with the highest signal-to-noise ratio in SZ Planck maps and that has been surveyed within our XMM-Newton Cluster Outskirts Project (X-COP), a very large program which aims to grasp the physical condition in 12 local (z < 0.1) and massive (M200 > 3 × 1014 M⊙) galaxy clusters out to R200 and beyond. Methods. We recover the profiles of the thermodynamic properties by the geometrical deprojection of the X-ray surface brightness, of the SZ Comptonization parameter, and accurate and robust spectroscopic measurements of the gas temperature out to 3.2 Mpc (1.6 R200 ), 4 Mpc (2 R200 ), and 1.6 Mpc (0.8 R200 ), respectively. We resolve the clumpiness of the gas density to be below 20% over the entire observed volume. We also demonstrate that most of this clumpiness originates from the ongoing merger and can be associated with large-scale inhomogeneities (the “residual” clumpiness). We estimate the total mass through the hydrostatic equilibrium equation. This analysis is done both in azimuthally averaged radial bins and in eight independent angular sectors, enabling us to study in detail the azimuthal variance of the recovered properties. Results. Given the exquisite quality of the X-ray and SZ datasets, their radial extension, and their complementarity, we constrain at R200 the total hydrostatic mass, modelled with a Navarro–Frenk–White profile at very high precision (M200 = 10.7 ± 0.5stat. ± 0.9syst. × 1014 M⊙). We identify the ongoing merger and how it is affecting differently the gas properties in the resolved azimuthal sectors. We have several indications that the merger has injected a high level of non-thermal pressure in this system: the clumping free density profile is above the average profile obtained by stacking Rosat/PSPC observations; the gas mass fraction recovered using our hydrostatic mass profile exceeds the expected cosmic gas fraction beyond R500; the pressure profile is flatter than the fit obtained by the Planck Collaboration; the entropy profile is flatter than the mean profile predicted from non-radiative simulations; the analysis in azimuthal sectors has revealed that these deviations occur in a preferred region of the cluster. All these tensions are resolved by requiring a relative support of about 40% from non-thermal to the total pressure at R200

Phase field approach to optimal packing problems and related Cheeger clusters

In a fixed domain of $\Bbb{R}^N$ we study the asymptotic behaviour of optimal clusters associated to $\alpha$-Cheeger constants and natural energies like the sum or maximum: we prove that, as the parameter $\alpha$ converges to the "critical" value $\Big (\frac{N-1}{N}\Big ) _+$, optimal Cheeger clusters converge to solutions of different packing problems for balls, depending on the energy under consideration. As well, we propose an efficient phase field approach based on a multiphase Gamma convergence result of Modica-Mortola type, in order to compute $\alpha$-Cheeger constants, optimal clusters and, as a consequence of the asymptotic result, optimal packings. Numerical experiments are carried over in two and three space dimensions

Phase-field models for brittle and cohesive fracture

In this paper we first recapitulate some basic notions of brittle and cohesive fracture models, as well as the phase-field approximation to fracture. Next, a critical assessment is made of the sensitivity of the phase-field approach to brittle fracture, in particular the degradation function, and the use of monolithic versus partitioned solution schemes. The last part of the paper makes extensions to a recently developed phase-field model for cohesive fracture, in particular for propagating cracks. Using some simple examples the current state of the cohesive phase-field model is shown

A Multi-Wavelength Mass Analysis of RCS2 J232727.6-020437, a ~3x1015^{15}M⊙_{\odot} Galaxy Cluster at z=0.7

We present an initial study of the mass and evolutionary state of a massive and distant cluster, RCS2 J232727.6-020437. This cluster, at z=0.6986, is the richest cluster discovered in the RCS2 project. The mass measurements presented in this paper are derived from all possible mass proxies: X-ray measurements, weak-lensing shear, strong lensing, Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect decrement, the velocity distribution of cluster member galaxies, and galaxy richness. While each of these observables probe the mass of the cluster at a different radius, they all indicate that RCS2 J232727.6-020437 is among the most massive clusters at this redshift, with an estimated mass of M_200 ~3 x10^15 h^-1 Msun. In this paper, we demonstrate that the various observables are all reasonably consistent with each other to within their uncertainties. RCS2 J232727.6-020437 appears to be well relaxed -- with circular and concentric X-ray isophotes, with a cool core, and no indication of significant substructure in extensive galaxy velocity data.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, submitted to ApJ on March 5, 2015; in press. Manuscript revised following the referee revie

Mapping the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect toward MACS J0717.5+3745 with NIKA

Measurement of the gas velocity distribution in galaxy clusters provides insight into the physics of mergers, through which large scale structures form in the Universe. Velocity estimates within the intracluster medium (ICM) can be obtained via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect, but its observation is challenging both in term of sensitivity requirement and control of systematic effects, including the removal of contaminants. In this paper we report resolved observations, at 150 and 260 GHz, of the SZ effect toward the triple merger MACS J0717.5+3745 (z=0.55), using data obtained with the NIKA camera at the IRAM 30m telescope. Assuming that the SZ signal is the sum of a thermal (tSZ) and a kinetic (kSZ) component and by combining the two NIKA bands, we extract for the first time a resolved map of the kSZ signal in a cluster. The kSZ signal is dominated by a dipolar structure that peaks at -5.1 and +3.4 sigma, corresponding to two subclusters moving respectively away and toward us and coincident with the cold dense X-ray core and a hot region undergoing a major merging event. We model the gas electron density and line-of-sight velocity of MACS J0717.5+3745 as four subclusters. Combining NIKA data with X-ray observations from XMM-Newton and Chandra, we fit this model to constrain the gas line-of-sight velocity of each component, and we also derive, for the first time, a velocity map from kSZ data (i.e. that is model-dependent). Our results are consistent with previous constraints on the merger velocities, and thanks to the high angular resolution of our data, we are able to resolve the structure of the gas velocity. Finally, we investigate possible contamination and systematic effects with a special care given to radio and submillimeter galaxies. Among the sources that we detect with NIKA, we find one which is likely to be a high redshift lensed submillimeter galaxy.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted in A&