Gas phase reaction rates of some positive ions with water at 296 K

Measuring rate constants for reactions of various gas phases with water by flowing afterglow techniqu

Ethical implication of emerging technologies

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 3 mai 2007

Near mean-field behavior in the generalized Burridge-Knopoff earthquake model with variable range stress transfer

Simple models of earthquake faults are important for understanding the mechanisms for their observed behavior in nature, such as Gutenberg-Richter scaling. Because of the importance of long-range interactions in an elastic medium, we generalize the Burridge-Knopoff slider-block model to include variable range stress transfer. We find that the Burridge-Knopoff model with long-range stress transfer exhibits qualitatively different behavior than the corresponding long-range cellular automata models and the usual Burridge-Knopoff model with nearest-neighbor stress transfer, depending on how quickly the friction force weakens with increasing velocity. Extensive simulations of quasiperiodic characteristic events, mode-switching phenomena, ergodicity, and waiting-time distributions are also discussed. Our results are consistent with the existence of a mean-field critical point and have important implications for our understanding of earthquakes and other driven dissipative systems.Comment: 24 pages 12 figures, revised version for Phys. Rev.

Simulation of the Burridge-Knopoff Model of Earthquakes with Variable Range Stress Transfer

Simple models of earthquake faults are important for understanding the mechanisms for their observed behavior, such as Gutenberg-Richter scaling and the relation between large and small events, which is the basis for various forecasting methods. Although cellular automaton models have been studied extensively in the long-range stress transfer limit, this limit has not been studied for the Burridge-Knopoff model, which includes more realistic friction forces and inertia. We find that the latter model with long-range stress transfer exhibits qualitatively different behavior than both the long-range cellular automaton models and the usual Burridge-Knopoff model with nearest neighbor springs, depending on the nature of the velocity-weakening friction force. This result has important implications for our understanding of earthquakes and other driven dissipative systems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, published on Phys. Rev. Let

An inhomogeneous fault model for gaps, asperities, barriers, and seismicity migration

We develop a model for a fault in which various areas of the fault plane have different stress-slip constitutive laws. The model is conceptually simple, involving nonlinear algebraic equations which can easily be solved by a graphical method of successive iterations. Application is made to the problem of explaining seismicity patterns associated with great earthquakes. The model quantitatively explains phenomena associated with seismic gaps, asperities, and barriers

Kinetics and mechanism of the formation of water cluster ions from O2(plus) and H2O in He, Ar, N2, and O2 at 296 K

The reaction sequence leading from O2(+) to H3O(+)-H2O was examined in He, Ar, N2 and O2 carrier gases in a flowing afterglow system. The rate constants for the reactions were measured and the kinetic analysis for their determination is presented. For M = N2, two new steps involving the formation and reaction of O2(+)-N2 were proposed and examined. The rate constants are discussed and compared with other experimental values

Positive Feedback, Memory and the Predictability of Earthquakes

We review the "critical point" concept for large earthquakes and enlarge it in the framework of so-called "finite-time singularities". The singular behavior associated with accelerated seismic release is shown to result from a positive feedback of the seismic activity on its release rate. The most important mechanisms for such positive feedback are presented. We introduce and solve analytically a novel simple model of geometrical positive feedback in which the stress shadow cast by the last large earthquake is progressively fragmented by the increasing tectonic stress. Finally, we present a somewhat speculative figure that tends to support a mechanism based on the decay of stress shadows. This figure suggests that a large earthquake in Southern California of size similar to the 1812 great event is maturing.Comment: PostScript document of 18 pages + 2 eps figure

Rank-Ordering Statistics of Extreme Events: Application to the Distribution of Large Earthquakes

Rank-ordering statistics provides a perspective on the rare, largest elements of a population, whereas the statistics of cumulative distributions are dominated by the more numerous small events. The exponent of a power law distribution can be determined with good accuracy by rank-ordering statistics from the observation of only a few tens of the largest events. Using analytical results and synthetic tests, we quantify the systematic and the random errors. We also study the case of a distribution defined by two branches, each having a power law distribution, one defined for the largest events and the other for smaller events, with application to the World-Wide (Harvard) and Southern California earthquake catalogs. In the case of the Harvard moment catalog, we make more precise earlier claims of the existence of a transition of the earthquake magnitude distribution between small and large earthquakes; the $b$-values are $b_2 = 2.3 \pm 0.3$ for large shallow earthquakes and $b_1 = 1.00 \pm 0.02$ for smaller shallow earthquakes. However, the cross-over magnitude between the two distributions is ill-defined. The data available at present do not provide a strong constraint on the cross-over which has a $50\%$ probability of being between magnitudes $7.1$ and $7.6$ for shallow earthquakes; this interval may be too conservatively estimated. Thus, any influence of a universal geometry of rupture on the distribution of earthquakes world-wide is ill-defined at best. We caution that there is no direct evidence to confirm the hypothesis that the large-moment branch is indeed a power law. In fact, a gamma distribution fits the entire suite of earthquake moments from the smallest to the largest satisfactorily. There is no evidence that the earthquakes of the Southern California catalog have a distribution with tw

A model for the distribution of aftershock waiting times

In this work the distribution of inter-occurrence times between earthquakes in aftershock sequences is analyzed and a model based on a non-homogeneous Poisson (NHP) process is proposed to quantify the observed scaling. In this model the generalized Omori's law for the decay of aftershocks is used as a time-dependent rate in the NHP process. The analytically derived distribution of inter-occurrence times is applied to several major aftershock sequences in California to confirm the validity of the proposed hypothesis.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Home advantage? Decomposition across the freshwater-estuarine transition zone varies with litter origin and local salinity

Expected increases in the frequency and intensity of storm surges and river flooding may greatly affect the relative salinity of estuarine environments over the coming decades. In this experiment we used detritus from three contrasting environments (marine Fucus vesiculosus; estuarine Spartina anglica; terrestrial Quercus robur) to test the prediction that the decomposition of the different types of litter would be highest in the environment with which they are associated. Patterns of decomposition broadly fitted our prediction: Quercus detritus decomposed more rapidly in freshwater compared with saline conditions while Fucus showed the opposite trend; Spartina showed an intermediate response. Variation in macro-invertebrate assemblages was detected along the salinity gradient but with different patterns between estuaries, suggesting that breakdown rates may be linked in part to local invertebrate assemblages. Nonetheless, our results suggest that perturbation of salinity gradients through climate change could affect the process of litter decomposition and thus alter nutrient cycling in estuarine transition zones. Understanding the vulnerability of estuaries to changes in local abiotic conditions is important given the need to better integrate coastal proceses into a wider management framework at a time when coastlines are increasingly threatened by human activities