Cosmological implications of BL Lac objects

It has become clear in recent years that relativistic beaming is a good explanation for the BL Lac phenomenon. Of studies based on the relativistic beaming model of BL Lac objects, we note that the orientation of jet's axis to the line-of-sight is very small and, therefore, the observed flux emitted from a rapidly moving source is orders of magnitude higher than the flux in its rest-frame:F _obs = ^{3 +} F _intr, where is the bulk relativistic Doppler factor. Then the observed apparent magnitudem _v must be corrected for this effect. For our 39 samples, the corrected apparent magnitudem _v ^corr and logZ have a good correlation.     

Response to Dersarkissian's comments on the structure of the Universe

We found that the structure of the Universe can be characterized by a set of actions ^s . This means that some discontinuous phenomena in the Universe can be considered as large-scale quantum effects. The behaviour of matter on a typical scale is determined by the behaviour of matter on other scales through the interactions.     

The evolution of quasars selected by slitless technique

In former works (Zhouet al., 1983, 1985), a quantitative method have been developed to take the selection effects in the identification of emission lines of quasars into account. It was proved that these selection effects may be the cause of the unevenness in the redshift distribution of quasars. The present work is a continuation and development of former works. We use results given by the surveys with same limit-apparent magnitude and choose the quasars whose absolute magnitudes are within a specific range as the analysing samples. Using the method given in the former papers we may find out the evolutionary parameter in an evolutionary law with form of (1+z) ^y from the best fitting between the calculative and observational redshift distribution. The result of analysis shows that the evolutionary law of quasars selected by slitless technique isp =p ₀(1 + z)^{6.5 ± 1} up toz=2.8. This result coincides with and generalizes the earlier result given by other authors.     

悼念郭敬辉同志

我国著名的水文地理学家、中国科学院地理研究所研究员郭敬辉同志于1985年4月5日溘然长逝。他的逝世是我国地理学界和水文学界的一大损失。我们怀着十分悲痛的心情对他表示沉重悼念。     

Theory of quadrupolar sunspots and the active region of August, 1972

Energy is stored when the force-free magnetic field in an active region departs from a potential field, the departure showing up as a shear in the field. As soon as the field untwists, energy will be released to produce flares. Based on this idea, we derived an analytical solution of the equation of force-free field under the assumption of a constant force-free factor, and found expressions for seven important quantities for quadrupolar sunspots: the magnetic energy of the twisted field, that of potential field, the extractable free energy ΔM, the magnetic flux, the total current, the force-free factor and the field decay factor, in terms of three observables: the field intensity, the twist angle and the distance between two spots of the same polarity. The expression for ΔM can be useful in solar prediction work. For the active region of August, 1972, we found ΔM up to 6 × 10³² erg, sufficient to supply the energy of the observed flare activity. Observations of this active region are in good general agreement with our theoretical expectations: in the entire twisting of the quadrupolar sunspot group, each spot assumes the form of a complete spiral in the clockwise direction for each of the four spots.     

Time scale of an early to mid-Paleozoic orogenic cycle of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Inner Mongolia of China: Implications for continental growth

We present a detailed, new time scale for an orogenic cycle (oceanic accretion–subduction–collision) that provides significant insights into Paleozoic continental growth processes in the southeastern segment of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The most prominent tectonic feature in Inner Mongolia is the association of paired orogens. A southern orogen forms a typical arc-trench complex, in which a supra-subduction zone ophiolite records successive phases during its life cycle: birth (ca. 497–477 Ma), when the ocean floor of the ophiolite was formed; (2) youth (ca. 473–470 Ma), characterized by mantle wedge magmatism; (3) shortly after maturity (ca. 461–450 Ma), high-Mg adakite and adakite were produced by slab melting and subsequent interaction of the melt with the mantle wedge; (4) death, caused by subduction of a ridge crest (ca. 451–434 Ma) and by ridge collision with the ophiolite (ca. 428–423 Ma). The evolution of the magmatic arc exhibits three major coherent phases: arc volcanism (ca. 488–444 Ma); adakite plutonism (ca. 448–438 Ma) and collision (ca. 419–415 Ma) of the arc with a passive continental margin. The northern orogen, a product of ridge-trench interaction, evolved progressively from coeval generation of near-trench plutons (ca. 498–461 Ma) and juvenile arc crust (ca. 484–469 Ma), to ridge subduction (ca. 440–434 Ma), microcontinent accretion (ca. 430–420 Ma), and finally to forearc formation. The paired orogens followed a consistent progression from ocean floor subduction/arc formation (ca. 500–438 Ma), ridge subduction (ca. 451–434 Ma) to microcontinent accretion/collision (ca. 430–415 Ma); ridge subduction records the turning point that transformed oceanic lithosphere into continental crust. The recognition of this orogenic cycle followed by Permian–early Triassic terminal collision of the CAOB provides compelling evidence for episodic continental growth.     

Possible chemical structures and biological precursors of different vitrinites in coal measure in Northwest China

Chemical structure of Jurassic vitrinites isolated from the coals in basins in NW China have been checked using solid state ¹³C NMR and flash pyrolysis-GC/MS. Study shows some Jurassic collodetrinites are rich in aliphatic products in pyrolysates, consisting with the high amount of methylene carbon in ¹³C NMR spectra. In contrast, pyrolysates of Jurassic collotelinites are rich in phenols and alkylbenzenes. Also one Pennsylvanian and one Permian vitrinite selected from the Ordos basin, NW China have been checked for comparison. The proportion of aliphatics is low in pyrolysates, and aliphatic carbon peak in ¹³C NMR spectrum of Permian vitrinite is mostly composed of gas-prone carbons compared with collodetrinites in those Jurassic basins. But both pyrolysis and ¹³C NMR data shows the Pennsylvanian vitrinite is not only gas-prone but also oil-prone. Relatively high proportion of long chain aliphatic structure of some Jurassic vitrinite in Junggar, Turpan-Hami basins may be due to the contribution of liptodetrinites, which may be included during the formation of vitrinites. And it seems that suberinite is the most possible precursor of long chain aliphatics in the structure of Jurassic collodetrinite.     

Zircon U–Pb ages, Hf and O isotopes constrain the crustal architecture of the ultrahigh-pressure Dabie orogen in China

The crustal structure of the Dabie orogen was reconstructed by a combined study of U–Pb ages, Hf and O isotope compositions of zircons from granitic gneiss from North Dabie, the largest lithotectonic unit in the orogen. The results were deciphered from metamorphic history to protolith origin with respect to continental subduction and exhumation. Zircon U–Pb dating provides consistent ages of 751 ± 7 Ma for protolith crystallization, and two group ages of 213 ± 4 to 245 ± 17 Ma and 126 ± 4 to 131 ± 36 Ma for regional metamorphism. Majority of zircon Hf isotope analyses displays negative ε_Hf(t) values of − 5.1 to − 2.9 with crust Hf model ages of 1.84 to 1.99 Ga, indicating protolith origin from reworking of middle Paleoproterozoic crust. The remaining analyses exhibit positive ε_Hf(t) values of 5.3 to 14.5 with mantle Hf model ages of 0.74 to 1.11 Ga, suggesting prompt reworking of Late Mesoproterozoic to Early Neoproterozoic juvenile crust. Zircon O isotope analyses yield δ¹⁸O values of − 3.26 to 2.79‰, indicating differential involvement of meteoric water in protolith magma by remelting of hydrothermally altered low δ¹⁸O rocks. North Dabie shares the same age of Neoproterozoic low δ¹⁸O protolith with Central Dabie experiencing the Triassic UHP metamorphism, but it was significantly reworked at Early Cretaceous in association with contemporaneous magma emplacement. The Rodinia breakup at about 750 Ma would lead to not only the reworking of juvenile crust in an active rift zone for bimodal protolith of Central Dabie, but also reworking of ancient crust in an arc-continent collision zone for the North Dabie protolith. The spatial difference in the metamorphic age (Triassic vs. Cretaceous) between the northern and southern parts of North Dabie suggests intra-crustal detachment during the continental subduction. Furthermore, the Dabie orogen would have a three-layer structure prior to the Early Cretaceous magmatism: Central Dabie in the upper, North Dabie in the middle, and the source region of Cretaceous magmas in the lower.     

Chemical weathering of carbonates and silicates in the Han River basin,South Korea

A detailed investigation of the fluvial geochemistry of the Han River system allows to estimate the rates of chemical weathering and the consumption of CO₂. The Han River drains approximately 26,000 km² and is the largest river system in South Korea in terms of both water discharge and total river length. It consists of two major tributaries: the North Han River (NHR) and the South Han River (SHR). Distinct differences in basin lithology (silicate vs. carbonate) between the NHR and SHR provide a good natural laboratory in which to examine weathering processes and the influence of basin geology on water quality. The concentrations of major elements and the Sr isotopic compositions were obtained from 58 samples collected in both summer and winter along the Han River system in both 2000 and 2006. The concentrations of dissolved loads differed considerably between the NHR and SHR; compared with the SHR, the NHR had much lower total dissolved solids (TDS), Sr, and major ion concentrations but a higher Si concentration and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio. A forward model showed that the dissolved loads in the NHR came primarily from silicate weathering (55 ± 11%), with a relatively small portion from carbonates (30 ± 14%), whereas the main contribution to the dissolved loads in the SHR was carbonate weathering (82 ± 3%), with only 11 ± 4% from silicates. These results are consistent with the different lithologies of the two drainage basins: silicate rocks in the NHR versus carbonate rocks in the SHR. Sulfuric acid derived from sulfide dissolution in coal-containing sedimentary strata has played an important role in carbonate weathering in the SHR basin, unlike in the NHR basin. The silicate weathering rate (SWR) was similar between the NHR and SHR basins, but the rate of CO₂ consumption in the SHR basin was lower than in the NHR basin due to an important role of sulfuric acid derived from pyrite oxidation.