A comparison of shock-cloud and wind-cloud interactions: the longer survival of clouds in winds

The interaction of a hot, high-velocity wind with a cold, dense molecular cloud has often been assumed to resemble the evolution of a cloud embedded in a post-shock flow. However, no direct comparative study of these two processes currently exists in the literature. We present 2D adiabatic hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction of a Mach 10 shock with a cloud of density contrast χ = 10 and compare our results with those of a commensurate wind-cloud simulation. We then investigate the effect of varying the wind velocity, effectively altering the wind Mach number Mwind, on the cloud's evolution. We find that there are significant differences between the two processes: 1) the transmitted shock is much flatter in the shock-cloud interaction; 2) a low-pressure region in the wind-cloud case deflects the flow around the edge of the cloud in a different manner to the shock-cloud case; 3) there is far more axial compression of the cloud in the case of the shock. As Mwind increases, the normalized rate of mixing is reduced. Clouds in winds with higher Mwind also do not experience a transmitted shock through the cloud's rear and are more compressed axially. In contrast with shock-cloud simulations, the cloud mixing time normalized by the cloud-crushing time-scale tcc increases for increasing Mwind until it plateaus (at tmix ≃ 25 tcc) at high Mwind, thus demonstrating the expected Mach scaling. In addition, clouds in high Mach number winds are able to survive for long durations and are capable of being moved considerable distances

A comparison of shock-cloud and wind-cloud interactions: effect of increased cloud density contrast on cloud evolution

The similarities, or otherwise, of a shock or wind interacting with a cloud of density contrast χ = 10 were explored in a previous paper. Here, we investigate such interactions with clouds of higher density contrast. We compare the adiabatic hydrodynamic interaction of a Mach 10 shock with a spherical cloud of χ = 10^3 with that of a cloud embedded in a wind with identical parameters to the post-shock flow. We find that initially there are only minor morphological differences between the shock–cloud and wind–cloud interactions, compared to when χ = 10. However, once the transmitted shock exits the cloud, the development of a turbulent wake and fragmentation of the cloud differs between the two simulations. On increasing the wind Mach number, we note the development of a thin, smooth tail of cloud material, which is then disrupted by the fragmentation of the cloud core and subsequent ‘mass-loading’ of the flow. We find that the normalized cloud mixing time (tmix) is shorter at higher χ. However, a strong Mach number dependence on tmix and the normalized cloud drag time, tdrag, is not observed. Mach-number-dependent values of tmix and tdrag from comparable shock–cloud interactions converge towards the Mach-number-independent time-scales of the wind–cloud simulations. We find that high χ clouds can be accelerated up to 80–90 per cent of the wind velocity and travel large distances before being significantly mixed. However, complete mixing is not achieved in our simulations and at late times the flow remains perturbed

The interaction of a magnetohydrodynamical shock with a filament

We present 3D magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations of the adiabatic interaction of a shock with a dense, filamentary cloud. We investigate the effects of various filament lengths and orientations on the interaction using different orientations of the magnetic field, and vary the Mach number of the shock, the density contrast of the filament χ, and the plasma beta, in order to determine their effect on the evolution and lifetime of the filament. We find that in a parallel magnetic field filaments have longer lifetimes if they are orientated more ‘broadside’ to the shock front, and that an increase in χ hastens the destruction of the cloud, in terms of the modified cloud-crushing time-scale, tcs. The combination of a mild shock and a perpendicular or oblique field provides the best condition for extending the life of the filament, with some filaments able to survive almost indefinitely since they are cocooned by the magnetic field. A high value for χ does not initiate large turbulent instabilities in either the perpendicular or oblique field cases but rather draws the filament out into long tendrils which may eventually fragment. In addition, flux ropes are only formed in parallel magnetic fields. The length of the filament is, however, not as important for the evolution and destruction of a filament

The isothermal evolution of a shock-filament interaction

Studies of filamentary structures that are prevalent throughout the interstellar medium are of great significance to a number of astrophysical fields. Here, we present 3D hydrodynamic simulations of shock-filament interactions where the equation of state has been softened to become almost isothermal. We investigate the effect of such an isothermal regime on the interaction (where both the shock and filament are isothermal), and we examine how the nature of the interaction changes when the orientation of the filament, the shock Mach number, and the filament density contrast are varied. We find that only sideways-oriented filaments with a density contrast of 102 form a three-rolled structure, dissimilar to the results of a previous study. Moreover, the angle of orientation of the filament plays a large role in the evolution of the filament morphology: the greater the angle of orientation, the longer and less turbulent the wake. Turbulent stripping of filament material leading to fragmentation of the core occurs in most filaments; however, filaments orientated at an angle of 85° to the shock front do not fragment and are longer lived. In addition, values of the drag time are influenced by the filament length, with longer filaments being accelerated faster than shorter ones. Furthermore, filaments in an isothermal regime exhibit faster acceleration than those struck by an adiabatic shock. Finally, we find that the drag and mixing times of the filament increase as the angle of orientation of the filament is increased

Holocene fire regimes and treeline migration rates in sub-arctic Canada

Holocene climate change resulted in major vegetation reorganization in sub-arctic Canada near modern treeline. However, little is known of the effects of long-term climate change on boreal forest composition and fire regimes below treeline in this region. We present a high-resolution vegetation and fire history from two sites within the modern boreal forest in the central Northwest Territories, Canada, to provide new insight on sub-arctic vegetation response to Holocene climate dynamics and the role of fire in boreal ecosystems. Palynological analysis of sediments retrieved from Waite and Danny's lakes (informal) is used to reconstruct regional vegetation dynamics and boreal fire regimes. The longer Danny's Lake record documents treeline expansion beginning at ca. 7430–7220 cal yr BP. Integration of our new data with previous work shows that treeline expanded between ca. 4050 cal. yr BP and ca. 3840 cal yr BP at a rate of ca. 50 m/yr in response to the 1–2 °C increase in temperature estimated for the Holocene Thermal Maximum. Forest fires were relatively frequent during the early Holocene, before declining in frequency in response to development of cooler and wetter climate conditions associated with the Neoglacial (beginning after ca. 2200–2320 cal yr BP). We document a trend of increasing fire frequency in the 20th century that is correlated with warming at this time. These dynamics south of modern treeline provide insight into factors creating heterogeneity in plant community responses to large-scale climate events in high northern latitudes and suggest that large scale reorganization of boreal vegetation and fire regimes can be expected over the coming decades

Perspective from a Younger Generation -- The Astro-Spectroscopy of Gisbert Winnewisser

Gisbert Winnewisser's astronomical career was practically coextensive with the whole development of molecular radio astronomy. Here I would like to pick out a few of his many contributions, which I, personally, find particularly interesting and put them in the context of newer results.Comment: 14 pages. (Co)authored by members of the MPIfR (Sub)millimeter Astronomy Group. To appear in the Proceedings of the 4th Cologne-Bonn-Zermatt-Symposium "The Dense Interstellar Medium in Galaxies" eds. S. Pfalzner, C. Kramer, C. Straubmeier, & A. Heithausen (Springer: Berlin

The psychological-type profile of clergywomen in ordained local ministry in the Church of England : pioneers or custodians?

This study employs psychological-type theory to compare the psychological profile of 144 clergywomen serving in ordained local ministry in the Church of England alongside the established profile of 237 professional mobile clergywomen serving in the Church of England published by Francis, Craig, Whinney, Tilley, and Slater. The data found no significant differences between these two groups of clergywomen in terms of orientations (introversion and extraversion) or in terms of the judging process (thinking and feeling). In terms of the perceiving process, there was a significantly higher proportion of sensing types among those serving in ordained local ministry (70% compared with 35%). In terms of the attitudes, there was a significantly higher proportion of judging types among those serving in ordained local ministry (83% compared with 65%). The combined sensing judging (SJ) temperament accounted for 65% of the clergywomen serving in ordained local ministry, compared with 29% of the clergywomen serving in professional mobile ministry in the earlier study. It is argued that the SJ temperament characterises a custodian style of ministry

Individual differences in newborn visual attention associate with temperament and behavioral difficulties in later childhood

Recently it was shown that individual differences in attention style in infants are associated with childhood effortful control, surgency, and hyperactivity-inattention. Here we investigated whether effortful control, surgency and behavioral problems in childhood can be predicted even earlier, from individual differences in newborns’ average duration of gaze to stimuli. Eighty newborns participated in visual preference and habituation studies. Parents completed questionnaires at follow up (mean age = 7.5 years, SD = 1.0 year). Newborns’ average dwell time was negatively associated with childhood surgency (β = -.25, R2 = .04, p = .02) and total behavioral difficulties (β = -.28, R2 = .05, p = .04) but not with effortful control (β = .03, R2 = .001, p = .76). Individual differences in newborn visual attention significantly associated with individual variation in childhood surgency and behavioral problems, showing that some of the factors responsible for this variation are present at birth