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DOE OSTI2021

Subterahertz collective dynamics of polar vortices

The collective dynamics of topological structures are of interest from both fundamental and applied perspectives. For example, studies of dynamical properties of magnetic vortices and skyrmions have not only deepened our understanding of many-body physics but also offered potential applications in data processing and storage. Topological structures constructed from electrical polarization, rather than electron spin, have recently been realized in ferroelectric superlattices, and these are promising for ultrafast electric-field control of topological orders. However, little is known about the dynamics underlying the functionality of such complex extended nanostructures. In this study, using terahertz-field excitation and femtosecond X-ray diffraction measurements, we observe ultrafast collective polarization dynamics that are unique to polar vortices, with orders-of-magnitude higher frequencies and smaller lateral size than those of experimentally realized magnetic vortices. A previously unseen tunable mode, hereafter referred to as a vortexon, emerges in the form of transient arrays of nanoscale circular patterns of atomic displacements, which reverse their vorticity on picosecond timescales. Its frequency is considerably reduced (softened) at a critical strain, indicating a condensation (freezing) of structural dynamics. We use first-principles-based atomistic calculations and phase-field modelling to reveal the microscopic atomic arrangements and corroborate the frequencies of the vortex modes. The discovery of subterahertz collective dynamics in polar vortices opens opportunities for electric-field-driven data processing in topological structures with ultrahigh speed and density.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2016

SU-D-204-07: Retrospective Correlation of Dose Accuracy with Regions of Local Failure for Early Stage Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy

Purpose: To correlate dose distributions computed using six algorithms for recurrent early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), with outcome (local failure). Methods: Of 270 NSCLC patients treated with 12Gyx4, 20 were found to have local recurrence prior to the 2-year time point. These patients were originally planned with 1-D pencil beam (1-D PB) algorithm. 4D imaging was performed to manage tumor motion. Regions of local failures were determined from follow-up PET-CT scans. Follow-up CT images were rigidly fused to the planning CT (pCT), and recurrent tumor volumes (Vrecur) were mapped to the pCT. Dose was recomputed, retrospectively, using five algorithms: 3-D PB, collapsed cone convolution (CCC), anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA), AcurosXB, and Monte Carlo (MC). Tumor control probability (TCP) was computed using the Marsden model (1,2). Patterns of failure were classified as central, in-field, marginal, and distant for Vrecur ≥95% of prescribed dose, 95–80%, 80–20%, and ≤20%, respectively (3). Results: Average PTV D95 (dose covering 95% of the PTV) for 3-D PB, CCC, AAA, AcurosXB, and MC relative to 1-D PB were 95.3±2.1%, 84.1±7.5%, 84.9±5.7%, 86.3±6.0%, and 85.1±7.0%, respectively. TCP values for 1-D PB, 3-D PB, CCC, AAA, AcurosXB, and MC were 98.5±1.2%, 95.7±3.0, 79.6±16.1%, 79.7±16.5%, 81.1±17.5%, and 78.1±20%, respectively. Patterns of local failures were similar for 1-D and 3D PB plans, which predicted that the majority of failures occur in centraldistal regions, with only ∼15% occurring distantly. However, with convolution/superposition and MC type algorithms, the majority of failures (65%) were predicted to be distant, consistent with the literature. Conclusion: Based on MC and convolution/superposition type algorithms, average PTV D95 and TCP were ∼15% lower than the planned 1-D PB dose calculation. Patterns of failure results suggest that MC and convolution/superposition type algorithms predict different outcomes for patterns of failure relative to PB algorithms. Work supported in part by Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

Urbanization and malaria have a contextual relationship in endemic areas: A temporal and spatial study in Ghana

In West Africa, malaria is one of the leading causes of disease-induced deaths. Existing studies indicate that as urbanization increases, there is corresponding decrease in malaria prevalence. However, in malaria-endemic areas, the prevalence in some rural areas is sometimes lower than in some peri-urban and urban areas. Therefore, the relationship between the degree of urbanization, the impact of living in urban areas, and the prevalence of malaria remains unclear. This study explores this association in Ghana, using epidemiological data at the district level (2015–2018) and data on health, hygiene, and education. We applied a multilevel model and time series decomposition to understand the epidemiological pattern of malaria in Ghana. Then we classified the districts of Ghana into rural, peri-urban, and urban areas using administratively defined urbanization, total built areas, and built intensity. We converted the prevalence time series into cross-sectional data for each district by extracting features from the data. To predict the determinant most impacting according to the degree of urbanization, we used a cluster-specific random forest. We find that prevalence is impacted by seasonality, but the trend of the seasonal signature is not noticeable in urban and peri-urban areas. While urban districts have a slightly lower prevalence, there are still pockets with higher rates within these regions. These areas of high prevalence are linked to proximity to water bodies and waterways, but the rise in these same variables is not associated with the increase of prevalence in peri-urban areas. The increase in nightlight reflectance in rural areas is associated with an increased prevalence. We conclude that urbanization is not the main factor driving the decline in malaria. However, the data indicate that understanding and managing malaria prevalence in urbanization will necessitate a focus on these contextual factors. Finally, we design an interactive tool, ’malDecision’ that allows data-supported decision-making.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2018

A Wearable Microfluidic Sensing Patch for Dynamic Sweat Secretion Analysis

Wearable sweat sensing is a rapidly rising research area driven by its promising potential in health, fitness, and diagnostic applications. Despite the growth in the field, major challenges in relation to sweat metrics remain to be addressed. These challenges include sweat rate monitoring for its complex relation with sweat compositions and sweat sampling for sweat dynamics studies. Here, we present a flexible microfluidic sweat sensing patch that enhances real-time electrochemical sensing and sweat rate analysis via sweat sampling. The device contains a spiral-patterned microfluidic component that is embedded with ion-selective sensors and an electrical impedance-based sweat rate sensor on a flexible plastic substrate. The patch is enabled to autonomously perform sweat analysis by interfacing the sensing component with a printed circuit board that is capable of on-site signal conditioning, analysis, and transmission. Progressive sweat flow in the microfluidic device, governed by the pressure induced by the secreted sweat, enhances sweat sampling and electrochemical detection via a defined sweat collection chamber and a directed sweat route. The characteristic of the sweat rate sensor is validated through a theoretical simulation, and the precision and accuracy of the flow rate is verified with a commercial syringe pump and a Macroduct sweat collector. On-body simultaneous monitoring of ion (H + , Na + , K + , Cl – ) concentration and sweat rate is also demonstrated for sensor functionality. This sweat sensing patch provides an integrated platform for a comprehensive sweat secretion analysis and facilitates physiological and clinical investigations by closely monitoring interrelated sweat parameters.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2016

Deletion of phytochelatin synthase modulates the metal accumulation pattern of cadmium exposed C. elegans

Here, environmental metal pollution is a growing health risk to flora and fauna. It is therefore important to fully elucidate metal detoxification pathways. Phytochelatin synthase (PCS), an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of phytochelatins (PCs), plays an important role in cadmium detoxification. The PCS and PCs are however not restricted to plants, but are also present in some lower metazoans. The model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans , for example, contains a fully functional phytochelatin synthase and phytochelatin pathway. By means of a transgenic nematode strain expressing a pcs -1 promoter-tagged GFP ( pcs -1::GFP) and a pcs -1 specific qPCR assay, further evidence is presented that the expression of the C. elegans phytochelatin synthase gene (pcs-1) is transcriptionally non-responsive to a chronic (48 h) insult of high levels of zinc (500 μM) or acute (3 h) exposures to high levels of cadmium (300 μM). However, the accumulation of cadmium, but not zinc, is dependent on the pcs -1 status of the nematode. Synchrotron based X-ray fluorescence imaging uncovered that the cadmium body burden increased significantly in the pcs -1(tm1748) knockout allele. Taken together, this suggests that whilst the transcription of pcs -1 may not be mediated by an exposure zinc or cadmium, it is nevertheless an integral part of the cadmium detoxification pathway in C. elegans .

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Void formation in operator growth, entanglement, and unitarity

The structure of the Heisenberg evolution of operators plays a key role in explaining diverse processes in quantum many-body systems. In this paper, we discuss a new universal feature of operator evolution: an operator can develop a void during its evolution, where its nontrivial parts become separated by a region of identity operators. Such processes are present in both integrable and chaotic systems, and are required by unitarity. We show that void formation has important implications for unitarity of entanglement growth and generation of mutual information and multipartite entanglement. We study explicitly the probability distributions of void formation in a number of unitary circuit models, and conjecture that in a quantum chaotic system the distribution is given by the one we find in random unitary circuits, which we refer to as the random void distribution. We also show that random unitary circuits lead to the same pattern of entanglement growth for multiple intervals as in (1 + 1)-dimensional holographic CFTs after a global quench, which can be used to argue that the random void distribution leads to maximal entanglement growth.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Characterization of intermetallics in aluminum to zinc coated interstitial free steel joining by pulsed MIG brazing for automotive application

In order to meet the demand for lighter and more fuel efficient vehicles, a significant attempt is currently being focused toward the substitution of aluminum for steel in the car body structure. It generates vital challenge with respect to the methods of joining to be used for fabrication. However, the conventional fusion joining has its own difficulty owing to formation of the brittle intermetallic phases. In this present study AA6061-T6 of 2 mm and HIF-GA steel sheet of 1 mm thick are metal inert gas (MIG) brazed with 0.8 mm Al–5Si filler wire under three different heat inputs. The effect of the heat inputs on bead geometry, microstructure and joint properties of MIG brazed Al-steel joints were exclusively studied and characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), electron probe micro analyzer (EPMA) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) assisted X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and selective area diffraction pattern. Finally microstructures were correlated with the performance of the joint. Diffusion induced intermetallic thickness measured by FESEM image and concentration profile agreed well with the numerically calculated one. HRTEM assisted EDS study was used to identify the large size FeAl{sub 3} and small size Fe{sub 2}Al{sub 5} type intermetallic compounds at the interface. The growth of these two phases in A2 (heat input: 182 J mm{sup −1}) is attributed to the slower cooling rate with higher diffusion time (~ 61 s) along the interface in comparison to the same for A1 (heat input: 155 J mm{sup −1}) with faster cooling rate and shorter diffusion time (~ 24 s). The joint efficiency as high as 65% of steel base metal is achieved for A2 which is the optimized parameter in the present study. - Highlights: • AA 6061 and HIF-GA could be successfully joined by MIG brazing. • Intermetallics are exclusively studied and characterized by XRD, FESEM and EPMA. • Intermetallic formation by diffusion is worth considering or not. • HRTEM-EDS, SAD pattern identifies the morphologies and size of intermetallics. • A compromise concerning formation of IMC is necessary.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2015

Quantum magnetism in strongly interacting one-dimensional spinor Bose systems

Strongly interacting one-dimensional quantum systems often behave in a manner that is distinctly different from their higher-dimensional counterparts. When a particle attempts to move in a one-dimensional environment it will unavoidably have to interact and ‘push’ other particles in order to execute a pattern of motion, irrespective of whether the particles are fermions or bosons. A present frontier in both theory and experiment are mixed systems of different species and/or particles with multiple internal degrees of freedom. Here we consider trapped two-component bosons with shortrange inter-species interactions much larger than their intra-species interactions and show that they have novel energetic and magnetic properties. In the strongly interacting regime, these systems have energies that are fractions of the basic harmonic oscillator trap quantum and have spatially separated ground states with manifestly ferromagnetic wave functions. Furthermore, we predict excited states that have perfect antiferromagnetic ordering. This holds for both balanced and imbalanced systems, and we show that it is a generic feature as one crosses from few- to many-body systems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Novel spirometry based on optical surface imaging

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of using optical surface imaging (OSI) to measure the dynamic tidal volume (TV) of the human torso during free breathing. Methods: We performed experiments to measure volume or volume change in geometric and deformable phantoms as well as human subjects using OSI. To assess the accuracy of OSI in volume determination, we performed experiments using five geometric phantoms and two deformable body phantoms and compared the values with those derived from geometric calculations and computed tomography (CT) measurements, respectively. To apply this technique to human subjects, an institutional review board protocol was established and three healthy volunteers were studied. In the human experiment, a high-speed image capture mode of OSI was applied to acquire torso images at 4–5 frames per second, which was synchronized with conventional spirometric measurements at 5 Hz. An in-house MATLAB program was developed to interactively define the volume of interest (VOI), separate the thorax and abdomen, and automatically calculate the thoracic and abdominal volumes within the VOIs. The torso volume change (TV C = ΔV{sub torso} = ΔV{sub thorax} + ΔV{sub abdomen}) was automatically calculated using full-exhalation phase as the reference. The volumetric breathing pattern (BP{sub v} = ΔV{sub thorax}/ΔV{sub torso}) quantifying thoracic and abdominal volume variations was also calculated. Under quiet breathing, TVC should equal the tidal volume measured concurrently by a spirometer with a conversion factor (1.08) accounting for internal and external differences of temperature and moisture. Another MATLAB program was implemented to control the conventional spirometer that was used as the standard. Results: The volumes measured from the OSI imaging of geometric phantoms agreed with the calculated volumes with a discrepancy of 0.0% ± 1.6% (range −1.9% to 2.5%). In measurements from the deformable torso/thorax phantoms, the volume differences measured using OSI imaging and CT imaging were 1.2% ± 2.1% (range −0.5% to 3.6%), with a linear regression fitting (slope = 1.02 and R{sup 2} = 0.999). In volunteers, the relative error in OSI tidal volume measurement was −2.2% ± 4.9% (range −9.2% to 4.8%) and a correlation of r = 0.98 was found with spirometric measurement. The breathing pattern values of the three volunteers were substantially different from each other (BP{sub v} = 0.15, 0.45, and 0.32). Conclusions: This study demonstrates the feasibility of using OSI to measure breathing tidal volumes and breathing patterns with adequate accuracy. This is the first time that dynamic breathing tidal volume as well as breathing patterns is measured using optical surface imaging. The OSI-observed movement of the entire torso could serve as a new respiratory surrogate in the treatment room during radiation therapy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Evolution of an Asteroid Family under YORP, Yarkovsky, and Collisions

Any population of asteroids, like asteroid families, will disperse in semimajor axis due to the Yarkovsky effect. The amount of drift is modulated by the asteroid spin state evolution, which determines the balance between the diurnal and seasonal Yarkovsky forces. The asteroid’s spin state is, in turn, controlled in part by the Yarkovsky–O’Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack (YORP) effect. The otherwise smooth evolution of an asteroid can be abruptly altered by collisions, which can cause impulsive changes in the spin state and can move the asteroid onto a different YORP track. In addition, collisions may also alter the YORP parameters by changing the superficial features and overall shape of the asteroid. Thus, the coupling between YORP and Yarkovsky is also strongly affected by the impact history of each body. To investigate this coupling, we developed a statistical code modeling the time evolution of semimajor axis under YORP–Yarkovsky coupling. It includes the contributions of NYORP (normal YORP), TYORP (tangential YORP), and collisions whose effects are deterministically calculated and not added in a statistical way. We find that both collisions and TYORP increase the dispersion of a family in semimajor axis by making the spin axis evolution less smooth and regular. We show that the evolution of a family’s structure with time is complex and collisions randomize the YORP evolution. In our test families, we do not observe the formation of a “YORP-eye” in the semimajor axis versus diameter distribution, even after a long period of time. If present, the “YORP-eye” might be a relic of an initial ejection velocity pattern of the collisional fragments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-549: Validation of a Method for in Vivo 3D Dose Reconstruction for SBRT Using a New Transmission Detector

Purpose: Recently, there has been increased clinical use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). SBRT treatments will strongly benefit from in vivo patient dose verification, as any errors in delivery can be more detrimental to the radiobiology of the patient as compared to conventional therapy. In vivo dose measurements, a commercially available quality assurance platform which is able to correlate the delivered dose to the patient’s anatomy and take into account tissue inhomogeneity, is the COMPASS system (IBA Dosimetry, Germany) using a new transmission detector (Dolphin, IBA Dosimetry). In this work, we evaluate a method for in vivo 3D dose reconstruction for SBRT using a new transmission detector, which was developed for in vivo dose verification for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Methods: We evaluated the accuracy of measurement for SBRT using simple small fields (2×2−10×10 cm2), a multileaf collimator (MLC) test pattern, and clinical cases. The dose distributions from the COMPASS were compared with those of EDR2 films (Kodak, USA) and the Monte Carlo simulations (MC). For clinical cases, we compared MC using dose-volume-histograms (DVHs) and dose profiles. Results: The dose profiles from the COMPASS for small fields and the complicated MLC test pattern agreed with those of EDR2 films, and MC within 3%. This showed the COMPASS with Dolphin system showed good spatial resolution and can measure small fields which are required for SBRT. Those results also suggest that COMPASS with Dolphin is able to detect MLC leaf position errors for SBRT. In clinical cases, the COMPASS with Dolphin agreed well with MC. The Dolphin detector, which consists of ionization chambers, provided stable measurement. Conclusion: COMPASS with Dolphin detector showed a useful in vivo 3D dose reconstruction for SBRT. The accuracy of the results indicates that this approach is suitable for clinical implementation.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

2005 Spokane and Kootenai County Regional Travel

The 2005 Spokane and Kootenai County Regional Travel Survey is a comprehensive survey of the travel patterns of households in Spokane County, Washington, and Kootenai County, Idaho. The survey was conducted for the Spokane Regional Transportation Council over a three-month period from April through June 2005. The data are drawn from 1,828 households within Spokane and Kootenai counties and contain information about 4,488 household members, 3,974 vehicles, and 19,638 trips made during a 24-hour period. The survey relied on the willingness of study area residents to 1) provide demographic information about their household, its members, and its vehicles during the recruitment stage and 2) record all travel for a specific 24-hour period during the retrieval stage. Respondents were asked to provide detailed household information, including number of occupants, type of dwelling unit, number of vehicles available to household occupants, as well as the year and body type for each vehicle.

1Hz data↗

DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating the effects of heatwave events on hydrological processes in the contiguous United States (2003–2022)

Extreme heat and drought conditions are affecting water availability in many regions worldwide, leading to negative impacts on human societies, agriculture, and ecosystems. However, current research lacks comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis examining the interplay between multiple hydrological factors and heatwave events, especially in the context of climate change. This research broadly pertains to understanding the dynamics of hydrological factors and their potential responses to heatwave during warm seasons across the contiguous United States for the period from 2003 to 2022. Utilizing data from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), we analyzed surface runoff, evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation, Groundwater Storage (GWS), Root Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM), and Total Water Storage (TWS) to discern annual patterns and the impacts of heatwave. Further, the spatial patterns of heatwave highlighted a higher occurrence in the western, central, and northeastern U.S., with longer average durations in the western and south-central regions. These events are predominantly dry, characterized by low Relative Humidity (RH), except in the southeastern U.S., where heatwave coincide with high RH levels. Post-heatwave analysis indicated a reduction in GWS, TWS, RZSM, and ET, alongside an increase in surface runoff, RH, and precipitation. An in-depth examination of rainfall and temperature dynamics during heatwave revealed weak correlations between rainfall and temperature, as well as between rainfall and heatwave duration, highlighting the complex nature of these interactions. The study also found an enhanced probability of rainfall following heatwave, particularly in the eastern regions, drawing attention to the potential for increased flood risks post-heatwave. Our findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the impacts of heatwave on hydrological factors, providing valuable insights for climate change adaptation and water resource management strategies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Using Direct Numerical Simulation of Pore-Level Events to Improve Pore-Network Models for Prediction of Residual Trapping of CO2

Direct numerical simulation and pore-network modeling are common approaches to study the physics of two-phase flow through natural rocks. For assessment of the long-term performance of geological sequestration of CO 2 , it is important to model the full drainage-imbibition cycle to provide an accurate estimate of the trapped CO 2 . While direct numerical simulation using pore geometry from micro-CT rock images accurately models two-phase flow physics, it is computationally prohibitive for large rock volumes. On the other hand, pore-network modeling on networks extracted from micro-CT rock images is computationally efficient but utilizes simplified physics in idealized geometric pore elements. This study uses the lattice-Boltzmann method for direct numerical simulation of CO 2 -brine flow in idealized pore elements to develop a new set of pore-level flow models for the pore-body filling and snap-off events in pore-network modeling of imbibition. Lattice-Boltzmann simulations are conducted on typical idealized pore-network configurations, and the interface evolution and local capillary pressure are evaluated to develop modified equations of local threshold capillary pressure of pore elements as a function of shape factor and other geometrical parameters. The modified equations are then incorporated into a quasi-static pore-network flow solver. The modified model is applied on extracted pore-network of sandstone samples, and saturation of residual trapped CO 2 is computed for a drainage-imbibition cycle. The modified model yields different statistics of pore-level events compared with the original model; in particular, the occurrence of snap-off in pore-throats is reduced resulting in a more frontal displacement pattern along the main injection direction. Compared to the original model, the modified model is in closer agreement with the residual trapped CO 2 obtained from core flow experiments and direct numerical simulation.

Kohanpur, Amir H.↗

DOE OSTI2016

Elastically-homogeneous lattice models of damage in geomaterials

This paper involves the development of the auxiliary stress approach for producing elastically-homogeneous lattice models of damage in geomaterials. The lattice models are based on random, three-dimensional assemblages of rigid-body-spring elements. Unlike conventional lattice or particle models, the elastic constants of a material (e.g., Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio) are represented properly in both global and local senses, without any need for calibration. The proposed approach is demonstrated and validated through analyses of homogeneous and heterogeneous systems under uni- and tri-axial loading conditions. Comparisons are made with analytical solutions and finite element results. Thereafter, the model is used to simulate a series of standard laboratory tests: (a) split-cylinder tests, and (b) uniaxial compressive tests of sedimentary rocks at the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory in Hokkaido, Japan. Model inputs are based on physical quantities measured in the experiments. Finally, the simulation results agree well with the experimental results in terms of pre-peak stress-strain/displacement responses, strength measurements, and failure patterns.

3D irregular lattice↗

DOE OSTI2026

Island influences on plant functional traits and trait–trait associations across species‐ and community‐scales

The island rule predicts gigantism or dwarfism in body size of island species relative to their mainland counterparts. However, whether other functional traits shift and whether trait–trait associations on islands differ between species and community levels remains unclear. We measured 13 carbon- and water-related functional traits in 37 shared tree species across 35 eastern Chinese islands and 66 nearby mainland plots. We examined species-level trait value shifts and associations under the island rule and compared trait associations between species and communities. Most size-related, wood-anatomical, and hydraulic traits shifted on islands, with large values decreasing and small values increasing; yet, their associations remained stable, aligning with the global trait spectrum and trait–trait coevolution. This stability, despite trait value shifts, suggests evolutionary integration of functional strategies. By contrast, island community-scale trait associations diverged from shared species-level patterns and sometimes reversed, such as positive relationships between wood density and resource-acquisitive traits. Community-level trait associations were stronger on islands, likely reflecting constrained environmental filtering and migration limitation. These contrasting patterns suggest that dominant species can restructure trait associations at the community level, with implications for ecosystem functioning and carbon storage, thereby advancing understanding of plant trait strategies in island systems.

Archipelagos↗

DOE OSTI2020

Stress-Drop and Source Scaling of the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence

Stress drop, while difficult to measure reliably and at scale, is a key source parameter for understanding the earthquake rupture process and its relationship to strong ground motion. Here, we use a P-wave spectral decomposition approach, designed for large and densely sampled datasets, to measure earthquake stress drop in the region surrounding the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence. With more than 11,000 measurements of earthquake stress drop in the 20-yr time period from 2000 through 2019, this dataset provides an opportunity to understand how coseismic stress changes and how other geophysical factors relate to the distribution of stress drop and its evolution in space and time. We observe a mild but persistent deviation from self-similar scaling, with larger events having systematically higher stress drops, though this trend depends on the assumption of an omega-square source spectral model. Earthquake stress drop increases with hypocentral depth in this study region, and the Ridgecrest aftershocks tend to have higher stress drops than the pre-event seismicity. This is in part due to their deeper hypocenters. Coherent spatial patterns of stress drop in the aftershock sequence correlate with the slip distribution of the M 7.1 mainshock, whose northwest rupture tip terminated in a long-lived zone of enervated stress drop. Although physical interpretation of these results is complicated by the trade-offs between the timing, depth, and location of these earthquakes, the observations provide new insight into the physics of the earthquake source in an area of renewed seismic activity in southern California.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Coordination and divergence in community assembly processes across co-occurring microbial groups separated by cell size

Setting the pace of life and constraining the role of members in food webs, body size can affect the structure and dynamics of communities across multiple scales of biological organization (e.g., from the individual to the ecosystem). However, its effects on shaping microbial communities, as well as underlying assembly processes, remain poorly known. Here, we analyzed microbial diversity in the largest urban lake in China and disentangled the ecological processes governing microbial eukaryotes and prokaryotes using 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing. We found that pico/nano-eukaryotes (0.22–20 μm) and micro-eukaryotes (20–200 μm) showed significant differences in terms of both community composition and assembly processes even though they were characterized by similar phylotype diversity. We also found scale dependencies whereby micro-eukaryotes were strongly governed by environmental selection at the local scale and dispersal limitation at the regional scale. Interestingly, it was the micro-eukaryotes, rather than the pico/nano-eukaryotes, that shared similar distribution and community assembly patterns with the prokaryotes. This indicated that assembly processes of eukaryotes may be coupled or decoupled from prokaryotes’ assembly processes based on eukaryote cell size. While the results support the important influence of cell size, there may be other factors leading to different levels of assembly process coupling across size classes. Additional studies are needed to quantitatively parse the influence of cell size versus other factors as drivers of coordinated and divergent community assembly processes across microbial groups. Regardless of the governing mechanisms, our results show that there are clear patterns in how assembly processes are coupled across sub-communities defined by cell size. These size-structured patterns could be used to help predict shifts in microbial food webs in response to future disturbance.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗