On the tidal variation of the geopotential

In this paper analytical expressions are derived for the temporal variations ofJ ₂ andJ ₂₂ due to the tides of the solid Earth, taking into account only the deformation of the mantle, and employing a procedure already used by the authors in their Hamiltonian theory of the Earth's rotation, which obtain the necessary parameters in a direct way by integration of those provided by a selected model of Earth interior.Numerical tables giving the periodic variation of coefficients are given, as well as a new prediction for UT1. For J ₂ and J ₂₂ the amplitudes reach such a magnitude that both two variations should not be ignored in studies involving the analysis of highly precise satellite tracking data. Moreover, the possibility of improving our knowledge of the value of those harmonic coefficients in only a more exact digit appears as to be strongly dependent on the limitations in the theoretical modeling of the variations of the inertia tensor due to solid tides.     

Site occupation and electric field gradient in acentric neptunite-measurements and evaluations concerning powder- and single crystal – Mössbauer spectroscopy and x-ray diffractometry

Mössbauer measurements on neptunite (KNa₂Li(Fe,Mn,Mg)₂Ti₂Si₈O₂₄) at 400?K reveal the distribution of Fe-ions on the crystallographic sites in agreement with neutron diffraction results published elsewhere. Even the previously postulated small amount of Fe-ions on the Ti(2) site has been detected, combined with a charge transfer which is in agreement with optical absorption investigations by other authors. A qualitative site occupation model is able to explain the different features of our observations. Single crystal Mössbauer measurements with the k-vector of incident γ-rays parallel to the crystallographic b-axis (space group Cc) of neptunite at different temperatures yield the angle β between the main component of the electric field gradient (EFG), V _zz and b. This angle is in close accordance with a calculated value of β for the Fe(1) position from electron density maps. The latter also reveal an absolute value of V _zz which is in satisfactory agreement with V _zz derived from Mössbauer spectroscopy.     

Molecular indicators for palaeoenvironmental change in a Messinian evaporitic sequence (Vena del Gesso, Italy). II: High-resolution variations in abundances and 13C contents of free and sulphur-bound carbon skeletons in a single marl bed

The extractable organic matter of 10 immature samples from a marl bed of one evaporitic cycle of the Vena del Gesso sediments (Gessoso-solfifera Fm., Messinian, Italy) was analyzed quantitatively for free hydrocarbons and organic sulphur compounds. Nickel boride was used as a desulphurizing agent to recover sulphur-bound lipids from the polar and asphaltene fractions. Carbon isotopic compositions (delta vs PDB) of free hydrocarbons and of S-bound hydrocarbons were also measured. Relationships between these carbon skeletons, precursor biolipids, and the organisms producing them could then be examined. Concentrations of S-bound lipids and free hydrocarbons and their delta values were plotted vs depth in the marl bed and the profiles were interpreted in terms of variations in source organisms, 13 C contents of the carbon source, and environmentally induced changes in isotopic fractionation. The overall range of delta values measured was 24.7%, from -11.6% for a component derived from green sulphur bacteria (Chlorobiaceae) to -36.3% for a lipid derived from purple sulphur bacteria (Chromatiaceae). Deconvolution of mixtures of components deriving from multiple sources (green and purple sulphur bacteria, coccolithophorids, microalgae and higher plants) was sometimes possible because both quantitative and isotopic data were available and because either the free or S-bound pool sometimes appeared to contain material from a single source. Several free n-alkanes and S-bound lipids appeared to be specific products of upper-water-column primary producers (i.e. algae and cyanobacteria). Others derived from anaerobic photoautotrophs and from heterotrophic protozoa (ciliates), which apparently fed partly on Chlorobiaceae. Four groups of n-alkanes produced by algae or cyanobacteria were also recognized based on systematic variations of abundance and isotopic composition with depth. For hydrocarbons probably derived from microalgae, isotopic variations are well correlated with those of total organic carbon. A resistant aliphatic biomacromolecule produced by microalgae is, therefore, probably an important component of the kerogen. These variations reflect changes in the depositional environment and early diagenetic transformations. Changes in the concentrations of S-bound lipids induced by variations in conditions favourable for sulphurization were discriminated from those related to variations in primary producer assemblages. The water column of the lagoonal basin was stratified and photic zone anoxia occurred during the early and middle stages of marl deposition. During the last stage of the marl deposition the stratification collapsed due to a significant shallowing of the water column. Contributions from anaerobic photoautotrophs were apparently associated with variations in depth of the chemocline.     

Dynamical evolution of NEAs: Close encounters, secular perturbations and resonances

We discuss the main mechanisms affecting the dynamical evolution of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) by analyzing the results of three numerical integrations over 1 Myr of the NEA (4179) Toutatis. In the first integration the only perturbing planet is the Earth. So the evolution is dominated by close encounters and looks like a random walk in semimajor axis and a correlated random walk in eccentricity, keeping almost constant the perihelion distance and the Tisserand invariant. In the second integration Jupiter and Saturn are present instead of the Earth, and the 3/1 (mean motion) and v ₆ (secular) resonances substantially change the eccentricity but not the semimajor axis. The third, most realistic, integration including all the three planets together shows a complex interplay of effects, with close encounters switching the orbit between different resonant states and no approximate conservation of the Tisserand invariant. This shows that simplified 3-body or 4-body models cannot be used to predict the typical evolution patterns and time scales of NEAs, and in particular that resonances provide some fast-track dynamical routes from low-eccentricity to very eccentric, planet-crossing orbits.On leave from the Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Via Buonarroti 2, 56127 Pisa, Italy, thanks to the G. Colombo fellowships of the European Space Agency.     

The circumstellar shells of carbon miras

The relation between mass loss rate and pulsation period in carbon Miras is discussed. The dust mass loss rate is very low (about 2 × 10^–10 M/yr) up to aboutP = 380 days, where there is a sudden increase. ForP > 400 days there is a linear relation between logM andP. The change in the mass loss rate near 380 days may be related to radiation pressure on dust becoming effective in driving the outflow.     

Jupiter: New retrieved thermal profiles and ammonia distributions

New thermal profiles of Jupiter are retrieved from recent far infrared spectral measurements and for H₂ mixing ratios varying from 0.8 to 0.94. The effective temperature corresponding to the inferred thermal profile is 123.15 ± 0.35°K. Far-infrared brightness temperature spectra computed from these profiles are compared to experimental data including measurements made at high spectral resolution in the NH₃ν₂ band at 10 μm and in NH₃ pure rotational bands between 40 and 110 μm. It is found that a strong depletion of NH₃ does occur in the Jovian stratosphere and that ammonia seems to be undersaturated in the upper troposphere.     

Study of the post-flare loops on 29 July 1973

Bright and dark curvilinear structures observed between the two major chromospheric ribbons during the flare of 29 July 1973 on films from the Big Bear Solar Observatory are interpreted as a typical system of coronal loops joining the inner boundaries of the separating flare ribbons. These observations, made through a 0.25 Å H filter, only show small segments of the loops having Doppler shifts within approximately ± 22 km s^–1 relative to the filter passband centered at H, H -0.5 Å or H +0.5 Å. However, from our knowledge of the typical behavior of such loop systems observed at the limb in H and at 5303 Å, it has been possible to reconstruct an appoximate model of the probable development of the loops of the 29 July flare as they would have been viewed at the limb relative to the position of a prominence which began to erupt a few minutes before the start of the flare. It is seen that the loops ascended through the space previously occupied by the filament. On the assumption that H fine structures parallel the magnetic field, we can conclude that a dramatic reorientation of the direction of the magnetic field in the corona occurred early in the flare, subsequent to the start of the eruption of the filament and prior to the time that the H loops ascended through the space previously occupied by the filament.     

X-ray imaging of three flares during the impulsive phase

The impulsive phases of three flares that occurred on April 10, May 21, and November 5, 1980 are discussed. Observations were obtained with the Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (HXIS) and other instruments aboard SMM, and have been supplemented with Hα data and magnetograms. The flares show hard X-ray brightenings (16–30 keV) at widely separated locations that spatially coincide with bright Hα patches. The bulk of the soft X-ray emission (3.5–5.5 keV) originates from in between the hard X-ray brightenings. The latter are located at different sides of the neutral line and start to brighten simultaneously to within the time resolution of HXIS. Concluded is that:

1. The bright hard X-ray patches coincide with the footpoints of loops.
2. The hard X-ray emission from the footpoints is most likely thick target emission from fast electrons moving downward into the dense chromosphere.
3. The density of the loops along which the beam electrons propagate to the footpoints is restricted to a narrow range (10⁹ < n < 2 × 10¹⁰ cm^-3), determined by the instability threshold of the return current and the condition that the mean free path of the fast electrons should be larger than the length of the loop.
4. For the November 5 flare it seems likely that the acceleration source is located at the merging point of two loops near one of the footpoints.

It is found that the total flare energy is always larger than the total energy residing in the beam electrons. However, it is also estimated that at the time of the peak of the impulsive hard X-ray emission a large fraction (at least 20%) of the dissipated flare power has to go into electron acceleration. The explanation of such a high acceleration efficiency remains a major theoretical problem.     

Spatial and temporal evolution of soft and hard X-ray emission in a solar flare

We study the spatial and temporal characteristics of the 3.5 to 30.0 keV emission in a solar flare on April 10, 1980. The data were obtained by the Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer aboard the Solar Maximum Mission Satellite. It is complemented in our analysis with data from other instruments on the same spacecraft, in particular that of the Hard X-ray Burst Spectrometer.Key results of our investigation are: (a) Continuous energy release is needed to substain the increase of the emission through the rising phase of the flare, before and after the impulsive phase in hard X-rays. The energy release is characterized by the production of hot (5 × 10⁷ T 1.5 × 10⁸ K) thermal regions within the flare loop structures. (b) The observational parameters characterizing the impulsive burst show that it is most likely associated with non-thermal processes (particle acceleration). (c) The continuous energy release is associated with strong chromospheric evaporation, as evidenced in the spectral line behavior determined from the Bent Crystal Spectrometer data. Both processes seem to stop just before flare maximum, and the subsequent evolution is most likely governed by the radiative cooling of the flare plasma.