The molecular universe

Helen J Fraser , Martin R S McCoustra and David A Williams present a simple guide to astrochemistry.
Molecules play a fundamental role in many regions of our universe. The science where chemistry and astronomy overlap is known as astrochemistry, a branch of astronomy that has risen in importance over recent years. In this article we review the significance of chemistry in several astronomical years. IN this article we review the significance of chemistry in several astronomical environments including the early universe, interstellar clouds, starforming regions and protoplanetary disks. We discuss theoretical models, laboratory experiments and observational data, and present several recent and exciting results that challenge our perception of the "molecular universe".     

Evaluation of Subsurface Structure at Soultz Hot Dry Rock Site by the AE Reflection Method in Time-frequency Domain

—?Because the Soultz Hot Dry Rock (HDR) site, France, is to be expanded to a scientific pilot plant of greater depth, measurement of the deep area below the predeveloped artificial reservoir is gaining importance. In this paper, we present estimates of deep subsurface structure at the Soultz HDR site, obtained by a reflection method using acoustic emission (AE) signals, that is, induced seismicity, as the wave source. First, we briefly describe the AE reflection method in the time-frequency domain with wavelet transform. Then we show estimates of the subsurface structure by using 101 high-energy AE events observed in 1993. We compare and discuss the results obtained, using the AE reflection method in two wells with other independent borehole observations. Furthermore, we present the results of an investigation of the frequency dependence of reflectors identified by hodogram linearity as a possible means of further characterizing detected structures.     

Causes of Geochemical Diversity of Carbon Dioxide Water in Crystalline Rock Masses

The problem of the diversity of the geochemical types of carbon dioxide waters (CDW) in petrografically and mineralogically uniform crystalline rock masses is solved with allowance made for the effect of different boundary conditions (physicochemical parameters) on the geochemical effect of interaction in the rock–water system. The formation of the entire geochemical spectrum of CDW in crystalline rock masses is shown to be explicable on the basis of a model of interaction in granite–water systems at different mass ratios of reacting rock (S) and water (L), different temperatures T, and equilibrium concentrations of dissolved CO₂ (P _CO2).     

Late Archaean to Palaeoproterozoic geotherms in the Kaapvaal craton, South Africa: constraints on the thermal evolution of the Witwatersrand Basin

The c. 2.97–2.71 Ga Witwatersrand Basin located in the Kaapvaal craton of South Africa represents a remnant of a large Late Archaean sedimentary basin that hosts the world's premier gold deposit within a series of conglomerate horizons. Evidence of postdepositional gold mobility within these conglomerates associated with hydrothermal–metamorphic activity has led to speculation about the Late Archaean to Palaeoproterozoic geothermal gradients in the basin. We use surface heat flow and heat production data from rocks in the basin and its environs in order to calculate detailed temperature profiles for the central Kaapvaal craton that show that the steady state crustal geotherm during the Late Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic was relatively cool at 15–20 K km^?1. The geotherm in the upper crustal strata is also largely unaffected by substantial increases in the heat flow into the base of the crust. Consequently, regional greenschist facies metamorphism of the basin sediments could only have been achieved during a transient thermal event that advected heat into the upper crust. The most likely candidate for this is the Bushveld magmatic event at 2.06 Ga.     

Chasing a 'loose and baggy monster': almshouses and the geography of charity

This paper goes some way towards redressing the lack of geographical literature on charity through exploring the geography of the British domestic charitable sector. The size and geography of the third sector is outlined, followed by an analysis of how almshouses can be understood as inherently geographical and deeply embedded in local social networks of inclusion as well as exclusion.