Validation of a two-fluid model on unsteady water-vapour flows

International audienceThis paper is devoted to the validation of a two-fluid two-phase flow model in some highly unsteady situations involving strong rarefaction waves and shocks in water-vapour flows. The two-fluid model and its associated numerical method that were introduced in a previous work are first recalled, and details on the computational scheme and the verification of interfacial mass transfer terms are provided. Consistency with experimental data is checked in three configurations. First, a comparison with the speed of sound in a two-phase mixture is detailed. Afterwards, numerical approximations obtained with the two-fluid approach are discussed and compared with some experimental data documented in the Simpson water-hammer experiment and the high depressurization with flashing associated with Canon experiment

Influence of bottom currents on the sedimentary processes at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

We investigated the sedimentary processes that were active during the Holocene in the Gulf of Corinth, using high-resolution seismic reflection profiles and gravity cores. Seismic reflection data clearly show the presence of shallow-water sediment drifts at the western end of the Gulf, close to the Rion Sill that links the gulf to the Ionian Sea. Short cores indicate that drifts are composed of homogenous bioturbated mud in their upper part. The drift deposits flank a wide central area where the sea floor is eroded and where pre-Holocene deposits locally outcrop. The sea floor morphology in this area is marked by furrows oriented in different directions and by a depression attributed to the action of bottom-currents. The magnetic fabric of sediment samples from the drift, shelves, sub-basins and from the basin floor show a significant anisotropy and a similar orientation of Kmax axes along core. The largest anisotropy (P = 1.043 ± 0.007) is observed in the drift and is interpreted as resulting from the action of bottom currents. The similar orientation of Kmax axes in the other cores, collected from areas East of the drifts, suggests that bottom currents also affect sediment deposition in the rest of the study area, even if seismic profiles and core analyses demonstrate that gravitational processes such as submarine landslides and turbidity currents exert the main control on sediment transport and deposition. Average Kmax axes for four cores were reoriented using the declination of the characteristic remanent magnetization. Kmax axes show variable orientations relatively to the slope of the sea floor, between along-slope and roughly parallel to the contour lines.SISCO

Contrôle du remplissage détritique tardiglaciaire à holocène d'une haute vallée alpine par les dynamiques de versant : l'exemple de la moyenne Maurienne (Savoie).

Les cônes de déjection constituent le trait morphologique majeur de l'étroite vallée de l'Arc (Savoie), entre les ombilics de Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne et Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne. Une reconstitution géométrique des différents corps sédimentaires constitutifs de ces cônes a été rendue possible grâce à la corrélation de données géomorphologiques, à la synthèse des données de forages de diverses campagnes de reconnaissance pour EDF et Alpetunnel et à l'utilisation de données géophysiques. Un calage stratigraphique a été établi à partir de datations de bois fossilisés puis une évolution paléogéographique est proposée. Elle montre que, dans cette gorge de raccordement, le remplissage tardiglaciaire à holocène est fortement contrôlé par les dépôts torrentiels latéraux, des coulées boueuses, des écroulements rocheux massifs et glissements de terrain. En barrant cette étroite vallée, ces dépôts gravitaires favorisent localement une sédimentation lacustre

APPROXIMATE SOLUTIONS OF THE BAER-NUNZIATO MODEL

International audienceWe examine in this paper the accuracy of some approximations of the Baer-Nunziato two-phase flow model. The governing equations and their main properties are recalled, and two distinct numerical schemes are investigated, including a classical second-order extension relying on symmetrizing variables. Shock tube cases are considered, and two simple Riemann problems based on well-balanced initial data are detailed. These enable to recover the expected convergence rates. However, it is shown that these simple cases are indeed very difficult and that the accuracy of basic schemes is rather poor

The Phase A study of the ESA M4 mission candidate ARIEL

© 2018, The Author(s). ARIEL, the Atmospheric Remote sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large survey, is one of the three M-class mission candidates competing for the M4 launch slot within the Cosmic Vision science programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). As such, ARIEL has been the subject of a Phase A study that involved European industry, research institutes and universities from ESA member states. This study is now completed and the M4 down-selection is expected to be concluded in November 2017. ARIEL is a concept for a dedicated mission to measure the chemical composition and structure of hundreds of exoplanet atmospheres using the technique of transit spectroscopy. ARIEL targets extend from gas giants (Jupiter or Neptune-like) to super-Earths in the very hot to warm zones of F to M-type host stars, opening up the way to large-scale, comparative planetology that would place our own Solar System in the context of other planetary systems in the Milky Way. A technical and programmatic review of the ARIEL mission was performed between February and May 2017, with the objective of assessing the readiness of the mission to progress to the Phase B1 study. No critical issues were identified and the mission was deemed technically feasible within the M4 programmatic boundary conditions. In this paper we give an overview of the final mission concept for ARIEL as of the end of the Phase A study, from scientific, technical and operational perspectives. ispartof: Experimental Astronomy vol:46 issue:1 pages:211-239 status: publishe

New evidence of a mitochondrial genetic background paradox: Impact of the J haplogroup on the A3243G mutation

International audienceBackground: The A3243G mutation in the tRNALeu gene (UUR), is one of the most common pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in France, and is associated with highly variable and heterogeneous disease phenotypes. To define the relationships between the A3243G mutation and mtDNA backgrounds, we determined the haplogroup affiliation of 142 unrelated French patients – diagnosed as carriers of the A3243G mutation – by control-region sequencing and RFLP survey of their mtDNAs. Results: The analysis revealed 111 different haplotypes encompassing all European haplogroups, indicating that the 3243 site might be a mutational hot spot. However, contrary to previous findings, we observed a statistically significant underepresentation of the A3243G mutation on haplogroup J in patients (p = 0.01, OR = 0.26, C.I. 95%: 0.08–0.83), suggesting that might be due to a strong negative selection at the embryo or germ line stages. Conclusion: Thus, our study supports the existence of mutational hotspot on mtDNA and a "haplogroup J paradox," a haplogroup that may increase the expression of mtDNA pathogenic mutations, but also be beneficial in certain environmental contexts

Cities in late medieval Europe: the promise and curse of modernity

This article examines how modern historiography has developed quite differentiated views on the way medieval cities have given expression to renewal and to creativity. 'National' traditions have played a highly influential role in modifying the general views articulated in the major syntheses produced by scholars such as Max Weber and Henri Pirenne at the beginning of the twentieth century. An almost jubilant way of looking at the city as the hotbed of modernity gave room, in the decades after the Great War, to pessimism and a negative view on urbanity, before a more nuanced and positive view has been re-established after World War II and in the course of recent paradigmatic changes

A chemical survey of exoplanets with ARIEL

Thousands of exoplanets have now been discovered with a huge range of masses, sizes and orbits: from rocky Earth-like planets to large gas giants grazing the surface of their host star. However, the essential nature of these exoplanets remains largely mysterious: there is no known, discernible pattern linking the presence, size, or orbital parameters of a planet to the nature of its parent star. We have little idea whether the chemistry of a planet is linked to its formation environment, or whether the type of host star drives the physics and chemistry of the planet’s birth, and evolution. ARIEL was conceived to observe a large number (~1000) of transiting planets for statistical understanding, including gas giants, Neptunes, super-Earths and Earth-size planets around a range of host star types using transit spectroscopy in the 1.25–7.8 μm spectral range and multiple narrow-band photometry in the optical. ARIEL will focus on warm and hot planets to take advantage of their well-mixed atmospheres which should show minimal condensation and sequestration of high-Z materials compared to their colder Solar System siblings. Said warm and hot atmospheres are expected to be more representative of the planetary bulk composition. Observations of these warm/hot exoplanets, and in particular of their elemental composition (especially C, O, N, S, Si), will allow the understanding of the early stages of planetary and atmospheric formation during the nebular phase and the following few million years. ARIEL will thus provide a representative picture of the chemical nature of the exoplanets and relate this directly to the type and chemical environment of the host star. ARIEL is designed as a dedicated survey mission for combined-light spectroscopy, capable of observing a large and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. Transit, eclipse and phase-curve spectroscopy methods, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allow us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of 10–100 part per million (ppm) relative to the star and, given the bright nature of targets, also allows more sophisticated techniques, such as eclipse mapping, to give a deeper insight into the nature of the atmosphere. These types of observations require a stable payload and satellite platform with broad, instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect many molecular species, probe the thermal structure, identify clouds and monitor the stellar activity. The wavelength range proposed covers all the expected major atmospheric gases from e.g. H2O, CO2, CH4 NH3, HCN, H2S through to the more exotic metallic compounds, such as TiO, VO, and condensed species. Simulations of ARIEL performance in conducting exoplanet surveys have been performed – using conservative estimates of mission performance and a full model of all significant noise sources in the measurement – using a list of potential ARIEL targets that incorporates the latest available exoplanet statistics. The conclusion at the end of the Phase A study, is that ARIEL – in line with the stated mission objectives – will be able to observe about 1000 exoplanets depending on the details of the adopted survey strategy, thus confirming the feasibility of the main science objectives.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio