The Morávka meteorite fall: 1. Description of the events and determination of the fireball trajectory and orbit from video records

Abstract— The Morávka (Czech Republic) meteorite fall occurred on May 6, 2000, 11:52 UT, during the daytime. Six H5–6 ordinary chondrites with a total mass of 1.4 kg were recovered. The corresponding fireball was witnessed by thousands of people and also videotaped by 3 casual witnesses. Sonic booms were recorded by 16 seismic stations in the Czech Republic and Poland and by one infrasonic station in Germany. A total of 2.5% of the fireball eyewitnesses reported electrophonic sounds. Satellites in Earth orbit detected part of the fireball light curve. In this first paper from a series of 4 papers devoted to the Morávka meteorite fall, we describe the circumstances of the fall and determine the fireball trajectory and orbit from calibrated video records. Morávka becomes one of only 6 meteorites with a known orbit. The slope of the trajectory was 20.4° to the horizontal, the initial velocity was 22.5 km/s, and the terminal height of the fireball was 21 km. The semimajor axis of the orbit was 1.85 AU, the perihelion distance was 0.982 AU, and the inclination was 32.2°. The fireball reached an absolute visual magnitude of ?20 at a height of 33 km.     

Distribution and relative density of cetaceans in the Hauraki Gulf,New Zealand

Understanding species distributions, and how they change in space and time, is vital when prioritising conservation or management initiatives. We assessed the distribution and density patterns of common dolphins (Delphinus sp.), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni) in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Dedicated boat-based surveys were conducted in the inner Hauraki Gulf (IHG) and off Great Barrier Island (GBI) during 2010–2012. Generalised linear models were used to investigate temporal changes in relative densities and kernel density estimation was implemented to examine spatial trends. Common dolphins were widely distributed during all seasons, with higher densities observed during winter and spring in the IHG but during autumn off GBI. There was inter-annual variation in Bryde’s whale distribution, with high densities recorded off GBI in 2011. Bottlenose dolphins were infrequently sighted in the IHG but regularly encountered off GBI, with the highest densities during spring and summer.     

ON THE ABSORPTION-DISPERSION CHARACTERISTICS OF CHANNEL WAVES PROPAGATING IN COAL SEAMS OF VARYING THICKNESS1

The WKB-method is used for the derivation of both the complex dispersion relation and displacement functions for Love channel-waves that propagate in a coal seam of varying thickness. The constant Q-model is used to describe the anelastic friction. With numerical solutions of the absorption-dispersion relation, the influence of thickness changes on the phase velocity and absorption coefficient of Love seam-waves is analysed at various frequencies. It is shown that the changes in the seam thickness can be optimally detected around the average Airy-phase frequency. An equivalence is pointed out between the wave guide structures: homogeneous with varying seam thickness and horizontally inhomogeneous with constant seam thickness.     

LOVE SEAM-WAVES IN A HORIZONTALLY INHOMOGENEOUS THREE-LAYERED MEDIUM*

Using the WKBJ-method the absorption-dispersion relation and the amplitude functions are derived for Love seam-waves that propagate in a horizontally inhomogeneous three-layered medium. To describe the anelastic friction the constant Q-model is applied. The inhomogeneity that appears in either the elastic moduli or quality factors is assumed to remain weak in the coal as well as in the adjacent layers, which are assumed to have different material properties (asymmetric channel). Using numerical solutions of the dispersion relation, it is shown that the weak horizontal inhomogeneities can be optimally detected using channel-wave constituents of a frequency near to the Airy frequency while inhomogeneities of the adjacent rock can only be detected at frequencies close to, but higher than, the cut-off frequency.     

The Villalbeto de la Peña meteorite fall: II. Determination of atmospheric trajectory and orbit

Abstract— The L6 ordinary chondrite Villalbeto de la Peña fall occurred on January 4, 2004, at 16: 46: 45 ± 2 s UTC. The related daylight fireball was witnessed by thousands of people from Spain, Portugal, and southern France, and was also photographed and videotaped from different locations of León and Palencia provinces in Spain. From accurate astrometric calibrations of these records, we have determined the atmospheric trajectory of the meteoroid. The initial fireball velocity, calculated from measurements of 86 video frames, was 16.9 ± 0.4 km/s. The slope of the trajectory was 29.0 ± 0.6° to the horizontal, the recorded velocity during the main fragmentation at a height of 27.9 ± 0.4 km was 14.2 ± 0.2 km/s, and the fireball terminal height was 22.2 ± 0.2 km. The heliocentric orbit of the meteoroid resided in the ecliptic plane (i = 0.0 ± 0.2°), having a perihelion distance of 0.860 ± 0.007 AU and a semimajor axis of 2.3 ± 0.2 AU. Therefore, the meteorite progenitor body came from the Main Belt, like all previous determined meteorite orbits. The Villalbeto de la Peña fireball analysis has provided the ninth known orbit of a meteorite in the solar system.     

积云参数化和微物理方案不同组合应用对台风路径模拟效果的影响

利用美国国家环境预测中心(National Centers for Environmental Prediction,NCEP)和国家大气研究中心(NCAR)联合研发的天气研究和预报模式(Weather Research and Forecasting Model,WRF),研究了不同积云对流参数化方案和微物理过程方案对0514号台风"彩蝶"路径的影响.结果表明,积云对流参数化方案对台风路径影响较大,KF方案比BM方案能更好地模拟出台风路径;使用KF方案时,选择微物理方案比不选微物理方案对于台风路径有更好的模拟结果,其中,Ferrier、WSM6和Lin非常接近于实况;KF方案较好地模拟出副热带高压(简称副高)的西伸和东退的变化以及台风环流的风场分布和强度.     

Relationships between molecular bacterial diversity and chemistry of groundwater in the Wairarapa Valley,New Zealand

Groundwater plays an important role in New Zealand water supplies and hence monitoring activities are conducted regularly. Most monitoring programmes aim to evaluate groundwater chemistry and almost completely overlook the microbial component in this ecosystem. In our present study, the bacterial community structure of groundwater in the Wairarapa Valley was examined using the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), and relationships between bacterial community structure and groundwater chemistry, aquifer confinement and groundwater usage were explored. In addition, the results from this study were compared with a previous T-RFLP survey of the same area in an attempt to detect changes in bacterial community structure over time. The data obtained suggested that bacterial community structure was related to groundwater chemistry, especially to redox conditions. Species composition showed minimal variation over time if groundwater chemistry remained unchanged. These findings reflect the potential of using bacterial communities as biological indicators to evaluate the health of groundwater ecosystems. We suggest that it is important to include this type of broad bacterial diversity assessment criteria into regular groundwater monitoring activities.     

Cytochrome P4501A biomarker indication of the timeline of chronic exposure of Barrow's goldeneyes to residual Exxon Valdez oil

We examined hepatic EROD activity, as an indicator of CYP1A induction, in Barrow’s goldeneyes captured in areas oiled during the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill and those from nearby unoiled areas. We found that average EROD activity differed between areas during 2005, although the magnitude of the difference was reduced relative to a previous study from 1996/1997, and we found that areas did not differ by 2009. Similarly, we found that the proportion of individuals captured from oiled areas with elevated EROD activity (?2 times unoiled average) declined from 41% in winter 1996/1997 to 10% in 2005 and 15% in 2009. This work adds to a body of literature describing the timelines over which vertebrates were exposed to residual Exxon Valdez oil and indicates that, for Barrow’s goldeneyes in Prince William Sound, exposure persisted for many years with evidence of substantially reduced exposure by 2 decades after the spill.     

反倾巨厚层状岩体地震滑坡特征分析

针对汶川大地震中产生的在反倾巨厚层状岩体中滑坡的特征,以甘肃武都寨子崖滑坡为实例,通过详细的野外地质调查,结合滑坡区的工程地质环境和面波测试成果,综合分析反倾巨厚层状岩质边坡中形成滑坡的条件,研究其特征和演化机制。不发育结构面、尤其不发育缓倾坡外结构面时此类边坡不具备产生重力滑坡的条件;此类斜坡在仅有水平地震力时同样不易形成滑坡,双向地震力共同作用时易产生地震滑坡。     

JOINT INVERSION OF SEISMIC AND GEOELECTRIC DATA RECORDED IN AN UNDERGROUND COAL MINE1

Until the present time the ‘ rock-coal-rock’ layer sequence and offsets in coal-seams in underground coal mines have been detected with the aid of seismic waves and geoelectric measurements. In order to determine the geometrical and petrophysical parameters of the coal-seam situation, the data recorded using seismic and geoelectric methods have been inverted independently. In consequence, the inversion of partially inaccurate data resulted in a certain degree of ambiguity. This paper presents the first results of a joint inversion scheme to process underground vertical seismic profiling data, geolectric resistivity and resistance data. The joint inversion algorithm makes use of the damped least-squares method and its weighted version to solve the linearized set of equations for the seismic and geolectric unknowns. In order to estimate the accuracy and reliability of the derived geometrical and petrophysical layer parameters, both a model covariance matrix and a correlation matrix are calculated. The weighted least-squares algorithm is based on the method of most frequent values (MFV). The weight factors depend on the difference between measured data and those calculated by an iteration process. The joint inversion algorithm is tested by means of synthetic data. Compared to the damped least-squares algorithm, the MFV inversion leads to smaller estimation errors as well as lower sensitivities due to the choice of the initial model. It is shown that, compared to an independent inversion, the correlation between the model parameters is definitely reduced, while the accuracy of the parameter estimation is appreciably increased by the joint inversion process. Thus the ambiguity is significantly reduced. Finally, the joint inversion algorithm using the MFV method is applied to underground field data. The model parameters can be derived with a sufficient degree of accuracy, even in the case of noisy data.