Modelling the size distribution of cosmic voids

The Standard Cosmological Model is generally accepted by the scientific community, there are still an amount of unresolved issues. From the observable characteristics of the structures in the Universe,it should be possible to impose constraints on the cosmological parameters. Cosmic Voids (CV) are a major component of the LSS and have been shown to possess great potential for constraining DE and testing theories of gravity. But a gap between CV observations and theory still persists. A theoretical model for void statistical distribution as a function of size exists (SvdW) However, the SvdW model has been unsuccesful in reproducing the results obtained from cosmological simulations. This undermines the possibility of using voids as cosmological probes. The goal of our thesis work is to cover the gap between theoretical predictions and measured distributions of cosmic voids. We develop an algorithm to identify voids in simulations,consistently with theory. We inspecting the possibilities offered by a recently proposed refinement of the SvdW (the Vdn model, Jennings et al., 2013). Comparing void catalogues to theory, we validate the Vdn model, finding that it is reliable over a large range of radii, at all the redshifts considered and for all the cosmological models inspected. We have then searched for a size function model for voids identified in a distribution of biased tracers. We find that, naively applying the same procedure used for the unbiased tracers to a halo mock distribution does not provide success- full results, suggesting that the Vdn model requires to be reconsidered when dealing with biased samples. Thus, we test two alternative exten- sions of the model and find that two scaling relations exist: both the Dark Matter void radii and the underlying Dark Matter density contrast scale with the halo-defined void radii. We use these findings to develop a semi-analytical model which gives promising results.

Fig. 2. Lithology, water and total carbon content, cumulative grain-size distribution, and quartz, feldspar, and mica contents of core sequence Lz1013 from south-western Beaver Lake

A 100 cm long sediment sequence was recovered from Beaver Lake in Amery Oasis, East Antarctica, using gravity and piston corers. Sedimentological and mineralogical analyses and the absence of micro and macrofossils indicate that the sediments at the base of the sequence formed under glacial conditions, probably prior to c. 12 500 cal. yr BP. The sediments between c. 81 and 31 cm depth probably formed under subaerial conditions, indicating that isostatic uplift since deglaciation has been substantially less than eustatic sea-level rise and that large areas of the present-day floor of Beaver Lake must have been subaerially exposed following deglaciation. The upper 31 cm of the sediment sequence were deposited under glaciomarine conditions similar to those of today, supporting geomorphic observations that the Holocene was a period of relative sea-level highstand in Amery Oasis.

(Figure 1) Distribution of 137Cs and 134Cs vs. age in sediments of the Großer Plöner See, north Germany

137Cs and 134Cs as compounds of the radioactive release from the reactor catastrophy of Chernobyl on the 26.04.1986 were deposited into sediments of lakes in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany). Three years later, in autumn 1989, a sediment core was taken from the Großer Plöner See and the distribution of both caesium isotopes was determined. The radiocaesium profiles were dated by 210Pb. The radiocaesium nuclides from Chernobyl diffused into sediment layers which were deposited decades before the catastrophy. The activity of 137Cs from Chernobyl was higher than from the nuclear bomb fallout.

(Table) Grain size distribution of sediments from core Ak-509, Black Sea continental slope

New results of geomorphological, seismoacoustic, and lithological investigations on the upper continental slope off the Arkhipo-Osipovka Settlement are presented. Here, a large submarine slump was discovered by seismic survey in 1998. The assumed slump body, up to 200 m thick, rises 50-60 m above the valley floor that cuts the slope. Recent semiliquid mud that overlies laminated slope sediments with possible slump deformations flows down in the valley thalweg. Radiocarbon age inversion recorded in a Holocene sediment section of shelf facies recovered from the upper slope points to the gravity dislocation of sediments.

Contrasting effects of summer and winter warming on body mass explain population dynamics in a food-limited Arctic herbivore

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank the Governor of Svalbard for permission to undertaker the research. We are especially grateful to Steve Coulson, and the logistical and technical staff at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) for supporting the field campaigns. The data collection would not have been possible without the contribution of numerous field assistants, including veterinary students from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science. Statistical advice was provided by Mark Brewer and David Elston, BioSS. The work was supported mainly by grants from U.K. Natural Environment Research Council the Norwegian Research Council, and the Macaulay Development Trust. Additional financial support has come from the Amundsen Foundation, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, The Macaulay Institute, the NINA, UNIS, and the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science

Chemistry and grain-size distribution of terrigenous sediments deposited at Site GeoB9501

The Sahara Desert is the largest source of mineral dust in the world. Emissions of African dust increased sharply in the early 1970s, a change that has been attributed mainly to drought in the Sahara/Sahel region caused by changes in the global distribution of sea surface temperature. The human contribution to land degradation and dust mobilization in this region remains poorly understood, owing to the paucity of data that would allow the identification of long-term trends in desertification. Direct measurements of airborne African dust concentrations only became available in the mid-1960s from a station on Barbados and subsequently from satellite imagery since the late 1970s: they do not cover the onset of commercial agriculture in the Sahel region ~170 years ago. Here we construct a 3,200-year record of dust deposition off northwest Africa by investigating the chemistry and grain-size distribution of terrigenous sediments deposited at a marine site located directly under the West African dust plume. With the help of our dust record and a proxy record for West African precipitation we find that, on the century scale, dust deposition is related to precipitation in tropical West Africa until the seventeenth century. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a sharp increase in dust deposition parallels the advent of commercial agriculture in the Sahel region. Our findings suggest that human-induced dust emissions from the Sahel region have contributed to the atmospheric dust load for about 200 years.

He isotope, U/Th isotope, Calcium carbonate, biogenic opal, rare earth element concentrations, and grain size distribution measured on core-top sediments during SONNE cruise SO202 (INOPEX)

Eolian dust is a significant source of iron and other nutrients that are essential for the health of marine ecosystems and potentially a controlling factor of the high nutrient-low chlorophyll status of the Subarctic North Pacific. We map the spatial distribution of dust input using three different geochemical tracers of eolian dust, 4He, 232Th and rare earth elements, in combination with grain size distribution data, from a set of core-top sediments covering the entire Subarctic North Pacific. Using the suite of geochemical proxies to fingerprint different lithogenic components, we deconvolve eolian dust input from other lithogenic inputs such as volcanic ash, ice-rafted debris, riverine and hemipelagic input. While the open ocean sites far away from the volcanic arcs are dominantly composed of pure eolian dust, lithogenic components other than eolian dust play a more crucial role along the arcs. In sites dominated by dust, eolian dust input appears to be characterized by a nearly uniform grain size mode at ~4 µm. Applying the 230Th-normalization technique, our proxies yield a consistent pattern of uniform dust fluxes of 1-2 g/m**2/yr across the Subarctic North Pacific. Elevated eolian dust fluxes of 2-4 g/m**2/yr characterize the westernmost region off Japan and the southern Kurile Islands south of 45° N and west of 165° E along the main pathway of the westerly winds. The core-top based dust flux reconstruction is consistent with recent estimates based on dissolved thorium isotope concentrations in seawater from the Subarctic North Pacific. The dust flux pattern compares well with state-of-the-art dust model predictions in the western and central Subarctic North Pacific, but we find that dust fluxes are higher than modeled fluxes by 0.5-1 g/m**2/yr in the northwest, northeast and eastern Subarctic North Pacific. Our results provide an important benchmark for biogeochemical models and a robust approach for downcore studies testing dust-induced iron fertilization of past changes in biological productivity in the Subarctic North Pacific.

Distribution of meiobenthos in sediment samples of the northeastern Atlantic

The meiofauna of the deep sea areas (800 - 5500 m) between Madeira and Lisbon was quantitatively investigated during "Meteor" cruises in 1970 and 1971. With respect to numbers and biomass the meiofauna (especially nematodes and harpacticoid copepods) of the investigated areas is relatively poor averaging about 66,000 individuals per m**2 and 34 mg per m**2 wet weight biomass (polychaetes and foraminifera excluded). Regional differences are more pronounced in the investigated areas than differences due to depth. A comparison with the results of other authors from other areas confirms the regional variations in the meiofauna abundance of the deep sea.