Spatially resolved methane band photometry of Saturn: I. Absolute reflectivity and center-to-limb variations in the 6190-, 7250-, and 8900-Å bands

We present spatially resolved measurements of Saturn's absolute reflectivity in methane bands at 6190, 7250, and 8900 Å and in nearby continuum regions. Images were obtained through narrow-band interference filters with a 500 × 500-pixel charge-coupled device. Band/continuum ratios were measured to high accuracy by referencing to the ring brightness in each image. Several data processing techniques enhanced the quality of the observations. These are the use of the ring symmetry to find center position and orientation, accurate subtraction of ring light, and constrained image deconvolution. Uncertainty in the continuum absolute reflectivity is ±10%. Uncertainties in band/continuum ratios are from one to several percent. The Equatorial Zone was much brighter than any other latitude in the strong 8900 band image. Northern mid-latitudes were brighter than southern mid-latitudes. The latter observation indicates fewer high-altitude aerosols in the south, a possible result of atmospheric dynamics or seasonal sublimation of NH₃ crystals. The data are tabulated and presented in a form suitable for quantitative scattering model analyses.     

Orbits of the Tethys Lagrangian bodies

The 1980 observations of the Saturn system have revealed objects at both the preceding (L₄) and following (L₅) triangular libration points of Tethys (S4). The observations indicate a small (～2°) libration amplitude for the L₄ body while the data on the L₅ object are insufficient to define its libration amplitude.     

A concept for providing warning of earth impacts by small asteroids

The atmospheric detonation of a 17 m-asteroid above Chelyabinsk, Russia on 2013 February 15 shows that even small asteroids can cause extensive damage. Earth-based telescopes have found smaller harmless objects, such as 2008 TC3, a 4 m-asteroid that was discovered 20h before it exploded over northeastern Sudan (Jenniskens, 2009). 2008 TC3 remains the only asteroid discovered before it hit Earth because it approached Earth from the night side, where it was observed by large telescopes searching for near-Earth objects (NEO’s). The larger object that exploded over Chelyabinsk approached Earth from the day side, from too close to the Sun to be detected from Earth. A sizeable telescope in an orbit about the Sun-Earth L1 (SE-L1) libration point could find objects like the “Chelyabinsk” asteroid approaching approximately from the line of sight to the Sun about a day before Earth closest approach. Such a system would have the astrometric accuracy needed to determine the time and impact zone for a NEO on a collision course. This would give at least several hours, and usually 2–4 days, to take protective measures, rather than the approximately two-minute interval between the flash and shock wave arrival that occurred in Chelyabinsk. A perhaps even more important reason for providing warning of these events, even smaller harmless ones that explode high in the atmosphere with the force of an atomic bomb, is to prevent mistaking such an event for a nuclear attack that could trigger a devastating nuclear war. A concept using a space telescope similar to that needed for an SE-L1 monitoring satellite, is already conceived by the B612 Foundation, whose planned Sentinel Space Telescope could find nearly all 140 m and larger NEO’s, including those in orbits mostly inside the Earth’s orbit that are hard to find with Earth-based telescopes, from a Venus-like orbit (Lu, 2013). Few modifications would be needed to the Sentinel Space Telescope to operate in a SE-L1 orbit, 0.01 AU from Earth towards the Sun, to find most asteroids larger than about 5 meters that approach the Earth from the solar direction. The spacecraft would scan 165 square degrees of the sky around the Earth every hour, finding asteroids when they are brightest (small phase angle) as they approach Earth. We will undertake Monte Carlo studies to see what fraction of asteroids 5 m and larger approaching from the Sun might be found by such a mission, and how much warning time might typically be expected. Also, we will check the overall coverage for all Earth-approaching NEO’s, including ground-based observations and observations by the recently-launched NEOSSat, which may best fill any gaps in coverage between that provided by an SE-L1 telescope and ground-based surveys. Many of the objects as large as 50 m, like the one that created Meteor Crater in Arizona, will not be found by current NEO surveys, while they would usually be seen by this possible mission even if they approached from the direction of the Sun. We should give better warning for future “Bolts out of the blue.”     

The libration of the saturnian satellite dione B

Previously published positions of Dione B are combined with new observations reported in this paper to determine the motion. The data are fit to the analytic solution of Erdi (1978) to derive the parameters of the libratory motion. The satellite oscillates about the leading equilateral libration point (L₄) of Dione with a period of 785.0±0.5 days. The maximum sepaparation in orbital longitude from Dione of 76.7° was reached on UT 1980 April 20.3±1 days; the minimum separation is 46.7°.     

Water infiltration characteristics of unsaturated soil slope and its effect on suction and stability

Rainfall has been considered the cause of the majority of slope failures and landslides that happened in regions experiencing high seasonal rainfalls. The mechanism of the failures was mainly due to the lost of matric suction of soils by rainwater. This paper presents the results of a laboratory model study on the effect of slope angle and surface cover on water infiltration into soil and soil matric suction. A field infiltration test is carried out for comparison. A parametric study is also done to examine the effect of permeability ratio, development of perched water table and rainfall intensity on the factor of safety against instability of a soil slope. Results of the model study show that different surface covers on slopes have an effect on the water infiltration. Generally the covered surface (grass or geosynthetic net) has a lower infiltration rate compared with the bare (no cover) surface. On the effect of slope angle, it was observed that water infiltration decrease with increase in the slope steepness. With regards to the movement of the wetting front, it appears that water infiltration is more at the toe compared with the top of the model slope. Based on the parametric study, it is found factor of safety of the slope against instability drops for slope with higher ratio of permeability for the permeable and impermeable stratum. As the perched water table is formed, the factor of safety decreased. The rainfall intensity also has a marked effect on the slope factor of safety. The higher the intensity of the rainfall, the higher is the infiltration rate into the soil, hence the lower is the factor of safety against slope instability.     

Five-color photometry of Saturn and its rings

Analysis of 206 high-quality plates from three recent apparitions taken in five colors has yielded several photometric parameters for Saturn and its A and B rings. Phase curves and geometric albedos are derived for two regions of Saturn and for each ring. The phase coefficients of the rings are found to be independent of the ring-plane inclination angle. A comparison of the phase curves shows that the particles of ring A exhibit a larger phase coefficient than do those of ring B. When examined with a multiple-scattering model using Henyey-Greenstein phase functions, the observations of the ring tilt effect indicate that the particles of ring A may also have lower single-scattering and geometric albedos. The color dependence of the geometric albedo of the particles in ring B is shown to be very similar to that of Europa (J II). We find for ring A an optical thickness of 0.50 (0.45 ≤ τ_A ≤ 0.57) and for the Cassini division, 0.018 ± 0.004.     

湖北铜绿山矿床石英闪长岩的矿物学及Sr-Nd-Pb同位素特征

铜绿山是长江中下游鄂东南矿集区最重要的、大型夕卡岩型Cu-Fe(Au)矿床。本文对该矿区中与成矿密切的石英闪长岩进行了详细的矿物成分、地球化学及Sr-Nd-Pb同位素研究。结果表明:岩石中斜长石主要为更长石(An=21～31);角闪石贫Ti(0.2),高Mg/(Mg+Fe)(0.5),属于富镁角闪石;而黑云母为镁质黑云母。岩石的地球化学具有高硅(58.86%～67.71%),富碱(Na2O+K2O=5.67%～9.63%),富集轻稀土元素(LREE)和大离子亲石元素(LILE),并强亏损元素Nb、Ta、Ti等特征。岩石的(87Sr/86Sr)i为0.7055～0.7069,εNd(t)为-7.65～-3.44;(206Pb/204Pb)i=17.66～18.00,(207Pb/204Pb)i=15.49～15.56,(208Pb/204Pb)i=37.73～38.19。矿物成分、地球化学和同位素特征说明,铜绿山岩体与阳新岩体为同源岩浆的产物,源区为深度大于40km的富集地幔,经下地壳的混染及分离结晶作用形成。岩浆熔体形成的温度应大于889℃。角闪石和黑云母的温度计估算岩浆结晶温度分别为650～800℃和500～630℃,黑云母开始结晶温度略低于角闪石结晶结束温度,压力为1.49kbar,对应侵位深度约4.9km。岩浆具有利于Cu、Fe、Au等成矿元素进入熔体的条件,可能与板块俯冲作用相关。     

Dolomite and nahcolite formation in organic rich sediments: isotopically heavy carbonates

High positive C isotopic ratios in many carbonates coincide with high organic carbon contents. Nahcolites in the Green River oil shales have carbon isotopic ratios up to +20%. Some samples of organic rich Monterey and Pismo Formation dolomites also are ¹³C-rich (δ¹³C to +14%.). Combining the observations of unusual isotopic ratios and organic richness has led to proposed mechanisms of formation of nahcolites and dolomites. Bacterial fermentation produces ¹³C-rich carbon dioxide which in the organic rich sediments is formed in large amounts. This leads to chemical reasons for the occurrence of dolomite rather than calcite and nahcolite rather than trona in some shallow burials.     

Imposex in Morula Granulata as Bioindicator of Tributyltin (TBT) Contamination in the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia

This study was undertaken to examine the use of imposex in the tropical neogastropod whelk Morula granulata as bioindicator of tributyltin (TBT) contamination. Samples were collected from sites throughout the Dampier Archipelago; both impact sites close to intensive shipping activity and remote control sites. TBT in this area originates mainly from commercial vessels using the Port of Dampier that are >25 m in length and exempt from legislation controlling the use of TBT in antifouling paints. A field survey was undertaken in July 1997; 100 M. granulata were taken at each of 18 sites with varying vessel activity, and examined for imposex. The level of TBT contamination in the Archipelago was low; ranging from <0.3 to 25 ng Sn l⁻¹ in water,<0.3 to 80 ng Sn g−¹ in oyster tissue (Saccostrea cuccullata – prey of M. granulata), and <0.3 to 33 ng Sn g⁻¹ in whelks. Percentage of imposex in M. granulata ranged from 0% to 57%, and was correlated with distance to vessel activity (r=0.646, p<0.05). The only significant relationship of imposex with butyltin concentrations was with TBT in oysters (r=0.826, p<0.05), and dibutyltin (DBT) in whelks (r=0.783, p<0.05). It is postulated that this is because of interspecies variation in ability to metabolize TBT to DBT and MBT (monobutyltin), as well as induction of imposex in earlier life stages, so that imposex in adults could be a reflection of prior contamination. M. granulata is a suitable bioindicator of TBT contamination in the Dampier Archipelago, which could be used throughout the Indo-Pacific given its abundance in the region.     

阿尔泰南缘早泥盆世康布铁堡组的SIMS锆石U-Pb年龄及其向东向北延伸的范围

麦兹火山-沉积盆地康布铁堡组的年龄及其东界,以及阿尔泰南缘早泥盆世火山活动往东往北延伸的范围仍然没有确定;康布铁堡组火山岩的源岩及其形成的构造环境还有待阐明。近年来在麦兹盆地东侧发现了萨吾斯铅锌矿床,矿床赋存于康布铁堡组火山岩,与别斯萨拉玢岩体密切有关。本研究对萨吾斯铅锌矿床的康布铁堡组流纹岩和别斯萨拉玢岩进行了SIMS锆石U-Pb定年以及主微量元素组成测定,以期回答上述问题。流纹岩锆石的18个靶点给出了一致的谐和年龄和加权平均年龄(401Ma);花岗闪长玢岩锆石的15个靶点给出了一致的谐和年龄和加权平均年龄(401Ma)。因此,萨吾斯铅锌矿床康布铁堡组流纹岩和别斯萨拉玢岩是同期喷发/侵入的;康布铁堡组火山活动的时代在早泥盆世;麦兹火山-沉积盆地的东界应抵达卡拉先格尔断裂西侧。在～400Ma时期,阿尔泰地区不仅存在着广泛的花岗岩类深成岩浆活动,也发生了强烈的酸性火山喷发,两者共同构成了阿尔泰南缘的大陆边缘岩浆弧。但是,火山喷发主要集中于阿尔泰南缘,受断裂控制。花岗闪长玢岩的一些锆石给出513.8Ma和3134Ma的U-Pb年龄,反映区内陆壳由寒武纪—奥陶纪岩石组成,并且还有前寒武纪微陆块。硅-碱、SiO_2-K_2O、logτ-logσ、SiO_2-FeO/(FeO+MgO)图以及构造环境判别图表明,萨吾斯铅锌矿床的流纹岩、凝灰岩、石英闪长玢岩-花岗闪长玢岩以及阿尔泰南缘早泥盆世康布铁堡组火山岩形成于活动大陆边缘或岛弧环境。康布铁堡组中下段细碧角斑岩在岛弧海底环境喷发,上段流纹岩喷发于大陆边缘环境。原始地幔标准化的多元素蛛网图表明,萨吾斯矿床的三类岩石具有明显的Nb、Ta、Ti和Sr、P、Ba负异常,显著富集Th、U、K、La、Ce、Pr、Zr、Hf。结合锆石U-Pb年龄,作者认为它们的源岩应以寒武纪-奥陶纪的岛弧岩石为主;同时,可能还含有一定比例的前寒武纪古老陆壳岩石。冲乎尔、克兰、麦兹三个火山-沉积盆地在所属构造单元、陆壳基底、火山岩岩石地球化学以及沉积岩的比例上都表现出系统变化,这些变异控制了阿尔泰南缘块状硫化物矿床从西部到中部到东部的成矿元素组合上的变化。