Beobachtungsergebnisse der Berliner Arbeitsgemeinschaft für veränderliche Sterne e. V. (BAV)

In this 8th compilation, the following results of observations are given: 207 observed minima of 56 eclipsing binaries, 100 maxima of 21 RR Lyrae- and δ Cephei-stars, 82 results of 32 Mira stars and long period variables, and 47 results of 9 RV Tauri stars, semiregular, and irregular variables, from the years 1966 up to 1968.     

The ordovician and other post-rosslare series Rocks in Southeast Co. Wexford

Ordovician sediments at Tagoat and Rosslare Harbour are re-described and their relationship to the underlying Rosslare Series discussed. A brief outline of their petrology is given, but it is shown that the fauna is in need of revision before reliable correlations can be made. Similar rocks are recorded near Tomhaggard; amongst these, spotted mudstones imply Ordovician or later intrusions. Undeformec dykes intrusive into the Rosslare Series are believed to be representatives of this phase.     

Petrology of the Proterozoic Potato River Layered Intrusion, Northern Wisconsin, USA

The Potato River intrusion is a Keweenawan (1100 Ma) mafic plutonemplaced in Keweenawan volcanics and earlier Proterozoic metasedimentaryrocks along the southeastern flank of the Lake Superior syncline.It comprises the following lithostratigraphic zones: a thinto absent Border zone of altered olivine gabbro; a Lower zoneof olivine gabbro; a Picritic zone of picrite and troctolite;a Middle zone of olivine gabbro and leucogabbro; an Upper zoneof quartz leucogabbro and ferrogabbro; and a Roof zone of granophyricand granitic rocks. Fractional crystallization is evident fromcompositional changes in the rocks and cumulus minerals withstratigraphic height. Elements concentrated in the cumulus mineralsolivine and plagioclase (Mg, Fe²⁺, Al, Ca, Ni, Co, Cr, Sr) decreasewith height; elements concentrated in the trapped liquid (Na,K, La, Y, Zr, Nb, Rb, Ba) increase with height; and other elements(Ti, Fe³⁺, P, Ga, V, Sc, Cu, Zn) show complicated behavior relatedto the appearance of additional cumulus phases such as clinopyroxene,Fe-Ti oxides, and apatite. Lower zone rocks contain some sulfide,probably from sulfur derived from the country rock, and theUpper zone has sulfides probably precipitated from an immisciblesulfide liquid. The sulfide-bearing rocks have similaritiesto those of other intrusions, such as Bushveld, Stillwater,and Skaergaard. The picritic and troctolitic rocks of the Picritic zone indicatethat the intrusion was open to additional injections of maficmagma. Roof zone granophyric rocks are residual liquids intrudedalong the upper margin of the intrusion during regional tilting,but Roof zone granitic rocks are probably melted country rock.An attempt is made to estimate by reverse stratigraphic summationthe compositional path of the magma that solidified above thePicritic zone. The first compositions are highly aluminous,which suggests that the upper part of the intrusion has beenenriched in plagioclase by convection-aided crystal sorting.A complementary unit of mafic rocks is not exposed, but it couldbe present down dip. Some of the later compositions are similarto typical Keweenawan high-Al tholeiites. The magma did notundergo extreme iron enrichment, probably because of oxygenfugacity buffering.     

Reconstruction of palaeosalinity using carbon isotopes and benthic associations: a comparison

Carbon and oxygen isotopes were determined on 40 recrystallized shells of Late Jurassic bivalves from the Lusitanian Basin of Portugal. In contrast with the oxygen isotopes, which exhibited considerable diagenetic distortion, the carbon isotopes are thought to preserve a record of the salinity of the Jurassic marginal marine seas in which these bivalves lived. The reconstructed palaeosalinities range from 35%o (euhaline) to 5% (oligohaline). Comparing these values with the palaeosalinity reconstructed from a palaeoecological analysis of 17 stratigraphic levels within the basin, the independently derived values agree in most cases. Strongly differing values are explained as being due to biotic factors and to diagenetic distortion of the isotopic signal; they are less likely to be due to smallscale time-averaging or insufficient microstratigraphic sampling. On the whole, the carbon isotope analyses are thought to produce reasonable palaeosalinity values, although data from infaunal, originally aragonitic bivalves appear to be less reliable than those from epifaunal bivalves with a predominantly or exclusively calcitic shell. As diagenetic alteration of the carbon isotope signal is, however, unpredictable and biotic effects on the isotopic composition are insufficiently known, palaeosalinity reconstructions based on stable isotope data should be supported by palaeoecological data.     

Changes in temperature and precipitation extremes in the CMIP5 ensemble

Twenty-year temperature and precipitation extremes and their projected future changes are evaluated in an ensemble of climate models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), updating a similar study based on the CMIP3 ensemble. The projected changes are documented for three radiative forcing scenarios. The performance of the CMIP5 models in simulating 20-year temperature and precipitation extremes is comparable to that of the CMIP3 ensemble. The models simulate late 20th century warm extremes reasonably well, compared to estimates from reanalyses. The model discrepancies in simulating cold extremes are generally larger than those for warm extremes. Simulated late 20th century precipitation extremes are plausible in the extratropics but uncertainty in extreme precipitation in the tropics and subtropics remains very large, both in the models and the observationally-constrained datasets. Consistent with CMIP3 results, CMIP5 cold extremes generally warm faster than warm extremes, mainly in regions where snow and sea-ice retreat with global warming. There are tropical and subtropical regions where warming rates of warm extremes exceed those of cold extremes. Relative changes in the intensity of precipitation extremes generally exceed relative changes in annual mean precipitation. The corresponding waiting times for late 20th century extreme precipitation events are reduced almost everywhere, except for a few subtropical regions. The CMIP5 planetary sensitivity in extreme precipitation is about 6 %/°C, with generally lower values over extratropical land.     

On the evaluation of an integral connected with the thermonuclear reaction rate in closed form

The standard expression of the reaction rate for low-energy, nonresonant nuclear reactions in nondegenerate plasma contains a parameter-dependent integral which in all previous calculations with physical or astrophysical background is considered as not capable of being evaluated in a closed form. So one usually resorts to approximation methods concerning large values of the parameter. At first we point out that CONSUL (1964) has given a series representation of the integral which was identified with a MEIJER 's G-function by MATHAI (1971). Next, in view of a physically more exact determination of the reaction rate formula, especially in connection with calculations concerning stellar energy generation, we consider a more general integral containing the mentioned one as special case and give an approximation-free representation by means of MEIJER 's G-function. The G-function so obtained may be conceived as complex-valued continuation of CONSUL 's series representation of a certain class of integrals contained in the considered one. From the series we extract a small parameter approximation of the special integral.     

Metadolerite age relationships in the Dalradian of northwest Donegal,Ireland and their orogenic significance

The structural relationships of several intrusive sheets belonging to the extensive metadolerite suite of the Appin (lower) Dalradian rocks of the Creeslough area, northwest Donegal, Ireland have been examined. It is concluded that, relative to the regional chronology of deformation of the enclosing metasediments, sheet emplacement has occurred: pre-D2; syn-D2; between D2 and D3; and syn-D3. The height of activity came in the post-D2, pre-D3 interval and coincided with the peak of regional metamorphism in the area. These relationships in Donegal are compared with those of the pretectonic basic rocks of the southwest Highlands and models are discussed.     

Photometrische Kalibrierung von Schmidtspiegelaufnahmen durch ein bildteilendes Hilfsprisma

Plates of the Tautenburg Schmidt can be calibrated with the aid of a beam-splitting prisma only if Schraffierkassette plates are used. The effects of image structure, scintillation and intermittence on in-focus images are different for the main component and the prismatic companion. Therefore, such plates cannot be used to set up a photometric scale.     

Erste Ergebnisse der Erprobung des photometrischen Zwillingsreflektors

First measurements of the short time variations of Ap stars with the twin telescope show a nonlinear drift caused by a sensibility of the amplifier depending on temperature. Moreover we found a dependence of the impulse rate on the position of the star image in the diaphragm. Special test measurements with a simple incandescent lamp show that this telescope gives results with an accuracy of ± 0.002 mag after elimination of these effects.