181 research outputs found
New insights into landslide processes around volcanic islands from Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) observations offshore Montserrat
Submarine landslide deposits have been mapped around many volcanic islands, but interpretations of their structure, composition, and emplacement are hindered by the challenges of investigating deposits directly. Here we report on detailed observations of four landslide deposits around Montserrat collected by Remotely Operated Vehicles, integrating direct imagery and sampling with sediment core and geophysical data. These complementary approaches enable a more comprehensive view of large-scale mass-wasting processes around island-arc volcanoes than has been achievable previously. The most recent landslide occurred at 11.5–14 ka (Deposit 1; 1.7 km3) and formed a radially spreading hummocky deposit that is morphologically similar to many subaerial debris-avalanche deposits. Hummocks comprise angular lava and hydrothermally altered fragments, implying a deep-seated, central subaerial collapse, inferred to have removed a major proportion of lavas from an eruptive period that now has little representation in the subaerial volcanic record. A larger landslide (Deposit 2; 10 km3) occurred at ∼130 ka and transported intact fragments of the volcanic edifice, up to 900 m across and over 100 m high. These fragments were rafted within the landslide, and are best exposed near the margins of the deposit. The largest block preserves a primary stratigraphy of subaerial volcanic breccias, of which the lower parts are encased in hemipelagic mud eroded from the seafloor. Landslide deposits south of Montserrat (Deposits 3 and 5) indicate the wide variety of debris-avalanche source lithologies around volcanic islands. Deposit 5 originated on the shallow submerged shelf, rather than the terrestrial volcanic edifice, and is dominated by carbonate debris
Reverse Monte Carlo modeling of amorphous silicon
An implementation of the Reverse Monte Carlo algorithm is presented for the
study of amorphous tetrahedral semiconductors. By taking into account a number
of constraints that describe the tetrahedral bonding geometry along with the
radial distribution function, we construct a model of amorphous silicon using
the reverse monte carlo technique. Starting from a completely random
configuration, we generate a model of amorphous silicon containing 500 atoms
closely reproducing the experimental static structure factor and bond angle
distribution and in improved agreement with electronic properties. Comparison
is made to existing Reverse Monte Carlo models, and the importance of suitable
constraints beside experimental data is stressed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 PostScript figure
Recommended from our members
Multi-segment coherent beam combining
Scaling laser systems to large sizes for power beaming and other applications can sometimes be simplified by combing a number of smaller lasers. However, to fully utilize this scaling, coherent beam combination is necessary. This requires measuring and controlling each beam`s pointing and phase relative to adjacent beams using an adaptive optical system. We have built a sub-scale brass-board to evaluate various methods for beam-combining. It includes a segmented adaptive optic and several different specialized wavefront sensors that are fabricated using diffractive optics methods. We have evaluated a number of different phasing algorithms, including hierarchical and matrix methods, and have demonstrated phasing of several elements. The system is currently extended to a large number of segments to evaluate various scaling methodologies
New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa
The Rising Star cave system has produced abundant fossil hominin remains within the
Dinaledi Chamber, representing a minimum of 15 individuals attributed to Homo naledi. Further
exploration led to the discovery of hominin material, now comprising 131 hominin specimens,
within a second chamber, the Lesedi Chamber. The Lesedi Chamber is far separated from the
Dinaledi Chamber within the Rising Star cave system, and represents a second depositional context
for hominin remains. In each of three collection areas within the Lesedi Chamber, diagnostic
skeletal material allows a clear attribution to H. naledi. Both adult and immature material is present.
The hominin remains represent at least three individuals based upon duplication of elements, but
more individuals are likely present based upon the spatial context. The most significant specimen is
the near-complete cranium of a large individual, designated LES1, with an endocranial volume of
approximately 610 ml and associated postcranial remains. The Lesedi Chamber skeletal sample
extends our knowledge of the morphology and variation of H. naledi, and evidence of H. naledi
from both recovery localities shows a consistent pattern of differentiation from other hominin
species.SP201
Terrestrial habitat requirements of nesting freshwater turtles
Because particular life history traits affect species vulnerability to development pressures, cross-species summaries of life history traits are useful for generating management guidelines. Conservation of aquatic turtles, many members of which are regionally or globally imperiled, requires knowing the extent of upland habitat used for nesting. Therefore, we compiled distances that nests and gravid females had been observed from wetlands. Based on records of \u3e 8000 nests and gravid female records compiled for 31 species in the United States and Canada, the distances that encompass 95% of nests vary dramatically among genera and populations, from just 8 m for Malaclemys to nearly 1400 m for Trachemys. Widths of core areas to encompass varying fractions of nesting populations (based on mean maxima across all genera) were estimated as: 50% coverage = 93 m, 75% = 154 m, 90% = 198 m, 95% = 232 m, 100% = 942 m. Approximately 6–98 m is required to encompass each consecutive 10% segment of a nesting population up to 90% coverage; thereafter, ca. 424 m is required to encompass the remaining 10%. Many genera require modest terrestrial areas (\u3c200 m zones) for 95% nest coverage (Actinemys, Apalone, Chelydra, Chrysemys, Clemmys, Glyptemys, Graptemys, Macrochelys, Malaclemys, Pseudemys, Sternotherus), whereas other genera require larger zones (Deirochelys, Emydoidea, Kinosternon, Trachemys). Our results represent planning targets for conserving sufficient areas of uplands around wetlands to ensure protection of turtle nesting sites, migrating adult female turtles, and dispersing turtle hatchlings
The first Hubble diagram and cosmological constraints using superluminous supernovae
This paper has gone through internal review by the DES collaboration.
It has Fermilab preprint number 19-115-AE and DES
publication number 13387. We acknowledge support from EU/FP7-
ERC grant 615929. RCN would like to acknowledge support from
STFC grant ST/N000688/1 and the Faculty of Technology at the
University of Portsmouth. LG was funded by the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-
Curie grant agreement no. 839090. This work has been partially
supported by the Spanish grant PGC2018-095317-B-C21 within
the European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER). Funding
for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S. Department
of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry
of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology
Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Education
Funding Council for England, the National Center for Supercomputing
Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of
Chicago, the Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics at
the Ohio State University, the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental
Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University, Financiadora
de Estudos e Projetos, Fundac¸ ˜ao Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo
`a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Conselho Nacional de
Desenvolvimento Cient´ıfico e Tecnol´ogico and the Minist´erio da
Ciˆencia, Tecnologia e Inovac¸ ˜ao, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,
and the Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey.
The Collaborating Institutions are Argonne National Laboratory, the
University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Cambridge,
Centro de Investigaciones Energ´eticas, Medioambientales y Tecnol
´ogicas-Madrid, the University of Chicago, University College
London, the DES-Brazil Consortium, the University of Edinburgh,
the Eidgen¨ossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Z¨urich, Fermi
NationalAccelerator Laboratory, theUniversity of Illinois atUrbana-
Champaign, the Institut de Ci`encies de l’Espai (IEEC/CSIC), the
Institut de F´ısica d’Altes Energies, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, the Ludwig-Maximilians Universit¨at M¨unchen and the
associated Excellence Cluster Universe, the University of Michigan,
the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the University of
Nottingham, The Ohio State University, the University of Pennsylvania,
the University of Portsmouth, SLAC National Accelerator
Laboratory, Stanford University, the University of Sussex, Texas
A&M University, and the OzDES Membership Consortium. Based
in part on observations at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory,
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.
The DES data management system is supported by the
National Science Foundation under grant numbers AST-1138766
and AST-1536171. The DES participants from Spanish institutions
are partially supported by MINECO under grants AYA2015-
71825, ESP2015-66861, FPA2015-68048, SEV-2016-0588, SEV-
2016-0597, and MDM-2015-0509, some of which include ERDF
funds from the European Union. IFAE is partially funded by the
CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Research leading
to these results has received funding from the European Research
Council under the European Union Seventh Framework Programme
(FP7/2007-2013) including ERC grant agreements 240672, 291329,
and 306478.We acknowledge support from the Australian Research
Council Centre of Excellence for All-skyAstrophysics (CAASTRO),
through project number CE110001020, and the Brazilian Instituto
Nacional de Ciˆencia e Tecnologia (INCT) e-Universe (CNPq grant
465376/2014-2).
This paper has been authored by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC
under Contract No.DE-AC02-07CH11359 with theU.S.Department
of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics. The
United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting
the paper for publication, acknowledges that the United States
Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide
license to publish or reproduce the published form of this paper,
or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.We present the first Hubble diagram of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) out to a redshift of two, together with constraints
on the matter density, M, and the dark energy equation-of-state parameter, w(≡p/ρ). We build a sample of 20 cosmologically
useful SLSNe I based on light curve and spectroscopy quality cuts. We confirm the robustness of the peak–decline SLSN I
standardization relation with a larger data set and improved fitting techniques than previous works. We then solve the SLSN
model based on the above standardization via minimization of the χ2 computed from a covariance matrix that includes statistical
and systematic uncertainties. For a spatially flat cold dark matter ( CDM) cosmological model, we find M = 0.38+0.24
−0.19,
with an rms of 0.27 mag for the residuals of the distance moduli. For a w0waCDM cosmological model, the addition of SLSNe I
to a ‘baseline’ measurement consisting of Planck temperature together with Type Ia supernovae, results in a small improvement
in the constraints of w0 and wa of 4 per cent.We present simulations of future surveys with 868 and 492 SLSNe I (depending on
the configuration used) and show that such a sample can deliver cosmological constraints in a flat CDM model with the same
precision (considering only statistical uncertainties) as current surveys that use Type Ia supernovae, while providing a factor of
2–3 improvement in the precision of the constraints on the time variation of dark energy, w0 and wa. This paper represents the
proof of concept for superluminous supernova cosmology, and demonstrates they can provide an independent test of cosmology
in the high-redshift (z > 1) universe.EU/FP7-ERC grant 615929STFC grant ST/N000688/1Faculty of Technology at the
University of PortsmouthEuropean Union’s
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-
Curie grant agreement no. 839090Spanish grant PGC2018-095317-B-C21 within
the European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER)U.S. Department
of EnergyU.S. National Science FoundationMinistry
of Science and Education of SpainScience and Technology
Facilities Council of the United KingdomHigher Education
Funding Council for EnglandNational Center for Supercomputing
Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of
ChicagoCenter for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics at
the Ohio State UniversityMitchell Institute for Fundamental
Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University, Financiadora
de Estudos e Projetos, Fundacão Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo
`a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Conselho Nacional de
Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico and the Ministério da
Ciencia, Tecnologia e InovacãoDeutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftCollaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey.National Science Foundation under grant numbers AST-1138766
and AST-1536171.T MINECO under grants AYA2015-
71825, ESP2015-66861, FPA2015-68048, SEV-2016-0588, SEV-
2016-0597, and MDM-2015-0509, some of which include ERDF
funds from the European Union.CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya.European Research
Council under the European Union Seventh Framework Programme
(FP7/2007-2013) including ERC grant agreements 240672, 291329,
and 306478.Australian Research
Council Centre of Excellence for All-skyAstrophysics (CAASTRO),
through project number CE110001020Brazilian Instituto
Nacional de Ciˆencia e Tecnologia (INCT) e-Universe (CNPq grant
465376/2014-2)Fermi Research Alliance, LLC
under Contract No.DE-AC02-07CH11359 with theU.S.Department
of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physic
First cosmology results using SNe Ia from the dark energy survey: analysis, systematic uncertainties, and validation
International audienceWe present the analysis underpinning the measurement of cosmological parameters from 207 spectroscopically classified type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the first three years of the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program (DES-SN), spanning a redshift range of 0.01
- …