Search for: All records

Understanding alpine glacier extent during past climate variability is instructive for determining the glacier response to future climate change. Villarrica volcano is a late Pleistocene stratovolcano located in Chile's Southern Volcanic Zone that was covered by the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the last glacial period, and still retains small remnant glaciers today. Moraines preserved several kilometers from the summit on different flanks of the volcano record a history of expanded glacier lengths during the Holocene. However, the precise ages of these moraines are unknown, and the Holocene glacial history of Villarrica remains poorly constrained, limiting our understanding of how glaciers in this region responded to Holocene climate change. To constrain the timing of these moraines, we analyzed cosmogenic 3He in olivine from 25 basaltic andesite moraine boulders for cosmogenic surface exposure dating. Our new chronology reveals multiple late Holocene glacier advances from different flanks of the volcano, with the glaciers culminating and abandoning their moraines during the early Neoglacial period at ∼3355 ± 190 a and ∼1735 ± 215 a, and during the last millennium spanning the Little Ice Age period at ∼720 ± 225 a, ∼370 ± 75 a, and in the last ∼200 years. Our analysis of Holocene climate proxies from south-central Chile indicates that the early Neoglacial advances and subsequent retreat likely reflect increased effective moisture delivered by intensified Southern Westerly Winds and associated shifts in their latitudinal position. In contrast, we interpret the last millennium glacier advances as primarily driven by reduced summer ablation linked to regional cooling, followed by glacier retreat due to increased temperatures. Our chronology and closely spaced moraine positions suggest that glacier retreat on Villarrica, and possibly the broader Southern Volcanic Zone, has been gradual during the late Holocene and interrupted by short-lived advances driven by varying changes in temperature and moisture. 

Abstract. Geologic archives of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) provide abundant constraints regarding the size and extent of the ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and throughout the deglaciation. Direct observations of LGM LIS thickness are non-existent, however, due to ice surface elevations likely exceeding those of even the tallest summits in the northeastern United States (NE USA). Geomorphic and isotopic data from mountains across the NE USA can inform basal conditions, including the presence of warm- or cold-based regimes, while covered by ice. While warm-based ice and erosive conditions likely existed on the flanks of these summits and throughout neighboring valleys, cosmogenic nuclide inheritance and frost-riven blockfields on summits suggest ineffective glacial erosion and cold-based ice conditions. Geologic reconstructions indicate that a complex erosional and thermal regime likely existed across the NE USA sometime during and after the LGM, although this has not been confirmed by ice sheet models. Instead, current ice sheet models simulate warm-based ice conditions across this region, with disagreement likely arising from the use of low-resolution meshes (e.g., > 20 km) which are unable to resolve the high bedrock relief across the NE USA that strongly influenced overall ice flow and the complex LIS thermal state. Here, we use a newer-generation ice sheet model, the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM), to simulate the LGM conditions of the LIS across the NE USA and in three localities with high bedrock relief (Adirondack Mountains, White Mountains, and Mount Katahdin), with results confirming the existence of a complex thermal regime as interpreted from the geologic data. The model uses a small ensemble of LGM climate boundary conditions and a high-resolution horizontal mesh that resolves bedrock features down to 30 m to reconstruct LGM ice flow, ice thickness, and thermal conditions. These results indicate that, across the NE USA, polythermal conditions existed during the LGM. While the majority of this domain is simulated to be warm-based, cold-based ice persists where ice velocities are slow (< 15 m yr−1), particularly across regional ice divides (e.g., Adirondack Mountains). Additionally, sharp thermal boundaries are simulated where cold-based ice across high-elevation summits (White Mountains and Mount Katahdin) flanks warm-based ice in adjacent valleys. We find that the elevation of this simulated thermal boundary ranges between 800–1500 m, largely supporting geologic interpretations that polythermal ice conditions existed across the NE USA during the LGM; however, this boundary varies geographically. In general, we show that a model using a finer spatial resolution compared to older models can simulate the polythermal conditions captured in the geologic data, with the model output being of potential utility for site selection in future geologic studies and for geomorphic interpretations of landscape evolution. 

Abstract. Geologic evidence of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) provides abundant constraints on the areal extent of the ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Direct observations of LGM LIS thickness are non-existent, however, with most geologic data across high elevation summits in the Northeastern United States (NE USA) often showing signs of inheritance, indicative of weakly erosive ice flow and the presence of cold-based ice. While warm-based ice and erosive conditions likely existed on the flanks of these summits and throughout neighboring valleys, summit inheritance issues have hampered efforts to constrain the timing of the emergence of ice-free conditions at high elevation summits. These geomorphic reconstructions indicate that a complex erosional and thermal regime likely existed across the southeasternmost extent of the LIS sometime during the LGM, although this has not been confirmed by ice sheet models. Instead, current ice sheet models simulate warm-based ice conditions across this region, with disagreement likely arising from the use of low resolution meshes (e.g., >20 km) which are unable to resolve the high bedrock relief across this region that strongly influenced overall ice flow and the complex LIS thermal state. Here we use a newer generation ice sheet model, the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM), to simulate the LGM conditions of the LIS across the NE USA and at 3 localities with high bedrock relief (Adirondack Mountains, White Mountains, and Mount Katahdin), with results confirming the existence of a complex thermal regime as interpreted by the geologic data. The model uses higher-order physics, a small ensemble of LGM climate boundary conditions, and a high-resolution horizontal mesh that resolves bedrock features down to 30 meters to reconstruct LGM ice flow, ice thickness, and thermal conditions. These results indicate that across the NE USA, polythermal conditions existed during the LGM. While the majority of this domain is simulated to be warm-based, cold-based ice persists where ice velocities are slow (<15 m/yr) particularly across regional ice divides (e.g., Adirondacks). Additionally, sharp thermal boundaries are simulated where cold-based ice across high elevation summits (White Mountains and Mount Katahdin) flank warm-based ice in adjacent valleys. Because geologic data is geographically limited, these high-resolution simulations can help fill gaps in our understanding of the geographical distribution of the polythermal ice during the LGM. We find that the elevation of this simulated thermal boundary ranges between 800–1500 meters, largely supporting geologic interpretations that polythermal ice conditions existed across NE USA during the LGM, however this boundary varies geographically. In general, we show that a model with finer spatial resolution and higher order physics is able to simulate the polythermal conditions captured in the geologic data, with model output being of potential utility for site selection in future geologic studies and geomorphic interpretation of landscape evolution. 

The origin of the tight scaling relation between the mass of supermassive black holes (SMBHs; MBH) and their host-galaxy properties remains unclear. Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) probe phases of ongoing SMBH growth and offer the only opportunity to measure MBH beyond the local Universe. However, determining an AGN's host galaxy's stellar velocity dispersion, σå, and its galaxy dynamical mass, Mdyn, is complicated by AGN contamination, aperture effects, and different host-galaxy morphologies. We select a sample of AGNs for which MBH has been independently determined to high accuracy by state-of-the-art techniques: dynamical modeling of the reverberation signal and spatially resolving the broad-line region with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer/GRAVITY. Using integral-field spectroscopic observations, we spatially map the host-galaxy stellar kinematics across the galaxy and bulge effective radii. We find that the dynamically hot component of galaxy disks correlates with MBH; however, the correlations are tightest for aperture-integrated σå measured across the bulge. Accounting for the different MBH distributions, we demonstrate—for the first time—that AGNs follow the same MBH–σ and MBH–M_bulge,dyn relations as quiescent galaxies. We confirm that the classical approach of determining the virial factor as a sample average, yielding log f = 0.65 +/- 0.18, is consistent with the average f from individual measurements. The similarity between the underlying scaling relations of AGNs and quiescent galaxies implies that the current AGN phase is too short to have altered black hole masses on a population level. These results strengthen the local calibration of f for measuring single-epoch MBH in the distant Universe. 

Dusty circumnuclear disks (CNDs) in luminous early-type galaxies (ETGs) show regular, dynamically cold molecular gas kinematics. For a growing number of ETGs, Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) CO imaging and detailed gas-dynamical modeling facilitate moderate-to-high precision black hole (BH) mass (M_BH) determinations. From the ALMA archive, we identified a subset of 26 ETGs with estimated M_BH/Msun ≳ 10^8 to a few x 10^9 and clean CO kinematics but that previously did not have sufficiently high-angular-resolution near-IR observations to mitigate dust obscuration when constructing stellar luminosity models. We present new optical and near-IR Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of this sample to supplement the archival HST data, detailing the sample properties and data-analysis techniques. After masking the most apparent dust features, we measure stellar surface-brightness profiles and model the luminosities using the multi-Gaussian expansion (MGE) formalism. Some of these MGEs have already been used in CO dynamical modeling efforts to secure quality M_BH determinations, and the remaining ETG targets here are expected to significantly improve the high-mass end of the current BH census, facilitating new scrutiny of local BH mass–host galaxy scaling relationships. We also explore stellar isophotal behavior and general dust properties, finding these CNDs generally become optically thick in the near-IR (A_H ≳ 1 mag). These CNDs are typically well aligned with the larger-scale stellar photometric axes, with a few notable exceptions. Uncertain dust impact on the MGE often dominates the BH mass error budget, so extensions of this work will focus on constraining CND dust attenuation. 

Abstract We present the second iteration of thecaramel-gascode, an empirical model of the broad-line region (BLR) gas density field. Building on the initial development and testing ofcaramel-gas, we expand the meaning of the model parameterα, which initially represented only the power-law index of the dependency of emissivity on radial distance. In this work, we test a more generalized radial power-law index,α, that also includes a description of the effective emitting size(s) of the BLR structure as a function of radial distance. We select a sample of 10 active galactic nuclei (AGN) from three different Lick AGN Monitoring Project campaigns to further validate thecaramel-gascode and test the generalized radial power-law index,α. Our results confirm that thecaramel-gasresults are in general agreement with the published results determined using the originalcaramelcode, further demonstrating that our forward modeling method is robust. We find that a positive radial power-law index is generally favored and propose three possible scenarios: (i) the BLR structure has increasing effective emitting size(s) at larger radial distances from the central source, (ii) emission is concentrated at the outer edges of the BLR, and (iii) stronger theoretical assumptions are needed to break the degeneracies inherent to the interpretation of reverberation mapping data in terms of underlying gas properties. 

Abstract We perform a systematic survey of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) continuum lags using ∼3 days cadence gri -band light curves from the Zwicky Transient Facility. We select a sample of 94 type 1 AGNs at z < 0.8 with significant and consistent inter-band lags based on the interpolated cross-correlation function method and the Bayesian method JAVELIN . Within the framework of the “lamp-post” reprocessing model, our findings are: (1) The continuum emission (CE) sizes inferred from the data are larger than the disk sizes predicted by the standard thin-disk model. (2) For a subset of the sample, the CE size exceeds the theoretical limit of the self-gravity radius (12 lt-days) for geometrically thin disks. (3) The CE size scales with continuum luminosity as R CE ∝ L 0.48±0.04 with a scatter of 0.2 dex, analogous to the well-known radius–luminosity relation of broad H β . These findings suggest a significant contribution of diffuse continuum emission from the broad-line region (BLR) to AGN continuum lags. We find that the R CE – L relation can be explained by a photoionization model that assumes ∼23% of the total flux comes from the diffuse BLR emission. In addition, the ratio of the CE size and model-predicted disk size anticorrelates with the continuum luminosity, which is indicative of a potential nondisk BLR lag contribution evolving with the luminosity. Finally, a robust positive correlation between the CE size and black hole mass is detected. 

Abstract We present an intensive multiwavelength monitoring campaign of the quasar PG 1302−102 with Swift and the Las Cumbres Observatory network telescopes. Atz∼ 0.3, it tests the limits of the reverberation mapping (RM) technique in probing the accretion disk around a supermassive black hole (SMBH) and extends the parameter space to high masses and high accretion rates. This is also the first time the RM technique has been applied to test disk structures predicted in the SMBH binary model that has been suggested for this source. PG 1302−102 was observed at a ∼daily cadence for ∼9 months in 14 bands spanning from X-ray to UV and optical wavelengths, and it shows moderate to significant levels of variability correlated between wavelengths. We measure the interband time lags, which are consistent with aτ∝λ^4/3relation as expected from standard disk reprocessing, albeit with large uncertainties. The disk size implied by the lag spectrum is consistent with the expected disk size for its black hole mass within uncertainties. While the source resembles other reverberation-mapped active galactic nuclei in many respects, and we do not find evidence supporting the prevalent hypothesis that it hosts an SMBH binary, we demonstrate the feasibility of studying SMBH binaries from this novel angle and suggest possibilities for the LSST Deep Drilling Fields. 

Abstract Low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with low-mass black holes (BHs) in the early universe are fundamental to understanding the BH growth and their coevolution with the host galaxies. Utilizing JWST NIRCam Wide Field Slitless Spectroscopy, we perform a systematic search for broad-line Hαemitters (BHAEs) atz≈ 4–5 in 25 fields of the A SPectroscopic survey of biased halos In the Reionization Era (ASPIRE) project, covering a total area of 275 arcmin². We identify 16 BHAEs with FWHM of the broad components spanning from ∼1000 to 3000 km s⁻¹. Assuming that the broad line widths arise as a result of Doppler broadening around BHs, the implied BH masses range from 10⁷to 10⁸M_⊙, with broad Hα-converted bolometric luminosities of 10^44.5–10^45.5erg s⁻¹and Eddington ratios of 0.07–0.47. The spatially extended structure of the F200W stacked image may trace the stellar light from the host galaxies. The Hαluminosity function indicates an increasing AGN fraction toward the higher Hαluminosities. We find possible evidence for clustering of BHAEs: two sources are at the same redshift with a projected separation of 519 kpc; one BHAE appears as a composite system residing in an overdense region with three close companion Hαemitters. Three BHAEs exhibit blueshifted absorption troughs indicative of the presence of high column density gas. We find that the broad-line-selected and photometrically selected BHAE samples exhibit different distributions in the optical continuum slopes, which can be attributed to their different selection methods. The ASPIRE broad-line Hαsample provides a good database for future studies of faint AGN populations at high redshift. 

Abstract We observed the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 817 during an intensive multiwavelength reverberation mapping campaign for 16 months. Here, we examine the behavior of narrow UV absorption lines seen in the Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph spectra, both during the campaign and in other epochs extending over 14 yr. We conclude that, while the narrow absorption outflow system (at −3750 km s⁻¹with FWHM = 177 km s⁻¹) responds to the variations of the UV continuum as modified by the X-ray obscurer, its total column density (logN_H= 19.5 ${}_{-0.13}^{+0.61}$cm⁻²) did not change across all epochs. The adjusted ionization parameter (scaled with respect to the variations in the hydrogen-ionizing continuum flux) is logU_H= −1.0 ${}_{-0.3}^{+0.1}$. The outflow is located at a distance smaller than 38 pc from the central source, which implies a hydrogen density ofn_H> 3000 cm⁻³. The absorption outflow system only covers the continuum emission source and not the broad emission line region, which suggests that its transverse size is small (< 10¹⁶cm), with potential cloud geometries ranging from spherical to elongated along the line of sight.