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At least 19 records

Glacial and periglacial landforms in Denmark: Scandinavian analogs for Martian features

The geomorphology of Denmark is dominated by glacial deposits, including both end moraines and ground moraines. Many of these features have morphologies similar to features observed on Mars. A characteristic landscape complex in Denmark is a series of irregular mounds or parallel curvilinear ridges that outline the former ice margin. Many of these resemble curviliner features on Mars, and the Danish landforms occur at a similar scale. Another distinctive landform in Denmark is the hummocky moraine landscape found in parts of Sjaelland. Although their size is smaller, these areas resemble the hummocky terrain associated with some of the curvilinear features in the northern plains of Mars. The hummocky Danish terrain is probably caused by the melting of masses of dead ice left during glacial retreat. Similar landscapes observed developing during retreat of smaller glaciers were ice caps in Scandinavian mountains and in Greenland.

Rossbacher, L. A.↗

Role of magnetic fields in physics and astrophysics; Proceedings of the Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 5-7, 1974

The papers deal with the role of magnetism in astrophysics and the properties of matter in the presence of unusually large magnetic fields. Topics include a quantum-mechanical treatment of high-energy charged particles radiating in a homogeneous magnetic field, the solution and properties of the Dirac equation for magnetic fields of any strength up to 10 to the 13th power gauss, experimental difficulties encountered and overcome in generating megagauss fields, the effect of strong radiation damping for an ultrarelativistic charge in an external electromagnetic field, magnetic susceptibilities of nuclei and elementary particles, and Compton scattering in strong external electromagnetic fields. Other papers examine static uniform electric and magnetic polarizabilities of the vacuum in arbitrarily strong magnetic fields, quantum-mechanical processes in neutron stars, basic ideas of mean-field magnetohydrodynamics, helical MHD turbulence, relations between cosmic and laboratory plasma physics, and insights into the nature of magnetism provided by relativity and cosmology. Individual items are announced in this issue.

Canuto, V.↗

Deep Water Formation

Some simple arguments on plumes of dense water and filling boxes were given. What determines the time for a large-scale environment to be modified by the injection of dense water at its edge is the mass flux, not the buoyancy flux. However, it is the denser buoyancy flux, when there are several competing plumes (e.g., the Mediterranean outflow versus the Denmark Strait outflow) that determines which plume will provide the bottom water for that ocean basin. It was noted that the obvious laboratory experiment (rotate a pie-shaped annulus, and heat/cool it on the surface) had never been performed. Thus, to some extent our belief that deep convection is somehow automatic at high latitudes to close off some ill-defined meridional circulation has never been tested. A summary of deep convection was given. The two fundamental formation mechanisms were shown. Of the two, it is open-ocean convection which forms the water which supplies the Denmark Strait overflow -- in all likelihood, as formation in the Greenland Sea remains stubbornly unobserved. But it is the slope convection which finally creates North Atlantic deep water, following the Denmark Strait overspill.

Killworth, P. D.↗

Wind Stress Forcing of the North Sea "Pole Tide"

We conducted numerical simulations of the wind-forcing of the sea level variations in the North Sea using a barotropic ocean model with realistic geography, bathymetry, and boundary conditions, to examine the forcing of the 14-month "pole tide" which is known to be strong along the Denmark- Netherlands coast. The simulation input is the monthly-mean surface wind stress field from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis for the 40-year period 1958-1997. The output sea level response was then compared with 10 coastal tide gauge records from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL). Besides the strong seasonal variations, several prominent quasi-periodicities exist at around 7 years, 3 years, 14 months, 9 months, and 6.5 months. Correlation and spectral analyses show remarkable agreement between the model output and the observations, particularly in the 14-month, or Chandler period band. The latter indicates that the enhanced pole tide found in the North Sea along the Denmark-Netherlands coast is actually the coastal setup response to wind stress forcing with a periodicity of 14 months. We find no need to invoke a geophysical explanation involving resonance-enhancement of pole tide in the North Sea to explain the observations.

OConnor, William P.↗

Pathways of organic carbon oxidation in three continental margin sediments

We have combined several different methodologies to quantify rates of organic carbon mineralization by the various electron acceptors in sediments from the coast of Denmark and Norway. Rates of NH4+ and Sigma CO2 liberation sediment incubations were used with O2 penetration depths to conclude that O2 respiration accounted for only between 3.6-17.4% of the total organic carbon oxidation. Dentrification was limited to a narrow zone just below the depth of O2 penetration, and was not a major carbon oxidation pathway. The processes of Fe reduction, Mn reduction and sulfate reduction dominated organic carbon mineralization, but their relative significance varied depending on the sediment. Where high concentrations of Mn-oxide were found (3-4 wt% Mn), only Mn reduction occurred. With lower Mn oxide concentrations more typical of coastal sediments, Fe reduction and sulfate reduction were most important and of a similar magnitude. Overall, most of the measured O2 flux into the sediment was used to oxidized reduced inorganic species and not organic carbon. We suspect that the importance of O2 respiration in many coastal sediments has been overestimated, whereas metal oxide reduction (both Fe and Mn reduction) has probably been well underestimated.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

Interplanetary magnetic sector polarity inferred from polar geomagnetic field observations

In order to infer the interplanetary sector polarity from polar geomagnetic field diurnal variations, measurements were carried out at Godhavn and Thule (Denmark) Geomagnetic Observatories. The inferred interplanetary sector polarity was compared with the polarity observed at the same time by Explorer 33 and 35 magnetometers. It is shown that the polarity (toward or away from the sun) of the interplanetary magnetic field can be reliably inferred from observations of the polar cap geomagnetic fields.

Friis-Christensen, E.↗

Review of the Agard S&M panel evaluation program of the NASA-Lewis 'SRP' approach to high-temperature LCF life prediction

Twenty laboratories in six countries participated in this program, each testing its own materials of interest under its own laboratory conditions. In this way the results obtained provided validation of the Strainrange Partitioning (SRP) method for a wide range of materials and insured maximum usefulness to each of the participating laboratories. The first, very necessary step in the evaluation of any life prediction approach - assessing the ability of the method to predict life of simple laboratory specimens subjected to complex loading, was thereby taken. The culmination of this program was the Specialists Meeting that was held in Aalborg, Denmark in April of 1978. At that meeting the various investigators shared their findings, thus providing the basis for an in-depth evaluation of the SRP method. While the results were variable from laboratory to laboratory, most investigators agreed that the SRP method was a significant step toward life prediction in the presence of high temperature and cyclic stresses.

Hirschberg, M. H.↗

Extraterrestrial cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction

Direct physical evidence is presented for an unusual event at exactly the time of extinctions in the planktonic realm. Deep-sea limestones exposed in Italy, Denmark, and New Zealand indicate iridium increases of about 30, 160, and 20 times, respectively, above the background level at precisely the time of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinctions, 65 million years ago. Reasons are given that this iridium is of extraterrestrial origin, but did not come from a nearby supernova. A hypothesis is set forth which accounts for the extinctions and the iridium observations. One prediction of this hypothesis is verified, that the chemical composition of the boundary clay, which is thought to come from the stratospheric dust, is markedly different from that of clay mixed with the chemically similar Cretaceous and Tertiary limestones.

Alvarez, L. W.↗

Transport jet aircraft noise abatement in foreign countries: Growth, structure, impact. Volume 1: Europe, July 1980

The development and implementation of aircraft noise control regulations in various European states are described. The countries include the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Topics discussed include noise monitoring, airport curfews, land use planning, and the government structure for noise regulation.

Spencer, F. A.↗

Construction of the 18-meter wooden blade at Nibe-Molle B

The construction of an 18 m cantilevered wooden rotor blade for wind turbine-B at Nibe, Denmark is reported. The project is described and conclusions are made based on calculations and tests on the rotor blade. Details are given on choice of material, construction, attachments and fittings, stress problems and loads.

Nielsen, P. C.↗

Review of North Atlantic Source Waters

North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) ventilates the deep World Ocean. It not only carries relatively well-oxygenated waters, but also other substances derived from recent sea-surface exchanges. There are five regional sources for NADW: (1) derivatives of the salty Mediterranean Sea outflow, (2) products of open-ocean convection in the Labrador Sea, (3) Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water from the Norwegian Sea - salty by virtue of mixing with saline water near the sills, (4) Denmark Strait Overflow Water from the Iceland and Greenland Seas - which retains a high-density, relatively low-salinity signal, and (5) remnants of deep water from the Antarctic circumpolar region - freshest of the bottom waters. Despite the differences of characteristics of the source waters, the NADW is relatively uniform. Because the formation of each of the five source waters may be viewed as a response to a complex series of events, it is difficult to examine the sensitivity of NADW to environmental fluctuations. It is known that the deep northern North Atlantic is relatively closely coupled to the sea surface in the Greenland and Iceland seas. The most recent studies indicate a minimum response time of only two years between the introduction of a passive signal north of Iceland and its appearance in the deep northwest Atlantic.

James H Swift↗

Mineralogical and geochemical anomalous data of the K-T boundary samples

Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary problem has been discussed previously from the geological research, mainly by fossil changes. Although geochemical bulk data of Ir anomaly suggest the extraterrestrial origin of the K-T boundary, the exact formation process discussed mainly by mineralogical and geochemical study has been started recently, together with noble gas contents. The K-T boundary sample at Kawaruppu River, Hokkaido was collected, in order to compare with the typical K-T boundary samples of Bubbio, Italy, Stevns Klint, Denmark, and El Kef, Tunisia. The experimental data of the silicas and calcites in these K-T boundary samples were obtained from the X-ray unit-cell dimension (i.e., density), ESR signal and total linear absorption coefficient, as well as He and Ne contents. The K-T boundary samples are usually complex mixture of the terrestrial activities after the K-T boundary event. The mineralogical and geochemical anomalous data indicate special terrestrial atmosphere at the K-T boundary formation probably induced by asteroid impact, followed the many various terrestrial activities (especially the strong role of sea-water mixture, compared with terrestrial highland impact and impact craters in the other earth-type planetary bodies).

Miura, Y.↗

Marine and continental K-T boundary clays compared

Detailed geochemical and mineralogical studies (1 to 5) of sediments across the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary at Stevns Klint, Karlstrup, Nye Klov, Dania, and Kjolby Gaard in Denmark, at Limhamn in Sweden, at Caravaca in Spain, at Waipara and Woodside Creek in New Zealand, at Trinidad in Colorado, and at various sites in Montana, have induced conclusions and reflections which are given and briefly discussed.

Schmitz, B.↗

Geochemical comparison of K-T boundaries from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

Closely spaced (cm-scale) traverses through the K-T boundary at Stevns Klint (Denmark), Woodside Creek (New Zealand) and a new Southern Hemisphere site at Richards Bay (South Africa) were subjected to trace element and isotopic (C, O, Sr) investigation. Intercomparison between these data-sets, and correlation with the broad K-T database available in the literature, indicate that the chemistry of the boundary clays is not globally constant. Variations are more common than similarities, both of absolute concentrations, and interelement ratios. For example, the chondrite normalized platinum-group elements (PGE) patterns of Stevns Klint are not like those of Woodside Creek, with the Pt/Os ratios showing the biggest variation. These differences in PGE patterns are difficult to explain by secondary alteration of a layer that was originally chemically homogeneous, especially for elements of such dubious crustal mobility as Os and Ir. The data also show that enhanced PGE concentrations, with similar trends to those of the boundary layers, occur in the Cretaceous sediments below the actual boundary at Stevns Klint and all three the New Zealand localities. This confirms the observations of others that the geochemistry of the boundary layers apparently does not record a unique component. It is suggested that terrestrial processes, eg. an extended period of Late Cretaceous volcanism can offer a satisfactory explanation for the features of the K-T geochemical anomaly. Such models would probably be more consistent with the observed stepwise, or gradual, palaeontological changes across this boundary, than the instant catastrophe predicated by the impact theory.

Tredous, M.↗

Long range geoid control through the European GPS traverse: Final results

The European north-south Global Positioning System (GPS)-traverse proposed by IAG SSG 3.88, should control and improve the European geoid. This traverse follows first order leveling lines, included in the United European Leveling Network. From May to August 1986 and in July 1987, the central and northern part of this traverse (approx. 3000 km) was observed using up to four TI 4100 receivers, covering Austria, Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Both traverse parts contain 71 stations with distances of about 50 km. In addition, 8 stations have been occupied for overlapping connections, and traverse links were established for connecting the fundamental stations Wettzell (VLBI and SLR) and Onsala (VLBI). Final results show a GPS observation precision of a few cm for loops of some 100 km circumference. After transformation of the GPS results to geoid heights using the leveled heights, comparisons with different existing gravimetric geoid determinations including geopotential models were performed. In addition, new geopotential models complete to degree and order 360 tailored to gravity data in Europe, and gravimetric geoid solutions using 6 x 10' mean gravity anomalies were investigated. The comparison with GPS and leveling yields rms discrepancies of + or - 0.1...0.2 m over 1000 km traverse sections for the best solutions, but a strong slope is existing in Sweden and southern Norway in almost all solutions, which is probably caused by systematic errors in the available gravity data for Scandinavia. This is confirmed by a new geoid computation at the Danish Geodetic Institute where the slope has disappeared. If this new solution is taken for the northern traverse section and the best solution for the central part, the rms discrepancy reduces to approximately + or - 0.2 m over 3000 km. Thus, a + or - 10 (exp 7) relative height accuracy seems to be achievable over long distances with the GPS/leveling and the gravimetric geoid calculation techniques, applied in this experiment.

Torge, W.↗

Comet dust as a source of amino acids at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary

It is suggested here that the large amounts of apparently extraterrestrial amino acids detected recently in rocks at the K/T boundary at Stevns Klint, Denmark were actually deposited with the dust from a giant comet trapped in the inner solar system, a fragment of which comprised the K/T impactor. Amino acids or their precursors in the comet dust would have been swept up by the earth both before and after the impact, but any conveyed by the impactor itself would have been destroyed. The observed amino acid layers would thus have been deposited without an impact.

Zahnle, Kevin↗

The Danish SAR system - Design and initial tests

In January 1986, the design of a high-resolution airborne C-band SAR started at the Electromagnetics Institute of the Technical University of Denmark. The initial system test flights took place in November and December 1989. The authors describe the design of the system, its implementation, and its performance. They show how digital technology has been utilized to realize a very flexible radar with variable resolution, swath-width, and imaging geometry. The motion-compensation algorithms implemented to obtain the high resolution and the special features built into the system to ensure proper internal calibration are outlined. The data processing system, developed for image generation and quality assurance, is sketched, with special emphasis on the flexibility of the system. Sample images and a preliminary performance evaluation are presented, demonstrating that the design goals have been met. The ongoing system upgrades and the planned scientific utilization of the C-band SAR are described.

Madsen, Soren N.↗