Zoning of diamonds from the Mir kimberlite pipe: Results of Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy

Plates prepared of diamonds from the Mir kimberlite pipe were examined with FTIR spectroscopy. It is shown that B1 defects were formed by annealing during crystal growth, whereas B2 centers arose after growth cessation. The development of B2 centers in a natural diamond is the secondary process with respect to the aggregation of the nitrogen admixture. The kinetics of this process is related to the breakdown of an oversaturated solid solution. The results obtained make it possible to estimate the temperature and duration of natural diamond growth.     

First results from ground-based daytime optical investigation of the development of the equatorial ionization anomaly

A meridional scanning OI 630.0-nm dayglow photometer was operated from Ahmedabad (17.2^°N dip lat.) scanning a region towards the south in the upper atmosphere extending over \sim5^° in latitude from 10.2^°N to 15.2^°N dip latitude. From the spatial and temporal variabilities of the dayglow intensity in the scanning region we show for the first time, evidence for the passage of the crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) in the daytime by means of a ground-based optical technique. The relationship between the daytime eastward electric field over the dip equator in the same longitude zone as inferred from the equatorial electrojet strength and the evolutionary pattern of EIA is clearly demonstrated. The latter as inferred from the dayglow measurements is shown to be consistent with our present understanding of the electrodynamical processes in the equatorial region. The present results reveal the potential of this ground-based optical technique for the investigation of ionospheric/thermospheric phenomena with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.     

The geological and geodynamic evolution of the eastern Black Sea basin: insights from 2-D and 3-D tectonic modelling

Subsidence mechanisms that may have controlled the evolution of the eastern Black Sea have been studied and simulated using a numerical model that integrates structural, thermal, isostatic and surface processes in both two- (2-D) and three-dimensions (3-D). The model enables the forward modelling of extensional basin evolution followed by deformation due to subsequent extensional and compressional events. Seismic data show that the eastern Black Sea has evolved via a sequence of interrelated tectonic events that began with early Tertiary rifting followed by several phases of compression, mainly confined to the edges of the basin. A large magnitude (approximately 12 km) of regional subsidence also occurred in the central basin throughout the Tertiary. Models that simulate the magnitude of observed fault controlled extension (β=1.13) do not reproduce the total depth of the basin. Similarly, the modelling of compressional deformation around the edges of the basin does little to enhance subsidence in the central basin. A modelling approach that quantifies lithosphere extension according to the amount of observed crustal thinning and thickening across the basin provides the closest match to overall subsidence. The modelling also shows that deep crustal and mantle–lithosphere processes can significantly influence the rate and magnitude of syn- to post-rift subsidence and shows that such mechanisms may have played an important role in forming the anomalously thin syn-rift and thick Miocene–Quaternary sequences observed in the basin. It is also suggested that extension of a 40–45 km thick pre-rift crust is required to generate the observed magnitude of total subsidence when considering a realistic bathymetry.     

Novae as Thermonuclear Laboratories

Fred Hoyle undertook a study of observational consequences of the thermonuclear paradigm for the nova event in the years following his 1972 resignation from Cambridge University. The most fruitful of these have been in the areas of gamma-ray astronomy, by which one attempts to measure the level of radioactivity in the nova envelope, and of presolar grain studies in laboratories, by which one measures anomalous isotopic ratios that fingerprint condensation in the thermonuclear event. This work summarizes progress with these two astronomical measures of the novae. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comparison of Canadian daily ice charts with surface observations off Newfoundland,winter 1992

Abstract

Forecast ice drift rates and thicknesses displayed on daily ice charts and forecast winds for the Canadian east coast are compared to on‐ice observations made during the second Canadian Atlantic Storm Program (CASP II) of March 1992. Observed and 24‐hour forecasts of daily ice drift rates were weakly correlated even though long‐term means closely matched observations. Daily drift rates have an RMS error of 13 cm s^‐1 relative to a 15 cm s^‐1 mean in addition to an RMS direction error of 50 degrees. Contributions towards daily drift uncertainties were: the estimation of winds, unmodelled physics of ocean and ice cover processes; and the inconsistency in the methods used by the ice forecaster. Correlation coefficients between forecast winds and on‐ice observed winds decreased from 0.8 at 0‐hour to 0.7 for the 30‐hour forecast. Similar results were found between ice drift rates from forecast winds. Histograms of ice thicknesses observed along narrow swaths using a helicopter‐towed electromagnetic sensor compared well with undeformed ice thicknesses representing large areas on ice charts, with differences mainly caused by difference in ice type representation and by co‐registering the two data sets.     

The oxygen abundance in the H II regions of the spiral galaxy M101 determined from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra

We examined the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra of the H II regions in the disk of the spiral galaxy M101 (NGC 5457), and 17 H II regions with the auroral oxygen line [O III] λ 436.3 nm in their spectra were selected for line intensity measurements. The measurement data were used to determine the oxygen abundance in the H II region sample. We demonstrate that the spectral SDSS data supplemented with the information on the nebular oxygen line [O II] λ 372.7 nm based on the recently found ff-relation between the oxygen line intensities in the spectra of H II regions allow the oxygen abundance to be determined as accurately as in the standard T _e method. The parameters of the radial oxygen abundance distribution in the M101 disk (the abundance at the galactic center and the radial gradient) are estimated.     

Cambrian Stem-group Cnidarians with a New Species from the Cambrian Series 3 of the Taebaeksan Basin, Korea

Five species, Lipopora lissa Jell and Jell, 1976, Lipopora daseia Jell and Jell, 1976, Tretocylichne perplexa Engelbretsen, 1993 from Australia, Cambroctoconus orientalis Park, Woo, Lee, Lee, Lee, Han and Chough, 2011 from China, and Cambroctoconus kyrgyzstanicus Peel, 2014 from Kyrgyzstan, belonging to the Cambrian stem-group cnidarians have been documented in the fossil record. Cambroctoconus coreaensis sp. nov., interpreted here as a stem-group cnidarian, from the Seokgaejae section in the Daegi Formation, Taebaek Group (Cambrian Series 3), Taebaeksan Basin, central-eastern Korean Peninsula, has a slender cup-shaped skeleton. A cladistic analysis produced 21 most parsimonious trees, which invariably placed the six stem-group cnidarians below the crown-group, but their relationships within the stem-group are unresolved. Nine out of the 21 trees suggest a monophyletic relationship for the Cambrian stem-group cnidarians, whereas in six other trees a monophyly of Cambroctoconus and Tretocylichne appeared as the sister-group to the crown-group cnidarians with Lipopora at the most basal branch. This result may reflect the fact that crown-group cnidarians evolved in the Precambrian, and suggests that the diversity of stem-group cnidarians was a result of an independent radiation in the Cambrian.     

Land use contribution to the anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases in Russia in 2000–2011

Presented is the assessment of the contribution that such major types of the land use in Russia as arable lands, forage lands, settlements, and peatery make to anthropogenic fluxes of carbon dioxide CO₂, methane CH₄, and nitrogen oxide N₂O, The assessment is based on the methods of computation monitoring carried out in the period from 2000 to 2011. The results of the study demonstrated that every year arable lands cause the emission of CO₂ and N₂O of about 117.0 and 74.9 million t CO₂ equiv, and peatery, 0.54 and 105.4 thousand t CO₂ equiv, respectively. The balance of soil carbon in hayfields and pastures is close to zero. The average emissions of CH₄ and N₂O from the manure of pasture animals amount to 0.2 and 5.0 million t CO₂ equiv/year, and those from grass fires, 276.1 and 372.5 thousand t CO₂ equiv/year, respectively. The carbon balance in permanent soils of settlements is also almost close to zero, and newly built-up lands are the source of CO₂ (9.5 million t/year). The natural overgrowing of fallow lands leads to the accumulation of the soil carbon (about 92.4 million t CO₂/year). It was revealed that the intensity of CO₂ emission is defined by the soil carbon balance and that of other gases, by the amount of nitrogen fertilizers, plant residues, and manure coming to the soil. The total emission from the land use is 106.9 million t CO₂ equiv/year that makes up 4.9% of the total anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases in the Russian Federation.