Cosmogenic radionuclides and mineralogical properties of the Chelyabinsk (LL5) meteorite: What do we learn about the meteoroid?

On February 15, 2013, after the observation of a brilliant fireball and a spectacular airburst over the southern Ural region (Russia), thousands of stones fell and were rapidly recovered, bringing some extremely fresh material for scientific investigations. We undertook a multidisciplinary study of a dozen stones of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, including petrographic and microprobe investigations to unravel intrinsic characteristics of this meteorite. We also study the short and long‐lived cosmogenic radionuclides to characterize the initial meteoroid size and exposure age. Petrographic observations, as well as the mineral compositions obtained by electron microprobe analyses, allow us to confirm the classification of the Chelyabinsk meteorite as an LL5 chondrite. The fragments studied, a few of which are impact melt rocks, contain abundant shock melt veins and melt pockets. It is likely that the catastrophic explosion and fragmentation of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid into thousands of stones was in part determined by the initial state of the meteoroid. The radionuclide results obtained show a wide range of concentrations of ¹⁴C, ²²Na, ²⁶Al, ⁵⁴Mn, ⁵⁷Co, ⁵⁸Co, and ⁶⁰Co, which indicate that the pre‐atmospheric object had a radius >5 m, consistent with other size estimates based on the magnitude of the airburst caused by the atmospheric entry and breakup of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid. Considering the observed ²⁶Al activities of the investigated samples, Monte Carlo simulations, and taking into account the ²⁶Al half‐life (0.717 Myr), the cosmic‐ray exposure age of the Chelyabinsk meteorite is estimated to be 1.2 ± 0.2 Myr. In contrast to the other radionuclides, ¹⁴C showed a very large range only consistent with most samples having been exposed to anthropogenic sources of ¹⁴C, which we associate with radioactive contamination of the Chelyabinsk region by past nuclear accidents and waste disposal, which has also been confirmed by elevated levels of anthropogenic ¹³⁷Cs and primordial ⁴⁰K in some of the Chelyabinsk fragments.     

The model of a flat (Euclidean) expansive homogeneous and isotropic relativistic Universe in the light of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations

The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) confirmed the model of a flat (Euclidean) expansive homogeneous and isotropic relativistic universe with the total zero mass (energy), which describes the properties of our observed expansive homogeneous and isotropic relativistic Universe in the first (linear, Newtonian or classical-mechanical) approximation.     

The Radio-Silent Start of an Intense Solar Gamma-Ray Flare

Radio-silent -ray flares are solar flares that lack any significant emission in the (non-thermal) radio wave band during their impulsive hard X-ray and -ray emission phases. Flares with extremely suppressed long-wavelength spectra have previously been reported by White et al. (1992) and have been discussed in different context by Hudson and Ryan (1995). A striking example of a radio-silent flare was observed by SMM during the onset of the 6 March 1989 energetic -ray flare. We argue that the absence of radio emission at wavelengths longer than microwave wavelengths is an indication of the compactness of the flare rather than that the flare did not exhibit non-thermal properties. Probably the flare site was restricted to altitudes above the photosphere in a newly emerging loop configuration lower than the equivalent altitude corresponding to an emission frequency of 1.4 GHz. This implies the presence of a dense and highly magnetized closed field configuration confining the electron component which causes the impulsive -ray continuum. Reconnection in such a configuration did not lead to open magnetic fields and streamer formation. Acceleration of particles in the and hard X-ray bursts was restricted to closed field lines. Thermal expansion of the loop system may subsequently lead to the generation of radially propagating blast waves in the solar corona which are accompanied by type II solar radio bursts and decimetre emissions. The emission during the onset of the flare was dominated by a continuum originating from electron bremsstrahlung at X-ray and -ray energies with only little evidence for the presence of energetic ions. It is, therefore, concluded that energetic electrons have been primary and not secondary products of the particle acceleration process.     

On two distinct shocks during the flare of 9 July 1996

Due to the emission of shock-accelerated electrons, broadband radio observations display propagating super Alfvénic shock waves in the low corona ('type II bursts'). We study the 9 July 1996 flare (AR NOAA 7978) focusing on the aspect of shock generation. This event's radio spectrogram shows two different type II bursts in sequence. Radio imaging data (Paris, Meudon Observatory) reveal that both bursts appear at different sites above the H flare. The driver of the first type II burst seems to propagate with twice the speed of the second one. The projected source site of the first type II burst (seen earlier and at higher frequencies) is spatially situated further away from the H flare site than the source of the second type II burst. We try to understand this by comparing with Yohkoh soft X-ray images. The first shock source occurs near the top of high soft X-ray loop structures. Its driver can be a guided fast mode magnetic disturbance. The second type II source appears in-between two high soft X-ray loop systems. This might be a piston-driven disturbance powered by an evaporation front. We get a consistent picture only by assuming a very inhomogeneous Alfvén speed in the active region's atmosphere.     

The computation of the elastic constants of an anisotropic medium from the velocities of body waves

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Dedicated to 90th Birthday of Professor Frantiek Fiala     

Colour schlieren representation of compressional-stress fields with respect to focal zone study

Summary A method of colour schlieren recording of the compressional-stress field gradients, suitable for focal zone study on models, is suggested. The study presents colour schlieren records of the compressional-stress fields in loaded square plates, containing inhomogeneities which give instant quantitative information on these fields. If the inhomogeneity is shaped like Griffith's diagonal slit, good agreement is demonstrated between the experiment and the theoretical calculation of the compressional-stress field in a model.     

Evolutionary stages of the Banská Stiavnica caldera and its post-volcanic structures

The remains of an extensive volcanic apparatus of the Tertiary « subsequent » volcanism have been identified in the ?tiavnické pohoric Mts. in the inner belt of the Carpathians. The volcanic apparatus, of stratovolcanic type, was formed during several stages of andesitic and rhyolitic volcanism with two caldera stages. During the final stage of volcanic activity the central collapsed area was uplifted as a horst, accompanied by the formation of grabens along the periphery of the central updomed area. The fractured zones of the horst periphery, as well as zones bordering separate subsided blocks of the central area became the sites of economic ore mineralization, with the formation of lead, zinc, copper, gold, and silver bearing veins. In the uplifted central block intrusions of diorite and granodiorite in the pre-volcanic basement have been exposed by erosion. Geological, petrographical, and petrochemical criteria, as well as absolute dating indicate direct chronological and genetic relationships between the diorite-granodiorite intrusions and extrusive volcanism.     

Correction of the level of magnification of the SVK vertical seismograph at the seismic station of průhonice (PRU)

Summary Drawing on the results of new measurements of the mechanical parameters of the SVK seismometer No. 5055, the level of magnification of the vertical seismograph used in the past, has been corrected. The amplitudes of the seismic waves from earthquakes in the period 1963–1978 have to be increased by 88% and the station correction for determining the magnitudes of earthquakes decreased by 0.274.     

Amplitude curves ofP waves for the region of central Asia

Summary The amplitude-distance curves of P waves, valid for the region of Central Asia, were derived in the distance range between 13° and 36° using observations of a network of eight Caucasian seismic stations. The curves are characterized by an anomalous increase of amplitudes between 13° and 20° followed by a large decrease of amplitudes in the distance range between 20° and 35°. Both the increase and decrease of amplitudes are interrupted by several local maxima. A comparison of the present amplitude curves with those derived for the regions of South-Eastern Europe and Asia Minor enabled us to correlate the individual local maxima of amplitude curves and to investigate the variation of their position due to the lateral inhomogeneity of the upper mantle structure in Eurasia.A. Tskhakaya deceased in 1970.