The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine: Multi-decadal whole-watershed experimental acidification

The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) is a long-term research site established to study the response of forest ecosystem function to environmental disturbances of chronic acidic deposition and ecosystem nitrogen enrichment. Starting in 1989, the West Bear (treated) watershed received bimonthly applications of ammonium sulfate [(NH₄)₂SO₄] fertilizer from above the canopy, whereas East Bear (reference) received ambient deposition. The treatments were stopped in 2016, marking the beginning of the recovery phase. Research at the site has focused on soils, streams, and vegetation. Here, we describe data collected over three decades at the BBWM—input and stream output nutrient fluxes, quantitative soil pits and soil chemistry, and soil temperature and moisture.     

New Circulation Features in the Okhotsk Sea from a Numerical Model

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - Using the eddy-permitting model, circulation in the Okhotsk Sea and in an adjacent area of the Pacific Ocean is retrospectively simulated from 1991 to...     

Seasonal connections between meteoric water and streamflow generation along a mountain headwater stream

In snowmelt-driven mountain watersheds, the hydrologic connectivity between meteoric waters and stream flow generation varies strongly with the season, reflecting variable connection to soil and groundwater storage within the watershed. This variable connectivity regulates how streamflow generation mechanisms transform the seasonal and elevational variation in oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition (δ¹⁸O and δD) of meteoric precipitation. Thus, water isotopes in stream flow can signal immediate connectivity or more prolonged mixing, especially in high-relief mountainous catchments. We characterized δ¹⁸O and δD values in stream water along an elevational gradient in a mountain headwater catchment in southwestern Montana. Stream water isotopic compositions related most strongly to elevation between February and March, exhibiting higher δ¹⁸O and δD values with decreasing elevation. These elevational isotopic lapse rates likely reflect increased connection between stream flow and proximal snow-derived water sources heavily subject to elevational isotopic effects. These patterns disappeared during summer sampling, when consistently lower δ¹⁸O and δD values of stream water reflected contributions from snowmelt or colder rainfall, despite much higher δ¹⁸O and δD values expected in warmer seasonal rainfall. The consistently low isotopic values and absence of a trend with elevation during summer suggest lower connectivity between summer precipitation and stream flow generation as a consequence of drier soils and greater transpiration. As further evidence of intermittent seasonal connectivity between the stream and adjacent groundwaters, we observed a late-winter flush of nitrate into the stream at higher elevations, consistent with increased connection to accumulating mineralized nitrogen in riparian wetlands. This pattern was distinct from mid-summer patterns of nitrate loading at lower elevations that suggested heightened human recreational activity along the stream corridor. These observations provide insights linking stream flow generation and seasonal water storage in high elevation mountainous watersheds. Greater understanding of the connections between surface water, soil water and groundwater in these environments will help predict how the quality and quantity of mountain runoff will respond to changing climate and allow better informed water management decisions.     

Deep-water sediment transport patterns and basin floor topography in early rift basins: Plio-Pleistocene syn-rift of the Corinth Rift,Greece

Our current understanding on sedimentary deep-water environments is mainly built of information obtained from tectonic settings such as passive margins and foreland basins. More observations from extensional settings are particularly needed in order to better constrain the role of active tectonics in controlling sediment pathways, depositional style and stratigraphic stacking patterns. This study focuses on the evolution of a Plio-Pleistocene deep-water sedimentary system (Rethi-Dendro Formation) and its relation to structural activity in the Amphithea fault block in the Corinth Rift, Greece. The Corinth Rift is an active extensional basin in the early stages of rift evolution, providing perfect opportunities for the study of early deep-water syn-rift deposits that are usually eroded from the rift shoulders due to erosion in mature basins like the Red Sea, North Sea and the Atlantic rifted margin. The depocentre is located at the exit of a structurally controlled sediment fairway, approximately 15 km from its main sediment source and 12 km basinwards from the basin margin coastline. Fieldwork, augmented by digital outcrop techniques (LiDAR and photogrammetry) and clast-count compositional analysis allowed identification of 16 stratigraphic units that are grouped into six types of depositional elements: A—mudstone-dominated sheets, B—conglomerate-dominated lobes, C—conglomerate channel belts and sandstone sheets, D—sandstone channel belts, E—sandstone-dominated broad shallow lobes, F—sandstone-dominated sheets with broad shallow channels. The formation represents an axial system sourced by a hinterland-fed Mavro delta, with minor contributions from a transverse system of conglomerate-dominated lobes sourced from intrabasinal highs. The results of clast compositional analysis enable precise attribution for the different sediment sources to the deep-water system and their link to other stratigraphic units in the area. Structures in the Amphithea fault block played a major role in controlling the location and orientation of sedimentary systems by modifying basin-floor gradients due to a combination of hangingwall tilt, displacement of faults internal to the depocentre and folding on top of blind growing faults. Fault activity also promoted large-scale subaqueous landslides and eventual uplift of the whole fault block.     

Spatial Distribution Assessment and Source Apportionment of Land-Based Pollutant Yield from Qingdao,China

The spatial distribution of chemical oxygen demand(COD) and total nitrogen(TN) yield from Qingdao are studied by comparing pollutant yield amount, densities and spatial aggregation(Getis-Ord indexes) among the land-based pollutant source regions(PSRs) entering the three sub-seas(i.e. the Jiaozhou Bay(JZB), other coastal area in the Yellow Sea(OCAYS) and Laizhou Bay(LZB), respectively). Industrial composition of the loads are also studied by comparing pollutant yield among the sources of agriculture, rural domesticity, industry, urban domesticity and service, and calculation of Gini coefficient. Results show that spatial distribution of COD and TN yield from Qingdao are extremely unbalanced. The JZB, with less than 3% of the total coastal sea area of Qingdao, received 62% COD load and 65% TN yield from Qingdao, while the OCAYS, with more than 97% area, only received 23% COD and 20% TN, which consist with the much worsen water quality of JZB than that of OCAYS. On the other hand, the source apportionment of COD and TN loads in the PSRs entering JZB and the OCAYS was similar. The agricultural and domestic sources with high pollution intensity account for more than 80%, while the industrial and service sources with low pollution intensity account for less than 20%. While Gini coefficients, COD 0.81 and TN 0.84 which are much higher than the ‘imbalance' threshold of 0.4, show the uneven industrial structure of Qingdao. These results may be useful in the determination of land-based pollution total amount control at the PSR level.     

Estimates of Extragalactic Background and Confusion Noise Parameters for the Millimetron Telescope

Astronomy Letters - The sensitivity of future far-infrared telescopes, such as Millimetron, will be limited by the confusion noise produced by distant galaxies. We have constructed a model of the...     

Fully coupled elastoplastic hydro-mechanical analysis of unsaturated porous media using a meshfree method

This paper presents the first application of an advanced meshfree method, ie, the edge-based smoothed point interpolation method (ESPIM), in simulation of the coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated porous media. In the proposed technique, the problem domain is spatially discretised using a triangular background mesh, and the polynomial point interpolation method combined with a simple node selection scheme is adopted for creating nodal shape functions. Smoothing domains are formed on top of the background mesh, and a constant smoothed strain, created by applying the smoothing operation over the smoothing domains, is assigned to each smoothing domain. The deformation and flow models are developed based on the equilibrium equation of the mixture, and linear momentum and mass balance equations of the fluid phases, respectively. The effective stress approach is followed to account for the coupling between the flow and deformation models. Further coupling among the phases is captured through a hysteretic soil water retention model that evolves with changes in void ratio. An advanced elastoplastic constitutive model within the context of the bounding surface plasticity theory is employed for predicting the nonlinear behaviour of soil skeleton. Time discretisation is performed by adopting a three-point discretisation method with growing time steps to avoid temporal instabilities. A modified Newton-Raphson framework is designed for dealing with nonlinearities of the discretised system of equations. The performance of the numerical model is examined through a number of numerical examples. The state-of-the-art computational scheme developed is useful for simulation of geotechnical engineering problems involving unsaturated soils.     

Phase Shift between Changes in Global Temperature and Atmospheric CO2 Content under External Emissions of Greenhouse Gases into the Atmosphere

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The phase shift between changes in the global surface temperature Tg and atmospheric CO2 content $${{q}_{{{\text{C}}{{{\text{O}}}_{2}}}}}$$ has been...     

脐带缆螺旋滑移分析及力学性能研究

针对脐带缆内部螺旋层,应用Darboux标架建立螺旋结构空间坐标系,推导弯曲载荷下螺旋结构的局部变形和滑移。考虑螺旋构件间的接触和摩擦作用,建立螺旋结构的受力平衡偏微分方程,并研究螺旋角和摩擦系数对螺旋结构滑移的影响。基于同层螺旋结构本构关系相同假设,将所有螺旋结构力学性能线性叠加,拟合脐带缆整体弯曲刚度。运用建立的理论解析方法,对某双层铠装脐带缆的力学性能进行研究,并与数值模拟结果进行对比验证。对比结果表明,理论解析得到的螺旋滑移结果与数值模拟结果一致,理论解析得到的脐带缆弯曲刚度与数值模拟结果在全滑动阶段比较接近。     

毛乌素沙区1961-2016年降水特征

基于毛乌素沙区10个气象站1961-2016年观测资料，应用Mann-Kendall方法和t检验法对各气象站年降水量进行了突变检验，借助小波分析讨论了各气象站年降水量的周期特征，根据降水量等值线划分结果对整个研究区分区分析了年、季、月和日尺度上的降水变化特征，并在两个时段上分析了季节性降水的差异。结果表明：毛乌素沙区年降水量空间特征差异明显，东部亚区呈上升趋势，中西部亚区呈下降趋势，但变化趋势不显著且无突变发生；降水年内分配不均，干湿季分明，降水集中在5-9月，夏秋季降水占全年降水比重大，季、月和日尺度降水量存在梯度递减变化；年降水量的年际变化过程存在多重时间尺度的自相似结构；近26年的冬春季降水增加显著，但降水波动幅度小于前30年。