Mercury's Weather-Beaten Surface: An Examination of the Relevant Processes Through Comparisons and Contrasts with the Moon and Asteroids

We examine global color properties of Mercury and their correlations to the predicted trends due to particle bombardment and thermal processing. Color ratio and spectral slope analyzes are interpreted relative to lunar and asteroid studies

Microstructure in two- and three-dimensional hybrid simulations of perpendicular collisionless shocks

Supercritical collisionless perpendicular shocks have an average macrostructure determined primarily by the dynamics of ions specularly reflected at the magnetic ramp. Within the overall macrostructure, instabilities, both linear and nonlinear, generate fluctuations and microstructure. To identify the sources of such microstructure, high-resolution two-and three-dimensional simulations have been carried out using the hybrid method, wherein the ions are treated as particles and the electron response is modelled as a massless fluid. We confirm the results of earlier two-dimensional (2-D) simulations showing both field-parallel aligned propagating fluctuations and fluctuations carried by the reflected-gyrating ions. In addition, it is shown that, for 2-D simulations of the shock coplanarity plane, the presence of short-wavelength fluctuations in all magnetic components is associated with the ion Weibel instability driven at the upstream edge of the foot by the reflected-gyrating ions. In 3-D simulations we show for the first time that the dominant microstructure is due to a coupling between field-parallel propagating fluctuations in the ramp and the motion of the reflected ions. This results in a pattern of fluctuations counter-propagating across the surface of the shock at an angle inclined to the magnetic field direction, due to a combination of field-parallel motion at the Alfvén speed of the ramp and motion in the sense of gyration of the reflected ions.</p

Quasi‐trapped ion and electron populations at Mercury

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94682/1/grl28663.pd

Solar wind forcing at Mercury: WSA‐ENLIL model results

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97237/1/jgra50070.pd

MESSENGER observations of Mercury's magnetosphere during northward IMF

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95214/1/grl25367.pd

Minority cytotypes in European populations of the Gymnadenia conopsea complex (Orchidaceae) greatly increase intraspecific and intrapopulation diversity

Background and Aims Patterns of ploidy variation among and within populations can provide valuable insights into the evolutionary mechanisms shaping the dynamics of plant systems showing ploidy diversity. Whereas data on majority ploidies are, by definition, often sufficiently extensive, much less is known about the incidence and evolutionary role of minority cytotypes. Methods Ploidy and proportions of endoreplicated genome were determined using DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) flow cytometry in 6150 Gymnadenia plants (fragrant orchids) collected from 141 populations in 17 European countries. All widely recognized European species, and several taxa of less certain taxonomic status were sampled within Gymnadenia conopsea sensu lato. Key Results Most Gymnadenia populations were taxonomically and/or ploidy heterogeneous. Two majority (2x and 4x) and three minority (3x, 5x and 6x) cytotypes were identified. Evolution largely proceeded at the diploid level, whereas tetraploids were much more geographically and taxonomically restricted. Although minority ploidies constituted <2 % of the individuals sampled, they were found in 35 % of populations across the entire area investigated. The amount of nuclear DNA, together with the level of progressively partial endoreplication, separated all Gymnadenia species currently widely recognized in Europe. Conclusions Despite their low frequency, minority cytotypes substantially increase intraspecific and intrapopulation ploidy diversity estimates for fragrant orchids. The cytogenetic structure of Gymnadenia populations is remarkably dynamic and shaped by multiple evolutionary mechanisms, including both the ongoing production of unreduced gametes and heteroploid hybridization. Overall, it is likely that the level of ploidy heterogeneity experienced by most plant species/populations is currently underestimated; intensive sampling is necessary to obtain a holistic pictur

MESSENGER and Mariner 10 flyby observations of magnetotail structure and dynamics at Mercury

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94896/1/jgra21525.pd

In Depth Characterization of Repetitive DNA in 23 Plant Genomes Reveals Sources of Genome Size Variation in the Legume Tribe Fabeae

The differential accumulation and elimination of repetitive DNA are key drivers of genome size variation in flowering plants, yet there have been few studies which have analysed how different types of repeats in related species contribute to genome size evolution within a phylogenetic context. This question is addressed here by conducting large-scale comparative analysis of repeats in 23 species from four genera of the monophyletic legume tribe Fabeae, representing a 7.6-fold variation in genome size. Phylogenetic analysis and genome size reconstruction revealed that this diversity arose from genome size expansions and contractions in different lineages during the evolution of Fabeae. Employing a combination of low-pass genome sequencing with novel bioinformatic approaches resulted in identification and quantification of repeats making up 55-83% of the investigated genomes. In turn, this enabled an analysis of how each major repeat type contributed to the genome size variation encountered. Differential accumulation of repetitive DNA was found to account for 85% of the genome size differences between the species, and most (57%) of this variation was found to be driven by a single lineage of Ty3/gypsy LTR-retrotransposons, the Ogre elements. Although the amounts of several other lineages of LTR-retrotransposons and the total amount of satellite DNA were also positively correlated with genome size, their contributions to genome size variation were much smaller (up to 6%). Repeat analysis within a phylogenetic framework also revealed profound differences in the extent of sequence conservation between different repeat types across Fabeae. In addition to these findings, the study has provided a proof of concept for the approach combining recent developments in sequencing and bioinformatics to perform comparative analyses of repetitive DNAs in a large number of non-model species without the need to assemble their genomes

L-DEPP Definition Study for Lunar Lander FINAL REPORT "

A complete set of scientific instrumentation for the L-DEPP dust, plasma and waves package for the ESA Lunar Lander mission has been proposed and fully assessed with respect to the system and scientific requirements derived by ESA and the L-DEPP project team. The preliminary design from the system level down to the individual sensors is presented