Chelonia mydas

Number of Pages: 4Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Chelonia

Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Chelonia mydas

Number of Pages: 4Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Some aspects of the ecology of the leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea at Laguna Jalova, Costa Rica

The ecology and reproductive biology of the leatherback turtle (Dennochelys coriacea) was studied on a high-energy nesting beach near Laguna Jalova, Costa Rica, between 28 March and 8 June 1985. The peak of nesting was between 15 April and 21 May. Leatherbacks here measured an average 146.6 cm straightline standard carapace length and laid an average 81.57 eggs. The eggs measured a mean 52.12 mm diameter and weighed an average of 85.01 g. Significant positive relationships were found between the carapace lengths of nesters and their clutch sizes and average diameter and weight of eggs. The total clutch weighed between 4.02 and 13.39 kg, and yolkless eggs accounted for an average 12.4% of this weight. The majority of nesters dug shallow (<24 cm) body pits and spent an average 81 minutes at the nest site. A significant number of c1utcbes were laid below the berm crest. In a hatchery 42.2% of the eggs hatched, while in natural nests 70.2% hatched. The average hatchling carapace length was 59.8 mm and weight was 44.6 g. The longevity of leatherback tracks and nests on the beach was affected by weather. One nester was recaptured about one year later off the coast of Mississippi, U.S.A. Egg poaching was intense on some sections of the Costa Rican coast. Four aerial surveys in four different months provided the basis for comparing density of nesting on seven sectors of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. The beach at Jalova is heavily used by green turtles (Chelonia mydJJs) after the leatherback nesting season. The role of the Parque Nacional Tortuguero in conserving the leatherback and green turtle is discussed.(PDF file contains 20 pages.

Investment Timing, Liquidity, and Agency Costs of Debt

This paper examines the effect of debt and liquidity on corporate investment in a continuous- time framework. We show that stockholder-bondholder agency conflicts cause investment thresholds to be U-shaped in leverage and decreasing in liquidity. In the absence of tax effects, we derive the optimal level of liquid funds that eliminates agency costs by implementing the first-best investment policy for a given capital structure. In a second step we generalize the framework by introducing a tax advantage of debt, and we show that an interior solution for liquidity and capital structure optimally trades off tax benefits and agency costs of debtinvestment timing; liquidity; agency costs of debt; capital structure; real options

First principles determination of the Peierls stress of the shuffle screw dislocation in silicon

The Peierls stress of the a/2 screw dislocation belonging to the shuffle set is calculated for silicon using density functional theory. We have checked the effect of boundary conditions by using two models, the supercell method where one considers a periodic array of dislocations, and the cluster method where a single dislocation is embedded in a small cluster. The Peierls stress is underestimated with the supercell and overestimated with the cluster. These contributions have been calculated and the Peierls stress is determined in the range between 2.4 x 10-2 and 2.8 x 10-2 eV {\AA}-3. When moving, the dislocation follows the {111} plane going through a low energy metastable configuration and never follows the 100 plane, which includes a higher energy metastable core configuration

Slip line growth as a critical phenomenon

We study the growth of slip line in a plastically deforming crystal by numerical simulation of a double-ended pile-up model with a dislocation source at one end, and an absorbing wall at the other end. In presence of defects, the pile-up undergoes a second order non-equilibrium phase transition as a function of stress, which can be characterized by finite size scaling. We obtain a complete set of critical exponents and scaling functions that describe the spatiotemporal dynamics of the slip line. Our findings allow to reinterpret earlier experiments on slip line kinematography as evidence of a dynamic critical phenomenon.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Explanation of the discrepancy between the measured and atomistically calculated yield stresses in body-centered cubic metals

We propose a mesoscopic model that explains the factor of two to three discrepancy between experimentally measured yield stresses of BCC metals at low temperatures and typical Peierls stresses determined by atomistic simulations of isolated screw dislocations. The model involves a Frank-Read type source emitting dislocations that become pure screws at a certain distance from the source and, owing to their high Peierls stress, control its operation. However, due to the mutual interaction between emitted dislocations the group consisting of both non-screw and screw dislocations can move at an applied stress that is about a factor of two to three lower than the stress needed for the glide of individual screw dislocations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; RevTex4; submitted to PR

Type III and IV deformation twins in minerals and metals

Type IV twins are defined and shown to exist in triclinic crystal systems, as well as in some monoclinic and trigonal systems. Here, we focus on Pericline twins in triclinic plagioclase as an example. Type IV twins are associated with the irrationality of one of the twinning elements that is rational for a type II twin. The formation of type IV twins is accomplished through the shear on a K2 plane produced by the motion of twinning disconnections on a K1 plane, followed by rotational partitioning. The same systems where type IV twins are present also have type III twins instead of type I. Without using the correct type IV analysis, one would deduce the wrong magnitude and direction of shear associated with the twinning process, the magnitude of which would increase with greater triclinicity. Types I and II twins form if and only if there are rational lattice translation vectors lying in the plane of distortion/shear. Otherwise, the twins are types III and IV. Historically, two types of twins (I and II) have been categorized for twinning in minerals and metals. When analyzed by the topological model, a crystallographic construction used to define the defect structure of interfaces, triclinic and some other lowsymmetry crystals do not fall into either category and instead form two new twinning types, namely, III and IV. Aside from accurately describing twin structures, these concepts are important for understanding the deformation of minerals such as plagioclase and for deriving constitutive models for the deformation

Inertial and retardation effects for dislocation interactions

A new formulation for the equation of motion of interacting dislocations is derived. From this solution it is shown that additional coupling forces, of kinetic and inertial origin, should be considered in Dislocation Dynamics (DD) simulations at high strain rates. A heuristic modification of this general equation of motion enables one to introduce retardation into inertial and elastic forces, in accordance with a progressive rearrangement of fields through wave propagation. The influence of the corresponding coupling terms and retardation effects are then illustrated in the case of dislocation dipolar interaction and coplanar annihilation. Finally, comparison is made between the modified equation of motion and a precise numerical solution based on the Peierls-Nabarro Galerkin method. Good agreement is found between the Peierls-Nabarro Galerkin method and the EoM including retardation effects for a dipolar interaction. For coplanar annihilation, it is demonstrated that an unexpected mechanism, involving a complex interplay between the core of the dislocations and kinetics energies, allows a renucleation from the completely annihilated dislocations. A description of this phenomenon that could break the most favourable reaction between dislocations is proposed