极隙区Pc3频段脉动的传播特性

南极中山站和戴维斯站 (不变磁纬 74.5°S)白天中午位于磁层极隙区 ,夜间位于极盖区或极光带的极向边沿。两站均安装了完全相同的感应式磁力计。选择两站 1 997年 3月和 1 996年 6、9、1 2月的数据 ,运用快速傅立叶变换和波形检查方法选择 Pc3频段脉动事件 ,然后用信号互谱技术进行统计分析 ,结果如下 :在中山站 -戴维斯站 ,Pc3频段脉动主要出现于白天中午 /磁中午和磁午夜附近 ;白天 ,Pc3频段脉动振幅、出现率和出现的时间范围均有一定的季节变化 ,冬季最小 ,但在夜间 ,Pc3频段脉动没有这种变化 ;夜间 ,Pc3频段脉动振幅比在白天大许多 ;Pc3频段脉动传播方向 ,白天主要向西 ,夜间不太规则。这些可能反映了电离层电导率和日侧电离层电流系统对 Pc3频段脉动的影响。     

The Wilhelmøya Formation (Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic) at Bohemanflya, Spitsbergen

An 18.5 m thick shale sequence of Norian-Rhaetian age is described from the Bohemanfiya-Syltoppen area (north of Isfjorden, central Spitsbergen). Lithological, petrographical and palynological analyses show that the sequence represents a marginal development of the lower part of the Wilhelmeya Formation. The depositional history at the Triassic-Jurassic transition is discussed in the light of this new evidence. The Wilhelmøya Formation was probably deposited during a weak marine transgression over an area of low relief. Low sediment supply and current and wave reworking of the sediments characterized the depositional conditions.     

Storylines: an alternative approach to representing uncertainty in physical aspects of climate change

Investigating the relationships between climate extremes and crop yield can help us understand how unfavourable climatic conditions affect crop production. In this study, two statistical models, multiple linear regression and random forest, were used to identify rainfall extremes indices affecting wheat yield in three different regions of the New South Wales wheat belt. The results show that the random forest model explained 41–67% of the year-to-year yield variation, whereas the multiple linear regression model explained 34–58%. In the two models, 3-month timescale standardized precipitation index of Jun.–Aug. (SPI_JJA), Sep.–Nov. (SPI_SON), and consecutive dry days (CDDs) were identified as the three most important indices which can explain yield variability for most of the wheat belt. Our results indicated that the inter-annual variability of rainfall in winter and spring was largely responsible for wheat yield variation, and pre-growing season rainfall played a secondary role. Frequent shortages of rainfall posed a greater threat to crop growth than excessive rainfall in eastern Australia. We concluded that the comparison between multiple linear regression and machine learning algorithm proposed in the present study would be useful to provide robust prediction of yields and new insights of the effects of various rainfall extremes, when suitable climate and yield datasets are available.     

Electron microscopic observations of shale diagenesis, offshore Louisiana, USA, Gulf of Mexico

Scanning and transmission electron microscopic analyses of shale samples from offshore Louisiana, USA, Gulf of Mexico, reveal the relationship between mineralogical and microfabric changes during burial diagenesis. The local geopressured zone begins at 2200-m depth. Above that depth the shales are smectite-rich, generally lack particle orientation, and contain appreciable pores. Below the 2200-m depth, the shales become more illite-rich with increasing burial, more crystalline, and less porous. Microfabric changes are mainly caused by compaction during burial diagenesis; mineralogical changes (smectite-to-illite) and crystal growth also play an important role in fabric alteration during deep burial diagenesis.     

A detailed paleomagnetic survey of the type location for the Gilsa geomagnetic polarity event

A total of 163 cores have been taken from a maximum of 40 separate lavas in three separate sections of the Jökuldalur, southwest of Egilsstadir, Iceland, and subjected to paleomagnetic analysis and some K-Ar dating. Previous work on the sections by McDougall and Wensink (1966) led to the establishment of the Gilságeomagnetic polarity event, with an age of about 1.60 m.y., during the reversed polarity Matuyama epoch. This earlier study described a possible reversely magnetized lava separating the Gilsáevent from a second normal polarity lava, perhaps representing the Olduvai event. Such a possibility was subsequently a source of speculation from diverse sources concerning the polarity history for the lower Matuyama. The present study indicates clearly that there is no second normal polarity event represented in the sections. Only one normal polarity event is therefore represented in the lower Matuyama of the Jökuldalur, and the age of the lavas involved is confirmed to be approximately 1.58 ± 0.08 m.y. Because of uncertainties in the interpretation of the original K-Ar results from Olduvai Gorge, it is still not possible to be certain that the Olduvai and Gilsáevents are separated in time. An incidental result of the survey is evidence to show that, contrary to recent suggestions by Einarsson (1972), there is no substantial hiatus between the major lower parts of the section and lavas believed to represent extrusions after a regional tilting and peneplanation.     

Numerical simulations of protostellar encounters — III. Non-coplanar disc–disc encounters

It is expected that an average protostar will undergo at least one impulsive interaction with a neighbouring protostar whilst a large fraction of its mass is still in a massive, extended disc. If protostars are formed individually within a cluster before falling together and interacting, there should be no preferred orientation for such interactions. As star formation within clusters is believed to be coeval, it is probable that, during interactions, both protostars possess massive, extended discs.   We have used an SPH code to carry out a series of simulations of non-coplanar disc–disc interactions. We find that non-coplanar interactions trigger gravitational instabilities in the discs, which may then fragment to form new companions to the existing stars. (This is different from coplanar interactions, in which most of the new companion stars form after material in the discs has been swept up into a shock layer, and this then fragments.) The original stars may also capture each other, leading to the formation of a small- N cluster. If every star undergoes a randomly oriented disc–disc interaction, then the outcome will be the birth of many new stars and substellar objects. Approximately two-thirds of the stars will end up in multiple systems.     

The Southwest Pacific GPS Project: Geodetic results from Burst 1 of the 1990 Field Campaign

The Southwest Pacific GPS Project (SWP) is using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to monitor crustal motion across and within a plate boundary complex between the Australian and Pacific plates. GPS field campaigns were conducted in 1988, 1989 and 1990, to observe networks of increasing size and complexity. The 1990 campaign consisted of two periods, or Bursts, and this paper focuses on the analysis of data collected during the nine day Burst 1 in July, 1990, a period in which GPS Selective Availability was activated. During Burst 1, baselines that spanned the Tonga Trench and the Lau Basin were observed, and only one station (Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu) was located west of Fiji in the network. The lengths of the baselines observed fall mainly between 300 km and 1600 km, but some lines are as long as 3500 km. A total of 78 station-days of field site data and approximately 150 station-days of global fiducial data were processed from predominantly codeless receivers. A global fiducial network of 20 sites was used to provide orbit control and accuracy assessment for the 13 available satellites. The daily solutions for 45 baselines between 10 SWP sites have an RMS scatter in the length of 24 mm plus 6 parts per billion. This scatter provides an estimate of baseline precision for the Burst 1 nominal solution. Experiments were conducted to investigate a variety of possible effects on the SWP Network baseline estimates, including the influence of a reduced global fiducial network for the purpose of assessing the quality of results obtained in 1988 and 1989 in which the fiducial network was smaller than in 1990. These experiments produced results that agreed with the nominal solution at the level of the precision estimate. Furthermore, estimates for selected baselines in Australia, the Central Pacific, North America and Europe, also measured by VLBI and SLR, were used for an external accuracy evaluation. The GPS and VLBI or SLR determinations of length agreed at a level consistent with the nominal solution precision estimate.     

Temperatures and thermophysical properties of the lunar outermost layer

Comparisons of calculated diurnal and eclipse temperatures of the lunar outermost layer are made with Earth-based infrared and millimeter data. The thermophysical model upon which the calculations are based incorporates variable physical properties. The thermal conductivity is a function of both density (depth) and temperature; the specific heat is a function of temperature; the density is a function of depth; and the dielectric constant and loss tangent are functions of density (depth). Laboratory measurements and Apollo sample results are incorporated in the property data. Calculational cases are based largely upon different density profiles. The model is consistent with the data, and the comparisons of theoretical and observational temperatures are very favorable. For such comparisons, further sophistication of the thermophysical model of the outermost layer is probably not justified.