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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Multiple scattered radiation emerging from Rayleigh and continental haze layers. I - Radiance, polarization, and neutral points

The matrix operator method was used to calculate the polarization of radiation scattered on layers of various optical thicknesses, with results compared for Rayleigh scattering and for scattering from a continental haze. In both cases, there are neutral points arising from the zeros of the polarization of single scattered photons at scattering angles of zero and 180 degrees. The angular position of these Rayleigh-like neutral points (RNP) in the sky shows appreciable variation with the optical thickness of the scattering layer for a Rayleigh phase matrix, but only a small variation for haze L phase matrix. Another type of neutral point exists for non-Rayleigh phase functions that is associated with the zeros of the polarization for single scattering which occurs between the end points of the curve. A comparison of radiances calculated from the complete theory of radiative transfer using Stokes vectors with those obtained from the scalar theory shows that differences of the order of 23% may be obtained for Rayleigh scattering, while the largest difference found for a haze L phase function was of the order of 0.1%.

Kattawar, G. W.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Wave refraction diagrams for the Baltimore Canyon region of the mid-Atlantic continental shelf computed by using three bottom topography approximation techniques

The Langley Research Center and Virginia Institute of Marine Science wave refraction computer model was applied to the Baltimore Canyon region of the mid-Atlantic continental shelf. Wave refraction diagrams for a wide range of normally expected wave periods and directions were computed by using three bottom topography approximation techniques: quadratic least squares, cubic least squares, and constrained bicubic interpolation. Mathematical or physical interpretation of certain features appearing in the computed diagrams is discussed.

Poole, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Model of climate evolution based on continental drift and polar wandering

The thermodynamic meteorologic model of Adem is used to trace the evolution of climate from Triassic to present time by applying it to changing geography as described by continental drift and polar wandering. Results show that the gross changes of climate in the Northern Hemisphere can be fully explained by the strong cooling in high latitudes as continents moved poleward. High-latitude mean temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere dropped below the freezing point 10 to 15 m.y. ago, thereby accounting for the late Cenozoic glacial age. Computed meridional temperature gradients for the Northern Hemisphere steepened from 20 to 40 C over the 200-m.y. period, an effect caused primarily by the high-latitude temperature decrease. The primary result of the work is that the cooling that has occurred since the warm Mesozoic period and has culminated in glaciation is explainable wholly by terrestrial processes.

Donn, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Effects of air injection on a turbocharged Teledyne Continental Motors TSIO-360-C engine

Results are presented for tests performed to assess the effects of exhaust manifold injection air flow rate on emissions and on exhaust gas temperature and turbine inlet temperature for a range of engine operating conditions (speed, torque, and fuel-air ratios) of a fuel-injected turbocharged six-cylinder air-cooled Teledyne Continental Motors TSIO-360-C engine. Air injection into the exhaust gas at 80 F resulted in a decrease in hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide while exceeding the maximum recommended turbine inlet temperature of 1650 F at the full rich mixture of the engine. The EPA standards could be met within present turbine inlet temperature limits using commercially available air pumps, provided that the fuel-air ratios were leaned in the taxi, climb, and approach modes.

Cosgrove, D. V.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Monitoring of thickness changes of the continental ice sheets by satellite altimetry

Radar altimeter measurements from the GEOS 3 satellite are being utilized to define the topography of the southern Greenland ice sheet between latitudes 60 deg N and 65 deg N. The resultant elevations have been correlated with two geoceiver sites on the ice surface; the agreement is within a few meters. The internal repeatability of the altimeter-derived elevations has been assessed at the crossovers of the satellite ground tracks; the observed agreements vary from 0.07 to 3.10 m, intervening times being 1 day and 674 days, respectively. Improved knowledge of the temporal changes in the topographic expression of the continental ice sheets, via satellite altimetry, will significantly add to the understanding of glaciological and climatological processes.

Brooks, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Subsidence and eustasy at the continental margin of eastern North America

Biostratigraphic data from the COST B-2 well off New York and four deep commercial wells off Nova Scotia have been used to remove the effect of sediment loading at the Atlantic-type continental margin off the East Coast of North America. The resulting subsidence contains terms due to both 'tectonic' and 'eustatic' effects. By assuming the tectonic subsidence is thermal in origin these effects can be separated. The 'eustatic' effects have been isolated by least squares fitting an exponential curve to the subsidence data. The resulting sea-level curve shows a maximum rise in sea level during the Late Cretaceous era which probably does not exceed 150 m. The tectonic subsidence has been interpreted in terms of a simple thermal model for the cooling lithosphere. Based on this model the thermal thickness of the lithosphere and the total amount of crustal thinning are estimated. These estimates which are consistent with surface ship gravity and GEOS-3 altimeter measurements are used to define the structural elements which control the tectonic evolution of the margin.

Watts, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Geophysical study of the structure and processes of the continental convergence zones: Alpine-Himalayan Belt

The seismic wave velocity structure in the crust and upper mantle region beneath the Tibetan plateau was studied in detail. Also, a preliminary study of the uppermost mantle P wave velocity beneath Iran and Turkey was carried out, and the results are compared with those for the Tibetan plateau. These two studies compose the bulk of the efforts on the observational aspects of continental collision zones in addition to satellite derived data. On the theoretical aspects the thermal evolution of converging plate boundaries was explored using a finite difference scheme.

Toksoez, M. N.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Crustal influence in the generation of continental flood basalts

The suggestion that primordial undifferentiated material may exist in the earth's mantle has recently been revived on the strength of Nd isotope data for two types of young continental rocks - flood basalts and kimberlites. The limited published data show a clustering of Nd isotopic compositions close to those for meteorites with chondritic relative rare-earth (REE) abundance. In contrast, data are presented for samples from the Columbia flood basalt province of the northwestern United States which show large isotopic variability suggestive of mixing processes acting after the separation of the primary magmas from their mantle source.

Carlson, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The application of Seasat-1 radar altimetry to continental shelf circulation modeling

Seasat-1 radar altimetry data have been used to verify a continental shelf circulation model subjected to tidal forcing on the open boundary. The model makes use of the semi-implicit mode of time integration, removing the surface gravity wave time step restriction. Both the altimetry and the model predictions are compared with empirically determined tidal fluctuations and generally good agreement is obtained.

Cornillon, P.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Continental rifting and the origin of Beta Regio, Venus

Topographic maps based on Pioneer Venus altimetry suggest that Beta Regio, an elevated feature centered at 27 deg N, 282 deg E, is analogous to domes associated with continental rift systems on earth. This interpretation is consistent with the commonly quoted analogy between the East African rift system and the topography of the region from Beta Regio southward to Phoebe Regio. If Beta Regio is a dome, major structural uplift of the crust of Venus is implied, suggesting a more dynamic upper mantle than would be the case if Beta Regio were simply a large volcanic construct.

Mcgill, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Continental rifting - Progress and outlook

It is noted that in spite of the flood of new data on continental rifts in the last 15 years, there is little consensus about the basic mechanisms and causes of rifting. The remarkable similarities in rift cross sections (shown in a figure), are considered to suggest that the anomalous lithospheric structure of rifts is more dependent on lithosphere properties than the mode of rifting. It is thought that there is a spectrum of rifting processes for which two fundamental mechanisms can be postulated: an active mechanism, whereby thermal energy is transmitted into the lithosphere from the underlying asthenosphere, and a passive mechanism by which mechanical energy is transmitted laterally through the lithosphere as a consequence of plate interactions at a distance. In order to permit the concept of the two fundamentally different mechanisms to be tested, a tentative classification is proposed that divides rifts into two basic categories: active rifting and passive rifting. Here, the magnitude of active rifting will depend on the rate at which lithosphere moves over the thermal source, with rifts being restricted to stationary or slow-moving plates.

Baker, B. H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

A preliminary comparison of the Magsat data and aeromagnetic data in the continental U.S.

A preliminary regional scale magnetic anomaly map derived from the Magsat data over the continental U.S. shows reasonably good correlations when compared with the corresponding aeromagnetic map. This conclusion is based upon the analysis of the fine attitude scalar Magsat data of about a two-month duration starting November 2, 1979 and the analysis of the Project Magnet U.S. aeromagnetic data in the same region.

Won, I. J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Crustal interpretation of the MAGSAT data in the continental United States

The processing of MAGSAT scalar data to construct a crustal magnetic anomaly map over the continental U.S. involves removal of the reference field model, a path-by-path subtraction of a low order polynomial through a least-squares fit to reduce orbital offset errors, and a two dimensional spectral filtering to mitigate the spectral bias induced by the path-by-path orbital correction scheme. The resultant anomaly map shows reasonably good correlations with an aeromagnetic map derived from the project MAGNET. Prominent satellite magnetic anomalies are identified in terms of geological provinces and age boundaries. An inversion method was applied to MAGSAT data which produces both the Curie depth topography and laterally varying magnetic susceptibility of the crust. A contoured Curie depth map thus derived shows general agreements with a crustal thickness map based on seismic data.

Won, I. J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

P/n/ velocity and cooling of the continental lithosphere

The average upper mantle compressional wave velocity and heat flow figures presently computed for continental physiographic provinces in North America exhibit an inverse relationship, and possess a statistically significant correlation coefficient. A correlation is also demonstrated between compressional wave velocity and material temperature by estimating crust-mantle boundary temperatures from heat flow values. The dependency of compressional wave velocity on temperature implies that the observed geographical distribution in upper mantle seismic velocity may be due to the temperature effect character of upper mantle compressional wave velocity variation.

Black, P. R.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Destabilization of a 650 km chemical boundary layer and its bearing on the evolution of the continental crust

A mechanism for the production of a chemical change in the mantle, from primordial silicate compositions above the 650 km discontinuity to differentiated compositions below, is reviewed. Some consequences of this are the stabilization of two layer convection with a temperature contrast between the anhydrous mantle solidus and the geotherm which, at 650 km depth, is lower than any other location in the mantle. With thermal contributions from the concentration of the heat producing elements U, Th and K below the 650 km mantle boundary layer and the higher geotherms in the past, widespread or catastrophic melting may have taken place at this location. An episodic breach of this boundary layer by extensive heat and mass transport may have periodically destroyed any simple two-layer convection geometry in the mantle. Such episodic injections of mass and energy into the upper mantle from below may have been the mechanism responsible for episodes of enhanced surface tectonism and thermal activity which appear to be recorded in apparent polar wandering paths and radiometric ages of continental rocks.

Herzberg, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Tectonic lineaments in the cenozoic volcanics of southern Guatemala: Evidence for a broad continental plate boundary zone

The northern Caribbean plate boundary has been undergoing left lateral strike slip motion since middle Tertiary time. The western part of the boundary occurs in a complex tectonic zone in the continental crust of Guatemala and southernmost Mexico, along the Chixoy-Polochic, Motogua and possibly Jocotan-Chamelecon faults. Prominent lineaments visible in radar imagery in the Neogene volcanic belt of southern Guatemala and western El Salvador were mapped and interpreted to suggest southwest extensions of this already broad plate boundary zone. Because these extensions can be traced beneath Quaternary volcanic cover, it is thought that this newly mapped fault zone is active and is accommodating some of the strain related to motion between the North American and Caribbean plates. Onshore exposures of the Motoqua-Polochic fault systems are characterized by abundant, tectonically emplaced ultramafic rocks. A similar mode of emplacement for these off shore ultramafics, is suggested.

Baltuck, M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The Aravalli sequence of Rajasthan, India: A Precambrian continental margin?

The extent to which plate tectonics in its present form operated during the Precambrian is unknown, but is a subject of considerable current interest. A remarkable succession of Precambrian rocks in Rajasthan, Northwestern India, which may help to shed more light on this question are discussed. Data indicates that the Aravalli sequence has a number of characteristics generally ascribed to active continental margins. Although much more work is required to bear this out, the evidence suggests that the processes operating in such an environment in the early Proterozoic or late Archean were not vastly different from today.

Macdougall, J. D.↗