Late pleistocene sedimentation history of the Shirshov Ridge, Bering Sea

The analysis of the lithology, grain-size distribution, clay minerals, and geochemistry of Upper Pleistocene sediments from the submarine Shirshov Ridge (Bering Sea) showed that the main source area was the Yukon-Tanana terrane of Central Alaska. The sedimentary materials were transported by the Yukon River through Beringia up to the shelf break, where they were entrained by a strong northwestward-flowing sea current. The lithological data revealed several pulses of ice-rafted debris deposition, roughly synchronous with Heinrich events, and periods of weaker bottom-current intensity. Based on the geochemical results, we distinguished intervals of an increase in paleoproductivity and extension of the oxygen minimum zone. The results suggest that there were three stages of deposition driven by glacioeustatic sea-level fluctuations and glacial cycles in Alaska.     

Structure and evolution state of the principal component of V 380 Cyg

Crimean Laboratory, P. K. Shternberg State Astronomical Institute; Rostov State University. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 300–309, September–October, 1988.     

Galactic orbits of selected companions of the Milky Way

High-accuracy absolute proper motions, radial velocities, and distances have now been measured for a number of dwarf-galaxy companions of the Milky Way, making it possible to study their 3D dynamics. Galactic orbits for 11 such galaxies (Fornax, Sagittarius, Ursa Minor, LMC, SMC, Sculptor, Sextans, Carina, Draco, Leo I, Leo II) have been derived using two previously refined models for the Galactic potential with the Navarro–Frenk–White and Allen–Santillán expressions for the potential of the dark-matter halo, and two different masses for the Galaxy within 200 kpc—0.75 × 10¹² M _⊙ and 1.45 × 10¹² M _⊙. The character of the orbits of most of these galaxies indicates that they are tightly gravitationally bound to the Milky Way, even with the lower-mass model for the gravitational potential. One exception is the most distant galaxy in the list, Leo I, whose orbit demonstrates that it is only weakly gravitationally bound, even using the higher-mass model of the gravitational potential.     

The Lomonosov Equatorial Undercurrent according to Data Measured with a Shipborne Profiler, 2014–2017

The velocity and structure of the Lomonosov Equatorial Undercurrent of the Atlantic Ocean are determined based on the data measured with a shipborne acoustic profiler from 2014 to 2017. The seasonal variability of this flow is estimated, and the cases of its outcropping to the surface in the spring of the Northern Hemisphere are revealed.

     

Symplectitic augite: evidence for discontinuous precipitation as an exsolution mechanism in Ca-rich clinopyroxene

Abstract Part of the augite in the Artfjället gabbro consists of symplectitic intergrowths between augite and blebs or lamellae of orthopyroxene. Mineral compositions are consistent with formation of these symplectites by exsolution of orthopyroxene from magmatic augite at a temperature of ca . 900–1000°C. The microstructures indicate that the exsolution mechanism is discontinuous precipitation, whereby the boundary of an augite grain sweeps through a neighbouring augite, leaving the symplectite in its wake. The formation of this symplectitic augite is catalysed by the presence of an intergranular water-rich fluid phase, which promotes grain boundary mobility.     

Simultaneous identification of time and space variant dynamic soil properties during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake

Time and space variant soil properties at a liquefied site were simultaneously identified in the time domain by using borehole array strong motion records. During soil liquefaction at a site, soils usually show a wide variety of non-linear behavior along the depth as well as non-stationary behavior. Strong ground motion records were obtained at Port Island borehole array observatory, Kobe, during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake. In this study, the instrumented soil was modeled by the equivalent linear MDOF system, and an extended Kalman filter with local iteration was employed for the identification of the soils. The identification process was successfully conducted, and the stress–strain relationships of the soils at the liquefied site were obtained from different depths all at once.     

The Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter

The joint Japan/US/UK Hinode mission includes the first large-aperture visible-light solar telescope flown in space. One component of the Focal Plane Package of that telescope is a precision spectro-polarimeter designed to measure full Stokes spectra with the intent of using those spectra to infer the magnetic-field vector at high precision in the solar photosphere. This article describes the characteristics of the flight hardware of the Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter, and summarizes its in-flight performance.