Axial convergence in a well-mixed estuary

Transverse secondary circulations involving surface convergence, observed in a well-mixed estuary in North Wales, are made visible by the collection of surface material along an axial line which extends continuously for many kilometres through the estuary. The circulation and axial convergence, however, are seen only during the flood phase of the tide and no similar behaviour has been observed during the ebb phase.Convergent circulations in the estuary are associated with small but steady transverse density gradients in the cross-section, produced by non-uniform advection of the longitudinal gradient through the channel. A diagnostic model, using measured mean distributions of cross-sectional density, indicates surface transverse velocities (～0.1 ms^?1) similar to those observed in the estuary. The model further predicts appreciable transverse divergent currents at a fractional depth of 0.75: a prediction which has been tested in the estuary using a vertical array of accurately resolving current direction indicators.     

The dust coma of periodic comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (1982 VIII)

The dust coma of Comet P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was monitored in the infrared (1–20 μm) from September 1982 to March 1983. Maximum dust production rate of ～2 × 10⁵ g/sec occured in December, 1 month postperihelion. The ratio of dust/gas production was higher than that in other short-period comets. No silicate feature was visible in the 8- to 13-μm spectrum on 23 October. The mean geometric albedo of the grains was ～0.04 at 1.25 μm and ～0.05 at 2.2 μm.     

A WKBJ spectral method for computation of SV synthetic seismograms in a cylindrically symmetric medium

Summary. A method of synthetic seismogram computation for teleseismic SV -waves is developed in order to treat quantitatively SV -waves in problems of body wave source inversion and source—receiver structure studies. The method employs WKBJ theory for a generalized ray in a vertically inhomogeneous half-space and the propagator matrix technique for waves in near-surface homogeneous layers. Wavenumber integration is done along the real axis of the wavenumber plane and anelasticity is included by using complex velocity in all regions of the earth model. The near-surface source structure is taken into account in the computation for the case of the shallow source by allowing a point source to be located in the homogeneous layers. Source and receiver area structures are also allowed to differ. A general moment tensor point source is considered.     

Application of micropolar plasticity to post failure analysis in geomechanics

A micropolar elastoplastic model for soils is formulated and a series of finite element analyses are employed to demonstrate the use of a micropolar continuum in overcoming the numerical difficulties encountered in application of finite element method in standard Cauchy–Boltzmann continuum. Three examples of failure analysis involving a deep excavation, shallow foundation, and a retaining wall are presented. In all these cases, it is observed that the length scale introduced in the polar continuum regularizes the incremental boundary value problem and allows the numerical simulation to be continued until a clear collapse mechanism is achieved. The issue of grain size effect is also discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Age and early metamorphic history of the Sanbagawa belt: Lu–Hf and P–T constraints from the Western Iratsu eclogite

Two distinct age estimates for eclogite-facies metamorphism in the Sanbagawa belt have been proposed: (i) c.  120–110 Ma based on a zircon SHRIMP age for the Western Iratsu unit and (ii) c.  88–89 Ma based on a garnet–omphacite Lu–Hf isochron age from the Seba and Kotsu eclogite units. Despite the contrasting estimates of formation ages, petrological studies suggest the formation conditions of the Western Iratsu unit are indistinguishable from those of the other two units—all ∼20 kbar and 600–650 °C. Studies of the associated geological structures suggest the Seba and Western Iratsu units are parts of a larger semi-continuous eclogite unit. A combination of geochronological and petrological studies for the Western Iratsu eclogite offers a resolution to this discrepancy in age estimates. New Lu–Hf dating for the Western Iratsu eclogite yields an age of 115.9 ± 0.5 Ma that is compatible with the zircon SHRIMP age. However, petrological studies show that there was significant garnet growth in the Western Iratsu eclogite before eclogite facies metamorphism, and the early core growth is associated with a strong concentration of Lu. Pre-eclogite facies garnet (Grt1) includes epidote–amphibolite facies parageneses equilibrated at 550–650 °C and ∼10 kbar, and this is overgrown by prograde eclogite facies garnet (Grt2). The Lu–Hf age of c.  116 Ma is strongly skewed to the isotopic composition of Grt1 and is interpreted to reflect the age of the pre-eclogite phase. The considerable time gap ( c.  27 Myr) between the two Lu–Hf ages suggests they may be related to separate tectonic events or distinct phases in the evolution of the Sanbagawa subduction zone.     

The Cosmology of Extra Dimensions and Varying Fundamental Constants

I briefly present the Organizing Committee's and my own motivation for organizing this workshop, and I suggest a few key questions for which we will try to find possible answers in the coming days. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.