Hydrothermal sulfide deposits of the Lucky Strike vent field, Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Several hydrothermal sulfide structures were sampled using Mir manned submersibles in the relatively shallow Lucky Strike vent field, Mid-Atlantic Ridge; the bathymetric position of these structures varies by approximately 100 m. The investigation of the chemical and mineral compositions of hydrothermal ore occurrences led to the conclusion that the initial high-temperature ore-bearing solution ascending toward the surface became unstable and experienced phase separation beneath the ocean floor. The phase separation was responsible for the bathymetric control of hydrothermal ore formation in the ocean.     

Early Proterozoic syn-and postcollision granites in the northern part of the Baikal fold area

Early Proterozoic granitoids are of a limited occurrence in the Baikal fold area being confined here exclusively to an arcuate belt delineating the outer contour of Baikalides, where rocks of the Early Precambrian basement are exposed. Geochronological and geochemical study of the Kevakta granite massif and Nichatka complex showed that their origin was related with different stages of geological evolution of the Baikal fold area that progressed in diverse geodynamic environments. The Nichatka complex of syncollision granites was emplaced 1908 ± 5 Ma ago, when the Aldan-Olekma microplate collided with the Nechera terrane. Granites of the Kevakta massif (1846 ± 8 Ma) belong to the South Siberian postcollision magmatic belt that developed since ～1.9 Ga during successive accretion of microplates, continental blocks and island arcs to the Siberian craton. In age and other characteristics, these granites sharply differ from granitoids of the Chuya complex they have been formerly attributed to. Accordingly, it is suggested to divide the former association of granitoids into the Chuya complex proper of diorite-granodiorite association ～2.02 Ga old (Neymark et al., 1998) with geochemical characteristics of island-arc granitoids and the Chuya-Kodar complex of postcollision S-type granitoids 1.85 Ga old. The Early Proterozoic evolution of the Baikal fold area and junction zone with Aldan shield lasted about 170 m.y. that is comparable with development periods of analogous structures in other regions of the world.     

青藏高原近地面层微气象学特征

利用1998年5月-7月在改则、当雄和昌都三测站获得的近地面层气象要素变化的观测资料，分析了青藏高原近地面层风速、温度和湿度日变化特征及廓线规律，发现高原近地面层微气象学特征具有自己的特点；同时还讨论了高原近地面层白天出现的逆湿现象。     

Variability of the photospheric radiation of active K-M dwarfs and their X-ray luminosities

Variability of the photospheric radiation of 40 (dKe-dMe) dwarfs in the solar neighborhood due to variations in the spottedness of their surfaces is analyzed based on the behavior of their mean annual brightnesses over long time intervals. The amplitudes and characteristic time scales of the variations of the mean annual brightness are taken to be indicators of photospheric activity and were used to infer the levels of photospheric activity in the stars studied. The influence of axial rotation on the development of cyclic activity in young red dwarfs and F-M main-sequence stars is analyzed. The durations and amplitudes of the photospheric variability of rapidly rotating (dK0e-dK5e) stars testifies to a higher level of photospheric activity among red dwarfs and solar-type stars. The X-ray luminosities of these stars grow with the amplitude of the variations of the mean annual brightness. However, this is not typical of rapidly rotating M dwarfs, for which the X-ray emission varies by more than two orders of magnitude, although their degrees of spottedness are all virtually the same. A linear relationship between the X-ray and bolometric luminosities is observed for young (dKe-dMe) stars, with their ratios log(L _x/L _bol) being about ?3. These properties can be used to determine whether a red dwarf is a young star or is already on the main sequence.     

Tracking recent recovery from eutrophication in a high arctic lake (Meretta Lake, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada) using fossil diatom assemblages

Meretta Lake (Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada) is a high arctic lake that received raw sewage for almost 50 years from the Canadian Department of Transport Base. The lake was sampled from 1968–72 during the International Biological Programme, as part of the Char Lake Project. As the number of users at the Transport Base declined throughout the 1990s, so too did the lake's nutrient levels, and Meretta Lake is now classified as oligotrophic. A previous diatom-based paleolimnological study revealed marked species assemblage shifts coincident with sewage inputs beginning in the late 1940s; however, because the core was taken at a time when nutrient levels were still relatively high (i.e., 1993), the diatom record did not yet track any signs of recovery. In this present study, we examined fossil diatom assemblages from a sediment core taken in 2001. Our results indicate a shift to the pre-impact diatom assemblages in the most recent sediments, indicating that the paleolimnological record is tracking the decreased nutrient inputs to this high arctic lake, and confirms that no significant lags exist in these largely ice-covered lakes.     

Numerical simulations of deformation and movement of blocks within North China in response to 1976 Tangshan earthquake

Using methods of discontinuous deformation analysis and finite element (DDA+FEM), this paper simulates dynamic processes of the Tangshan earthquake of 1976, which occurred in the northern North China where its internal blocks apparently interacted. Studies focus upon both the movement and deformation of the blocks, in particular, the Ordos block, and variations of stress states on the boundary faults. The Tangshan earthquake was composed of three events: slipping motions of NNE-striking major fault, NE-striking fault near the northeastern end of the NNE-striking fault, and NW-striking fault on the southeastern side of the NNE-striking fault. Compared with previous studies, our model yields a result that is more agreeable with the configuration of aftershock distributions. A number of data are presented, such as the principle stress field during the earthquake, contours of the maximum shear stress, the strike-slip deformation between blocks near the earthquake focus, time-dependent variations of slips of earthquake-triggered faulting, the maximum slip distance, and stress drops. These results are in accord with the earthquake source mechanism, basic parameters from earthquake wave study, macro-isoseismic line, observed horizontal displacement vectors, etc. The Tangshan earthquake exerted different influences on the adjacent blocks and boundary faults between them, thus resulting in differential movement and deformation. The Ordos block seems to have experienced the small-scale counterclockwise rotation and deformation, but its northeast part, bounded on the east by the Taihangshan and on the north by the Yanshan and Yinshan belts, underwent relatively stronger deformation. The Tangshan earthquake also changed the stress state of boundary faults of the North China, leading to an increase in shear stress and a decrease in normal stress in the NW-trending Zhangjiakou-Penglai fault through Tangshan City and the northern border faults of the Ordos block, and therefore raises the potential risk of earthquake occurrence. This result is supported by the facts that a series of Ms ≥ 6 earthquakes took place at the northern margin of the Ordos block after the Tangshan earthquake.     

The chemical composition of stars in the globular clusters M 10, M 12, and M 71

The abundances of 19 chemical elements in the atmospheres of five stars belonging to three globular clusters have been determined by applying the model-atmospheremethod to 430.0–790.0 nm spectra obtained with the échelle spectrometer of the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory. The abundances of silicon, calcium, iron-peak elements, copper, zinc, and neutron-capture elements follow the abundance patterns for halo stars. The abundance of sodium in M 10 giants provides evidence that different mixing mechanisms operate in halo and cluster stars or that light elements are enriched in different ways in the pre-stellar matter from which some globular clusters and halo stars were formed.     

The empirical Melchior laws and parametric excitation of the Chandler wobble

Models of the motion of the terrestrial reference frame with respect to an inertial frame can describe the motions of the Earth-Moon system, which are traditionally separated into precession, nutation, the polar motion, and rotation about the Earth’s axis. Existing theoretical models do not describe variations in the Earth-orientation parameters with the required accuracy, so that the current polar coordinates and duration of the day must be determined from observations. To improve theoretical models for the time dependence of the coordinates of the Earth’s pole, we examine the possible excitation of the Chandler wobble due to internal properties of the Earth-Moon system. A differential equation describing the parametric resonance in the Earth-Moon system is obtained for the first region of the parametric excitation. The solution of this equation analytically describes the finite amplitudes of the nonlinear conservative system. The theoretical results are compared with the empirical laws of Melchior deduced from observational data on the coordinates of the Earth’s pole.     

The chemically distinct nucleus and structure of the S0 galaxy NGC 80

The giant lenticular galaxy NGC 80, which is the brightest member of a rich group, possesses a central evolutionarily-distinct region: the stars in the nucleus and in a circumnuclear ring of radius 5″t–7″ have a mean age of only 7 Gyr, whereas the stellar population of the bulge is older than 10 Gyr. The nucleus of NGC 80 is also chemically distinct: it is a factor of 2–2.5 richer in metals than its immediate neighborhood and is characterized by a high magnesium-to-iron abundance ratio [Mg/Fe]≈+0.3. The global stellar disk of NGC 80 has a two-tiered structure: its outer part has an exponential scale length of 11 kpc and normal surface density, while the inner disk, which is also exponential and axisymmetric, is more compact and brighter. Although the two-tiered structure and the chemically distinct nucleus obviously have a common origin and owe their existence to some catastrophic restructuring of the protogalactic gaseous disk, the origin of this remains unclear, since the galaxy lacks any manifestations of perturbed morphology or triaxiality.