Anomalous lithospheric structure of Northern Juan de Fuca plate — a consequence of oceanic rift propagation?

Anomalous crustal and upper mantle structure of northern Juan de Fuca plate is revealed from wide-angle seismic and gravity modelling. A 2-D velocity model is produced for refraction line II of the 1980 Vancouver Island Seismic Project (VISP80). The refraction data were recorded on three ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) deployed at the ends and middle of a 110 km line oriented parallel to the North American continental margin. The velocity model is constructed via ray tracing and conforms to first-arrival amplitude observations and travel time picks of direct, converted and reflected phases. Between sub-sediment depths of 3 to 11 km, depths normally associated with the lower crust and upper oceanic mantle, the final model shows that compressional-wave velocities decrease significantly from southeast to northwest along the profile. At sub-sediment depths of 11 km at the northwestern end of the profile, P-wave velocities are as low as 7.2 km/s. A complementary 2-D gravity model using the geometry of the velocity model and velocity–density relationships characteristic of oceanic crust is produced. The high densities required to match the gravity field indicate the presence of peridotites containing 25–30% serpentine by volume, rather than excess gabbroic crust, within the deep low velocity zone. Anomalous travel time delays and unusual reflection characteristics observed from proximal seismic refraction and reflection experiments suggest a broader zone of partially serpentinized peridotites coincident with the trace of a pseudofault. We propose that partial serpentinization of the upper mantle is a consequence of slow spreading at the tip of a propagating rift.     

Hipparcos and red dwarf populations

The European Space Agency's Hipparcos satellite, launched in August 1989, and operated until August 1993, sent back scientific data for about 36 months. The reduction of the first 18 months already shows that the target accuracy for the five astrometric parameters of each star (0.002 arcsec for the position and annual proper motion components, and for the parallax) and for the photometric data (a few milli-magnitudes) will be achieved or even exceeded for most of the 118 000 pre-selected programme stars. These preliminary results will be presented.The contents of the Hipparcos observing programme with respect to red stars and anticipated improvements in the study of red dwarfs will be underlined.     

Genetic variability of wild Agave angustifolia populations based on AFLP: A basic study for conservation

Agave angustifolia is taken from wild populations in the desert of Sonora, Mexico, to make the alcoholic drink known as “bacanora”. An increase in the demand for this beverage has led to overexploitation of these agaves. We used AFLP to measure the genetic variability within and between natural populations of the species. The fixation index (FST) and population genetic distances (GD) were determined for three populations of A. angustifolia. At the clonal level, the expected heterozygosis (HE), the proportion of polymorphic loci (P), and the genetic similarity indices (GSIs) were lower in one population. Total GSI for adults and offshoots was 0.924. There were no differences in the GSI within or between the populations and dendrogram showed three groups that partially reflect the geographical distribution of the populations. Some degree of genetic variation between mother plants and their vegetatively produced rhizomes was observed. At the species level, total expected heterozygosity was high (HT = 0.314) with a P value of 78%, and intermediate gene flow (Nm = 1.18), giving rise to a moderate fixation index (FST = 0.175). Nm, FST and GD values observed, indicate that urgent measures must be implemented to preserve the genetic diversity.     

Die F-Ionisation in den Morgenstunden

Zusammenfassung Die Elektronenkonzentration in derF-Schicht der Ionosphäre wächst in den Morgenstunden nicht einfach proportional dem Cosinus des Einfallswinkels der Sonnenstrahlung, sondern sie folgt einem linearen Gesetz von der Formn=a. cos +b. Diese Gestzmässigkeit kann erklärt werden, wenn man die Schichtbildung nach denChapman'schen Ansätzen für eine gekrümmte Erde berechnet und einen Ionenvernichtungsprozess voraussetzt, demzufolge die Vernichtung der Ionen ihrer jewwiligen Konzentration linear proportional ist.Die genannten Grössena andb sind zeitlich und örtlich variabel, aus ihren Veränderungen schliessen wir auf Temperaturverhältnisse in der Ionosphäre, die dadurch ausgezeichnet sind, dass sie in ähnlicher Weise auch in der viel tiefer liegenden Stratosphäre wiedergefunden werden: In polaren Gegenden herrschen darnach im Polarsommer höhere, im Polarwinter dagegen tiefere Temperaturen als in den gemässigten Breiten.

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Summary In the ionospheric F-layer the electron densityn increases with the formulan=a. cos+b in the morning ( is meaning the zenithangle of the sun). This experimental result may be explained by consideration of earth-curvature and by assumption of a linear recombination-law equally an attachment process. The constantsa andb vary with season and location. We conclude the temperature from these variations and we find for polar locations a greater temperature in the summer and on the other hand a smaller temperature in the winter as for temperate latitudes.

     

Exploring self-affine properties in seismograms

Self-affine properties have been observed in a large variety of rough profiles and time series from natural data sets. In this work, seismograms used for oil prospecting, which contain information of distinct subsurface features collected by seismic waves reflected or scattered at their interfaces, are taken into consideration. It is expected that any self-affine property, measured by the Hurst exponent H, depends on the depth. For each seismic trace, H is evaluated locally within a moving window, which is chosen narrow enough to reveal space dependency but also wide enough to display scale invariance. With the use of color code diagrams, it is possible to draw two-dimensional diagrams that show the local dependence of H for the analyzed seismogram. The reliability of the method is tested by the investigation of seismograms that contain ground roll components, as well as multiple reflections. The effect of different kinds of filter in the scaling properties is also investigated. In this case, comparisons are drawn among the diagrams obtained from original seismograms and those subjected to appropriate filter to eliminate spurious components. Work supported by the Brazilian agencies CNPq, FINEP-CTPETRO and Petrobras.     

Design of shallow foundations under tensile loading for transmission line towers: An overview

Tensioned foundations are common in civil engineering applications such as transmission towers, harbors, offshore structures, basement slabs under pressure, industrial equipment, etc. Procedures for the design of tensioned foundations are discussed in this paper, including specific recommendations for more common transmission tower foundations. Starting from a distinction between shallow and deep modes of failure, the paper presents the most common failure mechanisms for shallow failure in tension, including procedures for calculation of foundation tensile capacity under vertical and inclined loading. Emphasis is given to the influence of the strength of the compacted backfill compared to the strength of the natural soil, including presentation of results of full-scale loading tests.     

Detection and analysis of ion-acoustic waves in the ionosphere

Summary Propagating acoustic-like disturbances generated by nuclear explosions have been observed to split in the lower ionosphere. The resulting two disturbances propagate vertically into the upper ionosphere at different speeds, the slower at ordinary sound speed in a neutral medium and the faster at almost twice the speed of sound.The faster disturbance travels at the speed of an ion-acoustic wave in the ionic fluid. Such identification is prohibited theoretically by the large damping, or coupling, of the ionic mode to the neutral particle medium through ion-neutral elastic collisions; however, if inelastic collisions are included in the theory, the principal exothermic charge-exchange and charge-transfer reactions in the ionosphere provide enough additional coherent momentum in the charged particles to offset the losses through elastic collisions. It is shown quantitatively that in some regions of the ionosphere ionacoustic wave propagation can occur almost losslessly.It is possible that under some conditions the ionosphere approaches an unstable chemical equilibrium that is relieved by the spontaneous generation of ion-acoustic wavelets. Various ionospheric observations are examined in which there is some evidence of the effects of ionospheric ionacoustic disturbances.     

Using Remote Sensing to Assess Russian Forest Fire Carbon Emissions

Russian boreal forests are subject to frequent wildfires. The resulting combustion of large amounts of biomass not only transforms forest vegetation, but it also creates significant carbon emissions that total, according to some authors, from 35–94 Mt C per year. These carbon emissions from forest fires should be considered an important part of the forest ecosystem carbon balance and a significant influence on atmospheric trace gases. In this paper we discuss a new method to assess forest fire damage. This method is based on using multi-spectral high-resolution satellite images, large-scale aerial photography, and declassified images obtained from the space-borne national security systems. A normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) difference image was produced from pre- and post-fire satellite images from SPOT/HRVIR and RESURS-O/MSU-E images. A close relationship was found between values of the NDVI difference image and forest damage level. High-resolution satellite data and large-scale aerial-photos were used to calibrate the NDVI-derived forest damage map. The method was used for mapping of forest fire extent and damage and for estimating carbon emissions from burned forest areas.     

Analysing Lava Risk for the Etnean Area: Simulation by Cellular Automata Methods

The model SCIARA, based on the Cellular Automata paradigm, is a versatile instrument whose scope is to analyse volcanic risk from lava flows.The possible fields of intervention are:[(a)] Long term forecasting of the flow direction at various eruption rates and points of emission by locating potential risk areas and permitting the creation of detailed maps of risk;[(b)] The possibility to follow the progress of an event and predict its evolution;[(c)] The verification of the possible effects of human intervention on real or simulated flows in stream deviation.A risk scenario has been developed for the Etnean territories of the towns of Nicolosi, Pedara and S. Alfio, simulating possible episodes with different vent locations along the fracture opened in the 1989 eruption and successively activated in the 1991–1993 eruption.The main characteristics of lava flows, that might be dangerous to the inhabited areas, have been analysed on the basis of the carried out Cellular Automata.