Five-year bio-monitoring of aquatic ecosystems near Artigas Antarctic Scientific Base,King George Island

Fildes Peninsula, in King George Island, Antarctica, has a great concentration of international facilities, and it has clearly been affected by human activities. The objective of this 5-year study was ...     

Impacts of anthropogenic activities on the Changjiang(Yangtze)estuarine ecosystem(1998–2012)

Estuarine ecosystem has greatly changed in the recent decades due to anthropogenic perturbations in the Changjiang Estuary. Change patterns and impact factors were analyzed based on the continuous data...     

Extrinsic and intrinsic forcing of fluvial development: understanding natural and anthropogenic influences

This paper introduces a special issue arising from the biennial meeting of the Fluvial Archives Group (FLAG) that took place in September 2008 in Budapest, Hungary. Combining a two-day conference and three-day field excursion, this meeting provided an excellent opportunity for presentation and discussion of recent advances in research on fluvial evolution from the Plio-Pleistocene to the historical period. This editorial seeks to place these advances within the contexts both of long-term geomorphological research and the achievements of FLAG. It thus highlights progress towards a better understanding of fluvial responses to internal and external (including anthropogenic) forcing. It also points out some of the main obstacles, which can be targeted as goals for further research. Typically these relate to observed discrepancies in fluvial system responses, such as in patterns of lateral erosion and the timing of terrace incision, despite apparently similar fluvial parameters. Possible explanations for these discrepancies are mentioned, and the potential of new methods (especially in geochronology and modelling) to clarify such discrepancies is underlined. Finally the editorial provides brief reviews of the ten papers in this special issue (many of them developed from presentations in Budapest), which cover various areas in Europe (Hungary, England, Germany, Portugal, Russia), Asia (India) and South America (Bolivian Andes), placing them, in turn, within the context of this wider review of fluvial research.     

福建沿海地区表层土壤铅来源及分布特征

在福建省沿海经济带生态地球化学调查的基础上,应用富集因子法对福建省沿海地区表层土壤中铅的来源进行了分析,并对其自然来源和人为来源的分布特征及影响因素做了初步探讨。结果表明,福建沿海地区约98.2%的土地面积表层土壤中铅属于自然来源,其余地区含有人为来源铅,且集中分布于个别市县城区;铅自然来源区呈现广域性分布特征,人为来源区则呈现零星的斑点状分布特点;铅自然来源区和人为来源区的空间分布特征在很大程度上受到土壤类型、森林植被分布以及人为活动等因素的影响。     

Distribution and sources of heavy metals in the sediment of Xiangshan Bay

Heavy metals in the surface sediments and sediment core from the Xiangshan Bay, a mariculture base on the coast of the East China Sea, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP–MS) in order to evaluate their levels and sources. The results showed that the levels of Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cr in the sediments of the bay have been generally influenced by anthropogenic inputs since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In particular, Cu and Zn were polluted to some extent, as evidenced by high enrichment factors. Organic matter, grain size, wastewater discharge, and low energy hydrodynamic environment played dominant roles in the heavy metal enrichment in the sediments. The ratio of terrigenous source to marine biogenic deposit of trace metals in the sediments was calculated, revealing that terrigenous inputs were the main source of Cu, Pb, and Zn, while biological pellets contributed much more to the enrichment of Cr and Cd. Considering the influence of biological sources on the enrichment of Cd and Cr, and the fact that the sediment has been polluted by Cu and Zn, the development of mariculture and discharge of wastewater into the Bay should be restricted.     

Impact of Anthropogenic Heat Release on Regional Climate in Three Vast Urban Agglomerations in China简

We simulated the impact of anthropogenic heat release （AHR） on the regional climate in three vast city agglomerations in China using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with nested high-resolution modeling.Based on energy consumption and high-quality land use data,we designed two scenarios to represent no-AHR and current-AHR conditions.By comparing the results of the two numerical experiments,changes of surface air temperature and precipitation due to AHR were quantified and analyzed.We concluded that AHR increases the temperature in these urbanized areas by about 0.5℃-1℃,and this increase is more pronounced in winter than in other seasons.The inclusion of AHR enhances the convergence of water vapor over urbanized areas.Together with the warming of the lower troposphere and the enhancement of ascending motions caused by AHR,the average convective available potential energy in urbanized areas is increased.Rainfall amounts in summer over urbanized areas are likely to increase and regional precipitation patterns to be altered to some extent.     

自钻式原位剪切旁压模型不同固结荷载颗粒流数值试验

自钻式原位剪切旁压仪具有扰动小,能同时测出不同深度土的变形和强度参数,在精确测定土体参数方面具有广阔的应用前景。然而,目前受分析手段与研究水平的限制,对SBISP多级加载过程中周围土体的变形响应研究较少,而土体变形参数的确定与其变形机制是密切相关的。基于此,应用PFC3D颗粒流程序对不同固结荷载SBISP模型进行了仿真数值试验,试验结果表明:随着剪应力的逐级施加,中间区域颗粒的位移量不断增大,且位移矢量方向性更加显著,在第5级剪应力作用下,影响区域位移矢量形状呈现为倒锥形;而随着上覆固结压力的增大,探头周围试样的受影响范围逐渐变小;在探头作用下球颗粒的运动轨迹呈台阶状,台阶形态随距探杆中心距离增大而趋于平缓,球颗粒的Z向位移量亦随之呈负指数形式衰减;此外,剪应力与探头摩擦系数呈正相关关系,但当摩擦系数达到某一阈值时,剪应力-位移曲线不再变化。其研究成果对于深入开展SBISP试验多级加载过程中影响域内土体变形过程与变形模量之间关系研究具有重要启迪意义。     

Numerical modeling of fluid‐driven fractures in cohesive poroelastoplastic continuum

In this article, we investigate the main parameters that influence the propagation of a fluid‐driven fracture in a poroelastoplastic continuum. These parameters include the cohesive zone, the stress anisotropy, and the pore pressure field. The fracture is driven in a permeable porous domain that corresponds to weak formation by pumping of an incompressible viscous fluid at the fracture inlet under plane strain conditions. Rock deformation is modeled with the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion with associative flow rule. Fluid flow in the fracture is modeled by the lubrication theory. The movement of the pore fluid in the surrounding medium is assumed to obey the Darcy law and is of the same nature as the fracturing fluid. The cohesive zone approach is used as the fracture propagation criterion. The problem is modeled numerically with the finite element method to obtain the solution for the fracture length, the fracture opening, and the propagation pressure as a function of the time and distance from the pumping inlet. It is demonstrated that the plastic yielding that is associated with the rock dilation in an elastoplastic saturated porous continuum is significantly affected by the cohesive zone characteristics, the stress anisotropy, and the pore pressure field. These influences result in larger fracture profiles and propagation pressures due to the larger plastic zones that are developing during the fracture propagation. Furthermore, it is also found that the diffusion process that is a major mechanism in hydraulic fracture operations influences further the obtained results on the fracture dimensions, plastic yielding, and fluid pressures. These findings may explain partially the discrepancies in net pressures between field measurements and conventional model predictions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Groundwater geochemistry of the Chihuahua City region in the Rio Conchos Basin (northern Mexico) and implications for water resources management

The Chihuahua City region, located in the semiarid-arid northern highlands of Mexico, has experienced intensive groundwater abstraction during the last 40 years to meet water demands in the region. A geochemical survey was carried out to investigate the evolution from baseline to modern conditions of a 130-km flow path including the El Sauz–Chihuahua–Aldama–San Diego de Alcalá regions. The research approach included the use of major chemical elements, chlorofluorocarbons and environmental isotope (¹⁸O, ²H, ¹³C and ¹⁴C) tracers. Stable isotopes indicate that groundwater evolves from the evaporation of local rainfall and surface water. Groundwater located at the lower end of the flow section is up to 6000 years old and older groundwater in the order of 9000 years BP was found in a deep well located in the upper part of the flow system, implying contribution from a neighbour basin. The background groundwater chemistry upstream of Chihuahua City results from feldspar weathering. Beyond Chihuahua City the chemical conditions are strongly modified owing to disposal of sewage from public and industrial water supplies into the Rio Chuviscar, subsequent allocation of this water to agricultural irrigation areas and direct infiltration under the river bed. As a consequence, anions like chloride and sulphate are mainly related to surface sources. Nitrate is controlled in part by sewage from public supply and industry and in part by agricultural practices. Arsenic and fluoride are related to weathering of rock formations of local mineralized ranges and subsequent enrichment of the basin-fill by magmatic processes. The results of this study have implications for groundwater management in an arid region that depends entirely on groundwater for domestic, industrial and agricultural water consumption. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rhomboidal versus triangular spherical harmonic truncation: Some verification statistics

Abstract

In the construction of global primitive equation models, based on the spherical harmonic method, two forms of truncation are in general use. Theoretical considerations suggest the triangular truncation method is superior, but the easily coded rhomboidal truncation is more commonly used. A verification experiment employing the Canadian Operational Spectral Model has been performed to determine if the theoretical superiority of the triangular truncation can be realized in practice. It was found that at least in the restricted case of extra‐tropical forecasts of less than 48 h, that the two truncation methods produced forecasts of equivalent accuracy.