AN EVALUATION OF SAS/GRAPH SOFTWARE FOR COMPUTER CARTOGRAPHY1

The SAS® computer software system, widely used and respected for its capabilities in statistical analysis and data base management, now includes a new set of graphic and cartographic procedures called SAS GRAPH?. We have used these cartographic procedures in research on mapping ethno-cultural census data from metropolitan areas in Ontario and in undergraduate and graduate courses in computer cartography. On the basis of that experience, we describe and evaluate SAS/GRAPH'S cartographic capabilities and illustrate with maps drawn by various devices.     

Impact processing of chondritic planetesimals: Siderophile and volatile element fractionation in the Chico L chondrite

Abstract— A large impact event 500 Ma ago shocked and melted portions of the L‐chondrite parent body. Chico is an impact melt breccia produced by this event. Sawn surfaces of this 105 kg meteorite reveal a dike of fine‐grained, clast‐poor impact melt cutting shocked host chondrite. Coarse (1–2 cm diameter) globules of FeNi metal + sulfide are concentrated along the axis of the dike from metal‐poor regions toward the margins. Refractory lithophile element abundance patterns in the melt rock are parallel to average L chondrites, demonstrating near‐total fusion of the L‐chondrite target by the impact and negligible crystal‐liquid fractionation during emplacement and cooling of the dike. Significant geochemical effects of the impact melting event include fractionation of siderophile and chalcophile elements with increasing metal‐silicate heterogeneity, and mobilization of moderately to highly volatile elements. Siderophile and chalcophile elements ratios such as Ni/Co, Cu/Ga, and Ir/Au vary systematically with decreasing metal content of the melt. Surprisingly small (?10²) effective metal/silicate‐melt distribution coefficients for highly siderophile elements probably reflect inefficient segregation of metal despite the large degrees of melting. Moderately volatile lithophile elements such K and Rb were mobilized and heterogeneously distributed in the L‐chondrite impact breccias whereas highly volatile elements such as Cs and Pb were profoundly depleted in the region of the parent body sampled by Chico. Volatile element variations in Chico and other L chondrites are more consistent with a mechanism related to impact heating rather than condensation from a solar nebula. Impact processing can significantly alter the primary distributions of siderophile and volatile elements in chondritic planetesimals.     

Tektite research 1936–1990*

Abstract— Fifty-odd years of tektite research are reviewed, proceeding from the discovery of the first North American tektites in 1936. This included the early recognition that tektites were terrestrial objects rather than meteorites and that the glassy particles in tektites were fused quartz (lechatelierite). Later, during National Science Foundation-supported research, it was found that some tektites appeared to have formed as puddles of melt, that the content and character of bubbles in lechatelierite can be used as a relative temperature scale, that rayed bubbles in tektites formed from hydrous minerals, that bubbles in tektites formed chiefly from water which was absorbed into the walls of the bubbles leaving vacuums, and that “fingers” in the surficial part of some tektites may have formed by differential volatilization. Some unpublished observations and adventures are briefly reported.     

Results of Photometric and Polarimetric Observations of the Fuor V1057 Cyg from the Time of an Outburst to the Present

Observations of the brightness, color, and polarization of the fuor V1057 Cyg over more than 30 years are presented and briefly discussed. Variability of the linear polarization was found.     

Optimal Filtering Algorithm for Stochastic 2-D FMM Ⅱ with Multiplicative Noise

1　Introduction　Inrecentyearstherehasbeengrowingresearchin terestinthetwo dimensional (2 D )systemtheory .The 2 Dsystemsmayfindapplicationsinareassuchasmarineseismicdataprocessingandimageprocessing .Althoughmoreandmorevaluableresultshavebeengained ,mos…     

Fayalitic olivine in matrix of the Krymka LL3.1 chondrite: Vapor-solid growth in the solar nebula

Abstract— Fayalitic olivine (Fa_54–94) is a ubiquitous component in the matrix of Krymka (LL3.1) as well as in other highly unequilibrated chondrites (ordinary and carbonaceous). In Krymka, the fayalitic olivine has an unusual anisotropic platy morphology that occurs in at least five types of textural settings that can be characterized as: (1) isolated platelets, (2) clusters of platelets, (3) euhedral to subhedral crystals, (4) overgrowths of platelets on forsteritic olivine, and (5) fluffy (porous) aggregates. From transmission electron microscope (TEM) investigation, the direction of elongation of the platy olivine overgrowths on forsteritic olivine substrates is along the c axis and in most cases it corresponds with the c axis of the substrate olivine, which suggests that the fayalitic olivine grew in this unusual morphology and is not a replacement product of preexisting material. The fayalitic olivine in the matrix of Krymka is compositionally similar to olivine with platy morphology in the matrix of some CV3 chondrites and both have similar Fe/Mn ratios, but important morphological differences indicate that their relationship needs to be explored further. Textural and compositional data indicate that the fayalitic olivine in the matrix of Krymka, as well as in some other unequilibrated ordinary chondrites, formed prior to final lithification of the meteorite and probably prior to parent body accretion. We find that formation of the fayalitic olivine by vapor-solid growth provides the best explanation for our observations and data and is the only feasible mechanism for the formation of fayalitic olivine in the matrix of Krymka. We propose that the fayalitic olivine formed by vaporization and recondensation of olivine rich-dust, during a period of enhanced dust/gas ratio in the nebula.     

SHRIMP U–Pb ages of diagenetic and hydrothermal xenotime from the Archaean Witwatersrand Supergroup of South Africa

SHRIMP dating of xenotime overgrowths on detrital zircon grains can constrain maximum durations since diagenesis and therefore provide minimum dates of sediment deposition. Thus, xenotime dating has significant economic application to Precambrian sediment-hosted ore deposits, such as Witwatersrand Au–U, for which there are no precise depositional ages. The growth history of xenotime in the Witwatersrand Supergroup is texturally complex, with several phases evident. The oldest authigenic xenotime ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age obtained in sandstone underlying the Vaal Reef is 2764 ± 5 Myr (1 σ), and most likely represents a mixture of diagenetic and hydrothermal growth. Nevertheless, this represents the oldest authigenic mineral age yet recorded in the sequence and provides a minimum age of deposition. Other xenotime data record a spread of ages that correspond to numerous post-diagenetic thermotectonic events (including a Ventersdorp event at ≈ 2720 Ma) up to the ≈2020 Ma Vredefort event.     

The mass ratio of Nova Muscae 1991

We report intermediate resolution H spectroscopy of the black hole candidate Nova Muscae 1991 during quiescence. We classify the companion star as a K3-K4V which contributes 85±6 percent to the total flux from the binary. The photospheric absorption lines are broadened by 106±13 kms⁻¹ with respect to template field stars, leading to a system mass ratio of q =M₁/M₂ = 7.8_−2.0^+3.4. Doppler imaging of the H line shows strong emission coming from the secondary star (EW=3.1±0.6Å) which we associate with chromospheric activity. However, the hot-spot is not detected and this may indicate a lower mass transfer rate than in other X-ray transients of comparable orbital periods. The surface brightness distribution of the accretion disk in H follows a relation I∝R^−1.1, less steep than typically observed in cataclysmic variables. Updated system parameters are also presented.     

Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrophotometry Of Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) Near Perihelion

We present 1- to 5-μm broadband and CVF images of comet Hale-Bopp taken 1997 February 10.5 UT, 50 days before perihelion. All the images exhibit a nonspherical coma with a bright “ridge” in the direction of the dust tail approximately 10″ from the coma. Synthetic aperture spectrophotometry implies that the optically important grains are of a radius ≤0.4 μm; smallest radius for any comet seen to date. The variation of the integrated surface brightness with radial distance from the coma (ρ) in all the images closely follows the “steady state” ρ⁻¹ model for comet dust ablation (Gehrz and Ney, 1992). The near-infrared colors taken along the dust tail are not constant implying the dust grain properties vary with coma distance. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evaluation of a Wavefront Sensing Concept for a Full Solar Disk Adaptive Optics System

Solar scintillations were investigated as a method of detecting seeing-dependent wavefront curvature variations for solar adaptive optics. The method is applicable to full-disk averaged, adaptive corrections of large-scale near-field seeing distortions. As a test case, seeing measurements were carried out on a single small adaptive mirror, representing one element of what would be a large multielement adaptive array. All observations showed a greater than 5× reduction of seeing distortions as a result of this wavefront correction.