Gaseous drag and planetary formation by accretion

We have made numerical experiments of the collisional and gravitational interaction of a planetesimal swarm in the early Solar System. In particular we study the dynamical evolution of an initial population of kilometer-size planetesimals subject to collisions (accretion, rebound, cratering, and catastrophic fragmentation). This study is based on a Monte-Carlo statistical method and provides the mass and velocity distributions of the planetesimal swarm as a function of time as well as their distribution in heliocentric distance. Several experiments have been performed and three of them are presented here. They simulate the accretional growth of numerous planetesimals in the absence (or presence) of gaseous drag, with (or without) one larger embryo among them, and with (or without) a size gradient. The results show that (i) for a population of planetesimals submitted to a negative gradient in size as the heliocentric distance increases, the outer planetesimals spiral toward the Sun faster than inner ones, leading after some time to an accumulation of bodies inside the cloud which allows the formation of an embryo; (ii) the growth of one embryo among a population of planetesimals is accelerated by the presence of gas and is warranted as long as its feeding zone is fed by the inward flow of planetesimals due to gas drag. These results offer some complementary new insights in the understanding of the accretional formation of 4–5 terrestrial planets instead of the numerous Moon-size planets generally found in numerical experiments.     

1998年4-5月地球同步轨道MeV电子通量增强事件

采用GOES9卫星观测的能量大于2MeV和大于4MeV电子通量和行星际飞船ACE太阳风参数的高时间分辨率资料,以及磁暴指数Dst资料,分析了1998年4-5月期间地球同步轨道电子通量增强事件的时间和能量响应特征及其与行星际太阳风参数、磁暴和亚暴等扰动条件的对应关系.结果表明,地球同步轨道相对论性（MeV）电子通量增强事件有明显的周日变化,中午极大和午夜极小.4月22日和5月5日开始的两次大事件中,能量大于2MeV电子通量中午极大值上升到最大值的时间尺度分别约为4天和1天,中午极大值高于背景水平的持续时间分别为13天（4月22日-5月4日）和16天（5月4日-20日）以上.每次MeV电子通量增强事件的能量范围不完全相同.两次大事件的上升段都对应于磁暴的恢复相,与太阳风动压脉冲、高速流脉冲和负Bz分量关系密切.     

井间电磁成像系统应用研究

井间电磁（EM）成像系统的技术目标是实现井间电学特性的直接测量,并提供井间电阻率的二维及三维图像.从1997年开始,胜利油田与美国EMI公司合作,开展了EM技术的应用与研究,主要是通过大型、系统的现场试验,在大井间距的条件下,进一步验证仪器的性能,进行油藏研究的适用性和可行性分析;以系统的现场实测数据为依据,加快成像处理方法和软件的开发;开展穿透金属套管井的EM试验,探讨金属套管条件下的电阻率成像方法。两年来,利用EMI提供的XBH2000型测量系统,对胜利油田典型的低电阻率砂泥岩剖面,成功地进行了3对井、10个井次的试验。试验证明了仪器性能的可靠,取得了测量重复性好、系统完整的井间EM数据.并反演得到电阻率成像,在分析井间油气分布和油层开采动态方面,取得了良好的地质效果.     

Delineation of Microscale Regimes of Fully-Developed Drainage and Implications for Continuum Models

Despite significant progress made in recent years, a fundamental understanding of immiscible displacements at the macroscale is lacking. In this paper we use a version of percolation theory, based on invasion percolation in a gradient, to connect drainage processes at the pore-network scale with the displacement at the macroscale. When the mobility ratio M is sufficiently small, the displacement is stabilized and can be described by invasion percolation in a stabilizing gradient. In the opposite case, it has common features with invasion percolation in a destabilizing gradient. A diagram delineating the regimes of fully developed drainage is developed. The transition between stabilized displacement and fingering is controlled by the change of the sign of the gradient of the percolation probability, and the transition boundary is described by a scaling law involving the capillary number and the viscosity ratio. We review recent work for random networks and extend the method to correlated pore networks. As the regimes of stabilized displacement are also those for which conventional theories (such as the Buckley–Leverett equation) are expected to apply, the phase diagram helps to delineate their validity.     

Changes in velocity profiles at roughness transitions in coarse grained channels

Heterogeneous coarse grained channels are often characterized by local transitions in bed surface roughness. Distinct spatial zones in terms of grain size have been reported, for example sand ribbons and bedload sheets. The transition from areas of finer to coarser grained surface sediment is often abrupt. However, the effects of these transitions on the shape of the velocity profile and associated shear velocity and roughness length estimates have not been investigated in detail in coarse grained channels. This paper therefore examines the combined effects of a sudden change in surface roughness and of superimposed scales of resistancé on the structure of the turbulent boundary layer. Measurements along roughness transitions from smooth to rough beds were conducted in a flume using artificial roughness features and in a natural gravel bed river. Immediately at the transition from a zone of close packed roughness to a rougher section dominated by obstacles superimposed on the more or less uniform roughness surface, boundary shear stress and roughness length increase considerably. Downstream from this transition, velocity profiles become concave upwards. Downstream and upstream sections show significant differences in terms of near bed velocities (deceleration downstream of the transition), velocity gradient and turbulence intensity of the streamwise velocity component. Comparing the mean velocity profiles corresponding to these two different roughness surfaces gives some indication of the proportion of total shear velocity (or shear stress) associated with the pressure drag produced by large and isolated obstacles.     

Geodynamic evolution of Korea: A view

Abstract Evidence for South Korean Palaeozoic geodynamic evolution is restricted to the Ogcheon Belt, which is a complex polycyclic domain forming the boundary between the Precambrian Gyeonggi Block to the northwest and the Ryeongnam Block to the southeast. Two independent sub-zones can be distinguished: the Taebaeksan Zone to the northeast and the Ogcheon Zone sensu stricto. The Taebaeksan Zone and Ryeongnam Block display characteristic features of the North China palaeocontinent. This domain remained relatively stable during the Palaeozoic. In contrast, the Ogcheon Belt s. s. is a highly mobile zone that belongs to the South China palaeocontinent and corresponds to a rift that opened during the Early Palaeozoic. In lowermost Devonian times, the rift basin was closed and the Ogcheon Belt was structured in a pile of nappes. From the lack of suture in the Ogcheon Belt it can be inferred that the Gyeonggi Block belongs to the South China palaeocontinent. Thus, the boundary between the North China and South China blocks should be located to the north of Gyeonggi Block, that is, in the Palaeozoic Imjingang Belt. From the Middle Carboniferous, sedimentation started again on a weakly subsiding paralic platform located in the hinterland of the Late Palaeozoic orogen of southwest Japan. In the Late Carboniferous, increasing subsidence recorded extensional tectonics related to the opening of the Yakuno Oceanic Basin (southwest Japan). In the Middle Permian, the end of marine influences in the platform and emplacement of terrestrial coal measures, may be correlated with the closure of the oceanic area and subsequent ophiolite obduction. In Late Permian to Early Triassic times, the Honshu Block (the eastern palaeomargin of the Yakuno Basin) collided with Sino-Korea. Post-collisional intracontinental tectonics reached the Ogcheon Belt in the Middle Triassic (Songnim tectonism). Ductile dextral shear zones associated with synkinematic granitoids were emplaced in the southwest of the belt. In the Upper Triassic, the late stages of the intracontinental transcurrent tectonics generated narrow intramontane troughs (Daedong Supergroup). The Daedong basins were deformed during two tectonic events, in the Middle (?) and Late Jurassic. The Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous basins (Gyeongsang Supergroup), that are controlled by left-lateral faults, may have resulted from the same tectonic event.     

Estimating airborne heavy metal concentrations in Dunkerque (northern France)

This work aims to estimate the levels of lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), vanadium (V) and chromium (Cr) corresponding to a 3-month PM₁₀ sampling campaign conducted in 2008 in the city of Dunkerque (northern France) by means of statistical models based on partial least squares regression (PLSR), artificial neural networks (ANNs) and principal component analysis (PCA) coupled with ANN. According to the European Air Quality Directives, because the levels of these pollutants are sufficiently below the European Union (EU) limit/target values and other air quality guidelines, they may be used for air quality assessment purposes as an alternative to experimental measurements. An external validation of the models has been conducted, and the results indicate that PLSR and ANNs, with comparable performance, provide adequate mean concentration estimations for Pb, Ni, Mn and V, fulfilling the EU uncertainty requirements for objective estimation techniques, although ANNs seem to present better generalization ability. However, in accordance with the European regulation, both techniques can be considered acceptable air quality assessment tools for heavy metals in the studied area. Furthermore, the application of factor analysis prior to ANNs did not yield any improvements in the performance of the ANNs.