Threshold velocity for wind erosion: the effects of porous fences

Porous fence is a kind of artificial windbreak that has many practical applications. The threshold wind velocities at different distances downwind from porous fences were measured and the corresponding characteristics of particle movement observed to assess their shelter effect. It is found that the fence’s porosity is the key factor that determines the resulting shelter effect. The area near a fence can be typically classified into five regions, each with a different mode of particle movement. Dense fences, and especially solid fences, favor the accumulation of sand upwind of the fences. Fences with porosities of 0.3–0.4 produce the maximum threshold wind velocity; those with porosities of 0.3–0.6 (depending on the fence height) provide the maximum effective shelter distance. It is confirmed that the fence porosities of 0.3–0.4 that have been proposed for practical application in previous research are the most effective for abating wind erosion.     

Risk assessment of groundwater pollution using sensitivity analysis and a worst-case scenario analysis

This paper illustrates how sensitivity analysis and a worst-case scenario analysis can be useful tools in risk assessment of groundwater pollution. The approach is applied to a study area in Hungary with several known groundwater pollution sources and nearby drinking water production wells. The main concern is whether the contamination sources threaten the drinking water wells of the area. A groundwater flow and transport model is set up to answer this question. Due to limited data availability, the results of this model are associated with large uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis and a worst-case scenario analysis are applied to estimate this uncertainty and build confidence in the model results.     

Short-term beach–dune sand budgets on the north sea coast of France: Sand supply from shoreface to dunes, and the role of wind and fetch

Three experimental plots, covering the transition from the upper beach to the dune, on the North Sea coast of France were monitored at various intervals over a period of 18–24 months via high resolution terrain surveys in order to determine inter-site sand budget variability, as well as patterns and processes involved in sand exchanges between the upper beach and dune. The wind regime consists of a fairly balanced mix of moderate (80% of winds are below 8 m/s) onshore, offshore and shore-parallel winds. Sustained dune accretion over several years depends on the periodic local onshore welding of shoreface tidal banks that have developed in the storm- and tide-dominated setting of the southern North Sea. The only site where this has occurred in the recent past is Calais, where bank welding has created a wide accreting upper beach sand flat. At this site, significant sand supply from the subtidal sand bank reservoir to the upper beach flat occurred only once over the 18-month survey following a major storm. The bulk of the sand deposited over this large flat is not directly integrated into the adjacent embryo dunes by onshore winds but is progressively reworked in situ into developing dunes or transported alongshore by the balanced wind regime, thus resulting in alongshore stretching of the embryo dune system. The Leffrinckoucke site near Belgium shows moderate beach–dune mobility and accretion, while the Wissant site exhibits significant upper beach bedform mobility controlled by strong longshore currents that result in large beach budget fluctuations with little net budget change, to the detriment of the adjacent dunes. Accretion at these two sites, which are representative of the rest of the North Sea coast of France, is presently constrained by the absence of a shore-attached sand bank supply reservoir, while upper beach–dune sand exchanges are further limited by the narrow wave-affected upper beach, the intertidal morphology of bars and troughs which segments the aeolian fetch, and the moderate wind energy conditions. The balanced wind regime limits net sand mobilisation in favour of either the beach or the dune, and may explain the relatively narrow longshore morphology of the dune ridges bounding this coast.     

干旱及高寒荒漠区土壤温湿度特征及相互影响的分析

根据黑河试验1991年6月20日～8月21日、1990年12月17日～2月15日每天48个时次和第二次青藏高原试验改则及狮泉河1998年全年每天24个时次的土壤温湿度资料，采用功率谱分析、PCA分析等方法，分析了干旱及高寒荒漠区两种典型下垫面土壤温湿度的时空分布特征及其相互作用。结果表明：土壤温度除日和年变化周期外还存在6～30天的不同周期；下垫面的非均匀性及其季节变化及温度梯度变化对土壤水分运动有很大的影响，冬季温度梯度变化对土壤含水量的影响大于夏季温度梯度对土壤含水量变化的影响，且温度梯度与水分运动方向相反。     

利用“3S”技术进行北京地区土壤水分监测应用技术研究

该文主要对适合于北京地区的土壤水分卫星遥感监测方法，利用GIS及GPS工具，提高对土壤水分卫星遥感监测结果的分析能力进行了探讨。在分析研究北京地区土壤水分卫星遥感监测模式及适宜使用的下垫面状况和时段的基础上，提出了一批具有一定物理意义和应用价值的遥感模式。利用GIS和GPS技术实现包括遥感信息在内的多种数据的复合，以影像的方式，将地表地理状况与土壤水分卫星遥感监测结果结合起来，实现了RS、GIS及GPS的融合，提高了土壤水分卫星遥感监测的精度。     

The effect of rock moisture on Schmidt hammer rebound: tests on rock samples from Marion Island and South Africa

In an assessment of the influence of internal rock moisture content on Schmidt hammer readings, rebound (R) values are found to decrease with increasing moisture content. For samples of basalt, sandstone and dolerite the maximum decrease in R‐values is found between oven dry values and saturated rock rebound values, the magnitude of which varies from 2 to 10 points on the R‐scale. A quartzite block has the greatest decline of 6 points at 60 per cent saturation. For certain rock types under differing site‐to‐site field moisture conditions the moisture effect can be a significant factor in the interpretation of the relative state of weathering from rebound values. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

质量传输和同位素交换:流动几何学和交换机制

耦合的质量传输和动力学限制的同位素交换模型综合考虑了平流、扩散、热液弥散 ,以及岩石与水之间的不平衡同位素交换等项因素。把耦合模型应用于 2个构造环境下的古热液系统 ,进而解释稳定同位素数据。对于造成环绕浅成侵入岩体分布的18O亏损环带的流体的流动几何学 ,以及浅部正断层流体流动的几何学 ,耦合模型提供了不同于单一同位素交换模型的解释。耦合模型也提供了关于同位素相对交换速率和同位素交换机制的信息。结果表明 ,断层带的动态重结晶促进了表面反应 ,进而便利了同位素交换 ;在化学不反应性和未变形的矿物中 ,同位素交换可能受制于固态条件下的扩散。     

Electrons in feldspar II: a consideration of the influence of conduction band-tail states on luminescence processes

 Most natural feldspars contain many charged impurities, and display a range of bond angles, distributed about the ideal. These effects can lead to complications in the structure of the conduction band, giving rise to a tail of energy states (below the high-mobility conduction band) through which electrons can travel, but with reduced mobility: transport through these states is expected to be thermally activated. The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, we consider what kind of lattice perturbations could give rise to both localized and extended conduction band-tail states. Secondly, we consider what influence the band tails have on the luminescence properties of feldspar, where electrons travel through the sample prior to recombination. The work highlights the dominant role that 0.04–0.05-eV phonons play in both the luminescence excitation and emission processes of these materials. It also has relevance in the dating of feldspar sediments at elevated temperatures. Received: 11 May 2001 / Accepted: 6 September 2001     

Momentum transport of wave zero during March: A possible predictor for the Indian summer monsoon

Analysis of monthly momentum transport of zonal waves at 850 hPa for the period 1979 to 1993, between ‡S and ‡N for January to April, using zonal (u) and meridional (v) components of wind taken from the ECMWF reanalysis field, shows a positive correlation (.1% level of significance) between the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (June through September) and the momentum transport of wave zero TM(0) over latitudinal belt between 25‡S and 5‡N (LB) during March. Northward (Southward) TM(0) observed in March over LB subsequently leads to a good (drought) monsoon season over India which is found to be true even when the year is marked with the El-Nino event. Similarly a strong westerly zone in the Indian Ocean during March, indicates a good monsoon season for the country, even if the year is marked with El-Nino. The study thus suggests two predictors, TM(0) over LB and the strength of westerly zone in the Indian Ocean during March.