A quantitative theory-versus-experiment comparison for the intense laser dissociation of H2+

A detailed theory-versus-experiment comparison is worked out for H$_2^+$ intense laser dissociation, based on angularly resolved photodissociation spectra recently recorded in H.Figger's group. As opposite to other experimental setups, it is an electric discharge (and not an optical excitation) that prepares the molecular ion, with the advantage for the theoretical approach, to neglect without lost of accuracy, the otherwise important ionization-dissociation competition. Abel transformation relates the dissociation probability starting from a single ro-vibrational state, to the probability of observing a hydrogen atom at a given pixel of the detector plate. Some statistics on initial ro-vibrational distributions, together with a spatial averaging over laser focus area, lead to photofragments kinetic spectra, with well separated peaks attributed to single vibrational levels. An excellent theory-versus-experiment agreement is reached not only for the kinetic spectra, but also for the angular distributions of fragments originating from two different vibrational levels resulting into more or less alignment. Some characteristic features can be interpreted in terms of basic mechanisms such as bond softening or vibrational trapping.Comment: submitted to PRA on 21.05.200

Response of a low-subsiding intracratonic basin to long wavelength deformations: the Palaeocene–early Eocene period in the Paris Basin

The uppermost Cretaceous to early Palaeogene is a period of major deformations of the western part of the Eurasian plate with prominent basin inversions starting from the Coniacian onwards. These deformations occur in a complex geodynamic setting within both the context of the Africa–Eurasia convergence and the North Atlantic opening. While Mesozoic graben inversions have been extensively studied, particularly in Eastern Europe and the North Sea, more gentle deformations that affect thicker crust areas (intracratonic basins and emerged lands) are not as well documented. <br><br> The objective of this study is to constrain the exact timing, type, and magnitude of the early Palaeogene deformations affecting the intracratonic Paris Basin and to integrate them at the western European scale. Low-amplitude deformations are attempted through a high-resolution reconstitution of its stratigraphic record based on well-dated outcrops and well-dated wells, and a high number of well-logs that are correlated using the “stacking pattern” sequence stratigraphic technique. <br><br> Two orders of sequences are identified (third and fourth order) and correlated throughout the basin. Basin geometric and palaeogeographic reconstitutions are based on sediment thickness and facies analysis. Two-dimensional accommodation space measurements were taken in order to quantify the magnitude of the deformations. <br><br> Three phases of deformation were recognized. <br><br> 1. An intra-Maastrichtian–pre-Thanetian (59 Ma) deformation, with major uplift and erosion of the Cretaceous strata with two sub-periods of deformation: Maastrichtian–pre-middle-Danian and Upper Danian–pre-Thanetian long-wavelength deformations. This period of major deformation is coeval with Upper Cretaceous/pre-Danian compressive deformations linked to the Africa–Eurasia convergence in southern France and with volcanic activity from the North Atlantic to Massif Central and the Rhenish Shield during the Palaeocene.<br><br> 2. An early Ypresian (55.1–54.3 Ma) medium-wavelength deformation ( ×  10 km), here reported to be a stress rearrangement related to the onset of the North Atlantic opening. <br><br> 3. An uppermost Ypresian (49.8 Ma) long-wavelength deformation ( ×  100 km), contemporaneous with flexural compressive deformations in the Aquitaine Basin (Pyrenean deformation), and related to the Iberia–Eurasia convergence

Filamentation ''remote'' sensing of chemical and biological agents/pollutants using only one femtosecond laser source

International audienceAll matters in the path of filaments induced by an intense femtosecond laser pulse propagating in air could be fragmented and result in the emission of characteristic fluorescence spectra from the excited fragments. The fluorescence spectra exhibit specific signatures (fingerprints) that can be used for the identification of various substances including chemical and biological species. In this paper, we present an overview of the recent progress in our laboratory concerning the "remote" sensing of chemical and biological agents/pollutants in air using filamentation-induced nonlinear fluorescence techniques

Late Variscan (315 Ma) subduction or deceptive zircon REE patterns and U-Pb dates from migmatite-hosted eclogites? (Montagne Noire, France)

International audienceEclogites hosted in sillimanite-bearing migmatites in the Montagne Noire dome (French Massif Central) have an oceanic protolith and recorded a prograde P–T path from ~19.5 kbar, 700°C to the pressure peak at ~21 kbar, 750°C (pseudosection modelling), suggesting metamorphism in a subductional setting. Subsequent exhumation to low-pressure high-temperature (LP–HT) conditions (~6 kbar, 730°C) is constrained by the equilibration conditions of the embedding migmatite. In samples of a fresh and a retrogressed eclogite, all zircon crystals but one display similar REE patterns (no Eu anomaly, flat HREE), usually ascribed to crystallisation under eclogite-facies conditions. Yet, the U-Pb apparent ages of zircon crystals from both eclogites spread from c. 360 Ma to a dominant data cluster at c. 315 Ma. The c. 315-310 Ma zircon U-Pb dates obtained from the embedding migmatite are interpreted as the age of crystallisation of the partial melt during the LP–HT metamorphic stage. First-order geological evidence, in particular the sedimentary record, excludes the existence of a subduction zone in the region at this period. Unless calling upon a major reappraisal of the tectonics of the European Variscan orogen, this suggests an ambiguous relation between REE patterns and U-Pb dates in the zircon population. Various scenarios that could account for the observations are discussed. Confronting our data with the results of a previously published Sm-Nd dating of garnet, and regional considerations, we consider that 360 Ma is the best approximation of the minimum age of the eclogite-facies event. We hypothesise that the eclogites formed farther north and were transferred to their present location by lower-crustal flow. It is inferred that during the subsequent exhumation, eclogite-facies zircon grains recrystallised and underwent partial to total resetting of their U-Pb system, whereas the REE system remained mostly unmodified. These results caution against the use of REE patterns as the only criterion to associate a specific zircon age with HP metamorphism in eclogites occurring in migmatitic domes