Crustal motion and deformation in Greece from a decade of GPS measurements, 1993–2003

The Hellenic plate boundary region, located in the collision zone between the Nubian/Arabian and Eurasian lithospheric plates, is one of the seismo-tectonically most active areas of Europe. During the last 15 years, GPS measurements have been used to determine the crustal motion in the area of Greece with the aim to better understand the geodynamical processes of this region. An extended reoccupation network covering whole Greece has been measured periodically in numerous GPS campaigns since the late eighties, and a continuous GPS network has been operated in the region of the Ionian Sea since 1995. In this paper, we present a new detailed high-quality solution of continuous and campaign-type measurements acquired between 1993 and 2003. During the GPS processing, a special effort was made to obtain consistent results with highest possible accuracies and reliabilities. Data of 54 mainly European IGS and EUREF sites were included in the GPS processing in order to obtain results which are internally consistent with the European kinematic field and order to allow for a regional interpretation. After an overview of the results of the IGS/EUREF sites, the results from more than 80 stations in Greece are presented in terms of velocities, time series, trajectories and strain rates. Previous geodetic, geological and seismological findings are generally confirmed and substantially refined. New important results include the observation of deformation zones to the north and to the south of the North Aegean Trough and in the West Hellenic arc region, arc-parallel extension of about 19 mm/yr along the Hellenic arc, and compression between the Ionian islands and the Greek mainland. Due to continuous long-term observations of 4–8 years, it was possible to extract height changes from the GPS time series. In Greece, we observe a differential subsidence of the order of 2 mm/yr between the northern and central Ionian islands across the Kefalonia fault zone. The differential subsidence of the central Ionian islands with respect to the northwestern Greek mainland amounts to 4 mm/yr.     

Ultrahigh pressure macro diamonds from Copeton (New South Wales, Australia), based on Raman spectroscopy of inclusions

Mining of Cenozoic alluvial deposits at Copeton and Bingara (Eastern Australia) has produced two million macrodiamonds (0.25 ct median size). Raman spectroscopy is used to identify included minerals within uncut Copeton diamonds, with sealed chamber remnant pressures of 31.7 to 35.6 kbar for coesite, 13.6 and 22.7 kbar for clinopyroxene, and 7.6 kbar for grossular garnet. Assuming elastic behaviour, these values generate inclusion entrapment PT loci which intersect, restricting diamond formation conditions: from 250 °C, 43 kbar to 800 °C, 52 kbar. Larger than error (± 100 °C and ± 4 kbar), this range shows a systematic variation in inclusion composition with diamond zoning and N properties. Published research shows 1) Copeton and Bingara diamonds are unique, and 2) modern alluvium in the Bingara district carries mantle-formed garnet, captured by post-tectonic alkali basalt from an extensive diamondiferous ultrahigh pressure (UHP) terrane that stalled at depth because it is dominated by mafic eclogite. The combined Raman and geological results indicate two sets of subduction UHP diamond formation conditions/protolith are required, firstly cooler oceanic slab and secondly including higher temperature continental crust. The Copeton and Bingara stones are UHP macrodiamonds, and Carboniferous ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age dates on clinopyroxene inclusions should be interpreted as ages of crystallisation, representing the termination of subduction. The characteristic features of ruptured inclusions and etched percussion marks on Copeton and Bingara diamond indicate volcanic delivery to the earth's surface. Alluvial deposits elsewhere in Eastern Australia may carry similar diamond along with diamond of different origin.     

海藻硫酸多糖911对小鼠脾淋巴细胞增殖反应及对细胞产生IL—2作用的影响

本文以~3H—TdR掺入法观察911对小鼠脾淋巴细胞增殖反应的影响并用CTLL细胞检测了其对IL—2的作用。体外实验结果表明,911对小鼠脾淋巴细胞增殖反应有明显的增强作用,以0.5μg/ml的浓度效果最为明显,相对增殖指数RPI可达200％;体内实验则以5mg/kg体重ip,连续7d效果最好,相对增殖指数RPI可达176％;911用药组小鼠IL—2的产生量均高于对照组,以5mg/kg和10mg/kg效果最好。以上实验证明,这一多糖是一种有希望的新免疫调节药物。     

海洋调查数据的可视化建模及实现方法

科学计算可视化作为新一代的分析工具 ,正在进入物理海洋学领域。文中介绍对海洋调查数据进行可视化的关键问题——数据建模 ,并从分析海洋调查数据的特点出发提出针对海洋研究中可视化建模的原则和有效途径 ,给出相关的实现方法。其中 ,重点讨论局部体样条建模中必须面对的区域分割优化问题 ,引入遗传算法并给出较好的解决方案。     

等高线自动绘制中断层处理的新方法

提出了一种断层处理新方法——分块法与断层恢复法合成算法，这种方法兼有分块法与断层恢复法的优点同时又克服了其不足，较好地解决了含逆断层时煤层底板等高线自动绘制及任意边界的构网问题，使绘出的等值线图误差较小，更加符合实际。     

鱼耳石中锶和钡富集的影响因素及其环境响应

鱼耳石中元素锶和钡主要来源于鱼类生存的水体,这两种元素通过腮或肠进入内耳淋巴液,继而以类质同象的方式沉淀在耳石晶格内部空位和晶格间隙中。耳石结晶沉淀的整个过程不仅受生物的调控作用,而且还受到外界环境,如水体元素浓度、盐度、温度等因素的影响,因此耳石中某种元素的浓度与其在水体中的浓度之比(元素富集系数)与鱼类所生存的环境之间具有一定的响应关系。在以上各种因素中,水体元素浓度对耳石元素富集系数的影响最为显著。一般来说,耳石中某种元素的含量与水体中相应的元素浓度呈正相关关系,而水体中元素之间就耳石中的富集过程也存在一定的相互促进或抑制作用,如Sr对Ba为协同作用,Ca对Sr、Zn为拮抗作用。另外,水体盐度或温度与元素富集系数之间不存在简单的线性相关关系,而是因鱼种、水体综合环境及元素种类不同而有所差异。研究结果表明:鱼种一定的情况下,耳石中元素富集系数与水体盐度和温度存在良好相关关系。基于以上相关性分析,可以认为耳石中元素富集系数与环境因子(水体元素浓度、盐度、温度)之间存在响应关系。因此,可以选用那些受环境影响大但对自身调控影响小的元素(如:Sr、Zn、Pb、Mn、Ba、Fe、Li、Ni、Cd)来建立耳石与水体环境之间元素富集系数的定量化模型,并利用这种响应关系及定量化模型进行生态环境监测和渔业管理。     

形变,应变短临前兆标志体系

建立各手段的前兆异常标志,从而组合各类前兆标志体系是“八五”地震短临预报攻关研究项目的重要目标之一。本文以形变,应变手段的主要研究对象,初步建立了一个形变应变短临前兆标志体系,并总结出了各种异常的判别标志,为利用系统优化理论和专家系统理论进一步研究形变应前兆系统和地震之间的关系,从而为提高中短期地震预报的水平打下了一定的基础。     

Uniaxial compression and tension tests of anthracite and loading rate dependence of peak strength

The mechanical characteristics of coal under uniaxial compressive stress and uniaxial tensile stress are key factors in investigations of the stability of galleries and coal faces, and are vital considerations for the efficient design of coalmines, disaster prevention, and environmental preservation. These mechanical characteristics have long been a topic of research, but remain insufficiently understood. In this study we performed uniaxial compression tests and uniaxial tension tests on coal, with particular attention to two concerns. The first was to measure the loading rate dependence of the peak strength of coal. Coal shows high sample-to-sample scatter in strength; test methods that are successful in comparatively homogeneous rock types cannot be used for coal. We therefore used an alternative test method that was recently developed by the authors. Anthracite samples were subjected to alternating slow and fast strain rates. Measured variations in stress during this process were used to estimate the loading rate dependence of peak strength. The second objective was to obtain complete stress–strain curves for coal under uniaxial tensile stress. It is difficult to hold samples secure during a tensile test; consequently, such curves have yet to be obtained. This study presents a successful application of the authors' method to the analysis of coal samples, yielding a complete stress–strain curve under tensile stress. The two methods presented here hold promise for application not only to anthracite but also to a wide variety of coals. It is possible to derive the values of the constants used in constitutive equations from the obtained experimental results. Once these equations are determined, they can be incorporated into finite-element software to investigate various time-dependent behaviors of coal and aid in the efficient design of coalmines and the prevention of subsidence and mine disasters.     

Seismic potential of Southern Italy

To improve estimates of the long-term average seismic potential of the slowly straining South Central Mediterranean plate boundary zone, we integrate constraints on tectonic style and deformation rates from geodetic and geologic data with the traditional constraints from seismicity catalogs. We express seismic potential (long-term average earthquake recurrence rates as a function of magnitude) in the form of truncated Gutenberg–Richter distributions for seven seismotectonic source zones. Seismic coupling seems to be large or even complete in most zones. An exception is the southern Tyrrhenian thrust zone, where most of the African–European convergence is accommodated. Here aseismic deformation is estimated to range from at least 25% along the western part to almost 100% aseismic slip around the Aeolian Islands. Even so, seismic potential of this zone has previously been significantly underestimated, due to the low levels of recorded past seismicity. By contrast, the series of 19 M6–7 earthquakes that hit Calabria in the 18th and 19th century released tectonic strain rates accumulated over time spans up to several times the catalog duration, and seismic potential is revised downward. The southern Tyrrhenian thrust zone and the extensional Calabrian faults, as well as the northeastern Sicilian transtensional zone between them (which includes the Messina Straits, where a destructive M7 event occurred in 1908), all have a similar seismic potential with minimum recurrence times of M ≥ 6.5 of 150–220 years. This potential is lower than that of the Southern Apennines (M ≥ 6.5 recurring every 60 to 140 years), but higher than that of southeastern Sicily (minimum M ≥ 6.5 recurrence times of 400 years). The high seismicity levels recorded in southeastern Sicily indicate some clustering and are most compatible with a tectonic scenario where the Ionian deforms internally, and motions at the Calabrian Trench are small. The estimated seismic potential for the Calabrian Trench and Central and Western Sicily are the lowest (minimum M ≥ 6.5 recurrence times of 550–800 years). Most zones are probably capable of generating earthquakes up to magnitudes 7–7.5, with the exception of Central and Western Sicily where maximum events sizes most likely do not exceed 7.     

Structural architecture of a highly oblique divergent plate boundary segment

The Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland is a highly oblique spreading segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge oriented about 30° from the direction of absolute plate motion. We present a complete and spatially accurate map of fractures for the Reykjanes Peninsula with a level of detail previously unattained. Our map reveals a variability in the pattern of normal, oblique- and strike-slip faults and open fractures which reflects both temporal and spatial strain partitioning within the plate boundary zone. Fracture density varies across the length and width of the peninsula, with density maxima at the ends and at the northern margin of the zone of volcanic activity. Fractures with similar strike cluster into distinct structural domains which can be related to patterns of faulting predicted for oblique extension and to their spatial distribution with respect to volcanic fissure swarms. Additional structural complexity on the Reykjanes Peninsula can be reconciled with magmatic periodicity and associated temporal strain partitioning implied by GPS data, as well as locally perturbed stress fields. Individual faults show variable slip histories, indicating that they may be active during both magmatic and amagmatic periods associated with different strain fields.