Scale matching of multiscale digital elevation model (DEM) data and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model: a case study of meteorological simulation in Hong Kong

It is becoming easier to combine geographical data and dynamic models to provide information for problem solving and geographical cognition. However, the scale dependencies of the data, model, and process can confuse the results. This study extends traditional scale research in static geographical patterns to dynamic processes and focuses on the combined scale effect of multiscale geographical data and dynamic models. The capacity for topographical expression under the combined scale effect was investigated by taking multiscale topographical data and meteorological processes in Hong Kong as a case study. A meteorological simulation of the combined scale effect was evaluated against data from Hong Kong Observatory stations. The experiments showed that (1) a digital elevation model (DEM) using 3 arc sec data with a 1 km resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model gives better topographical expression and meteorological reproduction in Hong Kong; (2) a fine-scale model is sensitive to the resolution of the DEM data, whereas a coarse-scale model is less sensitive to it; (3) better topographical expression alone does not improve weather process simulation; and (4) uncertainty arising from a scale mismatch between the DEM data and the dynamic model may account for 38 % of the variance in certain meteorological variables (e.g., temperature). This case study gives a clear explanation of the significance and implementation of scale matching for multiscale geographical data and dynamic models.     

Reservoir characteristics and main controlling factors of oil sand in Houba area,northwestern Sichuan Basin,China

Houba oil sand in frontier Longmenshan Mountain is one of the most typically important unconventional resources. The basic reservoir characteristics of oil sand and the main factors affecting reservoir quality were examined in this article based on porosity, permeability, and mercury porosimetry measurements; thin section analyses; SEM observation; and X-ray diffraction analysis. This study shows that the oil-bearing sandstone reservoir is mainly medium?coarse-grained sublitharenite and litharenite. The main pore type is intergranular pores, including residual primary intergranular pores, dissolved intergranular pores, and dissolved intragranular pores; fractures are common in this study area. The quality of sandstone reservoir is of high porosity and high permeability with a high oil saturation of 89.84 %. It is indicated that the main controlling factors of the reservoir in the study area include deposition, diagenesis, and tectonism. Deposition laid a foundation to porosity evolution, and channel sand is the most favorable depositional facies for the reservoir. Diagenetic alterations are the keys to reservoir evolution; dissolution and chlorite coatings cementation play an effective role in the generation and preservation of pores. Compaction, carbonate cementation, and quartz overgrowth cause many damages to the reservoir porosity. Fractures caused by structural breakages can improve the reservoir permeability and they also can provide fluid migration pathways to the late corrosion, which formed a lot of corroded fissures as reservoir and percolation spaces.     

Zircon U-Pb ages and geochemistry of the monzonitic granite in Rongguo area in Middle Gangdise Belt

In order to determine the geochronology, petrogenesis and tectonic background of the monzonitic granite in Rongguo area, the authors conducted the research on petrology, LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb geochronology and geochemistry. The results show that the zircons from the monzonitic granite are of magmatic genesis, and the zircon ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U dating is (69±1) Ma, belonging to the Late Cretaceous. Al₂O₃, Na₂O, K₂O contents and K₂O/Na₂O ratio are 13.83%~14.41%, 3.68%~3.94%, 4.28%~4.35% and 1.08~1.18 respectively. The average aluminum saturation index (A/CNK) is 1.02, belonging to the weak peraluminous series. The rocks are enriched in LILE (Rb,U,K), strongly depleted in HFSE (Nb, Ta, Ti, etc.). Combined with the study of regional tectonics, the authors insisted that magma activity had not stopped from 80 to 69 Ma. The rock mass is the magmatic product of the subduction of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, forming in the orogenic environment during the whole orogenic movement period.     

Decoupling of the East Asian summer monsoon and Indian summer monsoon between 20 and 17 ka

Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 2, with its profound environmental and climatic changes from before the last glacial maximum (LGM) to the last deglaciation, is an ideal period for understanding the evolution of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and Indian summer monsoon (ISM), two Asian monsoon sub-systems. With 875 stable oxygen isotope ratios and 43 ²³⁰Th dates from stalagmites in Sanxing Cave, southwestern China, we construct and interpret a new, replicated, Asian summer monsoon (ASM) record covering 30.9–9.7 ka with decadal resolution. δ¹⁸O records from this site and other reported Chinese caves display similar long-term orbitally dominated trends and synchronous millennial-scale strong and weak monsoonal events associated with climate changes in high northern latitudes. Interestingly, Sanxing δ¹⁸O and Arabian Sea records show a weakening ISM from 22 to 17 ka, while the Hulu and Qingtian records from East and Central China express a 3-ka intensifying EASM from 20 to 17 ka. This decoupling between EASM and ISM may be due to different sensitivities of the two ASM sub-systems in response to internal feedback mechanisms associated with the complex geographical or land-ocean configurations.     

Spatial distribution of soil erosion and suspended sediment transport rate for Chou-Shui river basin

In this study, a Physiographic Soil Erosion–Deposition Model (PSED) is applied for better management of a watershed. The PSED model can effectively evaluate the key parameters of watershed management: surface runoff discharge, suspended sediment transport rate, quantity of soil erosion, and spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition. A basin usually contains multiple watersheds. These watersheds may have complex topography and heterogeneous physiographic properties. The PSED model, containing a physiographic rainfall-runoff model and a basin scale erosion–deposition model, can simulate the physical mechanism of the entire erosion process based on a detailed calculation of bed-load transportation, surface soil entrainment, and the deposition mechanism. With the assistance of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the PSED model can handle and analyze extremely large hydrologic and physiographic datasets and simulate the physical erosion process without the need for simplification. We verified the PSED model using three typhoon events and 40 rainfall events. The application of PSED to Chou-Shui River basin shows that the PSED model can accurately estimate discharge hydrographs, suspended sediment transport rates, and sediment yield. Additionally, we obtained reasonable quantities of soil erosion as well as the spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition. The results show that the PSED model is capable of calculating spatially distributed soil erosion and suspended sediment transport rates for a basin with multiple watersheds even if these watersheds have complex topography and heterogeneous physiographic properties.     

Effect of nano-hematite morphology on photocatalytic activity

Nano-hematites, i.e., hematites with nanoparticle-, nanorod-, and nanotube-like morphologies, were synthesized via the hydrothermal method by controlling the reaction time, temperature, and reactant concentration. The nano-hematites of different crystal shapes all exhibited band gaps within the visible-light region (1.56–2.1 eV). Further, they showed weak ferromagnetic behavior, and their coercive magnetic field was larger than that of the bulk hematite. Moreover, all the nano-hematites also exhibited high photocatalytic activities during the degradation of methylene blue under visible-light irradiation. The experimental data fitted the Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetics model very well. The nanorods had the highest photocatalytic rate constant per unit surface area, possibly owing to a higher aspect ratios; this lowers the electron–hole recombination rate. These results suggest that the crystal morphology of hematites has a significant effect on their physical and photocatalytic properties. Therefore, controlling the morphology of the materials is essential for obtaining well-tailored photocatalysts.     

桐柏山L构造岩的构造特征与形成环境探讨

桐柏山太白顶、殷店和天河口一带,发育有大量的L构造岩,拉伸线理极其发育,面理较弱,线理产状向南东东倾伏,倾伏角为1°～20°。桐柏山L构造岩具有以下主要特征：在三维空间上,L构造岩强烈发育杆状构造,这种“杆”状构造是由大量沿X轴方向定向排列连在一起的椭球体矿物构成的,其变形机制主要为石英的颗粒边界迁移和长石的位错蠕变,形成的平均压力为0.59GPa,平均温度为550 ℃～600 ℃,形成于中-高温-中压环境,变质相为高绿片岩相到低角闪岩相,形成深度大致在15～20 km,属于中地壳的产物。L构造岩在桐柏山的发现可能反映了桐柏山造山带中桐柏杂岩岩块相对两侧榴辉岩岩片具有近东西向挤出构造的特征。     

Evacuees’ information sources and reentry decision making in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike

In the aftermath of a hurricane, local emergency managers need to communicate reentry plans to households that might be scattered over multiple counties or states. To better understand evacuees’ households’ reliance on different information sources at the time they decided to return home, this study collected data on reentry after Hurricane Ike. The results from a survey of 340 evacuating households indicated that there was low compliance with official reentry plans and that none of the information sources produced greater compliance with official reentry plans. Nonetheless, there were significant changes in the utilization of different sources of emergency information over the course of an evacuation but local news media remained the most common sources throughout the event. There also were significant differences in the relative importance of different sources of reentry information, with people relying most on information from peers. In summary, local authorities need to identify more effective ways to communicate with evacuees that have relocated to distant communities and to motivate them to comply with official reentry plans.     

大兴安岭北段塔源地区~330Ma变辉长岩-花岗岩的岩石成因及构造意义

大兴安岭北段塔源地区石炭纪侵入岩分布于中亚造山带东段,构造上位于额尔古纳-兴安地块拼合处。发育岩体由变辉长岩和花岗岩组成,它们在时空上紧密伴生,变辉长岩中的锆石CL图像呈典型条带状,弱环状结构或面状结构(Th/U值为0.15~1.09,平均0.66),Th和U具有正相关关系;花岗岩的锆石CL图像呈明显岩浆型振荡环带特征(Th/U为值0.22~4.54,平均为1.95)。LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb测年指示两者侵位年龄分别为331.0±2.6Ma和329.4±2.4Ma,表明形成于同一构造岩浆作用事件。岩石学和地球化学特征显示它们成因上密切相关,SiO2含量呈双峰式。塔源变辉长岩为中钾钙碱性系列,MgO含量较低(5.41%~6.45%),属于演化岩浆,TiO2、FeOT和P2O5含量较高,富集LREE,Eu异常不明显(δEu=0.71~0.90),稀土元素总量和轻重稀土元素的分馏程度较高(La/Sm=4.61~5.84,Gd/Yb=2.50~2.81),Ti/V、Ti/Y、Zr/Y比值较低,富集大离子亲石元素(LILE)而亏损高场强元素(HFSE),尤其是强烈亏损Nb,形成于板内构造环境。花岗岩以TiO2、FeOT和P2O5含量较低为特征,REE配分模式为LREE富集型,其中花岗岩为Eu弱负异常(δEu=0.76~0.92),微量元素蛛网图上类似于A型花岗岩分配模式。不相容元素(如La/Sm、La/Ta、Th/Ta)以及MgO含量等指示原始岩浆受到地壳混染比例较小,以分离结晶作用为主。塔源变辉长岩还显示岩石圈地幔物质的印记,并与石榴石二辉橄榄岩熔融有关,它们被解释成早期地幔源区曾发生过俯冲流体交代。变辉长岩和花岗岩由不同源区熔融形成,基性岩源于受到陆壳混染比例较小的原始地幔,而花岗岩可能来自底侵作用,基性岩浆使其上部地壳发生大规模的部分熔融形成大面积花岗岩。大兴安岭塔源侵入岩的形成是岩石圈伸展减薄背景下玄武质岩浆底侵作用的结果。     

太阳活动周与全球大震

为研究太阳活动与全球大震的关系, 引入一个无量纲的"地震能量函数√G", 并分析研究了1681—2011故年间全球M≥7.0大震的能量释放的时间序列.由此发现全球大震在太阳活动周4个阶段的分布和活动度, 随震级的强度而异.提出地壳对太阳风暴加卸载响应模式, 用于解释此现象: 通过考察最近331 a, 得出全球共发生了10个M≥9.0超级巨震的时空分布特征, 特别是太阳活动峰年期间没有发生过超级巨震.该研究结果可为判断全球大震提供参考.