Paleozoic basin development in northern Chile (21°–27°S)

The oldest non-metamorphic sediments of northern Chile (21?–27?S) are of Early Ordovician age. The partly strong volcanic influence in the clastic series of the Pre-Cordillera and the Puna might be connected with the extensive Ordovician magmatism on the eastern side of the Argentinian Puna. The geochemical character of the tholeiitic intercalations in the pelites and turbidites of the »Complejo Igneo-Sedimentario del Cordon de Lila« (C.I.S.L.) in the Pre-Andean Depression indicates a ?Lower Ordovician extensional regime in this area. A positive area (»Arco Puneño«) encompassing the whole width of the present-day western Central Andes developed during the subsequent orogenic phase (»Fase Oclóyica«), resulting in the absence of Silurian strata in Northern Chile. During the Devonian/Carboniferous, two areas of marine facies can be distinguished. In the Coastal Cordillera thick flysch sediments were deposited longitudinally in a N-S striking trough. In the east, in what is now the Pre-Andean Depression and High Cordillera, thick sandstone series accumulated on the western shelf of the Arco Puneno. Carboniferous tectonic movements led to the formation of a shallow marine platform in the west on which clastic sediments, limestones and volcanics were deposited during the Upper Carboniferous-Permian. Simultaneously, extensive volcanism developed in the Pre- and High Cordillera accompanied by predominantly terrestrial sedimentation. A general westward migration of the orogenic zones took place along with repeated phases of rifting and accretion in the Central Andes during the Paleozoic. Eastward directed erosive subduction prevailed since the breakup of Pangea.     

Deutung von Eigenfrequenzen in Zweikreiselkompaßsystemen

Zusammenfassung Der Versuch, die experimentell durch Messung an handelsüblichen Zweikreiselkompaßsystemen festgestellten Eigenfrequenzen mit theoretisch berechneten Werten in Übereinstimmung zu bringen, indem die System-Trägheitsmomente Berücksichtigung finden, bringt keinen Erfolg. Erst die zusätzliche Beachtung der Elastizität der Kreiselachsen bringt eine befriedigende Übereinstimmung zwischen Messung und Theorie.

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Interpretation of the natural frequencies in double-gyro compass systems

Summary An attempt to harmonize the natural frequencies measured at commercial double-gyro compass systems with theoretically computed values by taking account of the moments of inertia of the systems proved unsuccessful. A satisfactory agreement between measurement and theory is reached only after additionally taking into account the elasticity of the gyro axes.

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Interprétation des fréquences propres dans le système des compas à deux gyroscopes

Résumé Quand on essaye par des mesures expérimentales, de mettre en accord les fréquences propres constatées avec leurs valeurs calculées théoriquement dans les systèmes de compas à deux gyroscopes d'usage courant, en tenant compte des moments d'inertie des systèmes, on n'obtient aucun résultat. C'est seulement en prenant de plus en considération l'élasticité des axes des gyroscopes qu'on obtient un accord satisfaisant entre la mesure et la théorie.

     

Kyanite-eclogite to amphibolite fades evolution of hydrous mafic and pelitic rocks,Adula nappe,Central Alps

In the southern Adula nappe (Central Alps), two stages of regional metamorphism have affected mafic and pelitic rocks. Earlier eclogite facies with a regional zonation from glaucophane eclogites to kyanite-hornblende eclogites was followed by a Tertiary overprint which varied from greenschist to high-grade amphibolite facies. Despite a common metamorphic history, contrasting equilibration conditions are often recorded by high-pressure mafic eclogite and adjacent predominantly lower-pressure pelite assemblages. This pressure contrast may be explained by different overprinting rates of the two bulk compositions during unloading. The rates are controlled by a mechanism in which dehydrating metapelites provide the H₂O required for simultaneous overprinting of enclosed mafic eclogites by hydration.Quantitative mass balance modelling based on corona textures is used to show that overprinting of metapelites during unloading involved dehydration reactions. The relatively rapid rate of dehydration reactions led to nearly complete reequilibration of metapelites to amphibolite facies assemblages.After the formation during high-pressure metamorphism of mafic eclogites, later lower-pressure reequilibration by hydration to amphibolites was slow, and therefore incomplete, because it depended on large scale transport of H₂O from adjacent, dehydrating metapelites.The facies contrast observed between rocks of different bulk composition is thus a consequence of the general tendency of metamorphic rocks to retain the most dehydrated assemblage as the final recorded state.     

Representation of orbital element variations and force function with respect to various reference systems

Some questions connected with the analysis of orbital element perturbations and the force field formulation for precise orbit determination are discussed. This includes a simple derivation of the kinematic effect for expressing the Lagrange planetary equations with respect to various reference frames and the representation of the Earth gravitational potential and apparent forces in these systems. Some numerical results are given.     

Basement control on oblique thrust sheet evolution: seismic imaging of the active deformation front of the Central Andes in Bolivia

In the area of the Bolivian Orocline, we examine the deformation pattern associated with the active development of a new thrust sheet. A dense grid of reprocessed 2-D seismic lines from hydrocarbon exploration industry is interpreted and a 3-D simplified structural and kinematic model is deduced. In the Boomerang Hills, onlapping Paleozoic and foredeep sediments are detached from the underlying S-dipping basement. They are thrust northeastwards by less than 2 km. Two zones can be differentiated along the Andean deformation front: (1) a W–E to NW–SE striking frontal segment of predominantly orthogonal shortening, comprising a thrust and anticline system; (2) a WSW–ENE striking lateral zone of oblique shortening within a complex system of thin-skinned strike–slip faults and minor folds. The deformation front always follows a pronounced edge in the topography of the top basement surface close to the boundary of the Paleozoic basin. The observed deformation pattern indicates intensified strain partitioning caused by the interaction of contraction direction and basement topography, which provides a near oblique ramp for the onlapping wedge of sediments. The SW–NE thrusting direction is divided into orthogonal and tangential components. These are accommodated by convergent and strike–slip structures, respectively, which sole into a common detachment horizon. The structural evolution of the new thrust sheet in the Bolivian Orocline is primarily controlled by the paleorelief of the Brazilian Shield because: (1) the shape of the basement affects the taper of the thrust wedge and localizes the deformation front and (2) small asperities in/close to the top of the basement promote fault localization. The coincidence of a relatively high basement position and a structural high of the Eastern Cordillera leads to the conclusion that the shape of the Brazilian Shield also controls the structural evolution of the pronounced eastern border of the Bolivian Orocline.     

On the magnitude and apparent range of variation of the von Karman constant in the atmospheric surface layer

The half-century history of the experimental evaluation of the von Karman constant in the atmospheric surface layer is reviewed, an evidence indicating that this well-known scaling factor,k, is actually a weak variable that decreases with increasing Reynolds number is discussed. A combined average ofk=0.390 with a standard error of ±0.010 is found from two field studies, a result which indicates that there is only one chance in 40 that the true value of the scaling factor in the population from which the experimental sample was drawn could have been as large as the laboratory value of 0.40. Based on experimental and theoretical results given by others, it is suggested thatk varies from a maximum of 0.41 in light winds over open water and smooth land surfaces, to a minimum near 0.37 in stronger winds over forests and cities. This range is shown to imply that a working value ofk=0.39±1% is appropriate for flows over surfaces characterized by 0.7<z ₀<8.7 cm, a roughness subrange which corresponds to a wide variety of terrain types from sparsely vegetated level plains to mixed croplands with occasional hedges and trees.sponsored in part by the Global Change Post Doctoral Program, Office of Health and Environmental Research, U. S. Department of Energy.Work sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ATM-9019682.     

Transient events in the COBE database simultaneous with gamma ray bursts

We are investigating the COBE DMR data at instances of known -ray bursts (GRBs) when any of the six DMR horn directions was coincident with the direction of a burst. The BATSE instrument on board GRO has detected 207 bursts during the eight-month period of overlap corresponding to the current release of COBE data. The odds of a GRB occurring within the DMR field of view are near one coincidence per year. Here we report on one such serendipitous observation in 1991, GRB 911226, for which a detailed analysis is currently in progress.     

The INTEGRAL mission

INTEGRAL, the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, to be launched in 2001, is the second medium-size scientific mission (M2) of the ESA long term programme Horizon 2000. INTEGRAL addresses the fine spectroscopy and accurate positioning of celestial gamma-ray sources in the energy range 10 keV to 10 MeV. The observational requirements will be met by a payload utilising coded mask imaging in combination with detector pixel arrays (Imaging) and cooled Germanium detectors (Spectroscopy). INTEGRAL is an ESA led mission in collaboration with Russia and USA. Most of the observing time will be made available to the general scientific community.This paper is largely based on the INTEGRAL Phase A study report (ESA SCI(93)1), written by the INTEGRAL Phase A Science Working Team: S. Bergeson-Willis, T.J.-L. Courvoisier, A.J. Dean, Ph. Durouchoux, B. McBreen, N. Eismont, N. Gehrels, J.E. Grindlay, W.A. Mahoney, J.L. Matteson, O. Pace, T.A. Prince, V. Schönfelder, G.K. Skinner, R. Sunyaev, B.N. Swanenburg, B.J. Teegarden, P. Ubertini, G. Vedrenne, G.E. Villa, S. Volonté, and C. Winkler.