Radiometry of near-earth asteroids

We report 10 micrometers infrared photometry for 22 Aten, Apollo, and Amor asteroids. Thermal models are used to derive the corresponding radiometric albedos and diameters. Several of these asteroids appear to have surfaces of relatively high thermal inertia due to the exposure of bare rock or a coarse regolith. The Apollo asteroid 3103, 1982 BB, is recognized as class E. The Jupiter-crossing Amor asteroid 3552, 1983 SA, is confirmed as class D, but low albedos remain rare for near-Earth asteroids.     

Cycle anatomy and variability in the storm-dominated type cincinnatian (Upper Ordovician): coming to grips with cycle delineation and genesis

Although parasequence and sequence are scale-independent terms, they are frequently applied only to specific scales of cycles. For example, meter-scale cycles are commonly assumed to be parasequences or PACs. In the Upper Ordovician Kope and Fairview Formations of northern Kentucky, we examined a succession of 50 meter-scale cycles that have been variously interpreted as deepening-upward, shallowing-upward, or showing no relationship with water depth. Our analysis shows that these cycles, characterized by shifts in storm-bed proximality, are highly variable in their thickness and internal construction. Most cycles are best considered high-frequency sequences, because deepening-upward intervals are common, and many cycles contain evidence of abrupt basinward shifts in facies as expected at sequence boundaries. A minority fit the parasequence model of shallowing-upward cycles bounded by flooding surfaces. Larger, 20 m scale cycles are defined by systematic thickening and thinning trends of meter-scale cycles. However, meter-scale cycles do not display any systematic trends in cycle anatomy as a function of position within the 20 m cycles or position within the Kope and Fairview Formations. The high cycle variability and the lack of systematic stratigraphic organization with respect to longer-term cyclicity reflect either the irregularity of relative sea-level changes, the poor recording of sea-level changes in this deep-water setting, or the generation of these cycles by climate-induced cyclicity in storm intensity. These three mechanisms would generate similar patterns at the outcrop scale, so it is not possible at the present to distinguish between them.     

地壳究竟在哪里

矿物学资料与比较行星学提出了一个有争议的新假说一绝大部分地壳可能被埋在地幔深处.地球科学家早就猜想,在太阳系的星球中,我们星球的地质特征是独特的.在跨入行星探索时代的今天,比较行星学已经有力地证明了这个猜想.行星间相似性和差异性为我们提供了尚待发展的、关于行星(包括地球)起源与演化的普遍性理论的原始资料.我们已经知道,现存的一套关于地球的理论、规律和修正并来提供其他行星具体结构的约束条件.与其进一步修正这些“规律”,不如现在开始新的计划——即使这意味着放弃那些为绝大多数地球科学家“信”以为真的信条和假设.     

中尺度对流系统形成的中层气旋性涡旋

尽管每年美国中部有许多对流系统出现,但一些对流复合体的碎云砧消散或移走之后,在卫星云图上只有少数可以很好地确定为典型的中层涡旋.本文介绍1981-1988年中尺度对流系统生成涡旋(MCV)事件的气候分析结果,并讨论涡旋环流明显时的天气背景.针对许多个例,用最近的探测资料考查了卫星云图判别的MCVs每个发展阶段的运动学和热力学特征.对MCVs的形成和维持似乎有益的大尺度环境场特征包括弱的气流、弱的垂直切变、弱的环境相对涡度以及强的水平和垂直湿度梯度.可以用涡度方程的形变项解释观测到的中尺度涡旋快速生成的情形. 大多数MCVs出现在MCC型(即圆形的)系统中,但所有记录的个例(1981-1988出现在美国中部的24次事件)中只有一半起源于那些在大小和生命期上满足Maddox严格的MCC判据.此外,因为一些MCVs从尺度小且生命期相对短的对流系统中出现,所以,天气背景以及潜热释放的数量可能成为决定MCSs是否导致MCVs产生的重要控制因子.大多数MCVs(80%)首先在40°N以南观测到.既然许多对流系统在40°N以北形成,所以,MCVs在偏北地区稀少的现象并不是该地区缺乏对流系统的结果.