On the orbits and masses of the satellites of the Pluto-Charon system

Two small satellites of Pluto, S/2005 P1 (hereafter P1) and S/2005 P2 (hereafter P2), have recently been discovered outside the orbit of Charon, and their orbits are nearly circular and nearly coplanar with that of Charon. Because the mass ratio of Charon-Pluto is ∼0.1, the orbits of P2 and P1 are significantly non-Keplerian even if P2 and P1 have negligible masses. We present an analytic theory, with P2 and P1 treated as test particles, which shows that the motion can be represented by the superposition of the circular motion of a guiding center, the forced oscillations due to the non-axisymmetric components of the potential rotating at the mean motion of Pluto-Charon, the epicyclic motion, and the vertical motion. The analytic theory shows that the azimuthal periods of P2 and P1 are shorter than the Keplerian orbital periods, and this deviation from Kepler's third law is already detected in the unperturbed Keplerian fit of Buie and coworkers. In this analytic theory, the periapse and ascending node of each of the small satellites precess at nearly equal rates in opposite directions. From direct numerical orbit integrations, we show the increasing influence of the proximity of P2 and P1 to the 3:2 mean-motion commensurability on their orbital motion as their masses increase within the ranges allowed by the albedo uncertainties. If the geometric albedos of P2 and P1 are high and of order of that of Charon, the masses of P2 and P1 are sufficiently low that their orbits are well described by the analytic theory. The variation in the orbital radius of P2 due to the forced oscillations is comparable in magnitude to that due to the best-fit Keplerian eccentricity, and there is at present no evidence that P2 has any significant epicyclic eccentricity. However, the orbit of P1 has a significant epicyclic eccentricity, and the prograde precession of its longitude of periapse with a period of 5300 days should be easily detectable. If the albedos of P2 and P1 are as low as that of comets, the large inferred masses induce significant short-term variations in the epicyclic eccentricities and/or periapse longitudes on the 400-500-day timescales due to the proximity to the 3:2 commensurability. In fact, for the maximum inferred masses, P2 and P1 may be in the 3:2 mean-motion resonance, with the resonance variable involving the periapse longitude of P1 librating. Observations that sample the orbits of P2 and P1 well on the 400-500-day timescales should provide strong constraints on the masses of P2 and P1 in the near future.     

Approach to Mountain Hazards in Tibet, China

Tibet is located at the southwest boundary of China. It is the main body of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the highest and the youngest plateau in the world. Owing to complicated geology, Neo-tectonic movements, geomorphology, climate and plateau environment, various mountain hazards, such as debris flow, flash flood, landslide, collapse, snow avalanche and snow drifts, are widely distributed along the Jinsha River (the upper reaches of the Yangtze River), the Nu River and the Lancang River in the east, and the Yarlungzangbo River, the Pumqu River and the Poiqu River in the south and southeast of Tibet. The distribution area of mountain hazards in Tibet is about 589,000 km^2, 49.3% of its total territory. In comparison to other mountain regions in China, mountain hazards in Tibet break out unexpectedly with tremendously large scale and endanger the traffic lines, cities and towns, farmland, grassland, mountain environment, and make more dangers to the neighboring countries, such as Nepal, India, Myanmar and Bhutan. To mitigate mountain hazards, some suggestions are proposed in this paper, such as strengthening scientific research, enhancing joint studies, hazards mitigation planning, hazards warning and forecasting, controlling the most disastrous hazards and forbidding unreasonable human exploring activities in mountain areas.     

长江中下游地区地下水卤素元素的形成及其分布规律

本文以丰富的实际资料，论证了地下水的卤素元素（F、Cl、Br、I）的形成、含量及其分布规律与含水介质成分、上覆岩土性质、地下水退流条件、氧化还原环境、地下水矿化度之间的关系。根据江汉平原东部区和鄱阳湖区地下水中Br、I元素的调查研究结果及它们形成的控制因素与分布规律，结合长江三角洲南部区水文地球化学环境条件分析对比，指出该区是一个形成Br、I矿泉水的有利地区。     

新疆阿尔泰哈巴河一带古生代火山岩的形成与演化

文中详细地论述了新疆阿尔泰哈巴河一带古生代火山岩的地质、岩石化学、稀土元素地球化学特征。将其分为三个类型，认为火山岩是在陆缘裂陷槽的区域构造背景下发生和演化的。对各类型火山岩岩浆来源，上升模式也做了初步讨论。     

Testing the circumstellar disc hypothesis: a search for H2 outflow signatures from massive young stellar objects with linearly distributed methanol masers

The results of a survey searching for outflows using near-infrared imaging are presented. Targets were chosen from a compiled list of massive young stellar objects associated with methanol masers in linear distributions. Presently, it is a widely held belief that these methanol masers are found in (and delineate) circumstellar accretion discs around massive stars. If this scenario is correct, one way to test the disc hypothesis is to search for outflows perpendicular to the methanol maser distributions. The main objective of the survey was to obtain wide-field near-infrared images of the sites of linearly distributed methanol masers using a narrow-band 2.12-μm filter. This filter is centred on the  H₂ v = 1–0 S(1)  line; a shock diagnostic that has been shown to successfully trace CO outflows from young stellar objects. 28 sources in total were imaged of which 18 sources display H₂ emission. Of these, only two sources showed emission found to be dominantly perpendicular to the methanol maser distribution. Surprisingly, the H₂ emission in these fields is not distributed randomly, but instead the majority of sources are found to have H₂ emission dominantly parallel to their distribution of methanol masers. These results seriously question the hypothesis that methanol masers exist in circumstellar discs. The possibility that linearly distributed methanol masers are instead directly associated with outflows is discussed.