Unsteady hydromagnetic boundary-layer flow on a semi-infinite wall

Unsteady two-dimensional flow of a viscous, incompressible and electrically conducting fluid which is confined on one side of a semi-infinite wall, in presence of a transverse magnetic field is investigated. The wall is initially at rest and then it is suddenly accelerated in its own plane with a velocity which is an arbitrary function of the time. Solution of the problem is obtained, for two particular cases, i.e., corresponding to two free-stream velocities, with the help of the finite difference approximation technique using the explicit method for uniformly accelerated motion of the wall.     

On the R z -sunspot relative number variations

The Zürich sunspot relative number R _z series has been analysed by the cyclogram method. The amplitude and the frequency variations of the Fourier 11 yr component between 1700–1983 A.D., were determined in a continuous way.Four distinct time intervals with significantly different characteristics of the periodicities are observed and discussed.Their second harmonics are also considered. The periodicity changes are contemporary to those of the 11 yr cycles.Around the year 1903 it seems that an important event has happened in the Sun. In fact the 11.4 yr cycle periodicity, that was very stable since at least 1825 started to change gradually to smaller values and similarly it happened to the second harmonic which also stopped and abruptly changed of phase of 90°.     

Factors affecting the distribution and abundance of Macrobrachium petersi (Hilgendorf) in the Keiskamma River and estuary,South Africa

A dry (1979–1980) and a wet (1980–1981) season had a marked effect on the freshwater inflow into the Keiskamma estuary. Under low inflow conditions, which results in elevated salinities in the upper reaches, an upstream migration of adult Macrobrachium petersi (Hilgendorf) to freshwater takes place. During periods of increased river inflow adult M. petersi move downstream to the more saline reaches of the estuary. These two migratory responses have been interpreted as (a) a breeding migration under high inflow conditions which ensures that larvae are in close proximity to salinities that favour growth and development, and (b) an adult upstream migration back to freshwater to escape elevated estuarine salinities as a result of the low freshwater inflow.     

A perturbation theory for Love waves in anelastic media

Summary. We give a systematic formulation and a rigorous justification of a perturbation technique for the computation of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of Love waves (and toroidal oscillations by an appropriate change for variables) in an anelastic medium with a constitutive law modelling geophysical media of current interest such as the Kelvin—Voigt Solid, the Maxwell Solid, the Standard Linear Solid, and the Standard Linear Solid with a continuous spectrum of relaxation times. We develop expressions relating the eigenvalues of eigenfunctions for Love waves in a continuously varying vertically stratified anelastic half-space to the corresponding elastic eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Analytically, our correspondence principle has the form of a regular perturbation expansion in terms of a parameter for both the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. The identification of ɛ is motivated by the dissipativity principle of viscoelasticity theory. Moreover, we show that our correspondence principle applies respectively only in the high and low frequency range for the Maxwell and Kelvin—Voigt Solids. Outside of the applicable range of frequencies, our correspondence principle yields no useful information. For the family of Standard Linear Solids it is uniformly applicable for all non-zero frequencies.
We also derive an explicit formula to estimate the radius of convergence of our perturbation expansions. This estimate of the radius of convergence for each eigenvalue and eigenfunction is functionally defined by the constitutive model for the anelastic medium. The estimate is frequency dependent and depends on the separation distance between the eigenvalue and the remainder of the spectrum of the corresponding elastic problem.     

Volcanic style in the Strand Fiord Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

The Strand Fiord Formation is a volcanic unit of early Late Cretaceous age which outcrops on west-central and northwestern Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The formation is part of the thick Sverdrup Basin succession and immediately precedes the final basin foundering event. The Strand Fiord volcanics are encased in marine strata and thin southward from a maximum thickness of 789+ m on northwestern Axel Heiberg to a zero edge near the southern shore of the island. Tholeiitic icelandite flows are the main constituent of the formation with volcaniclastic conglomerates, sandstones, mudrocks and rare coal seams also being present. The lava flows range in thickness from 6 to 60 m and subaerial flows predominate. Both pahoehoe and aa lava types are common and the volcanic pile accumulated mostly by the quiet effusion of lavas. The volcaniclastic lithologies become more common near the southern and eastern edges of the formation and represent lahars and beach to shallow marine reworked deposits. The Strand Fiord volcanics are interpreted to represent the cratonward extension of the Alpha Ridge, a volcanic ridge that was active during the formation of the Amerasian Basin.     

The global joule heat production rate and the AE index

The accuracy of the AE index as a measure of the joule heat production rate is examined for a typical substorm event on 18 March 1978 by estimating the global joule heat production rate, as a function of time, using data obtained from the IMS six meridian chains. In spite of the fact that the AE index had had an initial slow growth which was followed by a rapid growth, the joule heat production rate attained a high level during the slow growth and thus their variations were considerably different from those of the AE index. Therefore, although the AE index is statistically linearly related to the global joule heat production rate, one should be cautious in assuming that details of time variations of the AE index during individual events represent those of the joule heat production rate.