Defining the mantle structure that lies beneath hot spots is important for revealing their depth of origin. Three-dimensional images of shear-wave velocity beneath the Hawaiian Islands, obtained from a network of sea-floor and land seismometers, show an upper-mantle low-velocity anomaly that is elongated in the direction of the island chain and surrounded by a parabola-shaped high-velocity anom...

We report the values of R = d ln(Vs)/d ln(Vp) due to water as a function of pressure for Mg2SiO4 olivine, wadsleyite, ringwoodite. The results show that ringwoodite has significantly lower R than olivine and wadsleyite; due to the reason that bulk modulus of ringwoodite is more sensitive to water than shear modulus. R of ringwoodite decreases with pressure while R of olivine and wadsleyite incr...

Surface wave dispersion measurements for Love wave overtones carry evidence of azimuthal anisotropy in the transition zone of Earth's mantle (400 to 660 kilometers deep). A Backus-Gilbert inversion of anisotropic phase velocity maps, with resolution kernels mainly sensitive to the transition zone, shows a robust long-wavelength azimuthally anisotropic velocity structure. This observation puts n...

We present an experimental study investigating the transition zone between a liquid-like unyielded region and a solid-like yielded region in a yield-stress fluid. The configuration consists of a rectangular closed-channel flow disturbed by the presence of a step. Upstream of the step, a solid-liquid interface between a dead zone and a flow zone appears. In this study, we use a model fluid, name...

Fracture has always been a serious concern in the design and repair of steel structures such as ships. Because of these concerns, much research has been ongoing in the causes of fractures and in ways which they could be predicted and thus prevented. The objective of this study was to flnd, test and evaluate a method for measuring tht:: critical strain energy density with tensile specimens. Plas...

Mineral properties in Earth's lower mantle are affected by iron electronic states, but representative pressures and temperatures have not yet been probed. Spin states of iron in lower-mantle ferropericlase have been measured up to 95 gigapascals and 2000 kelvin with x-ray emission in a laser-heated diamond cell. A gradual spin transition of iron occurs over a pressure-temperature range extendin...

Track and cladistic biogeographic analyses based on insect taxa are used as a framework to interpret patterns of the Latin American and Caribbean entomofauna by identifying biogeographic areas on the basis of endemicity and arranging them hierarchically in a system of regions, subregions, dominions, and provinces. The Nearctic region, inhabited by Holarctic insect taxa, comprises five provinces...

Longitudinal changes in composition, abundance, and distribution of copepods were studied at the transition zone of Paranapanema River-Jurumirim Reservoir (SP, Brazil). The interchange of biotic material between marginal lakes and the river system was also examined. Water samples were obtained from 6 stations along a stretch of 13 km of the Paranapanema River, from an upstream reach with high w...

This study investigated the importance of variations in environmental factors affecting the abundance patterns of decapods on the southeastern Brazilian coast. Sampling was carried out monthly from January 1998 through December 1999 in Ubatumirim and Mar Virado, Ubatuba region, using a commercial shrimp fishing boat equipped with double-rig nets. Six areas adjacent to rocky shores were chosen. ...

Magnetic compass orientation in birds has been shown to be light dependent. Results from behavioural studies indicate that magnetoreception capabilities are disrupted under light of peak wavelengths longer than 565 nm, and shifts in orientation have been observed at higher light intensities (43-44x10(15) quanta s(-1) m(-2)). To investigate further the function of the avian magnetic compass with...