Volcanic hazards zonation of the Nevado de Toluca Volcano,Central Mexico

Nevado de Toluca Volcano (NTV), located in central Mexico, is a large stratovolcano, with an explosive history. The area is one of the most important developing centers (>2 millions) in Mexico and in the last 30 yrs large population growth and expansion have increased the potential risk in case of a reactivation of the volcano. As part of a study to assess volcanic risk, this paper presents the results of the volcanic hazard analysis for the NTV. A total of 150 stratigraphic sections were made in the field and three new ages were obtained. Eruptions from NTV produced a complex sequence of pyroclastic deposits that have affected the area at least 18 times during the last 100,000 yrs. Eight vulcanian, four plinian and one-ultraplinian eruptions as well as the destruction of at least three domes occurred in the last 42,000 yr BP as well as two sector collapses in the last 100,000 yrs. Isopach and isopleth maps for the main ulraplinian eruption were also made. The original cone height (5,080 m.a.s.l) was reconstructed through geomorphologic methods. The maximum distance calculated with the energy line for the block and ash flows was 41 km, 35 km for pumice flows and 45 km for debris avalanches. The dominant wind direction at altitudes of 20–30 km is to the east-northeast from November to March, west-northwest in April and west from May to October. Five hazards maps (block and ash flows, pumice flows, ash fall, debris avalanches, and lahars) were made for the NTV. The pyroclastic flows and lahars represent very high to medium hazard for Toluca, Villa Guerrero, Coatepec, Tianguistengo, Metepec, Tenango, Lerma and Zinacantepec. A new debris avalanche would probably affect the south and northeast because of active faulting (E–W and NW–SE) and existing topographic differences in height.     

The age and origin of a thick mafic–ultramafic keel from beneath the Sierra Nevada batholith

We present evidence for a thick (∼100 km) sequence of cogenetic rocks which make up the root of the Sierra Nevada batholith of California. The Sierran magmatism produced tonalitic and granodioritic magmas which reside in the Sierra Nevada upper- to mid-crust, as well as deep eclogite facies crust/upper mantle mafic–ultramafic cumulates. Samples of the mafic–ultramafic sequence are preserved as xenoliths in Miocene volcanic rocks which erupted through the central part of the batholith. We have performed Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd mineral geochronologic analyses on seven fresh, cumulate textured, olivine-free mafic–ultramafic xenoliths with large grainsize, one garnet peridotite, and one high pressure metasedimentary rock. The garnet peridotite, which equilibrated at ∼130 km beneath the batholith, yields a Miocene (10 Ma) Nd age, indicating that in this sample, the Nd isotopes were maintained in equilibrium up to the time of entrainment. All other samples equilibrated between ∼35 and 100 km beneath the batholith and yield Sm-Nd mineral ages between 80 and 120 Ma, broadly coincident with the previously established period of most voluminous batholithic magmatism in the Sierra Nevada. The Rb-Sr ages are generally consistent with the Sm-Nd ages, but are more scattered. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd intercepts of the igneous-textured xenoliths are similar to the ratios published for rocks outcroping in the central Sierra Nevada. We interpret the mafic/ultramafic xenoliths to be magmatically related to the upper- and mid-crustal granitoids as cumulates and/or restites. This more complete view of the vertical dimension in a batholith indicates that there is a large mass of mafic–ultramafic rocks at depth which complement the granitic batholiths, as predicted by mass balance calculations and experimental studies. The Sierran magmatism was a large scale process responsible for segregating a column of ∼30 km thick granitoids from at least ∼70 km of mainly olivine free mafic–ultramafic residues/cumulates. These rocks have resided under the batholith as granulite and eclogite facies rocks for at least 70 million years. The presence of this thick mafic–ultramafic keel also calls into question the existence of a “flat” (i.e., shallowly subducted) slab at Central California latitudes during Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic, in contrast to the southernmost Sierra Nevada and Mojave regions. Received: 27 December 1997 / Accepted: 11 June 1998     

Sedimentation model of gravel-dominated alluvial piedmont fan,Ganga Plain,India

The Piedmont Zone of the Indo-Gangetic Plain contains numerous, laterally coalescing small alluvial fans. The Latest Pleistocene–Holocene 30 km long Gaula Fan can be divided into gravelly proximal fan (0–14 km down-stream), gravel-sand rich mid fan (14–22 km) and sand–mud dominated distal fan (22–30 km). The fan succession is composed of two fan expansion cycles A and B. Separated by an undulatory erosional contact of regional extent, cycle A is characterized by river borne clast-supported gravelly deposits, and the overlying fan expansion cycle B by matrix-supported gravely debris flows. The main process behind fan development has been lateral migration of channels over the fan surface probably due to rapid sedimentation caused by increased sediment supply, and the fluctuating water budget in response to changing climate. The water laid expansion cycle A represents a humid phase. The debris flow deposits of expansion cycle B suggest a dry phase. Approximately between 8 and 3 Ka, cycle B also indicates a phase of tectonic instability in the Siwalik Hills forming the mountain front. The tectonic activity caused incision of rivers into the fan surface, and in turn resulted in reduced fan-building activity. At present the fan surface is accreting by sheet flow processes.     

Structure and kinematics of the ISM near WR 139

The structure and kinematics of the ISM in an extended vicinity of the star WR 139 is analyzed using the results of original Hα interferometric observations together with radio and infrared data. A CO cavity with a size of up to 40′ has been detected around the star at velocities of V _LSR ∼ 2.5–10 km/s; the cavity is bounded to the North by a shell radiating in the optical. Ionized hydrogen emits at the systematic velocities V _LSR ∼ 6–14 km/s toward the CO cavity, and at V _LSR ≃ 4–11 km/s toward the shell. High-velocity motions of ionized hydrogen inside the cavity testify to the probable expansion of gas that has been swept out by the stellar wind of WR 139 at velocities of up to 60–80 km/s.     

Influence of micrometeorological features on coastal boundary layer aerosol characteristics at the tropical station, Trivandrum

Characteristics of aerosols in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) obtained from a bistatic CW lidar at Trivandrum for the last one decade are used to investigate the role of ABL micro-meteorological processes in controlling the altitude distribution and size spectrum. The altitude structure of number density shows three distinct zones depending on the prevailing boundary layer feature; viz, the well-mixed region, entertainment region and upper mixing region. In the lower altitudes vertical mixing is very strong (the well-mixed region) the upper limit of which is defined as aerosol-mixing height, is closely associated with the low level inversion. The aerosol mixing height generally lies in the range 150 to 400 m showing a strong dependence on the vertical eddy mixing processes in ABL. Above this altitude, the number density decreases almost exponentially with increase in altitude with a scale height of 0.5–1.5 km. The aerosol mixing height is closely associated with the height of the Thermal Internal Boundary Layer (TIBL). Sea-spray aerosols generated as a result of the interaction of surface wind with sea surface forms an important component of mixing region aerosols at this location. This component shows a non-linear dependence on wind speed. On an average, depending on the season, the mixing region contributes about 10–30% of the columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 0.5Μm wavelength. A long term increasing trend (∼ 2.8% per year) is observed in mixing region AOD from 1989 to 1997. A study on the development of the aerosols in the nocturnal mixing region shows that the convectively driven daytime altitude structure continues to persist for about 4–5 hrs. after the sunset and thereafter the altitude structure is governed by vertical structure of horizontal wind. Stratified aerosol layers associated with stratified turbulence is very common during the late night hours.     

Characteristics of aerosol dust in fresh snow in the Asian dust and non-dust periods at Urumqi glacier no. 1 of eastern Tian Shan,China

Windblown mineral aerosol dust derived from the crustal surface is an important atmospheric component affecting the earth’s radiation budget. Deposition of atmospheric dust was measured in the fresh snow on glacier no. 1 at the headwater of the Urumqi River in eastern Tian Shan, central Asia. An analysis of seasonal variation of concentrations of dust particles in the snow suggests that the number concentration of dust particle is significantly high from April to June, which may be caused by Asian dust storms in the spring. The comparison of mass-size distribution of dust particles from April to August shows an obvious seasonal change trend. The distribution of particles changes from single model (3–21 μm) in the non-dust period before dust events in April, to bi-model (3–21 and 20–80 μm) during the Asian dust period, and to single model (3–21 μm) after July in the non-dust period again. The Ca²⁺ concentration in the fresh snow is also very high from April to June, while NH₄ ⁺ and SO₄ ²⁻, as water-soluble constituents, have concentration changes that are different from each other. Backward trajectory was also employed to examine the transport process of air mass in this region.     

Geochemistry and stratigraphic correlation of basalt lavas beneath the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

 Thirty-nine samples of basaltic core were collected from wells 121 and 123, located approximately 1.8 km apart north and south of the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Samples were collected from depths ranging from 15 to 221 m below land surface for the purpose of establishing stratigraphic correlations between these two wells. Elemental analyses indicate that the basalts consist of three principal chemical types. Two of these types are each represented by a single basalt flow in each well. The third chemical type is represented by many basalt flows and includes a broad range of chemical compositions that is distinguished from the other two types. Basalt flows within the third type were identified by hierarchical K-cluster analysis of 14 representative elements: Fe, Ca, K, Na, Sc, Co, La, Ce, Sm, Eu, Yb, Hf, Ta, and Th. Cluster analyses indicate correlations of basalt flows between wells 121 and 123 at depths of approximately 38–40 m, 125–128 m, 131–137 m, 149–158 m, and 183–198 m. Probable correlations also are indicated for at least seven other depth intervals. Basalt flows in several depth intervals do not correlate on the basis of chemical compositions, thus reflecting possible flow margins in the sequence between the wells. Multi-element chemical data provide a useful method for determining stratigraphic correlations of basalt in the upper 1–2 km of the eastern Snake River Plain. Received: 16 February 1996 · Accepted: 1 April 1996     

Dust emission from desertified lands in the Heihe River Basin,Northwest China

The annual and seasonal dust emissions were calculated for eight types of desertified lands at 120 sites in the Heihe River Basin of northwestern China. The results showed that dust emission rates increased from the middle to the lower reaches of the river by a factor of up to 10³. There two strongest areas of dust emission are the dried-up Gaxun Lake with a dust emission rate of 1.6 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, and the desertified grassland areas around the abandoned Heicheng City, with a dust emission rate of 0.6–0.7 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. The total annual dust emissions with their particle diameters less than 50, 30, and 10 μm were 1.71 × 10⁶, 1.11 × 10⁶, and 0.555 × 10⁶ t, respectively. Dust emission rates showed striking seasonal variations, with the maximum value (45%) occurring in spring and the minimum value (13.5%) in summer. The mineral aerosol-size distributions were also measured and the results showed that the size distributions for dust and non-dust events were both trimodal, in contrast with the widely accepted view that primary particles such as aeolian dust are coarse, whereas particles less than 1 μm in diameter are mainly secondary particulate substances such as ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and organic matter.     

Measurement of the turbulence in the free atmosphere above Mt. Ma\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{danak

Stellar scintillations were measured at Mt. Ma $\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{ danak during 42 nights in 1998–1999 in order to estimate the contribution of the free atmosphere to the seeing. The atmosphere above 1–2 km provides a median seeing of _boxclose_boxclose 390\mathop .\limits^{'} 39 , which is about one-third of the total seeing ( 0\mathop .^" 700\mathop .\limits^{'} 70 ). The characteristic altitudes of turbulent layers are from 3 to 11 km above the summit, and the appearance of layers at altitudes of 3–4 km is accompanied by a degradation of the free-atmosphere seeing. The median isoplanatic angle is q₀ = 2\mathop .^" 30\theta _0 = 2\mathop .\limits^{'} 30 (λ=500 nm, at the zenith). This is the first time that such data have been obtained for Ma $\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{ danak. The instruments used for these measurements—a modified four-channel photometer and a prototype of a double-aperture scintillation sensor—are described in detail. The data reduction was based on accurate corrections for photon-counting statistics and the use of theoretical weighting functions relating scintillation indices to the altitudes and intensities of turbulent layers. Simultaneous or quasi-simultaneous measurements of scintillation indices using apertures of different sizes having significantly different weighting functions enable estimation of the altitude and intensity of the equivalent turbulent layer. Despite the simplicity of this one-layer model, it provides fairly robust estimates of the integrated parameters of the real free atmosphere.     

Spatial and Temporal Variation of a Cyclonic Eddy Detected Downstream of the Tsushima Islands in November 2007

Horizontal, vertical and temporal distribution of a cyclonic (counterclockwise) eddy, where biological productivity is high, downstream of the Tsushima Islands in the eastern channel of the Tsushima Straits in November 2007 was revealed using conductivity–temperature–depth and acoustic Doppler current profiler data. The eddy had a horizontal scale of approximately 40–60 km, and the accompanying baroclinic current was more than 15 cm s⁻¹ at the edge of the eddy. The island-induced cyclonic eddy moved east-northeastward at about 10 km day⁻¹ (∼10 cm s⁻¹) along the Tsushima Warm Current and was intensified by the barotropic instability in the current shear. The cyclonic eddy with high surface chlorophyll a concentrations intensified in the vicinity of the Tsushima Islands and was advected by the Tsushima Warm Current towards the southwestern Japan Sea.     

Recent plumbing system of the Krakatau volcano revealed by teleseismic earthquake distribution

Spatial and temporal analysis of global seismological data 1964–2005 reveals a distinct teleseismic earthquake activity producing a columnar-like formation in the continental wedge between the Krakatau volcano at the surface and the subducting slab of the Indo-Australian plate. These earthquakes occur continuously in time, are in the body-wave (m _b) magnitude range 4.5–5.3 and in the depth range 1–100 km. The Krakatau earthquake cluster is vertical and elongated in the azimuth N30°E, suggesting existence of a deep-rooted fault zone cutting the Sunda Strait in the SSW-NNE direction. Possible continuation of the fault zone in the SW direction was activated by an intensive 2002/2003 aftershock sequence, elongated in the azimuth of N55°E. Beneath the Krakatau earthquake cluster, an aseismic gap exists in the Wadati-Benioff zone of the subducting plate at the depths 100–120 km. We interpret this aseismic gap as a consequence of partial melting inhibiting stress concentration necessary to generate stronger earthquakes, whereas the numerous earthquakes observed in the overlying lithospheric wedge beneath the volcano probably reflect magma ascent in the recent plumbing system of the Krakatau volcano. Focal depth of the deepest events (~100 km) of the Krakatau cluster constrains the location of the primary magma generation to greater depths. The ascending magmatic fluids stress fault segments within the Sunda Strait fault zone and change their friction parameters inducing the observed tectonic earthquakes beneath Krakatau.     

The Wenchuan Earthquake (May 12, 2008), Sichuan Province,China, and resulting geohazards

On Monday, May 12, 2008, a devastating mega-earthquake of magnitude 8.0 struck the Wenchuan area, northwestern Sichuan Province, China. The focal mechanism of the earthquake was successive massive rock fracturing 15 km in depth at Yingxiu. Seismic analysis confirms that the major shock occurred on the Beichuan–Yingxiu Fault and that aftershocks rapidly extended in a straight northeast–southeast direction along the Longmenshan Fault zone. Fatalities approaching a total of 15,000 occurred, with a significant number resulting from four types of seismically triggered geohazards—rock avalanches and landslides, landslide-dammed lakes (“earthquake lakes”), and debris flows. China Geological Survey has identified 4,970 potentially risky sites, 1,701 landslides, 1,844 rock avalanches, 515 debris flows, and 1,093 unstable slopes. Rock avalanches and landslides caused many fatalities directly and disrupted the transportation system, extensively disrupting rescue efforts and thereby causing additional fatalities. Landslide-dammed lakes not only flooded human habitats in upstream areas but also posed threats to potentially inundated downstream areas with large populations. Debris flows become the most remarkable geohazards featured by increasing number, high frequency, and low triggering rainfall. Earthquake-triggered geohazards sequentially induced and transformed to additional hazards. For example, debris flows occurred on rock avalanches and landslides, followed by landslide-dammed lakes, and then by additional debris flows and breakouts of the landslide-dammed lakes and downstream flooding. Earthquake-induced geohazards occurred mainly along the fault zone and decreased sharply with distance from the fault. It can be anticipated that post-earthquake geohazards, particularly for debris flows, will continue for 5–10 years and even for as long as 20 years. An integrated strategy of continuing emergency response and economic reconstruction is required. The lesson from Wenchuan Earthquake is that the resulted geohazards may appear in large number in active fault regions. A plan for geohazard prevention in the earthquake-active mountainous areas is needed in advance.     

Incipient vortex size-dependent evolution of tropical disturbances Part II — Some governing processes

Recently it was shown (Goswami and Rao 1993) that the process of intensification of tropical disturbances depends on the size of the incipient vortex in a rather nonlinear fashion. Among vortices of size ranging from 100 to 450 km (radius), embedded in the same large scale condition, it is the vortex with size about 250 km that intensifies to the most severe system. These results also showed a strong correspondence between the maximum intensity reached and the initial (3–6 hour) low level convergence field near the centre. The purpose of the present work is to identify the process(es) responsible for this scale selective intensification of tropical disturbances. It is proposed that diffusion is likely to play a crucial role in bringing about this selective intensification. In the present work a series of experiments with an axisymmetric numerical model of tropical cyclone (Wada’s model) is carried out to determine the relative roles of horizontal diffusion of momentum, moisture, heat and vertical diffusion. The results show that diffusion significantly affects the process of intensification and scale selection. While moderate diffusion does not alter the magnitude of intensification significantly, the scale selection is quite sensitive to the strength of diffusion. Interestingly, these diffusion processes, of momentum, moisture, heat and vertical do not affect the scale selection in the same fashion. The scale selection process turns out to be a result of a combined effect of these diffusion processes. However, no single diffusion process alone can give rise to a sharp selection of scale at the size of 250 km.     

Structure and dynamics of the Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex

Summary We review recently obtained results about the velocity structure of the Somma-Vesuvius (Southern Italy) volcanic complex and present an interpretation of structural features, both at local and regional scale, and of the local seismicity. The local structure of Somma-Vesuvius is reviewed, referring to three depth ranges; i.e. shallow (0–5 km), intermediate (5–15 km) and deep (from 15 km to the upper mantle). The shallow velocity structure is inferred by the joint inversion of shot and local earthquake arrival time data. The main feature pointed out by this inversion is a high-velocity anomaly at the crater axis extending down to a depth of about 5 km. This anomaly can be explained with the presence of residual magma crystallised in the shallow conduits, which accumulated during the last eruptive cycles. The local seismicity is strongly clustered around this anomaly, due to the focusing effect of the rigidity contrast. The space-time seismicity pattern at Somma-Vesuvius is the result of the superposition of background seismicity, mainly due to gravitational instability of the volcanic edifice and to small external stress perturbations, with intense episodic earthquake swarms possibly due to magmatic or hydrothermal activity into the shallow system. The velocity structure in the 10–15 km depth range is characterized by the presence of a low-velocity layer, which has been independently confirmed by multi-channel seismic reflection data and P-Sv conversions from teleseismic waveforms. The study of the deep structure was performed by regional tomography with teleseisms; it confirmed the presence of a low-velocity anomaly underneath the volcano, which appears to have roots at greater depths. The regional structure between the Thyrrenian and the Adriatic sea has been inferred by tomographic inversion of teleseismic arrival times. The main result from this study which is very important for geodynamic interpretations is the first evidence for a continuous subducting slab under the Apennines, in an area where previous models hypothesized a slab window. Received March 3, 2000 revised version accepted July 4, 2001     

Mathematical modeling of thermomechanical erosion beneath Proterozoic komatiitic basaltic sinuous rilles in the Cape Smith Belt,New Québec,Canada

Virtually all of the economic Ni–Cu–(platinum group element (PGE)) mineralization in the central part of the Cape Smith Belt of New Québec is hosted by thick olivine cumulate units in the Katinniq Member of the Raglan Formation at the base of the 1.9 Ga Chukotat Group. These units transgress underlying gabbros and pelitic metasediments, forming 50–200-m deep and 300–1,000-m wide V-shaped embayments and have been interpreted on the basis of surface geology, deep diamond core drilling, and magnetic inversion models to represent the remnants of one or more large, long (at least 20 km, possibly ≥50 km), sinuous, komatiitic basalt lava channels that formed by thermomechanical erosion of their substrates. We have used a mathematical model to test these hypotheses regarding komatiitic lava emplacement and erosion by lava. Our modeling predicts that an initially 10-m thick komatiitic basalt flow should have flowed turbulently near the vent and should have thermomechanically eroded unconsolidated pelitic sediment during emplacement to reach the observed degree of contamination of ≤10% at distances of ~30–60 km downstream from the source. Furthermore, our models predict that, at these distances downstream, a fully inflated 100-m thick komatiitic basalt flow would have had thermal erosion rates over consolidated gabbroic substrate of ~0.7–1.5 m/day, requiring ~70–140 days to incise a 100-m deep channel, depending on the initial temperature of the lava, the paleoslope, and the initial temperature and solidus temperature of the gabbro. These erosion rates would have been associated with volumetric flow rates of >10⁵–10⁶ m³/s and eruption volumes of >10³–10⁴ km³. Although these flow rates are orders of magnitude larger than those of most modern terrestrial basaltic flows, they are of the same order as those estimated for the largest terrestrial flood basalt flows and with those inferred for some of the largest extraterrestrial flows. Our predicted flow volumes are also of the same order as those of the largest terrestrial flood basalt units, consistent with the great thickness and widespread distribution of the Chukotat Group. Our modeling of thermomechanical erosion of gabbro by komatiitic basalt results in negligible contamination (<1%), and geochemical studies show that the spatially and petrogenetically related Chukotat basalts are uncontaminated, suggesting that the observed enrichments in U–Th–Light Rare Earth Elements (REE) > Middle REE–Heavy REE > Nb–Ta–Ti represent contamination by underlying Povungnituk semipelites. This result is consistent with present models for the genesis of the Ni–Cu–(PGE) mineralization in the Raglan Formation that involve thermomechanical erosion of unconsolidated, sulfidic semipelitic sediments, and decoupling of the miscible silicate and immiscible sulfide components.     

Formation of the Moon and the Earth from a common supraplanetary gas-dust cloud (lecture presented at the XIX all-Russia symposium on isotope geochemistry on November 16, 2010)

A hypothesis is proposed on the formation of the Earth and the Moon from a large-scale gas-dust cloud, the size of which is limited by the Hill radius, i.e., approximately one million kilometers. The compression of the supraplanetary gas-dust cloud resulted in an adiabatic temperature increase in its interior parts and evaporation of volatiles, including iron, from the surface of particles. At a certain stage, within 50–70 Ma after solar system formation, the supraplanetary gas-dust disk was fragmented, the Moon was separated, and the Earth embryo was formed. The remaining part of the gas-dust material was accreted mainly to the Earth. During this process, the gas dominated by primordial hydrogen was squeezed out of the disk. Vapor was removed together with hydrogen from the interparticle space. The hydrodynamic lifting resulted in the loss of volatiles, including Rb, Xe, and Pb, which is reflected in the Rb-Sr, Xe-I-Pu, and U-Pb isotopic systems. The gas-dust accretion was accomplished within 110–130 Ma (most likely, ∼120 Ma) after the beginning of solar system formation. Since then, the hydrodynamic lifting and volatile loss have ceased, and the history of the Earth as a condensed body has started.     

Elevator tectonics and orogenic collapse of a Tibetan-style plateau in the European Variscides: the role of the Bohemian shear zone

Variscan collision of peri-Gondwanan terranes led to a doubly vergent crustal wedge that was thicker than 55 km in the area of the Bohemian Massif. This crustal thickness resulted in a highly elevated Bohemian plateau with a topographic height >3–4 km. The Bohemian plateau was covered with unmetamorphic Paleozoic strata, all of which are today well preserved in the Tepla–Barrandian unit because of crustal-scale vertical slip along the Bohemian shear zone (BSZ). The BSZ forms a subvertical, ca. 500-km long and up to 2-km wide belt of dip–slip mylonites which show several 90° deflections in map view. Tepla-Barrandian-down movements were active under retrograde metamorphic conditions, starting with granulite and ceasing with greenschist facies conditions. As slip along the BSZ was largely vertical and led to a minimum throw of 10 km, this type of crustal-scale deformation is referred to as elevator tectonics. The elevator-style movements caused the juxtaposition of the supracrustal Tepla–Barrandian lid (the “elevator”) against high-grade rocks of the extruding orogenic root. The BSZ has further governed the foci of mantle-derived plutonism. New U–Pb zircon and monazite TIMS dating of six plutons suggest that emplacement of mantle-derived melts along the BSZ lasted for at least 20 m.y., starting with the emplacement of the Klatovy granodiorite at 347 +4/−3 Ma and ceasing with the emplacement of the Drahotin pluton at 328 ± 1 Ma. When taking into account the new ages of synkinematic plutons, the simultaneous vertical slip along the individual segments of the BSZ (North, West, and Central Bohemian shear zone) is bracketed to the period 343–337 Ma. Elevator tectonics was probably controlled by delamination of thickened mantle lithosphere that caused a dramatic thermal turnover and heating-up of the orogenic root. The overheated lower crust was thermally softened by anatexis and diffusion creep resulting in channel flow, vertical extrusion, fast uplift, and exhumation of the orogenic root.     

A giant avalanche on K2 mount,Karakorum

On September 16th, 1986, an ice avalanche from a hanging glacier near the K2 peak at 7800 m asl, Karakorum, triggered a massive avalanche of ice and snow. Ice and snow, impacting on the path, formed a dust cloud at the advancing tip. Grounding on the firn basin surface, ice and snow broke into fine powder and covered the whole basin. Fine powder of the dust cloud rose up to 500–600 m and drifted 4–5 km away. On the basis of field observations and measurements, topography and weather, conditions of the avalanche formation are analyzed. Judging by the data obtained, the avalanche was extremely large, its vertical descend being 2500 m, the maximum motion speed 124 m/s, volume of the avalanche mass 2 × 10⁵ m³ to 10⁷ m³, and impact pressure, as the avalanche grounded, 2.3 × 10⁶ Pa. It could have been one of the largest avalanches ever recorded, causing danger for mountaineering and expedition activities in this area.     

中高层大气瞬态发光事件（TLEs）及可能的影响

中高层大气瞬态发光事件（TLEs）是发生于活跃雷暴上空平流层和中间层的一类快速大气放电现象。根据光辐射的形态特征和发生位置的不同,可将已发现的TLEs归纳为4类：由电离层快速向下发展的Red Sprites(又称红色精灵,红闪);由雷暴云顶部向上发展的Blue Jets（又称蓝色喷流,蓝激流）;由闪电激发的低电离层区域的圆环状放电ELVEs(Emissions of Light and VLF perturbation due to EMP Sources,又称光辐射和EMP源引起的甚低频扰动) 和由云顶向电离层快速向上发展的Gigantic Jets(又称巨大喷流)。对已有的TLEs现象学和形态特征的观测事实以及物理机制和理论研究等进行了回顾,讨论了TLEs对平流层和中间层大气以及电离层的可能影响,并提出了目前在TLEs理论方面尚未解决的问题,指出了进一步观测和理论研究的必要性。