On the Radii of Close-in Giant Planets

The recent discovery that the close-in extrasolar giant planet HD 209458b transits its star has provided a first-of-its-kind measurement of the planet's radius and mass. In addition, there is a provocative detection of the light reflected off of the giant planet tau Bootis b. Including the effects of stellar irradiation, we estimate the general behavior of radius/age trajectories for such planets and interpret the large measured radii of HD 209458b and tau Boo b in that context. We find that HD 209458b must be a hydrogen-rich gas giant. Furthermore, the large radius of a close-in gas giant is not due to the thermal expansion of its atmosphere but to the high residual entropy that remains throughout its bulk by dint of its early proximity to a luminous primary. The large stellar flux does not inflate the planet but retards its otherwise inexorable contraction from a more extended configuration at birth. This implies either that such a planet was formed near its current orbital distance or that it migrated in from larger distances (>/=0.5 AU), no later than a few times 107 yr of birth.     

ASCA Observation of the Quiescent X-Ray Counterpart to SGR 1627-41

We present a 2-10 keV ASCA observation of the field around the soft gamma repeater SGR 1627-41. A quiescent X-ray source, whose position is consistent both with that of a recently discovered BeppoSAX X-ray source and with the Interplanetary Network localization for this soft gamma repeater, was detected in this observation. In 2-10 keV X-rays, the spectrum of the X-ray source may be fit equally well by a power-law, blackbody, or bremsstrahlung function, with unabsorbed flux approximately 5x10-12 ergs cm-2 s-1. We do not confirm a continuation of a fading trend in the flux, and we find no evidence for periodicity, both of which were noted in the earlier BeppoSAX observations.     

A Measurement of Omega from the North American Test Flight of Boomerang

We use the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background, measured during the North American test flight of the Boomerang experiment, to constrain the geometry of the universe. Within the class of cold dark matter models, we find that the overall fractional energy density of the universe Omega is constrained to be 0.85相似文献   

Runaway of Line-driven Winds toward Critical and Overloaded Solutions

Line-driven winds from hot stars and accretion disks are thought to follow a unique, critical solution that corresponds to a maximum mass-loss rate and a particular velocity law. We show that in the presence of negative velocity gradients, radiative-acoustic (Abbott) waves can drive shallow wind solutions toward larger velocities and mass-loss rates. Perturbations that are introduced downstream from the critical point of the wind lead to a convergence toward the critical solution. By contrast, low-lying perturbations cause evolution toward a mass-overloaded solution, developing a broad deceleration region in the wind. Such a wind differs fundamentally from the critical solution. For sufficiently deep-seated perturbations, overloaded solutions become time-dependent and develop shocks and shells.     

Major Element, REE, and Other Trace Element Behavior in Amphibolite Weathering under Semiarid Conditions in Southern India

A body of komatiitic amphibolite, an enclave within the Archean high-grade orthogneisses in southern India, shows mild chemical weathering under semiarid conditions. Along fractures, chemical weathering has advanced (Chemical Index of Alteration &sqbl0;CIA&sqbr0;=53; CIA of fresh rock approximately 26) to the extent that secondary Mg-Fe-Al clay minerals have formed and the rock has turned brownish red, soft, and fine grained. The weathering process has resulted in the mobilization and redistribution of the so-called immobile elements Fe, Al, Ti, and REE effected by the nature of secondary mineral formation (talc vs. aluminous clay minerals) and also possibly by soil microbes. In the initial stages of secondary mineral formation, there is a small loss of Fe, Al, and REE (noticeably Eu). However, in the fracture zone as well as in the incipiently altered zone, there is significant REE enrichment, probably affected by a different precipitation mechanism. Mobilized REE may have come from a minor alteration of clinopyroxene.     

A Lost Realm in the Internal Domains of the Betic-Rif Orogen (Spain and Morocco): Evidence from Conglomerates and Consequences for Alpine Geodynamic Evolution

The Malaguide-Ghomaride Complex is capped by Upper Oligocene-Aquitanian clastic deposits postdating early Alpine orogenesis but predating the main tectonic-metamorphic evolution, end of nappe emplacement, unroofing, and exhumation of the metamorphic units of the Betic-Rif Orogen. Two conglomerate intervals within these deposits are characterized by clasts of sedimentary, epimetamorphic, and mafic volcanic rocks derived from Malaguide-Ghomaride units and by clasts of acidic magmatic and orthogneissic rocks of unknown provenance, here studied. Magmatic rocks originated from late-Variscan two-mica cordierite-bearing granitoids and, subordinately, from aplitic dikes. Orthogneisses derive from similar plutonic rocks but are affected by an Alpine metamorphic overprint evolving from greenschist (T=510&j0;-530 degrees C and P=5-6 kbar) to low-temperature amphibolite facies (T>550&j0;C and P<3 kbar). Such a plutonic rock suite is unknown in any Betic-Rif unit or in the basement of the Alboran Sea, and the metamorphic evolution in the orthogneisses is different from (and older than) that of Alpujarride-Sebtide rocks to which they were formerly ascribed. Magmatic and metamorphic rocks very similar to those studied characterize the basements of some Kabylia and Calabria-Peloritani units. Therefore, the source area is a currently lost continental-crust realm of Calabria-Peloritani-Kabylia type, located to the ESE of the Malaguide-Ghomaride Domain and affected by a pre-latest Oligocene Alpine metamorphism. Increasingly active tectonics transformed this realm into rising areas from which erosion fed small subsiding synorogenic basins formed on the Malaguide-Ghomaride Complex. This provenance analysis demonstrates that all these domains constituted a single continental-crust block until Aquitanian-Burdigalian times, before its dispersal around nascent western Mediterranean basins.     

阿尔泰山东缘主要活动断裂影像特征分析

文中采用遥感资料,对阿尔泰山东缘的主要活动断裂———科布多(Hovd)断裂与哈尔乌苏湖(Har-Nuur)断裂进行研究,从地貌特征上对断裂进行详细分析,揭示其几何学和运动学特征。初步研究表明阿尔泰山东缘的活动断裂规模、滑动速率和强地震活动并不弱于其西南缘。其中科布多断裂走向NNW,右旋走滑,长约600km,中更新世(Q2p)以来最大水系右旋位错约9.0km,滑动速率可达3.8～12.3mm/a,平均滑动速率约7.8mm/a;哈尔乌苏湖断裂走向NNW,右旋走滑,长约480km,全新世以来活动性明显增强,第四纪洪积扇上发现有最新的断裂迹象。阿尔泰山东缘的新构造运动与强地震活动,除了与印度-欧亚板块碰撞作用有关外,可能还与局部地区的动力学过程有关     

天主教耶稣会会士对地震学的贡献

天主教耶稣会作为一个社会公共机构，通过下属自己的学院和大学，以及通过其个别科学家成员，对地震学所做的贡献，在地震学这门科学的发展历史中占有重要地位。这特别体现在这门科学发展的早期阶段。有几篇论文，如Sanchez Navarro-Neumann（1928，1937）、Heck（1944）（他把自己的毕生精力全都花在美国的耶稣会方面）以及Linehan（1970，1984）的文章，有趣而简短地描述了耶稣会会士在地震学方面的部分工作。然而他们最近的或者综合性的工作却不涉及这个题目，关于这方面新近的成果或者综合性的研究都是一个空白。另外，最近许多耶稣会的地震台站被关闭了，     

Humid Little Ice Age in arid central Asia documented by Bosten Lake, Xinjiang, China

Short sediment cores retrieved from Bosten Lake, the largest inland freshwater lake in China, were used to explore humidity and precipitation variations in arid central Asia during the past millennium. The chronology of the cores was established using 137Cs, 210Pb and AMS 14C dating re- sults. Multi-proxy high-resolution analysis, including pollen ratios of Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae (A/C), carbonate content and grain size, indicates that the climate during the past millennium can be divided into three stages: a dry climate between 1000―1500 AD, a humid climate during the Little Ice Age (LIA) (c. 1500―1900 AD), and a warm dry period after 1900 AD. On centennial timescales, the climate change in northwestern China during the past 1000 years is characterized by oscillations between warm-dry and cold-humid climate conditions. All the proxies changed significantly and indi- cate increased precipitation during the LIA, including increased pollen A/C ratios and pollen concen- trations, decreased carbonate content and increased grain size. The humid period during the LIA re- corded by the Bosten Lake sediments is representative of arid central Asia and is supported by nu- merous records from other sites. During the LIA, the water runoff into the Keriya River and Tarim River in the Tarim Basin increased, while the ice accumulation in the Guliya ice core increased. Additionally, the lake levels of the Aral and Caspian Sea also rose, while tree-ring analysis indicates that precipita- tion increased. We hypothesize that both the lower temperature within China and the negative anomalies of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) during this period may have contributed to the humid climate within this area during LIA.     

青藏高原东部全新世冬夏季风变化的高分辨率泥炭记录

在建立了全新世泥炭沉积物高分辨率冬夏季风代用指标时间序列的基础上, 发现青藏高原若尔盖地区全新世冬夏季风的变化具有此消彼长和同时消长两种基本的模式, 冬季风与夏季风在不同时间尺度上两种模式又相互嵌套. 由冬夏季风指标叠加效应合成的气候状况却有与全球同步的规律性, 表现出千年-百年尺度的不稳定性, 6.2 ka的季风突然减弱事件要比8.0 ka的事件更显著, 反映了亚洲季风的区域特点或它本身就是全球气候的一个窗口.