3,664 research outputs found
Emergence of the Shackleton Range from beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet due to glacial erosion
This paper explores the long-term evolution of a subglacial fjord landscape in the Shackleton Range, Antarctica. We propose that prolonged ice-sheet erosion across a passive continental margin caused troughs to deepen and lower the surrounding ice-sheet surface, leaving adjacent mountains exposed. Geomorphological evidence suggests a change in the direction of regional ice flow accompanied emergence. Simple calculations suggest that isostatic compensation caused by the deepening of bounding ice-stream troughs lowered the ice-sheet surface relative to the mountains by ~800m. Use of multiple cosmogenic isotopes on bedrock and erratics (26Al, 10Be, 21Ne) provides evidence that overriding of the massif and the deepening of the adjacent troughs occurred earlier than the Quaternary. Perhaps this occurred in the mid-Miocene, as elsewhere in East Antarctica in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and the Lambert basin. The implication is that glacial erosion instigates feedback that can change ice-sheet thickness, extent, and direction of flow. Indeed, as the subglacial troughs evolve over millions of years, they increase topographic relief; and this changes the dynamics of the ice sheet. © 2013 Elsevier B.V
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Consumer Views on Transportation and Energy (Third Edition)
This report has been assembled to provide the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) with an idea of how the American public views various transportation, energy, and environmental issues. The data presented in this report have been drawn from multiple sources: surveys conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that are commissioned and funded by EERE, Gallup polls, news organization polls, surveys conducted by independent groups and academic institutions, and other sources
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Increasing thermal plant flexibility in a high renewables power system
Thermal generation is a vital component of mature and reliable electricity markets. As the share of renewable electricity in such markets grows, so too do the challenges associated with its variability. Proposed solutions to these challenges typically focus on alternatives to primary generation, such as energy storage, demand side management, or increased interconnection. Less attention is given to the demands placed on conventional thermal generation or its potential for increased flexibility. However, for the foreseeable future, conventional plants will have to operate alongside new renewables and have an essential role in accommodating increasing supply-side variability.
This paper explores the role that conventional generation has to play in managing variability through the sub-system case study of Northern Ireland, identifying the significance of specific plant characteristics for reliable system operation. Particular attention is given to the challenges of wind ramping and the need to avoid excessive wind curtailment. Potential for conflict is identified with the role for conventional plant in addressing these two challenges. Market specific strategies for using the existing fleet of generation to reduce the impact of renewable resource variability are proposed, and wider lessons from the approach taken are identified
The Sloan Bright Arcs Survey : Six Strongly Lensed Galaxies at z=0.4-1.4
We present new results of our program to systematically search for strongly
lensed galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging data. In this
study six strong lens systems are presented which we have confirmed with
follow-up spectroscopy and imaging using the 3.5m telescope at the Apache Point
Observatory. Preliminary mass models indicate that the lenses are group-scale
systems with velocity dispersions ranging from 466-878 km s^{-1} at z=0.17-0.45
which are strongly lensing source galaxies at z=0.4-1.4. Galaxy groups are a
relatively new mass scale just beginning to be probed with strong lensing. Our
sample of lenses roughly doubles the confirmed number of group-scale lenses in
the SDSS and complements ongoing strong lens searches in other imaging surveys
such as the CFHTLS (Cabanac et al 2007). As our arcs were discovered in the
SDSS imaging data they are all bright (), making them ideally
suited for detailed follow-up studies.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJL, the Sloan Bright Arcs page is
located here: http://home.fnal.gov/~kubo/brightarcs.htm
2-Axis Electric Off-Road Bucket Seat Bases
Off-road vehicle bucket seats are currently restricted to a single position relative to the floor of the vehicle. Drivers and riders desire the ability to adjust their seat position to increase comfort and allow for a greater size range of riders to fit safely within the cabin or roll cage. To develop a viable solution, the team has gone through an extensive design process and has constructed a functioning prototype. This Final Design Report encapsulates the entire design process and concludes with recommendations for changes we would make looking both back in review as well as moving forward with further iterations of the product
10Be in Ice Cores and 14C in Tree Rings: Separation of Production and Climate Effects
Cosmogenic radionuclides are more and more used in solar activity reconstructions. However, the cosmogenic radionuclide signal also contains a climate component. It is therefore crucial to eliminate the climate information to allow a better interpretation of the reconstructed solar activity indices. In this paper the method of principal components is applied to 10Be data from two ice cores from opposite hemispheres as well as to 14C data from tree rings. The analysis shows that these records are dominated by a common signal which explains about 80% of the variance on multi decadal to multi millennial time scales, reflecting their common production rate. The second and third components are significantly different for 14C and 10Be. They are interpreted as system effects introduced by the transport of 10Be and 14C from the atmosphere where they are produced to the respective natural archives where they are stored. Principal component analysis improves significantly extraction of the production signal from the cosmogenic isotope data series, which is more appropriate for astrophysical and terrestrial studie
The Sloan Bright Arcs Survey: Four Strongly Lensed Galaxies with Redshift >2
We report the discovery of four very bright, strongly-lensed galaxies found
via systematic searches for arcs in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 and
6. These were followed-up with spectroscopy and imaging data from the
Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory
and found to have redshift . With isophotal magnitudes
and 3\arcsec-diameter magnitudes , these systems are some of
the brightest and highest surface brightness lensed galaxies known in this
redshift range. In addition to the magnitudes and redshifts, we present
estimates of the Einstein radii, which range from 5.0 \arcsec to 12.7
\arcsec, and use those to derive the enclosed masses of the lensing galaxies
Performance data of US Naval Observatory VLG-11 hydrogen masers since September, 1983
In 1983, two VLC-11 masers were delivered to the U.S. Naval Observatory by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Last year the short-term stability of these masers was reported and the effect of this short-term stability on timekeeping performance was examined. Since the date of installation, 13 September 1983, data on the masers' long-term performance have been accumulated. The Allan variance, agma(tau), of the relative frequency between the masers reaches a minimum of about 4 parts in 10 to the 16th power at averaging times 5,000 seconds and rises at longer averaging times due, at least partly, to systematic frequency drift. The systematic frequency drifts, expressed in units of fractional frequency difference per day are discussed
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