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At least 685 records · Page 38
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

A test of the longevity of impact-induced faults as preferred sites for later tectonic activity

The hypothesis that impact-induced faults have been preferred sites for later deformation in response to lithospheric stresses has been suggested for several planets and satellites. This hypothesis is investigated on earth by examining whether terrestrial impact structures show higher rates of nearby earthquake activity than do surrounding intraplate regions. For 28 of 30 probable impact structures having an original crater 20 km or more in diameter, the rates of nearby seismicity have been no higher than the regional background rates. For two large probable impact structures, Vredefort and Charlevoix, with higher than normal rates of nearby seismicity, factors other than slip on impact-induced faults appear to control the occurrence of earthquakes. It is concluded that impact-induced faults, at least on earth, do not persist as lithospheric 'weak zones' for periods in excess of several million years after the impact event.

Solomon, Sean C.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Comment on the papers 'On the influx of small comets into the earth's upper atmosphere. I - Observations and II - Interpretation'

The Generic Screening Object hypothesis of Frank et al. (1986) is refuted, and it is indicated that the DE-1 dark pixel events do not serve as evidence for a large cometary influx. It is shown that the average scan line count profiles of the dark pixel events show no significant reductions in the two neighboring pixel positions, although at least a 9 percent reduction would be expected if the dark pixels were the result of shielding of the photometric field of view. In a reply, Frank et al. uphold their previous hypothesis, pointing out that the suggestion that the atmospheric holes are not a geophysical phenomenon is incorrect due to: (1) the use of an overly simplified model for the instrument responses to small, opaque objects as seen against a statistically fluctuating screen of dayglow intensities; and (2) an insufficient treatment of the observations.

Cragin, B. L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Gravitational microlensing and gamma-ray bursts

Models of gravitational microlensing at small and large optical depth are presented, with a special emphasis on the time delays between microimages. The time distribution of microimage arrival times is random when the microobjects responsible for the lensing are randomly distributed. If the microobjects are clustered in space, then microimages are clustered in time. In some models there are many pairs of microimages with a very small time separation. It is proposed that the recently discovered recurrent soft gamma-ray burster GB 790107, for which more than 50 bursts were detected, is a single event multiply imaged due to gravitational microlensing by an ensemble of nonrandomly distributed microobjects, perhaps a rich cluster of galaxies. Some observational tests of this hypothesis are proposed. If correct, the hypothesis requires the burster to be at a cosmological distance, perhaps farther away than the most distant quasars.

Paczynski, Bohdan↗
NASA NTRS1988

Comparisons of global topographic/isostatic models to the Earth's observed gravity field

The Earth's gravitational potential, as described by a spherical harmonic expansion to degree 180, was compared to the potential implied by the topography and its isostatic compensation using five different hypothesis. Initially, series expressions for the Airy/Heiskanen topographic isostatic model were developed to the third order in terms of (h/R), where h is equivalent rock topography and R is a mean Earth radius. Using actual topographic developments for the Earth, it was found that the second and third terms of the expansion contributed 30 and 3 percents, of the first of the expansion. With these new equations it is possible to compute depths (D) of compensation, by degree, using 3 different criteria. The results show that the average depth implied by criterion I is 60 km while it is about 33 km for criteria 2 and 3 with smaller compensation depths at the higher degrees. Another model examined was related to the Vening-Meinesz regional hypothesis implemented in the spectral domain. Finally, oceanic and continental response functions were derived for the global data sets and comparisons made to locally determined values.

Rummel, Reiner↗
NASA NTRS1986

Separation of biological materials in microgravity

Partition in aqueous two phase polymer systems is a potentially useful procedure in downstream processing of both molecular and particulate biomaterials. The potential efficiency of the process for particle and cell isolations is much higher than the useful levels already achieved. Space provides a unique environment in which to test the hypothesis that convection and settling phenomena degrade the performance of the partition process. The initial space experiment in a series of tests of this hypothesis is described.

Brooks, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Sub-kilometer rampart craters in the equatorial region of Mars: Possible implications for the state and distribution of regolith H2O

It was long suspected that Martian rampart crater ejecta morphology originates from an impact into a water or ice-rich crust. If the water-impact hypothesis is correct, then the occurrence of rampart craters at all latitudes, elevations, and in all types of terrain, implies that the distribution of regolith H2O on Mars is global. To test this hypothesis, the occurrence of rampart craters was examined at three locations within the latitude band of + or - 30 degrees (specifically, within the ridged plains unit covered by MC-18). The analysis indicates that while few in number, rampart craters with diameters smaller than 3 km are indeed present at several locations withing the equatorial region of Mars. This finding appears to have significant implications for the inferred state and distribution of subsurface H2O. A more comprehensive analysis of the occurrence of sub-kilometer rampart craters is currently underway.

Clifford, Stephen M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The central power source in active galaxies

Potential sources for the central power in AGN are examined. The continuum, emission line profiles, and time variability and broad emission line region for AGN are analyzed. The supermassive black hole hypothesis, the supermassive magnetized core model of Kundt (1978), and the model of Stoner and Ptak (1984) in which the supermassive stars maintain a kind of long-term quasi-stability, but accretion is balanced by mass loss and spherical bursts rather than in jets are considered. It is argued that the hypothesis that the supermassive blackholes are the central engines for AGN is based on theoretical principles; however, AGN emission line profiles and variability suggest a spherical geometry for the observed components of these engines. Also the supermassive black hole models do not account for all the AGN observations.

Ptak, Roger↗
NASA NTRS1986

Comparative oceanography of coastal lagoons

The hypothesis that physical lagoon characteristics and variability depend on the channel connecting the lagoon to the adjacent coastal ocean is evaluated. The geographical, hydrological, and oceanographic characteristics of 10 lagoon systems are described and analyzed; these oceanographic features are utilized to classify the lagoon systems. Choked lagoons (Laguna Joyuda, Coorong, Lake St.Lucia, Gippsland Lakes, Lake Songkla/Thale Luang/Thale Noi, and Lagoa dos Patos) are prevalent on coasts with high wave energy and low tidal range; restricted lagoons (Lake Pontchartrain and Laguna de Terminos) are located on low/medium wave energy coasts with a low tidal range; and leaky lagoons (Mississippi Sound and Belize Lagoon/Chetumal Bay) are connected to the ocean by wide tidal passes that transmit oceanic effects into the lagoon with a minimum of resistance. The data support the hypothesis that the nature of the connecting channel controls system functions.

Kjerfve, Bjorn↗
NASA NTRS1988

Chemical and physical studies of type 3 chondrites. IX - Thermoluminescence and hydrothermal annealing experiments and their relationship to metamorphism and aqueous alteration in type below 3.3 ordinary chondrites

Thermoluminescence (TL) properties were measured in samples of four type-3.0 chondrites annealed at 400-850 C and 0.77-1 kbar in the presence of various amounts of water and sodium disilicate. Several changes recorded in TL characteristics, such as the lowering of TL sensitivity in certain samples, its increase in other samples, and changes in the peak position and peak width of TL suggested the occurrence of metamorphic processes in these samples. It is suggested that, for the chondrite types above 3.2, the observed changes in TL are consistent with the TL-metamorphism trends, being due to the formation of feldspar by the devitrification of chondrule glass during metamorphism. For types below 3.2, the TL data are consistent with the hypothesis that these chondrules experienced lower levels of metamorphism than the higher types or, alternatively, with the hypothesis that the type 3.0 chondrules are being produced from higher types by aqueous alteration.

Guimon, R. Kyle↗
NASA NTRS1988

The difference in hydrogen abundance between two classes of type I X-ray bursts

The hypothesis that the bright type I X-ray bursts differ from faint bursts in that a hydrogen-rich envelope is ejected in the former type and not in the latter is theoretically discussed and experimentally investigated. Color-temperature versus luminosity diagrams of X-ray bursts from MXB 1636-536 and MXB 1608-522 are constructed based on observations from the Tenma satellite and are used to study the hydrogen richness of the surface of the neutron stars resulting from the outbursts. Systematic differences between the bright and faint class diagrams are found which confirm the hypothesis.

Ebisuzaki, Toshikazu↗
NASA NTRS1988

Jovian decametric arcs and Alfven currents

The Voyager Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRAD) experiment revealed prominent 'arcs' when the radio intensity at 1-40 MHz was displayed in time-frequency coordinates. These data are consistent with multiple currents flowing along longitudinally separated Jovian magnetic flux tubes, each current radiating conically at angles up to about 90 deg. The spacings between adjacent PRA arcs, and also between adjacent S burst arc segments observed at the Nancay Observatory, were analyzed and found to be so brief, less than 1-3 min, that either these currents and any associated Alfven waves survive for at least a few circulations of Jupiter by Io (a hypothesis independently supported by the observations of arcs at all Io phase angles), or each such Alfven current can radiate at several different cone-angles simultaneously (a hypothesis independently supported by the observation of such behavior in the S burst arcs).

Staelin, David H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Node synchronization of viterbi decoders using state metrics

The concept of node synchronization using state metrics is investigated. The branch metrics are integrated over a fixed time interval and the results are compared to the detection threshold. If the threshold is exceeded, the out-of-sync hypothesis is accepted; otherwise, the in-sync hypothesis is accepted. It is shown that the detection threshold can be chosen independent of any particular convolutional code with fixed code rate and constant length if the code has reasonably good bit error rate performance. Three node synchronization schemes are compared: (1) a scheme using the syndrome; (2) a scheme using the frame-sync patterns; and (3) a scheme using the state metrics. At very low signal to noise ratios (SNR), scheme 2 can be faster than scheme 1. For Voyager's rate 1/2 and constraint length 7 convolutional code, this happens for SNRs of less than 0.7 dB. This result is obtained by assuming that the code frame-sync pattern has good aperiodic autocorrelation properties. For a fixed false alarm probability, the sequential detection scheme based on the syndrome is faster than scheme 3 with fixed integration time. A sequential detection technique is needed to improve the speed of scheme 3.

Cheng, U.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Preadaptation to the stimulus rearrangement of weightlessness: Preliminary studies and concepts for trainer designs

An effort to develop preflight adaptation training (PAT) apparatus and procedures to adapt astronauts to the stimulus rearrangement of weightless spaceflight is being pursued. Based on the otolith tilt-translation reinterpretation model of sensory adaptation to weightlessness, two prototype preflight adaptation trainers (PAT) have been developed. These trainers couple pitch movement of the subject with translation of the visual surround. Subjects were exposed to this stimulus rearrangement for periods of 30 m. The hypothesis is that exposure to the rearrangement would attenuate vertical eye movements was supported by two experiments using the Miami University Seesaw (MUS) PAT prototype. The Dynamic Environment Simulator (DES) prototype failed to support this hypothesis; this result is attributed to a pecularity of the DES apparatus. A final experiment demonstrated that changes in vertical eye movements were not a consequence of fixation on an external target during exposure to a control condition. Together these experiments support the view that preflight adaptation training can alter eye movements in a manner consistent with adaptation to weightlessness. Following these initial studies, concepts for development of operational preflight trainers were proposed. The trainers are intended to: demonstrate the stimulus rearrangement of weightlessness; allow astronauts to train in altered sensory environment; modify sensory motor reflexes; and reduce/eliminate space motion sickness symptoms.

Parker, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Late Eocene impact events recorded in deep-sea sediments

Raup and Sepkoski proposed that mass extinctions have occurred every 26 Myr during the last 250 Myr. In order to explain this 26 Myr periodicity, it was proposed that the mass extinctions were caused by periodic increases in cometary impacts. One method to test this hypothesis is to determine if there were periodic increases in impact events (based on crater ages) that correlate with mass extinctions. A way to test the hypothesis that mass extinctions were caused by periodic increases in impact cratering is to look for evidence of impact events in deep-sea deposits. This method allows direct observation of the temporal relationship between impact events and extinctions as recorded in the sedimentary record. There is evidence in the deep-sea record for two (possibly three) impact events in the late Eocene. The younger event, represented by the North American microtektite layer, is not associated with an Ir anomaly. The older event, defined by the cpx spherule layer, is associated with an Ir anomaly. However, neither of the two impact events recorded in late Eocene deposits appears to be associated with an unusual number of extinctions. Thus there is little evidence in the deep-sea record for an impact-related mass extinction in the late Eocene.

Glass, B. P.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Flood basalts and mass extinctions

There appears to be a correlation between the times of flood basalts and mass-extinction events. There is a correlation of flood basalts and hotspot tracks--flood basalts appear to mark the beginning of a new hotspot. Perhaps there is an initial instability in the mantle that bursts forth as a flood basalt but then becomes a steady trickle that persists for many tens of millions of years. Suppose that flood basalts and not impacts cause the environmental changes that lead to mass-extinctions. This is a very testable hypothesis: it predicts that the ages of the flows should agree exactly with the times of extinctions. The Deccan and K-T ages agree with this hypothesis; An iridium anomaly at extinction boundaries apparently can be explained by a scaled-up eruption of the Hawaiian type; the occurrence of shocked-quartz is more of a problem. However if the flood basalts are all well dated and their ages indeed agree with extinction times, then surely some mechanism to appropriately produce shocked-quartz will be found.

Morgan, W. Jason↗
NASA NTRS1988

Environmental effects of large impacts on the earth; relation to extinction mechanisms

Since Alvarez et al., discovered a worldwide approx. cm-thick layer of fine sediments laden with platinum group elements in approximately chondritic proportions exactly at the Cretaceous-Tertiary (C-T) boundary, and proposed bolide-impact as triggering mass extinctions, many have studied this hypothesis and the layer itself with its associated spherules and shocked quartz. At issue is whether the mass extinctions, and this horizon has an impact versus volcanic origin. A critical feature of the Alvarez hypothesis is the suggestion that the bolide or possibly a shower of objects delivered to the earth approx. 0.6 x 10 to the 18th power g of material which resulted in aerosol-sized ejecta such that global insolation was drastically reduced for significant periods. Such an event would lower temperatures on continents and halt photosynthesis in the upper 200 m of th eocean. The latter would strangle the marine food chain and thus produce the major marine faunal extinctions which mark the C-T boundary. Crucial issues examined include: What are the dynamics of atmospheric flow occurring upon impact of a large bolide with the earth; What is the size distributions of the very fine impact ejecta and how do these compare to the models of ejecta which are used to model the earth's radiative thermal balance. The flow field due to passage of a 10 km diameter bolide through an exponential atmosphere and the interaction of the gas flow and bolide with the solid ear was calculated. The CO2 released upon impact onto shallow marine carbonate sections was modeled and found that the mass of CO2 released exceeds the present 10 to the 18th power g CO2 budget of the earth's atmosphere by several times. Using the calculations of Kasting and Toon it was found that to compute the temperature rise of the earth's surface as a function of CO2 content, it was found that sudden and prolonged global increases are induced from impact of 20 to 50 km radius projectiles and propose that sudden terrestrial greenhouse-induced heating, not cooling, produced the highly variable extinctions seen at the C-T boundary.

Okeefe, John D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A new way to interpret the DIRAC equation in a non-Riemannian manifold

The idea of internal mass terms introduced in ref. (1), is shown not to be an appropriate hypothesis when it is placed in connection with the components of the generalized (matrix) vierbeins being proportional to the Riemannian (gravitational) vierbeins. It would result in an undesirable canceling of the Electromagnetic and the Yang-Mills components in the generalized metric. Another hypothesis is introduced where the wave function psi is Taylor expanded in a small parameter p.

Marques-Bonham, Sirley↗
NASA NTRS1989

A method for interactive satellite failure diagnosis: Towards a connectionist solution

Various kinds of processes which allow one to make a diagnosis are analyzed. The analyses then focuses on one of these processes used for satellite failure diagnosis. This process consists of sending the satellite instructions about system status alterations: to mask the effects of one possible component failure or to look for additional abnormal measures. A formal model of this process is given. This model is an extension of a previously defined connectionist model which allows computation of ratios between the likelihoods of observed manifestations according to various diagnostic hypotheses. The expected mean value of these likelihood measures for each possible status of the satellite can be computed in a similar way. Therefore, it is possible to select the most appropriate status according to three different purposes: to confirm an hypothesis, to eliminate an hypothesis, or to choose between two hypotheses. Finally, a first connectionist schema of computation of these expected mean values is given.

Bourret, P.↗