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AGU Journal Highlights (European Research) - 13 March 2002
March 13, 2002Contents
I. Highlights, including authors and their institutions
II. Notes, including ordering information for science writers
**********
I. Highlights, including authors and their institutions
*****
Note: The following highlights are all from Geophysical Research
Letters (GRL) and will be electronically published on the AGU
Web site within the next two weeks. The papers related to these
Highlights will be mailed to subscribers in the next printed issue
following their electronic publication.
*****
1. Beneath the surface of Ganymede
Jupiter`s icy moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar
system, is bigger than the planet Mercury and is the first moon
known to have its own magnetic field. This enormous moon also
has mountains, valleys, craters, and ridges. But how can an icy
moon have a magnetic field? To answer such questions, scientists
need to understand Ganymede`s internal structure. Francis Nimmo
et al. ["Effective elastic thickness and heat flux estimates on
Ganymede"] have measured and modeled some of Ganymede`s
ridges to infer the thickness of its rigid outer layer and the local
heat flux -- both clues to the moon`s internal structure. Using
stereo images acquired by the Galileo satellite, they measured the
topography of ridges that are interpreted as tilted fault blocks
caused by crustal stretching. They estimate that Ganymede`s rigid
layer is about one kilometer [one-half mile] thick. They also
inferred that during deformation, the heat flux was an order of
magnitude greater than the present-day flux. This high heat flux,
and the high stresses required to cause the faulting, could have
been caused by the tremendous gravitational force of Jupiter in the
ancient past.
Authors:
F. Nimmo, Department of Geological Sciences, University College
London, United Kingdom;
R.T. Pappalardo, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics,
University of Colorado, Boulder;
B. Giese, DLR, Berlin, Germany.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) paper
10.1029/2001GL013976, 2002.
*****
2. Global warming will increase length-of-day
Manmade increases in greenhouse gas concentrations in the Earth`s
atmosphere may modify the global atmospheric and oceanic
circulation, resulting in a variation of the length-of-day (LOD).
Using results from 14 coupled ocean-atmosphere models, de Viron
et al. ["Effect of global warming on the length-of-day"] estimate
the effect of global warming (using a common scenario with an
effective CO2 increase of one percent per year) on the angular
momentum of the ocean and atmosphere, and hence on the LOD.
They find that in spite of significant inter-model differences, there
seems to be a consensus that the LOD will increase at a rate of a
few microseconds per year. The models show that the effect is
mostly associated with an increase of the mean zonal [east-west or
west-east] wind, of which about one third is compensated by a
change in mass repartition. The oceanic current change induces an
additional increase of the LOD at the level of some tenths of a
microsecond per year.
Authors:
Olivier de Viron and Veronique Dehant, Royal Observatory of
Belgium;
Hugues Goosse and Michel Crucifix, Institut d`Astronomie et de
Geophysique G. Lemaitre, Univ. Cath de Louvain, Belgium.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) paper
10.1029/2001GL013672, 2002.
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Note: The following highlights are all from Geophysical Research
Letters (GRL) and will be electronically published on the AGU
Web site within the next two weeks. The papers related to these
Highlights will be mailed to subscribers in the next printed issue
following their electronic publication.
*****
1. Beneath the surface of Ganymede
Jupiter`s icy moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar
system, is bigger than the planet Mercury and is the first moon
known to have its own magnetic field. This enormous moon also
has mountains, valleys, craters, and ridges. But how can an icy
moon have a magnetic field? To answer such questions, scientists
need to understand Ganymede`s internal structure. Francis Nimmo
et al. ["Effective elastic thickness and heat flux estimates on
Ganymede"] have measured and modeled some of Ganymede`s
ridges to infer the thickness of its rigid outer layer and the local
heat flux -- both clues to the moon`s internal structure. Using
stereo images acquired by the Galileo satellite, they measured the
topography of ridges that are interpreted as tilted fault blocks
caused by crustal stretching. They estimate that Ganymede`s rigid
layer is about one kilometer [one-half mile] thick. They also
inferred that during deformation, the heat flux was an order of
magnitude greater than the present-day flux. This high heat flux,
and the high stresses required to cause the faulting, could have
been caused by the tremendous gravitational force of Jupiter in the
ancient past.
Authors:
F. Nimmo, Department of Geological Sciences, University College
London, United Kingdom;
R.T. Pappalardo, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics,
University of Colorado, Boulder;
B. Giese, DLR, Berlin, Germany.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) paper
10.1029/2001GL013976, 2002.
*****
2. Global warming will increase length-of-day
Manmade increases in greenhouse gas concentrations in the Earth`s
atmosphere may modify the global atmospheric and oceanic
circulation, resulting in a variation of the length-of-day (LOD).
Using results from 14 coupled ocean-atmosphere models, de Viron
et al. ["Effect of global warming on the length-of-day"] estimate
the effect of global warming (using a common scenario with an
effective CO2 increase of one percent per year) on the angular
momentum of the ocean and atmosphere, and hence on the LOD.
They find that in spite of significant inter-model differences, there
seems to be a consensus that the LOD will increase at a rate of a
few microseconds per year. The models show that the effect is
mostly associated with an increase of the mean zonal [east-west or
west-east] wind, of which about one third is compensated by a
change in mass repartition. The oceanic current change induces an
additional increase of the LOD at the level of some tenths of a
microsecond per year.
Authors:
Olivier de Viron and Veronique Dehant, Royal Observatory of
Belgium;
Hugues Goosse and Michel Crucifix, Institut d`Astronomie et de
Geophysique G. Lemaitre, Univ. Cath de Louvain, Belgium.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) paper
10.1029/2001GL013672, 2002.
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
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