A convectively-driven boundary layer in the monsoon trough

Characteristic features of the convectively driven monsoon-trough boundary layer have been explored using the conserved-variable method of analysis. Aerological observations during the Monsoon Trough Boundary Layer Experiment 1990 (MONTBLEX-90) during 18–20 August have been used to investigate the thermodynamic features of the Convective Boundary Layer (CBL). Thermodynamic parameters such as _e , _es have been used to study the dynamical aspects of the CBL. Also, mixed-layer heights at an inland station, in the monsoon trough region, obtained from SODAR, are used to document the saturation of the mixed layer after the onset of the monsoon.     

Forest cover mapping of East district,Sikkim using IRS-1A LISS II satellite data

Remote sensing techniques have been applied to classify tour density classes within each of the forest type along with other major landuse/landcover classes in the East district, Sikkim using IRS-1A LISS II satellite data pertaining to the period of November, 1988. The shadow problem in rugged terrain and difficulty in acquiring cloud free data for different seasons pose problems to achieve considerable mapping accuracy. In the present study, the forests of the district were delineated through supervised classification techniques using maximum likelihood algorithm into five forest types as sal forests, subtropical broad-leaved forests, Himalayan wet temperate forests, Rhododendron forests and alpine forests. The alpine forests were further stratified into two categories as moist alpine scrub and dry alpine scrub. The statistical data obtained from the present study shows that 55.47 percent of the total geographical area of the East district was under forest cover. An overall accuracy of more than 85 percent in correctly delineating forest classes was achieved.     

Early Cretaceous volcaniclastic and quartzose sandstones from north central Nepal: composition,sedimentology and geotectonic significance

Early Cretaceous sandstones and shales from the Thakkhola region (Chukh and Tangbe Formations) were deposited on the subsiding northern (Tethyan) margin of Gondwana; current directions indicate a source area to the south. Whereas the Berriasian Chukh Formation is dominated by quartz arenites, volcaniclastic sandstones and minor conglomerates dominate the Tangbe Formation of Valanginian to Aptian age. Upsection, the composition of the volcaniclastic components changes from mainly basaltic to dominantly dacitic/rhyolitic. Magmatism was preceded and accompanied by strong uplift in the source area of the Chukh and Tangbe clastics, resulting in the erosion of probably more than several hundred meters of pre-Cretaceous sedimentary, metamorphic and plutonic rocks. A geochemical whole rock analysis of basaltic pebble fragments shows their alkaline character and suggests a within-plate geotectonic setting for the volcanic source. This volcanotectonic event is probably related to rifting between Australia and Greater India, where seafloor spreading began in late Valanginian/Hauterivian times.     

Small-scale clusters of photospheric network bright points and their dependence on the solar cycle phase

The tendency of network bright points (NBPs) to form in their surface distribution non-random, small-scale clusters is studied by a 2-D nearest-neighbours test, based on observational data for the distance between separate NBPs. High-resolution photographs taken from long time series obtained at4308 with the 50-cm refractor of Pic du Midi Observatory are used. Three different epochs of the solar cycle were chosen. The results obtained suggest that the degree of clustering depends on the solar cycle phase. Supposing that the NBPs are good tracers of the kilogauss small-scale magnetic field, we use them to obtain information about the subphotospheric small-scale magnetic field organisation and its dependence on the solar cycle phase.     

Radiation-hydrodynamic waves and global solar oscillations

We investigate nonadiabatic hydrodynamic waves in a nongrey, radiating, thermally conducting, homogeneous atmosphere in LTE with a finite mean free path of photons. Avoiding the Eddington approximation the remaining simplifications in the basic equations are discussed, the generalized dispersion relation is analysed, and some wave properties in a grey model are studied. The properties of waves in a stratified atmosphere are analysed as well. In connection with the predicted properties of the nonadiabatic waves we discuss observations ofp-modes by measuring brightness fluctuations.     

Application of a global polytropic model to the Jupiter's system of satellites: a numerical treatment

We study the so-called inverse planetary problem (i.e., given the distances from the centre, masses, and radii of, say, three planets of a planetary system, find the optimum polytropic index, mass, and radius of their star, and also other quantities of interest, which depend either explicitly or implicitly on the foregoing ones, e.g., central and mean density, central and mean pressure, central and mean temperature, etc.) for the system of satellites of Jupiter. In particular, Jupiter is considered as star and its satellites as planets of a proper planetary system, which is then treated numerically on the basis of the so-called global polytropic model, developed recently by the first author.     

Electric field in a pulsar's radiation channel

A pulsar's electric field is investigated for the cases of coaxial and skewed rotators. A mutually consistent solution is found for the electric field in the neutron star, in its magnetosphere (the region of closed magnetic field lines), and in the radiation channel (a channel of open magnetic field lines). In the theory of pulsar radio emission, only the longitudinal component of the electric field strength in the radiation channel, , is important, where R is the radius of the star, B_s is the magnetic inductionin it, is its angular rotation rate, and r is distance from its center.Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 97–110, January–February, 1994.     

Subarcsec 10μm imaging of bipolar flow sources

We have started a program of high-resolution (0.4/pixel) 10m imaging of bipolar outflow sources using the 10m camera CAMIRAS. We present recent results obtained at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope which reveal extended emission or IR companions in several luminous objects. The extended emission we detected probably arises from transiently heated very small grains, while the newly discovered companions could contribute significantly to the outflow activity and extended far-IR emission usually attributed to the main optical source.     

Variation in the composition of Lake Bonneville marl: a potential key to lake-level fluctuations and paleoclimate

Lake Bonneville marl provides a stratigraphic record of lake history preserved in its carbonate minerals and stable isotopes. We have analyzed the marl in shallow cores taken at three localities in the Bonneville basin. Chronology for the cores is provided by dated volcanic ashes, ostracode biostratigraphy, and a distinctive lithologic unit believed to have been deposited during and immediately after the Bonneville Flood.A core taken at Monument Point at the north shore of Great Salt Lake encompasses virtually the entire Bonneville lake cycle, including the 26.5 ka Thiokol basaltic ash at the base and deposits representing the overflowing stage at the Provo shoreline at the top of the core. Two cores from the Old River Bed area near the threshold between the Sevier basin and the Great Salt Lake basin (the main body of Lake Bonneville) represent deposition from the end of the Stansbury oscillation ( 20 ka) to post-Provo time ( 13 ka), and one core from near Sunstone Knoll in the Sevier basin provides a nearly complete record of the period when Lake Bonneville flooded the Sevier basin (20–13 ka).In all cores, percent calcium carbonate, the aragonite to calcite ratio, and percent sand were measured at approximately 2-cm intervals, and ¹⁸O and ¹³C were determined in one core from the Old River Bed area. The transgressive period from about 20 ka to 15 ka is represented in all cores, but the general trends and the details of the records are different, probably as a result of water chemistry and water balance differences between the main body and the Sevier basin because they were fed by different rivers and had different hypsometries. The Old River Bed marl sections are intermediate in position and composition between the Monument Point and Sunstone Knoll sections. Variations in marl composition at the Old River Bed, which are correlated with lake-level changes, were probably caused by changes in the relative proportions of water from the two basins, which were caused by shifts in water balance in the lake.This is the second paper in a series of papers published in this issue on Climatic and Tectonic Rhythms in Lake Deposits.     

A model of impulsive loop flares revisited

A critical examination of the components of the recent impulsive loop flare model of Takakura is made. It is found that his analysis of the stability of the electron distribution resulting from anomalous heat conduction is in error and electron plasma waves would not be excited. Rather, in the regions where the electron/proton temperature ratioT _e/T _i 10, electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves would be excited and in the regions whereT _e 10, ion-acoustic waves would be excited. Ratios ofT _e/T _i 10 occur only in the late time development behind the conduction fronts. Since the anomalous resistivity due to electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves is fortuitously about 70% of the one used by Takakura, the general development will follow closely the one calculated by him. Because the anomalous resistivity due to ion-acoustic waves is about 95 times the one used by Takakura, the development in the parts of the loop whereT _e/T _i 10 for late times would be altered considerably.Also Guest Worker at NOAA Space Environment Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.