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1. Evidence for a Global Slowdown in Seafloor Spreading Since 15 Ma

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL097937  

   Dalton, Colleen A. ; Wilson, Douglas S. ; Herbert, Timothy D. ( March 2022 , Geophysical Research Letters)

   The rate of ocean‐crust production exerts control over sea level, mantle heat loss, and climate. Different strategies to account for incomplete seafloor preservation have led to differing conclusions about how much production rates have changed since the Cretaceous, if at all. We construct a new global synthesis of crust production along 18 mid‐ocean ridges for the past 19 Myr at high temporal resolution. We find that the global production rate during 6–5 Ma was only 69%–75% of the 16–15 Ma interval. The reduction in crust production is mostly due to slower seafloor spreading along almost all ridge systems. While the total ridge length has varied little since 19 Ma, some fast‐spreading ridges have grown shorter and slow‐spreading ridges grown longer, amplifying the spreading‐rate changes. Our production curves represent a new data set for investigating the forces driving plate motions and the role of tectonic degassing on climate.

    

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2. Physical ageing of spreading droplets in a viscous ambient phase

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32392-4  

   Jose, Bibin M. ; Nandyala, Dhiraj ; Cubaud, Thomas ; Colosqui, Carlos E. ( September 2018 , Scientific Reports)

   In this work, we study the spontaneous spreading of water droplets immersed in oil and report an unexpectedly slow kinetic regime not described by previous spreading models. We can quantitatively describe the observed regime crossover and spreading rate in the late kinetic regime with an analytical model considering the presence of periodic metastable states induced by nanoscale topographic features (characteristic area ~4 nm², height ~1 nm) observed via atomic force microscopy. The analytical model proposed in this work reveals that certain combinations of droplet volume and nanoscale topographic parameters can significantly hinder or promote wetting processes such as spreading, wicking, and imbibition.

    

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3. Early Spectroscopy and Dense Circumstellar Medium Interaction in SN 2023ixf

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acf9a4  

   Bostroem, K. Azalee ; Pearson, Jeniveve ; Shrestha, Manisha ; Sand, David J. ; Valenti, Stefano ; Jha, Saurabh W. ; Andrews, Jennifer E. ; Smith, Nathan ; Terreran, Giacomo ; Green, Elizabeth ; et al ( October 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   We present the optical spectroscopic evolution of SN 2023ixf seen in subnight cadence spectra from 1.18 to 15 days after explosion. We identify high-ionization emission features, signatures of interaction with material surrounding the progenitor star, that fade over the first 7 days, with rapid evolution between spectra observed within the same night. We compare the emission lines present and their relative strength to those of other supernovae with early interaction, finding a close match to SN 2020pni and SN 2017ahn in the first spectrum and SN 2014G at later epochs. To physically interpret our observations, we compare them to CMFGEN models with confined, dense circumstellar material around a red supergiant (RSG) progenitor from the literature. We find that very few models reproduce the blended Niii(λλ4634.0,4640.6)/Ciii(λλ4647.5,4650.0) emission lines observed in the first few spectra and their rapid disappearance thereafter, making this a unique diagnostic. From the best models, we find a mass-loss rate of 10⁻³–10⁻²M_⊙yr⁻¹, which far exceeds the mass-loss rate for any steady wind, especially for an RSG in the initial mass range of the detected progenitor. These mass-loss rates are, however, similar to rates inferred for other supernovae with early circumstellar interaction. Using the phase when the narrow emission features disappear, we calculate an outer dense radius of circumstellar materialR_CSM,out≈ 5 × 10¹⁴cm, and a mean circumstellar material density ofρ= 5.6 × 10⁻¹⁴g cm⁻³. This is consistent with the lower limit on the outer radius of the circumstellar material we calculate from the peak Hαemission flux,R_CSM,out≳ 9 × 10¹³cm.

    

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4. Exploring Changes in Quasar Spectral Energy Distributions across C iv Parameter Space

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac6a5d  

   Rivera, Angelica B. ; Richards, Gordon T. ; Gallagher, Sarah C. ; McCaffrey, Trevor V. ; Rankine, Amy L. ; Hewett, Paul C. ; Shemmer, Ohad ( June 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   We examine the UV/X-ray properties of 1378 quasars in order to link empirical correlations to theoretical models of the physical mechanisms dominating quasars as a function of mass and accretion rate. The clarity of these correlations is improved when (1) using Civbroad emission line equivalent width (EQW) and blueshift (relative to systemic) values calculated from high signal-to-noise ratio reconstructions of optical/UV spectra and (2) removing quasars expected to be absorbed based on their UV/X-ray spectral slopes. In addition to using the traditional Civparameter space measures of CivEQW and blueshift, we define a “Civ∥ distance” along a best-fit polynomial curve that incorporates information from both Civparameters. We find that the Civ∥ distance is linearly correlated with both the optical-to-X-ray slope,α_ox, and broad-line HeiiEQW, which are known spectral energy distribution indicators, but does not require X-ray or high spectral resolution UV observations to compute. The Civ∥ distance may be a better indicator of the mass-weighted accretion rate, parameterized byL/L_Edd, than the CivEQW or blueshift alone, as those relationships are known to break down at the extrema. Conversely, there is only a weak correlation with the X-ray energy index (Γ), an alternateL/L_Eddindicator. We find no X-ray or optical trends in the direction perpendicular to the Civdistance that could be used to reveal differences in accretion disk, wind, or corona structure that could be widening the CivEQW–blueshift distribution. A different parameter (such as metallicity) not traced by these data must come into play.

    

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5. Synthesis of Oceanic Crustal Structure From Two‐Dimensional Seismic Profiles

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2019RG000641  

   Christeson, G. L. ; Goff, J. A. ; Reece, R. S. ( June 2019 , Reviews of Geophysics)

   We present a new synthesis of oceanic crustal structure from two‐dimensional seismic profiles to explore differences related to spreading rate and age. Primary results are as follows: (1) Layer 2 has an average thickness of 1.84 km but is thicker for young slow‐spreading crust and thinner for young superfast‐spreading crust. At faster‐spreading rates the layer 2/3 boundary likely corresponds to the lithologic boundary between dikes and gabbros. At slow‐spreading centers, the layer 2/3 boundary is interpreted to mark a change in porosity with depth within the dikes. (2) Total crustal thickness averages 6.15 km and is similar across all spreading rates. (3) Velocities at the top of layer 2 increase rapidly from 3.0 km/s at 0 Ma to 4.6 km/s at 10.5 Ma, with a slower increase to 5.0 km/s at 170 Ma. The rapid increase in velocity at young ages is attributed to crack closure by precipitation of hydrothermal alteration products; the increase at older ages suggests that this process persists as the oceanic crust evolves. (4) There is a correlation between velocities at the top of layer 2 and sediment thickness, with velocities of 5.8–5.9 km/s associated with a sediment thickness of 4.0–4.3 km. The thick sediment may collapse large‐scale features such as lava tubes and fractures. (5) Average velocities at the top of layer 3 are lower for young slow‐spreading and intermediate‐spreading oceanic crust (6.1–6.2 km/s) than for older or faster‐spreading oceanic crust (6.5–6.7 km/s). These low velocities are likely associated with faults penetrating into the sheeted dikes.

    

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