Genesis of the Paleoproterozoic Rare-Metal Granites of the Katugin Massif

We studied the petrography, mineralogy, and geochemistry of the Paleoproterozoic (2.06 Ga) granites of the Katugin massif (Stanovoy suture zone), which hosts the combined rare-metal Katugin deposit. Three groups of granites were distinguished: (1) biotite (Bt) and biotite–riebeckite (Bt–Rbk) granites of the western block of the massif; (2) biotite–arfvedsonite (Bt–Arf) granites of the eastern block; and (3) arfvedsonite (Arf), aegirine–arfvedsonite (Aeg–Arf), and aegirine (Aeg) granites of the eastern block. The Bt and Bt–Rbk granites of the first group are mainly metaluminous and peraluminous rocks with rather high CaO contents and the minimum F contents among the granites described here. It was suggested that the granites of this group could be derived from a source dominated by crustal rocks with a small addition of mantle materials. These granites probably crystallized from a metaluminous–peraluminous melt with elevated CaO and moderate F contents. Melts of such compositions are least favorable for the crystallization of ore minerals. The Bt–Arf granites of the second group are mainly peralkaline and show high contents of CaO and Y and low contents of Na₂O and F. A mixed mantle–crust source was proposed for the Bt–Arf granites. The initial melt of the Bt–Arf granites could have a peralkaline composition with elevated CaO content and moderate to high F content. The Arf, Aeg–Arf, and Aeg granites of the third group are enriched in ore mineral and were classified as peralkaline granites with very low CaO contents, elevated Na2O and F contents, and usually very high contents of Zr, Hf, Nb, and Ta. Based on the geochemical and isotopic data, it was supposed that the source of the granites of the third group could be derivatives of basaltic magmas produced in an OIB-type source with a minor addition of crustal material to the magma generation zone. It was suggested that the primary melt of this granite group could be a peralkaline CaO-poor and F-rich silicic melt, which is most favorable for the crystallization of ore minerals. Based on the analysis of the geochemical characteristics of the three granite groups and their relationships within the Katugin massif, a qualitative model of its formation was proposed. According to this model, the Bt and Bt–Rbk granites of the western block crystallized first, followed by the Bt–Arf granites of the eastern block and, eventually, the Arf, Aeg–Arf, and Aeg granites enriched in ore minerals.     

Changes in the hydrography of Central California waters associated with the 1997–98 El Niño

Oceanographic conditions off Central California were monitored by means of a series of 13 hydrographic cruises between February 1997 and January 1999, which measured water properties along an oceanographic section perpendicular to the California Coast. The 1997–98 El Niño event was defined by higher than normal sea levels at Monterey, which began in June 1997, peaked in November 1997, and returned to normal in March 1998. The warming took place in two distinct periods. During June and July 1997, the sea level increased as a result of stronger than normal coastal warming below 200 dbars and within 100 km of the coast, which was associated with poleward flow of saltier waters. During this period, deeper (400–1000 dbar) waters between 150–200 km from shore were also warmed and became more saline. Subsequently, sea level continued to rise through January 1998, mostly as a result of the warming above 200 dbars although, after a brief period of cooling in September 1997, waters below 200 dbar were also warmer than normal during this period. This winter warm anomaly was also coastally trapped, extending 200 km from shore and was accompanied by cooler and fresher water in the offshore California current. In March and April 1998, sea level dropped quickly to normal levels and inshore waters were fresher and warmer than the previous spring and flowed southward.The warming was consistent with equatorial forcing of Central California waters via propagation of Kelvin or coastally-trapped waves. The observed change in heat content associated with the 1997–98 El Niño was the same as that observed during the previous seasonal cycle. The warming and freshening events were similar to events observed during the 1957–58 and 1982–83 El Niños.     

Mineral composition of gold-bearing veins and typomorphic features of their minerals in the Kirovskoe deposit (Upper Amur region)

A collection of quartz veinlets with ore mineralization sampled from the dumps of the abandoned pit of the Kirov mine was analyzed with defining the mineral assemblages productive for gold mineralization and determining the composition of the main ore minerals and their typomorphic features, which are used for interpreting the genesis of the mineral associations and the deposit as a whole.     

Matuyama-Brunhes reversal and Kamikatsura event on Maui: paleomagnetic directions, Ar/Ar ages and implications

Eighty-nine basaltic lava flows from the northwest wall of Haleakala caldera preserve a concatenated paleomagnetic record of portions of the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) reversal and the preceding Kamikatsura event as well as secular variation of the full-polarity reversed and normal geomagnetic field. They provide the most detailed volcanic record to date of the M-B transition. The 24 flows in the transition zone show for the first time transitional virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) that move from reverse to normal along the Americas, concluding with an oscillation in the Pacific Ocean to a cluster of VGPs east of New Zealand and back finally to stable polarity in the north polar region. All but one of the 16 Kamikatsura VGPs cluster in central South America. The full-polarity flows, with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages spanning a total of 680 kyr, pass a reversal test and give an average VGP insignificantly different from the rotation axis, with standard deviation consistent with that for other 0-5 Ma lava flows of similar latitude. Precise ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating consisting of 31 incremental heating experiments on 12 transitional flows yields weighted mean ages of 775.6±1.9 and 900.3±4.7 ka for the M-B and Kamikatsura transitional flows, respectively. This Matuyama-Brunhes age is ∼16 kyr younger than ages for M-B flows from the Canary Islands, Tahiti and Chile that were dated using exactly the same techniques and standards, suggesting that this polarity transition may have taken considerably longer to complete and been more complex than is generally believed for reversals.     

对数周期偶极子天线的设计、制造和测试

文中所作的主要工作是为云南天文台十米抛物面设计、制造一付好的对数周期偶极子天线（ＬＰＤＡ）作馈源。工作有：（１）设计一对交叉的ＬＰ－ＤＡ；（２）分析ＬＰＤＡ特性；（３）估算抛物面的电特性；（４）讨论线极化向园极化转换的问题；（５）天线测量。ＬＰＤＡ的测量结果比较满意。该天线的方向图、平均输入阻抗、三分贝和十分贝波瓣宽度都在从０．５－１．５ＧＨｚ的频率范围内比较一致和稳定，变化很小。天线理论上的许多成就都是与数子计算机有关的。在文中，我们充分利用了计算机的功能来设计天线，分析天线特性，并从测量所得的所有数据文件中计算天线的参数。所编ＦＯＲＴＲＡＮ程序使这一切工作变得容易。最后，我们还讨论了用功率合成器实现线极化向园极化转换的各种情况     

Some properties of synchrotron radio and inverse-Compton gamma-ray images of supernova remnants

The synchrotron radio maps of supernova remnants (SNRs) in a uniform interstellar medium and interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) are analysed, allowing for different 'sensitivity' of the injection efficiency to the obliquity of the shock. The very-high-energy γ-ray maps arising from inverse Compton processes are also synthesized. The properties of images in these different wavelength bands are compared, with particular emphasis on the location of the bright limbs in bilateral SNRs. Recent High-Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) observations of SN 1006 show that the radio and inverse Compton γ-ray limbs coincide, and we found that this may happen if (i) injection is isotropic but the variation of the maximum energy of electrons is rather fast to compensate for differences in the magnetic field, or (ii) the obliquity dependence of injection (either quasi-parallel or quasi-perpendicular) and the electron maximum energy are strong enough to dominate the magnetic field variation. In the latter case, the obliquity dependences of the injection and the maximum energy should not be opposite. We argue that the position of the limbs alone, and even their coincidence in radio, X-rays and γ-rays, as discovered by HESS in SN 1006, cannot be conclusive as regards the dependence of the electron injection efficiency, the compression/amplification of the ISMF and the electron maximum energy on the obliquity angle.     

Postglacial history of alpine vegetation,fire, and climate from Laguna de Río Seco,Sierra Nevada,southern Spain

The Sierra Nevada of southern Spain is a landscape with a rich biological and cultural heritage. The range was extensively glaciated during the late Pleistocene. However, the postglacial paleoecologic history of the highest range in southern Europe is nearly completely unknown. Here we use sediments from a small lake above present treeline – Laguna de Río Seco at 3020 m elevation – in a paleoecological study documenting over 11,500 calendar years of vegetation, fire and climate change, addressing ecological and paleoclimatic issues unique to this area through comparison with regional paleoecological sequences. The early record is dominated by Pinus pollen, with Betula, deciduous Quercus, and grasses, with an understory of shrubs. It is unlikely that pine trees grew around the lake, and fire was relatively unimportant at this site during this period. Aquatic microfossils indicate that the wettest conditions and highest lake levels at Laguna de Río Seco occurred before 7800 cal yr BP. This is in contrast to lower elevation sites, where wettest conditions occurred after ca 7800. Greater differences in early Holocene seasonal insolation may have translated to greater snowpack and subsequently higher lake levels at higher elevations, but not necessarily at lower elevations, where higher evaporation rates prevailed. With declining seasonality after ca 8000 cal yr BP, but continuing summer precipitation, lake levels at the highest elevation site remained high, but lake levels at lower elevation sites increased as evaporation rates declined. Drier conditions commenced regionally after ca 5700 cal yr BP, shown at Laguna de Río Seco by declines in wetland pollen, and increases in high elevation steppe shrubs common today (Juniperus, Artemisia, and others). The disappearance or decline of mesophytes, such as Betula from ca 4000 cal yr BP is part of a regional depletion in Mediterranean Spain and elsewhere in Europe from the mid to late Holocene. On the other hand, Castanea sativa increased in Laguna de Río Seco record after ca 4000 cal yr BP, and especially in post-Roman times, probably due to arboriculture. Though not as important at high than at low elevations, fire occurrence was elevated, particularly after ca 3700 years ago, in response to regional human population expansion. The local and regional impact of humans increased substantially after ca 2700 years ago, with the loss of Pinus forest within the mountain range, increases in evidence of pasturing herbivores around the lake, and Olea cultivation at lower elevations. Though human impact was not as extensive at high elevation as at lower elevation sites in southern Iberia, this record confirms that even remote sites were not free of direct human influence during the Holocene.     

Libration dynamics and stability of electrodynamic tethers in satellite deorbit

This paper studies libration dynamics and stability of deorbiting nano-satellites by short and bare electrodynamic tethers. A critical aspect of satellite deorbit by an electrodynamic tether is to maintain the tether aligned with the local vertical and stable while subjected to external perturbations. The dynamics of electrodynamic tether system in deorbit application is divided into the orbital motion of the center of system’s mass and the tether libration motion relative to that center. Major space environmental perturbations including the current-induced electrodynamic force, atmospheric drag, oblateness effect of the Earth, irregularity of geomagnetic field, variable plasma density, solar radiation pressure, and lunisolar gravitational attractions are considered in the dynamic analysis. Quantitative analyses are provided in order to characterize the order of the perturbative torques during the deorbit process. A single index is derived from the libration energy to stabilize the libration motion by regulating the current in the tether through simple on-off switching. Numerical results show that the libration dynamics of an electrodynamic tether has significant impacts on the deorbit process and the electrodynamic tether cannot effectively deorbit satellites without libration stability control. The proposed current regulation strategy is simple and very effective in stabilizing libration motion of an electrodynamic tether.     

Recent Tectonic Rupturing on the Mud Volcano of Mount Karabetova,Taman Peninsula

Doklady Earth Sciences - In October 2019, extremely impressive, fresh ruptures of the surface on the mud volcano of Mount Karabetova were discovered. The ruptures are represented by all the main...