ALBERT

Description: An investigation of zircon data from the Mulcahy Lake gabbro, a 63 sq km layered mafic intrusion in the Wabigoon subprovince of Ontario, which show that the gabbro crystallized at 2733.2 +1.0, -0.9 Ma, is considered. It is shown that the gabbro intrudes tholeiites of the Crow Lake-Savant Lake greenstone belt. Whole rock samples and mineral separates from the Mulcahy Lake intrusion are dated by Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Ar-30-Ar-40 techniques. Disturbances in the system are revealed by the Rb-Sr data and an initial Sr ratio of 0.7007 for an age of 2733 Ma is indicated by samples with low Rb/Sr ratios. The age determined for the Sm-Nd data is 2744 + or 55 Ma with an epsilon Nd value of +2.6 + or - 1.2 which indicates a source region depleted in a light rare earth element. Primary hornblende is analyzed for Ar-40/Ar-39 and an age of 2703 + or - 20 is obtained. Some implications for the development of greenstone-granite belts are discussed.

Description: Auroral hiss is observed to propagate over distances comparable to an Earth radius from its source in the auroral oval. The role of Landau damping is investigated for upward propagating auroral hiss. By using a ray tracing code and a simplified model of the distribution function, the effect of Landau damping is calculated for auroral hiss propagation through the environment around the auroral oval. Landau damping is found to be the likely mechanism for explaining some of the one-sided auroral hiss funnels observed by Dynamics Explorer 1. It is also found that Landau damping puts a lower limit on the wavelength of auroral hiss. Poleward of the auroral oval, Landau damping is found in a typical case to limit omega/k(sub parallel) to values of 3.4 x 10(exp 4) km/s or greater, corresponding to resonance energies of 3.2 keV or greater and wavelengths of 2 km or greater. For equatorward propagation, omega/k(sub parallel) is limited to values greater than 6.8 x 10(exp 4) km/s, corresponding to resonance energies greater than 13 keV and wavelengths greater than 3 km. Independent estimates based on measured ratios of the magnetic to electric field intensity also show that omega/k(sub parallel) corresponds to resonance energies greater than 1 keV and wavelengths greater than 1 km. These results lead to the difficulty that upgoing electron beams sufficiently energetic to directly generate auroral hiss of the inferred wavelength are not usually observed. A partial transmission mechanism utilizing density discontinuities oblique to the magnetic field is proposed for converting auroral hiss to wavelengths long enough to avoid damping of the wave over long distances. Numerous reflections of the wave in an upwardly flared density cavity could convert waves to significantly increased wavelengths and resonance velocities.

Description: Long term observations of relativistic electrons in the earth's outer magnetosphere show a strong solar cycle dependence with a prominent intensity maximum during the approach to solar minimum. This population therefore closely corresponds to the presence of high speed solar wind streams emanating from solar coronal holes. Using a numerical code, the precipitating electron energy deposition in the earth's upper and middle atmosphere were calculated. Observed events (typically persisting several days) would have maximum effect in the 40 to 60 km altitude range with peak energy depositions greater than 110 keV/cu cm-s. It is suggested that this electron population could play an important long term role in modulating lower D region ionization and middle atmospheric ozone chemistry. Methods are described of observing middle atmospheric and lower ionospheric effects of the electrons including balloon, riometer, and space-based ozone sensor systems. A particularly promising approach may involve the monitoring of global Schumann resonance modes which are sensitive to global changes in the properties of the earth-ionosphere cavity. Present work indicates that Schumann resonance properties are moderately correlated with the flux of precipitating relativistic electrons thus offering the possibility of continuously monitoring this aspect of magnetosphere-atmosphere coupling.

Description: Multi-satellite observations of energetic particle were made during the magnetospheric compression event of February 8, 1986. In the upstream region in the interplanetary medium (IPM) observations were made of magnetospheric leakage particles and specularly reflected solar wind ions.

Description: The Koshak site is a new K/T section located about 125 km EEN of the Fort Shevchenko city, Mangyshlak, Kazakhstan. In this paper, we report results of geochemical and mineralogical studies of this section which indicate a deep element fractionation and an oxidation event at the K/T boundary.

Description: This paper presents analyses of mesospheric and lower thermospheric zonal mean winds observed by the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). Monthly averages of the equatorial zonal mean zonal winds are presented for January 1992 through June 1993. Equatorial zonal winds in the 70-90 km region are dominated by a semiannual oscillation (SAO), ranging from 30 m/s (westerly) to -100 m/s (easterly). At high latitudes the zonal wind variations are predominantly annual. Above 90 km, the low-latitude flow is easterly at all times, punctuated by a small semiannual variation. This behavior may be related to the deposition of momentum by the diurnal tides.

Description: Observations of the winds in the upper atmosphere obtained with the High-Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) are discussed. This instrument is a very stable high-resolution triple-etalon Fabry-Perot interferometer, which is used to observe the slight Doppler shifts of absorption and emission lines in the O2 Atmospheric bands induced by atmospheric motions. Preliminary observations indicate that the winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere are a mixture of migrating and non-migrating tides, and planetary-scale waves. The mean meridional winds are dominated by the 1,1 diurnal tide which is easily extracted from the daily zonal means of the satellite observations. The daily mean zonal winds are a mixture of the diurnal tide and a zonal flow which is consistent with theoretical expectations.

Description: A comprehensive review is presented of the characteristics of theta aurora as revealed from four imaging efforts with the DE 1 and 2 satellites. The theta aurora consists of an auroral oval with a sun-aligned arc extending from the dayside to the nightside sectors of the oval. The DE 1 spacecraft provided high altitude simultaneous measurements of the electric and magnetic fields and plasma and the DE 2 collected equivalent low altitude data on the four events. The plasma was found to convect sunward when the transpolar arc appeared, while the convection was antisunward in other regions over the polar cap. The arc plasmas featured field-aligned electron acceleration into the polar atmosphere and field-aligned current sheets, both of which were sparse over the rest of the polar cap. The ions originated in the ionosphere and the solar wind; ions over the rest of the polar cap mainly arrived from the magnetosphere. Further discussions are provided of the dominant electrons and ions and the associated flow directions into and out of the various regions of the pole, similarities between the transpolar arc and the auroral oval, and interactions between the ionosphere and the auroral phenomena.

Description: High-energy electrons have been measured systematically in a low-altitude (520 x 675 km), nearly polar (inclination = 82 deg) orbit by sensitive instruments onboard the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX). Count rate channels with electron energy thresholds ranging from 0.4 MeV to 3.5 MeV in three different instruments have been used to examine relativistic electron variations as a function of L-shell parameter and time. A long run of essentially continuous data (July 1992 - July 1993) shows substantial acceleration of energetic electrons throughout much of the magnetosphere on rapid time scales. This acceleration appears to be due to solar wind velocity enhancements and is surprisingly large in that the radiation belt 'slot' region often is filled temporarily and electron fluxes are strongly enhanced even at very low L-values (L aprroximately 2). A superposed epoch analysis shows that electron fluxes rise rapidly for 2.5 is approximately less than L is approximately less than 5. These increases occur on a time scale of order 1-2 days and are most abrupt for L-values near 3. The temporal decay rate of the fluxes is dependent on energy and L-value and may be described by J = Ke-t/to with t(sub o) approximately equals 5-10 days. Thus, these results suggest that the Earth's magnetosphere is a cosmic electron accelerator of substantial strength and efficiency.

Description: The first data obtained from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) are presented. These data include emitted infrared radiation, albedo, and estimated scene types for Nov. 15, 1984, as well as measurements of the 'solar constant'. Images from the GOES on the same day are included for comparison with the ERBE scene identification. On an instantaneous basis, clouds appear colder and more reflective than seems to have been noted before. The experiment data will be applied to several key studies of cloud-radiation-climate interactions.