14,821 research outputs found
Magmatic intrusions control Io's crustal thickness
Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system, loses heat through
eruptions of hot lava. Heat is supplied by tidal heating and is thought to be
transferred through the mantle by magmatic segregation, a mode of transport
that sets it apart from convecting terrestrial planets. We present a model that
couples magmatic transport of tidal heat to the volcanic system in the crust,
in order to determine the controls on crustal thickness, magmatic intrusions,
and eruption rates. We demonstrate that magmatic intrusions are a key component
of Io's crustal heat balance; around 80% of the magma delivered to the base of
the crust must be emplaced and frozen as plutons to match rough estimates of
crustal thickness. As magma ascends from a partially molten mantle into the
crust, a decompacting boundary layer forms, which can explain inferred
observations of a high-melt-fraction region.Comment: Accepted to JGR:Planets. 24 pages inc appendices and references. 7
figure
Data Compression System with a Minimum Time Delay Unit-Patent
Minimum time delay unit for conventional time multiplexed data compression channel
The symbiotic star CH Cygni. III. A precessing radio jet
VLA, MERLIN and Hubble Space Telescope imaging observations of the extended
regions of the symbiotic system CH Cygni are analysed. These extensions are
evidence of a strong collimation mechanism, probably an accretion disk
surrounding the hot component of the system. Over 16 years (between 1985 and
2001) the general trend is that these jets are seen to precess. Fitting a
simple ballistic model of matter ejection to the geometry of the extended
regions suggests a period of 6520 +/- 150 days, with a precession cone opening
angle of 35 +/- 1 degrees. This period is of the same order as that proposed
for the orbital period of the outer giant in the system, suggesting a possible
link between the two. Anomalous knots in the emission, not explained by the
simple model, are believed to be the result of older, slower moving ejecta, or
possibly jet material that has become disrupted through sideways interaction
with the surrounding medium.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Compact steep-spectrum sources from the S4 sample
We present the results of 5-GHz observations with the VLA A-array of a sample
of candidate Compact Steep Spectrum sources (CSSs) selected from the S4 survey.
We also estimate the symmetry parameters of high-luminosity CSSs selected from
different samples of radio sources, and compare these with the larger sources
of similar luminosity to understand their evolution and the consistency of the
CSSs with the unified scheme for radio galaxies and quasars. The majority of
CSSs are likely to be young sources advancing outwards through a dense
asymmetric environment. The radio properties of CSSs are found to be consistent
with the unified scheme, in which the axes of the quasars are observed close to
the line of sight, while radio galaxies are observed close to the plane of the
sky.Comment: accepted for publication in mnras; 8 pages, figure 1 with 21 images,
and two additional figures; 2 table
Among-site variability in the stochastic dynamics of East African coral reefs
Coral reefs are dynamic systems whose composition is highly influenced by
unpredictable biotic and abiotic factors. Understanding the spatial scale at
which long-term predictions of reef composition can be made will be crucial for
guiding conservation efforts. Using a 22-year time series of benthic
composition data from 20 reefs on the Kenyan and Tanzanian coast, we studied
the long-term behaviour of Bayesian vector autoregressive state-space models
for reef dynamics, incorporating among-site variability. We estimate that if
there were no among-site variability, the total long-term variability would be
approximately one third of its current value. Thus among-site variability
contributes more to long-term variability in reef composition than does
temporal variability. Individual sites are more predictable than previously
thought, and predictions based on current snapshots are informative about
long-term properties. Our approach allowed us to identify a subset of possible
climate refugia sites with high conservation value, where the long-term
probability of coral cover <= 0.1 was very low. Analytical results show that
this probability is most strongly influenced by among-site variability and by
interactions among benthic components within sites. These findings suggest that
conservation initiatives might be successful at the site scale as well as the
regional scale.Comment: 97 pages, 49 figure
The existence of time
Of those gauge theories of gravity known to be equivalent to general
relativity, only the biconformal gauging introduces new structures - the
quotient of the conformal group of any pseudo-Euclidean space by its Weyl
subgroup always has natural symplectic and metric structures. Using this metric
and symplectic form, we show that there exist canonically conjugate,
orthogonal, metric submanifolds if and only if the original gauged space is
Euclidean or signature 0. In the Euclidean cases, the resultant configuration
space must be Lorentzian. Therefore, in this context, time may be viewed as a
derived property of general relativity.Comment: 21 pages (Reduced to clarify and focus on central argument; some
calculations condensed; typos corrected
Seasonal and depth-driven changes in rhodolith bed structure and associated macroalgae off Arvoredo island (southeastern Brazil)
Rhodoliths are formed by coralline red algae and can form heterogeneous substrata with high biodiversity. Here we describe a rhodolith bed at the southern limit of the known distribution of this habitat in the western Atlantic. We characterized rhodolith and macroalgal assemblages at 5, 10 and 15. m depth during summer and winter. Lithothamnion crispatum was dominant amongst the six rhodolith-forming species present. Most rhodoliths were spheroidal in shape indicating high mobility due to water movement. Rhodolith density decreased with increasing depth and during winter. Turf-forming seaweeds accounted for 60% of the biomass growing on rhodoliths. Macroalgae increased abundance and richness in the summer, but was similar between 5 and 15. m depth. They were less abundant and diverse than that recorded in rhodolith beds further north in Brazil. Both, season and depth, affected the structure of the macroalgae assemblages. We conclude that Lithothamniom is the most representative genus of Brazilian rhodolith beds. Summer is responsible for increasing the diversity and richness of macroalgae, as well as increasing rhodolith density. © 2013 Elsevier B.V
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