551 research outputs found
Thin-layer effects in glaciological seismic amplitude-versus-angle (AVA) analysis: implications for characterising a subglacial till unit, Russell Glacier, West Greenland
Seismic amplitude-versus-angle (AVA) methods are a powerful means of quantifying the physical properties of subglacial material, but serious interpretative errors can arise when AVA is measured over a thinly-layered substrate. A substrate layer with a thickness less than 1/4 of the seismic wavelength, λ, is considered "thin", and reflections from its bounding interfaces superpose and appear in seismic data as a single reflection event. AVA interpretation of subglacial till can be vulnerable to such thin-layer effects, since a lodged (non-deforming) till can be overlain by a thin (metre-scale) cap of dilatant (deforming) till. We assess the potential for misinterpretation by simulating seismic data for a stratified subglacial till unit, with an upper dilatant layer between 0.1–5.0 m thick (λ / 120 to > λ / 4, with &lambda; = 12 m). For dilatant layers less than &lambda; / 6 thick, conventional AVA analysis yields acoustic impedance and Poisson's ratio that indicate contradictory water saturation. A thin-layer interpretation strategy is proposed, that accurately characterises the model properties of the till unit. The method is applied to example seismic AVA data from Russell Glacier, West Greenland, in which characteristics of thin-layer responses are evident. A subglacial till deposit is interpreted, having lodged till (acoustic impedance = 4.26&plusmn;0.59 &times; 10<sup>6</sup> kg m<sup>−2</sup> s<sup>&minus;1</sup>) underlying a water-saturated dilatant till layer (thickness < 2 m, Poisson's ratio ~ 0.5). Since thin-layer considerations offer a greater degree of complexity in an AVA interpretation, and potentially avoid misinterpretations, they are a valuable aspect of quantitative seismic analysis, particularly for characterising till units
Surface structure and stability of the Larsen C ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula
A structural glaciological description and analysis of surface morphological features of the Larsen C ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, is derived from satellite images spanning the period 1963-2007. The data are evaluated in two time ranges: a comparison of a 1963 satellite image photomosaic with a modern digital mosaic compiled using 2003/04 austral summer data; and an image series since 2003 showing recent evolution of the shelf. We map the ice-shelf edge, rift swarms, crevasses and crevasse traces, and linear longitudinal structures (called 'flow stripes' or 'streak lines'). The latter are observed to be continuous over distances of up to 200km from the grounding line to the ice-shelf edge, with little evidence of changes in pattern over that distance. Integrated velocity measurements along a flowline indicate that the shelf has been stable for similar to 560years in the mid-shelf area. Linear longitudinal features may be grouped into 12 units, each related to one or a small group of outlet feeder glaciers to the shelf. We observe that the boundaries between these flow units often mark rift terminations. The boundary zones originate upstream at capes, islands or other suture areas between outlet glaciers. In agreement with previous work, our findings imply that rift terminations within such suture zones indicate that they contain anomalously soft ice. We thus suggest that suture zones within the Larsen C ice shelf, and perhaps within ice shelves more generally, may act to stabilize them by reducing regional stress intensities and thus rates of rift lengthening
New determination of the mass of the eta meson at COSY-ANKE
A value for the mass of the eta meson has been determined at the COSY-ANKE
facility through the measurement of a set of deuteron laboratory beam momenta
and associated 3He center-of-mass momenta in the d+p -> 3He+X reaction. The eta
was then identified by the missing-mass peak and the production threshold
determined. The individual beam momenta were fixed with a relative precision of
3 x 10^-5 for values around 3 GeV/c by using a polarized deuteron beam and
inducing an artificial depolarizing spin resonance, which occurs at a
well-defined frequency. The final-state momenta in the two-body d+p -> 3He+eta
reaction were investigated in detail by studying the size of the 3He momentum
ellipse with the forward detection system of the ANKE spectrometer. Final
alignment of the spectrometer for this high precision experiment was achieved
through a comprehensive study of the 3He final-state momenta as a function of
the center-of-mass angles, taking advantage of the full geometrical acceptance.
The value obtained for the mass, m(eta)=(547.873 +- 0.005(stat) +- 0.027(syst))
MeV/c^2, is consistent and competitive with other recent measurements, in which
the meson was detected through its decay products.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, published versio
Absence of spin dependence in the final state interaction of the d(pol) p --> 3He eta reaction
The deuteron tensor analysing power t_{20} of the d(pol) p --> 3He eta
reaction has been measured at the COSY-ANKE facility in small steps in excess
energy Q up to Q = 11 MeV. Despite the square of the production amplitude
varying by over a factor of five through this range, t_{20} shows little or no
energy dependence. This is evidence that the final state interaction causing
the energy variation is not influenced by the spin configuration in the
entrance channel. The weak angular dependence observed for t_{20} provides
useful insight into the amplitude structure near threshold.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Difficulties with Recovering The Masses of Supermassive Black Holes from Stellar Kinematical Data
We investigate the ability of three-integral, axisymmetric, orbit-based
modeling algorithms to recover the parameters defining the gravitational
potential (M/L ratio and black hole mass Mh) in spheroidal stellar systems
using stellar kinematical data. We show that the potential estimation problem
is generically under-determined when applied to long-slit kinematical data of
the kind used in most black hole mass determinations to date. A range of
parameters (M/L, Mh) can provide equally good fits to the data, making it
impossible to assign best-fit values. We illustrate the indeterminacy using a
variety of data sets derived from realistic models as well as published
observations of the galaxy M32. In the case of M32, our reanalysis demonstrates
that data published prior to 2000 are equally consistent with Mh in the range
1.5x10^6-5x10^6 solar masses, with no preferred value in that range. While the
HST/STIS data for this galaxy may overcome the degeneracy in Mh, HST data for
most galaxies do not resolve the black hole's sphere of influence and in these
galaxies the degree of degeneracy allowed by the data may be substantial. We
investigate the effect on the degeneracy of enforcing smoothness
(regularization) constraints. However we find no indication that the true
potential can be recovered simply by enforcing smoothness. For a given
smoothing level, all solutions in the minimum-chisquare valley exhibit similar
levels of noise. These experiments affirm that the indeterminacy is real and
not an artifact associated with non-smooth solutions. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. Changes
include discussion of regularizatio
Low-energy cross section of the 7Be(p,g)8B solar fusion reaction from Coulomb dissociation of 8B
Final results from an exclusive measurement of the Coulomb breakup of 8B into
7Be+p at 254 A MeV are reported. Energy-differential Coulomb-breakup cross
sections are analyzed using a potential model of 8B and first-order
perturbation theory. The deduced astrophysical S_17 factors are in good
agreement with the most recent direct 7Be(p,gamma)8B measurements and follow
closely the energy dependence predicted by the cluster-model description of 8B
by Descouvemont. We extract a zero-energy S_17 factor of 20.6 +- 0.8 (stat) +-
1.2 (syst) eV b.Comment: 14 pages including 16 figures, LaTeX, accepted for publication in
Physical Review C. Minor changes in text and layou
The production of K+K- pairs in proton-proton collisions at 2.83 GeV
Differential and total cross sections for the pp -> ppK+K- reaction have been
measured at a proton beam energy of 2.83 GeV using the COSY-ANKE magnetic
spectrometer. Detailed model descriptions fitted to a variety of
one-dimensional distributions permit the separation of the pp -> pp phi cross
section from that of non-phi production. The differential spectra show that
higher partial waves represent the majority of the pp -> pp phi total cross
section at an excess energy of 76 MeV, whose energy dependence would then seem
to require some s-wave phi-p enhancement near threshold. The non-phi data can
be described in terms of the combined effects of two-body final state
interactions using the same effective scattering parameters determined from
lower energy data.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 3 table
Kaon Pair Production in Proton--Proton Collisions
The differential and total cross sections for kaon pair production in the
pp->ppK+K- reaction have been measured at three beam energies of 2.65, 2.70,
and 2.83 GeV using the ANKE magnetic spectrometer at the COSY-Juelich
accelerator. These near-threshold data are separated into pairs arising from
the decay of the phi-meson and the remainder. For the non-phi selection, the
ratio of the differential cross sections in terms of the K-p and K+p invariant
masses is strongly peaked towards low masses. This effect can be described
quantitatively by using a simple ansatz for the K-p final state interaction,
where it is seen that the data are sensitive to the magnitude of an effective
K-p scattering length. When allowance is made for a small number of phi events
where the K- rescatters from the proton, the phi region is equally well
described at all three energies. A very similar phenomenon is discovered in the
ratio of the cross sections as functions of the K-pp and K+pp invariant masses
and the identical final state interaction model is also very successful here.
The world data on the energy dependence of the non-phi total cross section is
also reproduced, except possibly for the results closest to threshold.Comment: 12 two-column pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl
The Near-Threshold Production of Phi Mesons in pp Collisions
The pp->pp phi reaction has been studied at the Cooler Synchrotron
COSY-Juelich, using the internal beam and ANKE facility. Total cross sections
have been determined at three excess energies epsilon near the production
threshold. The differential cross section closest to threshold at epsilon=18.5
MeV exhibits a clear S-wave dominance as well as a noticeable effect due to the
proton-proton final state interaction. Taken together with data for pp
omega-production, a significant enhancement of the phi/omega ratio of a factor
8 is found compared to predictions based on the Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka rule.Comment: 4 Pages, 3 Figures, 1 Table, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
- …