Estimation of parameters of the flows forming sediment waves on the western slope of the middle caspian sea

By means of mathematical modeling, the parameters of flows forming sedimentary waves on the western slope of the Derbent basin were estimated. The height of these flows depends on the slope steepness and varies from 25 to 170 m to reach its maximum values at gentler slope areas. However, the flow rate is independent of the slope steepness and depends only on the concentration of sediment matter supplied by the flow. At the upper part of the slope (the flow starting), the rate amounts to 0.4–1.4 m/s, being almost halved at the depths where the sedimentary waves are damped. The present rates of near-bottom currents show pronounced seasonal differences, and their values are close to flow rates obtained by numerical modeling.     

Mineralogy and PT formation conditions of lead-zinc ore at the Dzhimidon deposit, north Ossetia

The mineralogy and PT formation conditions of the Dzhimidon Pb-Zn deposit in the Sadon ore district are considered. The deposit is localized in metamorphic rocks of the Buron Formation, which pertain to the pre-Jurassic basement (lower structural stage) and are cut through by Upper Paleozoic granitoids, and in the Lower Jurassic terrigenous sequence (upper structural stage). Orebodies as quartz-sulfide veins are mainly hosted in the metamorphic rocks. Galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and arsenopyrite are the most abundant sulfides, while quartz, carbonates, chlorite, sericite, and feldspar are gangue minerals. The bismuth mineralization identified at this deposit for the first time is represented by diverse phases of the Ag-Pb-Bi-S system. Five stages of the ore deposit formation are recognized: a premineral stage (quartz-feldspar), three ore-bearing stages (pyrite-arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-sphalerite, and arsenopyrite-sphalerite-galena), and a postmineral stage (quartz-calcite); each stage comprises one or several mineral assemblages. The study of fluid inclusions in quartz, calcite, and sphalerite of the premineral, ore-forming, and postmineral stages has shown that the ore was deposited mainly from Na chloride solution with a salinity varying from >22 to <1.0 wt % NaCl equiv at a temperature from 460 to ～120°C and 430–290 bars pressure. The third stage was characterized by an abrupt increase in temperature and by the appearance of Mg(Fe,Ca) chloride solutions equally with Na chloride fluids, presumably owing to the emplacement of granite porphyry.     

Characterization of Titan’s Ontario Lacus region from Cassini/VIMS observations

Liquid hydrocarbons were long predicted on Titan’s surface before the RADAR instrument onboard Cassini detected lakes poleward of 70°N in July 2006. Before that the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) observed a lake-like feature in the South Pole, named Ontario Lacus, in July 2004. Here we analyze one observation of Ontario Lacus taken by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on 2007 December 5, during the T 38 flyby. This is the best spatially resolved image of a Titan lake to date by an imaging spectrometer, and has been previously reported in Brown et al. (Brown, R.H., Soderblom, L.A., Soderblom, J.M., Clark, R.N., Jaumann, R., Barnes, J.W., Sotin, C., Buratti, B., Baines, K.H., Nicholson, P.D. [2008]. Nature 454, 607–610) and in Barnes et al. (Barnes, J.W. et al. [2009]. Icarus 201, 217–225). The observing geometry and our data processing will be explained, followed by a discussion of the main characteristics of the image. The analyzed image covers a small portion of Ontario Lacus and shows what appears from RADAR data to be a region of modest slope (“ramp”) adjacent to the dark lake itself. Our analysis of 5.0 μm spectral data suggests that the previously reported absorption feature of ethane seen at shorter wavelengths may be produced by damp sediments adjacent to the main liquid basin. The latter appears to be absorbing all of the photons incident upon it in the 5 μm spectral region and shows no discernible absorption features. A characterization of the basin composition and morphology is developed with the help of ISS and RADAR observations. The simplest model consistent with the data is an optically deep lake surrounded by a region in which ethane, propane, possibly methane, and other, less volatile hydrocarbons and nitriles are present mixed into spectroscopically neutral sediments. The dominance of relatively low vapor pressure organics outside the lake itself suggests a retreat of Ontario Lacus associated with evaporation on seasonal or longer timescales, consistent with analysis of RADAR and ISS images.     

Celestial-mechanical peculiarities of Uranus’s satellite system

We consider the structural peculiarities of Uranus’s satellite system associated with its separation into two groups: inner equatorial satellites moving in nearly circular orbits and distant irregular satellites with retrograde motion in highly elliptical orbits. The intermediate region is free from satellites in a wide range of semimajor axes. By analyzing the evolution of satellite orbits under the combined effect of solar attraction and Uranus’s oblateness, we offer a celestial-mechanical explanation for the absence of equatorial satellites in this region. M.L. Lidov’s studies during 1961–1963 have served as a basis for our analysis.     

Orbital evolution of Uranus’s new outer satellites

Data on three recently discovered satellites of Uranus are used to determine basic evolutional parameters of their orbits: the extreme eccentricities and inclinations, as well as the circulation periods of the pericenter arguments and of the longitudes of the ascending nodes. The evolution is mainly investigated by analytically solving Hill’s double-averaged problem for the Uranus-Sun-satellite system, in which Uranus’s orbital eccentricity e _U and inclination i _U to the ecliptic are assumed to be zero. For the real model of Uranus’s evolving orbit with e _U≠0 and i _U≠0, we refine the evolutional parameters of the satellite orbits by numerically integrating the averaged system. Having analyzed the configuration and dynamics of the orbits of Uranus’s five outer satellites, we have revealed the possibility of their mutual crossings and obtained approximate temporal estimates.     

Helium and metal diffusion in the Sun and in cluster stars

In this contribution I will review the present knowledge about helium and metal diffusion efficiency in the Sun and in old cluster stars and the influence of the uncertainties still present on these mechanisms concerning the stellar characteristics in different evolutionary phases. I will also discuss the relevance of the current uncertainties on the assumed chemical composition for the main evolutionary features of population II stars.     

The SWAP EUV Imaging Telescope Part I: Instrument Overview and Pre-Flight Testing

The Sun Watcher with Active Pixels and Image Processing (SWAP) is an EUV solar telescope onboard ESA’s Project for Onboard Autonomy 2 (PROBA2) mission launched on 2 November 2009. SWAP has a spectral bandpass centered on 17.4 nm and provides images of the low solar corona over a 54×54 arcmin field-of-view with 3.2 arcsec pixels and an imaging cadence of about two minutes. SWAP is designed to monitor all space-weather-relevant events and features in the low solar corona. Given the limited resources of the PROBA2 microsatellite, the SWAP telescope is designed with various innovative technologies, including an off-axis optical design and a CMOS–APS detector. This article provides reference documentation for users of the SWAP image data.     

Spherical Magnetic Vortex in an External Potential Field: A Dissipative Contraction

We consider the dissipative evolution of a spherical magnetic vortex with a force-free internal structure, located in a resistive medium and held in equilibrium by the potential external field. The magnetic field inside the sphere is force-free (the model of Chandrasekhar in Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 42, 1, 1956). Topologically, it is a set of magnetic toroids enclosed in spherical layers. A new exact MHD solution has been derived, describing a slow, uniform, radial compression of a magnetic spheroid under the pressure of an ambient field, when the plasma density and pressure are growing inside it. There is no dissipation in the potential field outside the sphere, but inside the sphere, where the current density can be high enough, the magnetic energy is continuously converted into heat. Joule dissipation lowers the magnetic pressure inside the sphere, which balances the pressure of the ambient field. This results in radial contraction of the magnetic sphere with a speed defined by the conductivity of the plasma and the characteristic spatial scale of the magnetic field inside the sphere. Formally, the sphere shrinks to zero within a finite time interval (magnetic collapse). The time of compression can be relatively small, within a day, even for a sphere with a radius of about 1 Mm, if the magnetic helicity trapped initially in the sphere (which is proportional to the number of magnetic toroids in the sphere) is quite large. The magnetic system is open along its axis of symmetry. On this axis, the magnetic and electric fields are strictly radial and sign-variable along the radius, so the plasma will be ejected along the axis of magnetic sphere outwards in both directions (as jets) at a rate much higher than the diffusive one, and the charged particles will be accelerated unevenly, in spurts, creating quasi-regular X-ray spikes. The applications of the solution to solar flares are discussed.     

A new look at the origin of the 6.67 hr period X-ray pulsar 1E 161348-5055

The point X-ray source 1E 161348-5055 is observed to display pulsations with the period 6.67?hr and $|\dot{P}| \leq1.6 \times10^{-9}\,{\rm s\,s^{-1}}$ . It is associated with the supernova remnant RCW?103 and is widely believed to be a ～2000?yr old neutron star. Observations give no evidence for the star to be a member of a binary system. Nevertheless, it resembles an accretion-powered pulsar with the magnetospheric radius ～3000?km and the mass-accretion rate $\sim 10^{14}\,{\rm g\,s^{-1}}$ . This situation could be described in terms of accretion from a (residual) fossil disk established from the material falling back towards the star after its birth. However, current fall-back accretion scenarios encounter major difficulties explaining an extremely long spin period of the young neutron star. We show that the problems can be avoided if the accreting material is magnetized. The star in this case is surrounded by a fossil magnetic slab in which the material is confined by the magnetic field of the accretion flow itself. We find that the surface magnetic field of the neutron star within this scenario is ～10¹²?G and that a presence of $\gtrsim10^{-7}\,{\rm M_{\odot}}$ magnetic slab would be sufficient to explain the origin and current state of the pulsar.