On the relationship between kilometer-scale sheath folds, ductile thrusts and minor structures in the basal high-pressure units of the Cabo Ortegal complex (NW Spain)

Large sheath folds in the basal high-pressure nappes of the Cabo Ortegal complex are described and a kinematic interpretation provided. The principal penetrative and map structures relate to regional D2 deformation, which produced foliations (S2) bearing mineral and stretching lineations (L2) and several types of folds (a-type, sheath-like and ‘folded folds’). The latter structures are subparallel to the trend of the orogen. Their attitude suggests that the units involved shared a common tectonic evolution during progressive ductile deformation of an anisotropic medium. Reconstruction of major geological structures was accomplished through projection of map-scale features onto the ductile flow plane and the plane perpendicular to the ductile flow direction. The structures reconstructed illustrate their development in the deeper structural levels of an orogenic channel subjected to high-pressure metamorphism during the early phases of the Hercynian orogeny in NW Iberia. We argue that orogen-normal tectonic displacements (of up to a few hundreds of kilometers) represent the minor components of the transpression with possibly thousands of kilometers along-strike dextral displacement between the intervening plates (during subduction/collision).     

Das Karbon des Amazonas-Beckens

Summary This article is a brief résumé of the geology of the marine Upper Carboniferous beds (Itaituba series) of the Amazonian basin. The unfolded sediments cover a large area of the basin and are constituted of limestones, shales and sandstones. The macrofauna includes brachiopods, pelecypoda, corals, bryozoa, etc., from which the brachiopods are the better known by the present. The microfauna includes two genera of fusulinids:Millerella andFusulinella.According to the age as given by the fusulinids the sediments are Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous), and not Permian as it has been supposed by some authors. So, the correlation with the Andean (Bolivia and Peru) permian groups is no more valid. Correlation with Tarma Group (Upper Carboniferous from Peru) and with the marine carboniferous of the MaranhÃo-Piauí (Brazil) is possible but not very well established.     

Analytical derivation of the probability for the escape of stars from colliding galaxies

We use the impulse approximation to derive analytical formulae for the escape probability from a simple binary system that interacts with a third body. The binary system is made up of a mass-less body in circular orbit around a massive object, and we assume that the two massive bodies follow a Schuster (or Plummer) distribution. Within the ranges imposed by the impulsive approximation to the parameters of the encounter, we find good agreement between our results and those obtained from numerical experiments.     

SlugIn 1.0: A Free Tool for Automated Slug Test Analysis

The correct characterization of aquifer parameters is essential for water‐supply and water‐quality investigations. Slug tests are widely used for these purposes. While free software is available to interpret slug tests, some codes are not user‐friendly, or do not include a wide range of methods to interpret the results, or do not include automatic, inverse solutions to the test data. The private sector has also generated several good programs to interpret slug test data, but they are not free of charge. The computer program SlugIn 1.0 is available online for free download, and is demonstrated to aid in the analysis of slug tests to estimate hydraulic parameters. The program provides an easy‐to‐use Graphical User Interface. SlugIn 1.0 incorporates automated parameter estimation and facilitates the visualization of several interpretations of the same test. It incorporates solutions for confined and unconfined aquifers, partially penetrating wells, skin effects, shape factor, anisotropy, high hydraulic conductivity formations and the Mace test for large‐diameter wells. It is available in English and Spanish and can be downloaded from the web site of the Geological Survey of Spain. Two field examples are presented to illustrate how the software operates.     

An X-ray observation in the atmosphere during the August 7, 1972 solar flare

An observation carried out with a balloon-borne detector of an additional flux of secondary X-rays (E 30 keV) at large depths in the atmosphere is described. This excess is attributed to the emission of very hard X-rays during the solar flare of August 7, 1972. The propagation in the atmosphere of the secondary photons resulting from their electromagnetic interactions in the air is computed by utilizing the Monte Carlo method. The computations agree with the observed flux when a very hard solar X-ray spectrum is assumed.     

Isotope measurements and ground water flow modeling using MODFLOW for understanding environmental changes caused by a well field in semiarid Brazil

Measurements of the environmental isotopes carbon-14 and oxygen-18 and of the electrical conductivity in ground water, together with MODFLOW-88 (DOS) simulations of pumping tests, were used to achieve a detailed understanding of the functioning of an aquifer in the area of a well field. The methodology was applied in the sedimentary basin of the Cariri region, in the south of Ceará State in Brazil. Localized hydraulic connections between adjacent aquifer units could be detected, and mixing ratios for the contributions from the units involved were determined. Cone of depression simulations for a three-year drought period revealed well interference and a drastic lowering of the piezometric level, thereby explaining the hydrogeologic changes and transformations in vegetation that were observed in the area of the well field. The combined use of the modeling tools and the geochemical field observations is shown to provide more detailed insight into the conceptual model of the groundwater flow system.     

A measurement of the high energy secondary charged cosmic radiation

An experiment performed with a balloon-borne large plastic scintillator is described. It was launched from Reconquista, province of Santa Fe, on 24 February, 1978. The energy loss spectra of both atmospheric gamma radiation (forE > 4.15 MeV) and the charged component of the secondary cosmic radiation, were alternately measured at different altitudes, during the ascent of the balloon and at ceiling altitude. The atmospheric gamma radiation spectrum is analyzed in an earlier paper (Azcárateet al., 1992). The shape of the energy loss spectrum due to charged radiation is justified, in its more characteristic features, when the path length distribution in the detector of minimum ionization relativistic particles is taken into account. It is concluded that, at the ceiling altitude, the observed peak in the spectrum is due mainly to relativisticµ-mesons incident from the horizontal direction. The growth curve for the counting rate below the peak and the horizontal intensity of relativisticµ-mesons are also obtained.Member of the Carrera del Investigador Científico y Tecnológico, from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) from ArgentinaMember of the Carrera del Investigador Científico y Tecnológico, from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) from Argentina     

A Non-Thermal Radio Source Detected Towards Psr 1055-52

We report the detection of a weak and extended source in the radio continuum at 1.42 GHz around the position of the high energy gamma ray pulsar PSR 1055-52. The source is also detectable at 408 MHz. It presents non-thermal spectral indices suggesting a synchrotron nature. We discuss the possibility of a physical association with the pulsar. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Ardón L6 ordinary chondrite: A long‐hidden Spanish meteorite fall

We report and describe an L6 ordinary chondrite fall that occurred in Ardón, León province, Spain (longitude 5.5605°W, latitude 42.4364°N) on July 9th, 1931. The 5.5 g single stone was kept hidden for 83 yr by Rosa González Pérez, at the time an 11 yr old who had observed the fall and had recovered the meteorite. According to various newspaper reports, the event was widely observed in Northern Spain. Ardón is a very well‐preserved, fresh, strongly metamorphosed (petrologic type 6), and weakly shocked (S3) ordinary chondrite with well‐equilibrated and recrystallized minerals. The mineral compositions (olivine Fa_23.7±0.3, low‐Ca pyroxene Fs_20.4±0.2Wo_1.5±0.2, plagioclase An_10.3±0.5Ab_84.3±1.2), magnetic susceptibility (log χ = 4.95 ± 0.05 × 10^?9 m³ kg^?1), bulk density (3.49 ± 0.05 g   cm^?3), grain density (3.58 ± 0.05 g   cm^?3), and porosity (2.5 vol%) are typical for L6 chondrites. Short‐lived radionuclides confirm that the meteorite constitutes a recent fall. The ²¹Ne and ³⁸Ar cosmic ray exposure ages are both about 20–30 Ma, similar to values for many other L chondrites. The cosmogenic ²²Ne/²¹Ne ratio indicates that preatmospheric Ardón was a relatively large body. The fact that the meteorite was hidden in private hands for 83 yr makes one wonder if other meteorite falls may have experienced the same fate, thus possibly explaining the anomalously low number of falls reported in continental Spain in the 20th century.