Physical weathering of building stones induced by freeze–thaw action: a laboratory long-term study

Damages to natural building stones induced by the action of frost are considered to be of great importance. Commonly, the frost resistance of building stones is checked by standardised freeze–thaw tests before using. Corresponding tests normally involve 30–50 freeze–thaw action cycles. In order to verify the significance of such measurements, we performed long-term tests on four selected rocks over 1,400 freeze–thaw action cycles. Additionally, numerous petrophysical parameters were analysed to compare the behaviour of rocks in the weathering tests according to the current explanatory models of stress formation by growing ice crystals in the pore space. The long-term tests yield more information about the real frost sensibility of the rocks. A clear deterioration cannot be determined in most cases until 50 weathering cycles have been completed. In the freeze–thaw tests, the samples are also stressed by changing temperature and moisture, indicating that different decay mechanisms can interfere with each other. Thus, thermohygric and moisture expansion are important damage processes.     

Seasonal variation of volatile organic iodine compounds in the water column of Funka Bay,Hokkaido, Japan

Volatile organic iodine compounds (VOIs) emitted from the ocean surface to the air play an important role in atmospheric chemistry. Shipboard observations were conducted in Funka Bay, Hokkaido, Japan, bimonthly or monthly from March 2012 to December 2014, to elucidate the seasonal variations of VOI concentrations in seawater and their sea-to-air iodine fluxes. The bay water exchanges with the open ocean water of the North Pacific twice a year (early spring and autumn). Vertical profiles of CH₂I₂, CH₂ClI, CH₃I, and C₂H₅I concentrations in the bay water were measured bimonthly or monthly within an identified water mass. The VOI concentrations began to increase after early April at the end of the diatom spring bloom, and represented substantial peaks in June or July. The temporal variation of the C₂H₅I profile, which showed a distinct peak in the bottom layer from April to July, was similar to the PO₄ ^3? variation profile. Correlation between C₂H₅I and PO₄ ^3? concentrations (r = 0.93) suggests that C₂H₅I production was associated with degradation of organic matter deposited on the bottom after the spring bloom. CH₂I₂ and CH₂ClI concentrations increased substantially in the surface and subsurface layers (0–60 m) in June or July resulted in a clear seasonal variation of the sea-to-air iodine flux of the VOIs (high in summer or autumn and low in spring).     

Shortwave cloud radiative forcing on major stratus cloud regions in AMIP-type simulations of CMIP3 and CMIP5 models

Cloud and its radiative effects are major sources of uncertainty that lead to simulation discrepancies in climate models. In this study, shortwave cloud radiative forcing (SWCF) over major stratus regions is evaluated for Atmospheric Models Intercomparison Project (AMIP)-type simulations of models involved in the third and fifth phases of the Coupled Models Intercomparison Project (CMIP3 and CMIP5). Over stratus regions, large deviations in both climatological mean and seasonal cycle of SWCF are found among the models. An ambient field sorted by dynamic (vertical motion) and thermodynamic (inversion strength or stability) regimes is constructed and used to measure the response of SWCF to large-scale controls. In marine boundary layer regions, despite both CMIP3 and CMIP5 models being able to capture well the center and range of occurrence frequency for the ambient field, most of the models fail to simulate the dependence of SWCF on boundary layer inversion and the insensitivity of SWCF to vertical motion. For eastern China, there are large differences even in the simulated ambient fields. Moreover, almost no model can reproduce intense SWCF in rising motion and high stability regimes. It is also found that models with a finer grid resolution have no evident superiority than their lower resolution versions. The uncertainties relating to SWCF in state-of-the-art models may limit their performance in IPCC experiments.     

Period–luminosity relations for red supergiant variables – I.The calibration

We present CCD photometry of red supergiant long-period variables (LPVs) in the Per OB1 association, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and M33. The photometry was obtained in the Kron–Cousins R and I bandpasses and in a narrow bandpass ( λ ₀=8250 Å, FWHM=300 Å) chosen to avoid TiO bands in the spectral energy distribution of the LPVs. Because the strength of the TiO bands varies greatly with temperature, which varies with the phase of an LPV, avoiding TiO reduces the amplitude of the photometric variations seen in LPVs. The result is a lower dispersion and a well defined period–luminosity (PL) relation.
For the LMC sample we find an rms dispersion of 0.27 mag in the narrow-band PL relation and slightly larger dispersions for the LPVs in Per OB1 and M33. This dispersion is comparable to that of the Cepheid PL relation at similar wavelengths. Adopting a distance modulus of 18.5±0.1 mag for the LMC, we obtain distance moduli of 11.68±0.15 mag for Per OB1 and 24.85±0.13 mag for M33. These distances agree well with those based on main sequence fitting for Per OB1 and the Cepheid distance for M33. Since LPVs are ∼ 5 times more common than Cepheids and have a well defined PL relation, LPVs provide a promising method for estimating Galactic and extra galactic distances.     

A progress report on the design of the 8 m aperture Optical/Infrared Telescope

Progress of the design study carried out y the Instituto de Astrophysica de Canarias and Royal Greenwich Observatory joint project office for an 8 m aperture Optical/Infrared Telescope. This includes the development of an active pneumatic support system for both the radial and axial supports of an 8 m diameter thin meniscus mirror and the investigations of new technology encoding systems.Paper presented at the Symposium on the JNLT and Related Engineering Developments, Tokyo, November 29–December 2, 1988.     

Common Proper Motion Search for Faint Companions Around Early-Type Field Stars – Progress Report

The multiplicity of early-type stars is still not well established. The derived binary fraction is different for individual star forming regions, suggesting a connection with the age and the environment conditions. The few studies that have investigated this connection do not provide conclusive results. To fill in this gap, we started the first detailed adaptive-optic-assisted imaging survey of early-type field stars to derive their multiplicity in a homogeneous way. The sample has been extracted from the Hipparcos Catalog and consists of 341 BA-type stars within ∼300 pc from the Sun. We report the current status of the survey and describe a Monte-Carlo simulation that estimates the completeness of our companion detection.     

Ra’s Abdah of the north Eastern Desert of Egypt: the role of granitic dykes in the formation of radioactive mineralization,evidenced by zircon morphology and chemistry

Syenogranitic dykes in the north of Egypt’s Eastern Desert are of geological and economic interest because of the presence of magmatic and supergene enrichment of radioactive mineralization. Zircon crystal morphology within the syenogranitic dykes allows precise definition of sub-alkaline series granites and crystallized at mean temperature of about 637 °C. The growth pattern of the zircons suggest magmatic and hydrothermal origins of radioactive mineralization. Hydrothermal processes are responsible for the formation of significant zircon overgrowth; high U-zircon margins might have occurred contemporaneously with the emplacement of syenogranitic dykes which show anomalous uranium (eU) and thorium (eTh) contents of up to 1386 and 7330 ppm, respectively. Zircon chemistry revealed a relative increase of Hf consistent with decreasing Zr content, suggesting the replacement of Zr by Hf during hydrothermal activity. Visible uranium mineralization is present and recognized by the presence of uranophane and autunite.     

Physical studies of asteroids XXX: the asteroid 153 Hilda

The asteroid 153 Hilda was studied by photometric, spectroscopic and polarimetric observations during the apparition in 1992. The rotation period was determined to 5.11 hours with a lightcurve amplitude of 0.05 magnitudes. From our spectrum we find 153 Hilda to be of taxonomic type P. The polarization value of -0.23 at a phase angle of 3.2 degrees seems normal for a P-type asteroid. Long term integrations of the orbit shows that it is stable over time intervals of several million years.Partly based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile