ALBERT

Description: The Curiosity rover has analyzed various detrital sedimentary rocks at Gale crater, among which fluvial and lacustrine rocks are predominant [ Grotzinger et al. , 2014, 2015]. Conglomerates correspond both to the coarsest sediments analyzed and the least modified by chemical alteration, enabling us to link their chemistry to that of source rocks on the Gale crater rims. In this study, we report the results of 6 conglomerate targets analyzed by APXS and 40 analyzed by ChemCam. The bulk chemistry derived by both instruments suggests two distinct end-members for the conglomerate compositions. The first group (Darwin type) is typical of conglomerates analyzed before sol 540; it has a felsic alkali-rich composition, with a Na 2 O/K 2 O 〉 5. The second group (Kimberley type) is typical of conglomerates analyzed between sol 540 and 670 in the vicinity of the Kimberley waypoint; it has an alkali-rich potassic composition with Na 2 O/K 2 O 〈 2. The variety of chemistry and igneous textures (when identifiable) of individual clasts suggest that each conglomerate type is a mixture of multiple source rocks. Conglomerate compositions are in agreement with most of the felsic alkali-rich float rock compositions analyzed in the hummocky plains (as reported in Sautter et al., 2015 ). The average composition of conglomerates can be taken as a proxy of the average igneous crust composition at Gale crater. Differences between the composition of conglomerates and that of finer-grained detrital sediments analyzed by the rover suggest modifications by diagenetic processes (especially for Mg-enrichments in fine grained rocks), physical sorting and mixing with finer-grained material of different composition.

Description: High elevations are thought to be warming more rapidly than lower elevations, but there is a lack of air temperature observations in high mountains. This study compares instantaneous values of land surface temperature (1030/2230 and 0130/1330 local solar time) as measured by MODIS MOD11A2/MYD11A2 at 1 km resolution from the TERRA and AQUA platforms respectively with equivalent screen level air temperatures (in the same pixel). We use a transect of 22 in situ weather stations across Kilimanjaro ranging in elevation from 990 to 5803 m, one of the biggest elevational ranges in the world. There are substantial differences between LST and T air , sometimes up to 20˚C. During the day/night LST tends to be higher/lower than T air . LST-T air differences (ΔT) show large variance, particularly during the daytime, and tend to increase with elevation, particularly on the NE slope which faces the morning sun. Differences are larger in the dry seasons (JF and JJAS), and reduce in cloudy seasons. Healthier vegetation (as measured by NDVI) and increased humidity lead to reduced daytime surface heating above air temperature and lower ΔT, but these relationships weaken with elevation. At high elevations transient snow cover cools LST more than T air . The predictability of ΔT therefore reduces. It will therefore be challenging to use satellite data at high elevations as a proxy for in situ air temperatures in climate change assessments, especially for daytime T max. ΔT is smaller and more consistent at night, so it will be easier to use LST to monitor changes in T min.

Description: An X-band polarimetric radar and multiple lightning detection systems are used to document the initial cloud-to-ground lightning flash in a large number (46 cases) of incipient thunderstorms, as part of the CHUVA-Vale field campaign during the 2011/2012 spring-summer in southeast Brazil. The results show an exceptionally low stroke multiplicity (87% of flashes with single stroke) in the initial ground flashes, a finding consistent with the limited space available for the positive leader extension into new regions of negative space charge in compact cells. The results here are contrasted with the behavior of ground flashes in mesoscale thunderstorms in previous studies. Additionally, we found evidence for a minimum scale (radar echo 〉 20 dBZ) for lightning initiation (〉3 km in radius), and that the peak current of initial cloud-to-ground flashes in these compact thunderstorms are substantially smaller only half as large as return stroke peak currents in general.

Description: Tissue microenvironment adjusts biological properties of different cells by modulating signaling pathways and cell to cell interactions. This study showed that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)/ mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) can be modulated by altering culture conditions. HPV E6/E7-transfected immortalized oral keratinocytes (IHOK) cultured in different media displayed reversible EMT/MET accompanied by changes in cell phenotype, proliferation, gene expression at transcriptional and translational level, and migratory and invasive activities. Cholera toxin, a major supplement to culture medium, was responsible for inducing the morphological and biological changes of IHOK. Cholera toxin per se induced EMT by triggering the secretion of interleukin 6 (IL-6) from IHOK. We found IL-6 to be a central molecule that modulates the reversibility of EMT based not only on the mRNA level but also on the level of secretion. Taken together, our results demonstrate that IL-6, a cytokine whose transcription is activated by alterations in culture conditions, is a key molecule for regulating reversible EMT/MET. This study will contribute to understand one way of cellular adjustment for surviving in unfamiliar conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Description: Juvenile coho salmon exposed to elevated CO2 levels for 2 weeks showed a compromised ability to detect a predator alarm odor relative to coho salmon maintained in ambient CO2 seawater. Electrophysiological and gene expression analysis of coho salmon olfactory tissues indicated that the behavioral impairments experienced by salmon exposed to elevated CO2 may be associated with alterations in higher‐order neural signal processing within the olfactory bulb. Our study demonstrates that anadromous fish such as salmon may share a sensitivity to rising CO2 levels with obligate marine species, suggesting potential wide‐scale ecological impacts of ocean acidification on fish. Abstract Elevated concentrations of CO2 in seawater can disrupt numerous sensory systems in marine fish. This is of particular concern for Pacific salmon because they rely on olfaction during all aspects of their life including during their homing migrations from the ocean back to their natal streams. We investigated the effects of elevated seawater CO2 on coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) olfactory‐mediated behavior, neural signaling, and gene expression within the peripheral and central olfactory system. Ocean‐phase coho salmon were exposed to three levels of CO2, ranging from those currently found in ambient marine water to projected future levels. Juvenile coho salmon exposed to elevated CO2 levels for 2 weeks no longer avoided a skin extract odor that elicited avoidance responses in coho salmon maintained in ambient CO2 seawater. Exposure to these elevated CO2 levels did not alter odor signaling in the olfactory epithelium, but did induce significant changes in signaling within the olfactory bulb. RNA‐Seq analysis of olfactory tissues revealed extensive disruption in expression of genes involved in neuronal signaling within the olfactory bulb of salmon exposed to elevated CO2, with lesser impacts on gene expression in the olfactory rosettes. The disruption in olfactory bulb gene pathways included genes associated with GABA signaling and maintenance of ion balance within bulbar neurons. Our results indicate that ocean‐phase coho salmon exposed to elevated CO2 can experience significant behavioral impairments likely driven by alteration in higher‐order neural signal processing within the olfactory bulb. Our study demonstrates that anadromous fish such as salmon may share a sensitivity to rising CO2 levels with obligate marine species suggesting a more wide‐scale ecological impact of ocean acidification.

Description: Abstract Observations since 1998 have revealed that repeating earthquakes, and particularly small repeating earthquakes, occur less often than expected given their seismically derived slip and the regional fault slip rate. Here we test the hypothesis that small repeaters occur infrequently because they occur on fault segments or strands with low slip rates. We analyze the recurrence interval‐moment scaling of earthquake sequences near Parkfield, California. We find that closely spaced sequences, which likely occur on the same fault strand and respond to the same slip rate, follow a scaling consistent with seismic slip rates while widely spaced sequences, which likely occur on different strands, follow a scaling consistent with the previous counterintuitive observations. These results suggest that spatially varying slip rates could create the recurrence interval scaling, though we cannot exclude other explanations.

Description: Three months of profiler observations from Darwin, Australia are separated into seven cloud types (shallow, mid-level, and deep convective; weak and robust stratiform rain; and transitional and ice-only anvil) to provide vertical velocity statistics on the full spectrum of tropical convective clouds over the course of a monsoon season. Consistent with past studies, convective updrafts increase in height and magnitude as the convective cloud height increases. Shallow/mid-level/deep convection has a mean maximum value of 0.3 m s −1 at 3 km/0.6 m s −1 at 5 km/2.5 m s −1 at 8 km. Deep convective extremes approach 18 m s −1 above 8 km while downdrafts in all convective cloud types are maximum below 4 km. Stratiform vertical velocities are weaker and less varied than in active convection, with maximum mean values 〈 0.25 m s −1 . However, stratiform rain regions associated with larger near-surface reflectivities (and thus rain rates) have stronger mesoscale up and downdrafts than weaker stratiform rain regions. Anvil cloud with little or no rain near the surface also exhibits mesoscale up and downdrafts, but the vertical velocity profile is shifted up in height by at least 2 km. In addition, anvil updrafts were only 20 to 50% of the magnitudes in the stratiform rain region. Overall, the vertical motion statistics were similar across the pre-, active, and suppressed monsoon periods. The vertical velocity distributions for each cloud type were also generally consistent with the reflectivity distributions (i.e., the strongest updrafts were often linked to the largest reflectivities), allowing for some linkages between the dynamical and microphysical cloud properties. For example, strong updrafts above the 0  ° C level in deep convection are associated with strongly sloping reflectivity profiles supporting the importance of cold rain growth processes and stronger vertical motions are associated with stratiform rain that has a robust bright band.

Description: [1]  Before the launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), known characteristics of lobate scarps on the Moon were limited to studies of only a few dozen scarps revealed in Apollo-era photographs within ~20° of the equator. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) now provides meter-scale images of more than 100 lobate scarps, as well as stereo derived topography of about a dozen scarps. High resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) provide unprecedented insight into scarp morphology and dimensions. Here, we analyze images and DTMs of the Slipher, Racah X-1, Mandel'shtam A, Feoktistov, Simpelius-1, and Oppenheimer F lobate scarps. Parameters in fault dislocation models are iteratively varied to provide best fits to DTM topographic profiles to test previous interpretations that the observed landforms are the result of shallow, low-angle thrust faults. Results suggest that these faults occur from the surface down to depths of hundreds of meters, have dip angles of 35–40°, and have typical maximum slips of tens of meters. These lunar scarp models are comparable to modeled geometries of lobate scarps on Mercury, Mars, and asteroid 433 Eros, but are shallower and ~10° steeper than geometries determined in studies with limited Apollo-era data. Frictional and rock mass strength criteria constrain the state of global differential stress between 3.5 and 18.6 MPa at the modeled maximum depths of faulting. Our results are consistent with thermal history models that predict relatively small compressional stresses that likely arise from cooling of a magma ocean.

Description: Satellite imagery reveals a visually striking pattern of persistent line-shaped contrails located to the Northwest of the British Isles on 1 September 2007, just before sunrise. These contrails formed over the heavily trafficked eastbound North Atlantic Track (NAT) flight paths, as they intersected an area of prefrontal mixing. The high relative humidity with respect to ice within the prefrontal mixing zone allowed the contrails to persist, while the strictly regulated flight paths over the region account for their remarkable shapes. The positioning of the NAT flight paths to take advantage of the jet stream likely maximized regional contrail formation. An estimation of the outgoing top of the atmosphere longwave (LW) flux from the CERES instrument shows that the contrails reduced the local instantaneous LW emissivity by 20.96 (±0.26) W/m2. This example demonstrates that for middle latitude regions, prefrontal mixing is an important factor governing the radiative influence of contrails. However, a full estimation of the radiative impact is not possible, as we cannot specify the amount of shortwave forcing caused by the persistence of the contrails into daytime; moreover, several hours after formation the line-shaped contrails spread and overlapped with pre-existing cloud structures.

Description: Prior to Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the morphology and dimensions of only a limited number of lobate scarps, all located near the equator (within 21°), had been characterized. Topography derived from LRO Camera stereo images and Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) ranging is used to measure the relief and analyze the morphology of previously known and newly detected low and high latitude lobate scarps. The asymmetric profiles and maximum slopes on scarp faces (∼5° to 29°) of lunar lobate scarps are similar to those of lobate scarps observed on Mars and Mercury. Scarp lengths range from ∼0.6 to 21.6 km (mean = ∼6.0 km, median = ∼4.4 km, n = 79), and measured relief ranges from ∼5 to 150 m (mean = ∼35 m, median = ∼20 m, n = 26). Assuming a range of 20° to 40° for the fault plane dip, estimated lower limits for the horizontal shortening (S) expressed by the lobate scarp thrust faults range from ∼10 to 410 m. The range in S estimated for the lunar scarps is roughly an order of magnitude lower than estimates of S for lobate scarp thrust faults on Mars and Mercury. The relatively small range of S estimated for the growing number of well-characterized lunar scarps is consistent with a small amount of global contraction.