Astronomy at sea: Jim Wild's Cunard diary

When I saw an item on the RAS website seeking speakers for Cunard's Insights Lecture Programme, I was interested immediately. A chance to travel on some of the most famous ocean liners in the world and talk about my science to an enthusiastic audience? It seemed churlish not to apply!     

Profile: Mike Kendall

Mike Kendall, elected President of the British Geophysical Association in February, explains why we need a strong geophysics organization in the UK.     

Profile: Max Alexander

The exhibition 'Explorers of the Universe' shows portraits of astronomers and images of astronomy in IYA2009. Max Alexander, photographer, and Ian Howarth, astronomer, spoke together about the ideas behind the project and the challenges of realizing them, as well as the steps that led to the pictures.     

Profile: Lucinda Douglas-Menzies

Lucinda Douglas-Menzies is a fine-art photographer. More than 70 of her portraits are owned by the National Portrait Gallery, including 10 from her latest exhibition "Portraits of Astronomers", which will tour the UK during IYA2009. Here she explains why she chose astronomers.     

Profile: Barrie W Jones

Many people know Barrie Jones from the Open University, where he inspired so many aspiring astronomers – but his career has also involved retrieving a gamma-ray telescope from deepest Wales, modelling lunar seismology, and a lectureship in architecture.     

Profile: Robert C Kennicutt Jr

The Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Institute of Astronomy, and winner of the 2009 Gruber Prize talks about teamwork, keeping ahead of the technology curve, and other challenges facing astrophysics and astrophysicists.     

Profile: Prof. Sir Arnold Wolfendale FRS

Born in 1927, Arnold Wolfendale is now Emeritus Professor in the Department of Physics at Durham University. Here he discusses his career, from Stretford Grammar School to particle physics to being appointed 14th Astronomer Royal in 1991 – and beyond.     

Cosmetic Isotope Analyses Applied to River Longitudinal Profile Evolution: Problems and Interpretations

The use of cosmogenic isotopes to determine surface exposure ages has grown rapidly in recent years. The extent to which cosmogenic nuclides can distinguish between mechanistic hypotheses of landscape evolution is an important issue in geomorphology. We present a case study to determine whether surface exposure dating techniques can elucidate the role knickpoint propagation plays in longitudinal profile evolution. Cosmogenically produced ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl, ³He and ²¹Ne were measured in olivines collected from 5·2 Ma basalt flows on Kauai, Hawaii. Several obstacles had to be overcome prior to the measurement of In situ-produced radionuclides, including removal of meteoric ¹⁰Be from the olivine grains. Discrepancies between the radionuclide and noble gas data may suggest limits for exposure dating. Approximate surface exposure ages calculated from the nuclide concentrations indicate that large boulders may remain in the Hawaiian valley below the knickpoint for hundreds of thousands of years. The ages of samples collected above the knickpoint are consistent with estimates of erosion based on the preservation of palaeosurfaces. Although the exposure ages can neither confirm nor reject the nickpoint hypothesis, boulder ages downstream of the knickpoint are consistent with a wave of incision passing upvalley. The long residence time off the coarse material in the valley bottom further suggests that knickpoint propagation beneath a boulder pile is necessary for incision of the bedrock underlying the boulders to occur. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2-D Crustal Velocity Structure Along Hirapur-Mandla Profile in Central India: An Update

The 2-D crustal velocity model along the Hirapur-Mandla DSS profile across the Narmada-Son lineament in central India (Murty et al., 1998) has been updated based on the analysis of some short and discontinuous seismic wide-angle reflection phases. Three layers, with seismic velocities of 6.5–6.7, 6.35–6.40 and 6.8 km s^–1, and upper boundaries located approximately at 8, 17 and 22 km depth respectively, have been identified between the basement (velocity 5.9 km s^–1) and the uppermost mantle (velocity 7.8 km s^–1). The layer with 6.5–6.7 km s^–1 velocity is thin and is less than 2-km deep between the Narmada north (at Katangi) and south (at Jabalpur) faults. The upper crust shows a horst feature between these faults, which indicates that the Narmada zone acts as a ridge between two pockets of mafic intrusion in the upper crust. The Moho boundary, at 40–44 km depth and the intra-crustal layers exhibit an upwarp suggesting that the Narmada faults have deep origins, involving deep-seated tectonics. A smaller intrusive thickness between the Narmada faults, as compared to those beyond these faults, suggests that the intrusive activities on the two sides are independent. This further suggests that the two Narmada faults may have been active at different geological times. The seismic model is constrained by 2-D gravity modeling. The gravity highs on either side of the Narmada zone are due to the effect of the high velocity/high density mafic intrusion at upper crustal level.     

一维连续导电剖面的反演问题

基于Schlumberger装置测得的视电阻率,在Coen理论的基础上对一维连续直流导电剖面的反演问题进行研究。分别给出了导电剖面是常函数、线性函数、幂函数、指数函数、分段函数情况下的精确数据和噪音数据反演结果。利用一个野外场地反演的例子,把利用该方法进行反演得到的连续模型和Inman得到的层状模型进行了相应的比较,发现该方法在处理实际场地数据也是有效的。     

Spectral Analysis of Profile Topographic Data Using Modified F-Approximations

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - Abstract—Analytical approximations are constructed and spectral analysis carried out for the profile data on terrain elevations obtained from global...     

用DSS资料研究首都圈地区的地壳结构

利用几种不同的一维反演方法对天津-北京-赤城剖面的DSS（deep seismic sounding）数据进行了处理．结果显示：沿剖面基底面北浅南深,但C界面和M界面北深南浅,存在镜像关系：地壳平均速度华北盆地较低,燕山下方较高;燕山隆起和华北盆地的交界处曾多次发生过5．0级以上地震。且在该过渡带上,多条深大断裂成北北东、北东向穿过该剖面,推断首都圈地区地震的发生与莫霍面的局部隆起、速度结构的急剧变化以及深大断裂的存在具有密切关系。     

一款用于乳腺癌成像的低轮廓单极子天线设计

本文利用基于两层双共轭梯度-快速傅立叶变换的矩量法研究了一种新颖的宽带微带单极天线,该天线具有低轮廓特性,尺寸为24×31.7×1.6mm³。设计的天线具有宽带特性,在3.1GHz到11GHz之间的反射系数S₁₁<-10dB。详细探讨了上述天线的设计步骤和测试结果,结果证明该天线可以用于乳腺癌成像。     

Geologische Interpretation einiger bathymetrisch-geomagnetischer Profile aus dem Alboran-und Balearenmeer

Zusammenfassung Das Alboranmeer nimmt den Platz eines alten Festlandes, des sogenannten Alboranlandes ein, welches seit dem Miozän zu Bruche ging und in mehrfachen tektonischen Akten (sichtbar in stratigraphischen Diskordanzen aller sedimentären Zyklen des Tertiärs) einsank. Das Meer transgredierte zuerst von Osten nach Westen und ab dem Pliozän von Westen nach Osten durch den tektonischen Graben der Straße von Gibraltar über das versinkende Land.Die großen Bruchlinien und Geosuturen sind mit Vulkanen tertiären bis pleistozänen Alters besetzt. Doch sind nicht alle submarinen Kuppen rein magmatischen Ursprungs; es sind auch tektonische sedimentäre Hochschollen vorhanden, die nur vulkanische Gänge und Intrusionen führen.Diese Vulkanite hat das Vermessungs- und Forschungsschiff Komet im April 1972 während einer Fahrt über die bedeutendsten submarinen Strukturen in der Alboransee und im südlichsten Balearenmeer teilweise geomagnetisch vermessen. Insgesamt wurden fünf Profile von zusammen 660 km Länge gefahren, wovon drei Profile zweimal vermessen wurden.Das in der Nähe gelegene geomagnetische Observatorium von Almeria bietet die volle Gewähr für die aus Gründen der temporären Variationen des geomagnetischen Feldes angebrachten Korrekturen. Ferner wurden die beobachteten Werte entsprechend der geomagnetischen Breite korrigiert.Die entsprechenden Werte vonF des Normalfeldes erlauben die Größen der geomagnetischen Anomalien zu bestimmen, deren absolute Werte zwischen +207 und –236 liegen. Ganz allgemein fällt die völlige Unabhängigkeit zwischen bathymetrischen Profilen und den Anomalienkurven auf. Es handelt sich um Anomalien, wie sie für die Festländer typisch sind, hervorgerufen durch die variierende Suszeptibilität der Gesteine der Oberfläche. An einzelnen Stellen können die geomagnetischen Anomalien mit bedeutenden Verwerfungen in Beziehung gesetzt werden, an anderen Orten mit ziemlich rezenten submarinen vulkanischen Intrusionen.

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Geological interpretation of some bathymetric-geomagnetic profiles from the Alboran Sea and the Balearic Sea

Summary The Alboran Sea occupies the place of an old continent, of the so-called Land of Alboran, which has crumbled away since the Miocene Age and sunk in several tectonic stages (visible in stratigraphical unconformities of all sedimentary cycles of the Tertiary). The sea transgressed at first from East to West and from the Pliocene Age, from West to East through the tectonic graben of the Strait of Gibraltar over the submerging land.The large fault lines and geosutures are set with vulcanoes of Tertiary to Pleistocene Age. But not all submarine knolls are of pure magmatic origin; there are also tectonic sedimentary horsts present, which only have volcanic dikes and intrusions.These volcanic mountains were partly surveyed geomagnetically by the survey- and research vessel Komet in April 1972, during a cruise over the most significant submarine structures in the Alboran Sea and the southernmost Balearic Sea. Altogether, five profiles in a total length of 660 km were run, three of which were surveyed twice.The geomagnetic observatory of Almeria situated not far away, fully guarantees for the corrections made due to the temporary variations of the geomagnetic field. Furthermore, the values observed were corrected in accordance with the geomagnetic latitude.The corresponding values ofF of the normal field allow the magnitudes of the geomagnetic anomalies to be determined, whose absolute values lie between +207 and –236 . In general, the complete independence of bathymetric profiles from the anomaly curves is noticed. Here, anomalies-typical of the continents — are concerned that are caused by the varying susceptibility of the surface rock. In isolated places, the geomagnetic anomalies can be brought into relation with significant faults, and in other places, with rather recent submarine intrusions.

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Interprétation géologique de quelques profils bathymétriques-géomagnétiques de la Mer d'Alboran et de la Mer des Baléares

Résumé La Mer d'Alboran occupe la place d'un ancien continent, le «pays d'Alboran» qui a commencé à se fracturer dès le Miocène et qui s'est effondré au cours de plusieurs phases tectoniques (visibles dans les discordances stratigraphiques de tour les cycles sédimentaires du Tertiaire). La transgression marine s'est effectuée d'abord de l'Est vers l'Ouest et, depuis le Pliocène, de l'Ouest vers l'Est par le graben tectonique du détroit de Gibraltar.Les grandes lignes de fracture et les géosutures sont occupées par des volcans d'âges allant du Tertiaire au Pléistocène. Cependant, toutes les montagnes sous-marines ne sont pas d'origine purement magmatique. Il existe aussi des reliefs d'origine sédimentaire, mises en place par la tectonique et qui ne servent que de guide aux intrusions volcaniques.En Avril 1972, le navire océanographique Komet» a fait des levés géomagnétiques des formations volcaniques en Mer d'Alboran et au Sud des Baléares. La mission a couvert les structures sous-marines significatives de cette région. Cinq profils, dont trois parcourus deux fois, ont été effectués, soit 660 km au total.L'Observatoire voisin d'Alméria a permis d'apporter les corrections nécessitées par les variations temporaires du champ magnétique terrestre. De plus, les valeurs observées, ont été corrigées selon la latitude magnétique.Les valeurs correspondantes deF du champ normal permettent de déterminer les grandeurs des anomalies magnétiques, grandeurs dont les valeurs absolues sont comprises entre +207 et –236 . En général, les profils bathymétriques et les courbes d'anomalie sont complètement indépendants. Il s'agit d'anomalies typiquement continentales provoquées par les variations de susceptibilité magnétique des roches de surface. En quelques points particuliers, on peut corréler les anomalies magnétiques avec des failles significatives et en d'autres, avec des intrusions volcaniques sous-marines assez récentes.