Declustering of Seismicity Flow: Statistical Analysis

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - The known methods for identifying the clusters of seismic events that are mainly formed by the aftershocks frequently include debatable initial assumptions...     

Hazards and Risks of Recreational Water Use: Vectors of International Studies. Effects of Recreation on Ecosystems and Biota

Water Resources - English-language publications on the assessment of hazards and risks in recreation water use are reviewed. The main themes and results of foreign studies into the effect of...     

Interdiffusion of NaSi—CaAl in peristerite

The ‘average’ interdiffusion coefficient ( \(\bar D\) ) for NaSi—CaAl exchange in plagioclase for the interval from An₀ to An₂₆ was estimated from experimentally determined homogenization times for peristerite exsolution lamellae. The average spacing between adjacent (unlike) lamellae is 554±77 Å. Dry heating in air at 1,100°C for 98 days produced no change in the exsolution microstructure; thus \(\bar D\) (dry)<10^?17 cm²/s. This limit is consistent with the recently reported ‘average’ \(\bar D\) (dry) values for the Huttenlocher interval (An_70–90) at this temperature. At 1.5 GPa with about 0.2 weight percent water added the ‘average’ diffusion coefficient from 1,100°C to 900°C is given by: \(\bar D\) (wet)=18 _?15 ⁺¹⁰⁸ (cm²/s) exp (?97±5 (kcal/mol)/RT), where R is the gas constant, and T is °K. This \(\bar D\) (wet) at 1,100°C is more than three orders of magnitude greater than \(\bar D\) (dry) for Na- and Ca-rich plagioclases.     

Luminescence dating of sand–loess sequences and response of Mu Us and Otindag sand fields (north China) to climatic changes

The sand–loess transition zone in north China is sensitive to climate change, and is an ideal place to investigate past environmental changes. However, past climate change at millennial–centennial timescales in this region has not been well reconstructed because of limited numerical dating. Alternations of sandy loam soils with aeolian sand layers in the Mu Us and Otindag sand fields, which lie along the sand–loess transition zone, indicate multiple intervals of dune activity and stability. This change is probably a response to variations of the East Asian monsoon climate during the late Quaternary. The single aliquot regeneration (SAR) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating protocol, which has been successfully applied to aeolian deposits worldwide, is applied to these two sand fields in this study. The OSL ages provide reliable constraints for reconstruction of past climate changes at suborbital timescale. Sections in both sand fields contain aeolian sand beds recording millennial‐scale episodes of dry climate and widespread dune activation, including episodes at about the same time as Heinrich Event 5 and the Younger Dryas in the North Atlantic region. These results demonstrate the potential of aeolian sediments in semi‐arid north China to record millennial‐scale climatic events, and also suggest that dry–wet climate variation at the desert margin in China may be linked to climatic change elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, through atmospheric circulation. This article was published online on 27 November 2008. An error was subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected (16 December 2008). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

雅鲁藏布中新生代深水沉积盆地形成和演化(Ⅰ)——喜马拉雅造山带沉积特征及演化

通过对喜马拉雅三叠纪到第三纪区域沉积特征分析,阐明了雅鲁藏布喜马拉雅特提斯造山带从裂谷—被动大陆边缘—前陆盆地的沉积盆地演化史。随着以雅鲁藏布带为代表的喜马拉雅特提斯打开,三叠纪到早侏罗世为特提斯早期裂开的大陆边缘裂谷盆地。早期裂谷中心部位不是现在大陆缝合线的雅鲁藏布一带,而在低分水岭带。晚侏罗世到早白垩世,雅鲁藏布江南测为典型被动大陆边缘,其沉积盆地沉降、海平面变化与沉积作用相吻合。晚白垩世到第三纪为前陆盆地演化阶段,从沉积作用可以识别出晚白垩世晚期为造山第一暮,第三纪初为第二幕。     

Abundances of carbon,nitrogen, oxygen,and other elements in the atmospheres of the giants 25 Mon and HR 7389

An analysis of high-resolution CCD spectra of the giant 25 Mon, which shows signs of metallicity, and the normal giant HR 7389 is presented. The derived effective temperatures, gravitational accelerations, and microturbulence velocities are T_eff = 6700 K, log g = 3.24, and ξ _t = 3.1 km/s for 25 Mon and T_eff = 6630 K, log g = 3.71, and ξ _t = 2.6 km/s for HR 7389. The abundances (log ε) of nine elements are determined: carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sodium, silicon, calcium, iron, nickel, and barium. The derived excess carbon abundances are 0.23 dex for 25 Mon and 0.16 dex for HR 7389. 25 Mon displays a modest (0.08 dex) oxygen excess, with the oxygen excess for HR 7389 being somewhat higher (0.15 dex). The nitrogen abundance is probably no lower than the solar value for both stars. The abundances of iron, sodium, calcium (for HR 7389), barium, and nickel exceed the solar values by 0.22–0.40 dex for both stars. The highest excess (0.62 dex) is exhibited by the calcium abundance for 25 Mon. Silicon displays a nearly solar abundance in both stars—small deficits of ?0.03 dex and ?0.07 dex for 25 Mon and HR 7389, respectively. No fundamental differences in the elemental abundances were found in the atmospheres of 25 Mon and HR 7389. Based on their T_eff and log g values, as well as theoretical calculations, A. Claret estimated the masses, radii, luminosities, and ages of 25 Mon (M/M_⊙ = 2.45, log(R/R_⊙) = 0.79, log(L/L_⊙) = 1.85, t = 5.3 × 10⁸ yr) and HR 7389 (M/M_⊙ = 2.36, log(R/R_⊙) = 0.50, log(L/L_⊙) = 1.24, t = 4.6 × 10⁸ yr), and also of the stars 20 Peg (M/M_⊙ = 2.36, log(R/R_⊙) = 0.73, log(L/L_⊙) = 1.79, t = 4.9 × 10⁸ yr) and 30 LMi (M/M_⊙ = 2.47, log(R/R_⊙) = 0.73, log(L/L_⊙) = 1.88, t = 4.8 × 10⁸ yr) studied by the author earlier.     

Red giants in the blue compact galaxy IZw18

Archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data have been used for the photometry of stars in blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies of the IZw18 system. Applying the spatial selection of stars, we have detected red giants, stars older than 1–2 Gyr, in the galaxies. These red giants have allowed the distance to IZw18 to be reliably determined for the first time: D = 13.9 ± 1.2 Mpc. The presence of old stars in the galaxies of the IZw18 system refutes the hypothesis about the observed primary star formation in these galaxies.     

Predicted interplanetary distribution of Lyman-σ intensity and polarization

Our current understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of interplan etary neutral hydrogen is currently limited to a comparison of Lyman-σ photometric data with predictions of the solar backscattered radiation using theoretical models. In this paper, how the uncertainties in current model calculations could be reduced through the future use of polarization measurements made from interplanetary spacecraft is investigated. In particular, inquiry into how a mapping of the degree of linear polarization made from a spacecraft at various locations in the Solar System can improve knowledge of the interstellar wind parameters, number density, temperature, and velocity, is made. A polarization measurement can, in principle, be made with very high precision. In this regard, being a relative quantity, a polarization measurement can be made independent of instrumental calibration and long-term sensitivity degredation. Furthermore, the sky distribution of both intensity and polarization has been calculated using a variety of models for the neutral hydrogen. It is found that the polarization distribution over the sky is quite different from that of the intensity distribution. It is also showed that the maximum degree of polarization of the Laymam-σ line increases with heliocentric distance of the spacecraft, varying from 0 up to ～ 18% at 20 AU.     

Seismological services of the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources,Geology and Geophysics

The Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics provides seismological services which complement those provided by several other agencies.The services comprise the operation of 20 seismograph stations in continental Australia, and the operation of regional data centres for earthquakes and strong earth-motion data. The ambit of the data centres includes BMR stations in Antarctica and Papua New Guinea, and foreign stations in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Most of the data are lodged at World Data Centres, and the remainder are available from the BMR national centre.The combined Australian network has provided data at a regional level only for about the last twenty years. These have however, been sufficient to show that although seismicity is low it is not insignificant, and that there are several areas where damaging earthquakes can be expected to recur at 50-year intervals; about 500 Australian earthquakes are located annually.Complete national location capability does not extend below Richter magnitude 4, and it is unlikely that significant improvements can be expected in the near future. In most of the areas where earthquake risk is important from a civil standpoint the detection capability is about magnitude 3. For the other more remote areas advanced techniques based on unattended seismometers and satellite telemetry will probably be needed to attain the same capability.