Highly erosive glaciers on Mars - the role of water

International audiencePolewards of 30 • in each hemisphere, the surface of Mars hosts a suite of landforms reminiscent of glacial landscapes on Earth. Amongst these landforms are: 1) Viscous Flow Features (VFF), which resemble glaciers on Earth and are thought to contain large volumes of water ice, 2) martian gullies which are km-scale features resembling water-eroded gullies on Earth and 3) arcuate ridges thought to be moraines from previous glaciations. Gullies have been long-associated with a surface unit originally called "pasted-on terrain" and now often called the "latitude dependant mantle". Arcuate ridges are often found at the base of hillslopes with gullies, but are also found on hillslopes with pasted-on terrain and no gullies. We have found a systematic lowering of the slope of the bedrock exposure located topographically above the pasted-on terrain whether that same slope hosts gullies or not. The lowered bedrock exposures display a different surface texture from bedrock exposed on other parts of the crater wall and from fresh crater walls-it appears fragmented and has reduced relief. Using 1-m-digital elevation models from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) we compared the slopes of eight "eroded" craters and seven unmodified craters. We estimated their age using the crater size-frequency distribution of small craters on their ejecta blankets. From this information we calculated bedrock retreat rates for the eroded craters and found they were up to ∼103 m Myr-1-equivalent to erosion rates of wet-based glaciers on Earth. This is several orders of magnitude higher than previous estimates of erosion by VFF (10-2-101 m Myr-1), which themselves are roughly equivalent to cold-based glaciers on Earth. Such erosion rates are sufficient to erase previously existing landforms, such as martian gullies. We hypothesise, therefore, that the pasted-on terrain is a glacial deposit, overturning its previous interpretation as an airfall deposit of ice nucleated on dust. We maintain the interpretation of the arcuate ridges as moraines, but further conclude that they are likely the result of glaciotectonic deformation of sub-marginal and proglacial sediment in the presence of sediment pore-water. We do not support the generation of large quantities of glacial meltwater because it would have broken-up and degraded the arcuate ridges and pasted-on terrain an produced a suite of landforms (e.g., hummocky moraine, lacustrine forms, outwash plains, eskers) which are not observed

Prior events predict cerebrovascular and coronary outcomes in the PROGRESS trial

<p><b>Background and Purpose:</b> The relationship between baseline and recurrent vascular events may be important in the targeting of secondary prevention strategies. We examined the relationship between initial event and various types of further vascular outcomes and associated effects of blood pressure (BP)–lowering.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> Subsidiary analyses of the Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study (PROGRESS) trial, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial that established the benefits of BP–lowering in 6105 patients (mean age 64 years, 30% female) with cerebrovascular disease, randomly assigned to either active treatment (perindopril for all, plus indapamide in those with neither an indication for, nor a contraindication to, a diuretic) or placebo(s).</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Stroke subtypes and coronary events were associated with 1.5- to 6.6-fold greater risk of recurrence of the same event (hazard ratios, 1.51 to 6.64; P=0.1 for large artery infarction, P<0.0001 for other events). However, 46% to 92% of further vascular outcomes were not of the same type. Active treatment produced comparable reductions in the risk of vascular outcomes among patients with a broad range of vascular events at entry (relative risk reduction, 25%; P<0.0001 for ischemic stroke; 42%, P=0.0006 for hemorrhagic stroke; 17%, P=0.3 for coronary events; P homogeneity=0.4).</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> Patients with previous vascular events are at high risk of recurrences of the same event. However, because they are also at risk of other vascular outcomes, a broad range of secondary prevention strategies is necessary for their treatment. BP–lowering is likely to be one of the most effective and generalizable strategies across a variety of major vascular events including stroke and myocardial infarction.</p&gt

2-[2-(2-Pyrid­yl)eth­yl]isoindolinium perchlorate

In the title salt, C15H17N2 +·ClO4 −, the isoindoline N atom is protonated and an intra­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bond occurs. In the crystal, N—H⋯O and numerous weak C—H⋯O inter­actions occur between the cation and anion. The O atoms of the perchlorate anion are disordered over four sets of sites with occupancies of 0.438 (4), 0.270 (9), 0.155 (8) and 0.138 (5)

A wide-field spectroscopic survey of the cluster of galaxies Cl0024+1654: I. The catalogue

We present the catalogue of a wide-field CFHT/WHT spectroscopic survey of the lensing cluster Cl0024+1654 at z=0.395. This catalogue contains 618 new spectra, of which 581 have identified redshifts. Adding redshifts available from the literature, the final catalogue contains data for 687 objects with redshifts identified for 650 of them. 295 galaxies have redshifts in the range 0.37<z<0.41, i. e. are cluster members or lie in the immediate neighbourhood of the cluster. The area covered by the survey is 21x25 arcmin2 in size, corresponding to 4x4.8 h^-2 Mpc2 at the cluster redshift. The survey is 45% complete down to V=22 over the whole field covered; within 3 arcmin of the cluster centre the completeness exceeds 80% at the same magnitude. A detailed completeness analysis is presented. The catalogue gives astrometric position, redshift, V magnitude and V-I colour, as well as the equivalent widths for a number of lines. Apart from the cluster Cl0024+1654 itself, three other structures are identified in redshift space: a group of galaxies at z=0.38, just in front of Cl0024+1654 and probably interacting with it, a close pair of groups of galaxies at z~0.495 and an overdensity of galaxies at z~0.18 with no obvious centre. The spectroscopic catalogue will be used to trace the three-dimensional structure of the cluster Cl0024+1654 as well as study the physical properties of the galaxies in the cluster and in its environment.Comment: 14 pages - figures included - A&A (re)submitted versio

Effect of MgO Additive on Volumetric Expansion of Self-Degradable Cements

We identified hard-burned magnesium oxide (MgO) as a suitable expansive additive for improving the plugging performance of self-degradable, temporary sodium silicate-activated slag/Class C fly ash (SSASC) blend cement sealers into rock fractures in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGSs). MgO extended the volumetric expansion of sealers during their exposure to a hydrothermal environment at 200 C under pressures, ranging from 300 to 1500 psi. A great expansion ratc of 19.3% was observed by adding 3.0 wt% MgO under 300 psi pressure, thus promising to plug thoroughly inner fracture. When the pressure was increased from 300 psi to 1500 psi, the expansion rate of cement markedly reduced, corresponding to the formaLion of crack-free specimens and the improvement of compressive strength. However, with 3.0 wt% MgO, the specimens still engendered the generation of numerous visual cracks, although they were prepared under a high pressure of 1500 psi. The effective content of MgO in minimizing and eliminating the generation of cracks was 2.0 wt%, which provided a moderate expansion of {ge} 0.5%. The compressive strength of 2.0 wt% MgO specimens made under a pressure of 300 psi rose {approx} 1.7-fold to 4816 psi with an increasing pressure to 1500 psi. The in-situ growth of brucite crystal formed by the hydrothermal hydration of MgO was responsive for such an expansion of the SSASC cement; meanwhile. two crystalline hydrothermal reaction products, 1.1 nm tobermorite and calcium silicate hydrated, contributed to the development of the sealer's compressive strength. Thus, the increasing pressure seems to suppress and control a growth rate of brucite crystal in response to a lower extension of expansion. Furthermore, all MgO-conlaining SSASC sealers possessed the water-catalyzed self-degradable properties

Multipole nonlinearity of metamaterials

We report on the linear and nonlinear optical response of metamaterials evoked by first and second order multipoles. The analytical ground on which our approach bases permits for new insights into the functionality of metamaterials. For the sake of clarity we focus here on a key geometry, namely the split-ring resonator, although the introduced formalism can be applied to arbitrary structures. We derive the equations that describe linear and nonlinear light propagation where special emphasis is put on second harmonic generation. This contribution basically aims at stretching versatile and existing concepts to describe light propagation in nonlinear media towards the realm of metamaterials.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

A bis-calixarene from olefin metathesis

A ring-closing olefin metathesis reaction of tetra­kis­(all­yl­oxy)calix[4]arene gave the bis­ calixarene, (15E,40E,60E)-65,74-bis­(prop-2-en-1-yl­oxy)-13,18,38,43,58,63-hexa­oxado­deca­cyclo­[28.26.8.720,36.111,45.151,55.05,57.07,12.019,24.026,64.032,37.044,49.168,72]tetra­hepta­conta-1,3,5(57),7,9,11,15,19(24),20,22,26,28,30(64),32,34,36,40,44(49),45,47,51,53,55(65),60,68,70,72(74)-hepta­cosa­ene, C74H68O8. It is a cage formed from two calix[4]arene units joined by butenyl groups at three of the O atoms on the narrow rim. The fourth O atom on each calixarene unit is joined with an allyl group. Each of the calix[4]arene units has a flattened cone conformation in which the all­yloxy-substituted aryl group and the opposite aryl group are close together and almost parallel [dihedral angle between planes = 1.09 (11)°], and the other two aryl groups are splayed outward [dihedral angle between planes = 79.53 (11)°]. No guest mol­ecule (e.g. solvent) was observed within the cage. The alkene C atoms of one of the links between the calixarene moieties are disordered over two orientations with occupancies of 0.533 (9) and 0.467 (9)