Trinitite—the atomic rock

On 16 July 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated at the Alamogordo Bombing range in New Mexico, USA. Swept up into the nuclear cloud was the surrounding desert sand, which melted to form a green glassy material called ‘trinitite’. Contained within the glass are melted bits of the first atomic bomb and the support structures and various radionuclides formed during the detonation. The glass itself is marvelously complex at the tens to hundreds of micrometre scale, and besides glasses of varying composition also contains unmelted quartz grains. Air transport of the melted material led to the formation of spheres and dumbbell shaped glass particles. Similar glasses are formed during all ground level nuclear detonations and contain forensic information that can be used to identify the atomic device.     

Past Experience and the Present in the History of the Man and Nature Relationship in the Great Steppe

The considerable part of the Northern Asia is occupied with the steppe and forest-steppe landscapes stretched by a wide strip from Caspian Sea to mountains of Big Khingan.Archeologists claim, that from here on the Bering Bridge after a glacial age ancestors of American Indian tribes have left to the North America. In the Baikal Lake basin we find settlements of ancient Huns, subdued the Eastern and Western Europe in the beginning of last millennium.     

Molecular signatures of MHD waves

The small ion-neutral drift speeds attained in MHD waves lead to a significant increase in the rates of several important ion-molecule reactions. The effect on the deuterium chemistry of dark clouds could allow MHD wave motion to be observed directly. The results of some recent observations to test this theory are outlined.     

Investigation of forest-resources potential of Selenge River Basin on transboundary territory of the Republic of Buryatia and Mongolia

The author studied the issues of the present-day status of forest resources and forest management of the Selenge River Basin on the transboundary territory of the Buryat Republic and Mongolia. It is necessary to establish a good policy for wood cutting of the main and secondary use and reforestation.     

Chemical Processes in Cometary Comae

Recent developments in the chemical modelling of cometary comae aredescribed. We discuss the cyanide chemistry and present new HCNobservations of the recent comet C/2002 C1 (Ikeya–Zhang). Theconnection between interstellar and cometary organic molecules isdiscussed from the perspective of recent theories of interstellargas-grain chemistry.     

Organic synthesis in the coma of Comet Hale–Bopp?

Several organic molecules have now been detected in the coma of Hale–Bopp. These species may either emanate from the nucleus, or, as has been suggested by Bockelée–Morvan et al., could be synthesized in the coma. We have modelled the gas phase chemistry which occurred in the coma of Hale–Bopp, concentrating on the observed organic molecules HCOOH, HCOOCH₃, HC₃N and CH₃CN. We find that gas phase chemical reactions are unable to synthesize the observed abundances of these molecules, so all these species are most probably present in the nuclear ice. We briefly discuss the implications of this result for the connection between cometary and interstellar ices.     

全球构造地貌中的大悬崖(英文)

高大并且广泛分布的构造悬崖是全球构造地貌的重要组成部分,是南方大陆和次大陆边缘的基本构造地形类型,同时也发育在亚洲东部的陆-洋过渡区。它们位于大陆边缘区的后缘,其地球动力学作用以大陆架、大陆斜坡和边缘海沉降区域的裂谷作用为特征。大悬崖的形成始于大陆岩石圈的变薄和裂解,持续发育过程较长,期间经历一系列的平行后退过程——即所谓构造夷平作用,导致大陆架沉积基准面的形成。大悬崖见于被动大陆边缘以及西太平洋陆-洋过渡带后缘。在陆内区域大悬崖不常见,而是在陆地升、降交界边缘区域出现其他的地貌构造特征。     

Hot core chemistry

The BATSE/COMPTEL/NMSU Rapid Response Network (RRN) was formed to provide rapid follow-up of-ray bursts imaged by the COMPTEL instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. The RRN consists of 22 professional observatories located around the world spanning both northern and southern hemispheres. Also included in the RRN is the Airforce GEODSS network. The goal of the RRN is to perform optical and radio observations of COMPTEL error boxes as soon after the burst as possible. We present results from the first two years of operation of this network.     

The interstellar chemistry of protostellar disks

A study has been undertaken of the gas-grain chemistry of protostellar disks which are sufficiently cool that in the outer regions, where the gas density is less than 10¹³ cm^–3 and the ionization rate highest, a bimolecular chemistry resembling that of dark clouds can occur. Since the gas-grain collision rate is so high, outgassing mantle molecules effectively determine the gas phase composition at any position in the disk. In contrast to previous work, a detailed gas phase chemistry is considered along with the accretion and desorption of mantle species which is controlled locally by the dust temperature.