289 research outputs found
An early Little Ice Age brackish water invasion along the south coast of the Caspian Sea (sediment of Langarud wetland) and its wider impacts on environment and people
Caspian Sea level has undergone significant changes through time with major impacts not only on the surrounding coasts, but also offshore. This study reports a brackish water invasion on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea constructed from a multi-proxy analysis of sediment retrieved from the Langarud wetland. The ground surface level of wetland is >6 m higher than the current Caspian Sea level (at -27.41 m in 2014) and located >11 km far from the coast. A sequence covering the last millennium was dated by three radiocarbon dates. The results from this new study suggest that Caspian Sea level rose up to at least -21.44 m (i.e. >6 m above the present water level) during the early Little Ice Age. Although previous studies in the southern coast of the Caspian Sea have detected a high-stand during the Little Ice Age period, this study presents the first evidence that this high-stand reached so far inland and at such a high altitude. Moreover, it confirms one of the very few earlier estimates of a high-stand at -21 m for the second half of the 14th century. The effects of this large-scale brackish water invasion on soil properties would have caused severe disruption to regional agriculture, thereby destabilizing local dynasties and facilitating a rapid Turko-Mongol expansion of Tamerlane’s armies from the east.N Ghasemi (INIOAS), V Jahani (Gilan Province Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation) and A Naqinezhad (University of Mazandaran), INQUA QuickLakeH project (no. 1227) and to the European project Marie Curie, CLIMSEAS-PIRSES-GA-2009-24751
The eROSITA X-ray telescope on SRG
eROSITA (extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) is the primary instrument on the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) mission, which was successfully launched on July 13, 2019, from the Baikonour cosmodrome. After the commissioning of the instrument and a subsequent calibration and performance verification phase, eROSITA started a survey of the entire sky on December 13, 2019. By the end of 2023, eight complete scans of the celestial sphere will have been performed, each lasting six months. At the end of this program, the eROSITA all-sky survey in the soft X-ray band (0.2-2.3 keV) will be about 25 times more sensitive than the ROSAT All-Sky Survey, while in the hard band (2.3-8 keV) it will provide the first ever true imaging survey of the sky. The eROSITA design driving science is the detection of large samples of galaxy clusters up to redshifts z > 1 in order to study the large-scale structure of the universe and test cosmological models including Dark Energy. In addition, eROSITA is expected to yield a sample of a few million AGNs, including obscured objects, revolutionizing our view of the evolution of supermassive black holes. The survey will also provide new insights into a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, including X-ray binaries, active stars, and diffuse emission within the Galaxy. Results from early observations, some of which are presented here, confirm that the performance of the instrument is able to fulfil its scientific promise. With this paper, we aim to give a concise description of the instrument, its performance as measured on ground, its operation in space, and also the first results from in-orbit measurements
Imaging of Flames in Cement Kilns To Study the Influence of Different Fuel Types
The
cement industry aims to use an increased amount of alternative
fuels to reduce production costs and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. In
this study three cement plants firing different kinds and percentages
of alternative fuel were studied. A specially developed camera setup
was used to monitor the flames in the three cement kilns and assess
the effect of alternative fuels on the flame. It was found that cofiring
with solid recovered fuel (SRF) would delay the ignition point by
about 2 m and lower the intensity and temperature of the kiln flame
compared to a fossil fuel flame. This is related to a larger particle
size and moisture content of the alternative fuels, which lowers the
conversion rate compared to fossil fuels. The consequences can be
a lower kiln temperature and cement quality. The longer conversion
time may also lead to the possibility of localized reducing conditions
in the cement kiln, which can have a negative impact on the clinker
quality and process stability. The burner design may alleviate some
of the issues encountered with SRF cofiring. At one of the test plants
the burner was changed from a design with an annular channel for axial
air to a jet design. This proved to be beneficial for an early ignition
and improved dispersion of the fuel and led to an increase in cement
quality and higher use of SRF
Acute mountain sickness.
Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a clinical syndrome occurring in otherwise healthy normal individuals who ascend rapidly to high altitude. Symptoms develop over a period ofa few hours or days. The usual symptoms include headache, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, lethargy, unsteadiness of gait, undue dyspnoea on moderate exertion and interrupted sleep. AMS is unrelated to physical fitness, sex or age except that young children over two years of age are unduly susceptible. One of the striking features ofAMS is the wide variation in individual susceptibility which is to some extent consistent. Some subjects never experience symptoms at any altitude while others have repeated attacks on ascending to quite modest altitudes. Rapid ascent to altitudes of 2500 to 3000m will produce symptoms in some subjects while after ascent over 23 days to 5000m most subjects will be affected, some to a marked degree. In general, the more rapid the ascent, the higher the altitude reached and the greater the physical exertion involved, the more severe AMS will be. Ifthe subjects stay at the altitude reached there is a tendency for acclimatization to occur and symptoms to remit over 1-7 days
Detector Technologies for CLIC
The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a high-energy high-luminosity linear
electron-positron collider under development. It is foreseen to be built and
operated in three stages, at centre-of-mass energies of 380 GeV, 1.5 TeV and 3
TeV, respectively. It offers a rich physics program including direct searches
as well as the probing of new physics through a broad set of precision
measurements of Standard Model processes, particularly in the Higgs-boson and
top-quark sectors. The precision required for such measurements and the
specific conditions imposed by the beam dimensions and time structure put
strict requirements on the detector design and technology. This includes
low-mass vertexing and tracking systems with small cells, highly granular
imaging calorimeters, as well as a precise hit-time resolution and power-pulsed
operation for all subsystems. A conceptual design for the CLIC detector system
was published in 2012. Since then, ambitious R&D programmes for silicon vertex
and tracking detectors, as well as for calorimeters have been pursued within
the CLICdp, CALICE and FCAL collaborations, addressing the challenging detector
requirements with innovative technologies. This report introduces the
experimental environment and detector requirements at CLIC and reviews the
current status and future plans for detector technology R&D.Comment: 152 pages, 116 figures; published as CERN Yellow Report Monograph
Vol. 1/2019; corresponding editors: Dominik Dannheim, Katja Kr\"uger, Aharon
Levy, Andreas N\"urnberg, Eva Sickin
Performance of the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter prototype to charged pion beams of 20300 GeV/c
The upgrade of the CMS experiment for the high luminosity operation of the
LHC comprises the replacement of the current endcap calorimeter by a high
granularity sampling calorimeter (HGCAL). The electromagnetic section of the
HGCAL is based on silicon sensors interspersed between lead and copper (or
copper tungsten) absorbers. The hadronic section uses layers of stainless steel
as an absorbing medium and silicon sensors as an active medium in the regions
of high radiation exposure, and scintillator tiles directly readout by silicon
photomultipliers in the remaining regions. As part of the development of the
detector and its readout electronic components, a section of a silicon-based
HGCAL prototype detector along with a section of the CALICE AHCAL prototype was
exposed to muons, electrons and charged pions in beam test experiments at the
H2 beamline at the CERN SPS in October 2018. The AHCAL uses the same technology
as foreseen for the HGCAL but with much finer longitudinal segmentation. The
performance of the calorimeters in terms of energy response and resolution,
longitudinal and transverse shower profiles is studied using negatively charged
pions, and is compared to GEANT4 predictions. This is the first report
summarizing results of hadronic showers measured by the HGCAL prototype using
beam test data.Comment: To be submitted to JINS
Low exposure long-baseline neutrino oscillation sensitivity of the DUNE experiment
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will produce world-leading
neutrino oscillation measurements over the lifetime of the experiment. In this
work, we explore DUNE's sensitivity to observe charge-parity violation (CPV) in
the neutrino sector, and to resolve the mass ordering, for exposures of up to
100 kiloton-megawatt-years (kt-MW-yr). The analysis includes detailed
uncertainties on the flux prediction, the neutrino interaction model, and
detector effects. We demonstrate that DUNE will be able to unambiguously
resolve the neutrino mass ordering at a 3 (5) level, with a 66
(100) kt-MW-yr far detector exposure, and has the ability to make strong
statements at significantly shorter exposures depending on the true value of
other oscillation parameters. We also show that DUNE has the potential to make
a robust measurement of CPV at a 3 level with a 100 kt-MW-yr exposure
for the maximally CP-violating values \delta_{\rm CP}} = \pm\pi/2.
Additionally, the dependence of DUNE's sensitivity on the exposure taken in
neutrino-enhanced and antineutrino-enhanced running is discussed. An equal
fraction of exposure taken in each beam mode is found to be close to optimal
when considered over the entire space of interest
A Gaseous Argon-Based Near Detector to Enhance the Physics Capabilities of DUNE
This document presents the concept and physics case for a magnetized gaseous argon-based detector system (ND-GAr) for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Near Detector. This detector system is required in order for DUNE to reach its full physics potential in the measurement of CP violation and in delivering precision measurements of oscillation parameters. In addition to its critical role in the long-baseline oscillation program, ND-GAr will extend the overall physics program of DUNE. The LBNF high-intensity proton beam will provide a large flux of neutrinos that is sampled by ND-GAr, enabling DUNE to discover new particles and search for new interactions and symmetries beyond those predicted in the Standard Model
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