Circular polarization of solar bursts at 22 GHz

The circular polarization of complex solar bursts was measured at short microwaves (22 GHz, × 1.35 cm) with high sensitivity (0.03 s.f.u. r.m.s.) and high time resolution (5 ms). The polarization shows up as soon as an excess burst emission is measured. Two components are found in the time development of the degree of circular polarization: (1) a steady level, sometime changing smoothly with time; (2) superimposed faster polarization time structures, small compared to the basic steady degree of polarization, and often not clearly related to the burst flux time structures. The observed degrees may range from 10% to more than 85%.In memoriam (1942–1981).     

Rb/Sr dating of the Upper Proterozoic basement of Zambesia,Mozambique

The Proterozoic basement of the Province of Zambezia (Mozambique) is located near the southern end of the so called Mozambique Belt. Rb-Sr data derived from the analyses of 66 whole rocks and a few mineral samples bear witness of a magmatic and metamorphic episode referable to the Kibaran (ca. 1000 Ma) and helped to model the late-Proterozoic evolution as follows. At 1100–1050 Ma a pre-orogenic, calc-alkaline magmatism was responsible for the emplacement of now deformed granite and granodiorite. This phase was accompanied by rhyolitic volcanism. A subsequent peak of deformation and metamorphism occurred at 1000-950 Ma and was associated with a second generation of substantially post-tectonic granites. A thermal event resulting in the emplacement of a final generation of granites and pegmatites can be dated to around 500-450 Ma.The metamorphic basement has not preserved its protolith age, probably as a result of extensive isotopic homogeneization of Sr in Kibaran times. Its maximum time of differentiation from the mantle should be around 1600 Ma.The very low values of initial Sr isotopic ratios suggest the absence of Archean crustal precursors and support the rather young, yet pre-Pan-African evolution of the southernmost Mozambique Belt.

---

Zusammenfassung Das proterozoische Grundgebirge der Provinz Zambesi (Mosambique) befindet sich in der Nähe des südlichen Endes des sogenannten Mozambique Belt. Rb/Sr Daten aus 66 Ganzgesteins- und einigen Mineralanalysen zeugen von einer magmatischen und metamorphen Episode die sich dem Kibaran (ca. 1000 Ma) zuordnen läßt, und wie sich im folgenden zeigt, hilfreich bei der Modellisierung der spätproterozoischen Entwicklung ist. Um 1100 bis 1050 Ma erfolgte ein präorogener kalkalkalischer Magmatismus, bestehend aus Graniten und Granodioriten, die heute deformiert vorliegen. Diese Phase wurde von rhyolithischem Vulkanismus begleitet. Von 1000 bis 950 Ma folgte der Höhepunkt der Deformation und Metamorphose, begleitet von einer bedeutenden 2. Generation posttektonischer Granite. Bedingt durch ein weiteres thermales Ereignis intrudierte die letzte Granit- und Pegmatitgeneration vor 500 bis 450 Ma.Im metamorphen Grundgebirge ist das Eduktalter vermutlich aufgrund der starken isotopischen Homogenisierung von Sr während der Kibara-Zeit nicht erhalten. Seine maximale Differentiationszeit vom Mantel muß vor 1600 Ma gewesen sein.Die sehr niedrigen Gehalte der initialen Sr-Isotopenverhältnisse lassen die Abwesenheit von archaischen Krustenvorläufern vermuten, und unterstützen die sehr junge, bis jetzt Prä-Pan-Afrikanische Entwicklung des südlichsten Mozambique Belts.

---

Résumé Le socle protérozoïque de la province du Zambèze, au Mozambique, se trouve à proximité de l'extrémité sud du «Mozambique Belt». Des mesures Rb/Sr effectuées sur 66 roches totales et sur quelques minéraux témoignent d'un épisode magmatique et métamorphique attribuable au Kibarien (environ 1.000 Ma), ce qui permet de se représenter comme suit l'histoire de cette région au Protérozoïque supérieur. Il y a 1.100 à 1.050 Ma, la région a connu une phase de magmatisme calco-alcalin qui s'est traduite par la mise en place de granites et granodiorites, aujord'hui déformés. Cette phase s'est accompagnée d'un volcanisme rhyolitique. Elle a été suivie, entre 1.000 et 950 Ma, d'une activité tectono-métamorphique majeure, à laquelle est associée une deuxième et importante génération de granites, post-tectoniques. Ultérieurement, la région a connu encore un épisode thermique, daté à 500-450 Ma, responsable de la mise en place d'une dernière génération de granite et de pegmatite.Le socle métamorphique n'a pas gardé de témoins de l'âge de son protolithe, en raison probablement de la forte homogénisation isotopique du Sr à l'époque kibarienne. Lâge maximal de sa différenciation à partir du manteau doit se situer autour de 1.600 Ma.La valeur très basse des rapports isotopiques initiaux du Sr suggère l'absence de précurseurs crustaux archéens et incite à admettre une évolution relativement jeune — bien que pré-panafricaine — du «Mozambique Belt» méridional.

---

() .. . , Rb/Sr 66 , , Kibara, 1000 , , , . 1100 1050 - - , , . . 1000 950 , - . , 500 450 . , , , Kibara. , , 1600 my . - .

     

A new model for X-ray emission from NGC 4151

We present an analysis of the reported spectral features of NGC 4151 in X-rays. It is shown that the origin of X-rays from the source is inconsistent with a single production mechanism. We suggest a new two-component model in which soft X-rays arise from the black-body emission of a tiny hot nucleus withT2×10⁷ K and the hard X-ray photons are generated in an extended region by inverse Compton scattering of electrons with the infrared photons.     

The effect of thermal treatment on the 57Fe Mössbauer spectrum of beryl

Mössbauer spectra (MS) of blue, green and yellow beryl (ideally Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈) containing approximately 1% of iron were obtained at 295 and 500 K. Room temperature (RT) spectra of both blue and green samples showed the presence of an asymmetric Fe²⁺ doublet (ΔE _Q~2.7 mm/s, δ~1.1 mm/s), with a very broad low-velocity peak. There is no clear evidence for the presence of a ferric component. The MS of the yellow sample at RT consists of an intense central absorption with parameters typical for Fe³⁺ (ΔE _Q~0.4 mm/s, δ~0.29 mm/s), plus an apparently symmetrical Fe²⁺ doublet. This sample acquires a light-blue shade upon heating in air at about 620 K. Thermal treatments at high temperatures caused no significant changes in the MS, but the green and yellow beryl acquire a blue colour. All these results are interpreted in relation to the existence of channel water and the distribution of iron among the available crystallographic sites.     

Effect of heat treatment on tourmaline from Brazil

The crystal-chemical behaviour of tourmaline from Araçuaí, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, when subjected to heating in air atmosphere has been studied by several techniques, including EMPA, UV–Vis, TGA, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The tourmaline samples are typically intermediate members of the elbaite-schorl series. The origin of colour and of its change after treatment has been discussed in terms of local disorder, presence of metal transition elements, oxidation of ferrous iron at the octahedral site, and simultaneous trap of the excess electron. These findings may be used to enhance the colour in tourmaline crystals or generate wanted colour changes.     

Aerosol characterization and optical thickness retrievalsusing GOME and METEOSAT satellite data

Summary ?Retrievals of atmospheric aerosol optical thickness are highly dependent on the choice of the class describing the aerosol properties leading to significant errors while using classes available in the literature. High spectral resolution measurements from GOME (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment) between the ultraviolet and the near infrared can be used for an accurate characterization of the aerosol optical properties. The radiometer MVIRI (METEOSAT Visible and Infrared Imager) on board the geostationary satellite METEOSAT, while being equipped only with broadband VIS channel, ensures an adequate half-hourly monitoring of the atmospheric conditions over a large portion of the Earth. The present algorithm is based on a combination of data from both sensors for the retrieval of the aerosol optical thickness at the reference wavelength of 0.55 μm (AOT). A case of a desert dust outbreak from the African continent over the Atlantic Ocean is examined. AOT values obtained using a priori fixed classes taken from the literature are compared with those retrieved with this algorithm using the GOME-derived classes. Systematic differences of the order of a few tenths on average are found which remain significant also after considering the measurement errors. This represents a novelty introduced by the synergetic use of both sensors. Received March 13, 2002     

Al hematites prepared by homogeneous precipitation of oxinates: material characterization and determination of the Morin transition

A novel method for synthesis of aluminium hematites, based upon the homogeneous precipitation of Fe and Al oxinates in various proportions, is presented. The precursor precipitates are heated in air at 700?°C. X-ray diffraction, thermal analyses, BET, FTIR, optical reflection analysis, TEM and Mössbauer spectroscopy at room temperature and 80?K of the resulting products indicate that single-phase hematites are formed with structural Al substitution of up to 10 at%. Interestingly, the particle size (>100?nm) is not substantially reduced by the Al content. Although it remains difficult to obtain a homogeneously distributed Al substitution in the final hematite, this processing line offers a unique opportunity to separate the effects of grain size and Al substitution on the Morin transition temperature (T _M) of Al hematite. From the comparison between the present hematites and a series of Al-substituted hematites with lepidocrocite as precursor, it could be shown that the effect on T _M, associated with a change of a factor 10 in grain size, is about 1/3 of the effect caused by a change of 10 in the degree of substitution. Finally, it is suggested that proper thermal treatments under different conditions of the same precursors are likely to produce spinel phases.     

Wind velocity and sand transport on a barchan dune

We present measurements of wind velocity and sand flux performed on the windward side of a large barchan dune in Jericoacoara, northeastern Brazil. From the measured profile, we calculate the air shear stress using an analytical approximation and treat the problem of flow separation by an heuristic model. We find that the results from this approach agree well with our field data. Moreover, using the calculated shear velocity, we predict the sand flux according to well-known equilibrium relations and with a phenomenological continuum saltation model that includes saturation transients and thus allows for nonequilibrium conditions. Based on the field data and theoretical predicted results, we indicate the principal differences between saturated and nonsaturated sand flux models. Finally, we show that the measured dune moves with invariant shape and predict its velocity from our data and calculations.     

Evolution and inheritance of a rock coast: western Galicia,northwestern Spain

There is increasing evidence that shore platforms and other elements of rock coasts may be inherited, at least in part, from interglacial stages when sea level was similar to today's. Most of this evidence, which includes ancient beaches and datable terrestrial deposits, has been obtained from areas of resistant, slowly eroding rock, where the platforms often appear to be much too wide to have developed since the sea reached its present level. It is much more dif?cult to demonstrate that inheritance has occurred in areas of weaker rock, which generally lack any datable material. The coast of western Galicia in northwestern Spain has shore platforms in igneous and metamorphic rocks that were deeply weathered during the Tertiary. These platforms are closely associated with ancient beaches from the last interglacial stage, and associated periglacial and ?uvio‐nival deposits that covered and fossilized most of the Eemian platforms and cliffs during the late middle and late Weichselian glacial stage. The sedimentary processes and the thickness and facies of the sediments were determined by the height, aspect and gradient of the coastal mountains, and their distance from the coast. Radiocarbon dating, sedimentary analysis and platform morphology indicate that the shore platforms of Galicia have been inherited from at least the last interglacial stage. They were fossilized in places beneath thick Weichselian deposits and then exhumed during the Holocene transgression. The abundant evidence for inheritance in Galicia has important implications for other coasts in fairly weak rocks where such evidence is generally lacking. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.