Rough water as a spawning stimulus in some Trochid and Turbinid gastropods

Adults of three species of common intertidal gastropods, Melagraphia aethiops, Zediloma atrovirens, and Lunella smaragda, were collected from Waitemata Harbour, Auckland (36° 51 S, 174° 47 E) and brought to the laboratory, where several methods of artificial spawning were attempted throughout the year. The one successful method, involving vigorous water movement around ripe adults, induced them to release gametes during their respective spawning seasons, and was equally effective in the natural habitat. Larval stages were found in the plankton only during periods of on‐shore wind speeds greater than 10 knots, with which their presence was correlated, rather than with tides, lunar cycles, or sea temperatures.     

Structural Setting of Strong Earthquakes in the Huabei Area of China

— Using P and S arrival times, which occurred within the Huabei seismic network, we carried out a tomographic inversion and compared results with the earthquake catalogue of the last 1000?years in the area. The results are as follows:¶1) The hypocenters of most of the strong shocks are distributed in the transitional zones between high- and low-velocity areas in the crust, especially at edges of high-velocity blocks.¶2) Strong shocks predominantly lie above low-velocity blocks, or in transitional zones between low- and high-velocity areas, in the lower crust.¶3) The tectonic settings for the Tangshan and the Sanhe-Pingu earthquakes are similar. Both are not known near large fault belts, and in zones with a sharp lateral velocity gradient.¶4) The Ninghe, Tangshan and Luanxia earthquakes are located in high-velocity blocks that differ in size and depth. This difference can explain the focal depth distribution of the Tangshan earthquake sequence, i.e., earthquakes are shallower in the northeastern Luanxian area but deeper in the southwestern Ninghe area.     

Origin of flooding water through hydrogeochemical identification,the Buenos Aires plain,Argentina

Hydrogeochemical behaviour of samples of surface and groundwater collected on a cross-section from Mendoza to the Buenos Aires provinces was studied based on chemical trends, mass balance and water mixing. Hydrogeochemical modelling included major, minor elements as well as stable isotopes (deuterium and 18-O). The area investigated is located in the “Médanos Longitudinales” (longitudinal dunes) of the northwest of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. The study area is subject to alternating flooding and drought. Rainfall and surface water subsequently transferred by rivers, canals and lagoons have been usually considered responsible for local flooding. For this study, origins of excess water were investigated using physical and chemical characteristics of the water involved. The prevalence of groundwater inflow to rainfall events was proposed based on data interpretation. Groundwater influence of flows of local and intermediate nature were defined and the importance of recharge, transit and discharge zones was highlighted. Lagoon floodwater, as well as groundwater from observation wells and production boreholes, show components of intermediate origin. Regional recharge water was identified in Mendoza and San Luis provinces. Their discharge zone was inferred to be located beyond the Buenos Aires province.     

The IGS VTEC maps: a reliable source of ionospheric information since 1998

The International GNSS Service (IGS) Working Group on Ionosphere was created in 1998. Since then, the Scientific community behind IGS, in particular CODE, ESA, JPL and UPC, have been continuosly contributing to reliable IGS combined vertical total electron content (VTEC) maps in both rapid and final schedules. The details on how these products are being generated, performance numbers, proposed improvement as far as VTEC evolution trends during near one Solar Cycle, are summarized in this paper. The confirmation of (1) the good performance of the IGS combined VTEC maps, and (2) the characteristic VTEC variability periods, are two main results of this work.     

Role of the Radiation Factor in Global Climatic Events of the Late Holocene

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - On the basis of calculations of insolation and insolation characteristics, taking into account changes in solar activity, the causes of global climatic...     

Fattening of wild short‐finned eels,Anguilla Australis schmidtii Phillipps

Short‐finned wild eels fed an artificial diet containing either a low (5%) or a high (20%) oil content were found to increase their mass by an average of more than 30% after a 34‐day feeding period; the lipid content of the eels’ muscle was also increased from about 10% to around 20%.     

Robertson-Walker Lyttleton-Bondi universe with cosmological constant

It is shown that contortion and gravity are not interacting in the lowest possible order. The most convenient pairs of materials in the new Eötvös' experiments are also proposed.     

Rapid XRD determination of the chrysotile/lizardite ratios in asbestos-bearing serpentinites

Summary The quantitative XRD determination of the most common serpentinite minerals, e.g. lizardite and chrysotile, is hampered by strongly overlapping reflections. Reconnaissance investigations indicated that the reflections 204 of lizardite and 008 of chrysotile are best suited for quantitative XRD. These lines are not interferred by other minerals such as brucite, magnesite, chlorite or talc, which are common in serpentinites. A calibration curve for the determination of the chrysotile/lizardite ratios in natural serpentinites has been constructed by means of synthetically prepared chrysotile/lizardite standards. Using this method serpentinites of the Msauli Chrysotile Asbestos Mine, South Africa, were investigated for their relative chrysotile contents. It was found, that the total amount of chrysotile in the ore zone is considerably higher than the amount of extractable chrysotile asbestos fibre.

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Die röntgenographische Bestimmung der Chrysotil/Lizardit-Verhältnisse in asbesthaltigen Serpentiniten

Zusammenfassung Die quantitative röntgenographische Bestimmung der beiden häufigsten Serpentinminerale, Lizardit und Chrysotil, ist wegen der Überlagerung ihrer stärksten Reflexe erschwert. Aufgrund von Voruntersuchungen konnte jedoch festgestellt werden, daß die Reflexe 204 von Lizardit und 008 von Chrysotil für die quantitative Bestimmung geeignet sind. Diese Reflexe werden nicht überlagert von denen anderer häufig in Serpentiniten vorkommender Minerale, wie z.B. Brucit, Magnesit, Chlorit oder Talk. Eine Eichkurve zur Bestimmung der Chrysotil/Lizardit-Verhältnisse in natürlichen Serpentiniten wurde mit Hilfe synthetisch hergestellter Standardmischungen aufgestellt. Serpentinite der Msauli Chrysotilasbest Mine, Südafrika, wurden aufgrund der hier vorgestellten Methoden auf ihren relativen Chrysotilanteil untersucht. Es ergab sich, daß der totale Gehalt an Chrysotil in der erzführenden Zone deutlich größer ist als der Gehalt an ausbringbaren Chrysotilasbestfasern.

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With 4 Figures