Relation between basin morphometric features and dynamic characteristics of debris flows——a case study in Siberia,Russia

Extreme and prolonged rainfall in the Tunka Ridge caused several debris flows in the vicinity of the Arshan village(Siberia, Russia) on June 28, 2014. These debris flows, in spite of similar geological conditions, had different velocity, peak discharge and alluvial fan volume values. The flow velocity was from 3.5 m/s to 19.6 m/s, the peak discharge ranged from 63 m3/s to 13566 m3/s, and the alluvial fan volume varied from 4.13×103 to 8.45×105 m3. Such a great range of values is due to the morphometric parameters of the debris flow basins. The article deals with the influence of morphometric parameters of debris flow basins, such as the basin area, the average slope, Melton ratio, relief ratio on the debris flow velocity, peak discharge and volume of alluvial fans. In this debris flow event the average values of slope angle and total basin relief of the debris flow basins did not affect the values of debris flow velocity, peak discharge and alluvial fan volume. The highest correlations were observed with the debris flow basin area that was connected with the water inflow volume into the debris flow basins during the rainfall. The unequal water distribution among debris flow basins also had an impact on the debris flow velocity, peak discharge and volume of alluvial fans.     

Optimising optimal image subtraction

Difference imaging is a technique for obtaining precise relative photometry of variable sources in crowded stellar fields and, as such, constitutes a crucial part of the data reduction pipeline in surveys for microlensing events or transiting extrasolar planets. The Optimal Image Subtraction (OIS) algorithm of Alard & Lupton (1998) permits the accurate differencing of images by determining convolution kernels which, when applied to reference images with particularly good seeing and signal‐to‐noise (S/N), provide excellent matches to the point‐spread functions (PSF) in other images of the time series to be analysed. The convolution kernels are built as linear combinations of a set of basis functions, conventionally bivariate Gaussians modulated by polynomials. The kernel parameters, mainly the widths and maximal degrees of the basis function model, must be supplied by the user. Ideally, the parameters should be matched to the PSF, pixel‐sampling, and S/N of the data set or individual images to be analysed. We have studied the dependence of the reduction outcome as a function of the kernel parameters using our new implementation of OIS within the IDL‐based TRIPP package. From the analysis of noise‐free PSF simulations of both single objects and crowded fields, as well as the test images in the ISIS OIS software package, we derive qualitative and quantitative relations between the kernel parameters and the success of the subtraction as a function of the PSF widths and sampling in reference and data images and compare the results to those of other implementations found in the literature. On the basis of these simulations, we provide recommended parameters for data sets with different S/N and sampling. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Rock salt mass in the Paleoproterozoic sequence of the Onega trough in Karelia (from the Onega parametric well data)

A thick (200 m) rock salt mass covering Late Archean granitoids was exposed for the first time in the Early Proterozoic volcanogenic-sedimentary formations in the Onega trough of the east Baltic Shield by the Onega parametric well. The mineral composition of salts, their geochemical features, and the isotopic composition of carbonate carbon and oxygen have been studied. After fluid inclusions present in salts, their metamorphism temperature and isotopic composition of helium and argon were determined. The obtained results give evidence of the fact that rock salts and magnesites associated with them were formed in an evaporate basin with participation of deep crustal processes. The age of the underlying granitoids (2.716 ± 9 Ma) is determined using the Pb—Pb method.     

Does the solar magnetic field increase?

We consider measurements of the general magnetic field (GMF) of the Sun as a star at four world observatories from 1968 until 1999. We show that, within the error limits, the mean strength of the photospheric magnetic field H (of its longitudinal component, in magnitude) has not changed over the last 32 years. This is in conflict with the recent conclusion by Lockwood et al. (1999) that the solar coronal magnetic field increased by 40% from 1964 until 1996 and has almost doubled in the last 100 years. The causes of discrepancies in the results are discussed. At the same time, the GMF exhibits a natural 11-year variation associated with the solar cycle. The strength of the photospheric longitudinal magnetic field (in absolute value) averaged over 32 years is 0.46 G (at an rms GMF strength of 0.57 G). The mean GMF for all years of measurements had a south polarity: $\bar H = - 0.030 \pm 0.018 G$ . The difference from zero is statistically significant at 1.7σ (90%) and may be directly related to the outstanding problem of the solar magnetic “monopole.”     

Intercomparison of the LASCO-C2, SECCHI-COR1, SECCHI-COR2, and Mk4 Coronagraphs

In order to assess the reliability and consistency of white-light coronagraph measurements, we report on quantitative comparisons between polarized brightness [pB] and total brightness [B] images taken by the following white-light coronagraphs: LASCO-C2 on SOHO, SECCHI-COR1 and -COR2 on STEREO, and the ground-based MLSO-Mk4. The data for this comparison were taken on 16?April 2007, when both STEREO spacecraft were within 3.1^° of Earth??s heliographic longitude, affording essentially the same view of the Sun for all of the instruments. Due to the difficulties of estimating stray-light backgrounds in COR1 and COR2, only Mk4 and C2 produce reliable coronal-hole values (but not at overlapping heights), and these cannot be validated without rocket flights or ground-based eclipse measurements. Generally, the agreement between all of the instruments?? pB values is within the uncertainties in bright streamer structures, implying that measurements of bright CMEs also should be trustworthy. Dominant sources of uncertainty and stray light are discussed, as is the design of future coronagraphs from the perspective of the experiences with these instruments.     

Focusing and spatial resolution of electromagnetic three-coil sounders

Doklady Earth Sciences - Distribution density functions for the sensitivity of a three-coil sounder are constructed as the weighted mean rock volume between the in-phase surfaces of running...     

Linear and planar structure in ordered multivariate data as applied to progressive demagnetization of palaeomagnetic remanence

Summary. Consider a sequence of, say, 10 to 20 vector observations in three-dimensional space. It is suspected that a few subsets of consecutive observations are made up of collinear points. The purpose of this paper is to construct a statistically based algorithm to find such linear segments and to assess their accuracy. A similar assessment is made for coplanar sets of points.
This algorithm is applied here to palaeomagnetic data and is claimed to be superior to previous methods of palaeomagnetic analysis in terms of completeness and balance of analysis, treatment of measurement errors and other sources of scatter, criteria for identification of linear and planar sets of points, and statistical rigour. Stability spectra, with statistically based confidence limits, are obtained as a by-product.     

Partial derivatives of surface wave phase velocities for flat anisotropic models

Summary. Surface wave behaviour in flat anisotropic structures is first illustrated by performing an exact computation on a simple two-layer model. The variational procedure of Smith & Dahlen is then used to compute the partial derivatives of surface wave phase velocities with respect to the elastic parameters in more realistic earth models. Linear relationships between the partial derivatives for a general anisotropic structure and those for a transversely isotropic structure are derived. When considering waves propagating in a fixed direction, there are only four independent derivatives for Rayleigh waves, and two for Love waves. To avoid the lack of resolution in an inverse method, we propose to use physically constrained models. These results are illustrated by using a model with hexagonal symmetry and a symmetry axis oriented either vertically or horizontally. Quasi-Love- and quasi-Rayleigh-wave partial derivatives are computed for both axis orientations. Modes up to the second overtone and periods ranging between 45 and 130 s have been considered. Finally, anomalies of phase velocity are computed in an oceanic model made of 1/6 oriented olivine crystals with horizontal or vertical preferred orientations of the a -axis.     

Exchange and correlation interactions in electron-positron plasma

The effect of particle-particle interaction on the adiabatic index γ for an electron-positron plasma is considered. An improved method for numerically calculating the Hartree-Fock exchange integral is presented and its relativistic asymptotics is determined. An approximation formula is derived for the correlation part of the interaction in the low-density limit. This formula includes degeneracy and the positron component.