Structural Evolution of the Eastern Margin of Eurasia in Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic

This paper features the structural evolution of the eastern margin of Eurasia in Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic.It is characterized by three stages of development: the riftogenic stage (Jurassic-Early Cretaceous), the platform stage (Late Cretaceous) and the neotectonic one (Paleogene-Quarternary). The boundaries between these stages are distinctly fixed by the geological time limits of planetary range. It is demonstrated that the riftogenic and neotectonic stages were characterized by a high degree of geodynamic activity, and the platform one by a decrease in contrast of tectonic movements. The main river net was formed in the Early Cretaceous and in the Neogene. It experienced a serious reconstruction accompanied by the formation of the Amur River valley being similar to the modem one.     

RXTE observations of the transient sources IGR J17091-3624 and IGR J18539+0727

We present the results of our analysis of the RXTE observations for two transient sources, IGR J17091-3624 and IGR J18539+0727, in April 2003. The derived energy spectra of the sources and the power-density spectra of their light curves make it possible to classify them as low/hard-state X-ray binaries. The parameters of the power spectrum for IGR J18539+0727 lead us to tentatively conclude that the compact object in this binary is a black hole.     

Optimal Compensation and Implementation for Adaptive Optics Systems

This paper develops a compensation algorithm based on Linear–Quadratic–Gaussian (LQG) control system design whose parameters are determined (in part) by a model of the atmosphere. The model for the atmosphere is based on the open-loop statistics of the atmosphere as observed by the wavefront sensor, and is identified from these using an auto-regressive, moving average (ARMA) model. The (LQG) control design is compared with an existing compensation algorithm for a simulation developed at ESO that represents the operation of MACAO adaptive optics system on the 8.2 m telescopes at Paranal, Chile. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Observations with the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) during Cassini's flyby of Jupiter

The Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) is an imaging spectrometer covering the wavelength range 0.3-5.2 μm in 352 spectral channels, with a nominal instantaneous field of view of 0.5 mrad. The Cassini flyby of Jupiter represented a unique opportunity to accomplish two important goals: scientific observations of the jovian system and functional tests of the VIMS instrument under conditions similar to those expected to obtain during Cassini's 4-year tour of the saturnian system. Results acquired over a complete range of visual to near-infrared wavelengths from 0.3 to 5.2 μm are presented. First detections include methane fluorescence on Jupiter, a surprisingly high opposition surge on Europa, the first visual-near-IR spectra of Himalia and Jupiter's optically-thin ring system, and the first near-infrared observations of the rings over an extensive range of phase angles (0-120°). Similarities in the center-to-limb profiles of H⁺₃ and CH₄ emissions indicate that the H⁺₃ ionospheric density is solar-controlled outside of the auroral regions. The existence of jovian NH₃ absorption at 0.93 μm is confirmed. Himalia has a slightly reddish spectrum, an apparent absorption near 3 μm, and a geometric albedo of 0.06±0.01 at 2.2 μm (assuming an 85-km radius). If the 3-μm feature in Himalia's spectrum is eventually confirmed, it would be suggestive of the presence of water in some form, either free, bound, or incorporated in layer-lattice silicates. Finally, a mean ring-particle radius of 10 μm is found to be consistent with Mie-scattering models fit to VIMS near-infrared observations acquired over 0-120° phase angle.     

Contribution of storms to groundwater recharge in the semi‐arid region of Karnataka,India

This paper describes the application of environmental isotopes and injected tracer techniques in estimating the contribution of storms as well as annual precipitation to groundwater recharge and its circulation, in the semi‐arid region of Bagepalli, Kolar district, Karnataka. Environmental isotopes ²H, ¹⁸O and ³H were used to study the effect of storms on the hydrological system, and an isotope balance was used to compute the contribution of a storm component to the groundwater. Some of the groundwater samples collected during the post‐storm periods were highly depleted in stable isotope content with higher deuterium excess relative to groundwater from the pre‐storm periods. Significant variation in deuterium excess in groundwater from the same area, collected in two different periods, indicates the different origin of air masses. The estimated recharge component of a storm event of 600 mm to the groundwater was found to be in the range of 117–165 mm. There was no significant variation in environmental tritium content of post‐storm and pre‐storm groundwater, indicating the fast circulation of groundwater in the system. After completion of the environmental isotope work, an injected radiotracer ³H technique was applied to estimate the direct recharge of total precipitation to the groundwater. The estimated recharge to the groundwater is 33 mm of the 550 mm annual precipitation during 1992. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetic Field Geometry in `Red' and `Blue' BL Lacs

We compare the systematics of the magnetic field geometry in the `red' low-energy peaked BL Lacs (LBLs) and `blue' high-energy peaked BL Lacs (HBLs) using VLBI polarimetric images. The LBLs are primarily `radio-selected' BL Lacs and the HBLs are primarily `X-ray selected'. In contrast to the LBLs, which show predominantly transverse jet magnetic fields, the HBLs show predominantly longitudinal fields. Thus, while the SED peaks of core-dominated quasars, LBLs and HBLs form a sequence of increasing frequency, the magnetic field geometry does not follow an analogous sequence. We briefly investigate possible connections between the observed parsec-scale magnetic field structures and circular polarization measurements in the literature on various spatial scales.     

On the Spectral Index－Flux Density Relation for Large Samples of Radio Sources

We present new statistical results on the spectral index-flux density relation for large samples of radio sources using archival data of the most sensitive surveys, such as 6C, Miyun, WENSS, B3, NVSS, GB87. Instrumental selection effects and the completeness of the catalogs are discussed. Based on the spectral indices calculated for about 200 000 sources from the WENSS (327 MHz) and NVSS (1.4 GHz) catalogs, we obtained (1) The median spectral index increases from amed --0.9 toαmed --0.8 (Svαvα), while S327 flux densities decrease from 0.1 Jy down to 25mJy. The median spectral indices nearly show no variation within the error bars when the flux density is larger than 0.1 Jy. (2) A dependence of the fraction of ultra-steep spectrum sources (USS, -1.5 <α<-1.0), steep spectrum sources (SSS, -1.0 <α< -0.5) and flat spectrum sources (FSS, -0.5≤α≤0.0) is partly responsible for the spectral flattening. Another contribution to the spectral flattening comes from the variation of αmed of steep spectrum so