Regolith production and transport at the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory, Part 2: Insights from meteoric 10Be

Regolith-mantled hillslopes are ubiquitous features of most temperate landscapes, and their morphology reflects the climatically, biologically, and tectonically mediated interplay between regolith production and downslope transport. Despite intensive research, few studies have quantified both of these mass fluxes in the same field site. Here we present an analysis of 87 meteoric 10Be measurements from regolith and bedrock within the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (SSHO), in central Pennsylvania. Meteoric 10Be concentrations in bulk regolith samples (n=73) decrease with regolith depth. Comparison of hillslope meteoric 10Be inventories with analyses of rock chip samples (n=14) from a 24 m bedrock core confirms that >80% of the total inventory is retained in the regolith. The systematic downslope increase of meteoric 10Be inventories observed at SSHO is consistent with 10Be accumulation in slowly creeping regolith (∼ 0.2 cm yr-1). Regolith flux inferred from meteoric 10Be varies linearly with topographic gradient (determined from high-resolution light detection and ranging-based topography) along the upper portions of hillslopes at SSHO. However, regolith flux appears to depend on the product of gradient and regolith depth where regolith is thick, near the base of hillslopes. Meteoric 10Be inventories at the north and south ridgetops indicate minimum regolith residence times of 10.5 ± 3.7 and 9.1 ± 2.9 ky, respectively, similar to residence times inferred from U-series isotopes in Ma et al. (2013). The combination of our results with U-series-derived regolith production rates implies that regolith production and erosion rates are similar to within a factor of two on SSHO hillcrests. ©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

A two-component regulatory system modulates twitching motility in Dichelobacter nodosus

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Dichelobacter nodosus is the essential causative agent of footrot in sheep and type IV fimbriae-mediated twitching motility has been shownto be essential for virulence.Wehave identified a two-component signal transduction system (TwmSR) that shows similarity to chemosensory systems from other bacteria. Insertional inactivation of the gene encoding the response regulator, TwmR, led to a twitching motility defect, with the mutant having a reduced rate of twitching motility when compared to the wild-type and a mutant complemented with the wild-type twmR gene. The reduced rate of twitching motility was not a consequence of a reduced growth rate or decreased production of surface located fimbriae, but video microscopy indicated that it appeared to result from an overall loss of twitching directionality. These results suggest that a chemotactic response to environmental factors may play an important role in the D. nodosus-mediated disease process

ROSAT HRI X-ray Observations of the Open Globular Cluster NGC 288

A ROSAT HRI X-ray image was obtained of the open globular cluster NGC 288, which is located near the South Galactic Pole. This is the first deep X-ray image of this system. We detect a Low Luminosity Globular Cluster X-ray source (LLGCX) RXJ005245.0-263449 with an X-ray luminosity of (5.5+-1.4)x10^32 ergs/s (0.1-2.0 keV), which is located very close to the cluster center. There is evidence for X-ray variability on a time scale of <~ 1 day. The presence of this LLGCX in such an open cluster suggests that dense stellar systems with high interaction rates are not needed to form LLGCXs. We also searched for diffuse X-ray emission from NGC 288. Upper limits on the X-ray luminosities are L_X^h < 9.5x10^32 ergs/s (0.52-2.02 keV) and L_X^s < 9.3x10^32 ergs/s (0.11-0.41 keV). These imply upper limits to the diffuse X-ray to optical light ratios in NGC 288 which are lower than the values observed for X-ray faint early-type galaxies. This indicates that the soft X-ray emission in these galaxies is due either to a component which is not present in globular clusters (e.g., interstellar gas, or a stellar component which is not found in low metallicity Population II systems), or to a relatively small number of bright Low Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs).Comment: The Astrophysical Journal in press. Minor revisions to improve presentation. 6 pages with 3 embedded Postscript figures in emulateapj.st

The First Empirical Mass Loss Law for Population II Giants

Using the Spitzer IRAC camera we have obtained mid-IR photometry of the red giant branch stars in the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc. About 100 stars show an excess of mid-infrared light above that expected from their photospheric emission. This is plausibly due to dust formation in mass flowing from these stars. This mass loss extends down to the level of the horizontal branch and increases with luminosity. The mass loss is episodic, occurring in only a fraction of stars at a given luminosity. Using a simple model and our observations we derive mass loss rates for these stars. Finally, we obtain the first empirical mass loss formula calibrated with observations of Population II stars. The dependence on luminosity of our mass loss rate is considerably shallower than the widely used Reimers Law. The results presented here are the first from our Spitzer survey of a carefully chosen sample of 17 Galactic Globular Clusters, spanning the entire metallicity range from about one hundredth up to almost solar

Pleistocene Relative Sea Levels in the Chesapeake Bay Region and Their Implications for the Next Century

Today, relative sea-level rise (3.4 mm/yr) is faster in the Chesapeake Bay region than any other location on the Atlantic coast of North America, and twice the global average eustatic rate (1.7 mm/yr). Dated interglacial deposits suggest that relative sea levels in the Chesapeake Bay region deviate from global trends over a range of timescales. Glacio-isostatic adjustment of the land surface from loading and unloading of continental ice is likely responsible for these deviations, but our understanding of the scale and timeframe over which isostatic response operates in this region remains incomplete because dated sea-level proxies are mostly limited to the Holocene and to deposits 80 ka or older. To better understand glacio-isostatic control over past and present relative sea level, we applied a suite of dating methods to the stratigraphy of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most rapidly subsiding and lowest-elevation surfaces bordering Chesapeake Bay. Data indicate that the region was submerged at least for portions of marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 (ca. 60–30 ka), although multiple proxies suggest that global sea level was 40–80 m lower than present. Today MIS 3 deposits are above sea level because they were raised by the Last Glacial Maximum forebulge, but decay of that same forebulge is causing ongoing subsidence. These results suggest that glacio-isostasy controlled relative sea level in the mid-Atlantic region for tens of thousands of years following retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and continues to influence relative sea level in the region. Thus, isostatically driven subsidence of the Chesapeake Bay region will continue for millennia, exacerbating the effects of global sea-level rise and impacting the region’s large population centers and valuable coastal natural resources

BBN and the Primordial Abundances

The relic abundances of the light elements synthesized during the first few minutes of the evolution of the Universe provide unique probes of cosmology and the building blocks for stellar and galactic chemical evolution, while also enabling constraints on the baryon (nucleon) density and on models of particle physics beyond the standard model. Recent WMAP analyses of the CBR temperature fluctuation spectrum, combined with other, relevant, observational data, has yielded very tight constraints on the baryon density, permitting a detailed, quantitative confrontation of the predictions of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis with the post-BBN abundances inferred from observational data. The current status of this comparison is presented, with an emphasis on the challenges to astronomy, astrophysics, particle physics, and cosmology it identifies.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the ESO/Arcetri Workshop on "Chemical Abundances and Mixing in Stars in the Milky Way and its Satellites", eds., L. Pasquini and S. Randich (Springer-Verlag Series, "ESO Astrophysics Symposia"

Radio galaxies and magnetic fields in A514

A514 contains six extended and polarized radio sources located at various projected distances from the cluster center. Here we present a detailed study of these six radio sources in total intensity and polarization using the Very Large Array at 3.6 and 6 cm. Since the radio sources sample different lines of sight across the cluster, an analysis of the Faraday Rotation Measures (RMs) provides information on the strength and the structure of the cluster magnetic field. These sources show a decreasing Faraday Rotation Measure with increasing distance from the cluster center. We estimate the strength of the magnetic field to be ~3-7 uG in the cluster center. From the RM structure across the stronger and more extended sources we estimate the coherence length of the magnetic field to be about 9 kpc at the cluster center.Comment: 16 pages, 18 ps figures accepted by A&

NetB, a New Toxin That Is Associated with Avian Necrotic Enteritis Caused by Clostridium perfringens

For over 30 years a phospholipase C enzyme called alpha-toxin was thought to be the key virulence factor in necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens. However, using a gene knockout mutant we have recently shown that alpha-toxin is not essential for pathogenesis. We have now discovered a key virulence determinant. A novel toxin (NetB) was identified in a C. perfringens strain isolated from a chicken suffering from necrotic enteritis (NE). The toxin displayed limited amino acid sequence similarity to several pore forming toxins including beta-toxin from C. perfringens (38% identity) and alpha-toxin from Staphylococcus aureus (31% identity). NetB was only identified in C. perfringens type A strains isolated from chickens suffering NE. Both purified native NetB and recombinant NetB displayed cytotoxic activity against the chicken leghorn male hepatoma cell line LMH; inducing cell rounding and lysis. To determine the role of NetB in NE a netB mutant of a virulent C. perfringens chicken isolate was constructed by homologous recombination, and its virulence assessed in a chicken disease model. The netB mutant was unable to cause disease whereas the wild-type parent strain and the netB mutant complemented with a wild-type netB gene caused significant levels of NE. These data show unequivocally that in this isolate a functional NetB toxin is critical for the ability of C. perfringens to cause NE in chickens. This novel toxin is the first definitive virulence factor to be identified in avian C. perfringens strains capable of causing NE. Furthermore, the netB mutant is the first rationally attenuated strain obtained in an NE-causing isolate of C. perfringens; as such it has considerable vaccine potential

Offshore-onshore record of Last Glacial Maximum-to-present grounding line retreat at Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica

Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, is the largest Antarctic contributor to global sea-level rise and is vulnerable to rapid retreat, yet our knowledge of its deglacial history since the Last Glacial Maximum is based largely on marine sediments that record retreat to ~120 km downstream of the modern grounding line by the early Holocene. We show, with a suite of 10Be exposure ages from onshore glacial deposits directly adjacent to Pine Island Glacier, that this major glacier thinned rapidly in the early- to mid-Holocene. Our results indicate that Pine Island Glacier was at least 690 m thicker than present prior to ~8 ka. We infer that the rapid thinning detected at the site furthest downstream records the arrival and stabilization of the retreating grounding line at that site by 8-6 ka. By combining our exposure ages and the marine record, we extend knowledge of Pine Island Glacier retreat both spatially and temporally: to 50 km from the modern grounding line and to the mid-Holocene, providing a dataset that is important for future numerical ice sheet model validation