Propagation of the cosmic-ray iron group at intermediate energies

Elemental abundances of the VH group of cosmic radiation have been measured in the energy interval 250–550 MeV nucl^–1 in a balloon exposure at Sioux Falls (South Dakota) of a plastic detector LeXAN stack. The so obtained abundances have been extrapolated to the sources in the frame of the homogeneous model correcting for energy loss. After taking into account solar modulation, the best fit to model values has led to a escape mean free path _e = 5E ^–0.4 g cm^–2, whereE is the energy in GeV nucl^–1, forE>1 GeV nucl^–1, and a constant _e = 5 g cm^–2 forE1 GeV nucl^–1. When turning to the diffusion model, also including an energy loss term, a diffusion coefficientD=3×10²⁸ cm² s^–1 has been estimated.     

Cosmic-ray antimatter: A primary origin hypothesis

We examine the possibility that the observed cosmic-ray protons are of primary extragalactic origin. The present \(\bar p\) data are consistent with a primary extragalactic component having \(\bar p\) /p?3.2±0.7 x 10^-4 independent of energy. Following the suggestion that most extragalactic cosmic rays are from active galaxies, we propose that most of the observed \(\bar p\) 's are alos from the same sites. This would imply the possibility of destroying the corresponding \(\bar \alpha \) 'sat the source, thus leading to a flux ratio \(\bar \alpha \) /α< \(\bar p\) /p. We further predict an estimate for \(\bar \alpha \) α～10^-5, within the range of future cosmic-ray detectors. the cosmological implications of this proposal are discussed.     

Solar system history as recorded in the saturnian ring structure

The paper is based on Holberg's analysis of the Voyager photographs in both reflected and transparent light, combined with occultation data of stars seen through the rings. Besides rapidly varying phenomena (spokes, braided ring, etc.), which according to Mendis are due to gravito-electromagnetic effects, the ring consists of abulk structure, a fine structure, and also ahyperfine structure, showing more than 10000 ringlets. The large number of ringlets can be explained by the Baxter-Thompson ‘negative diffusion’. This gives the ringlets a stability which makes it possible to interprete them as ‘fossils’, which originated at cosmogonic times. It is shown that thebulk structure can be explained by the combined ‘cosmogonic shadows’ of Mimas, the co-orbiting satellites, and the Shepherd satellites. This structure originated at the transition from the plasma phase to the planetesimal phase (which probably took place 4–5×10⁹ y ago). Further, Holberg has discovered that the shadows are not simple void region but exhibit a certain characteristic ‘signature’. This is not yet understood theoretically. Parts of thefine structure are explained by Holberg as resonances with the satellites. Parts are here interpreted as cosmogonic shadow effects. However, there are a number of ringlets which can neither be explained by cosmogonic nor by resonance effects. The most important conclusion is that an analysis of the ring data is likely to lead to areconstruction of the plasma-planetesimal transition with an accuracy of a few percent.     

X-Ray and microwave observations of active regions

Radio and X-ray observations are presented for three flares which show significant activity for several minutes prior to the main impulsive increase in the hard X-ray flux. The activity in this ‘pre-flash’ phase is investigated using 3.5 to 461 keV X-ray data from the Solar Maximum Mission, 100 to 1000 MHz radio data from Zürich, and 169 MHz radio-heliograph data from Nançay. The major results of this study are as follows:

1. Decimetric pulsations, interpreted as plasma emission at densities of 10⁹–10¹⁰ cm^?3, and soft X-rays are observed before any Hα or hard X-ray increase.
2. Some of the metric type III radio bursts appear close in time to hard X-ray peaks but delayed between 0.5 and 1.5 s, with the shorter delays for the bursts with the higher starting frequencies.
3. The starting frequencies of these type III bursts appear to correlate with the electron temperatures derived from isothermal fits to the hard X-ray spectra. Such a correlation is expected if the particles are released at a constant altitude with an evolving electron distribution. In addition to this effect we find evidence for a downward motion of the acceleration site at the onset of the flash phase.
4. In some cases the earlier type III bursts occurred at a different location, far from the main position during the flash phase.
5. The flash phase is characterized by higher hard X-ray temperatures, more rapid increase in X-ray flux, and higher starting frequency of the coincident type III bursts.

     

Evolution of electron and proton temperatures in a flaring loop

We have investigated numerically how a temperature difference between electrons and protons is produced in a flaring loop by adopting a one-fluid, two-temperature model instead of a single-temperature model. We have treated a case in which flare energy is released in the form of heating of electrons located in the top part of the loop.In this case, a large temperature difference (T _e/T _p 10) appears in the corona in the energy-input phase of the flare. When the material evaporated from the chromosphere fills the corona, the temperature difference in the loop begins to shrink rapidly from below. Eventually, in the loop apex, the proton temperature exceeds the electron temperature mainly due to cooling of the electrons by conduction down the loop and heating of the protons by compression of the ascending material. In the late phase of the flare (t 15 min from the flare onset), the temperature difference becomes less than 2% of the mean temperature of electrons and protons at every point in the loop.     

Microwave and hard X-Ray observations of a solar flare with a time resolution better than 100 ms

Simultaneous microwave and X-ray observations are presented for a solar flare detected on May 8, 1980 starting at 19:37 UT. The X-ray observations were made with the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission and covered the energy range from 28–490 keV with a time resolution of 10 ms. The microwave observations were made with the 5 and 45 foot antennas at the Itapetinga Radio Observatory at frequencies of 7 and 22 GHz, with time resolutions of 100 ms and 1 ms, respectively. Detailed correlation analysis of the different time profiles of the event show that the major impulsive peaks in the X-ray flux preceded the corresponding microwave peaks at 22 GHz by about 240 ms. For this particular burst the 22 GHz peaks preceded the 7 GHz by about 1.5 s. Observed delays of the microwave peaks are too large for a simple electron beam model but they can be reconciled with the speeds of shock waves in a thermal model.     

Holocene activity of the Scilla Fault, Southern Calabria: Insights from coastal morphological and structural investigations

Integration of on-land and offshore geomorphological and structural investigations coupled to extensive radiometric dating of co-seismically uplifted Holocene beaches allows characterization of the geometry, kinematics and seismotectonics of the Scilla Fault, which borders the eastern side of the Messina Strait in Calabria, Southern Italy. This region has been struck by destructive historical earthquakes, but knowledge of geologically-based source parameters for active faults is relatively poor, particularly for those running mostly offshore, as the Scilla Fault does. The  30 km-long normal fault may be divided into three segments of  10 km individual length, with the central and southern segments split in at least two strands. The central and northern segments are submerged, and in this area marine geophysical data indicate a youthful morphology and locally evidence for active faulting. The on-land strand of the western segment displaces marine terraces of the last interglacial (124 to 83 ka), but seismic reflection profiles suggest a full Quaternary activity. Structural data collected on bedrock faults exposed along the on-land segment provide evidence for normal slip and  NW-SE extension, which is consistent with focal mechanisms of large earthquakes and GPS velocity fields in the region. Detailed mapping of raised Holocene marine deposits exposed at the coastline straddling of the northern and central segments supplies evidence for two co-seismic displacements at  1.9 and  3.5 ka, and a possible previous event at  5 ka. Co-seismic displacements show a consistent site value and pattern of along-strike variation, suggestive of characteristic-type behaviour for the fault. The  1.5–2.0 m average co-seismic slips during these events document M_e  6.9–7.0 earthquakes with  1.6–1.7 ka recurrence time. Because hanging-wall subsidence cannot be included into slip magnitude computation, these slips reflect footwall uplift, and represent minimum average estimates. The palaeoseismological record based on the palaeo-shorelines suggests that the last rupture on the Scilla Fault during the February 6, 1783 M_w = 5.9–6.3 earthquake was at the expected time but it may have not entirely released the loaded stress since the last great event at  1.9 ka. Comparison of the estimated co-seismic extension rate based on the Holocene shoreline record with available GPS velocities indicates that the Scilla Fault accounts for at least  15–20% of the contemporary geodetic extension across the Messina Strait.     

Trace element distribution among rock-forming minerals from metamorphosed to partially molten basic igneous rocks in a contact aureole (Fuerteventura, Canaries)

Low pressure partial melting of basanitic and ankaramitic dykes gave rise to unusual, zebra-like migmatites, in the contact aureole of a layered pyroxenite–gabbro intrusion, in the root zone of an ocean island (Basal Complex, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands). These migmatites are characterised by a dense network of closely spaced, millimetre-wide leucocratic segregations. Their mineralogy consists of plagioclase (An_32–36), diopside, biotite, oxides (magnetite, ilmenite), +/− amphibole, dominated by plagioclase in the leucosome and diopside in the melanosome. The melanosome is almost completely recrystallised, with the preservation of large, relict igneous diopside phenocrysts in dyke centres. Comparison of whole-rock and mineral major- and trace-element data allowed us to assess the redistribution of elements between different mineral phases and generations during contact metamorphism and partial melting.

Dykes within and outside the thermal aureole behaved like closed chemical systems. Nevertheless, Zr, Hf, Y and REEs were internally redistributed, as deduced by comparing the trace element contents of the various diopside generations. Neocrystallised diopside – in the melanosome, leucosome and as epitaxial phenocryst rims – from the migmatite zone, are all enriched in Zr, Hf, Y and REEs compared to relict phenocrysts. This has been assigned to the liberation of trace elements on the breakdown of enriched primary minerals, kaersutite and sphene, on entering the thermal aureole. Major and trace element compositions of minerals in migmatite melanosomes and leucosomes are almost identical, pointing to a syn- or post-solidus reequilibration on the cooling of the migmatite terrain i.e. mineral–melt equilibria were reset to mineral–mineral equilibria.     

Time scale of an early to mid-Paleozoic orogenic cycle of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Inner Mongolia of China: Implications for continental growth

We present a detailed, new time scale for an orogenic cycle (oceanic accretion–subduction–collision) that provides significant insights into Paleozoic continental growth processes in the southeastern segment of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The most prominent tectonic feature in Inner Mongolia is the association of paired orogens. A southern orogen forms a typical arc-trench complex, in which a supra-subduction zone ophiolite records successive phases during its life cycle: birth (ca. 497–477 Ma), when the ocean floor of the ophiolite was formed; (2) youth (ca. 473–470 Ma), characterized by mantle wedge magmatism; (3) shortly after maturity (ca. 461–450 Ma), high-Mg adakite and adakite were produced by slab melting and subsequent interaction of the melt with the mantle wedge; (4) death, caused by subduction of a ridge crest (ca. 451–434 Ma) and by ridge collision with the ophiolite (ca. 428–423 Ma). The evolution of the magmatic arc exhibits three major coherent phases: arc volcanism (ca. 488–444 Ma); adakite plutonism (ca. 448–438 Ma) and collision (ca. 419–415 Ma) of the arc with a passive continental margin. The northern orogen, a product of ridge-trench interaction, evolved progressively from coeval generation of near-trench plutons (ca. 498–461 Ma) and juvenile arc crust (ca. 484–469 Ma), to ridge subduction (ca. 440–434 Ma), microcontinent accretion (ca. 430–420 Ma), and finally to forearc formation. The paired orogens followed a consistent progression from ocean floor subduction/arc formation (ca. 500–438 Ma), ridge subduction (ca. 451–434 Ma) to microcontinent accretion/collision (ca. 430–415 Ma); ridge subduction records the turning point that transformed oceanic lithosphere into continental crust. The recognition of this orogenic cycle followed by Permian–early Triassic terminal collision of the CAOB provides compelling evidence for episodic continental growth.     

Detailed <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar dating of geologic events associated with the Mantos Blancos copper deposit,northern Chile

The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological method was applied to date magmatic and hydrothermal alteration events in the Mantos Blancos mining district in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile, allowing the distinction of two separate mineralization events. The Late Jurassic Mantos Blancos orebody, hosted in Jurassic volcanic rocks, is a magmatic-hydrothermal breccia-style Cu deposit. Two superimposed mineralization events have been recently proposed. The first event is accompanied by a phyllic hydrothermal alteration affecting a rhyolitic dome. The second mineralization event is related to the intrusion of bimodal stocks and sills inside the deposit. Because of the superposition of several magmatic and hydrothermal events, the obtained ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data are complex; however, with a careful interpretation of the age spectra, it is possible to detect complex histories of successive emplacement, alteration, mineralization, and thermal resetting. The extrusion of Jurassic basic to intermediate volcanic rocks of the La Negra Formation is dated at 156.3 ± 1.4 Ma (2σ) using plagioclase from an andesitic lava flow. The first mineralization event and associated phyllic alteration affecting the rhyolitic dome occurred around 155–156 Ma. A younger bimodal intrusive event, supposed to be equivalent to the bimodal stock and sill system inside the deposit, is probably responsible for the second mineralization event dated at ca. 142 Ma. Other low-temperature alteration events have been dated on sericitized plagioclase at ca. 145–146, 125, and 101 Ma. This is the first time that two distinct mineralization events have been documented from radiometric data for a copper deposit in the metallogenic belt of the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.