Swift observations of CSS081007:030559+054715

CSS081007:030559+054715 was discovered by the Catalina Real‐time Transient Survey. Optical spectroscopy revealed a multi‐peaked Hα emission line profile with radial velocities exceeding 1500 km/s, as well as strong Ne emission, suggestive of a neon nova. We monitored the source extensively with the Swift satellite, obtaining a unique dataset spanning 270 days in the soft X‐ray and UV bands. The data reveal a soft, blackbody‐like spectrum with a temperature around 55 eV (though dependent on the modelling), variable X‐ray and UV light curves with a 1.77 day period in both the X‐ray and UV bands, a longer timescale modulation of ∼ 50 days, followed by a slowly declining trend in the soft X‐ray and UV flux. We highlight the Swift observations and their implications for the SSS nature of this object (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Jurassic Amber in Lebanon

<正>Reports of amber predating the Lower Cretaceous are unusual and scarce;they mostly refer to amber pieces of millimetric dimension.In the present study,we report the discovery of 10 new outcrops of Jurassic amber in Lebanon.Some of these had large centimetric-sized pieces of amber.The new localities are described,amber is characterized,and its infrared spectra given.Although the new Jurassic amber yielded to date no more than fungal inclusions,this material is significant and promising.The discovery of several Jurassic outcrops provides crucial information on the prevailing paleoenvironment of that time.     

A distribution function based bandwidth selection method for kernel quantile estimation

The key problem in nonparametric frequency analysis of flood and droughts is the estimation of the bandwidth parameter which defines the degree of smoothing. Most of the proposed bandwidth estimators have been based on the density function rather than the cumulative distribution function or the quantile that are the primary interest in frequency analysis. We propose a new bandwidth estimator derived from properties of quantile estimators. The estimator builds on work by Altman and Léger (1995). The estimator is compared to the well-known method of least squares cross-validation (LSCV) using synthetic data generated from various parametric distributions used in hydrologic frequency analysis. Simulations suggest that our estimator performs at least as well as, and in many cases better than, the method of LSCV. In particular, the use of the proposed plug-in estimator reduces bias in the estimation as compared to LSCV. When applied to data sets containing observations with identical values, typically the result of rounding or truncation, the LSCV and most other techniques generally underestimates the bandwidth. The proposed technique performs very well in such situations.     

Serpentinization and alteration in an olivine cumulate from the Stillwater Complex,Southwestern Montana

Some of the olivine cumulates of the Ultramafic zone of the Stillwater Complex, Montana, are progressively altered to serpentine minerals and thompsonite. Lizardite and chrysotile developed in the cumulus olivine and postcumulus pyroxenes; thompsonite developed in postcumulus plagioclase. The detailed mineralogy, petrology, and chemistry indicate that olivine and plagioclase react to form the alteration products, except for H₂O, without changes in the bulk composition of the rocks.     

A theory of concentric, kink and sinusoidal folding and of monoclinal flexuring of compressible, elastic multilayers: VII. development of folds within Huasna Syncline, San Luis Obispo County, California

Folds in the Huasna area of the southern Coast Ranges of California provide an opportunity to study different fold forms and to estimate dimensional and relative rheological properties of rocks at the time of folding. Plunging, concentric-like and chevron-like folds with wavelengths ranging from about 0.1 to 1 km are clearly visible in natural exposures at the south end of the Huasna syncline, which has a wavelength of 12–16 km. Examination of two fresh roadcut exposures in the Miocene Monterey Formation suggests that folding within part of the Monterey was accommodated primarily by layer-parallel slip between structural layers with thicknesses ranging from 30 to 43 m, even though lithologic layers range from a few mm to a few dm in thickness. This part of the Monterey is folded into a series of concentric-like folds, with chevron-like folds at their cores and with a ratio of wavelength to total thickness of layers of about . Theoretical analysis of multilayers, comprised of identical, elastic or elastic—plastic layers with frictionless contacts, indicates that the effective, or weighted-average thickness of structural layers corresponding with an ratio of 0.42 is about 41 m. Thus, the theoretical predictions are roughly in agreement with available data concerning these folds.Thicknesses of structural units in other folds of this area are inadequately known to closely check theoretical predictions, but most of the data are consistent with predictions. An exception is the Huasna syncline which has a larger wavelength than we would predict. There are several likely explanations for this discrepancy. Layers in the underlying Franciscan complex may have taken part in the folding, making our estimates of total thickness too small. The basement rocks may have been much softer, relative to the overlying sedimentary rocks, than we assumed. The Huasna syncline could be partly a result of gravitational instability of relatively low density, Miocene siliceous and porcelaneous shales, overlain by relatively high density, Pliocene sandstones.The Huasna syncline and some of the smaller folds in the Miocene rocks are doubly in the northwest—southeast direction. Further, the maximum compression was approximately normal to the traces of the large faults in this part of California.     

Partial interlayers in phyllosilicates studied by transmission electron microscopy

Interstratification of complete layers has long been recognized in phyllosilicates. Interlayering on a fine scale with a host containing partial layers of a second phase has only recently been recognized by using TEM. Considering similarities in structural units of phyllosilicates this type of interlayering should be expected. Alteration samples from Butte, Montana, show extensive development of partial interlayers in kaolinite, sericite, and pyrophyllite. Kaolinite found in plagioclase sites always grows from smectite and in the growth process incorporates unit cell thick lenses of the smectite. The interlayers show up as increased spacing in 001 fringes and cause considerable strain in the surrounding kaolinite structure. Pyrophyllite studied was found to have abundant interlayers and inclusions of muscovite. This muscovite was identified from diffuse 10 Å reflections and microanalysis. The muscovite inclusions are usually less than 5 layers thick and extend from 50 Å to 1,000 Å in the ab plane. In sericite fine interlayering is subtle for the interlayers vary only slightly in unit cell size and composition from the host; however, structural changes are significant enough to cause imagable strain contrast in the host. Zones of fine interlayers are thought to mark healed subgrain boundaries which originally were zones of compositional heterogeneity.     

Franciscan melanges compared with olistostromes of Taiwan and Italy

Details of origin of Franciscan melanges are unknown, although subduction is accepted as the controlling process. Some melanges near plate boundaries in Taiwan and Italy are evidently olistostromes. How do Franciscan melanges compare with these? The Lichi melange and units of “argille scagliose” type in the Northern Apennines rest upon normal marine sediments. The time of accumulation was brief, as shown by limiting time brackets. These key types of evidence for olistostrome origin are rare or absent in the Franciscan, but the pervasive shearing would probably have obliterated such evidence.Similarities between the above-cited olistostromes and Franciscan melanges include the following: argillaceous matrix; large and small blocks of sedimentary rocks and ophiolites; phacoidal and joint-block shapes; soft-sediment deformation in some sandstone; rotation of blocks; extreme dispersal of distinctive rocks; reappearance of older rocks at younger levels. Collectively, these similarities suggest that Franciscan melanges were originally assembled by olistostrome accumulation.Differences between presumed olistostromes and the Franciscan include the following, in addition to stratigraphic relations mentioned above. The Lichi melange shows faint original gross layering where shearing is minimal. Franciscan melanges show various compositional units, but shearing allows tectonic explanations. Blueschist metamorphism is rare or absent in olistostromes of Taiwan and the Northern Apennines. It occurs in the Franciscan not only in random blocks, but also as extensive units of schist and phyllite near the structural top of the complex, toward the “hanging wall” (Great Valley sequence). In the structurally lowest levels, only zeolite facies metamorphism is prevalent. Similar generalities apply to ages of rocks at highest and lowest structural levels. The age distribution would be just the opposite if the entire Franciscan were simply an east-dipping pile of olistostromes.It is concluded that neither subduction alone nor olistostromes alone could have produced all the features of Franciscan melanges, but both played an important role. Critical original features of olistostromes have been modified or destroyed by recurrent underthrusting.     

Serpentinization at Burro Mountain,California

The Burro Mountain ultramafic complex, Monterey County, California, consists of dunites and peridotites which are partially or wholly serpentinized. Primary minerals in both rock types are olivine, enstatite, diopside, and picotite which upon alteration yield chrysotile, lizardite, brucite, magnetite, talc, tremolite, and carbonate. Electron microprobe analyses show that enstatite, En_85.8 to En_90.8, alters to “bastite” composed only of lizardite (5.0–12.0 weight percent FeO), whereas olivine, Fo_90.8 to Fo_91.6, forms lizardite+chrysotile+brucite with or without magnetite. The chrysotile ranges from 3.0 to 5.0 weight percent FeO, the brucite from 16.0 to 43.0 weight percent FeO. As Serpentinization proceeds, the alteration products are enriched in FeO relative to MgO. Serpentinization probably originates in a changing \(P_{O_2 }\)-T environment by two different reactions:

1. (a)
   Olivine+enstatite+H₂O+O₂?Mg, Fe⁺² chrysotile+Mg, Fe⁺³, Fe⁺² lizardite with or without magnetite.     

Evaluation of bioremediation strategies of a controlled oil release in a wetland

A controlled petroleum release was conducted to evaluate bioremediation in a wetland near Houston, Texas. The 140-day study was conducted using a randomized, complete block design to test three treatments with six replicates per treatment. The three treatment strategies were inorganic nutrients, inorganic nutrients with an alternative electron acceptor, and a no-action oiled control. Samples were analyzed for petroleum chemistry and inorganic nutrients. These results are discussed in the context of our related research involving toxicology and microbiology at the site during the experiment. To evaluate biodegradation, the targeted compounds were normalized to the conservative compound C3017alpha, 21beta-[H]hopane, thus reducing the effects of spatial heterogeneity and physical transport. The two biostimulation treatments demonstrated statistically-higher rates of biodegradation than the oiled no-action control. For the majority of the experiment, target nutrient levels were maintained. Further research may be warranted to optimize these bioremediation strategies as well as evaluating additional treatment strategies for wetlands and other shoreline systems.