Preface: Stars and interstellar medium

This issue presents proceedings of the "Stars and Interstellar Medium" section of the AllRussian Astronomical Conference VAK-2017. Sixteen papers(selected from about 70 talks) cover different problems related to stars, pulsars, interstellar gas and dust, and star formation. The preface briefly reviews these papers.     

Ophiolites of the Eastern Peninsulas zone (Eastern Kamchatka): Age, composition, and geodynamic diversity

Abstract   The geological, geochemical and mineralogical data of dismembered ophiolites of various ages and genesis occurring in accretionary piles of the Eastern Peninsulas of Kamchatka enables us to discriminate three ophiolite complexes: (i) Aptian–Cenomanian complex: a fragment of ancient oceanic crust, composed of tholeiite basalts, pelagic sediments, and gabbroic rocks, presently occurring in a single tectonic slices (Afrika complex) and in olistoplaques in Pikezh complex of the Kamchatsky Mys Peninsula and probably in the mélange of the Kronotsky Peninsula; (ii) Upper Cretaceous complex, composed of highly depleted peridotite, gabbro and plagiogranite, associated with island arc tholeiite, boninite, and high-alumina tholeiitic basalt of supra-subduction origin; and (iii) Paleocene–Early Eocene complex of intra-island arc or back-arc origin, composed of gabbros, dolerites (sheeted dykes) and basalts produced from oceanic tholeiite melts, and back-arc basin-like dolerites. Formation of the various ophiolite complexes is related to the Kronotskaya intra-oceanic volcanic arc evolution. The first ophiolite complex is a fragment of ancient Aptian–Cenomanian oceanic crust on which the Kronotskaya arc originated. Ophiolites of the supra-subduction zone affinity were formed as a result of repeated partial melting of peridotites in the mantle wedge up to the subduction zone. This is accompanied by production of tholeiite basalts and boninites in the Kamchatsky Mys segment and plagioclase-bearing tholeiites in the Kronotsky segment of the Kronotskaya paleoarc. The ophiolite complex with intra-arc and mid-oceanic ridge basalt geochemical characteristics was formed in an extension regime during the last stage of Kronotskaya volcanic arc evolution.     

Barents Sea upstream events impact the properties of Atlantic water inflow into the Arctic Ocean: Evidence from 2005 to 2006 downstream observations

Inflow of Atlantic water (AW) from Fram Strait and the Barents Sea into the Arctic Ocean conditions the intermediate (100–1000 m) waters of the Arctic Ocean Eurasian margins. While over the Siberian margin the Fram Strait AW branch (FSBW) has exhibited continuous dramatic warming beginning in 2004, the tendency of the Barents Sea AW branch (BSBW) has remained poorly known. Here we document the contrary cooling tendency of the BSBW through the analysis of observational data collected from the icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn over the continental slope of the Eurasian Basin in 2005 and 2006. The CTD data from the R.V. Polarstern cruise in 1995 were used as a reference point for evaluating external atmospheric and sea-ice forcing and oxygen isotope analysis. Our data show that in 2006 the BSBW core was saltier (by ～0.037), cooler (by ～0.41 °C), denser (by ～0.04 kg/m³), deeper (by 150–200 m), and relatively better ventilated (by 7–8 μmol/kg of dissolved oxygen, or by 1.1–1.7% of saturation) compared with 2005. We hypothesize that the shift of the meridional wind from off-shore to on-shore direction during the BSBW translation through the Barents and northern Kara seas results in longer surface residence time for the BSBW sampled in 2006 compared with samples from 2005. The cooler, more saline, and better-ventilated BSBW sampled in 2006 may result from longer upstream translation through the Barents and northern Kara seas where the BSBW was modified by sea-ice formation and interaction with atmosphere. The data for stable oxygen isotopes from 1995 and 2006 reveals amplified brine modification of the BSBW core sampled downstream in 2006, which supports the assumption of an increased upstream residence time as indicated by wind patterns and dissolved oxygen values.     

Spectrophotometric variability of the magnetic CP star 56 Arietis in spectral region from 1950 to 3200 Å

We presented a phenomenological mode that attributes the precession of perihelion of planets to the relativistic correction. This modifies Newton’s equation by adding an inversely cube term with distance. The total energy of the new system is found to be the same as the Newtonian one. Moreover, we have deduced the deflection of light formula from Rutherford scattering. The relativistic term can be accounted for quantum correction of the gravitational potential and/or self energy of objects.     

The Dushak-Erekdag survey of roAp stars

The search of roAp stars at Mt. Dushak-Erekdag Observatory was started in 1992 using the 0.8 m Odessa telescope equipped with a two-star high-speed photometer. We have observed more than a dozen stars so far and discovered HD 99563 as roAp star while BD+8087 is suspected to have rapid oscillations. Negative results of our observations for the search of rapid oscillations in four stars in NGC 752 are also discussed.     

Kokchetavite: a new potassium-feldspar polymorph from the Kokchetav ultrahigh-pressure terrane

Kokchetavite, a new polymorph of K-feldspar (KAlSi₃O₈), has been identified as micrometer-size inclusions in clinopyroxene and garnet in a garnet-pyroxene rock from the Kokchetav ultrahigh-pressure terrane, Kazakhstan. Kokchetavite has a hexagonal structure with a =5.27(1) Å, c=7.82(1) Å, V=188.09 ų, Z=1, and is found to be associated with phengite + /-cristobalite (or quartz) + siliceous glass ± phlogopite/titanite/calcite/zircon, occurring as multi-phase inclusions in clinopyroxene and garnet. It is concluded that kokchetavite could not be an exsolution phase in host minerals. Instead, it might be metastably precipitated from an infiltrated K-rich melt during rock exhumation. Alternatively, although less likely, kokchetavite might be derived from dehydration of K-cymrite, which, in turn, was formed at high pressures. In either case, kokchetavite is a metastable polymorph of K-feldspar.     

中阿尔金南缘志留纪高压泥质片麻岩的发现及其构造地质意义

在中阿尔金南缘西段尤努斯萨依北部原划长城系巴什库尔干岩群中首次发现一套高压泥质片麻岩。根据岩相学观察和矿物化学成分可识别出其四期矿物共生组合:早期为石榴子石+多硅白云母+单斜辉石(?)+斜长石+黑云母+石英+金红石+钛铁矿;第二期为石榴子石+蓝晶石+钾长石+斜长石+黑云母+石英+金红石+钛铁矿;第三期为石榴子石+夕线石+钾长石+斜长石+黑云母+石英+金红石+钛铁矿;晚期为石榴子石+夕线石+斜长石+黑云母+石英+钛铁矿。依据矿物内部一致性热力学数据,基于THERMOCALC 3. 40程序平台,计算出P-T视剖面图,并结合矿物等值线、矿物对温压计等计算,依次确定四期变质温压条件为15. 8～18. 3kbar/646～729℃、10. 30～12. 30kbar/781～821℃、8. 50～9. 60kbar/812～838℃和4. 65～5. 70kbar/698～725℃。上述四期变质阶段共同构成一个早期降压升温后降压降温的顺时针型演化的P-T轨迹,指示出与陆壳俯冲-折返相关的变质地质事件。利用LA-ICP-MS进行的锆石原位微区U-Pb定年和微量元素分析结果表明,该岩石记录了432. 0±2. 7Ma、401. 4±2. 5Ma和381. 1±2. 4Ma三期变质年龄,可能分别代表了该岩石早期高压、中期高压麻粒岩相-麻粒岩相和后期角闪岩相变质阶段的时代。该高压岩石出露于中阿尔金地块西段南缘长城系巴什库尔干岩群之中,与南侧以断裂带分隔的赋存于阿尔金岩群之中的南阿尔金高压-超高压岩石出露的构造位置明显不同,其峰期变质时代(～432Ma)亦明显不同于南阿尔金高压-超高压岩石的峰期变质时代(～500Ma)。因此,该高压岩石与南阿尔金高压-超高压岩石显然不能构成同一条变质岩带。结合区域地质背景和前人关于柴北缘陆壳属性高压-超高压岩石峰期变质时代(～430Ma)的研究成果综合分析,本文初步认为该高压岩石可能是柴北缘高压-超高压变质岩带的西延或是被中新生代以来阿尔金复杂多期次走滑断裂系迁移而就位于中阿尔金南缘的部分柴北缘高压-超高压变质岩片/岩块。     

Escaping the climate policy uncertainty trap: options contracts for REDD+

Climate policy uncertainty significantly hinders investments in low-carbon technologies, and the global community is behind schedule to curb carbon emissions. Strong actions will be necessary to limit the increase in global temperatures, and continued delays create risks of escalating climate change damages and future policy costs. These risks are system-wide, long-term and large-scale and thus hard to diversify across firms. Because of its unique scale, cost structure and near-term availability, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries (REDD+) has significant potential to help manage climate policy risks and facilitate the transition to lower greenhouse gas emissions. ‘Call’ options contracts in the form of the right but not the obligation to buy high-quality emissions reduction credits from jurisdictional REDD+ programmes at a predetermined price per ton of CO₂ could help unlock this potential despite the current lack of carbon markets that accept REDD+ for compliance. This approach could provide a globally important cost-containment mechanism and insurance for firms against higher future carbon prices, while channelling finance to avoid deforestation until policy uncertainties decline and carbon markets scale up.

Key policy insights

• Climate policy uncertainty discourages abatement investments, exposing firms to an escalating systemic risk of future rapid increases in emission control expenditures.

• This situation poses a risk of an abatement ‘short squeeze,’ paralleling the case in financial markets when prices jump sharply as investors rush to square accounts on an investment they have sold ‘short’, one they have bet against and promised to repay later in anticipation of falling prices.

• There is likely to be a willingness to pay for mechanisms that hedge the risks of abruptly rising carbon prices, in particular for ‘call’ options, the right but not the obligation to buy high-quality emissions reduction credits at a predetermined price, due to the significantly lower upfront capital expenditure compared to other hedging alternatives.

• Establishing rules as soon as possible for compliance market acceptance of high-quality emissions reductions credits from REDD+ would facilitate REDD+ transactions, including via options-based contracts, which could help fill the gap of uncertain climate policies in the short and medium term.