X-ray spectroscopy of stellar coronae

Summary From the early discovery in 1948 of X-rays from the Solar corona, X-ray spectroscopy has proven to be an invaluable tool in studying hot astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. Because the emission line spectra and continua from optically thin plasmas are fairly well known, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy has its most obvious application in the measurement of optically thin sources such as the coronae of stars. In particular X-ray observations with theEINSTEIN observatory have demonstrated that soft X-ray emitting coronae are a common feature among stars on the cool side of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, with the probable exception of single very cool giant and supergiant stars and A-type dwarfs. Observations with the spectrometers aboardEINSTEIN andEXOSAT have shown that data of even modest spectral resolution (/ = 10–100) permit the identification of coronal material at different temperatures whose existence may relate to a range of possible magnetic loop structures in the hot outer atmospheres of these stars. The higher spectral resolution of the next generation of spectrometers aboard NASA'sAXAF and ESA'sXMM will allow to fully resolve the coronal temperature structure and to enable velocity diagnostics and the determination of coronal densities, from which the loop geometry (i.e. surface filling factors and loop lengths) can be derived. In this paper various diagnostic techniques are reviewed and the spectral results fromEINSTEIN andEXOSAT are discussed. A number of spectral simulations forAXAF andXMM, especially high-resolution iron K-shell, L-shell, and2s-2p spectra in the wavelength regions around 1.9 Å, 10 Å, and 100 Å, respectively, are shown to demonstrate the capabilities for temperature, density, and velocity diagnostics. Finally, iron K-shell spectra are simulated for various types of detectors such as microcalorimeter, Nb-junction, and CCD.     

Calculated Phase Relations in the System Na2O-CaO-K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O with Applications to UHP Eclogites and Whiteschists

Pressure–temperature grids in the system Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O and its subsystems have been calculatedin the range 15–45 kbar and 550–900°C, usingan internally consistent thermodynamic dataset and new thermodynamicmodels for amphibole, white mica, and clinopyroxene, with thesoftware THERMOCALC. Minerals considered for the grids includegarnet, omphacite, diopside, jadeite, hornblende, actinolite,glaucophane, zoisite, lawsonite, kyanite, coesite, quartz, talc,muscovite, paragonite, biotite, chlorite, and plagioclase. Compatibilitydiagrams are used to illustrate the phase relationships in thegrids. Coesite-bearing eclogites and a whiteschist from Chinaare used to demonstrate the ability of pseudosections to modelphase relationships in natural ultrahigh-pressure metamorphicrocks. Under water-saturated conditions, chlorite-bearing assemblagesin Mg- and Al-rich eclogites are stable at lower temperaturesthan in Fe-rich eclogites. The relative temperature stabilityof the three amphiboles is hornblende > actinolite > glaucophane(amphibole names used sensu lato). Talc-bearing assemblagesare stable only at low temperature and high pressure in Mg-and Al-rich eclogites. For most eclogite compositions, talccoexists with lawsonite, but not zoisite, in the stability fieldof coesite. Water content contouring of pressure–temperaturepseudosections, along with appropriate geotherms, provides newconstraints concerning dehydration of such rocks in subductingslabs. Chlorite and lawsonite are two important H₂O-carriersin subducting slabs. Depending on bulk composition and pressure–temperaturepath, amphibole may or may not be a major H₂O-carrier to depth.In most cases, dehydration to make ultrahigh-pressure eclogitestakes place gradually, with H₂O content controlled by divariantor higher variance assemblages. Therefore, fluid fluxes in subductionzones are likely to be continuous, with the rate of dehydrationchanging with changing pressure and temperature. Further, eclogitesof different bulk compositions dehydrate differently. Dehydrationof Fe-rich eclogite is nearly complete at relatively shallowdepth, whereas Mg- and Al-rich eclogites dehydrate continuouslydown to greater depth. KEY WORDS: dehydration; eclogites; phase relations; THERMOCALC; UHP metamorphism; whiteschists     

Evolution from Oceanic Subduction to Continental Collision: a Case Study from the Northern Tibetan Plateau Based on Geochemical and Geochronological Data

Two apparently distinct, sub-parallel, paleo-subduction zonescan be recognized along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau:the North Qilian Suture Zone (oceanic-type) with ophioliticmélanges and high-pressure eclogites and blueschistsin the north, and the North Qaidam Belt (continental-type) inthe south, an ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane comprisingpelitic and granitic gneisses, eclogites and garnet peridotites.Eclogites from both belts have protoliths broadly similar tomid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) or oceanic island basalts (OIB)in composition with overlapping metamorphic ages (480–440Ma, with weighted mean ages of 464 ± 6 Ma for North Qilianand 457 ± 7 Ma for North Qaidam), determined by zirconU–Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe dating.Coesite-bearing zircon grains in pelitic gneisses from the NorthQaidam UHP Belt yield a peak metamorphic age of 423 ±6 Ma, 40 Myr younger than the age of eclogite formation, anda retrograde age of 403 ± 9 Ma. These data, combinedwith regional relationships, allow us to infer that these twoparallel belts may represent an evolutionary sequence from oceanicsubduction to continental collision, and continental underthrusting,to final exhumation. The Qilian–Qaidam Craton was probablya fragment of the Rodinia supercontinent with a passive marginand extended oceanic lithosphere in the north, which was subductedbeneath the North China Craton to depths >100 km at c. 423Ma and exhumed at c. 403 Ma (zircon rim ages in pelitic gneiss). KEY WORDS: HP and UHP rocks; subduction belts; zircon SHRIMP ages; Northern Tibetan Plateau     

Rates of Deglaciation during the Last Glaciation and Holocene in the Cordillera Vilcanota-Quelccaya Ice Cap Region, Southeastern Perú

Moraine chronology is combined with digital topography to model deglacial rates of paleoglacier volumes in both the Huancané Valley on the west side of the Quelccaya Ice Cap and the Upismayo Valley on the northwest side of the Cordillera Vilcanota. The fastest rates of deglaciation (39×10⁻⁵ to 114×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹ and 112×10⁻⁵ to 247×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹ for each valley, respectively) were calculated for the most recent paleoglaciers, corresponding to the last few centuries. These results are consistent with observations in the Venezuelan Andes showing high rates of deglaciation since the Little Ice Age. These rates also fall within the range of 20th century rates of deglaciation measured on the Quelccaya Ice Cap (29×10⁻⁵ to 220×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹, Brecher and Thompson, 1993; Thompson, 2000). These results imply that rates of deglaciation may fluctuate significantly over time and that high rates of deglaciation may not be exclusive to the late 20th century. Equilibrium line altitude (ELA) depressions for the ice volumes of the last glaciation modeled here were computed as 230 m for the Quelccaya Ice Cap and 170 m for the Cordillera Vilcanota. Maximum ELA depressions are lower than previously published: <500 m for the Cordillera Vilcanota and <400 m for the Quelccaya Ice Cap. These lower values could imply a topographic control over paleoglacier extent.     

Geoid determination using adapted reference field, seismic Moho depths and variable density contrast

 The traditional remove-restore technique for geoid computation suffers from two main drawbacks. The first is the assumption of an isostatic hypothesis to compute the compensation masses. The second is the double consideration of the effect of the topographic–isostatic masses within the data window through removing the reference field and the terrain reduction process. To overcome the first disadvantage, the seismic Moho depths, representing, more or less, the actual compensating masses, have been used with variable density anomalies computed by employing the topographic–isostatic mass balance principle. In order to avoid the double consideration of the effect of the topographic–isostatic masses within the data window, the effect of these masses for the used fixed data window, in terms of potential coefficients, has been subtracted from the reference field, yielding an adapted reference field. This adapted reference field has been used for the remove–restore technique. The necessary harmonic analysis of the topographic–isostatic potential using seismic Moho depths with variable density anomalies is given. A wide comparison among geoids computed by the adapted reference field with both the Airy–Heiskanen isostatic model and seismic Moho depths with variable density anomaly and a geoid computed by the traditional remove–restore technique is made. The results show that using seismic Moho depths with variable density anomaly along with the adapted reference field gives the best relative geoid accuracy compared to the GPS/levelling geoid. Received: 3 October 2001 / Accepted: 20 September 2002 Correspondence to: H.A. Abd-Elmotaal     

丽江大研镇震灾分布和地脉动测量结果之间的相关性

丽江７．０级地震后，大研镇被毁建筑物的地理分布呈显４条条带，伤亡人员的地理分布和上述条带重合。９１个短周期地脉动测点的观测资料表明，分布在上述条带内的大多数测点，其卓越周期大于０．３Ｓ；条带外的测点，其卓越周期一般在０．１Ｓ左右。作认为卓越周期和烈度异常之间良好的相关性，是因为地脉动卓越周期和地方震的频谱之间存在良好的相关性。     

Disequilibrium for Ca during growth of pelitic garnet

Compositional zoning in hundreds of almandine-rich garnets in amphibolite by facies micaceous quartzites from the Picuris Range, north-central New Mexico USA, indicates that although Mn, Mg and Fe achieve chemical equilibrium at hand-sample scale during garnet growth, Ca does not. Instead, Ca concentrations at the surface of growing garnets appear to depend strongly on kinetic factors that govern the local chemical environment, yielding disequilibrium for Ca at scales larger than the region immediately surrounding an individual porphyroblast. Detailed zoning profiles were obtained for 371 garnet crystals in a small volume of a single sample of garnetiferous quartzite, and core analyses were made of 97 additional crystals. Each analysis was made on a section that passed precisely through the morphological centre of the crystal, located by means of 3-D imagery from computed X-ray tomography. The data reveal strong correlations between crystal size and concentrations of Mn, Mg and Fe (but not Ca) in garnet cores; a relationship between crystal size and isolation; rigorous cross-correlations among concentrations of Mn, Mg and Fe (but not Ca); and systematic variations in Ca concentrations as a function of crystal size and core composition that are anomalous in comparison to the behaviour of the other divalent cations. We interpret these observations as the result of thermally accelerated diffusion-controlled garnet growth, in circumstances that promoted rapid intergranular diffusion and thus rock-wide equilibration of Mn, Mg and Fe, but that prevented equilibration at similar scale for Ca because of its more sluggish intergranular diffusion. The anomalous behaviour of Ca is made evident in these garnets by the presence of sharp spikes in Ca concentration, which are demonstrably not a consequence of any simultaneous rock-wide event, such as a change in pressure, temperature, or some other intensive parameter. Instead, Ca concentrations probably reflect the local extent of reaction in the immediate vicinity of each porphyroblast. To the degree that such kinetic factors introduce departures from chemical equilibrium for Ca, thermobarometric estimates that involve grossular contents of pelitic garnet will be in error.     

植被冠层多角度遥感研究进展

综述了近年来关于植被冠层多角度遥感研究的最新成果，分别讨论了二向性反射的正向模型和参量反演问题在理论和实际应用中的新进展。分析了卫星平台多角度遥感的应用前景及面临的困难，指出了未来多角度遥感研究的新方向。     

黄骅坳陷横向变换带的构造特征及成因

讨论了黄骅坳陷横向变换带的构造特征和成因。根据利用地震反射剖面对盆地构造几何学的研究，圈定了不同尺度的横向变换带，确定了伸展构造背景下的横向变换带是为了保持区域伸展应变调节构造变形的一种调节体系。这种伸展应变守恒是靠三维空间上断层位移沿走向的变化实现的。横向变换带的构造样式为横向地垒状凸起和鼻状凸起或鼻状背斜，并具伸展性质的正断层。横向凸起与非叠复的和叠复的分段断层系伴生及发育在断层位移最小处等事实表明，横向凸起或横向鼻状背斜是由于分段断层系位移沿走向变化形成的。