Climatology of extratropical cyclones over the South American–southern oceans sector

A climatology of extratropical cyclones is presented. Extratropical cyclones, their main characteristics and their predominant tracks, as well as their interannual variability, affect weather in South America. For that purpose, a storm track database has been compiled by applying a cyclone tracking scheme to six-hourly sea level pressure fields, available from the National Center for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalyses II for the 1979–2003 period. The spatial distribution of the cyclogenesis frequency shows two main centers: one around Northern Argentina, Uruguay, and Southern Brazil in all seasons and the other near to the North Antarctic Peninsula. The lifetime of extratropical cyclones in the South American sector exhibits small seasonality, being typically of the order of 3.0 days during most of the year and slightly higher (3.5 days) in austral summer. The distance travelled by the cyclones formed in the South American sector tends to be smaller than the total paths found in other areas of the Southern Hemisphere. A k-mean clustering technique is used to summarize the analysis of the 25-year climatology of cyclone tracks. Three clusters were found: one storm-track cluster in Northeast Argentina; a second one west of the Andes Cordillera; and a third cluster located to the north of the Antarctic Peninsula (around the Weddell Sea). The influence of the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) in the variability of extratropical cyclones is explored, and some signals of the impacts of the variability of the AAO can be observed in the position of the extratropical cyclones around 40°S, while the impacts on the intensity is detected around 55°S.     

云南哈播斑岩型铜（ 钼 金）矿床地质与成矿背景研究

哈播斑岩铜(-钼-金)矿床位于哀牢山-红河新生代成矿带南端西侧,是近年来新发现的一个斑岩型矿床.矿区内出露的哈播侵入体具有多期侵入的特征,花岗岩依次侵入的序列为坪山花岗岩、三道班花岗岩、阿树花岗岩、哈播南山花岗岩(37.3 Ma),随后有4期斑岩侵入到哈播南山花岗岩中,依次为黑云母钾长石斑岩、石英钾长石斑岩、石英二长斑岩和晚期黑云母钾长石斑岩岩脉.采用LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄法测定黑云母钾长石斑岩和石英二长斑岩的加权平均年龄分别为36.20±0.20 Ma和36.19±0.22 Ma,哈播南山花岗岩和4期斑岩具有相似的岩石地球化学特征,都有富钾、高氧化态和类似岛弧花岗岩的岩石地球化学特征,可能具有相同的来源.辉钼矿Re-Os年龄显示,哈播矿床的成矿年龄为35.47±0.16 Ma.相似的成岩-成矿年龄暗示哈播矿床成岩和成矿作用是一个连续的岩浆-热液过程,与玉龙斑岩铜矿相似.基于哈播矿床的岩石学、地球化学特点,结合前人关于青藏高原东部斑岩铜矿的研究成果,我们认为哈播斑岩矿床可能为藏东富碱斑岩带向东南的延伸,与玉龙斑岩铜矿带具有相似的成因,为哀牢山-红河新生代成矿带的重要组成部分,是晚碰撞构造转换背景下的重要产物.     

Azimuth determination by equatorial stars

Summary Difficulties in the determination of precise azimuth from observations on Polaris at high latitudes suggested an investigation of azimuth determination from other stars. A proposed method for determining azimuth by observing the time of crossing of stars in the vertical plane through the reference object is discussed theoretically, and results of a field test of the method are given.

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Zusammenfassung Genaue Azimutbestimmungen mit Hilfe des Polarsterns sind in h?heren Breiten schwierig. Der Verfasser untersucht daher die Azimutbestimmung mit Hilfe anderer Sterne. Der Aufsatz er?rtert die Theorie eines Messverfahrens, bei dem die Durchgangszeiten von Sternen durch die Referenz-Lotebene beobachtet werden. Ergebnisse von Versuchsmessungen werden mitgeteilt.

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Resumen La dificultad de efectuar determinaciones precisas de azimut con la estrella polar, han conducido al autor a estudiar esta determinación con otras estrellas. El artículo discute la teoría de un método de determinación por observación del instante de pasos de estrellas por el plano vertical de la referencia y presenta resultados experimentales.

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Résumé La difficulté des déterminations précises d'azimuth sur l'étoile polaire, aux hautes latitudes, ont amené l'auteur à étudier cette détermination sur d'autres étoiles. L'article discute la théorie d'une méthode de détermination par observation de l'instant de passage des étoiles dans le plan vertical de la référence et présente des résultats expérimentaux.

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Riassunto La difficoltà di effettuare determinazioni precise d'azimut con la Polare, ad alte latitudini, ha indotto l'Autore a studiare tale determinazione con altre stelle. L'articolo tratta la teoria di un metodo di determinazione con osservazione dell'istante di passaggio delle stelle nel piano verticale di riferimento e presenta alcuni risultati sperimentali.

     

Groundwater recharge in natural dune systems and agricultural ecosystems in the Thar Desert region, Rajasthan, India

Water and nutrient availability for crop production are critical issues in (semi)arid regions. Unsaturated-zone Cl tracer data and nutrient (NO₃ and PO₄) concentrations were used to quantify recharge rates using the Cl mass balance approach and nutrient availability in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India. Soil cores were collected in dune/interdune settings in the arid Thar Desert (near Jaisalmer) and in rain-fed (nonirrigated) and irrigated cropland in the semiarid desert margin (near Jaipur). Recharge rates were also simulated using unsaturated zone modeling. Recharge rates in sparsely vegetated dune/interdune settings in the Jaisalmer study area are 2.7–5.6 mm/year (2–3% of precipitation, 165 mm/year). In contrast, recharge rates in rain-fed agriculture in the Jaipur study area are 61–94 mm/year (10–16% of precipitation, 600 mm/year). Minimum recharge rates under current freshwater irrigated sites are 50–120 mm/year (8–20% of precipitation). Nitrate concentrations are low at most sites. Similarity in recharge rates based on SO₄ with those based on Cl is attributed to a meteoric origin of SO₄ and generally conservative chemical behavior in these sandy soils. Modeling results increased confidence in tracer-based recharge estimates. Recharge rates under rain-fed agriculture indicate that irrigation of 20–40% of cultivated land with 300 mm/year should be sustainable.     

Solar magnetic and bolometric cycles recorded in sea sediments

The total carbonate and thermoluminescence (TL) profiles of the GT89-3 Ionian sea sediment core have been measured in the upper 200 cm of the core spanning the last 3100 years in order to test the presence of the Gleissberg (80–90 yr) cycle in the two different time series recorded in the same archive. Two different sampling intervals respectively of 2.5 mm and 2 mm have been chosen for the measurements in order to obtain results independent from sampling effects in the time series. We have revealed the Gleissberg cycle at 83 and 92 yr in both records.     

Chandra measurements of the X-ray core and cluster of 3C 220.1

We report results of an 18-ks exposure with the ACIS instrument on Chandra of the powerful z =0.62 radio galaxy 3C 220.1. The X-ray emission separates into cluster gas of emission-weighted kT ∼5 keV , 0.7–12 keV luminosity (to a radius of 45 arcsec) of 5.6×10⁴⁴ erg s⁻¹ and unresolved emission (coincident with the radio core). While the extended X-ray emission is clearly thermal in nature, a straightforward cooling-flow model, even in conjunction with a point-source component, is a poor fit to the radial profile of the X-ray emission. This is despite the fact that the measured properties of the gas suggest a massive cooling flow of ∼130 M_⊙ yr⁻¹, and the data show weak evidence for a temperature gradient. The central unresolved X-ray emission has a power-law spectral energy index α ∼0.7 and 0.7–12 keV luminosity of 10⁴⁵ erg s⁻¹, and any intrinsic absorption is relatively small. The two-point spectrum of the core emission between radio and X-ray energies has α _rx=0.75 . Since this is a flatter spectrum than seen in other sources where the X-ray emission is presumed to be radio-related, regions close to the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in this source may dominate the central X-ray output, as is believed to be the case for lobe-dominated quasars. Simple unification models would be challenged if this were found to be the case for a large fraction of high-power radio galaxies.     

Use of Roche coordinates in the problems of small oscillations of tidally distorted stellar models

The system of Roche coordinates developed by Kopal to study the problems of stars in close binary systems has been used to study the problems of small oscillations of tidally distorted stars.