Estimate of recharge of a rising water table in semiarid Niger from 3H and 14C modeling

A hydrodynamic survey carried out in semiarid southwest Niger revealed an increase in the unconfined ground water reserves of approximately 10% over the last 50 years due to the clearing of native vegetation. Isotopic samplings (3H, 18O, 2H for water and 14C, 13C for the dissolved inorganic carbon) were performed on about 3500 km2 of this silty aquifer to characterize recharge. Stable isotope analyses confirmed the indirect recharge process that had already been shown by hydrodynamic surveys and suggested the tracers are exclusively of atmospheric origin. An analytical model that takes into account the long-term rise in the water table was used to interpret 3H and 14C contents in ground water. The natural, preclearing median annual renewal rate (i.e., recharge as a fraction of the saturated aquifer volume) lies between 0.04% and 0.06%. For representative characteristics of the aquifer (30 m of saturated thickness, porosity between 10% and 25%), this implies a recharge of between 1 and 5 mm/year, which is much lower than the estimates of 20 to 50 mm/year for recent years, obtained using hydrological and hydrodynamic methods and the same aquifer parameters. Our study, therefore, reveals that land clearing in semiarid Niger increased ground water recharge by about one order of magnitude.     

The infrared emission bands. II. A spatial and spectral study of the Orion Bar

We have studied the spectral and spatial distribution across the Orion Bar of the 3-14 micrometers emission, including hydrogen Brackett alpha and 12.8 micrometers [Ne II] emission lines and several "dust" emission features. The data indicate that the "dust" consists of three components; (1) "classical" dust with a temperature of approximately 60 K accounting for emission longward of 20 micrometers, (2) amorphous carbon particles or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) clusters (approximately 400 C atoms) which produce broad emission features in the 6-9 and 11-13 micrometers bands, and (3) free PAHs which emit in sharper bands (most strongly at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3 micrometers). The 3.3 and 11.3 micrometers features, which are due to C-H modes, are well correlated spatially, while the 7.7 micrometers band, due to C=C modes, has a different distribution than the 3.3 and 11.3 micrometers bands. We conclude that the sharp emission bands arise in the photodissociation transition region between the H II region and the molecular cloud and are not present in the H II region. The broad continuum feature extending from 11-13 micrometers is strong in both regions. Previous broad-band observations of the 10 and 20 micrometers flux distributions, which show that the 10 micrometers radiation extends farther into the neutral gas to the south than the 20 micrometers radiation, suggest that some of the 10 micrometers flux is supplied via a nonthermal mechanism, such as fluorescence.     

环大西洋显生宙造山带中的前中生代地体

环大西洋显生宙造山带内前中生代地体已经由IGcP第233项工作组成员收集了一张二叠纪复原再造图上,即一个封闭的大西洋。最初提出在环太平洋造山带应用地体概念需要对环大西洋造山带的概念作某些修改。因而,地体重新定义为这样的一种地区,其内部地质特点具有连续性(包括地层、生物群、构造、变质作用、火成岩、成矿作用、地球物理特点及古地磁记录),它被断层或代表海沟杂岩的混杂岩,或一条隐地缝合线所圈定,穿过这种界限,相邻地体(1)具有用相变不能解释的一些截然不同的地质记录(外来地体);或(2)可以具有类似的地质记录(近源地体),只有根据代表叠生大洋岩石圈的地体边界的存在才能识别它们。地体可以依据年龄和构造背景划分:原地叠瓦状基底/冒地斜、陆隆、大洋岩石圈、大洋岩系、岩浆弧杂岩、弧缘盆地、海沟杂岩、断裂(disruptes)地体(构造混杂岩)、原岩不明的变质岩、源地不明     

BRI 0021-0214: Another Surprise at the Bottom of the Main Sequence

We report the detection of an Halpha flare on the low-luminosity M9.5 dwarf BRI 0021-0214. This star has rapid rotation, vsin&parl0;i&parr0; approximately 40 km s-1, but generally shows no significant chromospheric emission. Our detection of the flare shows that a magnetic field is present, although the level of activity at maximum is 3 times lower than the mean quiescent level in early- and mid-type M dwarfs. Based on data available in the literature, we estimate that the star is in outburst for no more than 7% of the time.