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The Indonesian Young Toba Tuff (YTT), classically dated around 74 ka BP, is considered as a short-lived explosive cataclysmic super-eruption. The huge amounts of ash and SO2 emitted are likely to have triggered a volcanic winter which accelerated the transition to the last glaciation, and may have induced a human genetic bottleneck. However, the global climatic impact of the YTT or its duration are hotly debated. The present work offers a new interpretation of the Toba volcanic complex eruptive history. Analysing the BAR94-25 marine core proximal to the Toba volcanic center and combining it with high-resolution tephrostratigraphy and δ18O stratigraphy, we show that the Toba complex produced a volcanic succession that consists of at least 17 distinct layers of tephra and cryptotephra. Textural and geochemical analyses show that the tephra layers can be divided in 3 main successive volcanic activity phases (VAP1 to VAP3) over a period of ~ 50 kyr. The main volcanic activity phase, VAP2, including the YTT, is likely composed of 6 eruptive events in an interval whose total duration is ~ 10 ka. Thus, we suggest that the eruptive model of the Toba volcano must be revised as the duration of the Toba volcanic activity was much longer than suggested by previous studies. The implications of re-estimating the emission rate and the dispersion of ashes and SO2 include global environmental reconstitutions, climate change modelling and possibly human migration and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct metal bonding is a key technology for 3D integration that will allow semiconductor industry to go beyond predicted problems of future ICs. In this paper, for the first time, we show room temperature direct bonding of titanium layers on silicon wafers at atmospheric pressure and ambient air. Transmission electron microscopy and spreading scanning resistance microscopy are used to investigate bonding interface. Several physical mechanisms of titanium-titanium interface sealing during subsequent thermal annealing are observed and compared to copper and tungsten in terms of bonding mechanism and temperature dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HR 7349 is a bright [ V=5.8] red giant observed by CoRoT in the seismofield of the first long run. The outstanding CoRoT light curve allowed the detection of several solar-like oscillation modes (both radial and non-radial). On top of these seismic constraints, our observational knowledge on HR 7349 benefits as well from a precise parallax and detailed spectroscopic constraints. We present all the observational constraints that are available for the theoretical modelling of this most promising target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar gravity modes (or g modes)—oscillations of the solar interior on which buoyancy acts as the restoring force—have the potential to provide unprecedented inference on the structure and dynamics of the solar core, inference that is not possible with the well-observed acoustic modes (or p modes). The relative high amplitude of the g-mode eigenfunctions in the core and the evanesence of the modes in the convection zone make the modes particularly sensitive to the physical and dynamical conditions in the core. Owing to the existence of the convection zone, the g modes have very low amplitudes at photospheric levels, which makes the modes extremely hard to detect. In this article, we review the current state of play regarding attempts to detect g modes. We review the theory of g modes, including theoretical estimation of the g-mode frequencies, amplitudes and damping rates. Then we go on to discuss the techniques that have been used to try to detect g modes. We review results in the literature, and finish by looking to the future, and the potential advances that can be made—from both data and data-analysis perspectives—to give unambiguous detections of individual g modes. The review ends by concluding that, at the time of writing, there is indeed a consensus amongst the authors that there is currently no undisputed detection of solar g modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present SUMER/SOHO UV measurements of chromospheric oscillations of intensity, velocity, and linewidth observed in C i, S i, O i, and C ii lines, which are formed in the altitude range from 1000 km to 2000 km above τ 500=1. Oscillations in lines originating at similar altitudes exhibit different behaviors which we discuss in terms of the formation of the lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excitation rate P of solar p-modes is computed with a model of stochastic excitation which involves constraints on the averaged properties of the solar turbulence. These constraints are obtained from a 3D simulation. Resulting values for P are found ∼ 4.5 times larger than when the calculation assumes properties of turbulent convection which are derived from an 1D solar model based on Gough (1977)'s formulation of the mixing-length theory (GMLT). This difference is mainly due to the assumed values for the mean anisotropy of the velocity field in each case. Calculations based on 3D constraints bring the P maximum closer to the observational one. We also compute P for several models of intermediate mass stars (1 ≲ M ≲ 2 M[This symbol cannot be presented in ASCII format]). Differences in the values of Pmax between models computed with the classical mixing-length theory and GMLT models are found large enough for main sequence stars to suggest that measurements of P in this mass range will be able to discriminate between different models of turbulent convection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of the thorough study of organic matter (OM) in the Oligocene-Miocene Maikop sequence of the North Caucasus are considered. It is shown that its distribution within the Maikop sequence is characterized by irregular patterns. Despite that these rocks show the elevated TOC content, their hydrocarbon-generating potential is, as a rule, low. The low quality of OM is partly related to its intense anaerobic decomposition in anoxic environments with terrigenous sedimentation. The elevation of OM concentrations and hydrocarbon-generating potential could be connected with the reinforced phytoplankton influx into sediments. Sediments deposited in the second half of the Early Oligocene were synchronously enriched in OM. This enrichment chronologically corresponded to the restoration of connection with the World Ocean of the formerly partly isolated and freshened basin. Most probably, this event resulted from the sharp increase in biological productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After 8 months of nearly continuous measurements the GOLF instrument, aboard SOHO, has detected acoustic mode frequencies of more than 100 modes, extending from 1.4 mHz to 4.9 mHz. In this paper, we compare these results with the best available predictions coming from solar models. To verify the quality of the data, we examine the asymptotic seismic parameters; this confirms the improvements achieved in solar models during the last decade. Using the GOLF set of frequencies for l=0, 1, 2, 3 combined with the LOWL second year data set for l > 3 we then carry out inversions to infer properties of the solar core. This largely confirms the previous results down to around 0.1 R⊙, while there remain differences, even closer to the centre, where the present study shows an extreme sensitivity of the inversion results to the values of the frequencies. We finally consider physical processes which may influence directly or indirectly the solar core structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GOLF in-flight commissioning and calibration was carried out during the first four months, most of which represented the cruise phase of SOHO towards its final L1 orbit. The initial performance of GOLF is shown to be within the design specification, for the entire instrument as well as for the separate sub-systems. Malfunctioning of the polarising mechanisms after 3 to 4 months operation has led to the adoption of an unplanned operating sequence in which these mechanisms are no longer used. This mode, which measures only the blue wing of the solar sodium lines, detracts little from the detection and frequency measurements of global oscillations, but does make more difficult the absolute velocity calibration, which is currently of the order of 20%. Data continuity in the new mode is extremely high and the instrument is producing exceptionally noise-free p-mode spectra. The data set is particularly well suited to the study of effects due to the excitation mechanism of the modes, leading to temporal variations in their amplitudes. The g modes have not yet been detected in this limited data set. In the present mode of operation, there are no indications of any degradation which would limit the use of GOLF for up to 6 years or more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GOLF experiment on the SOHO mission aims to study the internal structure of the Sun by measuring the spectrum of global oscillations in the frequency range 10-7 to 10-2 Hz. Here we present the results of the analysis of the first 8 months of data. Special emphasis is put into the frequency determination of the p modes, as well as the splitting in the multiplets due to rotation. For both, we show that the improvement in S/N level with respect to the ground-based networks and other experiments is essential in achieving a very low-degree frequency table with small errors ∼ 2 parts in 10-5). On the other hand, the splitting found seems to favour a solar core which does not rotate slower than its surface. The line widths do agree with theoretical expectations and other observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three helioseismology instruments aboard SOHO observe solar p modes in velocity (GOLF and MDI) and in intensity (VIRGO and MDI). Time series of two months duration are compared and confirm that the instruments indeed observe the same Sun to a high degree of precision. Power spectra of 108 days are compared showing systematic differences between mode frequencies measured in intensity and in velocity. Data coverage exceeds 97% for all the instruments during this interval. The weighted mean differences (V-I) are −0.1 µHz for l=0, and −0.16 µHz for l=1. The source of this systematic difference may be due to an asymmetry effect that is stronger for modes seen in intensity. Wavelet analysis is also used to compare the shape of the forcing functions. In these data sets nearly all of the variations in mode amplitude are of solar origin. Some implications for structure inversions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the temporal behavior of solar activity as manifested in sunspots. Debate over sunspots; The periodicity in the total number of sunspots which is well established observationally; The occurrence of high-energy solar flares seen during cycle 21; Cause of latter periodicity; Focus on time-frequency analysis using the wavelet technique; The mechanisms used to explain solar flares; What is needed to confirm the hypothesis; What wavelet analysis shows; Effect of such flares on earth and its environment.