HST/COS spectra of QSOs with SiIV data

We analyze Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) spectra of 132 QSOs to study the significance and origin of SiIV absorption at |v_LSR_|<=100km/s in the Galactic halo. The gas in the north predominantly falls in at -50<~v_LSR_<~0km/s, whereas in the south, no such pattern is observed.

The SiIV column density has an average and a standard deviation of <N_SiIV_>=(3.8+/-1.4)x10^13^cm^-2^. At |b|>~30{deg}, N_SiIV_ does not significantly correlate with b, which cannot be explained by a commonly adopted flat-slab geometry. We propose a two-component model to reconstruct the N_SiIV_-b distribution: a plane-parallel component N_DH_^{perp}^ to account for the MW's disk-halo interface and a global component N_G_ to reproduce the weak dependence on b.