Dhofar 081: A new lunar highland meteorite

Abstract— The lunar meteorite Dhofar 081, found as a single fragment of 174 g in the Dhofar region of Oman, is a shocked feldspathic fragmental highland breccia dominated by anorthosite‐rich lithic and mineral clasts embedded into a fine‐grained mostly shock melted clastic matrix. Major mineral phases in the bulk rock are Ca‐rich plagioclase (An_96.5–99.5), pyroxene (FS_21.9–46.2Wo_3.0–41.4), and olivine (Fa_29.3–47.8); accessory phases include Fe‐Ni metal, ilmenite, and Ti‐Cr‐rich spinel. Dhofar 081 contains subordinate crystalline fragments of large anorthosites, intersertal impact‐melt rocks, microporphyritic impact‐melt breccias, dark fine‐grained impact‐melt breccias, large cataclastic feldspars, and irregularly shaped brown glass clasts. Mafic components are rare and no genuine regolith components were found in the sections studied. Minerals in Dhofar 081 show homogeneously distributed shock features: intergranular recrystallization, strong fracturing and mosaicism in feldspar as well as a high density of mostly irregular fractures in pyroxene and olivine. Localized impact melting caused by one or several impacts led to a strong lithification. Based on these effects an equilibration shock pressure of about 15–20 GPa is estimated for the strongest shock event in Dhofar 081. Devitrification of the “glassy” material in the rock indicates thermal annealing after shock melting suggesting that the 15–20 GPa shock event predated the ejection event. According to the concentrations of implanted solar noble gases Dhofar 081 represents a polymict clastic breccia deposit with possibly a minor regolith component. A similar noble gas record of Dhofar 081 and MacAlpine Hills 88104/05 suggests the possibility of a source crater pairing of both meteorites. As indicated by noble gas measurements pairing of Dhofar 081 with the other lunar meteorites found in Oman, Dhofar 025 and Dhofar 026, is unlikely.     

Evolution of the luminosity function and colours of galaxies in a Λ cold dark matter universe

The luminosity function of galaxies is derived from a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation of a Λ cold dark matter universe with the aid of a stellar population synthesis model. At     , the resulting B -band luminosity function has a flat faint-end slope of     with the characteristic luminosity and the normalization in fair agreement with observations, while the dark matter halo mass function is steep with a slope of     . The colour distribution of galaxies also agrees well with local observations. We also discuss the evolution of the luminosity function, and the colour distribution of galaxies from     to 5. A large evolution of the characteristic mass in the stellar mass function as a result of number evolution is compensated by luminosity evolution; the characteristic luminosity increases only by 0.8 mag from     to 2, and then declines towards higher redshift, while the B -band luminosity density continues to increase from     to 5 (but only slowly at     .     

ISO Observations of Isolated Herbig AE/BE Stars

We report on SWS and LWS observations of the circumstellar disks of young stars of a few solar masses. The ISO spectra of these objects present a diversity of emission features of carbon-rich and oxygen-rich grains. The similarity of the forsterite spectra observed for Comet Hale-Bopp and the Haebe star HD100546 is particularly striking and provides a new argument that huge comet swarms are formed in the disks surrounding young stars. While the data suggest that the formation of crystalline silicates in the dust disks essentially occurs when a Haebe star has already reached the main sequence, no clear correlation with stellar age only is apparent. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Variable Star Research With International Networks

Generally speaking, variable stars are monitored through observing campaigns which coordinate multi-site telescopes at various longitudes. A new practice is in progress: devoted networks involving robotic telescopes. We will review these two technologies and will emphasize the NORT (Network of Oriental Robotic Telescopes) project which we are promoting in North Africa, Middle-Eastern countries and Asia. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Examples of clustering around high redshift radio-galaxies

Published in Astrofizika, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 677–680, October–December, 1995.     

Comparison of results from several AOGCMs for global and regional sea-level change 1900–2100

 Sea-level rise is an important aspect of climate change because of its impact on society and ecosystems. Here we present an intercomparison of results from ten coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) for sea-level changes simulated for the twentieth century and projected to occur during the twenty first century in experiments following scenario IS92a for greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols. The model results suggest that the rate of sea-level rise due to thermal expansion of sea water has increased during the twentieth century, but the small set of tide gauges with long records might not be adequate to detect this acceleration. The rate of sea-level rise due to thermal expansion continues to increase throughout the twenty first century, and the projected total is consequently larger than in the twentieth century; for 1990–2090 it amounts to 0.20–0.37 m. This wide range results from systematic uncertainty in modelling of climate change and of heat uptake by the ocean. The AOGCMs agree that sea-level rise is expected to be geographically non-uniform, with some regions experiencing as much as twice the global average, and others practically zero, but they do not agree about the geographical pattern. The lack of agreement indicates that we cannot currently have confidence in projections of local sea-level changes, and reveals a need for detailed analysis and intercomparison in order to understand and reduce the disagreements. Received: 1 September 2000 / Accepted: 20 April 2001     

The influence of a non‐associated flow rule on the calculation of the factor of safety of soil slopes

This paper presents a method that incorporates a non‐associated flow rule into the limit analysis to investigate the influence of the dilatancy angle on the factor of safety for the slope stability analysis. The proposed method retain's the advantage of the upper bound method, which is simple and has no stress involvement in the calculation of the energy dissipation and the factor of safety. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why Mt Etna?

The Etna volcano is located in an apparently anomalous position on the hinge zone of the Apennines subduction and its Na-alkaline geochemistry does not favour a magma source from the deep slab as indicated for the Aeolian K-alkaline magmatism. The steeper dip of the regional foreland monocline at the front of the Apennines in the Ionian Sea than in Sicily, implies a larger rollback of the subduction hinge in the Ionian Sea. Moreover, the lengthening of the Apennines arc needs extension parallel to the arc. Therefore, the larger southeastward subduction rollback of the Ionian lithosphere with respect to the Hyblean plateau in Sicily, should kinematically produce right-lateral transtension and a sort of vertical 'slab window' which might explain (i) the Plio-Pleistocene alkaline magmatism of eastern Sicily (e.g. the Etna volcano) and (ii) the late Pliocene to present right lateral transtensional tectonics and seismicity of eastern Sicily. The area of transfer of different dip and rollback occurs along the inherited Mesozoic passive continental margin between Sicily and the oceanic Ionian Sea, i.e. the Malta escarpment.     

Historical Changes in the Flood Hazard at Khartoum, Sudan: Lessons and Warnings for the Future

The 1988 floods at Khartoum were frequently described as "unprecedented". However, an examination of evidence for floods caused by the Nile and rain storms during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries leads to the conclusion that neither the Nile flood nor the rain storms nor their coincidence in one season were unprecedented and that similar situations will recur.We argue that most problems were created by complacency, lack of planning and mismanagement. We conclude with some simple suggestions for flood amelioration in the future and warn that complacency is the single most important phenomenon likely to recur to the detriment of Greater Khartoum in the future.     

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC DATA CAPTURE: AN INEXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVE

A case is made for the development of an inexpensive and portable data capturing unit which could be used with existing mirror stereoscopes and which could provide an accuracy sufficient for most digital map databases. The results of simulation experiments to test the accuracy of the system are presented.