Orthogneisses of the Spessart crystalline complex,Northwest Bavaria: Indicators of the geotectonic environment?

The orthogneisses of the Spessart crystalline complex are derived from a granitic to granodioritic magma of S-type character which must have formed by anatexis of continental crust. It intruded into a relatively shallow crustal level, 410–420 Ma ago, at the Silurian. Trace element characteristics are consistent with a post-collision geotectonic environment testifying to extensional tectonics at the end of the Caledonian era.

---

Zusammenfassung Die Orthogneise des Spessartkristallins lassen sich von einem granitischen bis granodioritischen Magma von S-Typ-Charakter ableiten, das durch Anatexis kontinentaler Kruste entstanden sein mu\ und in ein relativ oberflächennahes Krustenniveau intrudierte. Die Platznahme erfolgte vor 410–420 Ma, d. h. im Silur. Die Spurenelement-Muster der Orthogneise entsprechen denen von Post-Kollisions-Granitoiden, was als Hinweis auf eine Phase der Dehnungstektonik am Ende der kaledonischen ära bewertet werden kann.

---

Résumé Les orthogneiss du Spessart sont dérivés d'un magma granitique à granodioritique de type S qui doit s'Être formé par anatexie de la croûte continentale. Ce magma a été intrudé dans un niveau peu profond de la croûte il y a 410–420 Ma c'est-à-dire au Silurien. La distribution des éléments en traces est en accord avec celle des granitoÏdes formés dans un contexte géodynamique de post-collision. Cette observation est en faveur d'une phase d'extension tectonique à la fin du cycle calédonien.

---

, — Wojcieszów-Kalke. , — . . , , , , .

     

Proterozoic deformation of the East Saharan Craton in Southeast Libya, South Egypt and North Sudan

The basement areas in Southeast Libya, South Egypt and North Sudan, west of the Nile, between Gebel Uweinat and the Bayuda Desert, are part of an approximately 1000-km-wide, complexly folded, polymetamorphic zone with a regional N-NNE-NE-ENE trend of foliation and fold axis. Since this belt extends southwestward into the area of Zalingei in the southern Darfur block (West Sudan), it is named the Northern Zalingei fold zone. Sr and Nd isotopic studies suggest that this zone is older than Pan-African and further indicate that, apart from Archean rocks in the Gebel Uweinat area, this belt is of Early-Middle Proterozoic age. An Early-Middle Proterozoic three-stage deformational and anatectic event established the present-day fold and fault geometry in the western parts of this zone in the Gebel Uweinat—Gebel Kamil area. The Pan-African tectono-thermal episode was most effective in the eastern part of the belt, near the boundary with the Nubian Shield volcano-sedimentary-ophiolite-granitoid assemblages. It caused migmatization, granite emplacement, mylonitization and large-scale wrench faulting which was related to Late Proterozoic accretionary and collisional events of the Arabian-Nubian Shield with the margin of the East Saharan Craton.     

Comparative aeronomy in the solar system

The coupled upper atmospheres, ionospheres and magnetospheres of the planets were the subject of a joint RAS–G/MIST discussion meeting hosted by the RAS on 10 January 2003, organized by Ingo Mueller-Wodarg and Emma Bunce . The scientific programme consisted of 10 presentations by speakers from the UK, France, USA and Australia.     

The influence of cosmic-ray production on extinct nuclide systems

Variations in the atomic abundances of ⁵³Cr, ⁹²Zr, ⁹⁸Ru, ⁹⁹Ru, and ¹⁸²W in meteorites and lunar samples relative to terrestrial values may imply the early decay of radioactive ⁵³Mn, ⁹²Nb, ⁹⁸Tc, ⁹⁹Tc and ¹⁸²Hf, respectively. From this one can deduce nucleosynthetic sites and early solar system timescales. Because these effects are very small, production and consumption of the respective isotopes by cosmic-ray interactions is a concern. It has recently been demonstrated that ¹⁸²W production by neutron capture reactions on ¹⁸¹Ta is crucial for most lunar samples (Leya et al., 2000a). In this study the neutron fluence of each sample was estimated from its nominal cosmic-ray exposure age as deduced from noble gas data. This approach overestimates the true cosmogenic isotopic shift for samples that might have been irradiated very close to the regolith surface. Here we therefore combine our model calculations with the neutron dose proxies ¹⁵⁷Gd/¹⁵⁸Gd and ¹⁴⁹Sm/¹⁵⁰Sm. This allows us to accurately correct the measured W isotopic data for cosmic-ray induced shifts without the explicit knowledge of the exposure age or the shielding depth of the sample simply by measuring ¹⁵⁷Gd/¹⁵⁸Gd and/or ¹⁴⁹Sm/¹⁵⁰Sm in an aliquot. In addition we present new model results for the GCR-induced effects on ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr, ⁹²Nb-⁹²Zr and ⁹⁸Tc-⁹⁹Tc-⁹⁸Ru-⁹⁹Ru. For each of these systems, except Tc-Ru, a proper cosmic-ray dose proxy is given, permitting the accurate correction of measured isotopic ratios for cosmogenic contributions.     

Synthesis, properties and stability of end member boromuscovite, KAl2[BSi3O10](OH)2

End member boromuscovite, with nearly the ideal composition, was synthesized as a single phase from mixtures of its own composition, or with excess boron and water, at high pressures of between 15 and 30 kbar at 700 °C. The mica synthesized consists of a mixture of 2M₁ and 1M polytypes with the cell dimensions of 2M₁: a=5.071(4), b=8.786(4), c=19.830(89) Å, #=95.84(12)°, V=878.5(1.4) ų; and 1M: a=5.059(5), b=8.819(6), c=10.025(17) Å, #=101.39(57)°, V=438.4(1.3) Å. The IR spectrum shows characteristic differences relative to that of muscovite. DTA registers an endothermic peak due to dehydration breakdown above 680 °C. Seeded experiments indicate that boromuscovite is a high-pressure phase requiring minimum pressures of 3 to 10 kbar at temperatures that concomitantly increase from 300 to 750 °C. At lower pressures, the anhydrous solid assemblage K-feldspar + Al-borate (probably Al₄B₂O₉) coexists with a vapor rich in boric acid. The conversion of this assemblage to boromuscovite is connected with increases in the coordination number of B from [3] to [4], and of Al from [4] to [6]. Above 10 kbar, the boromuscovite stability field is limited along its high-temperature side by congruent (or incongruent?) melting of the mica, starting near 750 °C and 10 kbar and increasing to about 900 °C at 50 kbar, although, at such very high pressures a supercritical fluid may be present. Because, even in the presence of excess-boron fluid, the synthetic mica shows invariable X-ray properties, it is concluded that one B atom per formula unit represents the maximum, and - contrary to olenitic tourmalines - no further substitution of Si by B linked with addition of hydrogen takes place. In contrast to muscovite, KAl₂[AlSi₃O₁₀](OH)₂, end member boromuscovite is not stable under normal P-T conditions of the Continental Crust along a 30 °C/km geotherm, and especially not during the intrusion of acidic igneous rocks including their pegmatites, which may explain its scarcity in nature. However, it may form in the waning hydrothermal stages of deep-seated (>10.5 km) pegmatites and - providing sufficient boron is available - in HP/LT subduction zone environments, where it may carry boron to considerable depths.     

Transformation of amplitudes and frequencies of precession and nutation of the earth’s rotation vector to amplitudes and frequencies of diurnal polar motion

The temporal change of the rotation vector of a rotating body is, in the first order, identical in a space-fixed system and in a body-fixed system. Therefore, if the motion of the rotation axis of the earth relative to a space-fixed system is given as a function of time, it should be possible to compute its motion relative to an earth-fixed system, and vice versa. This paper presents such a transformation. Two models of motion of the rotation axis in the space-fixed system are considered: one consisting only of a regular (i.e., strictly conical) precession and one extended by circular nutation components, which are superimposed upon the regular precession. The Euler angles describing the orientation of the earth-fixed system with respect to the space-fixed system are derived by an analytical solution of the kinematical Eulerian differential equations. In the first case (precession only), this is directly possible, and in the second case (precession and nutation), a solution is achieved by a perturbation approach, where the result of the first case serves as an approximation and nutation is regarded as a small perturbation, which is treated in a linearized form. The transformation by means of these Euler angles shows that the rotation axis performs in the earth-fixed system retrograde conical revolutions with small amplitudes, namely one revolution with a period of one sidereal day corresponding to precession and one revolution with a period which is slightly smaller or larger than one sidereal day corresponding to each (prograde or retrograde) circular nutation component. The peculiar feature of the derivation presented here is the analytical solution of the Eulerian differential equations.     

Spectroscopic analysis of the nuclear and circumnuclear regions of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7130

We discuss here the spectroscopic properties of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7130 (= IC 5135). Emission line regions were isolated and line ratios were measured and fitted with photoionization models; this allowed to discriminate between thermal and non thermal ionization in the circumnuclear regions. Massive star formation is likely to occur at projected distances from the nucleus ≫ 2 kpc: line profiles in these regions suggest the presence of outflows of gas due to stellar winds from hot massive stars.     

State‐Led Innovation at the City Level: Policy Measures to Promote New Energy Vehicles in Shenzhen,China

Unlike many Western countries, the Chinese state has a much more active role in innovation that includes direct involvement with actors in innovation processes and the use of state capacity, money, and power to attain certain goals. With the rise of China, innovation processes that critically depend on state action, often labeled state‐led innovation, have thus received growing scholarly attention. However, only few contributions study the specific sector of new energy vehicles (NEV) and policy measures applied at the city level. This paper examines policy and planning tools used in Shenzhen, China, to assert innovation in the NEV industry, using an evaluation of documents and interviews. The paper finds that a city can play a decisive role in the implementation of innovation policy, and Chinese cities in particular make use of a broad set of innovation support measures ranging from binding quotas, public procurement, and incentives to bans and orders. The findings underline the importance of strong regulatory instruments that do not conform to the Western notion of market‐compliant policy, but nevertheless work effectively in the Chinese context. Moreover, the results highlight how successful policy support for innovation in the NEV can be implemented.