Mineral magnetic and physical properties of surficial sediments and onshore samples from the southern basin of Lake Baikal, Siberia

Results of lithostratigraphic and mineral magnetic analysis of two surficial sediment cores (21 cm and 45 cm in length) collected from the Southern basin of Lake Baikal at a water depth of 1390 m, are presented. The sediments have been measured for a wide range of mineral magnetic parameters in order to assess their value in the identification of turbidite layers. Particle size and geochemical data are also presented and these explain some of the down core variations in magnetic mineralogy. It is suggested that changes in the particle size frequency distributions down core may be related to fossil diatom shells. One of the cores has been dated using ²¹⁰Pb. The sediment cores were cross-correlated using low frequency magnetic susceptibility (f) and these cores can also be correlated with a nearby core collected earlier in 1992. Changes in the magnetic parameters of lf, IRMs and HIRM₂₁₀ suggest that there are significant changes in the concentration of ferrimagnetic minerals in the sediment cores, indicating changing sediment sources and/or increasing concentrations of spheroidal carbonaceous particles and the dissolution of minerals through reduction below the oxidised layer within the sediment core.     

An upper limit on the aperture separation of ion drift meters

An upper limit has been calculated on the effective aperture separation or detector thickness of ion drift meters of two fundamental types. The limit applies to meters which compare currents collected by detectors with different view directions at the same retarding potential and to meters which measure the entire thermal ion distribution function. For both types, a single scanned detector may be employed instead of multiple detectors, in which case the limit applies to twice the radius of curvature of the path followed by the detector aperture during a scan, (i.e. the diameter of a spinning payload). The limit was found to be important in two cases. First, in the F region on spacecraft with stringent electrostatic cleanliness requirements, the 10% error limit was found to be 40 cm. Second, in the E region, the limit was found to be 1 cm.Originally submitted to the journalSpace Science Instrumentation.Deceased.     

Hydro-hypsometric analysis of tropical river basins,Southwest Coast of India using geospatial technology

The key aspect in planning and management of water resources is to analyze the runoff potential and erosion status of the river basin. For the detailed investigation of hydrological response, freely available Cartosat-1 (IRS-P5) data was used for the preparation of digital elevation model (DEM). The runoff potential and type of erosive process of 22 river basins originating in the global biodiversity hotspot of Western Ghats, was inferred through hypsometric analysis. Several parameters like Hypsometric integral (HI), maximum concavity (Eh), coordinates of slope inflection point (I) given by a* and h* and normalized height of hypsometric curve (h) were extracted from the hypsometric curves and used for understanding the hydrological responses. From the hypsometric curves, the landform evolution processes were inferred. Contribution of diffusive and fluvial processes in slope degradation of the river basins was understood. Basins with lesser area (<100 km²) were found to have a positive correlation between hypsometric integral and basin area, whereas for large basins no such correlation exists. Based on the study, river basins can be prioritized for the appropriate conservation measures.     

Influence of vegetation change on watershed hydrology: implications for paleoclimatic interpretation of lacustrine δ18O records

Stratigraphic shifts in the oxygen isotopic (¹⁸O) and trace element (Mg and Sr) composition of biogenic carbonate from tropical lake sediment cores are often interpreted as a proxy record of the changing relation between evaporation and precipitation (E/P). Holocene ¹⁸O and Mg and Sr records from Lakes Salpetén and Petén Itzá, Guatemala were apparently affected by drainage basin vegetation changes that influenced watershed hydrology, thereby confounding paleoclimatic interpretations. Oxygen isotope values and trace element concentrations in the two lowland lakes were greatest between ~ 9000 and 6800 ¹⁴C-yr BP, suggesting relatively high E/P, but pollen data indicate moist conditions and extensive forest cover in the early Holocene. The discrepancy between pollen- and geochemically-inferred climate conditions may be reconciled if the high early Holocene ¹⁸O and trace element values were controlled principally by low surface runoff and groundwater flow to the lake, rather than high E/P. Dense forest cover in the early Holocene would have increased evapotranspiration and soil moisture storage, thereby reducing delivery of meteoric water to the lakes. Carbonate ¹⁸O and Mg and Sr decreased between 7200 and 3500 ¹⁴C-yr BP in Lake Salpetén and between 6800 and 5000 ¹⁴C-yr BP in Lake Petén Itzá. This decline coincided with palynologically documented forest loss that may have led to increased surface and groundwater flow to the lakes. In Lake Salpetén, minimum ¹⁸O values (i.e., high lake levels) occurred between 3500 and 1800 ¹⁴C-yr BP. Relatively high lake levels were confirmed by ¹⁴C-dated aquatic gastropods from subaerial soil profiles ~ 1.0–7.5 m above present lake stage. High lake levels were a consequence of lower E/P and/or greater surface runoff and groundwater inflow caused by human-induced deforestation.     

Radio emission from stars projected on the galactic cluster A3487

Radio stars are identified optically with bright stars located in the direction of the cluster A3487 (RA(J) = 11^h31^m58^s, DEC(J) = −31°11’34".8) with an accuracy determined by the refraction of radio waves in the interstellar medium in this direction of the sky. Within an area of 1 sq. degree, 60% of the strong radio sources with P > 0.004 Jy are identified with stars brighter than 10 m.     

Kinematics of B-F Stars as a Function of Their Dereddened Color from Gaia and PCRV Data

Parallaxes with an accuracy better than 10% and proper motions from the Gaia DR1 TGAS catalogue, radial velocities from the Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities (PCRV), accurate Tycho-2 photometry, theoretical PARSEC, MIST, YaPSI, BaSTI isochrones, and the most accurate reddening and interstellar extinction estimates have been used to analyze the kinematics of 9543 thin-disk B-F stars as a function of their dereddened color. The stars under consideration are located on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram relative to the isochrones with an accuracy of a few hundredths of a magnitude, i.e., at the level of uncertainty in the parallax, photometry, reddening, extinction, and the isochrones themselves. This has allowed us to choose the most plausible reddening and extinction estimates and to conclude that the reddening and extinction were significantly underestimated in some kinematic studies of other authors. Owing to the higher accuracy of TGAS parallaxes than that of Hipparcos ones, the median accuracy of the velocity components U, V, W in this study has improved to 1.7 km s^?1, although outside the range ?0.1 ^m < (B _T ? V _T )₀ < 0.5 ^m the kinematic characteristics are noticeably biased due to the incompleteness of the sample. We have confirmed the variations in the mean velocity of stars relative to the Sun and the stellar velocity dispersion as a function of their dereddened color known from the Hipparcos data. Given the age estimates for the stars under consideration from the TRILEGAL model and the Geneva–Copenhagen survey, these variations may be considered as variations as a function of the stellar age. A comparison of our results with the results of other studies of the stellar kinematics near the Sun has shown that selection and reddening underestimation explain almost completely the discrepancies between the results. The dispersions and mean velocities from the results of reliable studies fit into a ±2 km s^?1 corridor, while the ratios σ _V /σ _U and σ _W /σ _U fit into ±0.05. Based on all reliable studies in the range ?0.1 ^m < (B _T ? V _T )₀ < 0.5^m, i.e., for an age from 0.23 to 2.4 Gyr, we have found: W_⊙ = 7.15 km s^?1, \({\sigma _U} = 16.0{e^{1.29({B_T} - {V_T})o}}\), \({\sigma _V} = 10.9{e^{1.11({B_T} - {V_T})o}}\), \({\sigma _W} = 6.8{e^{1.46({B_T} - {V_T})o}}\), the stellar velocity dispersions in km s^?1 are proportional to the age in Gyr raised to the power β _U = 0.33, β _V = 0.285, and β _W = 0.37.     

Infrared observations of eight X-ray sources from Galactic plane surveys

Increasing the identification completeness of sources from new X-ray sky surveys is a necessary condition for further works on analyzing the formation and long-term evolution of star systems in our Galaxy. Infrared observations of several sources selected from Galactic plane surveys as candidates for low-mass X-ray binaries with the IRSF telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory are presented. The infrared fluxes have been reliably measured from five of the eight sources (4U 1556-60, 4U 1708-40, AX J165901-4208, IGR J16287-5021, IGR J17350-2045, AX J171922-3703, SAX J1712.6-3739, 4U 1705-32). One of the objects (AX J165901-4208) may be a candidate for symbiotic X-ray binaries, i.e., binaries in which the companion of a relativistic object is a giant star. The distances have been estimated for three sources and the orbital periods have been estimated for two.