Very faint blue objects in the Virgo Cluster Region

Für 95 sehr schwache blaue Objekte in der Nähe des Zentrums des Virgo-Galaxienhaufens werden Auffindungskarten, Koordinaten, Schätzungen des (U – B)-Farbenindexes und grobe B-Helligkeiten mitgeteilt. Die Objekte wurden durch Blinken einer Tautenburger U- und B-Schmidtplatte gefunden.     

The fine structure of the geomagnetic field

It was shown in our previous works that the dipole part of the geomagnetic field direction is mainly represented by the 1200-yr variation. According to some indications, the residual of the dipole part of the field, the so-called δ variation, may be classified as standing waves. Average values of δ are calculated for each hemisphere. In this work, the difference values equal to the δ variations for each territory minus δ averages over hemispheres (western or eastern) are calculated. The resulting values, fine structure (FS) variations, characterize the FS of the geomagnetic field. The study of the activity of the FS variations and specific features of their N-S and E-W behavior and the comparative analysis of dynamic characteristics (activity and rate) give grounds to classify the FS variations (as well as the δ variations) as standing waves of the nondipole field.     

Seismic hazard monitoring in Kamchatka and its applications to the M = 6.6 earthquake of 6 October 1987

The earthquake of 6 October 1987 (M = 6.6), which occurred near the Shipunsky Cape, Kamchatka, was the largest crustal event in the vicinity of the main city of Kamchatka — Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky — during the last three decades. It was followed by numerous aftershocks. This earthquake allowed us to test the effectiveness of the seismic hazard monitoring in Kamchatka, including the seismological, geodetic and hydrogeochemical surveys. The seismic survey provided the location and source nature of the main shock and aftershocks and the seismic environment of the main shock. The geodetic and hydrogeochemical surveys have yielded data on the response to earthquakes of the Earth's surface deformations, water level, and chemical elements concentration in the underground water. As a result, the following data were obtained:

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The earthquake of 6 October had a seismic moment 4–10 E18 Nm, thrust type of faulting and the source volume of 20 × 20 × 10 km³. The maximum intensity was VI–VII (MSK-64 scale) and maximum acceleration 88 cm/s².

Before this event, a relative increase in the number of the upper mantle (depth more than 100 km) moderate magnitude earthquakes during 5 years and a one-year period of seismic quiescence for small shallow earthquakes, were recognized. Significant anomalies in HCO₃ and H₃BO₃ concentrations in the underground waters were observed in the wells a week before the main shock.

     

TWO STRUCTURAL MODELS FOR THE WESTERN FLANK OF THE BRABANT MASSIF*

This paper is concerned with an interpretation of the Bouguer anomaly on the Western flank of the Brabant Massif (Belgium). The position, shape, and density contrast of elementary bodies in the upper part of the earth's crust are determined in a purely numerical manner. A batholith-like body and a basin-type structure both adequately account for the observed surface field, at least from a one-sided geophysical and mathematical point of view. Since seismological control is lacking the two models are representative of the ambiguity and indeterminacy of the definitions of the geologic cause of the anomalous features, if the data are restricted to gravity information alone.     

Sea‐level and ocean‐current control on carbonate‐platform growth,Maldives, Indian Ocean

Multichannel high‐resolution seismic and multibeam data were acquired from the Maldives‐isolated carbonate platform in the Indian Ocean for a detailed characterization of the Neogene bank architecture of this edifice. The goal of the research is to decipher the controlling factors of platform evolution, with a special emphasis on sea‐level changes and changes of the oceanic currents. The stacking pattern of Lower to Middle Miocene depositional sequences, with an evolution of a ramp geometry to a flat‐topped platform, reflects variations of accommodation, which here are proposed to be primarily governed by fluctuations of relative sea level. Easterly currents during this stage of bank growth controlled an asymmetric east‐directed progradation of the bank edge. During the late middle Miocene, this system was replaced by a twofold configuration of bank development. Bank growth continued synchronously with partial bank demise and associated sediment‐drift deposition. This turnover is attributed to the onset and/or intensification of the Indian monsoon and related upwelling and occurrence of currents, locally changing environmental conditions and impinging upon the carbonate system. Mega spill over lobes, shaped by reversing currents, formed as large‐scale prograding complexes, which have previously been interpreted as deposits formed during a forced regression. On a regional scale, a complex carbonate‐platform growth can occur, with a coexistence of bank‐margin progradation and aggradation, as well as partial drowning. It is further shown that a downward shift of clinoforms and offlapping geometries in carbonate platforms are not necessarily indicative for a sea‐level driven forced regression. Findings are expected to be applicable to other examples of Cenozoic platforms in the Indo‐Pacific region.     

Crustal and upper mantle structure of the northwestern North Island, New Zealand, from seismic refraction data

The crustal and upper mantle structure of the northwestern North Island of New Zealand is derived from the results of a seismic refraction experiment; shots were fired at the ends and middle of a 575 km-long line extending from Lake Taupo to Cape Reinga. The principal finding from the experiment is that the crust is 25 ± 2 km thick, and is underlain by what is interpreted to be an upper mantle of seismic velocity 7.6 ± 0.1 km s⁻¹, that increases to 7.9 km s⁻¹ at a depth of about 45 km. Crustal seismic velocities vary between 5.3 and 6.36 km s⁻¹ with an average value of 6.04 km s⁻¹. There are close geophysical and geological similarities between the north-western North Island of New Zealand and the Basin and Range province of the western United States. In particular, the conditions of low upper-mantle seismic velocities, thin crust with respect to surface elevation, and high heat-flow (70–100 mW m⁻²) observed in these two areas can be ascribed to their respective positions behind an active convergent margin for about the past 20 Myr.