The sources of sodium escaping from Io revealed by spectral high definition imaging

On Jupiter's moon Io, volcanic plumes and evaporating lava flows provide hot gases to form an atmosphere that is subsequently ionized. Some of Io's plasma is captured by the planet's strong magnetic field to form a co-rotating torus at Io's distance; the remaining ions and electrons form Io's ionosphere. The torus and ionosphere are also depleted by three time-variable processes that produce a banana-shaped cloud orbiting with Io, a giant nebula extending out to about 500 Jupiter radii, and a jet close to Io. No spatial constraints exist for the sources of the first two; they have been inferred only from modelling the patterns seen in the trace gas sodium observed far from Io. Here we report observations that reveal a spatially confined stream that ejects sodium only from the wake of the Io-torus interaction, together with a visually distinct, spherically symmetrical outflow region arising from atmospheric sputtering. The spatial extent of the ionospheric wake that feeds the stream is more than twice that observed by the Galileo spacecraft and modelled successfully. This implies considerable variability, and therefore the need for additional modelling of volcanically-driven, episodic states of the great jovian nebula.     

木卫一等离子体环中冷热离子的轨迹

通过模拟木卫一等离子体环中冷热离子的轨迹来分析离心力对冷热离子作用的大小,说明冷离子在离心力的约束下沿着磁力线来回反射,不可能进入木星大气层,而离心力对热离子运动的影响不大.木卫一等离子体环主要由高密度的冷等离子体组成,因此还需要一个能使冷离子离开木卫一等离子体环进入木星大气层的机制,使它能够引发木卫一尾迹极光的发射.     

Ultraviolet emissions from the magnetic footprints of Io, Ganymede and Europa on Jupiter

Io leaves a magnetic footprint on Jupiter's upper atmosphere that appears as a spot of ultraviolet emission that remains fixed underneath Io as Jupiter rotates. The specific physical mechanisms responsible for generating those emissions are not well understood, but in general the spot seems to arise because of an electromagnetic interaction between Jupiter's magnetic field and the plasma surrounding Io, driving currents of around 1 million amperes down through Jupiter's ionosphere. The other galilean satellites may also leave footprints, and the presence or absence of such footprints should illuminate the underlying physical mechanism by revealing the strengths of the currents linking the satellites to Jupiter. Here we report persistent, faint, far-ultraviolet emission from the jovian footprints of Ganymede and Europa. We also show that Io's magnetic footprint extends well beyond the immediate vicinity of Io's flux-tube interaction with Jupiter, and much farther than predicted theoretically; the emission persists for several hours downstream. We infer from these data that Ganymede and Europa have persistent interactions with Jupiter's magnetic field despite their thin atmospheres.     

Atmospheric oxygenation caused by a change in volcanic degassing pressure

The Precambrian history of our planet is marked by two major events: a pulse of continental crust formation at the end of the Archaean eon and a weak oxygenation of the atmosphere (the Great Oxidation Event) that followed, at 2.45?billion years ago. This oxygenation has been linked to the emergence of oxygenic cyanobacteria and to changes in the compositions of volcanic gases, but not to the composition of erupting lavas--geochemical constraints indicate that the oxidation state of basalts and their mantle sources has remained constant since 3.5?billion years ago. Here we propose that a decrease in the average pressure of volcanic degassing changed the oxidation state of sulphur in volcanic gases, initiating the modern biogeochemical sulphur cycle and triggering atmospheric oxygenation. Using thermodynamic calculations simulating gas-melt equilibria in erupting magmas, we suggest that mostly submarine Archaean volcanoes produced gases with SO(2)/H(2)S?相似文献   

Redox evolution of a degassing magma rising to the surface

Volatiles carried by magmas, either dissolved or exsolved, have a fundamental effect on a variety of geological phenomena, such as magma dynamics and the composition of the Earth's atmosphere. In particular, the redox state of volcanic gases emanating at the Earth's surface is widely believed to mirror that of the magma source, and is thought to have exerted a first-order control on the secular evolution of atmospheric oxygen. Oxygen fugacity (f(O2) estimated from lava or related gas chemistry, however, may vary by as much as one log unit, and the reason for such differences remains obscure. Here we use a coupled chemical-physical model of conduit flow to show that the redox state evolution of an ascending magma, and thus of its coexisting gas phase, is strongly dependent on both the composition and the amount of gas in the reservoir. Magmas with no sulphur show a systematic f(O2) increase during ascent, by as much as 2 log units. Magmas with sulphur show also a change of redox state during ascent, but the direction of change depends on the initial f(O2) in the reservoir. Our calculations closely reproduce the H2S/SO2 ratios of volcanic gases observed at convergent settings, yet the difference between f(O2) in the reservoir and that at the exit of the volcanic conduit may be as much as 1.5 log units. Thus, the redox state of erupted magmas is not necessarily a good proxy of the redox state of the gases they emit. Our findings may require re-evaluation of models aimed at quantifying the role of magmatic volatiles in geological processes.     

Detection of bromine monoxide in a volcanic plume

The emission of volcanic gases usually precedes eruptive activity, providing both a warning signal and an indication of the nature of the lava soon to be erupted. Additionally, volcanic emissions are a significant source of gases and particles to the atmosphere, influencing tropospheric and stratospheric trace-gas budgets. Despite some halogen species having been measured in volcanic plumes (mainly HCl and HF), little is known about bromine compounds and, in particular, gas-phase reactive bromine species. Such species are especially important in the stratosphere, as reactive bromine-despite being two orders of magnitude less abundant than chlorine-accounts for about one-third of halogen-catalysed ozone depletion. In the troposphere, bromine-catalysed complete ozone destruction has been observed to occur regularly during spring in the polar boundary layers as well as in the troposphere above the Dead Sea basin. Here we report observations of BrO and SO2 abundances in the plume of the Soufrière Hills volcano (Montserrat) in May 2002 by ground-based multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy. Our estimate of BrO emission leads us to conclude that local ozone depletion and small ozone 'holes' may occur in the vicinity of active volcanoes, and that the amount of bromine emitted from volcanoes might be sufficiently large to play a role not only in the stratosphere, but also in tropospheric chemistry.     

Io as a source of the jovian dust streams

Streams of dust emerging from the direction of Jupiter were discovered in 1992 during the flyby of the Ulysses spacecraft, but their precise origin within the jovian system remained unclear. Further data collected by the Galileo spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter since December 1995, identified the possible sources of dust as Jupiter's main ring, its gossamer ring, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (ref. 8) and Io. All but Jupiter's gossamer ring and Io have since been ruled out. Here we find that the dominant source of the jovian dust streams is Io, on the basis of periodicities in the dust impact signal. Io's volcanoes, rather than impact ejecta, are the dust sources.     

盐粒沉降对Zn大气腐蚀的影响

使用石英晶体微天平(QCM)并结合红外透射光谱(IRTS)研究了海洋大气环境和工业大气环境对金属Zn在薄液膜下大气腐蚀的影响.QCM试验表明:研究的几种电解质中,NaCl对Zn的腐蚀最严重,其次是(NH4)2SO4,NaNO3较弱,Na2CO3最轻微.结合红外光谱对腐蚀产物的分析,阐述了各种不同电解质条件下的腐蚀机理.     

Jovian-like aurorae on Saturn

Planetary aurorae are formed by energetic charged particles streaming along the planet's magnetic field lines into the upper atmosphere from the surrounding space environment. Earth's main auroral oval is formed through interactions with the solar wind, whereas that at Jupiter is formed through interactions with plasma from the moon Io inside its magnetic field (although other processes form aurorae at both planets). At Saturn, only the main auroral oval has previously been observed and there remains much debate over its origin. Here we report the discovery of a secondary oval at Saturn that is approximately 25 per cent as bright as the main oval, and we show this to be caused by interaction with the middle magnetosphere around the planet. This is a weak equivalent of Jupiter's main oval, its relative dimness being due to the lack of as large a source of ions as Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. This result suggests that differences seen in the auroral emissions from Saturn and Jupiter are due to scaling differences in the conditions at each of these two planets, whereas the underlying formation processes are the same.     

中性NaCl/KSCN溶液中Na_2SO_4对铜电化学振荡的影响

铜在 Ｎａ Ｃｌ／ Ｋ Ｓ Ｃ Ｎ／ Ｎａ２ Ｓ Ｏ４ 溶液中阳极溶解时存在电化学振荡现象, Ｎａ２ Ｓ Ｏ４ 的加入使振荡诱导期显著减小,振荡持续时间明显缩短．探讨了电极表面状态和电极周围电解液组成对振荡行为的影响,及电化学振荡过程     

NaCl沉积和SO2污染对镁合金初期大气腐蚀行为的影响

借助扫描电镜(SEM/EDX)、X射线衍射(XRD)研究了NaCl单个因素对镁合金AZ91D初期腐蚀行为的影响,并对SO2和NaCl的协同作用进行了探讨.NaCl存在时初期破坏金属表面的保护膜,但后期微溶性腐蚀产物的生成导致腐蚀速率的降低.当NaCl和SO2同时存在时,反应生成的可溶性产物不具有阻碍的作用,同时他们会发生部分溶解生成自由移动的离子,大量难溶物在镁合金表面难以短时间形成,故NaCl和SO2同时存在引起的腐蚀远大于两者单独存在时引起的腐蚀加和.NaCl和SO2对镁合金的初期大气腐蚀具有明显的协同作用.     

Evidence of atmospheric sulphur in the martian regolith from sulphur isotopes in meteorites

Sulphur is abundant at the martian surface, yet its origin and evolution over time remain poorly constrained. This sulphur is likely to have originated in atmospheric chemical reactions, and so should provide records of the evolution of the martian atmosphere, the cycling of sulphur between the atmosphere and crust, and the mobility of sulphur in the martian regolith. Moreover, the atmospheric deposition of oxidized sulphur species could establish chemical potential gradients in the martian near-surface environment, and so provide a potential energy source for chemolithoautotrophic organisms. Here we present measurements of sulphur isotopes in oxidized and reduced phases from the SNC meteorites--the group of related achondrite meteorites believed to have originated on Mars--together with the results of laboratory photolysis studies of two important martian atmospheric sulphur species (SO2 and H2S). The photolysis experiments can account for the observed sulphur-isotope compositions in the SNC meteorites, and so identify a mechanism for producing large abiogenic 34S fractionations in the surface sulphur reservoirs. We conclude that the sulphur data from the SNC meteorites reflects deposition of oxidized sulphur species produced by atmospheric chemical reactions, followed by incorporation, reaction and mobilization of the sulphur within the regolith.     

一种新的等离子体源及其在纺织材料表面改性中的应用

这里主要的工作就是采用并建立介质阻挡放电装置。在此基础上，使用空气和氩气两种工作气体进行等离子体放电，对等离子体放电电流和放电电压等参数进行较为系统的测量和诊断。由此找到适当的等离子体放电条件。这样，选择1mm宽的放电间隙，获得了较为理想且均匀的等离子体，并用其对大豆纤维进行表面改性。从扫描电镜等测试结果显示，改性后大豆纤维的表面性能有明显改善。     

Halocarbons produced by natural oxidation processes during degradation of organic matter

Volatile halogenated organic compounds (VHOC) play an important role in atmospheric chemical processes-contributing, for example, to stratospheric ozone depletion. For anthropogenic VHOC whose sources are well known, the global atmospheric input can be estimated from industrial production data. Halogenated compounds of natural origin can also contribute significantly to the levels of VHOC in the atmosphere. The oceans have been implicated as one of the main natural sources, where organisms such as macroalgae and microalgae can release large quantities of VHOC to the atmosphere. Some terrestrial sources have also been identified, such as wood-rotting fungi, biomass burning and volcanic emissions. Here we report the identification of a different terrestrial source of naturally occurring VHOC. We find that, in soils and sediments, halide ions can be alkylated during the oxidation of organic matter by an electron acceptor such as Fe(III): sunlight or microbial mediation are not required for these reactions. When the available halide ion is chloride, the reaction products are CH3Cl, C2H5Cl, C3H7Cl and C4H9Cl. (The corresponding alkyl bromides or alkyl iodides are produced when bromide or iodide are present.) Such abiotic processes could make a significant contribution to the budget of the important atmospheric compounds CH3Cl, CH3Br and CH3I.     

不同盐分在不同浓度条件下对玉米幼苗基础生理效应的研究

用一系列含同摩尔Ｎａ＾＋浓度的ＮａＣｌ、Ｎａ２ＣＯ３、Ｎａ２ＳＯ４溶液以及用磷酸中和至ＰＨ值与含同摩尔Ｎａ＾＋浓度的ＮａＣｌ溶液的ＰＨ值相等的Ｎａ２ＣＯ３溶液处理生长期为３０天的玉米幼苗。处理一周后,测定离子含量、渗透势、光合性能和叶绿素含量等各项生理指标。结果表明：在同摩尔Ｎａ＾＋浓度条件下,玉米幼苗在ＮａＣｌ、ＮａＣＯ３和Ｎａ２ＳＯ４胁迫下产生胁变的顺序为：Ｎａ２ＣＯ３〉ＮａＣｌ〉Ｎａ２ＳＯ４     

机制砂混凝土的冻融和盐侵蚀耐久性

对机制砂混凝土进行了冻融循环试验。考虑了三种强度等级(C30、C40、C50)和四种介质(清水、质量分数为5%的氯化钠溶液、质量分数为5%的硫酸钠溶液和5%氯化钠溶液+5%硫酸钠溶液组成的混合盐溶液)。重点考察质量损失率、相对动弹性模量和抗压强度的变化。结果表明:随着冻融循环次数的增加,四种环境下机制砂混凝土的质量、相对动弹性模量和抗压强度均呈下降趋势;盐的存在加剧了机制砂混凝土在冻融循环过程中产生的表层剥落,却减缓了机制砂混凝土相对动弹性模量的下降;盐溶液种类对机制砂混凝土冻融后质量损失率和相对动弹性模量的影响程度不同,氯化钠比硫酸钠的破坏力强。     

Heterogeneous reactions on the surface of fine particles in the atmosphere

Fine particles play an important role in the atmosphere. Research on heterogeneous reactions on the surface of fine particles is one of the frontier areas of atmospheric science. In this paper, physical and chemical characteristics of fine particles in the atmosphere and the interactions between trace gases and fine particles are described, methods used in heterogeneous reactions research are discussed in detail, progress in the study of heterogeneous reactions on the surface of fine particles in the atmosphere is summarized, existing important questions are pointed out and future research directions are suggested.     

Energetic neutral atoms from a trans-Europa gas torus at Jupiter

The space environments--or magnetospheres--of magnetized planets emit copious quantities of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) at energies between tens of electron volts to hundreds of kiloelectron volts (keV). These energetic atoms result from charge exchange between magnetically trapped energetic ions and cold neutral atoms, and they carry significant amounts of energy and mass from the magnetospheres. Imaging their distribution allows us to investigate the structure of planetary magnetospheres. Here we report the analysis of 50-80 keV ENA images of Jupiter's magnetosphere, where two distinct emission regions dominate: the upper atmosphere of Jupiter itself, and a torus of emission residing just outside the orbit of Jupiter's satellite Europa. The trans-Europa component shows that, unexpectedly, Europa generates a gas cloud comparable in gas content to that associated with the volcanic moon Io. The quantity of gas found indicates that Europa has a much greater impact than hitherto believed on the structure of, and the energy flow within, Jupiter's magnetosphere.     

The auroral footprint of Enceladus on Saturn

Although there are substantial differences between the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, it has been suggested that cryovolcanic activity at Enceladus could lead to electrodynamic coupling between Enceladus and Saturn like that which links Jupiter with Io, Europa and Ganymede. Powerful field-aligned electron beams associated with the Io-Jupiter coupling, for example, create an auroral footprint in Jupiter's ionosphere. Auroral ultraviolet emission associated with Enceladus-Saturn coupling is anticipated to be just a few tenths of a kilorayleigh (ref. 12), about an order of magnitude dimmer than Io's footprint and below the observable threshold, consistent with its non-detection. Here we report the detection of magnetic-field-aligned ion and electron beams (offset several moon radii downstream from Enceladus) with sufficient power to stimulate detectable aurora, and the subsequent discovery of Enceladus-associated aurora in a few per cent of the scans of the moon's footprint. The footprint varies in emission magnitude more than can plausibly be explained by changes in magnetospheric parameters--and as such is probably indicative of variable plume activity.     

High CO2 levels in the Proterozoic atmosphere estimated from analyses of individual microfossils

Solar luminosity on the early Earth was significantly lower than today. Therefore, solar luminosity models suggest that, in the atmosphere of the early Earth, the concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane must have been much higher. However, empirical estimates of Proterozoic levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have not hitherto been available. Here we present ion microprobe analyses of the carbon isotopes in individual organic-walled microfossils extracted from a Proterozoic ( approximately 1.4-gigayear-old) shale in North China. Calculated magnitudes of the carbon isotope fractionation in these large, morphologically complex microfossils suggest elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the ancient atmosphere--between 10 and 200 times the present atmospheric level. Our results indicate that carbon dioxide was an important greenhouse gas during periods of lower solar luminosity, probably dominating over methane after the atmosphere and hydrosphere became pervasively oxygenated between 2 and 2.2 gigayears ago.