The extension of the Vøring margin (NE Atlantic) in case of different degrees of magmatic underplating

The nature of the Lower Crustal Body (LCB) underneath the western part of the Vøring margin (NE Atlantic) is studied with three scenarios of its extension history: (a) The LCB is Caledonian crust. (b) Half the LCB is Caledonian crust and the other half is emplaced as magmatic underplating in Late Palaeocene. (c) The entire LCB is emplaced as magmatic underplating. The extension of the margin transect is obtained with a procedure that accounts for the extension and thinning of the sedimentary basins. This procedure has been extended to include magmatic underplating. The lithosphere is modelled with deposition of sediments and four rift phases since the Early Devonian until today. The forward modelling is mass conservative and the present‐day thicknesses of the formations, crust, LCB and magmatic underplate are reproduced. The state of the lithosphere and the sedimentary basins are shown and compared at the beginning and at the end of the rift phases. It is concluded that the scenario with the LCB as only underplating requires an unrealistic amount of extension. A scenario where underplating accounts for maximum half the LCB is more likely. Two different interpretations for the Moho underneath the Utgard High are tested: one with a shallow base‐crust and another with a deeper and flatter base‐crust. Tectonic modelling of the two versions favours the latter interpretation. The modelling shows that the Late Jurassic rift phase was much more prominent than the Late Cretaceous and Palaeocene rift phase for all cases of underplating. A strong Late Jurassic rift phase is consistent with the accumulation space needed for the thick Cretaceous formations. There are no observations of magmatism from the Late Jurassic, although this rift phase is stronger than the Cretaceous and Palaeocene rift phase.     

Sources to the East Greenland Current and its contribution to the Denmark Strait Overflow

Data from the East Greenland Current in 2002 are evaluated using optimum multiparameter analysis. The current is followed from north of Fram Strait to the Denmark Strait Sill and the contributions of different source waters, in mass fractions, are deduced. From the results it can be concluded that, at least in spring 2002, the East Greenland Current was the main source for the waters found at the Denmark Strait Sill, contributing to the overflow into the North Atlantic. The East Greenland Current carried water masses from different source regions in the Arctic Ocean, the West Spitsbergen Current and the Greenland Sea. The results agree well with the known circulation of the western Nordic Seas but also add knowledge both to the quantification and to the mixing processes, showing the importance of the locally formed Greenland Sea Arctic Intermediate Water for the East Greenland Current and the Denmark Strait.     

Follow-up Ephemerides and the Accuracy of Preliminary Orbits

The accuracy of follow-up ephemerides and orbits of asteroids based on a short arc is investigated. The geocentric distance and its time derivative are the essential parameters determining the accuracy of predicted positions. The consequences for the optimal observing strategies are discussed. The node and inclination of the orbital plane are restricted enough to be useful for a preliminary sorting of candidates for linking.     

The alkali metal atmospheres on the Moon and Mercury: Explaining the stable exospheres by heavy Rydberg Matter clusters

Despite recent progress in the modeling of alkali atmospheres like those around the Moon and Mercury, many problems still exist. It is proposed that Rydberg Matter (RM) clusters containing Na and K atoms are the main part of the alkali atmospheres of the Moon and Mercury, forming large clouds. RM clusters are studied in the laboratory with laser fragmentation and laser spectroscopy methods. Due to the very large collision cross sections of Rydberg atoms and RM clusters, the atmospheres are not collision free, as normally assumed based on the low densities of free alkali atoms. The non-escaping radial density variation for the Na atoms, observed, e.g., on the Moon, and the Maxwellian velocity distributions observed on Mercury are caused by a true atmosphere with collisional equilibration; this process is not possible in an exosphere. Fast alkali atoms are released from the RM clusters already at large heights by solar photons and charged particle impact. The kinetic temperatures derived for the atmospheres agree with the quantized energy release. The cluster model predicts that the rate of loss from the surface is much smaller than for a purely atomic model, since the transient storage is in the RM cluster form in the atmosphere and not at the surface. The conductance of the atmosphere is of the order of 100 S due to the facile collisional ionization of the RM clusters. The apparent depletion of K in the atmosphere of Mercury is explained.     

Discrimination of pore fluid and lithology of a well in X Field,Niger Delta,Nigeria

Quantitative rock physics analyses were used to determine the lithology and pore fluid of a reservoir in the Niger Delta. Inaccurate prediction of lithology and pore fluid results in the inaccurate determination of other petrophysical properties and parameters such as porosity, permeability, and net pay. This research is to predict lithology and pore fluid using rock physics analysis. However, reservoir zones were also predicted. Density, compressional wave velocity, and shear wave velocity logs were used as input to calculate elastic parameters such as velocity ratio, Poisson’s ratio, and bulk modulus. The calculated velocity ratio log was used to differentiate between sand and shale. Poisson’s ratio and velocity ratio using Goodway interpretation template were carried out and used to delineate pore fluid content, gas sand, oil sand, and sandstone formation from crossplot analysis.     

Diffuse interstellar bands (DIB): co-planar doubly excited He and metal atoms embedded in Rydberg Matter

The interpretation of the more than 300 diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) is one of the most long-standing problems in interstellar spectra since the two first bands were reported in 1921. We now predict the frequencies of 260 diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) using the Rydberg Matter model we have developed previously. These transitions involve mainly He atoms, but other two-electron atoms like Ca and other metals can take part in the absorption processes. Approximately 70% of the total intensity of the DIBs is due to absorption in doubly excited states and 30% in singly excited He atoms. The doubly excited states are in inverted states while the He atoms are thermal. The possibilities to observe DIBs in the UV and NIR ranges are discussed and band positions are predicted.