Expected and observed late giant star counts in the Milky Way bulge

In this paper, late M giants star counts in the Milky Way central bulge are compared with those expected from the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs surface brightness distributions.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the U.S. National Science Foundation.     

Extreme surface and near-bottom currents in the northwest Atlantic

This study presents a methodology for estimating extreme current speeds from numerical model results using extremal analysis techniques. This method is used to estimate the extreme near-surface and near-bottom current speeds of the northwest Atlantic Ocean with 50-year return periods from 17?years of model output. The non-tidal currents produced by a three-dimensional ocean circulation model for the 1988?C2004 period were first used to estimate and map the 17-year return period extreme current speeds at the surface and near the bottom. Extremal analysis techniques (i.e., fitting the annual maxima to the Type I probability distribution) are used to estimate and map the 50-year extreme current speeds. Tidal currents are dominant in some parts of the northwest Atlantic, and a Monte Carlo-based methodology is developed to take into account the fact that large non-tidal extrema may occur at different tidal phases. The inclusion of tidal currents in this way modifies the estimated 50-year extreme current speeds, and this is illustrated along several representative transects and depth profiles. Seasonal variations are examined by calculating the extreme current speeds for fall-winter and spring?Csummer. Finally, the distribution of extreme currents is interpreted taking into account (1) variability about the time-mean current speeds, (2) wind-driven Ekman currents, and (3) flow along isobaths.     

Juvenile contribution of the Neoproterozoic Rio Negro Magmatic Arc (Ribeira Belt,Brazil): Implications for Western Gondwana amalgamation

The ca. 790–600 Ma Rio Negro Complex (RNC) of the Ribeira belt (Brazil) consists of a plutonic portion of a magmatic arc built by the E-vergent subduction of the ESE border of the São Francisco paleoplate during the amalgamation of Western Gondwana.The plutonic series comprises low- to medium-K granitoids (ca. 790–620 Ma) and high-K granitoids and shoshonite rocks (ca. 610–605). The age span of 185 m.y. is suggestive of a long history of arc-related magmatism, continuously or not in time. The Nd isotopic signatures of the RNC consist of εNd(t) ratios from ? 3 to + 5 for the medium-K series shoshonite series and from ? 14 to ? 3 for the younger high-K group. This time-dependent trend of Nd isotopes is indicative of progressive maturity of the arc over time. The same evolution is indicated by Sr data, as the medium-K rocks have ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratios < 0.705 while the high-K rocks yield values between 0.705 and 0.710. The predominance of intermediate rocks over mafic ones suggests an initial intra-oceanic to transitional stage, possibly developed in a distal portion of a passive margin, such as the Japanese arc, evolving to a more developed, differentiated felsic rock associations.The role of transform fault zones, such as the Luanda shear zone, is emphasized in order to explain the consumption of a wide oceanic plate in the inner portion of Western Gondwana.     

西南天山前陆盆地侏罗纪-白垩纪盆山格局——来自碎屑锆石年代学的证据

目前对天山地区,特别是天山南缘中生代盆山格局认识尚存分歧。本文着眼于侏罗纪-白垩纪这一盆山演化关键阶段,利用碎屑锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年法对西南天山前陆盆地康苏剖面中侏罗统杨叶组、下白垩统克孜勒苏群沉积开展物源分析。发现中侏罗统杨叶组碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄分布于369~2687 Ma间,基本分布在369~404 Ma(约占4%)、418~501 Ma(约占19%)和544~2687 Ma(约占77%)3个范围;下白垩统克孜勒苏群碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄分布于243~2820 Ma间,集中于253~414 Ma(约占35%)、423~489 Ma(约占27%)和668~2820 Ma(约占37%)3个范围。中侏罗统碎屑锆石年龄分布范围广,各年龄组分均较突显,反映中侏罗世西南天山前缘流域体系宽广,天山内各主要源区均得到沟通,物源范围广阔。下白垩统克孜勒苏群锆石年龄分布明显集中,反映早白垩世西南天山前缘源区范围有所缩小。西南天山前缘与库车前陆盆地的物源构成在中侏罗世存在一定差异,而在早白垩世呈现相似特征。包括西南天山前陆盆地在内的天山南缘或于早白垩世经历一期小规模构造反转,导致山-盆构造分异与抬升-剥蚀增强。