The South Caspian subbasin extends from the foot of the Alborz Mountains to the deepest part of Caspian Sea. The lithological background and tectonic setting of the study area primarily control the ...deposition of thick sedimentary sequences of the basin, while hydroclimatic processes exert secondary impacts on the sediment distribution pattern. To evaluate past hydroclimatic changes, short sediment cores were retrieved from the continental shelf and upper slope of the south Caspian Sea and were treated for basic sedimentological properties and mineralogy. The results show that the sediments are composed of terrigenous, biogenic, and chemical components. The chemical component has a significant signature in the internal structure of the sediment, which reflects degradation of organic material due to a succession of aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Aerobic conditions reflect the extreme climatic conditions that lead to formation of well-oxygenated deep water in lowstands and extremely cold winters, when dense oxygenated water is allowed to touch the bottom sediments. The sediment distribution pattern demonstrates three distinctive areas in the southern continental margin with different organic matter and carbonate content. Fluvial inputs and wave hydrodynamics control the sediment properties and their distribution pattern in the upper shelf, while in deeper parts, the dynamics of water stratification and its temporal and long-term variations, relating to climate and water level changes, determine sediment composition. Overall, the sedimentary distribution pattern is a result of their sources in the catchment basin and the hydroclimate of the Caspian Sea.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
32.
AGN feedback in the nucleus of M51 Querejeta, M; Schinnerer, E; Garcia-Burillo, S ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
09/2016, Letnik:
593
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
AGN feedback is invoked as one of the most relevant mechanisms that shape the evolution of galaxies. Our goal is to understand the interplay between AGN feedback and the interstellar medium in M51, a ...nearby spiral galaxy with a modest AGN and a kpc-scale radio jet expanding through the disc of the galaxy. For this purpose, we combine molecular gas observations in the CO(1-0) and HCN(1-0) lines from the Plateau de Bure interferometer with archival radio, X-ray, and optical data. We show that there is a significant scarcity of CO emission in the ionisation cone, while molecular gas emission tends to accumulate towards the edges of the cone. The distribution and kinematics of CO and HCN line emission reveal AGN feedback effects out to r~ 500 pc, covering the whole extent of the radio jet, with complex kinematics in the molecular gas which displays strong local variations. We propose that this is the result of the almost coplanar jet pushing on molecular gas in different directions as it expands; the effects are more pronounced in HCN than in CO emission, probably as the result of radiative shocks. Following previous interpretation of the redshifted molecular line in the central 5" as caused by a molecular outflow, we estimate the outflow rates to be M sub(H2)~ 0.9 M sub(middot in circle)/ yr and M sub(dense)~ 0.6 M sub(middot in circle)/ yr, which are comparable to the molecular inflow rates (~1 M sub(middot in circle)/ yr); gas inflow and AGN feedback could be mutually regulated processes. The agreement with findings in other nearby radio galaxies suggests that this is not an isolated case, and is probably the paradigm of AGN feedback through radio jets, at least for galaxies hosting low-luminosity active nuclei.
We test whether the spiral patterns apparent in many large disk galaxies should be thought of as dynamical features that are stationary in a corotating frame for t dyn, as implied by the density wave ...approach for explaining spiral arms. If such spiral arms have enhanced star formation (SF), observational tracers for different stages of the SF sequence should show a spatial ordering, from upstream to downstream in the corotating frame: dense H I, CO, tracing molecular hydrogen gas, 24 Delta *mm emission tracing enshrouded SF, and UV emission tracing unobscured young stars. We argue that such a spatial ordering should be reflected in the angular cross-correlation (CC, in polar coordinates) using all azimuthal positions among pairs of these tracers; the peak of the CC should be offset from zero, in different directions inside and outside the corotation radius. Recent spiral SF simulations by Dobbs & Pringle show explicitly that for the case of a stationary spiral arm potential such angular offsets between gas and young stars of differing ages should be observable as cross-correlation offsets. We calculate the angular cross-correlations for different observational SF sequence tracers in 12 nearby spiral galaxies, drawing on a data set with high-quality maps of the neutral gas (H I, THINGS) and molecular gas (CO, HERACLES), along with 24 Delta *mm emission (Spitzer, SINGS); we include FUV images (GALEX) and 3.6 Delta *mm emission (Spitzer, IRAC) for some galaxies, tracing aging stars and longer timescales. In none of the resulting tracer cross-correlations for this sample do we find systematic angular offsets, which would be expected for a stationary dynamical spiral pattern of well-defined pattern speed. This result indicates that spiral density waves in their simplest form are not an important aspect of explaining spirals in large disk galaxies.
The complex physical, kinematic, and chemical properties of galaxy centres make them interesting environments to examine with molecular line emission. We present new 2 − 4″ (∼75 − 150 pc at 7.7 Mpc) ...observations at 2 and 3 mm covering the central 50″ (∼1.9 kpc) of the nearby double-barred spiral galaxy NGC 6946 obtained with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. We detect spectral lines from ten molecules: CO, HCN, HCO
+
, HNC, CS, HC
3
N, N
2
H
+
, C
2
H, CH
3
OH, and H
2
CO. We complemented these with published 1 mm CO observations and 33 GHz continuum observations to explore the star formation rate surface density Σ
SFR
on 150 pc scales. In this paper, we analyse regions associated with the inner bar of NGC 6946 – the nuclear region (NUC), the northern (NBE), and southern inner bar end (SBE) and we focus on short-spacing corrected bulk (CO) and dense gas tracers (HCN, HCO
+
, and HNC). We find that HCO
+
correlates best with Σ
SFR
, but the dense gas fraction (
f
dense
) and star formation efficiency of the dense gas (SFE
dense
) fits show different behaviours than expected from large-scale disc observations. The SBE has a higher Σ
SFR
,
f
dense
, and shocked gas fraction than the NBE. We examine line ratio diagnostics and find a higher CO(2−1)/CO(1−0) ratio towards NBE than for the NUC. Moreover, comparison with existing extragalactic datasets suggests that using the HCN/HNC ratio to probe kinetic temperatures is not suitable on kiloparsec and sub-kiloparsec scales in extragalactic regions. Lastly, our study shows that the HCO
+
/HCN ratio might not be a unique indicator to diagnose AGN activity in galaxies.
Using data from the PdBI Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey (PAWS), we have generated the largest extragalactic giant molecular cloud (GMC) catalog to date, containing 1507 individual objects. GMCs in the ...inner M51 disk account for only 54% of the total super(12)CO(1-0) luminosity of the survey, but on average they exhibit physical properties similar to Galactic GMCs. We do not find a strong correlation between the GMC size and velocity dispersion, and a simple virial analysis suggests that ~30% of GMCs in M51 are unbound. We have analyzed the GMC properties within seven dynamically motivated galactic environments, finding that GMCs in the spiral arms and in the central region are brighter and have higher velocity dispersions than inter-arm clouds. Globally, the GMC mass distribution does not follow a simple power-law shape. Instead, we find that the shape of the mass distribution varies with galactic environment: the distribution is steeper in inter-arm region than in the spiral arms, and exhibits a sharp truncation at high masses for the nuclear bar region. We propose that the observed environmental variations in the GMC properties and mass distributions are a consequence of the combined action of large-scale dynamical processes and feedback from high-mass star formation. We describe some challenges of using existing GMC identification techniques for decomposing the super(12)CO(1-0) emission in molecule-rich environments, such as M51's inner disk.
ABSTRACT
The low-J rotational transitions of 12CO are commonly used to trace the distribution of molecular gas in galaxies. Their ratios are sensitive to excitation and physical conditions in the ...molecular gas. Spatially resolved studies of CO ratios are still sparse and affected by flux calibration uncertainties, especially since most do not have high angular resolution or do not have short-spacing information and hence miss any diffuse emission. We compare the low-J CO ratios across the disc of two massive, star-forming spiral galaxies NGC 2903 and NGC 3627 to investigate whether and how local environments drive excitation variations at GMC scales. We use Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the three lowest-J CO transitions at a common angular resolution of 4 arcsec (190 pc). We measure median line ratios of $R_{21}=0.67^{+0.13}_{-0.11}$, $R_{32}=0.33^{+0.09}_{-0.08}$, and $R_{31}=0.24^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$ across the full disc of NGC 3627. We see clear CO line ratio variation across the galaxy consistent with changes in temperature and density of the molecular gas. In particular, towards the centre, R21, R32, and R31 increase by 35 per cent, 50 per cent, and 66 per cent, respectively, compared to their average disc values. The overall line ratio trends suggest that CO(3–2) is more sensitive to changes in the excitation conditions than the two lower J transitions. Furthermore, we find a similar radial R32 trend in NGC 2903, albeit a larger disc-wide average of $\langle R_{32}\rangle =0.47^{+0.14}_{-0.08}$. We conclude that the CO low-J line ratios vary across environments in such a way that they can trace changes in the molecular gas conditions, with the main driver being changes in temperature.
The transport of gas towards the centre of galaxies is critical for black hole feeding and, indirectly, it can control active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. We have quantified the molecular gas ...inflow in the central R< 1kpc of M51 to be 1 M sub(middot in circle)/yr, using a new gravitational torque map and the molecular gas traced by the Plateau de Bure Interferometer Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey (PAWS). The nuclear stellar bar is responsible for this gas inflow. We also used torque profiles to estimate the location of dynamical resonances, and the results suggest a corotation for the bar CR sub(bar)~ 20'', and a corotation for the spiral CR sub(sp)~ 100''. We demonstrate how important it is to correct 3.6 mu m images for dust emission when gravitational torques are to be computed, and we examine further sources of uncertainty. Our observational measurement of gas inflow can be compared with nuclear molecular outflow rates and provide useful constraints for numerical simulations.
We present new H
I
observations of the nearby massive spiral galaxy M 83 taken with the JVLA at 21″ angular resolution (≈500 pc) of an extended (∼1.5 deg
2
) ten-point mosaic combined with GBT ...single-dish data. We study the super-extended H
I
disk of M 83 (∼50 kpc in radius), in particular disk kinematics, rotation, and the turbulent nature of the atomic interstellar medium. We define distinct regions in the outer disk (
r
gal
> central optical disk), including a ring, a southern area, a southern arm and a northern arm. We examine H
I
gas surface density, velocity dispersion, and noncircular motions in the outskirts, which we compare to the inner optical disk. We find an increase of velocity dispersion (
σ
v
) toward the pronounced H
I
ring, indicative of more turbulent H
I
gas. Additionally, we report over a large galactocentric radius range (until
r
gal
∼ 50 kpc) where
σ
v
is slightly larger than thermal component (i.e., > 8 km s
−1
). We find that a higher star-formation rate (as traced by far UV emission) is not necessarily always associated with a higher H
I
velocity dispersion, suggesting that radial transport could be a dominant driver for the enhanced velocity dispersion. Furthermore, we find a possible branch that connects the extended H
I
disk to the dwarf irregular galaxy UGCA 365 and that deviates from the general direction of the northern arm. Lastly, we compare mass flow rate profiles (based on 2D and 3D tilted ring models) and find evidence for outflowing gas at
r
gal
∼ 2 kpc, inflowing gas at
r
gal
∼ 5.5 kpc, and outflowing gas at
r
gal
∼ 14 kpc. We caution that mass flow rates are highly sensitive to the assumed kinematic disk parameters, in particular to inclination.
Tree-ring analysis of subfossil Pinus sylvestris L., from nine new peatland sites located beyond the species’ current northern limit in Scotland, established a regional chronology called WRATH-9. The ...chronology has been provisionally dated against Irish pine chronologies and provides the first annual resolution picture of Scots pine expansion from c. 3200 BC and subsequent demise from c. 3000 BC. Pine germination and growth is suggested to be associated with a widespread fall in bog water-tables that indicates a regional climatic control. Bog pines progressively declined in number, rather than died out in a single event, reflecting their growth in a marginal habitat, close to a critical ecological threshold. The use of tree-ring sequences from in situ bog pine macrofossils provides a higher resolution insight into past conditions than possible with existing radiocarbon and pollen-based chronologies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK