Total flux density radio observations as a tool for understanding AGN behaviour

A wealth of information on the properties of jets in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) can be derived from total flux density observations at high radio frequencies. This includes, for example, the Doppler factor, the Lorentz factor, and the viewing angle of the jet. We have earlier calculated these parameters for a sample of ～80 sources of different AGN types using almost 20 years of 22 and 37 GHz data from Metsähovi Radio Observatory. We have now gathered data for an additional ten years, and studied the long term characteristic variability time scales of a large sample of AGNs using the first order structure function, the discrete autocorrelation function and the Lomb-Scargle periodogram. Some of the results will be presented in this paper. We also stress the importance of long term observations of AGNs, the main reason for this being misinterpretations of source properties due to insufficient time coverage. Only a few observing epochs will too easily lead to incorrect conclusions about variability, continuum spectra, and the general detectability of the source, not to mention the exclusion of interesting objects from further studies. This is particularly important when considering, for example, the Planck satellite for which the quality of the main mission product, the accurate cosmic microwave background anisotropy maps, depends heavily on the elimination of foreground sources such as AGNs.     

Microbiological Studies Relevant to a Lobster Introduction into Fatty Basin,British Columbia

Studies in marine microbiology relevant to the cultivation of lobster in Fatty Basin were made. Biomass of bacteria and allied microorganisms in whole seawater column of the basin was very small (2×10⁴ gC), but a large biomass was found in the sediments (3×10⁵ gC). The decomposition of chitin occurred chiefly in the sediments. The rate of decomposition (500 g/day) was approximately half of the rate of production. However, the remaining production was considered not to be involved in the chitin cycle of the basin. This hypothesis was supported by the results of the analysis of the budget of organic matter in the area. Shell disease of lobster caused by chitinoclastic bacteria was detected, although it was not serious. A destructive yeast parasite of crustaceans,Metschnikowia, was collected only from a crab in the basin. This report is dedicated to Professor KenSugawara for his 70 years old anniversary.     

Toxicity of tributyltin in the marine mollusc Mytilus edulis

Our previous studies have demonstrated that tributyltin (TBT) is genotoxic to the early life stages of marine mussels and worms. Here, the toxicity of TBT to adult organisms was determined using a suite of biomarkers designed to detect cytotoxic, immunotoxic and genotoxic effects. Exposure of adult mussels, Mytilus edulis, to environmentally realistic concentrations of TBTO for 7 days resulted in a statistically significant decrease in cell viability at concentrations of 0.5 μg/l and above. TBT had no effect on phagocytic activity or antioxidant capacity (FRAP assay). There was a statistically significant increase in DNA damage detected using the comet and micronucleus assays between the controls and 0.5, 1 and 5 μg/l of TBTO (P > 0.0005). Furthermore there was a strong correlation between DNA strand breaks (comet assay) and formation of micronuclei (P = 0.0005; R² = 61.5%). Possible mechanisms by which TBT could damage DNA either directly or indirectly are discussed including the possibility that TBT is genotoxic due to its ability to disrupt calcium homeostasis.     

Accretion and exhumation at a Variscan active margin, recorded in the Saxothuringian flysch

The Saxothuringian flysch basin, on the north flank of the Central European Variscides, was fed and eventually overthrust by the northwestern, active margin of the Tepla-Barrandian terrane. Clast spectra, mineral composition and isotopic ages of detrital mica and zircon have been analyzed in order to constrain accretion and exhumation of rocks in the orogenic wedge. The earliest clastic sediments preserved are of early Famennian age (ca. 370?Ma). They are exposed immediately to the NW of the suture, and belong to the par-autochthon of the foreland. Besides ultramafic (?ophiolite) material, these rocks contain clasts derived from Early Paleozoic continental slope sediments, originally deposited at the NW margin of the Saxothuringian basin. These findings, together with the paleogeographic position of the Famennian clastics debris on the northwestern passive margin, indicate that the Saxothuringian narrow ocean had been closed by that time. Microprobe analyses of detrital hornblendes suggest derivation from the “Randamphibolit” unit, now present in the middle part of the Saxothuringian allochthon (Münchberg nappes). Detrital zircons of metamorphic rocks formed a little earlier (ca. 380?Ma) indicate rapid recycling at the tectonic front. The middle part of the flysch sequence (ca. early to middle Viséan), both in the par-autochthon and in the allochthon, contains abundant clasts of Paleozoic rocks derived from the northwestern slope and rise, together with debris of Cadomian basement, 500-Ma granitoids and 380?Ma (early Variscan) crystalline rocks. All of these source rocks were still available in the youngest part of the flysch (c. middle to late Viséan), but some clasts record, in addition, accretion of the northwestern shelf. Our findings permit deduction of minimum rates of tectonic shortening well in excess of 10–30?mm per year, and rates of exhumation of ca. 3?mm/a, and possibly more.     

Petrological imaging of an active pluton beneath Cerro Uturuncu,Bolivia

Uturuncu is a dormant volcano in the Altiplano of SW Bolivia. A present day ~70 km diameter interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) anomaly roughly centred on Uturuncu’s edifice is believed to be a result of magma intrusion into an active crustal pluton. Past activity at the volcano, spanning 0.89 to 0.27 Ma, is exclusively effusive and almost all lavas and domes are dacitic with phenocrysts of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, biotite, ilmenite and Ti-magnetite plus or minus quartz, and microlites of plagioclase and orthopyroxene set in rhyolitic groundmass glass. Plagioclase-hosted melt inclusions (MI) are rhyolitic with major element compositions that are similar to groundmass glasses. H₂O concentrations plotted versus incompatible elements for individual samples describe a trend typical of near-isobaric, volatile-saturated crystallisation. At 870 °C, the average magma temperature calculated from Fe–Ti oxides, the average H₂O of 3.2 ± 0.7 wt% and CO₂ typically <160 ppm equate to MI trapping pressures of 50–120 MPa, approximately 2–4.5 km below surface. Such shallow storage precludes the role of dacite magma emplacement into pre-eruptive storage regions as being the cause of the observed InSAR anomaly. Storage pressures, whole-rock (WR) chemistry and phase assemblage are remarkably consistent across the eruptive history of the volcano, although magmatic temperatures calculated from Fe–Ti oxide geothermometry, zircon saturation thermometry using MI and orthopyroxene-melt thermometry range from 760 to 925 °C at NNO ± 1 log. This large temperature range is similar to that of saturation temperatures of observed phases in experimental data on Uturuncu dacites. The variation in calculated temperatures is attributed to piecemeal construction of the active pluton by successive inputs of new magma into a growing volume of plutonic mush. Fluctuating temperatures within the mush can account for sieve-textured cores and complex zoning in plagioclase phenocrysts, resorption of quartz and biotite phenocrysts and apatite microlites. That Fe–Ti oxide temperatures vary by ~50–100 °C in a single thin section indicates that magmas were not homogenised effectively prior to eruption. Phenocryst contents do not correlate with calculated magmatic temperatures, consistent with crystal entrainment from the mush during magma ascent and eruption. Microlites grew during ascent from the magma storage region. Variability in the proportion of microlites is attributed to differing ascent and effusion rates with faster rates in general for lavas >0.5 Ma compared to those <0.5 Ma. High microlite contents of domes indicate that effusion rates were probably slowest in dome-forming eruptions. Linear trends in WR major and trace element chemistries, highly variable, bimodal mineral compositions, and the presence of mafic enclaves in lavas demonstrate that intrusion of more mafic magmas into the evolving, shallow plutonic mush also occurred further amplifying local temperature fluctuations. Crystallisation and resorption of accessory phases, particularly ilmenite and apatite, can be detected in MI and groundmass glass trace element covariation trends, which are oblique to WRs. Marked variability of Ba, Sr and La in MI can be attributed to temperature-controlled, localised crystallisation of plagioclase, orthopyroxene and biotite within the evolving mush.     

Structural characteristics of the halite fabric type ‘Kristallbrocken’ from the Zechstein Basin with regard to its development

The Kristallbrocken are a characteristic centimetre- to decimetre-sized, laminated halite fabric type occurring in the Stassfurt Formation in the Zechstein Basin. Up to now, the nature of the Kristallbrocken, i.e. if they are relics of fine-grained, polycrystalline halite beds or clasts of ‘single crystal-layers’, as well as the deformation mechanisms of this halite type, were not clear from the literature. Drill core material from the salt deposit Teutschenthal at the southern rim of the Zechstein Basin now allowed investigating less intensely deformed samples for the first time. The deformational behaviour of these Kristallbrocken ranges from brittle to ductile, which is evidenced by fractured Kristallbrocken on the one hand and weakly bent or even folded Kristallbrocken on the other hand. Local X-ray texture measurements demonstrated that the Kristallbrocken are definitely single crystals and that they can be regarded as relics of formerly larger ‘single crystal-layers’ of up to several dm² in size. The folded Kristallbrocken clearly display by their single grain texture characteristics that their crystal lattice is bent, which was most likely enabled by a kind of flexural-shear folding, and did not develop after deformation from a fine-grained aggregate by recrystallisation. Due to their monocrystallinity, their originally large size, and the solid inclusions forming the internal lamination, the Kristallbrocken have clearly stronger rheological properties than the surrounding fine- to coarse-grained polycrystalline rock salt, and thus also deform by fracturing.     

Collision of the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta with the Burma Arc: Implications for earthquake hazard

We take a fresh look at the topography, structure and seismicity of the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta (GBD)–Burma Arc collision zone in order to reevaluate the nature of the accretionary prism and its seismic potential. The GBD, the world's largest delta, has been built from sediments eroded from the Himalayan collision. These sediments prograded the continental margin of the Indian subcontinent by  400 km, forming a huge sediment pile that is now entering the Burma Arc subduction zone. Subduction of oceanic lithosphere with > 20 km sediment thickness is fueling the growth of an active accretionary prism exposed on land. The prism starts at an apex south of the GBD shelf edge at  18°N and widens northwards to form a broad triangle that may be up to 300 km wide at its northern limit. The front of the prism is blind, buried by the GBD sediments. Thus, the deformation front extends 100 km west of the surface fold belt beneath the Comilla Tract, which is uplifted by 3–4 m relative to the delta. This accretionary prism has the lowest surface slope of any active subduction zone. The gradient of the prism is only  0.1°, rising to  0.5° in the forearc region to the east. This low slope is consistent with the high level of overpressure found in the subsurface, and indicates a very weak detachment. Since its onset, the collision of the GBD and Burma Arc has expanded westward at  2 cm/yr, and propagated southwards at  5 cm/yr. Seismic hazard in the GBD is largely unknown. Intermediate-size earthquakes are associated with surface ruptures and fold growth in the external part of the prism. However, the possibility of large subduction ruptures has not been accounted for, and may be higher than generally believed. Although sediment-clogged systems are thought to not be able to sustain the stresses and strain-weakening behavior required for great earthquakes, some of the largest known earthquakes have occurred in heavily-sedimented subduction zones. A large earthquake in 1762 ruptured  250 km of the southern part of the GBD, suggesting large earthquakes are possible there. A large, but poorly documented earthquake in 1548 damaged population centers at the northern and southern ends of the onshore prism, and is the only known candidate for a rupture of the plate boundary along the subaerial part of the GBD–Burma Arc collision zone.