2,505 research outputs found
Tectonic and climatic controls on fan systems: The Kohrud mountain belt, Central Iran
Late Pleistocene to Holocene fans of the Kohrud mountain belt (Central Iran) illustrate the problems of differentiating tectonic and climatic drivers for the sedimentary signatures of alluvial fan successions. It is widely recognised that tectonic processes create the topography that causes fan development. The existence and position of fans along the Kohrud mountain belt, NE of Esfahan, are controlled by faulting along the Qom-Zefreh fault system and associated fault zones. These faults display moderate amounts of historical and instrumental seismicity, and so may be considered to be tectonically active. However, fluvial systems on the fans are currently incising in response to low Gavkhoni playa lake levels since the mid-Holocene, producing incised gullies on the fans up to 30 m deep. These gullies expose an interdigitation of lake deposits (dominated by fine-grained silts and clays with evaporites) and coarse gravels that characterise the alluvial fan sediments. The boundaries of each facies are mostly sharp, with fan sediments superimposed on lake sediments with little to no evidence of reworking. In turn, anhydriteāglauberite, mirabilite and halite crusts drape over the gravels, recording a rapid return to still water, shallow ephemeral saline lake sedimentation. Neither transition can be explained by adjustment of the hinterland drainage system after tectonic uplift. The potential influence in Central Iran of enhanced monsoons, the northward drift of the Intertopical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and Mediterranean climates for the early Holocene (~ 6ā10 ka) point to episodic rainfall (during winter months) associated with discrete high magnitude floods on the fan surfaces. The fan sediments were deposited under the general influence of a highstand playa lake whose level was fluctuating in response to climate. This study demonstrates that although tectonism can induce fan development, it is the sensitive balance between aridity and humidity resulting from changes in the climate regime of Central Iran that influences the nature of fan sequences and how they interrelate to associated facies
Modern seawater acidification: The response of foraminifera to high-CO<inf>2</inf> conditions in the Mediterranean Sea
The seas around the island of Ischia (Italy) have a lowered pH as a result of volcanic gas vents that emit carbon dioxide from the sea floor at ambient seawater temperatures. These areas of acidified seawater provide natural laboratories in which to study the long-term biological response to rising CO2 levels. Benthic foraminifera (single-celled protists) are particularly interesting as they have short life histories, are environmentally sensitive and have an excellent fossil record. Here, we examine changes in foraminiferal assemblages along pH gradients at CO2 vents on the coast of Ischia and show that the foraminiferal distribution, diversity and nature of the fauna change markedly in the living assemblages as pH decreases. Ā© 2010 Geological Society of London
The Effective Potential, the Renormalisation Group and Vacuum Stability
We review the calculation of the the effective potential with particular
emphasis on cases when the tree potential or the
renormalisation-group-improved, radiatively corrected potential exhibits
non-convex behaviour. We illustrate this in a simple Yukawa model which
exhibits a novel kind of dimensional transmutation. We also review briefly
earlier work on the Standard Model. We conclude that, despite some recent
claims to the contrary, it can be possible to infer reliably that the tree
vacuum does not represent the true ground state of the theory.Comment: 23 pages; 5 figures; v2 includes minor changes in text and additional
reference
The effective potential and the renormalisation group
We discuss renormalisation group improvement of the effective potential both
in general and in the context of scalar \p^4 and the Standard Model.
In the latter case we find that absolute stability of the electroweak vacuum
implies that , for \as (M_Z) = 0.11. We point out
that the lower bound on {\it decreases\/} if \as (M_Z) is increased.Comment: 22 pages plus three PostScript figures (appended), Liverpool preprint
LTH 288, University of Michigan preprint UM-TH-92-2
Enabling participation of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and seldom-heard communities in health research: A case study from the SCAMP adolescent cohort study
Our inquiry investigated the barriers to, and facilitators for, the involvement of Black
and Minority Ethnic (BME) and āseldom-heardā communities, in a study researching
the impact of mobile phone and wireless device usage on adolescentsā cognition,
behaviour and mental health. The aim was to co-produce solutions to increase
participation, and we used focus groups, telephone interviews, a community event
and a public and patient involvement (PPI) cafƩ to conduct the inquiry. Five themes
emerged from the data: two enablers ā the value and benefits of research; and
three barriers ā concerns about research and about communication, and practical
constraints. A central cross-cutting theme, the concept of trust, was evident from
the data, and extended across all themes, including across the solutions to nonparticipation.
When the data collection and analysis were completed, we ran
a symposium for researchers and members of the public to share our findings
and to co-produce solutions. The symposium generated ideas about improving
participation, including tailoring participant information, engaging with local
advocates and involving people in research design and delivery
Unsigned state models for the Jones polynomial
It is well a known and fundamental result that the Jones polynomial can be
expressed as Potts and vertex partition functions of signed plane graphs. Here
we consider constructions of the Jones polynomial as state models of unsigned
graphs and show that the Jones polynomial of any link can be expressed as a
vertex model of an unsigned embedded graph.
In the process of deriving this result, we show that for every diagram of a
link in the 3-sphere there exists a diagram of an alternating link in a
thickened surface (and an alternating virtual link) with the same Kauffman
bracket. We also recover two recent results in the literature relating the
Jones and Bollobas-Riordan polynomials and show they arise from two different
interpretations of the same embedded graph.Comment: Minor corrections. To appear in Annals of Combinatoric
Fermionic Zero Modes of Supergravity Cosmic Strings
Recent developments in string theory suggest that cosmic strings could be
formed at the end of brane inflation. Supergravity provides a realistic model
to study the properties of strings arising in brane inflation. Whilst the
properties of cosmic strings in flat space-time have been extensively studied
there are significant complications in the presence of gravity. We study the
effects of gravitation on cosmic strings arising in supergravity. Fermion zero
modes are a common feature of cosmic strings, and generically occur in
supersymmetric models. The corresponding massless currents can give rise to
stable string loops (vortons). The vorton density in our universe is strongly
constrained, allowing many theories with cosmic strings to be ruled out. We
investigate the existence of fermion zero modes on cosmic strings in
supergravity theories. A general index theorem for the number of zero modes is
derived. We show that by including the gravitino, some (but not all) zero modes
disappear. This weakens the constraints on cosmic string models. In particular,
winding number one cosmic D-strings in models of brane inflation are not
subject to vorton constraints. We also discuss the effects of supersymmetry
breaking on cosmic D-strings.Comment: 33 page
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