Final report of IGCP Project 410 （1997-2002）——The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia. E-mail： bwebby@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au

In 1997, IGCP Project No. 410 was established to appraise known records of Ordovician biotas, in order to evaluate one of the greatest-ever diversifications of life on Earth, between 489 and 443 million years ago. Data collection and analysis of biodiversity were coordinated through seven regional teams, and a global“clade” team.     

Thermal stability of a layer with permeable boundaries and variable gravitational field

The aim of this paper is to investigate the thermal stability of a fluid layer with permeable boundaries and a variable gravitational field. It is observed that the principle of exchange of stabilities is valid when the layer is heated form below and the complex growth rate of an arbitrary oscillatory mode exists outside of a circle whose radius depends upon the permeability parameter, Prandtl number and wavelength of the mode. In the case of a layer heated from below, gravity increasing upward has a destabilizing effect whereas the permeability parameter has a stabilizing effect.     

Kinematics of stars in Kovalsky-Kapteyn figures. II

Rostov State Pedagogical Institute; All-Union Scientific Research Institute Gradient. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 379–393, November–December, 1990.     

Radiative and free-convection effects on the oscillatory flow past a vertical plate

The interaction of free convection with thermal radiation of the oscillatory flow past a vertical plate is studied. The Rosseland approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation.     

Physical parameters of near-Earth asteroid 1982 DV

Visual and infrared observations were made of Amor asteroid 1982 DV during its discovery apparition. Broadband visual and near-infrared photometry shows that it is an S-class asteroid. Narrowband spectrophotometry shows an absorption feature due to olivine or pyroxene or both centered at 0.93 μm. Applying a nonrotating thermal model to 10-μm photometry, the geometric albedo is calculated to be approximately 0.27. The geometric albedo for a slowly rotating, rocky surface was calculated for 1 night to be 0.15, consistent with S-class asteroid albedos. Thus, 1982 DV is either one of the most reflective S-class asteroids known, or a significant amount of bare rock is exposed on the asteroid's surface. For the nonrotating model, ellipsoidal dimensions for 1982 DV are 3.5 × 1.4 × 1.4 km.     

A transformation of the two-body problem

A transformation of the differential equations of motion of the two-body problem in the spherical coordinates to oscillator form is derived. It is shown that the independent variable transformation dt/ds=r² is a transformation which makes the oscillator form possible.     

OTEC cold-water pipe research

Shelf-mounted Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plants require installation of cold-water pipes (CWP) on slopes of40degto depths of 1000 m. In addition, tower platforms containing OTEC power systems may be located on lesser sloped terrain near shore and exposed to special environmental loading problems affecting foundation design. Shelf-mounted installations require careful attention to site selection and geotechnical considerations for foundation integrity on sloped surfaces. This paper primarily discusses research associated with cold-water pipe and foundation installations on steep slopes, although research continues on tower platforms located on the shelf. At least five nations are in various stages of development of OTEC systems for island applications. Each of their systems is either shelf mounted or land based and requires that a large diameter cold-water pipe be installed on a steep slope to provide cold water from 1000-m depths. In addition to the installation and deployment of the large cold-water pipe, the most significant problem is the design and installation of suitable foundations that will last for several decades. To date there is very little experience in the offshore industry for large installations on steep slopes. A major scale-model research project is underway on the slopes of the island of Hawaii. A section of pipe 2.4 m in diameter and 24 m long was installed using combination concrete foundations and joints. The pipe and foundations are fully instrumented to measure environmental loading forces due principally to currents and waves. Environmental measurements will also be taken in the test area. The measurement data will be used to validate available analytical models for subsequent use in aiding industry in providing more cost-effective designs for OTEC pipes and foundations.     

A note on the kinematics of the tachyon fluid

It is shown that the kinematical parameters associated with the congruence formed by tachyonic motion can be defined in the manner of Greenberg, but not that of Ehlers. The space-like counterpart of Raychaudhuri's equation has also been obtained.