Large earthquakes kill coral reefs at the north-west Gulf of Aqaba

Down‐faulting at the north‐west margins of the Gulf of Aqaba is inferred to have triggered a catastrophic sedimentary event at 2.3 ka that killed the Elat fringing coral reef. Whereas segments of the Holocene reef were perfectly fossilized and preserved beneath a veneer of siliciclastic sediments, other segments were abraded, settled by nomads, and later re‐submerged under 4 m of water. Repeated damage triggered by down‐throwing earthquakes degenerate the fringing reefs of the north‐west end of the gulf. Conversely, on the north‐eastern and southern parts of the gulf, where earthquakes uplift the margins, modern reefs are thriving, attached to uplifted fossil reef terraces. Therefore, coastal subsidence moderates the development of fringing coral reefs during the late Holocene sea‐level stand still.     

A statistical study of MHD discontinuities in the inner solar system: Helios 1 and 2

A statistical study is made of the magnetic field directional discontinuities observed in early 1976 onboard Helios 1 and 2. Strong day-to-day variations of occurrence rates are found on either tangential (TD) or rotational (RD) discontinuities. No large variation (if any) is found versus either heliocentric distance or heliographic latitude. This contradicts previous findings obtained by the same technique on Pioneer 8 data in 1968–69; however, reasons are given to expect different results, under different solar conditions. The most interesting results come from the study of the morphology of discontinuities: first of all, the orientation of TD's and RD's normals (identified by a minimum variance technique) are strongly organized by the average magnetic field, following their progressive directional change when approaching the Sun. The inclination (θ _n ) and azimuthal (? _n ) distributions are gaussian and strongly peaked along the field lines for RD's; as regards TD's the normals are perpendicular to the average field and follow its progressive variation; the θ _n distribution is isotropic in solid angle, which is interpreted as evidence of crossing of flux tubes on the order of one/hour. Implications of this interpretation in contrast with a turbulent approach are also discussed.     

Luminosity dependent study of the high mass X-ray binary pulsar 4U 0114 + 65 with ASCA

Here we report the spectral characteristics of the high and low states of the pulsar 4U 0114 + 65 and examine the change in the parameters of the spectral model. A power law and a photoelectric absorption by material along the line of sight together with a high energy cut-off suffice to describe the continuum spectrum in both the states. A fluorescence iron line at ∼6.4 keV is present in the high as well as in the low state, though it is less intense in the latter. The photon index, cut-off energy and e-folding energy values hardly show any discernible change over the states. We compare these spectral characteristics as observed with ASCA with those of other satellites. We also compare the spectral characteristics of 4U 0114 + 650 with other X-ray sources which show intensity variation at different time scales.     

The red luminescence emission of feldspar and its wavelength dependence on K, Na, Ca – composition

Summary ?Feldspar specimens covering the whole Or–Ab–An ternary have been investigated by cathodoluminescence (CL), photoluminescence (PL), radioluminescence (RL) and radiophosphorescence (RP) spectrometry. A red luminescence emission, which is commonly explained by Fe³⁺ lattice defects, is a characteristic feature of all the spectra. Different shifts of the peak-wavelength between ∼680–750 nm (1.82–1.65 eV) were observed with varying feldspar composition. Despite the dependence of the peak position on the Ca/Na ratio, initially described for CL in the 1970s, there is also a shift induced by changing NaK composition. The observed effects can be explained by known relations that the peak position of the red luminescence emission in feldspars can be affected both by the structural state of the feldspar and the site occupancy of the trivalent iron. In the case of alkali feldspars another factor may influence the peak-shift. The incorporation of the larger potassium ion causes non-linear variations of the cell dimensions and therefore Fe–O bond distance. The behaviour of the red peak-shift dependent on the feldspar composition is not equal for all types of luminescence investigated. This is most likely caused by the different luminescence excitation mechanism. Received December 3, 2001; revised version accepted March 25, 2002     

Nanoflares and heating of the solar corona

Coronal heating by nanoflares is presented by using observational, analytical, numerical simulation and statistical results. Numerical simulations show the formation of numerous current sheets if the magnetic field is sheared and bipoles have unequal pole strengths. This fact supports the generation of nanoflares and heating by them. The occurrence frequency of transients such as flares, nano/microflares, on the Sun exhibits a power-law distribution with exponent α varying between 1.4 and 3.3. For nanoflares heating α must be greater than 2. It is likely that the nanoflare heating can be reproduced by dissipating Alfven waves. Only observations from future space missions such as Solar-B, to be launched in 2006, can shed further light on whether Alfven waves or nanoflares, heat the solar corona.     

The distribution of Main-Sequence stars in the open cluster NGC 7789

By star counts on four plates with different limiting magnitudes, it was found that the relative frequency of Main-Sequence stars increases from the centre of the cluster to the boundary. It is shown that the stars of NGC 7789 are separated according to their masses.     

An adaptable radio-controlled measuring system for oceanographic research in shallow water

The scientific objective of the system presented in this paper is to conduct in situ measurements of environmental parameters and to support several marine in situ experiments which are carried out in order to investigate the interaction between the sea and the sea bottom in shallow-water ecosystems. Automated in situ measurements are carried out by means of the radio-controlled data acquisition and control system "OBS" which is mounted on an unattended platform in the western Baltic. The shore station, at a distance of about 25 km, is located at the Institute of Applied Physics of Kiel University and is equipped with a central computer for real-time data retrieval and remote programming. Part of the OBS system is a vertical scanning profiling system which provides measurements of temperature, electrical conductivity, turbidity, scalar irradiance, downwelling and upwelling irradiance, pH, and dissolved oxygen in a water column of about 10-m depth. The vertical resolution is 10 cm. Profiling depth range was automatically determined from the shore by means of an adjustable upper depth limit, in order to protect the probes from surface waves. The research conducted here requires simultaneous measurements of various environmental parameters. This is done by about 20-30 fixed probes mounted on the platform in the air and in the water as well on the sea bottom in the neighborhood of the platform. The radio-controlled data acquisition system serves all probes and samples the sensors repeatedly in time.