The subsystem of open clusters in the post-hipparcos era: Cluster structural parameters and proper motions

The wide neighborhoods of 401 open clusters are analyzed using the modern, high-precision, homogeneous ASCC-2.5 all-sky catalog. More than 28000 possible cluster members (including about 12500 most probable members) are identified using kinematic and photometric criteria. Star counts with the ASCC-2.5 and USNO-A2.0 catalogs are used to determine the angular and linear radii of the cluster cores and coronas, which exceed the previously published values by factors of two to three. The segregation (differing central concentration) of member stars by magnitude is observed. The mean proper motions are determined directly in the Hipparcos system for 401 clusters, for 183 of them for the first time. The heliocentric distances of 118 clusters are determined for the first time based on color-magnitude diagrams for their identified members.     

Long-term pan evaporation observations as a resource to understand the water cycle trend: case studies from Australia

Abstract

Acceleration of the global water cycle over recent decades remains uncertain because of the high inter-annual variability of its components. Observations of pan evaporation (E_pan), a proxy of potential evapotranspiration (ET_p), may help to identify trends in the water cycle over long periods. The complementary relationship (CR) states that ET_p and actual evapotranspiration (ET_a) depend on each other in a complementary manner, through land–atmosphere feedbacks in water-limited environments. Using a long-term series of E_pan observations in Australia, we estimated monthly ET_a by the CR and compared our estimates with ET_a measured at eddy covariance Fluxnet stations. The results confirm that our approach, entirely data-driven, can reliably estimate ET_a only in water-limited conditions. Furthermore, our analysis indicated that ET_a did not show any significant trend in the last 30 years, while short-term analysis may indicate a rapid climate change that is not perceived in a long-term perspective.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor D. Gerten

Citation Lugato, E., Alberti, G., Gioli. B., Kaplan, J.O., Peressotti, A., and Miglietta, F., 2013. Long-term pan evaporation observations as a resource to understand the water cycle trend: case studies from Australia. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (6), 1287–1296.     

Ferromanganese crusts from submarine volcanoes of backarc basins as a new genetic type of gallium deposits

Study of the material composition of Fe-Mn crusts from submarine rises in the central part of the Sea of Japan, with modern precision methods applied, has yielded a high (up to 854 g/t) concentration of gallium contained in sorbed form. The new data obtained have allowed a new genetic type of gallium deposits—hydrothermal-sedimentary—to be distinguished.     

The geochemistry of steam hydrothermal occurrences in the Koshelev volcanic massif,southern Kamchatka

New data are presented on the geochemistry of thermal waters in the Koshelev volcanic massif in southern Kamchatka. We discuss the conditions for the generation of thermal waters, possible variants of thermal and deep-seated material supply for the Koshelev hydrothermal system, and propose a conceptual model for the system.     

Using UCODE_2005 and PHREEQC to determine thermodynamic constants from experimental data

This article presents a method for estimating chemical thermodynamic constants from experimental data using the two computer programs UCODE_2005 and PHREEQC. As an example, the conditional stability constant for lead (Pb) complexation by a remediation agent (carboxymethyl-beta-cyclodextrin) is estimated, but the method can be applied to estimate other thermodynamic parameters such as sorption constants and degradation rate constants. Advantages of this technique include estimation of uncertainties associated with estimated parameters, evaluation of information content of observations, statistical evaluation of the appropriateness of the conceptual model, and statistical-based comparison of different models.     

Gzhelian fusulinids first discovered in central Iran

Gzhelian deposits established in Iran for the first time are described. They rest with a considerable hiatus on the Moscovian deposits constituting, along with Asselian strata, an integral carbonate succession of the Zaladu Formation in eastern Iran. The Zaladu Formation is correlative with the Vazhnan Formation of the Abadeh region (central Iran) and the Dorud Formation of the Elburz (Alborz) Mountains. An assemblage of Gzhelian fusulinids from the studied section is well comparable with the assemblage of the Ultradaixina bosbytauensis Zone distinguished in the uppermost Gzhelian of the Darvaz, Fergana, the Southern Urals, Donetsk Basin, and Carnic Alps. Two new species of the genus Schellwienia (Sch. anarakensis and Sch. stocklini) are described. Gzhelian and Asselian fusulinids found in the section are figured in two paleontological plates.