On ‘the Solar Flare Myth’ postulated by Gosling

The Solar Flare Myth postulated by Gosling (1993) is a misunderstanding. It is true that most sources of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) cannot be classified as flares in the common old sense of that word. However, just for this reason the term eruptive flare has been introduced for all solar active phenomena in which an opening of field lines is involved and which lead to magnetic-field and mass ejections resulting in a CME. The process is essentially the same in all events, irrespective of' whether only adisparition brusque without any chromospheric brightening or a major two-ribbon flare is involved in it; the only difference is the different strength of the magnetic field in which the process was accomplished. The major two-ribbon (cosmic-ray) flares clearly represent the most energetic events of this kind, and, therefore, it is very misleading to claim that solar flares in general are phenomena with very little importance for solar-terrestrial physics.     

Fluctuations of CaFz(Eu) scintillator background

Background signal of the scintillation detector routinely used for atmospheric Kr-85 counting follows fluctuations, and their connection with cosmic ray variations is searched for. A strong correlation between the 27-day moving average of sunspot numbers and the background is obtained from the 1988 data.     

The BanskáŠtiavnica ore district: relationship between metallogenetic processes and the geological evolution of a stratovolcano

The Banská?tiavnica ore district is in the central zone of the largest stratovolcano in the Central Slovakia Neogene Volcanic Field, which is situated at the inner side of the Carpathian arc over the Hercynian basement with the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary cover. Volcanic rocks of the High-K orogenic suite are of the Badenian through Pannonian age (16.5–8.5?Ma). Their petrogenesis is closely related to subduction of flysch belt oceanic basement underneath the advancing Carpathian arc and to back-arc extension processes. The stratovolcano includes a large caldera 20?km in diameter and a late-stage resurgent horst in its centre, exposing a basement and extensive subvolcanic intrusive complex. The following stages have been recognized in the evolution of the stratovolcano: (1)?formation of a large pyroxene/hornblende-pyroxene andesite stratovolcano; (2)?denudation, emplacement of a diorite intrusion; (3) emplacement of a large granodiorite bell-jar pluton within the basement; (4) emplacement of granodiorite/quartz-diorite porphyry stocks and dyke clusters around the pluton; (5) caldera subsidence and its filling by biotite-hornblende andesite volcanics, emplacement of quartz-diorite porphyry sills and dykes at the subvolcanic level; (6)?renewed activity of andesites from dispersed centres on slopes of the volcano; (7) uplift of a resurgent horst accompanied by rhyolite volcanics and granite porphyry dykes. The following types of ore deposits (mineralizations) have been identified in the Banská?tiavnica ore district: 1. Quartz-pyrophyllite-pyrite high-sulphidation system at ?obov, related to the diorite intrusion. 2. Magnetite skarn deposits and occurrences?at contacts of the granodiorite pluton with Mesozoic carbonate rocks. Magnetite ores occur as lenses in the calcic skarns. 3.?Stockwork/disseminated base metal deposit along an irregular network of fractures in apical parts of the granodiorite pluton and in remnants of basement rocks. Mineral paragenesis is simple, with leading sphalerite and galena and minor chalcopyrite and pyrite. In overlying andesites the mineralization is accompanied by metasomatic quartzites and argillites with pyrophyllite, kaolinite, illite and pyrite. 4. Porphyry/skarn copper deposits and occurrences related to granodiorite/quartz-diorite porphyry dyke clusters and stocks around the granodiorite intrusion. The mineralized zone is represented by accumulations of chalcopyrite in exo- and endo-skarns, usually of the magnesian type affected by serpentinization. Besides chalcopyrite, pyrhotite, minor bornite, chalcosite, tennantite and magnetite, rare molybdenite and gold are present. The alteration pattern around productive intrusions includes an external zone of propylitization, a zone of argillitic alteration (kaolinite – illite – pyrite) and an internal zone of phyllic alteration (quartz – sericite – pyrite). Biotitization is rare and limited to porphyry intrusions. 5. Intrusion related “mesothermal” gold deposit in an andesitic environment just above the granodiorite intrusion. Gold of high fineness with base metal mineralization is contained in brecciated and/or banded quartz veins of subhorizontal orientation, parallel to the surface of granodiorite pluton. At least the first phase of mineralization is older than quartz-diorite porphyry sills, which separate granodiorite and blocks of mineralized andesite. 6. Hot spring type advanced argillic systems in the caldera filling. Silicites and opalites accompanied by kaolinite, alunite and pyrite grade downward into smectite dominated argillites. 7. Vein type epithermal precious/base metal deposits and occurrences as a result of the long lasting interaction among structural evolution of the resurgent horst and evolving hydrothermal system, extensive intrusive complex and deep seated siliceous magma chamber serving as heat and magmatic fluid source. Three types of epithermal veins occur in a zonal arrangement: (a) base metal veins ± Au with transition to Cu?±?Bi mineralization at depth in the east/central part of the horst, (b)?Ag – Au veins with minor base metal mineralization and (c) Au – Ag veins located at marginal faults of the horst. Isotopic composition of oxygen and hydrogen in hydrothermal fluids indicate mixing of magmatic and meteoric component (with generally increasing proportion of meteoric component towards younger mineralization periods?). Veins are accompanied by zones of silicification, adularization and sericitization, indicating a low sulphidation environment. 8.?Replacement base metal mineralization of a limited extent in the Mesozoic carbonate rocks next to sulphide rich epithermal base metal veins.     

Transequatorial loops interconnecting McMath regions 12472 and 12474

We discuss the life-story of a transequatorial loop system which interconnected the newly born active region McMath 12474 with the old region 12472. The loop system was probably born through reconnection accomplished 1.5 to 5 days after the birth of 12474 and the loops were observed in soft X-rays for at least 1.5 days. Transient sharpenings of the interconnection and a striking brightening of the whole loop system for about 6 hr appear to be caused by magnetic field variations in the region 12474. A flare might have been related to the brightening, but only in an indirect way: the same emerging flux could have triggered the flare and at the same time strengthened the magnetic field at the foot-points of the loops. Electron temperature in the loop system, equal to 2.1 × 10⁶ K in its quiet phase, increased to 3.1 × 10⁶ K during the brightening. Electron density in the loop system was 1.3 × 10⁹ cm^–3 and it could be estimated to 7 × 10⁸ cm^–3 prior to the brightening. During the brightening the loops became twisted. There was no obvious effect whatsoever of the activity in 12474 upon the in erconnected old region. The final decay of the loop system reflected the decay of magnetic field in the region 12474.     

Discontinuous Nature of the Lower Part of the South American Wadati-Benioff Zone in The Arica Elbow Region

The Arica Elbow region represents that part of Andean South America where the azimuth of the strike of the Peru-Chile trench changes from 150° to 190°. The area under study is roughly bounded by latitudes 17 °S and 23 °S, The shape of the Wadati-Benioff zone was studied in terms of the distribution of ISC hypocentres dated between 1964 and 1993. A system of 22 vertical cross-sections, perpendicular to the trench axis, and a map of epicentres was used to derive the detailed shape of the Wadati-Benioff zone of the presently descending slab. The distribution of earthquake foci indicates a fingerlike shape of the lower part of the Wadati-Benioff zone beneath the aseismic gap. The slab length shows small changes around 350 km in the northern sections, pronounced length oscillations between 350 and 750 km in the neighbouring central sections and a constant value of 650 km in the southern sections. The dip and thickness of the Wadati-Benioff zone are practically constant in all sections. Fault plane solutions, separated spatially into three zones, were used to estimate the state of stress in the slab.     

Forecasting hourly particulate matter concentrations based on the advanced multivariate methods

In this study, several multivariate methods were used for forecasting hourly PM₁₀ concentrations at four locations based on SO₂ and meteorological data from the previous period. According to the results, boosted decision trees and multi-layer perceptrons yielded the best predictions. The forecasting performances were similar for all examined locations, despite the additional PM₁₀ spatio-temporal analysis showed that the sites were affected by different emission sources, topographic and microclimatic conditions. The best prediction of PM₁₀ concentrations was obtained for industrial sites, probably due to the simplicity and regularity of dominant pollutant emissions on a daily basis. Conversely, somewhat weaker forecast accuracy was achieved at urban canyon avenue, which can be attributed to the specific urban morphology and most diverse emission sources. In conclusion to this, the integration of advanced multivariate methods in air quality forecasting systems could enhance accuracy and provide the basis for efficient decision-making in environmental regulatory management.     

A finite element model for seismic response analysis of deformable rocking frames

A new finite element model to analyze the seismic response of deformable rocking bodies and rocking structures is presented. The model comprises a set of beam elements to represent the rocking body and zero‐length fiber cross‐section elements at the ends of the rocking body to represent the rocking surfaces. The energy dissipation during rocking motion is modeled using a Hilber–Hughes–Taylor numerically dissipative time step integration scheme. The model is verified through correct prediction of the horizontal and vertical displacements of a rigid rocking block and validated against the analytical Housner model solution for the rocking response of rigid bodies subjected to ground motion excitation. The proposed model is augmented by a dissipative model of the ground under the rocking surface to facilitate modeling of the rocking response of deformable bodies and structures. The augmented model is used to compute the overturning and uplift rocking response spectra for a deformable rocking frame structure to symmetric and anti‐symmetric Ricker pulse ground motion excitation. It is found that the deformability of the columns of a rocking frame does not jeopardize its stability under Ricker pulse ground motion excitation. In fact, there are cases where a deformable rocking frame is more stable than its rigid counterpart. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.