Electrical resistivity structure of the eastern Moroccan Atlas System and its Tectonic implications

The electrical resistivity structure of the crust and upper mantle of the Atlas Mountain System was studied using magnetotelluric and geomagnetic deep soundings. Field experiments were done in eastern Morocco along a traverse from the Anti Atlas to the Rides Rifaines in two campaigns in 1983 and 1988.Zones of very low electrical resistivity could be identified in the various structural settings at different depth ranges, most likely connected directly to the tectonic evolution of the mountain belts. A mid-crustal low resistivity layer with total conductance (thickness-resistivity ratio) of about 2000 Siemens stretches from the southern border of the High Atlas towards the Middle Atlas. This layer seems to characterize the base of crustal detachment, e.g., the plane for large horizontal overthrusting, and supports the idea of thick- and thin-skinned tectonics involved in Atlasic mountain building. In the western Middle Atlas an upper-crustal low resistivity layer (at depth < 10 km) was found in the area where volcanic activity was present, pointing towards a direct relation between low electrical resistivity and volcanic or postvolcanic events. North of the Middle Atlas resistivity structures change totally: The Pre and parts of the Sub-Rif have a highly conductive cover, presumably connected to the molasse basin. Total conductance was calculated to reach 6000 Siemens. No further conductive structures, like, e.g., the ones found beneath the High and Middle Atlas, are seen within the resistive crust, but at much greater depth within the upper mantle.

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Zusammenfassung Im marokkanischen Atlas-System wurde der elektrische Widerstand der Kruste und des oberen Mantels mit magnetotellurischen und erdmagnetischen Tiefen-Sondierungen erkundet. Die Feldmessungen wurden in den Jahren 1983 und 1988 im östlichen Marokko entlang einer Traverse vom Anti Atlas bis in das Rif durchgeführt.In den einzelnen strukturellen Einheiten wurden in unterschiedlichen Krustentiefen Schichten sehr kleiner elektrischer Widerstände entdeckt, die direkt mit der tektonischen Entwicklung des Atlasgebirges verknüpft zu sein scheinen. Zwischen dem Südrand des Hohen Atlas und dem Mittleren Atlas im Norden erstreckt sich eine Zone sehr kleiner Widerstände (integrierte Leitfähigkeit etwa 2000 Siemens) in mittleren Krustentiefen. Diese Schicht scheint einen Bereich krustaler Ablösung zu kennzeichnen und kann als Basis einer weitspannigen Überschiebung angenommen werden. Diese Form der »thick- & thin-skinned« Tektonik scheint wesentlich am Prozess der Gebirgsbildung im Atlas beteiligt zu sein. Im westlichen Mittleren Atlas, im Bereich des jungen Vulkanismus, wurde eine gutleitende Zone in der oberen Kruste (Tiefe < 10 km) gefunden. Diese Beobachtung legt einen direkten Zusammenhang zwischen erhöhter elektrischer Leitfähigkeit und vulkanischen bzw. postvulkanischen Ereignissen nahe. Nördlich des Mittleren Atlas ändern sich die Widerstandsstrukturen sehr stark: Im Prä- und teilweise auch noch im Sub-Rif liegt eine sehr gut leitende Deckschicht (integrierte Leitfähigkeit etwa 6000 Siemens) über einem hochohmigen Basement. In der Kruste des Rif werden keine weiteren, tieferliegenden Schichten erhöhter Leitfähigkeit gefunden, wie sie z.B. unter dem Hohen Atlas vorliegen. Dagegen gibt es Hinweise auf Zonen hoher Leitfähigkeit im oberen Mantel.

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Résumé Dans l'Atlas marocain la résistivité électrique de la croûte et du manteau supérieur a été étudiée à l'aide des sondages magnétotelluriques et géomagnétiques. Ces travaux ont été effectués le long d'une traverse menant de l'Anti-Atlas jusqu'au Rif durant les années 1983 et 1988.Dans différentes profondeurs de la croûte terrestre des zones de résistances électriques très basses ont pu être découvertes ce qui peut être attribué à l'évolution tectonique de l'Atlas. Une couche de résistances très basses (conductance vers 2000 Siemens) s'étend entre le bord au sud du Haut Atlas et l'Atlas Moyen au nord. Cette couche peut être le signe d'un détachement de l'écorce et d'une poussée très vaste. Cette forme tectonique »thick- & thin-skinned« semble être essentiellement responsable du processus de la formation orogénique de l'Atlas. Une zone de bonne conductance se trouve dans la croûte terrestre supérieure (profondeur < 10 km) dans l'ouest de l'Atlas Moyen aux environs de l'activité volcanique caractérisant une relation directe entre une haute conductance électrique et des événements volcaniques et post-volcaniques. Vers le nord de l'Atlas Moyen les structures de résistance subissent un changement total: Au Pré- et partiellement aussi au Subrif se trouve une bonne couche guide (conductance vers 6000 Siemens). Aucune autre couche de conductance supérieure — comme au-dessous du Haut Atlas — n'a été découverte dans la croûte du Rif. On en décèle, par contre, dans le manteau supérieur.

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TREK: A cosmic-ray experiment on the Russian space station MIR

The goals of the TREK experiment, now in place on the MIR Space Station, are to resolve and measure the composition of both odd-Z and even-Z cosmic-ray nuclei up to uranium, to measure the isotopic composition of Fe-group nuclei, and to search for transuranic nucleic and exotic particles such as strangelets. To collect tracks of ultraheavy cosmic rays, exterior panels holding an array of BP-1 phosphate glass 1.2m² in area and 16 plates thick are now mounted outside the Kvant-2 module on MIR. Heaters and relays regulate the temperature of the glass at 25°±5°C. The detectors will record 10³ cosmic-ray tracks withZ50 during 2.5 years. An interior panel consisting of an array 0.09 m² in area and 32 plates thick and mounted on the inside wall of the Soyuz spacecraft (attached to the Space Station) will collect tracks of about 13000 Fe and 500 Ni nuclei.     

Mass ratios of three bodies for stable low-inclination three-dimensional periodic motion

The intervals of possible stability, on the -axis, of the basic families of three-dimensional periodie motions of the restricted three-body problem (determined in an earlier paper) are extended into regions of the -m ₃ parameter space of the general three-body problem. Sample three-dimensional periodic motions corresponding to these regions are computed and tested for stability. Six regions, corresponding to the vertical-critical orbitsl1v, m1v,m2v, andilv, survive this preliminary stability test-therefore, emerging as the mass parameters regions allowing the simplest types of stable low inclination three-dimensional motion of three massive bodies.     

Nonlinear gravidynamics: Energy-momentum tensor of collapsar field

In the bounds of a theoretical scheme treating consistently gravitational interaction as dynamical (gauge) field in flat space-time, an expression was obtained for the density of energy-momentum-tension of gravitational field in vacuum around a collapsed object. A case was studied of an interacting static spherically-symmetric field of a collapsar in vacuum with taking into account of input of all the possible components (spin states of virtual gravitons) into the energy for the symmetric tensor of second rank _ik . The radius of the sphere filled by matter for the collapsar of massM may achieve values up toGM/c ².     

Potentials for stationary point-axial stellar system models

Some potentials for a stationary stellar system model with point-axial symmetry and equatorial plane of symmetry that verifies Chandrasekhar's postulates have been obtained.Paper presented at the 12th European Astronomical Meetings of the IAU on European Astronomers Look to the Future, held 8–11 October, 1990, Davos, Switzerland.     

A new Bolivia-USSR astronomical observatory and its astrometric activities

In 1982 a Bolivia-USSR astronomical observatory began its activities near Tarija, Bolivia. Observations of 200 000 faint stars, 2822 bright stars (m6) and Halley's comet have been made with the expedition's astrograph.     

Resistive ballooning line-tied boundary conditions

Ideal and resistive ballooning modes are investigated for different ratios of a two-layer stratified density region representing a model for the photospheric/coronal boundary. Construction of the ballooning equations using a WKB approach is justified by comparison between the values of the growth rate obtained using Hain-Lüst and ballooning equations together with a WKB integral relation. Different values of the density ratio, radius, and resistivity are considered. Sausage-type and kink-type instabilities are found. One of these, depending on the value of r remained unstable for large density ratios. The other instability tended to marginal stability as the density ratio was increased, and allowed parallel and perpendicular flows across the boundary. This is contrary to the predictions of both the rigid-wall and flow-through conditions.     

Results of TV imaging of Phobos (Experiment VSK-Fregat)

From February to March 1989 the Phobos 2 spacecraft took 37 TV images of Phobos at a distance of 190-1100 km. These images complement Mariner-9 and Viking data by providing higher-resolution coverage of a large region West of the crater Stickney (40-160 degrees W) and by providing disk-resolved measurements of surface brightness at a greater range of wavelengths and additional phase angles. These images have supported updated mapping and characterization of large craters and grooves, and have provided additional observations of craters' and grooves' bright rims. Variations in surface visible/near-infrared color ratio of almost a factor of 2 have been recognized; these variations appear to be associated with the ejecta of specific large impact craters. Updated determinations of satellite mass and volume allow calculation of a more accurate value of bulk density, 1.90 +/- 0.1 g cm-3. This is significantly lower than the density of meteoritic analogs to Phobos' surface, suggesting a porous interior perhaps containing interstitial ice.     

Catastrophic landslip activity in two hard rock terrains of peninsular India

This paper presents the case histories of two catastrophic landslips in hard rock terrains with varied climatic and geological environments. The first slip is associated with a power project in very close proximity (200 m) of the Porthimund Dam (11°22N, 76°3430E), in a charnockitic terrain in the Nilgiri hills (Tamil Nadu), and the second is associated with a railroad structure (19°525N, 78°1720E), in Adilabad district (Andhra Pradesh), in a basaltic terrain.The landslip in the charnockites is attributable to: (1) a high degree of saprolitization in the charnockites, with maximum intensity in the crest portion; (2) the coincidence of a major joint pattern in a NE-SW direction, with the strike of the foliation; and (3) the poor-to-fair physical rock quality in the crest and scarp portions.The slips in the basaltic terrain are due to: (1) the partially altered, highly jointed nature of the regional trap rocks with boulder sizes varying from 20 cm to 250 cm in diameter and the debris accumulating in a precarious condition on the northeast side of the rail track, with unfavorable alignment direction; and (2) the instability created in the weak rock mass by the vibrational forces of heavily loaded running trains.The weathered state of the rock masses in both the cases, showing good agreement with their physical state, accounts for the landslips. The remedial measures suggested are also discussed.     

Decay rates of sunspot groups from 1874 to 1976

The global behaviour and fine structure of the distribution of sunspot decay rates from activity cycle 13 to 20 are presented. It is shown that the distribution of this parameter is lognormal. Statistically significantly lower values of decay rates are found in cycles 13, 14, and 18 for isolated spots. The complex groups had no appreciable changes.Paper presented at the 11th European Regional Astronomical Meetings of the IAU on New Windows to the Universe, held 3–8 July, 1989, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.