Three-dimensional Crustal model of the Moravo-Silesian region obtained by seismic tomography

All recent available data sets containing traveltimes of Pg and Sg phases for the Moravo-Silesian region were collected. These data come from several experiments designed mostly in 2D (in-line) configurations. Simultaneous processing of all data is possible only considering the true 3D measurement geometry. The goal of this work is to establish the representative 3D seismic model by means of seismic tomography. The resulting minimum-structure model is presented in a simple and easy to use form on the Internet. The amount of processed data is relatively low but repeating the computations with new experimental data included would be very easy. Important material related to this paper is placed on web pages.     

Comets,ice ages,and ecological catastrophes

A total mass 10¹⁴ g added to the Earth's upper atmosphere in the form of small particles of high albedo for visual wavelengths would produce an inverse greenhouse effect, shielding ground level from sunlight but permitting infrared radiation from the ground to escape into space. Such a mass of small particles might be acquired by the Earth in a close approach to a cometary nucleus. Ice ages and ecodisasters, such as that which occurred 6.5×10⁷ years ago, could arise from the effects of such an addition of small particles.Supported in part by the National Science Foundation [PHY76-83685] at Caltech.     

Tectonic segmentation of the Burmese-Indonesian arc

Several lines of evidences, which include change in trend and offset in arcs, bathymetry and sedimentation, faulting in the region, change in composition and trend of the line of volcanoes, spatial distribution of earthquakes and change in dip of the Benioff zone, suggest a tectonic segmentation of the Burmese-Indonesian Arc. Two transverse boundary zones, viz., the North Andaman Boundary Zone and the Sunda Boundary Zone separating segments of the arc are identified. Larger than usual thickness of the oceanic crust beneath the Ninetyeast Ridge reduces the average density of the lithosphere carrying the ridge. The buoyancy effect caused by the reduced average density inhibits the subduction of an approximately triangular shaped lithosphere between the Burmese-Indonesian Arc and the Ninetyeast Ridge, which in turn causes tectonic segmentation along the arc. The model predicts and some available focal mechanism solutions confirm left lateral northeast faulting within the Sunda Boundary Zone.     

Metallicity distribution of F-dwarf stars in the solar neighbourhood

A volume-limited sample of F-dwarfs is chosen from Knude (1989) with low radial velocity as well as distance from the sun and compared with the expected model metallicity [Fe/H] distributions, taking the possible chemical inhomogeneity into account. There is found to be an agreement between the two within the error limits of small sampling. A summer school student from the Department of Physics, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore 721 101, India.     

Induction vector estimates in the Polish-Czechoslovak part of the Carpathians

u¶rt;um ¶rt;a ma ua m u¶rt;uu n mam amu n aum auau ¶rt;a a n -a am anam.     

Improved solar coronal temperature for equal green and red line intensities

An improved value of the temperature in the solar corona for equal green and red line intensities is obtained. This temperature is in better agreement with a quoted line-width value than the previous theoretical ones.     

Trends and Change-Point in Satellite Derived Phenology Parameters in Major Wheat Growing Regions of North India During the Last Three Decades

The virtual certainty of the anticipated climate change will continue to raise many questions about its aggregated impact of environmental changes on our regional food security in imminent future. Crop responses to these changes are certain, but its exact characteristics are hardly understood at regional scale due to complex overlapping effects of climate change and anthropogenic manipulation of agro-ecosystem. This study derived phenology of wheat in north India from satellite data and analyzed trends of phenology parameters over last three decades. The most striking change-point period in phenology trends were also derived. The phenology was derived from two sources: (1) STAR-Global vegetation Health Products-NDVI, and (2) GIMMS-NDVI. The results revealed significant earliness in start of growing season (SOS) in Punjab and Haryana while delay was found in Uttar Pradesh (UP). End of the wheat season almost always occurred early, to even those place where SOS was delayed. Length of growing season increased in most of Punjab and northern Haryana whereas its decrease dominated in UP. The early sowing practice of the farmers of the Punjab and Haryana may be one of the adaptation strategies to manage the terminal heat stress in reproductive stage of the crop in the region. The change-point occurred in late 1990s (1998–2000) in Punjab and Haryana, while in eastern UP it was in early 1990s (1990–1995). Despite the difference in temporal aggregation and spatial resolution, both the datasets yielded similar trends, confirming both the robustness of the results and applicability of the datasets over the region. The results demands further research for proper attribution of the effects into its causes and may help devising crop adaption practices to climatic stresses.     

Propagation of Rayleigh waves in soils

Summary Propagation of Rayleigh type waves in soils is considered in this paper. It is a well known fact that soils do not behave like an ordinary isotropic elastic medium where the ratio of Young's modulus to the modulus of rigidity is much less than that in sandy soils. Considering the velocity of Rayleigh type wave as less than that of distortional wave (which is an observed fact) a probable value of this ratio is determined, and also assuming the value of this ratio based on some experimental data, the velocity of wave propagation in the medium is deduced.