Dioritic intrusions of the Slavkovský les (Kaiserwald), Western Bohemia: their origin and significance in late Variscan granitoid magmatism

Mafic and intermediate intrusions occur in the Slavkovsky les as dykes, sills and minor tabular bodies emplaced in metamorphic rocks or enclosed in late Variscan granites near the SW contact of the Western Krušné hory/Erzgebirge granite pluton. They are similar in composition and textures to the redwitzites defined in NE Bavaria. Single zircon Pb-evaporation analyses constrain the age of a quartz monzodiorite at 323.4 ± 4.4 Ma and of a granodiorite at 326.1 ± 5.6 Ma. The P–T range of magma crystallization is estimated at ~1.4–2.2 kbar and ~730–870°C and it accords with a shallow intrusion level of late Variscan granites but provides lower crystallization temperatures compared to the Bavarian redwitzites. We explain the heterogeneous composition of dioritic intrusions in the Slavkovsky les by mixing between mafic and felsic magmas with a minor effect of fractional crystallization. Increased K, Ba, Rb, Sr and REE contents compared to tholeiitic basalts suggest that the parental mafic magma was probably produced by melting of a metasomatised mantle, the melts being close to lamprophyre or alkali basalt composition. Diorites and granodiorites originated from mixed magmas derived by addition of about 25–35 and 50 vol.%, respectively, of the acid end-member (granite) to lamprophyre or alkali-basalt magma. Our data stress an important role of mafic magmas in the origin of late Variscan granitoids in NW Bohemian Massif and emphasize the effect of mantle metasomatism on the origin of K-rich mafic igneous rocks.     

On the uncertainty of the transmission function of the optically thick AGB dust shells

The uncertainty of the spectral transmission function due to the nonsphericity of cosmic dust particles is analysed for optically thick C-rich and O-rich dust shells. The transmission function directly prescribes the intensity of radiation that passes through a dust shell. It is shown that nonspherical particles affect the stellar spectra in a different way than a system of equally sized spherical particles. Discrepancies in the stellar spectra for both morphological models (spheres and irregular targets) grow with optical thickness of the dust shell and the spectral behaviour of the optical thickness depends on the particle size distribution function. In particular, two most frequently used distrubutions, a power law and Dirac’s delta function, are considered in the presented numerical runs. Light transmission through C-rich dust shells is strongly influenced by absorption which dominates in case of carbonaceous particles. Irregularly shaped carbonaceous particles reduce the intensity of stellar spectra more efficiently than spherical particles of the same composition (the difference is about 10–30%). MgO particles which may be present in O-rich dust shells are almost pure scatterers, thus the ratio of transmission functions for irregularly shaped particles and spherical ones show specific resonant features (especially at wavelengths below 0.4 μm).     

An analysis of the palaeomagnetic field

Summary The paper is devoted to a critical evaluation of the hypothesis of the prevalent character of the palaeomagnetic field in the course of the whole Phanerozoic. The study ties in with the synthetic processing of all so far published palaeomagnetic data for Eurasia and Africa respecting some of the models ensuing from the concept of plate tectonics. Initial material for testing the dipolar hypothesis was obtained by statistical processing of the palaeomagnetic pole positions and by analyzing the values of the so-called palaeorotation, the palaeoinclination difference and of palaeodivergence. It was shown that, by defining tectonically stable blocks (plates, palaeoplates) within the scope of the Eurasian continent and within the scope of the African continent as a whole, data were obtained bringing evidence of the predominating dipolar character of the mean geomagnetic field for the period from the Quaternary to the Cambrian, with the exception of the Silurian which has not been studied sufficiently. The deviations of the palaeomagnetic directions from the direction of the dipolar field within the scope of the stable blocks have the character of a Gaussian distribution and the standard deviations only amount to a few degrees.     

Thermal behavior of almandine at temperatures up to 1,200°C in hydrogen

The thermally induced reductive decomposition of a natural near end-member almandine [^VIII(Fe_2.85Mg_0.11Ca_0.05Mn_0.02)^VI(Al_1.99)^IV(Si_2.99)O₁₂] and possible hydrogen diffusion into its structure have been carried out at temperatures up to 1,200°C, monitored by simultaneous thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared and ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. Below 1,000°C, evidence for hydrogen diffusion into almandine structure was not observed. At temperatures above 1,000°C, reductive decomposition sets in, as displayed by a sharp endothermic peak at 1,055°C on the DSC curve accompanied by a total mass loss of 3.51%. We observe the following decomposition mechanism: almandine + hydrogen → α-Fe + cristobalite + hercynite + water. At higher temperatures, fayalite and sekaninaite are formed by consecutive reaction of α-Fe with cristobalite and water, and cristobalite with hercynite, respectively. The metallic α-Fe phase forms spherical and isolated particles (~1 μm).     

Parameters of the ultrastable expansive nondecelerative universe

The measurement of the temperature of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) with the Far InfraRed Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite gives a possibility for determination of all mutually related parameters of the ultrastable expansive nondecelerative Universe (ENU) with deviations smaller than 0.4%.The measurement of the large-scale anisotropy of the CMBR with the Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) on the COBE satellite allows us to determine the mass density of gravitationally bound systems of large-scale structures of the ENU.     

Outburst flood hazard: Case studies from the Tien-Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan

More than 2000 of mountain lakes covering more than 0.1 ha exist in a territory of Kyrgyzstan. Nearly 20% of them are dangerous because of instability of lake dams, frequent overflows and melting of buried ice inside the moraine dams. According to the Kyrgyz lake inventory, 328 lakes are at risk of outburst and 12 lakes are considered as actually dangerous. Since 1952 more than 70 disastrous cases of lake outbursts have occurred. The majority of the endangered lakes belong to one of the three genetic types: morainic-glacier, supraglacial and lake dammed by landslides and debris flows. Petrov, Adygine and Koltor lakes were selected and studied in the Tien-Shan Mountains as case studies of the most frequent genetic types of hazardous lakes. Observations were focused on the morphology of the lake basin and the surrounding relief, outflow pattern and processes controlling the development of lake. For the hazard assessment, evolution of glaciers and lakes was reconstructed using historical reports, aerial photographs and satellite images.     

Diffusion of radiation in planetary atmospheres

The problem of interaction of the solar radiation with the turbid Earth atmosphere, containing complicated polydispersive aerosol systems, is discussed in this paper. Equations for computing the angular functions ofn-th order scattering are derived. On the basis of these functions the spectral radiance, radiation flows and radiation balance of the atmosphere in the short-wave spectral range are calculated. The relations obtained can be used to calculate the complex index of refraction, distribution function and other characteristics of the submicron aerosol fraction, by solving the inverse problems.