A magnetized disk around an O star in W75N. A VLBI map of the OH maser

W75N is a star-forming region containing ultracompact H II regions as well as OH, H₂O, and methanol masers. The VLBA maps obtained show that the masers are located in a thin disk rotating around an O star, which is the exciting star for the ultracompact H II region VLA1. A separate group of maser spots is associated with the ultracompact H II region VLA2. The radial velocity of the maser spots varies across the disk from 3.7 to 10.9 km/s. The disk diameter is 4000 AU. The maser spots revolve in Keplerian orbits around the O9 star.     

Microbial–silica interactions in Icelandic hot spring sinter: possible analogues for some Precambrian siliceous stromatolites

Silicified deposits, such as sinters, occur in several modern geothermal environments, but the mechanisms of silicification (and crucially the role of microorganisms in their construction) are still largely unresolved. Detailed examination of siliceous sinter, in particular sections of microstromatolites growing at the Krisuvik hot spring, Iceland, reveals that biomineralization contributes a major component to the overall structure, with approximately half the sinter thickness attributed to silicified microorganisms. Almost all microorganisms observed under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) are mineralized, with epicellular silica ranging in thickness from < 5 μm coatings on individual cells, to regions where entire colonies are cemented together in an amorphous silica matrix tens of micrometres thick. Within the overall profile, there appears to be two very distinct types of laminae that alternate repeatedly throughout the microstromatolite: ‘microbial’ layers are predominantly consisting of filamentous, intact, vertically aligned, biomineralized cyanobacteria, identified as Calothrix and Fischerella sp.; and weakly laminated silica layers which appear to be devoid of any microbial component. The microbial layers commonly have a sharply defined base, overlying the weakly laminated silica, and a gradational upper surface merging into the weakly laminated silica. These cyclic laminations are probably explained by variations in microbial activity. Active growth during spring/summer allows the microorganisms to keep pace with silicification, with the cell surfaces facilitating silicification, while during their natural slow growth phase in the dark autumn/winter months silicification exceeds the bacteria’s ability to compensate (i.e. grow upwards). At this stage, the microbial colony is probably not essential to microstromatolite formation, with silicification presumably occurring abiogenically. When conditions once again become favourable for growth, recolonization of the solid silica surface by free‐living bacteria occurs: cell motility is not responsible for the laminations. We have also observed that microbial populations within the microstromatolite, some several mm in depth, appear viable, i.e. they still have their pigmentation, the trichomes are not collapsed, cell walls are unbroken, cytoplasm is still present and they proved culturable. This suggests that the bulk of silicification occurred rapidly, probably while the cells were still alive. Surprisingly, however, measurements of light transmittance through sections of the microstromatolite revealed that photosynthetically active light (PAL) only transmitted through the uppermost 2 mm. Therefore the ‘deeper’ microbial populations must have either: (i) altered their metabolic pathways; (ii) become metabolically inactive; or (iii) the deeper populations may be dominated by different microbial assemblages from that of the surface. From these collective observations, it now seems unequivocal that microstromatolite formation is intimately linked to microbial activity and that the sinter fabric results from a combination of biomineralization, cell growth and recolonization. Furthermore, the similarities in morphology and microbial component to some Precambrian stromatolites, preserved in primary chert, suggests that we may be witnessing contemporaneous biomineralization processes and growth patterns analogous to those of the early Earth.     

Onset of seafloor spreading in the Iapetus Ocean at 608 Ma: precise age of the Sarek Dyke Swarm, northern Swedish Caledonides

The Sarek Dyke Swarm (SDS) crops out in the Sarektjåkkå Nappe (SN) of the Seve-Kalak Superterrane in the northern Swedish Caledonides. The SN has two main components: (1) a 4–5 km thick succession of rift-related sedimentary rocks, which is intruded by (2) a suite of tholeiitic dykes (the SDS) constituting 70–80% of the nappe. The nappe was deformed during Caledonian thrusting, but dykes and sedimentary rocks in the interior of the eastern parts of the SN are preserved in a pristine state. The tholeiitic dykes of the SDS commonly occur in sheeted dyke complexes, and up to 11 successive generations can be identified from crosscutting relations. The SN represents the fossil continent–ocean transition between the Baltic craton and the Iapetus Ocean, marking the initiation of seafloor spreading. Bubble-shaped pods and veinlets of diorite are present in the SDS sheeted dyke complexes. The pods are absent in the oldest dykes, but the younger a dyke, the more frequent the pods. The diorite pods are the equivalent of gabbro pegmatites, and both cogenetic and coeval with the dykes. The rapid successive emplacement of tholeiitic magma raised the ambient temperature in the dyke complex, so that crystallization in the youngest dykes mimicked similar processes in gabbro plutons. Six zircon fractions, from the diorite pods including two single grains, were analysed geochronologically by the U–Pb thermal ionization mass spectrometry method. The data yield a linear array of points that are 0.4–0.8% normally discordant, indicating a crystallization age of 608±1 Ma (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb=607.9±0.7 Ma, MSWD=0.33). This age is inferred to date the onset of seafloor spreading in the Iapetus Ocean along the Baltoscandian margin.     

On the origin of inhomogeneity of anomalous birefringence in mixed crystals: an example of alums

 Optical anomalies (deviations of the symmetry of optical properties from the ideal symmetry of the crystal) occur in many minerals and synthetic compounds and have been under investigation since the last century. An important feature of optically anomalous mixed crystals is a high degree of optical inhomogeneity, whereas the optical patterns of mixed crystals without anomalies are usually rather uniform. This work is devoted to the study of this phenomenon. As a model object we have chosen mixed alum crystals, which were known for their anomalous birefringence and which revealed the following types of optical inhomogeneities: (1) sector zoning; (2) concentric zoning; (3) subsector zoning; (4) stripes normal to growth front. The inhomogeneity of anomalous birefringence of mixed crystals of alums can be explained by superposition of several effects: mismatch strain, strain along dislocations and growth ordering of isomorphous components. Optical inhomogeneities due to the sector zoning of crystals and their dislocation structure arise even under stationary growth conditions and stationary micromorphology of the growing face. Both variable growth conditions and the relief of the growing face strongly intensify the optical inhomogeneity due to three interrelated factors: (1) a significantly inhomogeneous mismatch strain; (2) a variable degree of ordering of isomorphous components due to the compositional inhomogeneities; (3) different degrees of ordering of isomorphous atoms caused by different orientations, heights and velocities of growth steps. These effects lead to the formation of subsector zoning and zoning superimposed on the optical sector zoning. These optical structures are crossed by birefringent stripes arising from dislocations. Received: 29 March 2000 / Accepted: 11 March 2001     

Fish assemblage structure in relation to environmental variation in a Texas Gulf coastal wetland

We described seasonal fish-assemblages in an estuarine marsh fringing Matagorda Bay, Gulf of Mexico. Habitat zones were identified by patterns of fish species abundance and indicator species optima along gradients in salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), and depth in our samples. Indicators of the lower brackish zone (lower lake and tidal bayou closest to the bay) were gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus), bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli), silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), and spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) at salinity >15‰, DO 7–10 mg l⁻¹, and depth <0.5 m. Indicators of the upper brackish zone (lake and fringing salt marsh) were pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides) and spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) at salinity 10–20‰, DO >10 mg l⁻¹, and depth <0.5 m. In the freshwater wetland zone (diked wetland, ephemeral pool, and perennial scour pool), indicators were sheepshed minnow (Cyprinod on variegatus), rainwater killifish (Lucania parva), mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), and sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna) at salinity <5‰, DO <5 mg l⁻¹, and depth ≥1 m. In the freshwater channelized zone (slough and irrigation canal), indicators were three sunfish species (Lepomis), white crappie (Pomoxis annularis), and gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) at salinity <5‰, DO <5 mg l⁻¹, and depth >1.5 m. In brackish zones, seasonal variation in species diversity among sites was positively correlated with temperature, but assemblage structure also was influenced by depth and DO. In the freshwater zones, seasonal variation in species diversity among sites was positively correlated with depth, DO, and salinity, but assemblage structure was weakly associated with temperature. Species diversity and assemblage structure were strongly affected by the connectivity between freshwater wetland and brackish zones. Uncommon species in diked wetlands, such as tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) and fat sleeper (Dormitator maculatus), indicated movement of fishes from the brackish zone as the water level rose during natural flooding and scheduled (July) releases from the diked wetland. From September to July, diversity in the freshwater wetland zone decreased as receding waters left small isolated pools, and fish movement became blocked by a water-control structure. Subsequently, diversity was reduced to a few species with opportunistic life histories and tolerance to anoxic conditions that developed as flooded vegetation decayed.     

用于县级规划管理的微机系统设计

论述了研制适于县级规划管理的微机系统的必要性，主要设计思想和关键技术，介绍了目前研制的成果。     

Wet tropospheric effects on precise relative GPS height determination

Summary Considerable interest has been generated recently in the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for precise height determination. A major error source in these measurements is the propagation delay due to atmospheric water vapour. In order to achieve the high precisions required for such applications as absolute sea-level monitoring improvement of wet delay modelling is necessary. Results from a GPS campaign show a significant correlation (0.91) between the variability of the wet delay measured using a water vapour radiometer (WVR) at the Onsala site and the absolute value of the residual error in the height determination of a 134 km baseline from Onsala to Jönköping. This correlation indicates that the atmosphericvariability as inferred from the WVR data includes information on the quality of the GPS height estimate. During periods of high atmospheric activity, e.g., during the passage of a weather front, the use of a six-parameter gradient model reduces the spread for the vertical coordinate from 40 mm to 20 mm (with standard deviations of 17 mm and 9 mm respectively) over the 134 km baseline (less than 1 × 10^–7) using 8 hour data spans on 11 different days over a six month period.     

A Review of Catalogues of Chinese Earthquakes

In the past decade, the most authoritative catalogues of Chinese earthquakes and the most popular with seismologists in China are the following:(1) Gu Gongxu, 1983, Catalogue of Chinese Earthquakes;(2) Min Ziqun, 1988, Concise Catalogue of Chinese Earthquakes;(3) Xie Yusuou, 1989, Catalogue of Chinese Earthquakes (M≥ 4.7) from 1900-1980 with Uniform Magnitudes; and(4) Min Ziqun, 1995, Catalogue of Chinese Historical Strong Earthquakes. Earthquakes that occurred before 1900 are mainly documented in historical records.Since 1950s, more recent earthquakes were documented in two major compilations of historical records finished in 1956 and 1983-1987. Separately this effort resulted in two chronicles: two volumes for the first one and five volumes for the second one. The magnitudes are converted from the maximum intensity. These magnitudes, by convention, are connected with surface wave magnitudes. However, it is clear that they do not have any strict seismological definition.The period of 1900-1962 documen     

Stochastic sketching of infiltration-advance isochrones

A technique has been developed for predicting the irregular advance pattern often observed as water spreads on the surface of the ground. The technique is a combination of stochastic sketching, potential theory, probability theory, and a mass balance equation in the form of an advance equation. The technique can be used on flat as well as sloping terrain and addresses any form of obstructions or constraints to the flow of the water. The stochastic sketching portion of the technique uses cellular automata with transition probability movement rules to sketch the dynamics of small volume water elements in the defined environment. Randomly selected small volume flow path segments are computed and plotted. The envelope of these segments defines the wetted area and the advance front. Several examples are presented showing the patterns produced for various situations.