Short-period Rayleigh waves from near-surface events

Short-period fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves (Rg) are generally well recorded by short-period seismographs within about 600 km of seismic events, such as explosions, rockbursts and earthquakes, which occur in the upper 3 km of the crust. Studies of these waves from records at the Swedish seismograph network revealed their usefulness to elucidate both path and source properties. They exhibit normal dispersion which requires a superficial low-velocity layer of about 1 km thickness, in part probably weathered and fractured granite. This layer has considerably higher attenuation than underlying more competent rock. The existence of Rg in regional short-period records is a reliable indication of shallow focal depth, and, provided adequate calibration is available, quite accurate depth estimation would be possible from the amplitude ratio of Rg to Sg1.     

Some long period variations of microseismic activity

Summary The microseisms recorded at Uppsala have been studied for the time 1907–1947 with regard to long period variations. There is clear evidence of an 11 year variation and slight indications of a 28 month variation. The 11 year variation is from 1923 negatively correlated to the sunspot frequency and is explained by corresponding meridional displacements of the dominant cyclonic tracks.

---

Zusammenfassung Die in Uppsala registrierte Bodenunruhe ist für die Zeit 1907–1947 betreffs langperiodischen Schwankungen untersucht worden. Eine 11-j?hrige Variation wird festgestellt und es gibt weiter Anzeichnungen einer Variation von 28 Monaten. Die 11-j?hrige Variation ist seit 1923 zur Sonnenflecken-frequenz negativ korreliert und ist durch entsprechende meridionale Verschiebungen der am meisten betretenen Zyklonenbahnen, erkl?rt.

---

Riassunto L'agitazione microsismica registrata a Uppsala nel quarantennio 1907–1947 venne esaminata in vista di determinare le oscillazioni di lungo periodo. Si è accertata una oscillazione undecennale, trovandosi altresi indizi per una oscillazione di 28 mesi. Dal 1923 l'oscillazione undecennale manifesta una correlazione negativa con la frequenza delle macchie solari e viene spiegata con i corrispondenti spostamenti meridionali delle rotte cicloniche dominanti.

     

Imaging of the protoelliptical NGC 1700 and its globular cluster system

An excellent candidate for a young elliptical, or 'protoelliptical' galaxy is NGC 1700. Here we present new B -, V - and I -band imaging using the Keck telescope, and reanalyse existing V - and I -band images from the Hubble Space Telescope . After subtracting a model of the galaxy from the Keck images, NGC 1700 reveals two symmetric tidal tail-like structures. If this interpretation is correct, it suggests a past merger event involving two spiral galaxies. These tails are largely responsible for the 'boxiness' of the galaxy isophotes observed at a radius of ∼13 kpc.
We also show that the B − I colour distribution of the globular cluster system is bimodal. The mean colour of the blue population is consistent with that of old Galactic globular clusters. Relative to this old, metal-poor population, we find that the red population is younger and more metal-rich. This young population has an age and metallicity similar to that inferred for the central stars, suggesting that both populations are associated with an episode of star formation triggered by the merger that may have formed the galaxy. We find that, although they have large errors, the majority of the age estimates of NGC 1700 are reasonably consistent and we adopt a 'best estimate' for the age of 3.0±1.0 Gyr. This relatively low age places NGC 1700 within the age range where there is a notable lack of obvious candidates for protoellipticals. The total globular cluster specific frequency is rather low for a typical elliptical, even after taking into account the fading of the galaxy over the next 10 Gyr. We speculate that NGC 1700 will eventually form a relatively 'globular cluster poor' elliptical galaxy.     

Paleolimnological features of a mega-lake phase in the Makgadikgadi Basin (Kalahari,Botswana) during Marine Isotope Stage 5 inferred from diatoms

The Makgadikgadi–Okavango–Zambezi basin (MOZB) is a structural depression in the south-western branch of the East African Rift System of the northern and middle Kalahari, central southern Africa. In the present day, the mainly dry subbasins of the MOZB are part of a long-lived lacustrine system that has likely existed since Early Pleistocene and from which an extant freshwater fish radiation emerged seeding all major river systems of southern Africa. During hydrologically favourable periods the subbasins were connected as a single mega-lake termed Lake Palaeo-Makgadikgadi. Previous geomorphological studies and OSL dates have provided evidence for repeated mega-lake periods since approximately 300 ka. The environmental and climatic implications of such large scale late Quaternary lake-level fluctuations are controversial, with the duration of mega-lake phases poorly constrained. Here, we present the first evidence for a Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 mega-lake period (about 935–940 m a.s.l.) reconstructed from a diatom-rich, 30-cm-thick lacustrine sediment section, exposed close to a palaeo-shoreline of the Makgadikgadi Basin. Based upon the environmental setting and in comparison with sedimentation rates of other similar lake environments, we tentatively estimated that the highstand lasted approximately 1 ka during MIS 5d–b. The 30-cm section was sampled in 0.5-cm steps. Diatom species diversity ranges from 19 to 30 through the section. The dominant species are Pseudostaurosira brevistriata, Rhopalodia gibberula, Cyclotella meneghiniana and Epithemia sorex. The total of 60 sediment samples provide us with a record at decadal to bi-decadal resolution. Based on diatom assemblages and their oxygen isotope composition (δ¹⁸O) we infer an alkaline and mostly oligohaline lake with shallow water conditions prevailing in MIS 5, and is potentially analogous to a Heinrich event. The climate over southern Africa during MIS 5 has been considered very arid but the hydromorphological context of our sediment section indicates that we captured a mega-lake period providing evidence that short-term excursions to significantly higher humidity existed. A hydrologically more favourable environment during MIS 5 than formerly presumed is in line with the early human occupation of the Kalahari.     

Seismic wave velocities in the lower mantle

Summary The vertical velocity variations of longitudinal and transverse waves in the earth's interior in the depth range of 413 to 2800 km are put into mathematical form. Expressions of the velocities in terms of power functions of the radius are found to conform closely to the given velocities, as well as to be very simple in applications. Examples of the use of such formulas are given, including calculations of travel times and of radial velocity gradients.     

Adaptive model of plankton dynamics for the North Atlantic

Plankton ecosystems in the North Atlantic display strong regional and interannual variability in productivity and trophic structure, which cannot be captured by simple plankton models. Additional compartments subdividing functional groups can increase predictive power, but the high number of parameters tends to compromise portability and robustness of model predictions. An alternative strategy is to use property state variables, such as cell size, normally considered constant parameters in ecosystem models, to define the structure of functional groups in terms of both behaviour and response to physical forcing. This strategy may allow us to simulate realistically regional and temporal differences among plankton communities while keeping model complexity at a minimum.We fit a model of plankton and DOM dynamics globally and individually to observed climatologies at three diverse locations in the North Atlantic. Introducing additional property state variables is shown to improve the model fit both locally and globally, make the model more portable, and help identify model deficiencies. The zooplankton formulation exerts strong control on model performance. Our results suggest that the current paradigm on zooplankton allometric functional relationships might be at odds with observed plankton dynamics. Our parameter estimation resulted in more realistic estimates of parameters important for primary production than previous data assimilation studies.Property state variables generate complex emergent functional relationships, and might be used like tracers to differentiate between locally produced and advected biomass. The model results suggest that the observed temperature dependence of heterotrophic growth efficiency [Rivkin, R.B., Legendre, L., 2001. Biogenic carbon cycling in the upper ocean: effects of microbial respiration. Science 291 (5512) 2398-2400] could be an emergent relation due to intercorrelations among temperature, nutrient concentration and growth efficiency. A major advantage of using property state variables is that no additional parameters are required, such that differences in model performance can be directly related to model structure rather than parameter tuning.