Electrical Imaging of Impact Structures

Electrical imaging provides important subsurface information for the construction of hypervelocity impact models. We here provide an overview and evaluation of the current electrical imaging methods used in impact cratering studies. Although apparent resistivity models are commonly used in the geoelectrical imaging of impact structures, the reliability of these models has not hitherto been determined. In order to assess these imaging approaches in impact cratering, we investigate for the first time the discrepancies between the apparent resistivity and true resistivity models of an impact structure. To this end, we present (1) a new true resistivity model of the Araguainha impact structure in central Brazil by applying L2-norm inversion to previously published data, (2) apparent resistivity model of the impact structure, and (3) models obtained from different stages of the iterative tomographic inversions. Our results show that changes in vertical resistivity gradient are significantly better defined in the true resistivity models than in the apparent resistivity model. On the basis of these results, we outline a new approach that true resistivity models can be effectively assessed by applying both L1- and L2-norm inversion schemes together with the monitoring of intermediate models from iterative inversion. The results of our study highlight the importance of tomographic inversion of resistivity data in impact cratering studies, and they provide a data modeling framework and foundation for cost-effective subsurface imaging of impact structures in the future.     

地层记录的灾害性撞击事件

在目前已知的约160个撞击坑结构中,有30％为沉积层,目前尚未发现的撞击坑结构仍藏匿在沉积层里,特别是藏匿在海底。即使这些撞击坑结构被表面更新的地质过程所湮灭,撞击抛射物和小天体残骸仍然会残留在沉积层里,显示出与撞击有关的地球化学异常和地球物理异常,从而为小天体撞击事件提供了实地调查的证据。虽然目前只发现了为数很少的证据,但是在地层记录里发现撞击证据已经形成小天体撞击研究的一个重要领域。本文对这个领域的研究成果作了一个简要的评述。     

低速冲击下高强钢绞线网-高性能砂浆加固钢筋混凝土梁试验研究

研究了高强钢绞线网-高性能砂浆加固钢筋混凝土梁的抗低速冲击性能,利用落锤冲击试验法对4根简支钢筋混凝土梁进行对比试验研究,其中1根为普通梁,3根为加固梁,通过分析加固前后梁的破坏形态,结合挠度变化、钢筋的应变以及加速度的时程曲线,对比得到了钢筋混凝土梁加固后的抗冲击性能。研究结果表明：加固后钢筋混凝土梁的抗冲击能力显著提高,钢绞线和砂浆作为外加层,不仅增加了梁的抗弯剪能力和刚度,提高了结构的耗能能力,而且限制了裂缝的发展,使梁的整体性和延性更好;在相同冲击作用下,钢绞线直径的增加能适当提高结构的抗冲击性能。     

Volcanoes and human history

The study of volcanic hazards leads inevitably to questions of how past cultures have lived in volcanically active regions of the world. Here we summarize linkages between volcanological, archaeological and anthropological studies of historic and prehistoric volcanic eruptions, with the goal of evaluating the impact of past eruptions on human populations to better prepare for future events. We use examples from papers collected in this volume to illustrate ways in which volcanological studies aid archaeological investigations by providing basic stratigraphic markers and information about the nature and timing of specific volcanic events. We then turn to archaeological perspectives, which provide physical evidence of the direct impacts of volcanic eruptions, such as site abandonment and human migration, as well as indirect impacts on local cultures as reflected in human artifacts. Finally we review anthropological studies of societal responses to past and recent volcanic eruptions. We pay particular attention to both the psychological impact of catastrophic events and records of these impacts encoded within oral traditions. Taken together these studies record drastic short-term eruption impacts but adaptation to volcanic activity over the longer term, largely through strategies of adaptive land use.     

Assessment of GCM simulations of annual and seasonal rainfall and daily rainfall distribution across south‐east Australia

Global warming can potentially lead to changes in future rainfall and runoff and can significantly impact the regional hydrology and future availability of water resources. All the large‐scale climate impact studies use the future climate projections from global climate models (GCMs) to estimate the impact on future water availability. This paper presents results from a detailed assessment to investigate the capability of 15 GCMs to reproduce the observed historical annual and seasonal mean rainfalls, the observed annual rainfall series and the observed daily rainfall distribution across south‐east Australia. The assessment shows that the GCMs can generally reproduce the spatial patterns of mean seasonal and annual rainfalls. However, there can be considerable differences between the mean rainfalls simulated by the GCMs and the observed rainfall. The results clearly show that none of the GCMs can simulate the actual annual rainfall time series or the trend in the annual rainfall. The GCMs can also generally reproduce the observed daily (ranked) rainfall distribution at the GCM scale. The GCMs are ranked against their abilities to reproduce the observed historical mean annual rainfall and daily rainfall distribution, and, based on the combined score, the better GCMs include MPI‐ECHAM5, MIUB, CCCMA_T47, INMCM, CSIRO‐MK3·0, CNRM, CCCMA_T63 and GFDL 2·0 and those with poorer performances are MRI, IPSL, GISS‐AOM, MIROC‐M, NCAR‐PCM1, IAP and NCAR‐CCSM. However, the reduction in the combined score as we move from the best‐ to the worst‐performing GCMs is gradual, and there is no evident cut‐off point or threshold to remove GCMs from climate impact studies. There is some agreement between the results here and many similar studies comparing the performance of GCMs in Australia, but the results are not always consistent and do significantly disagree with several of the studies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Statistical Estimation Model for the Impact Force of Dry Granular Flow Against Rigid Barrier

The impact force on retaining structure, which is caused by granular flow comprised of dry particles originated from shallow landslide failure, still lacks systematic studies. In order to support the potential design requirement of structure used to resist this kind of impact, a series of dry granular impact experiments are conducted on one rigid barrier model. According to parametric analysis results, one nonlinear regression model is proposed to correlate total normal impact force at critical time (F_cr) with its influential parameters. Further, we complete a systematic statistics analysis and obtain a subsequent optimum regression equation based on the proposed model. According to experience and dimension balance, the equation is modified and finally transformed into one non-dimensional equation, which shows good agreement between predicted and observed results.     

Indication of paleoecological evidence on the evolution of alpine vegetation productivity and soil erosion in central China since the mid-Holocene

Although alpine ecosystems have been commonly recognized as sensitive to recent climate change, few studies have examined its impact on the long-term productivity of vegetation and soil erosion. Using paleoecological records, these two aspects were examined in the alpine zone of the Taibai Mountains(elevation, 3767 m) in monsoon-dominated East Asia since the middle Holocene. Proxies for the productivity of vegetation and severity of soil erosion from high-resolution alpine lacustrine records show that the productivity and soil erosion were closely related to mean annual temperature and summer precipitation from the East Asian Summer Monsoon(EASM), respectively. Specifically, when the mean annual temperature was low and precipitation was abundant, during 5800–4000 calendar years before the present(cal. yr BP), the alpine ecosystem was characterized by low vegetation productivity and severe soil erosion. However, the productivity increased and soil erosion decreased from 4000 cal. yr BP onwards. These results highlight the role of paleoecological evidence in studying ecosystem services on longer time scales, which is significant in making policies for sustainable development under climate change in regions for which such long-term monitoring data are not available.     

A review of paired catchment studies for determining changes in water yield resulting from alterations in vegetation

Paired catchment studies have been widely used as a means of determining the magnitude of water yield changes resulting from changes in vegetation. This review focuses on the use of paired catchment studies for determining the changes in water yield at various time scales resulting from permanent changes in vegetation. The review considers long term annual changes, adjustment time scales, the seasonal pattern of flows and changes in both annual and seasonal flow duration curves. The paired catchment studies reported in the literature have been divided into four broad categories: afforestation experiments, deforestation experiments, regrowth experiments and forest conversion experiments. Comparisons between paired catchment results and a mean annual water balance model are presented and show good agreement between the two methodologies. The results highlight the potential underestimation of water yield changes if regrowth experiments are used to predict the likely impact of permanent alterations to a catchment's vegetation. An analysis of annual water yield changes from afforestation, deforestation and regrowth experiments demonstrates that the time taken to reach a new equilibrium under permanent land use change varies considerably. Deforestation experiments reach a new equilibrium more quickly than afforestation experiments. The review of papers reporting seasonal changes in water yield highlights the proportionally larger impact on low flows. Flow duration curve comparison provides a potential means of gaining a greater understanding of the impact of vegetation on the distribution of daily flows.     

Thresholds of geographic environmental elements in sediment yield of drainage basins

Threshold of environmental elements in drainage basin sediment yield refers to, under effect of climate, underlying surface and human activity, a turning point of abrupt changes in drainage sediment yield related to environmental element characteristics. Previous studies on threshold of sediment yield of relevant drainage basins were mainly concentrated on impact of natural zones with a few researches on impact of other environmental elements. Particularly studies on compound environmental element threshold in drainage basin sediment yield remain blank today. Studies indicate that sediment yield in drainage basins is affected by compound interactions and complex actions. Based on single element analysis, the present paper gives quantitatively compound threshold of environmental elements affecting sediment yield of the drainage basin between Hekouzhen and Tongguan in the middle Yellow River by the method of multi-variant, polynomial formula regression analysis.     

A critical review of the potential impacts of marine seismic surveys on fish & invertebrates

Marine seismic surveys produce high intensity, low-frequency impulsive sounds at regular intervals, with most sound produced between 10 and 300 Hz. Offshore seismic surveys have long been considered to be disruptive to fisheries, but there are few ecological studies that target commercially important species, particularly invertebrates. This review aims to summarise scientific studies investigating the impacts of low-frequency sound on marine fish and invertebrates, as well as to critically evaluate how such studies may apply to field populations exposed to seismic operations. We focus on marine seismic surveys due to their associated unique sound properties (i.e. acute, low-frequency, mobile source locations), as well as fish and invertebrates due to the commercial value of many species in these groups. The main challenges of seismic impact research are the translation of laboratory results to field populations over a range of sound exposure scenarios and the lack of sound exposure standardisation which hinders the identification of response thresholds. An integrated multidisciplinary approach to manipulative and in situ studies is the most effective way to establish impact thresholds in the context of realistic exposure levels, but if that is not practical the limitations of each approach must be carefully considered.     

湖泊沉积研究的历史进展与展望

回顾了国际和国内湖泊沉积研究历史,论述了国际古湖泊学研究的两大方向以及主要研究内容,对中国20世纪50年代以来的湖泊沉积研究进行了综述.针对目前湖泊沉积研究领域的薄弱环节,提出加强湖泊沉积环境指标的基础理论研究,提高时间分辨率,关注人类活动对湖泊环境的影响,开展湖泊沉积界面过程与机理研究,以及进一步加强区域和全球对比等建议与展望.     

Characteristics of Low-Frequency Radiation Excited by the Impact of an Oscillating,High-Frequency Beam on the Ionosphere According to In Situ Measurements

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The results of experimental studies of the characteristics of low-frequency (LF) radiation excited by the impact of two frequency-shifted, unmodulated pump waves emitted...     

Downscaling of precipitation for climate change scenarios: A support vector machine approach

The Climate impact studies in hydrology often rely on climate change information at fine spatial resolution. However, general circulation models (GCMs), which are among the most advanced tools for estimating future climate change scenarios, operate on a coarse scale. Therefore the output from a GCM has to be downscaled to obtain the information relevant to hydrologic studies. In this paper, a support vector machine (SVM) approach is proposed for statistical downscaling of precipitation at monthly time scale. The effectiveness of this approach is illustrated through its application to meteorological sub-divisions (MSDs) in India. First, climate variables affecting spatio-temporal variation of precipitation at each MSD in India are identified. Following this, the data pertaining to the identified climate variables (predictors) at each MSD are classified using cluster analysis to form two groups, representing wet and dry seasons. For each MSD, SVM- based downscaling model (DM) is developed for season(s) with significant rainfall using principal components extracted from the predictors as input and the contemporaneous precipitation observed at the MSD as an output. The proposed DM is shown to be superior to conventional downscaling using multi-layer back-propagation artificial neural networks. Subsequently, the SVM-based DM is applied to future climate predictions from the second generation Coupled Global Climate Model (CGCM2) to obtain future projections of precipitation for the MSDs. The results are then analyzed to assess the impact of climate change on precipitation over India. It is shown that SVMs provide a promising alternative to conventional artificial neural networks for statistical downscaling, and are suitable for conducting climate impact studies.     

Weathering of granite in Antarctica: I. Light penetration into rock and implications for rock weathering and endolithic communities

Where rocks are composed of translucent minerals, light penetrates the rock and, in so doing, impacts on the thermal conditions. Where minerals are not translucent all the heat transformation must be at the rock surface, and steep thermal gradients can occur. Where light does penetrate, a component of the incoming radiation is transformed to heat at differing depths within the rock, thereby decreasing the thermal gradient. Equally, light transmissive minerals facilitate endolithic communities, which can also play a role in rock weathering. The attribute of light transmission within rock and the impact this has on the resulting thermal conditions has not been considered within rock weathering studies. An attempt was made to monitor the amount of light penetrating the outer 2 mm of coarse granite under Antarctic summer conditions and to evaluate the thermal impact of this. It was found that the amount of light penetration at this site exceeded modeled or postulated values from biological studies and that it could significantly impact the thermal conditions within the outer shell of the rock. Although the resulting data highlighted a number of flaws in the experimental procedure, sufficient information was generated to provide the first assessment of the range of thermal responses due to light transmissive minerals in rock. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A nonlinear impact model for simulating the use of rubber shock absorbers for mitigating the effects of structural pounding during earthquakes

During strong earthquakes, structural poundings may occur between adjacent buildings because of the limited separation distance and the deformations of their stories. A potential mitigation measure for this problem is the incorporation of layers of soft material, such as rubber, which can act as collision bumpers, in order to prevent the sudden impact pulses. In an effort to investigate the effectiveness of such an impact mitigation measure, relevant numerical simulations and parametric studies can be performed. However, none of the known impact models, which are available in the literature, is able to represent the usage of rubber bumpers with sufficient accuracy. The current study presents a simple but efficient methodology that can be used to simulate the incorporation of rubber layers between neighboring structures with relatively narrow seismic gaps. Such methodology will enable us to numerically investigate the effectiveness of using rubber bumpers to mitigate potential earthquake‐induced pounding. In particular, a new nonlinear inelastic force‐based impact model, able to appropriately describe the behavior of rubber under impact loading, taking also into account the limited thickness of the bumper, is introduced. Finally, a numerical example of simulating earthquake‐induced pounding between two multistory buildings with the consideration of rubber bumpers at impact locations is presented. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consequences of anthropogenic impact on aquatic ecosystems in Khibiny Mountain Massif

Comprehensive physicochemical (Selector software package), paleoecological, and hydrobiological studies of two lakes-Pai-Kunjavr (Gol’tsovoe) and Bol’shoi Vudjavr (the Khibiny Mountain Massif) was carried out for the first time. Reconstruction of natural waters and wastes was performed, the present-day state of the ionic composition of natural waters, diatomic complexes, and zooplankton communities was assessed with the aim to determine the degree of transformation of Lake Bol’shoi Vudjavr under technogenic impact. The results are of practical and methodological significance for the assessment of long-term anthropogenic impact on subarctic aquatic ecosystems.     

Assessment of long term change in sediment condition after organic enrichment: defining recovery

Sediment condition at an Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) culture site in S.E. Tasmania, Australia was evaluated to determine the rate and extent of recovery after removal of farmed fish. By local standards the cage sediment at the start of this survey was markedly degraded but comparison with results from impact studies in Scotland, Canada and Norway suggests that the sediments were considerably less impacted than in northern temperate areas. The impact at the cages diminished rapidly with both time and distance; after only 2 months conditions were markedly improved. The macrobenthos indicated a slower recovery than chemical measures, after 36 months the benthic faunal community structure under the cages still differed from reference conditions even though other sediment measures had recovered. This study highlighted two other key issues in relation to monitoring and management of sediment recovery. First, techniques used to determine impact may not be appropriate for evaluation of recovery. Second, establishment of local baseline standards is extremely important to ensure appropriate evaluation of both impact and recovery.     

Application of Geophysical Techniques in Identifying UNE Signatures at Semipalatinsk Test Site (for OSI Purposes)

This article describes geological and geophysical studies of an underground nuclear explosion area in one of the boreholes at the Semipalatinsk test site in Kazakhstan. During these studies, the typical elements of mechanical impact of the underground explosion on the host medium—fracturing of rock, spall zones, faults, cracks, etc., were observed. This information supplements to the database of underground nuclear explosion phenomenology and can be applied in fulfilling on-site inspection tasks under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.     

美国Chesapeake湾撞击坑研究进展及其启示

位于美国弗吉尼亚东海岸直径85 km的Chesapeake湾撞击坑,是十几年前发现的由一颗陨星撞击形成的一个复杂撞击坑. 该坑的研究经历四个阶段：地下水调查、撞击坑的发现、美国多学科多部门的综合研究和即将进行的国际钻探取心项目. 钻井岩心中的角砾成份和微体化石,提示撞击坑的存在,并确定撞击发生在35 Ma前,即始新始晚期. 地震反射剖面资料帮助寻找到撞击坑的具体位置,确定撞击坑的结构和形态特征. Chesapeake湾撞击坑埋藏在新生界沉积层之下,是全球已知最大的、保存最好的撞击坑之一. Chesapeake湾撞击坑主要形态像一顶倒置的宽边大草帽,包括外缘、环状洼地、峰环（内缘）、内盆和中央峰. 撞击坑的形成破坏了原来的含水层,撞击坑当时即被富含咸水的抛射角砾岩和海啸角砾岩充填,再被后来的沉积层覆盖. Chesapeake湾撞击坑导致地面沉降、河流变向、海岸含水层的中断、内陆咸水楔的出现、地震,决定Chesapeake湾本身的位置,至今仍然影响当地居民的生活. 了解Chesapeake湾撞击坑对我国撞击坑研究具有借鉴作用.     

The role of hydrological modelling uncertainties in climate change impact assessments of Irish river catchments

This study attempts to assess the uncertainty in the hydrological impacts of climate change using a multi-model approach combining multiple emission scenarios, GCMs and conceptual rainfall-runoff models to quantify uncertainty in future impacts at the catchment scale. The uncertainties associated with hydrological models have traditionally been given less attention in impact assessments until relatively recently. In order to examine the role of hydrological model uncertainty (parameter and structural uncertainty) in climate change impact studies a multi-model approach based on the Generalised Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) and Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) methods is presented. Six sets of regionalised climate scenarios derived from three GCMs, two emission scenarios, and four conceptual hydrological models were used within the GLUE framework to define the uncertainty envelop for future estimates of stream flow, while the GLUE output is also post processed using BMA, where the probability density function from each model at any given time is modelled by a gamma distribution with heteroscedastic variance. The investigation on four Irish catchments shows that the role of hydrological model uncertainty is remarkably high and should therefore be routinely considered in impact studies. Although, the GLUE and BMA approaches used here differ fundamentally in their underlying philosophy and representation of error, both methods show comparable performance in terms of ensemble spread and predictive coverage. Moreover, the median prediction for future stream flow shows progressive increases of winter discharge and progressive decreases in summer discharge over the coming century.