TY - JOUR A1 - Hönicke, Christiane A1 - Bliss, Peter A1 - Moritz, Robin F. A. T1 - Effect of density on traffic and velocity on trunk trails of Formica pratensis JF - The science of nature N2 - The allocation of large numbers of workers facilitates the swift intake of locally available resources which is essential for ant colony survival. To organise the traffic between nest and food source, the black-meadow ant Formica pratensis establishes permanent trunk trails, which are maintained by the ants. To unravel the ant organisation and potential traffic rules on these trails, we analysed velocity and lane segregation under various densities by experimentally changing feeding regimes. Even under the highest ant densities achieved, we never observed any traffic jams. On the contrary, velocity increased after supplementary feeding despite an enhanced density. Furthermore, inbound ants returning to the nest had a higher velocity than those leaving the colony. Whilst at low and medium density the ants used the centre of the trail, they used the full width of the trail at high density. Outbound ants also showed some degree of lane segregation which contributes to traffic organisation. KW - Density KW - Trunk trail KW - Traffic KW - Lateralization KW - Formica pratensis Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-015-1267-6 SN - 0028-1042 SN - 1432-1904 VL - 102 IS - 3-4 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Duesterhoeft, Erik A1 - Quinteros, Javier A1 - Oberhänsli, Roland A1 - Bousquet, Romain A1 - de Capitani, Christian T1 - Relative impact of mantle densification and eclogitization of slabs on subduction dynamics: A numerical thermodynamic/thermokinematic investigation of metamorphic density evolution JF - Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth N2 - Understanding the relationships between density and spatio-thermal variations at convergent plate boundaries is important for deciphering the present-day dynamics and evolution of subduction zones. In particular, the interaction between densification due to mineralogical phase transitions and slab pull forces is subject to ongoing investigations. We have developed a two-dimensional subduction zone model that is based on thermodynamic equilibrium assemblage calculations and includes the effects of melting processes on the density distribution in the lithosphere. Our model calculates the "metamorphic density" of rocks as a function of pressure, temperature and chemical composition in a subduction zone down to 250 km. We have used this model to show how the hydration, dehydration, partial melting and fractionation processes of rocks all influence the metamorphic density and greatly depend on the temperature field within the subduction system. These processes are largely neglected by other approaches that reproduce the density distribution within this complex tectonic setting. Our model demonstrates that the initiation of edogitization (i.e., when crustal rocks reach higher densities than the ambient mantle) of the slab is not the only significant process that makes the descending slab denser and generates the slab pull force. Instead, the densification of the lithospheric mantle of the sinking slab starts earlier than eclogitization and contributes significantly to slab pull in the early stages of subduction. Accordingly, the complex metamorphic structure of the slab and the mantle wedge has an important impact on the development of subduction zones. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Density KW - Melt KW - Metamorphism KW - Subduction KW - Thermodynamic modeling KW - Thermo-mechanical modeling Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2014.09.009 SN - 0040-1951 SN - 1879-3266 VL - 637 SP - 20 EP - 29 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -