Approach to Mountain Hazards in Tibet, China

Tibet is located at the southwest boundary of China. It is the main body of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the highest and the youngest plateau in the world. Owing to complicated geology, Neo-tectonic movements, geomorphology, climate and plateau environment, various mountain hazards, such as debris flow, flash flood, landslide, collapse, snow avalanche and snow drifts, are widely distributed along the Jinsha River (the upper reaches of the Yangtze River), the Nu River and the Lancang River in the east, and the Yarlungzangbo River, the Pumqu River and the Poiqu River in the south and southeast of Tibet. The distribution area of mountain hazards in Tibet is about 589,000 km^2, 49.3% of its total territory. In comparison to other mountain regions in China, mountain hazards in Tibet break out unexpectedly with tremendously large scale and endanger the traffic lines, cities and towns, farmland, grassland, mountain environment, and make more dangers to the neighboring countries, such as Nepal, India, Myanmar and Bhutan. To mitigate mountain hazards, some suggestions are proposed in this paper, such as strengthening scientific research, enhancing joint studies, hazards mitigation planning, hazards warning and forecasting, controlling the most disastrous hazards and forbidding unreasonable human exploring activities in mountain areas.     

Chandrasekhar's perturbation method-oriented theories up to third order for uniformly and differentially-rotating polytropic stars: Error-removing techniques

In this paper we analyse error-removing techniques used without sufficient theoretical support in a previous paper, where Chandrasekhar's higher-order perturbation theories were developed for either uniformly or differentially-rotating polytropic stars.     

Ultraviolet reflectance properties of asteroids

An analysis of the UV spectra of 28 asteroids obtained with the Internal Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite is presented. The spectra lie within the range 2100–3200 Å. Our results are examined in terms of both asteroid classification and of current ideas concerning the surface mineralogy of asteroids. For all the asteroids examined, UV reflectivity declines approximately linearly toward shorter wavelengths. In general, the same taxonomic groups are seen in the UV as in the visible and IR, although there is some evidence for asteroids with anomalous UV properties and for UV subclasses within the S class. No mineral absorption features are reported of strength similar to the strongest features in the visible and IR regions, but a number of shallow absorptions do occur and may provide valuable information on the surface composition of many asteroids.     

Spectra of simulated lightning on Venus,Jupiter, and Titan

Laser-induced plasmas in various gas mixtures were used to simulate lightning in other planetary atmospheres. This method of simulation has the advantage of producing short-duration, high-temperature plasmas free from electrode contamination. The laser-induced plasma discharges in air are shown to accurately simulate terrestrial lightning and can be expected to simulate lightning spectra in other planetary atmospheres. Spectra from 240 to 880 nm are presented for simulated lightning in the atmospheres of Venus, Earth, Jupiter, and Titan. The spectra of lightning on the other giant planets are expected to be similar to that of Jupiter because the atmospheres of these planets are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. The spectra of Venus and Titan show substantial amounts of radiation due to the presence of carbon atoms and ions and show CN Violet radiation. Although small amounts of CH₄ and NH₃ are present in the Jovian atmosphere, only emission from hydrogen and helium is observed. Most differences in the spectra can be understood in terms of the elemental ratios of the gas mixtures. Consequently, observations of the spectra of lightning on other planets should provide in situ estimates of the atmospheric and aerosol composition in the cloud layers in which lightning is occuring. In particular, the detection of inert gases such as helium should be possible and the relative abundance of these gases compared to major constituents might be determined.     

Results of Photometric and Polarimetric Observations of the Fuor V1057 Cyg from the Time of an Outburst to the Present

Observations of the brightness, color, and polarization of the fuor V1057 Cyg over more than 30 years are presented and briefly discussed. Variability of the linear polarization was found.     

Resonant oscillations in sunspot umbrae

The Uchida and Sakurai (1975), Thomas and Scheuer (1982), and Scheuer and Thomas (1981) theory of umbral oscillations as resonant modes of magneto-acoustic-gravity waves is re-examined. For an isothermal atmosphere it is found that the quasi-Alfvén approximation is not a good approximation to the complete linearized wave equations. The new results presented here show that 3 min umbral oscillation periods are fairly insensitive to magnetic field strength above some critical value. For a detailed model umbra (Thomas and Scheuer, 1982) the calculations presented here show that 3 min umbral oscillations do not depend to any great extent on the level of forcing of the oscillations for those magnetic field strengths which are observed in sunspot umbras. Modes outside the 3 min range appear, as the lowest mode, as the level of forcing is placed at deeper and deeper levels in the solar atmosphere.     

Ridge belts: Are they compressional or extensional structures?

Today one of the main questions standing before geology of Venus is comprehension of tectonic style on surface of this planet. The observed ridge belts on the images of the radar surveyors of Venera-15 and -16 are related to one aspect of a solution of this problem. In general there are two views on the origin of the ridge belts on the planet. Some of the investigators consider them as a result of compression while others as extension. These discrepancies are connected with uncertainties of interpretations of the major structures of these belts, i.e., the ridges. This paper represents a review of evidence in favor of extension and compression observed within the ridge belts. Moreover it discusses the major speculative ideas and models of the ridge belts origin. The supporters of a ridge formation by extension suggest that these linear features are results of crust cracking and intruding of magma along these cracks so they propose that the ridge belts on the plains of Venus can represent analogies of the spreading zones on Earth. Other investigators assume that the ridge of belts represent structures of folding and or thrust faulting due to the tectonic compression environment so the ridge belts can be analogies of the orogenic belts and subduction zones on Earth. So the question of the ridge belts' origin remains controversial and for a solution, set one's hope on the Magellan mission.'Geology and Tectonics of Venus', special issue edited by Alexander T. Basilevsky (USSR Acad. of Sci., Moscow), James W. Head (Brown University, Providence), Gordon H. Pettengill (MIT. Cambridge, Massachusetts) and R. S. Saunders (J.P.L., Pasadena).