Geochemical evidence for the ophiolitic nature of the gabbros,gabbroanorthosites, and ultramafic rocks of the Gerbikan fragment of the Baladek Massif of the southeastern framing of the North Asian craton

The Baladek Massif represents a tectonic block located at the boundary between the SE framing of the North Asian craton and the fold structures of the Galam terrane of the Mongol-Okhotsk fold belt. According to the existing concepts, the rocks of this massif are regarded as Precambrian complexes of the aforementioned craton. This paper reports the results of studying the fragment of the Baladek Massif in the Gerbikan River basin. New geochemical data obtained on the gabbros, gabbroanorthosites, and ultramafic rocks testify to their similarity with typical ophiolite complexes. An underlying complex of metamorphic ultrabasic rocks, a layered complex of pyroxenites and “cumulate” gabbros, gabbroanorthosites, and a complex of isotropic gabbros were distinguished within this fragment. It is highly possible that the basic volcanic rocks and jaspers of the Silurian-Lower Devonian sequences of the Galam segment of the Mongol-Okhotsk fold belt also belong to the inferred ophiolite complex.     

3d transition metal L-edge X-ray absorption studies of the dichalcogenides of Fe, Co and Ni

The X-ray absorption spectra of the transition metal L_3,2-edges of the dichalcogenides FeS₂ (pyrite), FeSe₂, FeTe₂, CoS₂, CoSe₂, CoTe₂, NiS₂, NiSe₂ and NiTe₂ have been studied. These spectra are compared with theoretical simulations make using the atomic multiplet approach assuming on octahedral site for the metal atoms. The Ni spectra can be closely simulated using this approach but the Fe and Co spectra show less good fits to the experimental data. The reasons for this and its implications for the use of L-edge spectra in the study of such minerals are discussed in terms of the covalency and the ground states of the compounds; these results indicate the mixing of the ground states increases in the order Ni<Co<Fe.     

Characterization of permineralized kerogen from an Eocene fossil fern

The processes of organic maturation that occur during the permineralization of fossils and the detailed chemistry of the resulting products are incompletely understood. Primary among such processes is the geochemical alteration of biological matter to produce kerogen, such as that which comprises the cell walls of the fossils studied here: essentially unmetamorphosed, Eocene plant axes (specimens of the fossil fern Dennstaedtiopsis aerenchymata cellularly permineralized in cherts of the Clarno Formation of Oregon and the Allenby Formation of British Columbia). The composition and molecular structure of the kerogen that comprises the cell walls of such axes were analyzed using ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy (UV–Raman), solid state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹³C NMR) and pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (py–GC–MS).Cellularly well-preserved fern axes from both geologic units exhibit similar overall molecular structure, being composed primarily of networks of aromatic rings and polyene chains that, unlike more mature kerogens, lack large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) constituents. The cell walls of the Allenby Formation specimens are, however, less altered than those of the Clarno chert, exhibiting more prevalent oxygen-containing and alkyl functional groups and comprising a greater fraction of rock mass.The study represents the first demonstration of the effectiveness (and limitations) of the combined use of UV–Raman, ¹³C NMR and py–GC–MS for the analysis of the kerogenous cell walls of chert-permineralized vascular plants.     

Energy release in a prominence-loaded flaring loop

Zaitsev and Stepanov (1991, 1992) proposed a mechanism for energy release in solar flares that involves the intrusion of dense prominence material into a coronal loop. The resulting non-steady state conditions are claimed to increase the resistance of the loop by 8–10 orders of magnitude. It is shown here that the dramatic increase in resistance calculated by Zaitsev and Stepanov depends on a gross overestimate of the of the magnitude of the magnetic force in the loop prior to the flare trigger. A more realistic estimate of the increase due to the mechanism suggests that it is by no more than about four orders of magnitude. As a consequence, the prominence-loading mechanism does not provide a tenable flare model.     

Evolving Photospheric Flux Concentrations and Filament Dynamic Changes

We analyze the role of weak photospheric flux concentrations that evolve in a filament channel, in the triggering of dynamic changes in the shape of a filament. The high polarimetric sensitivity of THEMIS allowed us to detect weak flux concentrations (few Gauss) associated with the filament development. The synoptic instruments (MDI, SOLIS) even if their sensitivity is much less than THEMIS were useful to follow any subsequent strengthening of these flux concentrations after their identification in the THEMIS magnetograms. We found that (1) the northern part of the filament develops an Hα barb at the same time that weak minority polarity elements develop near a plage; (2) a section in the southern part of the Hα filament gradually disappears and later reforms at the same time that several mixed-polarity magnetic elements appear, then subsequently cancel or spread away from each other. These changes correspond to increases in EUV emission, as observed by TRACE, EIT, and CDS. This suggests that the plasma is temporarily heated along the filament spine. An idealized sequence of force-free models of this filament channel, based on plasma-supporting magnetic dips occurring in the windings of a very weakly twisted flux tube, naturally explains the evolution of its southern part as being due to changes in the topology of the coronal magnetic field as the photospheric flux concentrations evolve.     

Interferometric imaging II:

Non-redundant arrays offer a promising technique for producing diffraction-limited solar images. Pairs of two-dimensional non-redundant arrays yield sufficient information to recover the phases of all the spatial frequencies to which they respond. The algorithms to select and test such pairs are given and applied to a particular example.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Eclipse of radio emission on 7 March, 1970 at 10 cm wavelength from the active region associated with McMath plage 10 618

Radio emission of 10 cm from the whole disk was monitored during the eclipse of 7 March, 1970 by the Aerospace San Fernando Observatory and AFCRL Sagamore Hill Solar Radio Observatory. For both, the active region associated with sunspot 17 774, McMath region 10 618, was occulted. At Sagamore Hill the entire region was occulted. At SFO only the southern half of the sunspot group and the hydrogen plage southeast of the group was occulted. This region produced an importance class 1N flare and 10 cm burst beginning at 1601 UT and was enhanced about 15 flux units above the mean value of 190 units at onset.The Sagamore Hill data indicate the region was about 3.8 and contributed about 0.21 of the total radiation from the disk. The SFO data gave about 5.4 for the size of the southern half of the region and showed that about 0.20 of the total radiation came from there. Radiation came primarily from the hydrogen plage southeast of the major spot of the group. The hydrogen plage northwest of the group did not contribute significantly. Although the small flare occurred in this region, it did not contribute more than 0.04 of the total (0.20 of the active region) at occultation of region 10 618.