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NASA NTRS1992

Chaotic scattering of pitch angles in the current sheet of the magnetotail

The modified Harris field model is used to investigate the process of pitch angle scattering by a current sheet. The relationship between the incoming asymptotic pitch angle alpha(in) and the outgoing asymptotic pitch angle alpha(out) is studied from first principles by numerically integrating the equation of motion. Evidence that charged particles undergo chaotic scattering by the current sheet is found. For fixed alpha(in), it is shown that alpha(out) exhibits sensitive dependence on the energy parameter in certain energy ranges. For a fixed energy parameter value in the same energy ranges, alpha(out) sensitively depends on alpha(in). For other energy values, alpha(out) does not show sensitive dependence on alpha(in) for most phase angles. A distribution of alpha(in) is mapped from the asymptotic region to the midplane, and it is found that the resulting particle distribution should have beam structures with well-collimated pitch angles near each resonance energy value. Implications for the particle distribution functions in the earth's magnetotail are discussed.

Burkhart, G. R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Observational support for the current sheet catastrophe model of substorm current disruption

The principles of the current sheet catastrophe models are briefly reviewed, and observations of some of the signatures predicted by the theory are presented. The data considered here include AMPTE/CCE observations of fifteen current sheet disruption events. According to the model proposed here, the root cause of the current disruption is some process, as yet unknown, that leads to an increase in the k sub A parameter. Possible causes for the increase in k sub A are discussed.

Burkhart, G. R.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Macrofossil records of West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat during the Holocene

Marine macrofossils in emerged beaches around Antarctica represent a geochemical framework for interpreting meltwater signatures associated with variations in the adjacent ice sheet margins during the last 10,000 years. In particular, mollusc species provide ideal experimental templates for assessing hydrochemical variations in Antarctic coastal marine environments because of their excellent preservation, high abundances, circumpolar distributions, and carbonate shells, which incorporate trace elements and stable isotopes. Modern samples of the bivalve Adamussium colbecki, which were collected across a depth gradient in the vicinity of a glacial meltwater stream in West McMurdo Sound, revealed shell trace element concentrations that were significantly higher above 10 meters because of their exposure to meltwater runoff. This meltwater signature also was reflected by the shell oxygen isotopic composition, which was in equilibrium with the ambient seawater, as demonstrated by the overlap between the predicted and actual O-(delta-18)sub w values. These modern samples provide analogs for interpreting the geochemical records in their fossils, which were based solely on molluscan fossils, complement the above geochemical data by suggesting that the rate of beach emergence fluctuated around Antarctica during the mid-Holocene. Paleoenvironmental analysis of macrofossils from emerged beaches represents a new direction in Antarctic research that can be used to assess changes in the margins of the ice sheets since the Last Glacial Maximum. The resolution of these analyses will be enhanced by collaborations that are developing with scientists who are conducting comparable studies in other coastal regions around the continent.

Berkman, Paul Arthur↗

NASA NTRS1993

Aerogeophysical evidence for active volcanism beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

Although it is widely understood that the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) would cause a global sea-level rise of 6 m, there continues to be considerable debate about the response of this ice sheet to climate change. The stability of the WAIS, which is characterized by a bed grounded well below sea level, may depend on geologically controlled conditions at the base, which are independent of climate. Ice streams moving up to 750 m/yr disperse material from the interior through to the oceans. As these ice streams tend to buffer the reservoir of slow-moving inland ice from exposure to oceanic degradation, understanding the ice-streaming process is important for evaluating WAIS stability. There is strong evidence that ice streams slide on a lubricating layer of water-saturated till. Development of this basal layer requires both water and easily eroded sediments. Active lithospheric extension may elevate regional heat flux, increase basal melting, and trigger ice streaming. If a geologically defined boundary with a sharp contrast in geothermal flux exists beneath the WAIS, ice streams may only be capable of operating as a buffer over a restricted region. Should ocean waters penetrate beyond this boundary, the ice-stream buffer would disappear, possibly triggering a collapse of the inland ice reservoir. Aerogeophysical evidence for active volcanism and elevated heat flux beneath the WAIS near the critical region where ice streaming begins is presented.

Blankenship, Donald D.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Geologic controls on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

The stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is intertwined with its geologic history. The sub-ice geology and the possibility of active rifting and associated elevated heat-flux and volcanism might be determining factors in ice-sheet behavior. Seismic monitoring of natural events at the base of Ice Stream C reveals the presence of a young sedimentary basin beneath the ice stream. The sediments are presumed to be of glacio-marine origin, similar to those beneath Ice Stream B and in the Ross Sea. The young sediments are approximately 1/2 km thick at UpC camp, but thin abruptly southward to 100 m or less. We hypothesize the presence of a fault with a throw of 400 m to account for this (though we have not directly detected the fault), rather than invoking unrealistic basement dips. To extend these studies to critical inland regions, we suggest an expanded explosive-source seismic survey of the Byrd Subglacial Basin to determine the extent and character of the hypothesized rift basin. High-resolution seismic monitoring will detect layering in the sedimentary column, as well as possibly imaging faults directly.

Anandakrishnan, Sridhar↗

NASA NTRS1993

Effect of subglacial volcanism on changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

Rapid changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) may affect future global sea-level changes. Alley and Whillans note that 'the water responsible for separating the glacier from its bed is produced by frictional dissipation and geothermal heat,' but assume that changes in geothermal flux would ordinarily be expected to have slower effects than glaciological parameters. I suggest that episodic subglacial volcanism and geothermal heating may have significantly greater effects on the WAIS than is generally appreciated. The WAIS flows through the active, largely asiesmic West Antarctic rift system (WS), which defines the sub-sea-level bed of the glacier. Various lines of evidence summarized in Behrendt et al. (1991) indicate high heat flow and shallow asthenosphere beneath the extended, weak lithosphere underlying the WS and the WAIS. Behrendt and Cooper suggest a possible synergistic relation between Cenozoic tectonism, episodic mountain uplift and volcanism in the West Antarctic rift system, and the waxing and waning of the Antarctic ice sheet beginning about earliest Oligocene time. A few active volcanoes and late-Cenozoic volcanic rocks are exposed throughout the WS along both flanks, and geophysical data suggest their presence beneath the WAIS. No part of the rift system can be considered inactive. I propose that subglacial volcanic eruptions and ice flow across areas of locally (episodically?) high heat flow--including volcanically active areas--should be considered possibly to have a forcing effect on the thermal regime resulting in increased melting at the base of the ice streams.

Behrendt, John C.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Observations of plasma sheet expansion at substorm onset, R = 15 to 22 Re

We have used a large number of auroral magnetograms to identify four isolated substorms and estimate their onset times. At the onsets, ISEE-1 was in the vicinity of magnetic midnight at radial distances of 15.6 to 21.8 Re and very near the outer boundary of the plasma sheet. We find that, for each event, the plasma sheet expanded, and the magnetic field dipolarized at the inferred onset time. Our most definitive event occurred while ISEE was at a geocentric radial distance of 21.8 Re. This result conflicts with previous understanding, though further verification of the result is required. Our observations show very similar characteristics to those observed at synchronous orbit, and they are consistent with an extension of a portion of the substorm current wedge to the radial distance of the satellite. If this explanation is correct, ISEE must have been within the longitude range of the substorm current wedge at the onsets.

Lyons, L. R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Plasmoid observations in the distant plasma sheet boundary layer

Substorm associated large amplitude bipolar magnetic events occurred when ISEE 3 was in the distant geotail's plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL). The characteristics of these events, their substorm association and their possible source mechanisms are examined. We propose that these PSBL events are signatures of a passing plasmoid in the plasma sheet, analogous to the traveling compression region model in the geomagnetic lobes.

Moldwin, Mark B.↗

NASA NTRS1992

High resolution measurements of density structures in the Jovian plasma sheet

A recent effort to digitize the plasma density by using the low frequency cutoff of trapped continuum radiation in the vicinity of the Jovian plasma sheet has revealed the existence of sharply defined density structures in the plasma sheet. These structures typically have a plasma density which is relatively constant but of order 50 percent greater or less than in the surrounding plasma. At the boundaries of these structures, the transitions from low to high density occur on time scales of about ten seconds, which correspond to spatial dimensions on the order of a few ion Larmor radii. The structures themselves last for intervals from less than a minute to more than five minutes, corresponding to size scales from a fraction of a Jovian radius to more than a Jovian radius, depending on the velocity of the structure relative to the spacecraft. In view of the importance of near corotation plasma flows, these structures are likely to be limited in both the longitudinal and radial dimensions and, therefore, could represent flux tubes with greatly varying plasma content. These observations are presented as among the first to directly address the theoretically proposed interchange instability.

Ansher, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Observational study of the IMF spiral north and south of the current sheet

We have analyzed 23 years of spacecraft observations spanning 27 AU. Our analysis reveals both an overwinding of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and a sustained asymmetry between the northern and southern hemispheres of the heliosphere. Nonzero azimuthal field components at the source boundary may account for the observed overwinding. The north-south asymmetry, whereby the IMF spiral north of the current sheet is more tightly wound than the IMF spiral south of the current sheet, persists due to unknown sources. It is also shown that there exist significant, correlated departures from the Parker theory in the azimuthal component of the field.

Smith, C. W.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Multiple heliospheric current sheets and coronal streamer belt dynamics

The occurrence of multiple directional discontinuities in the coronal streamer belt at sector boundary crossings in the heliosphere, often ascribed to waves or kinks in the heliospheric current sheet, may alternatively be attributed to a network of extended current sheets from multiple helmet streamers with a hierarchy of sizes at the base of the corona. Frequent transient outflows from these helmets can account for a variety of signatures observed at sector boundaries, including ordered field rotations, planar magnetic structures and sandwichlike plasma structure.

Crooker, N. U.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Physics of the magnetotail current sheet

The Earth's magnetotail plays an important role in the solar-wind-magnetosphere coupling. At the midplane of the magnetotail is a current sheet where the dominant magnetic field component reverses sign. The charged particle motion in and near the current sheet is collisionless and nonintegrable, exhibiting chaotic scattering. The current understanding of the dynamical properties of the charged particle motion is discussed. In particular, the relationships between particle dynamics and global attributes of the system are elucidated. Geometrical properties of the phase space determine important physical observables on both micro- and macroscales.

Chen, James↗

NASA NTRS1993

Ion mixing in the plasma sheet boundary layer by drift instabilities

The linear stability properties of collisionless drift instabilities are analyzed in a Harris equilibrium model of the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL). The strearmng ions with drift-type instabilities driven in the PSBL are considered. The fluid approximation leads to growth but predicts that the mode width approaches the gyroradius of the energetic ions. Thus an integral equation theory for the modes is developed taking into account that in the PSBL the curvature drift is weak compared with the grad-B drift. The exact wave particle resonance is kept in the nonlocal response functions. Plasma density, temperature, and magnetic gradient drift motions are taken into account. The drift modes produce an anomalous cross-field momentum transport mixing the PSBL ions on the time scale of tens of seconds. A nonlinear simulation is performed which shows the coalescence of the small scale, fast growing modes into large-scale vortices. The relation between these collective modes and plasma sheet transport phenomena is discussed including the comparison with the competing plasma mixing from single-particle stochasticity.

Horton, W.↗

NASA NTRS1929

Corrosion Embrittlement of Duralumin VI The Effect of Corrosion Accompanied by Stress on the Tensile Properties of Sheet Duralumin

The effect of corrosion on the tensile properties of duralumin while stressed is shown in graphical form. According to the test results, duralumin sheet, coated with aluminum, maintains its initial properties unimpaired for corrosion periods as long as 60 days with an applied tensile stress as high as 20,000 lb/sq.in., which is approximately one-half the stress corresponding to the yield point as defined here. In these tests, that material which had been heat-treated by being quenched in cold water, though far inferior to similar material having the aluminum coating, was superior to the sheet material which was heat treated by being quenched in hot water. These results are in excellent agreement with the results of previous laboratory and exposure tests.

Rawdon, Henry S↗

NASA NTRS1942

Design of Tools for Press-countersinking or Dimpling 0.040-inch-thick-24S-T Sheet

A set of dimpling tools was designed for 0.040-inch 24S-T sheet and flush-type rivets 1/8 inch in diameter with 100 degree countersunk heads. The dimples produced under different conditions of pressure, sheet thickness, and drill diameter are presented as cross-sectional photographs magnified 20 times. The most satisfactory values for the dimpling tools were found to be: maximum punch diameter, 0.231 inch; maximum die diameter, 0.223 inch; maximum mandrel diameter, 0.128 inch; dimple angle, 100 degree; punch springback angle, 1 1/2 degree; and die springback angle, 2 degree.

Templin, R L↗

NASA NTRS1941

Ultimate Stresses Developed by 24S-T Sheet in Incomplete Diagonal Tension

Tests were made on 18 shear panels of 24S-T aluminum alloy to verify the dependence of the ultimate stress on the degree of development of the diagonal-tension field. Tests were made on two thicknesses of sheet with the sheet either clamped between the flange angle or riveted to the outside of the angles.

Kuhn, Paul↗

NASA NTRS1941

Shear Lag in Corrugated Sheets Used for the Chord Member of a Box Beam

The problem of the distribution of normal stress across a wide corrugated sheet used as the chord of a box-beam-like structure is investigated theoretically and experimentally. Expressions are developed giving the stress distribution in beams, symmetrical or unsymmetrical, about a plane passed spanwise through the center of the sheet. The experiments were arranged to insure bending without torsion and surveys of the normal stresses were made by means of mechanical and electrical strain gages. The experimental data showed very good agreement with the new b of the theoretical curves, especially at the highly stressed sections, for both the symmetrical and unsymmetrical beams. Several suggestions for future research are included.

Newell, Joseph S↗

NASA NTRS1946

Effect of Brake Forming on the Strength of 24S-T Aluminum-alloy Sheet

Tests were made to determine the effect of brake forming on the strength of 24S-T aluminum alloy sheet that had been formed to an inside bend radius of three times the sheet thickness. The results for both directions of the grain of the material showed that the compressive yield stresses were appreciably increased, that the tensile yield stresses were moderately increased, that the ultimate tensile stresses were only slightly increased, that the elongations were considerably reduced, and that the shapes of the tensile and compressive stress-strain curves were markedly changed.

Heimerl, George J↗