On gamma-ray emission from CYG X-2

We discuss the importance of hard X- and gamma-ray emission from thermal X-ray sources to obtain a more realistic picture of these objects.In particular, we show that the inverse Compton effect is a possible mechanism of gamma-ray emission from sources of this kind and apply our consideration to the specific case of Cyg X-2.     

Improvement of Nakamura technique by singular spectrum analysis

In this work we investigate the application of the Singular Spectrum Analysis to improve Nakamura Technique. The SSA has a wide and multidisciplinary range of applications; it allows a time series to be decomposed into different components, e.g. the signal itself, as well as various noise components, which can be subsequently removed from the data. Removal of the minor component of the data can lead to significant improvements in the identification of the system. In this paper the use of SSA Technique allows to optimize the signal to noise ratio before computing the classical Nakamura spectral ratios. A number of typical applications are also presented.     

Ordovician igneous and metamorphic units in southeastern Puna: New U–Pb and Sm–Nd data and implications for the evolution of northwestern Argentina

New field, petrological, geochemical, and geochronological data (U–Pb and Sm–Nd) for Ordovician rock units in the southeastern Puna, NW Argentina, indicate two lithostratigraphic units at the eastern–northeastern border of salar Centenario: (1) a bimodal volcanosedimentary sequence affected by low- to medium-grade metamorphism, comprising metasediments associated with basic and felsic metavolcanic rocks, dated 485 ± 5 Ma, and (2) a plutonic unit composed of syenogranites to quartz-rich leucogranites with U–Pb zircon ages between 462 ± 7 and 475 ± 5 Ma. Felsic metavolcanic and plutonic rocks are peraluminous and show similar geochemical differentiation trends. They also have similar Sm–Nd isotopic compositions (T_DM model ages of 1.54–1.78 Ga; ε_Nd(T) values ranging from −3.2 to −7.5) that suggest a common origin and derivation of the original magmas from older (Meso-Paleoproterozoic?) continental crust. Mafic rocks show ε_Nd(T) ranging from +2.3 to +2.5, indicating a depleted mantle source. The data presented here, combined with those in the literature, suggest Ordovician magmatism mainly recycles preexisting crust with minor additions of juvenile mantle-derived material.     

Discussion of: Ortega-Flores et al. (2018) Provenance analysis of Oligocene sandstone from the Cerro Pelón area,southern Gulf of Mexico.https://doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2018.1476922

ABSTRACT

We discuss the 2018 publication that reports petrographic, heavy mineral data, mineral chemistry, and zircon geochronology for Oligocene sandstones in the Cerro Pelón area in southern Mexico Sureste basin. As the title of their paper says, the goal of their study is to establish the source (s) of the voluminous Cenozoic section in this region, reaching several kilometres in thickness and important as a petroleum system. These authors conclude that Oligocene sandstones of La Laja Formation were mostly sourced from eclogite- to greenschist-facies metasedimentary, metaigneous, and ultramafic rocks of the Guatemala suture complex. Minor contributions from the Chiapas Massif Complex, exposed directly to the south ~60 km of the Cerro Pelón area, were also suggested by the authors. They thus conclude that the Palaeogene stratigraphic record in southeastern Mexico was mostly controlled by the development of the Caribbean–North America plate boundary rather than by orogenic processes at the Pacific margin of North America. Presently, we do not agree with the conclusions of Ortega Flores and colleagues who studied the Cerro Pelón section, thus some discussion is required. Serpentinite bearing Nanchital Conglomerate is well exposed in the Cerro Pelón area, and high- to low-grade metamorphic rocks experienced an uplift in the vicinity of the Cerro Pelón area at the time of deposition of the La Laja Formation. We believe the data are better explained by multiple local sources in southern and eastern Oaxaca as well as sources to the south and southwest, which include the Cenozoic coastal batholith, the Grenvillean/Guichicovi basement complexes, the Chiapas Massif, the Mazatlán schist and other units in the Cuicateco Belt, as well as the Mesozoic cover of these areas (Todos Santos Formation, Cretaceous carbonate rocks, and Paleogene strata such as the Soyaló and Bosque Formations).     

Diffusive-Shock-Accelerated Interplanetary Ions At Several Energies During the Solar Cycle 21 Maximum

The most intense energetic particle (mainly proton) events in the energy range 36–1600 keV, during the years of maximum activity of solar cycle 21 (1978 to 1982), have been studied with regard to their spectra, temporal profiles, source location at the Sun, interplanetary plasma parameters and interplanetary magnetic field topology. In all the events, the particles were accelerated by the 'Diffusive Shock' acceleration mechanism, because all the events were 'long-duration events', shock-associated, and their spectra fitted to a power-law energetic particle spectrum dJ/dE E^-\gamma with the exponent values ranging from 1.25 up to 1.94, with a mean value of 1.60 ± 0.06. We also show that the spectral indexes are related to the shock properties by a linear expression. The solar sources were located on a wide longitudinal belt extending from 50^ W up to 73^ E. Neither the spectral indexes nor the shock parameters present any dependence on the source location at the Sun. Finally, only one event showed the complete set of properties that characterize the presence of a magnetic cloud associated with the event.     

Palaeomagnetic and geochronological results from the Cambro-Ordovician Granite Harbour Intrusives inland of Terra Nova Bay (Victoria Land, Antarctica)

Palaeomagnetic investigations and Rb–Sr dating were carried out on samples from two plutons from the Granite Harbour Intrusives of the Transantarctic Mountains inland of Terra Nova Bay. The Rb–Sr whole rock–biotite ages from Teall Nunatak (475±4, 483±4 Ma), a quartz-diorite pluton cropping out to the south of Priestley Glacier, are older than that from the Mount Keinath monzogranite (450±4 Ma), which is located to the north of the glacier. These results are consistent with the literature data, which suggest that during the last phases of the Ross Orogeny the cooling rate of the basement was significantly lower to the north than to the south of Priestley Glacier. The Teall Nunatak quartz-diorite is characterized by a stable magnetization, whose blocking-temperature spectrum ranges from 530 to 570 °C. At one site, the stable magnetization is screened by a large secondary component of opposite polarity, removed by thermal demagnetization below 300 °C. The characteristic directions after thermal demagnetization yielded a southern pole located at lat. 11°S, long. 21°E. The magnetization of Mount Keinath monzogranite consists of several components with overlapping stability spectra. A characteristic direction was isolated at one site only, obtained by demagnetizing the specimens in the temperature range from 380 to 460 °C.
  Comparison with the other East Antarctica poles shows that those from Victoria Land are very well grouped and give a reliable early Ordovician palaeopole (lat. 5°S, long. 23°E, with K =196 and A ₉₅=3.7°), whereas the poles from Wilkes, Enderby and Dronning Maud Land are dispersed. We tentatively advance the hypothesis that the dispersion reflects different magnetization ages due to the slow cooling of these regions during the last stages of the Ross Orogeny.     

Shallow landslides in deeply weathered slates of the Sierra de Collcerola (Catalonian Coastal Range, Spain)

Stability conditions in an area located NW of Barcelona (Spain) are discussed. Here, several mass movements were observed, mainly affecting weathered Paleozoic slates. Many of these failures involved slopes cut along recent infrastructures: debris flows, wedge and plane failures, generally surficial, occurred more frequently. After a detailed geological and geomorphologic survey, geomechanic characterization was carried out, according to RMR and SMR classifications. This rating gave a prediction of slope behaviour, in fairly good agreement with the real observed one.

Stability numerical analysis was carried out for the main cut slopes, based upon the Limit Equilibrium Method. First of all, the deterministic factor of safety was computed using the mean values of parameters. After that, a simulation technique based upon the Monte Carlo Method was applied in order to obtain factor of safety distributions. The probability of failure was estimated as P(F<1).

Finally, results from deterministic and probabilistic approaches were compared. The effectiveness of different possible remedial measures was highlighted by means of a sensitivity analysis, which showed that the more important parameters in the study area are the geometrical ones (height, slope and failure plane angles). The final technical solutions adopted are briefly outlined.     

Formation and evolution of elliptical galaxies and QSO activity

We present the results of a numerical code that combines multi-zone chemical evolution with 1D hydrodynamics to follow in detail the evolution and radial behaviour of gas and stars during the formation of elliptical galaxies. We use the model to explore the links between the evolution and formation of elliptical galaxies and QSO activity. The knowledge of the radial gas flows in the galaxy allows us to trace metallicity gradients, and, in particular, the formation of a high-metallicity core in ellipticals. The high-metallicity core is formed soon enough to explain the metal abundances inferred in high-redshift quasars. The star formation rate and the subsequent feedback regulate the episodes of wind, outflow and cooling flow, thus affecting the recycling of the gas and the chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium. The evolution of the galaxy shows several stages, some of which are characterized by a complex flow pattern, with inflow in some regions and outflow in other regions. All models, however, exhibit during their late evolution a galactic wind at the outer boundary and, during their early evolution, an inflow towards the galactic nucleus. The characteristics of the inner inflow could explain the bolometric luminosity of a quasar lodged at the galactic centre as well as the evolution of the optical luminosity of quasars.