南阿尔金尤努斯萨依花岗质高压麻粒岩的发现及其地质意义

南阿尔金尤努斯萨依地区首次发现一套高压麻粒岩相特征矿物组合的含蓝晶石石榴子石的花岗质片麻岩,其矿物组合为Grt+Ky+Per(+Ksp)+Ru+Q。依据矿物内部一致性热力学数据,基于THERMOCALC 3. 40程序平台,计算出P-T视剖面图,并结合矿物等值线、矿物组合稳定域及三元长石温度计等,确定其早期变质温压条件为T=970～1010℃,P=23. 2～25. 3kbar,达到了榴辉岩相变质条件。同时,根据岩相学观察获得的矿物共生组合与矿物变质显微结构以及P-T视剖面图,可识别出该岩石在早期变质之后还经历了以矿物组合Grt+Ky+Per(+Ksp)+Pl+Ru+Q为代表的麻粒岩相、以及Grt+Ky+Ksp+Pl+Bi+Ru+Ilm+Q为代表的麻粒岩-高角闪岩相和以Ky+Ksp+Pl+Q+Bi+Mu+Ru+Ilm为代表的角闪岩相三期退变质作用,它们共同构成了一个顺时针型降温降压的退变质P-T演化轨迹,指示出与大陆俯冲-深俯冲相关的高压变质事件和俯冲碰撞后的折返事件。利用LA-ICP-MS进行的锆石原位微区U-Pb定年和微量元素分析表明,该高压岩石峰期变质年龄497. 8±2. 7Ma,与南阿尔金地区已发现的高压-超高压岩石的峰期变质时代完全一致,表明它们应属同一变质岩带;其原岩形成时代为900. 2±4. 1Ma,与南阿尔金已报道的正变质的高压-超高压岩石原岩的形成时代基本一致,指示它们可能具有相同的原岩属性。这套花岗质高压麻粒岩的确定为进一步约束南阿尔金早古生代高压-超高压变质岩带的时空分布规律提供了新的限定。     

Neotectonics and recent uplift at Kamchatka and Aleutian arc junction, Kamchatka Cape area, NE Russia

The tectonic position of the Kamchatka Cape Peninsula at the junction of the active Kuril–Kamchatka and Aleutian arcs exposes the coastline of the peninsula to strong neotectonic activities. Fracture zones have variable influence on uplift of the Kamchatka Cape Peninsula. Relevant morphologic indicators of neotectonic activity are multilevel, highly uplifted marine terraces and terraces displaced along active faults. Recent uplift rates of coastal sediments are determined by remote sensing via ASTER and SRTM DEM combined with optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL). On the Kamchatka Cape Peninsula, terraces from the same generation are mapped at different elevations by remote sensing methods. After defining different areas of uplifted terraces, four neotectonic blocks are identified. According to apatite fission track data, the mean differential exhumation rates range from 0.2 to 1.2 mm year^?1 across the blocks since Late Miocene. The OSL data presented point to significant higher uplift rates of up to 3 ± 0.5 and 4.3 ± 1 mm year^?1, which indicates an acceleration of the vertical movement along the coast of Kamchatka Cape Peninsula in Upper Pleistocene and Holocene times.     

Wide-band high linearity active dipole for low frequency radio astronomy

We have developed an active dipole that is intended for use in new generation low frequency array applications. The preamplifier of the active dipole has very high linearity (input IP2 = 70 dBm, input IP3 = 31 dBm) and low noise temperature (100?C360 K). The frequency dependence of the dipole impedance and the match between the dipole and preamplifier have been optimized to achieve Galactic noise limited operation. The ratio between the antenna temperature due to Galactic noise and the noise temperature of the preamplifier is 10 ± 1.5 dB over the whole 10 to 70 MHz range. The total cost of the active cross-dipole is 220 euro.     

Morphology of the cloud tops as observed by the Venus Express Monitoring Camera

Since the discovery of ultraviolet markings on Venus, their observations have been a powerful tool to study the morphology, motions and dynamical state at the cloud top level. Here we present the results of investigation of the cloud top morphology performed by the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) during more than 3 years of the Venus Express mission. The camera acquires images in four narrow-band filters centered at 365, 513, 965 and 1010 nm with spatial resolution from 50 km at apocentre to a few hundred of meters at pericentre. The VMC experiment provides a significant improvement in the Venus imaging as compared to the capabilities of the earlier missions. The camera discovered new cloud features like bright “lace clouds” and cloud columns at the low latitudes, dark polar oval and narrow circular and spiral “grooves” in the polar regions, different types of waves at the high latitudes. The VMC observations revealed detailed structure of the sub-solar region and the afternoon convective wake, the bow-shape features and convective cells, the mid-latitude transition region and the “polar cap”. The polar orbit of the satellite enables for the first time nadir viewing of the Southern polar regions and an opportunity to zoom in on the planet. The experiment returned numerous images of the Venus limb and documented global and local brightening events. VMC provided almost continuous monitoring of the planet with high temporal resolution that allowed one to follow changes in the cloud morphology at various scales.We present the in-flight performance of the instrument and focus in particular on the data from the ultraviolet channel, centered at the characteristic wavelength of the unknown UV absorber that yields the highest contrasts on the cloud top. Low latitudes are dominated by relatively dark clouds that have mottled and fragmented appearance clearly indicating convective activity in the sub-solar region. At ～50° latitude this pattern gives way to streaky clouds suggesting that horizontal, almost laminar, flow prevails here. Poleward from about 60°S the planet is covered by almost featureless bright polar hood sometimes crossed by dark narrow (～300 km) spiral or circular structures. This global cloud pattern can change on time scales of a few days resulting in global and local “brightening events” when the bright haze can extend far into low latitudes and/or increase its brightness by 30%. Close-up snapshots reveal plenty of morphological details like convective cells, cloud streaks, cumulus-like columns, wave trains. Different kinds of small scale waves are frequently observed at the cloud top. The wave activity is mainly observed in the 65–80° latitude band and is in particular concentrated in the region of Ishtar Terra that suggests their possible orographic origin. The VMC observations have important implications for the problems of the unknown UV absorber, microphysical processes, dynamics and radiative energy balance at the cloud tops. They are only briefly discussed in the paper, but each of them will be the subject of a dedicated study.     

Astrometric results of observations of mutual occultations and eclipses of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter in 2002-2003

We suggest a new approach and develop an original method for deriving astrometric data from the photometry of mutual occultations and eclipses of planetary satellites. We decide to model not the relative apparent motion of one satellite with respect to another satellite but the deflection of the observed relative motion with respect to the theoretical motion implied by appropriate ephemerides.We have attempted to reduce the results of photometric observations of the Gallilean satellites during their mutual occultations and eclipses in 2002-2003. The data of observation for 319 light curves of 106 mutual events were received from the observers. The reliable 245 light curves were processed with our method. Eighty six apparent relative positions have been obtained.Systematic errors arise inevitably while deriving astrometric data. Most of them are due to factors that are unrelated to the methods for deriving astrometric data. The systematic errors are more likely due to incorrect excluding the effect of background on photometric counts. In the case of mutual occultations, the flux drop is determined to a considerable degree by the ratio of the mean albedos of the two satellites. Some mutual event observations revealed wrong adopted values of the mean albedos.     

(137)Cs baseline levels in the Mediterranean and Black Sea: a cross-basin survey of the CIESM Mediterranean Mussel Watch programme

The common mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was selected as unique biomonitor species to implement a regional monitoring programme, the CIESM Mediterranean Mussel Watch (MMW), in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. As of today, and upon standardization of the methodological approach, the MMW Network has been able to quantify (137)Cs levels in mussels from 60 coastal stations and to produce the first distribution map of this artificial radionuclide at the scale of the entire Mediterranean and Black Seas. While measured (137)Cs levels were found to be very low (usually < 1 Bq kg(-1) wet wt) (137)Cs activity concentrations in the Black Sea and North Aegean Sea were up to two orders of magnitude higher than those in the western Mediterranean Basin. Such effects, far from representing a threat to human populations or the environment, reflect a persistent signature of the Chernobyl fallout in this area.     

Dissolved oxygen dynamics in a eutrophic estuary,Upper Newport Bay,California

Eutrophication often causes hypoxia in estuarine and coastal systems, but the mechanisms that control hypoxic events vary among estuaries and are often difficult to discern. We monitored surface and bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) in the Upper Newport Bay (UNB), a tidally mixed estuary in southern California subject to anthropogenic nutrient loading, eutrophication and hypoxia. Our goal was to identify the environmental factors regulating DO dynamics. Six hypoxic events occurred between June and November and were associated with a combination of low solar radiation, increased freshwater discharge following precipitation, and enhanced haline stratification during reduced tidal range periods. At the head of the estuary, high macroalgal biomass and pronounced haline stratification resulted in high DO in the surface layer and low DO in the bottom layer. Oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor waters were transported down-estuary by ebb tides, resulting in DO heterogeneity throughout the UNB. Cross-wavelet analysis illustrated the down-estuary propagation of high/low DO signal correlated with the phases of diurnal photosynthetic and semi-diurnal tidal cycles.