Is LkHα 264 like a young, extremely active Sun?

We combine calibrated International Ultraviolet Explorer ( IUE ) archive data and new low-resolution optical data for the T Tauri star LkH α 264 covering the region from 1200 to 7000 Å. The UV continuum is well fitted by the combination of a blackbody at 4300 K plus hydrogenic free–free and free–bound emission from a dense plasma at 3.5×10⁴ K plus the emission by a second blackbody. This last component is at T ≈8700 K and covers about 4 per cent of the stellar surface. We interpret this last component to be the result of emission from one or various hotspots. The interesting result is that this combined emission also fits the observed optical continuum well. We conclude that this star is an analogue of the Sun, however displaying a much higher level of activity.     

Interpretation of temporal features in an unusual X-ray and microwave burst

Observations are briefly discussed of an event in which microwave and hard X-ray emissions were not correlated in the accepted way. Two impulsive peaks of roughly equal intensity were observed at three different microwave frequencies. The hard X-ray peaks accompanying these, however, differ in intensity by almost two orders of magnitude. Various possible interpretations of this burst are discussed, in the context of familiar models of these emissions. The most likely explanation is that the electron spectrum in the first burst has a break at about 350 keV. General implications for interpretation of X-rays and microwaves are discussed.Proceedings of the Workshop on Radio Continua during Solar Flares, held at Duino (Trieste), Italy, 27–31 May, 1985.     

Small-scale distribution of Solea solea and Solea senegalensis juveniles in the Tagus estuary (Portugal)

The distribution of Solea solea and Solea senegalensis in the Tagus estuary was studied following a small-scale approach. Preliminary sampling revealed that sole concentrated in two areas within their nursery grounds, the main subtidal channel and a large intertidal mudflat. Beam trawls were conducted intensively in the two areas in July 2006. Depth, salinity and water temperature were measured. Substrate samples were collected for sediment type determination and macrobenthos identification and quantification. Generalized linear models were applied in order to explain the occurrence and variability of soles' densities, using depth, salinity, water temperature and abundance of polychaetes, oligochaetes, amphipods, isopods and bivalves as explanatory variables. While S. solea was more abundant in the main subtidal channel, a deeper, warmer and lower salinity area, S. senegalensis abundance was highest at the intertidal mudflat area. Presence of both species in the two areas was associated with abundance of polychaetes (generally with another variable associated), and for S. senegalensis in the subtidal channel it was associated with amphipods and depth. Abundance of S. solea in the main subtidal channel was associated mainly with polychaetes abundance, while that of S. senegalensis was associated with amphipods density. In the intertidal mudflat, bivalves and polychaetes presented significant relationships with both species densities. Some of the factors that had been reported to be important for the distribution of these species in previous studies also do so at a finer scale; however, this small-scale approach provided an in-depth knowledge on habitat selection and spatial segregation of these species within this nursery area.     

Estuarine ecological risk based on hepatic histopathological indices from laboratory and in situ tested fish

Juvenile Senegalese soles were exposed through 28-day laboratory and field (in situ) bioassays to sediments from three sites of the Sado estuary (W Portugal): a reference and two contaminated by metallic and organic contaminants. Fish were surveyed for ten hepatic histopathological alterations divided by four distinct reaction patterns and integrated through the estimation of individual histopathological condition indices. Fish exposed to contaminated sediments sustained more damage, with especial respect to regressive changes like necrosis. However, differences were observed between laboratory- and field-exposed animals, with the latest, for instance, exhibiting more pronounced fatty degeneration and hepatocellular eosinophilic alteration. Also, some lesions in fish exposed to the reference sediment indicate that in both assays unaccounted variables produced experimental background noise, such as hyaline degeneration in laboratory-exposed fish. Still, the field assays yielded results that were found to better reflect the overall levels of contaminants and physico-chemical characteristics of the tested sediments.     

Multiple timescale constraints for high-flux magma chamber assembly prior to the Late Bronze Age eruption of Santorini (Greece)

The rhyodacitic magma discharged during the 30–80 km³ DRE (dense rock equivalent) Late Bronze Age (LBA; also called ‘Minoan’) eruption of Santorini caldera is known from previous studies to have had a complex history of polybaric ascent and storage prior to eruption. We refine the timescales of these processes by modelling Mg–Fe diffusion profiles in orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene crystals. The data are integrated with previously published information on the LBA eruption (phase equilibria studies, melt inclusion volatile barometry, Mg-in-plagioclase diffusion chronometry), as well as new plagioclase crystal size distributions and the established pre-LBA history of the volcano, to reconstruct the events that led up to the assembly and discharge of the LBA magma chamber. Orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and plagioclase crystals in the rhyodacite have compositionally distinct rims, overgrowing relict, probably source-derived, more magnesian (or calcic) cores, and record one or more crystallization (plag???opx?>?cpx) events during the few centuries to years prior to eruption. The crystallization event(s) can be explained by the rapid transfer of rhyodacitic melt from a dioritic/gabbroic region of the subcaldera pluton (mostly in the 8–12 km depth range), followed by injection, cooling and mixing in a large melt lens at 4–6 km depth (the pre-eruptive magma chamber). Since crystals from all eruptive phases yield similar timescales, the melt transfer event(s), the last of which took place less than 2 years before the eruption, must have involved most of the magma that subsequently erupted. The data are consistent with a model in which prolonged generation, storage and segregation of silicic melts were followed by gravitational instability in the subcaldera pluton, causing the rapid interconnection and amalgamation of melt-rich domains. The melts then drained to the top of the pluton, at fluxes of up to 0.1–1 km³ year^??1, where steep vertical gradients of density and rheology probably caused them to inject laterally, forming a short-lived holding chamber prior to eruption. This interpretation is consistent with growing evidence that some large silicic magma chambers are transient features on geological timescales. A similar process preceded at least one earlier caldera-forming eruption on Santorini, suggesting that it may be a general feature of this rift-hosted magmatic system.     

Effect of heat treatment on tourmaline from Brazil

The crystal-chemical behaviour of tourmaline from Araçuaí, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, when subjected to heating in air atmosphere has been studied by several techniques, including EMPA, UV–Vis, TGA, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The tourmaline samples are typically intermediate members of the elbaite-schorl series. The origin of colour and of its change after treatment has been discussed in terms of local disorder, presence of metal transition elements, oxidation of ferrous iron at the octahedral site, and simultaneous trap of the excess electron. These findings may be used to enhance the colour in tourmaline crystals or generate wanted colour changes.     

Sediment contamination in floodplains and alluvial terraces as an historical record of gold exploitation in the Carmo River basin,Southeast Quadrilátero Ferrífero,Minas Gerais,Brazil

This paper describes the geochemistry of sediment samples placed in floodplains and alluvial terraces downstream from gold mines in the Carmo River basin, Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The geochemistry signature Na₂O, K₂O, SiO₂, CaO, MgO, Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, TiO₂, P₂O₅, Mn, As, Cu, Zn, Ba, Ni, Cr, S, Co were analyzed in different facies from stratigraphic profiles. As, Cu, Zn, and Mn anomalies are mainly associated with the clayed facies deposited in floodplains and oxbow lakes, and with coarse‐sediment facies deposited in the channel. The facies were accumulated by the gold exploitation activity in the region. The contamination of As, Cu, and Zn was controlled by minerals such as iron oxides and hydroxides (hematite, magnetite, and mainly goethite), manganese oxides, and sulfide‐rich minerals. The As‐bearing sediments of the region characterize one of the most As contaminated area of Brazil. Their main source is associated with gold exploration in the last three centuries.