Engineering topics

Stefanick, Michael

Publications and source records attributed to Stefanick, Michael.

5 records

NASA NTRS1992

Stress observations and driving force models for the South American plate

A comparison of stress observations to predictions of driving force models for the South American plate is presented. Conditions for dynamical equilibrium are used to estimate the magnitudes of forces as a function of age, with ridge push and slab pull as active forces, and plate drag and slab resistance as passive forces. The results are consistent with earlier published models, and it is found that the primary balance for an oceanic plate is between slab pull and the resisting drag forces. The model is generalized for the possible forces driving the South American plate, and it is compared with observed stress measurements and kinematics. The plate balance is found to be largely between ridge push and plate drag. The magnitude of a possible trench suction force is estimated using a model with an eddy between the Nazca slab and the overlying South American plate.

Stefanick, Michael↗

NASA NTRS1990

Models for the hotspot distribution

Published hotspot catalogs all show a hemispheric concentration beyond what can be expected by chance. Cumulative distributions about the center of concentration are described by a power law with a fractal dimension closer to 1 than 2. Random sets of the corresponding sizes do not show this effect. A simple shift of the random sets away from a point would produce distributions similar to those of hotspot sets. The possible relation of the hotspots to the locations of ridges and subduction zones is tested using large sets of randomly-generated points to estimate areas within given distances of the plate boundaries. The probability of finding the observed number of hotspots within 10 deg of the ridges is about what is expected.

Jurdy, Donna M.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Plate-driving forces over the Cenozoic era

Under the assumptions of a dynamical balance between active torques and plate drag as the passive torque, plate reconstructions have been used to determine plate torques for the Cenozoic era. A torque balance equation is derived in which slab-pull and ridge-push torques are proportional to boundary chord vectors, with the weights depending on powers of the subduction velocity at the middle of the chords. The unique angular velocity satisfying the torque balance requirements is obtained for each plate. Torques are found to be fairly stable throughout the Cenozoic, with the misfit between the balanced torque and drag torque increasing systematically for earlier reconstructions.

Jurdy, Donna M.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Photochemical ozone overburden correction

One-half of the total ozone column is predominantly under photochemical control under all conditions except polar winter. The other half is dynamically controlled. Since the photochemical forcing is phased with the solar declination and modulated by air temperature variation in the upper stratosphere and the dynamic forcing is tied to wave activity in the upper troposphere, the total ozone column is a mixture of the two drivers. If the total ozone is used to infer a property of the dynamic field, namely the tropopause height, it is necessary to correct for the photochemical variations. It should be possible to remove the photochemical component of the total ozone by using SBUV profile information along the orbital track as long as the spatial variations are low frequency. The column integral above the Umkehr levels in the lower stratosphere are examined to determine the level where the spatial variability decreases to the expected photochemical range to find an approximate dividing line between photochemical and dynamic control. Given this a spherical harmonic function will be fitted to the ozone field and subtracted from the TOMS total ozone field. This residual field will then be correlated with tropopause height to determine whether an improvement is obtained over the total ozone correlation.

Stefanick, Michael↗

NASA NTRS1987

Errors in plate rotations as described by covariance matrices and their combination in reconstructions

The use of covariance matrices to describe the errors in plate rotations and to combine the contributions of individual plate pairs for plate reconstructions is discussed. Particular attention is given to finite rotations and the combination of covariance matrices for a circuit of successive plate pair rotations. Examples of errors in plate reconstructions in which the position of the Pacific plate relative to North America is reconstructed are presented.

Jurdy, Donna M.↗