On the magnetism of stars and planets

A self-consistent statistical approach to the problem of planetary and stellar magnetism is suggested. The mechanism of magnetic field generation in the astronomical objects, where the existence of fields is associated with the axial rotation of objects, is discussed. In the general case the light pressure, the centrifugal, gravitational and other forces produce partial -separation of the charges. As a result of the system rotation, the magnetic fields of the currents of these charges are not compensated. The influence of various factors on the magnetic field of some object is analysed.     

Octahedral-site Fe2+ quadrupole splitting distributions from Mössbauer spectroscopy along the (OH, F)-annite join

We have performed a detailed Mössbauer study of synthetic annites on the (OH, F)-join. Recently developed data treatment and spectral analysis methods were used to extract true intrinsic Fe²⁺ quadrupole splitting distributions (QSDs) that represent the most information that can be resolved from the spectra. The overall room temperature (RT) QSDs can be consistently interpreted in terms of four QSD contributions (or populations) centered at: QS_HH2.55 mm/s for Fe²⁺O₄(OH)₂ octahedra (cis and trans not resolved), QS_HF 2.35 mm/s for Fe²⁺O₄(OH)F octahedra (cis and trans not resolved), QS_cFF2.15 mm/s for cis-Fe²⁺O₄F₂ octahedra, and QS_tFF 1.5 mm/s for trans-Fe²⁺O₄F₂ octahedra. Each such contribution has a width ( 0.2 mm/s) caused by distortions of the octahedra. Minor contributions due to Fe²⁺O₅(OH) and Fe²⁺O₅F octahedra probably also contribute to the overall Fe²⁺ QSDs. The ferric iron spectral components were also characterized. Here, two distinct types of octahedral Fe³⁺ contributions are seen and interpreted as being due mainly to Fe³⁺O₅OH and Fe³⁺O₅F octahedra, respectively. Tetrahedral Fe³⁺ is seen only in the OH-annite end-member and the total Fe³⁺ content drops significantly on addition of F. On leave from: Department of Materials Physics, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China     

Chernobyl radiocaesium in a karst system,Marble Cave,Crimea

 Surface contamination with radioactive caesium introduced into the environment after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant was high enough in the Crimean Mountains to allow using radiocaesium as an indicator of penetration of radioactive contamination into a karst system. Caesium concentrations have been studied in soils above Marble Cave, Tchatyrdag Plateau, in percolation waters and in sediments transported by percolation waters within the cave. Contamination of the daylight surface with ¹³⁷Cs is about 30 kqB m^–2 which is approximately 13 times higher than the density of global fallouts. Besides ¹³⁷Cs, almost all samples showed presence of ¹³⁴Cs with the ¹³⁷Cs/¹³⁴Cs ratio close to that of Chernobyl contaminations. Concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs range from 9 to 15 mBq l^–1 in the present percolation waters in the cave. In sediments related to percolation waters ¹³⁴Cs is detected in some samples besides ¹³⁷Cs, although the effect of ²²⁸Ac is not ruled out. Surprisingly, the highest concentrations of radiocaesium were measured in "old" sediments in the cave's lower series. These sediments are not associated with modern percolation and are represented by a clay/moonmilk alternating sequence deposited in an old dried cave lake. Moonmilk layers have higher caesium content than clay. It is assumed that Chernobyl caesium was transported into the cave with aerosols which were then deposited mainly in areas where condensation occurs. The sampling site is located just in the boundary between two microclimatic zones with a temperature gradient of 0.5  °C. Active condensation processes occur in this area. Caesium was not detected in another similar sampling site (old lake deposits) located within homogeneous microclimatic conditions. If the above interpretation is correct, these results show the geochemical significance of the aerosol-condensation mechanism of mass transport and localisation. Received: 1 June 1995 · Accepted: 4 December 1995     

Springs of Great Britain

Predictably, in a country such as Britain, with its preponderance of consolidated, sedimentary, mainly fissure-flow aquifers, there is a very large number of springs, many of which are, or have been, used for public supply. Migratory springs are a feature of the British (Ur. Cretaceous) Chalk, the most important British aquifer. The Chalk's low specific yield and high capillary moisture retention together give rise to very considerable fluctuations (more than 33 m in some areas) of the unconfined water table. Along the gentle dip slopes of the Chalk (North and South Downs of southern and southeastern England) springs may migrate laterally for several miles, giving rise to seasonal streams locally known as bournes or lavants. However, springs such as at Duncton, West Sussex, at the base of the much steeper scarp slopes of the Chalk, form point sources, the flows from which tend to be relatively steady; such springs commonly supply and are the original reason for the existence of many of the small towns and villages which nestle along the bases of the chalk scarps of Sussex and Kent.Where the Chalk forms coastal cliffs, a number of springs break out at the base of the cliff between high and low tide levels; there are major chalk coastal springs, for instance, at St. Margaret's Bay (Kent) and at Arish Mells, east of Lulworth Cove, Dorset. Such springs are not used for direct supply (their salinity is usually too high) but are indicators of the presence of local reserves of groundwater for possible future development.     

Integrated chronostratigraphy of Proterozoic-Cambrian boundary beds in the western Anabar region, northern Siberia

Carbonate-rich sedimentary rocks of the western Anabar region, northern Siberia, preserve an exceptional record of evolutionary and biogeochemical events near the Proterozoic/Cambrian boundary. Sedimentologically, the boundary succession can be divided into three sequences representing successive episodes of late transgressive to early highstand deposition; four parasequences are recognized in the sequence corresponding lithostratigraphically to the Manykal Formation. Small shelly fossils are abundant and include many taxa that also occur in standard sections of southeastern Siberia. Despite this coincidence of faunal elements, biostratigraphic correlations between the two regions have been controversial because numerous species that first appear at or immediately above the basal Tommotian boundary in southeastern sections have first appearances scattered through more than thirty metres of section in the western Anabar. Carbon- and Sr-isotopic data on petrographically and geochemically screened samples collected at one- to two-metre intervals in a section along the Kotuikan River, favour correlation of the Staraya Reckha Formation and most of the overlying Manykai Formation with sub-Tommotian carbonates in southeastern Siberia. In contrast, isotopic data suggest that the uppermost Manykai Formation and the basal 26 m of the unconformably overlying Medvezhya Formation may have no equivalent in the southeast; they appear to provide a sedimentary and palaeontological record of an evolutionarily significant time interval represented in southeastern Siberia only by the sub-Tommotian unconformity. Correlations with radiometrically dated horizons in the Olenek and Kharaulakh regions of northern Siberia suggest that this interval lasted approximately three to six million years, during which essentially all 'basal Tommotian' small shelly fossils evolved.     

Derivation of A-type Granites from a Dehydrated Charnockitic Lower Crust: Evidence from the Chaelundi Complex, Eastern Australia

Triassic I- and A-type granites of the Chaelundi Complex, NewEngland Fold Belt, eastern Australia, were generated in a subduction-relatedtectonic setting. Although isotopic ages of the suites are indistinguishable,field relations indicate that the A-type is younger. The mostmafic granitoids from each suite have similar silica contents(66–68% SiO₂), slightly LREE enriched patterns withoutEu anomalies, low Rb/Sr and K/Ba ratios, and high K/Rb ratios,suggesting that both represent parental magmas. The A-type isdistinguished mineralogically by abundant orthoclase and sodicplagioclase (total >60%), ferro-hornblende, annite and allanite.In contrast, the I-type has more hornblende and biotite, whichare more magnesian in composition, and less feldspar. The parentalmagmas of both suites have many similar geochemical characteristics,although the A-type has slightly higher alkalis, Zr, Hf, Znand LREE, and lower CaO, MgO, Sr, V, Cr, Ni and Fe³⁺/Fe. Thegeochemical properties characteristic of leucocratic A-typegranites, such as high Ga/Al, Nb, , HREE and F contents, areonly manifest in the more felsic members of the A-type suite.These features were produced by 70% fractional crystallizationof feldspar, hornblende, quartz and biotite. Both granite suites were generated by water-undersaturated partialmelting of a similar source, but the A-type parent magma resultedfrom lower aH₂O conditions during partial melting. Generationand rapid ascent of the earlier 1-type magma during disequilibriumpartial melting produced a relatively anhydrous, but not refractory,charnockitic lower crust. Continued thermal input from mantle-derivedmagmas, during continuing subduction, partially melted the ‘charnockitized’lower crust at temperatures in excess of 900C, to produce A-typemagmas. Charnockitic magmas (C-type) form in a similar way toA-type magmas, although their different composition reflectsvariations in the anhydrous lower-crustal mineral assemblagesthat remain after the previous (1-type) granite-forming event. The New England Fold Belt was a subduction—accretion complexuntil the late Carboniferous, when the deeper parts underwentpartial melting to produce S-type granites. As the I-and A-typegranites intruded penecontemporaneously, a tonalitic sourcemodel for genesis of the Chaelundi A-type is untenable. KEY WORDS: A-type; charnockitization; eastern Australia ^*Corresponding author.     

Non-ideal Mg-Fe binary mixing in cordierite: Constraints from experimental data on Mg-Fe partitioning in garnet and cordierite and a reformulation of garnet-cordierite geothermometer

The non-ideal regular Mg-Fe binary in cordierite has been derived through multivariate linear regression of the expressionRT InK_D +(P- 1)ΔVK ₁ ⁰ , 298 along with updated subfegular mixing parameter of almandine-pyrope solution (Hackler and Wood 1989; Berman 1990). The data base used for multivariate analyses consists of published experimental data (n = 177) on Mg-Fe partitioning between garnet and cordierite in theP-T range 650–1050°C and 4–12 K bar. The non-ideality can be approximated by temperature-dependent Margules parameters. The retrieved values of ΔH_<T> ^o and ΔH_<T> ^o of exchange reaction between garnet and cordierite and enthalpy and entropy of mixing of Mg-Fe cordierite were combined with recent quaternary (Fe-Mg-Ca-Mn) mixing data in garnet to obtain the geothermometric expressions to determine temperature (T Kelvin): $$\begin{gathered} T(WH) = 6832 + 0.031(P - 1) - \{ 166(X_{Mg}^{Gt} )^2 - 506(X_{Fe}^{Gt} )^2 + 680X_{Fe}^{Gt} X_{Mg}^{Gt} + 336(X_{Ca} + X_{Mn} ) \hfill \\ (X_{Mg} - X_{Fe} )^{Gt} - 3300X_{Ca}^{Gt} - 358X_{Mn}^{Gt} \} + 954(X_{Fe} - X_{Mg} )^{Crd} /1.987\ln K_D + 3.41 + 1.5X_{Ca}^{Gt} \hfill \\ + 1.23(X_{Fe} - X_{Mg} )^{Crd} \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ $$\begin{gathered} T(Br) = 6920 + 0.031(p - 1) - \{ 18(X_{Mg}^{Gt} )^2 - 296(X_{Fe}^{Gt} )^2 + 556X_{Fe}^{Gt} X_{Mg}^{Gt} - 6339X_{Ca}^{Gt} X_{Mg}^{Gt} \hfill \\ - 99(X_{Ca}^{Gt} )^2 + 4687X_{Ca}^{Gt} (X_{Mg} - X_{Fe}^{Gt} ) - 4269X_{Ca}^{Gt} X_{Fe}^{Gt} - 358X_{Mn}^{Gt} \} + 640(X_{Fe} - X_{Mg} )^{Crd} \hfill \\ + 1.90X_{Ca}^{Gt} (X_{Mg} - X_{Ca} )^{Gt} . \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$      

Overbreak and underbreak in underground openings Part 2: causes and implications

Summary The newly developed light sectioning method has been used to investigate some of the causes and costs of overbreak and underbreak. Investigations at the Aquamilpa Hydroelectric Project in Mexico have shown decreased overbreak and increased underbreak as a result of increased rock quality and decreased explosive energy. A new measure of explosive energy, the perimeter powder factor (PPF), has been defined and shown to be useful in the context of tunnel-wall rock damage. Tentative results indicate that explosive energy (PPF) may be a more important factor in producing underbreak, whereas rock quality may be a greater factor in producing overbreak. A site-specific equation is given for predicting overbreak or underbreak as a function of rock quality and explosive energy, with an evaluation of the cost of underbreak and overbreak.     

Photometric investigation of the evolved contact binary system DN Aur

We present here the photometric light curve analyses of the eclipsing binary star DN Aur. The CCD photometry, performed at the Behlen observatory using the 0.76 m automated telescope gave 646 individual data points inV andR bandpass filters. From this data we have determined a new epoch and an orbital period of 0.6168891 days. The published spectral classification is F3.The Wilson-Devinney model was used to derive the photometric solutions. DN Aur is a W UMa type contact binary system. The mass ratio, (q=m ₂/m ₁0.210, where star 2 is eclipsed at the primary minimum) suggests that the system has A-type configuration. The computed light curve has a third light of about 22 percent and a total eclipse in the secondary minimum. A solution with a cool spot on the secondary component is also found. We recommend spectroscopic study of DN Aur even though the light curve analysis show it to be a single line spectroscopic system. Generally contact systems of spectral type F3 have periods ranging from 0.25 to 0.5 days. The longer period of DN Aur suggests that it is an evolved contact system with case A mass transfer.     

Far-infrared contribution to interstellar extinction from graphite whiskers

A mass contribution of graphite whiskers as small as 0.1% to the population of interstellar grains could dramatically change their far-infrared extinction properties. With varying mass fractions of graphite whiskers, and for different size parameters, the infrared extinction could vary from a ^-2 dependence to ⁰, consistent with the requirements of some astronomical observations.