A simple method for the collection and analysis of volcanic gas samples

Investigations into the chemistry of volcanic gases depend on the availability of complete and accurate analyses of volcanic exhalations. The wide variety of sampling and analysis methods hitherto used, often supplying only partial analyses of low precision, made intercomparison, and thus a systematic study of volcanic gases, difficult. With the method proposed here, complete volcanic gas samples are obtained permitting the accurate determination of all major species by standard analytical methods without the need for highly specialised ancillary equipment. The samples are collected in evacuated 300 ml pyrex flasks through titanium tubes deeply inserted into the gas vent. Two types of flask are used, a single compartment flask allowing the easy determination of the major constituents and containing 50 ml 4 N NaOH, and a double compartment flask for the separate analysis of the sulfur species and containing 25 ml 0.1 N As₂O₃ in 1 N HClO₄ in the first, and 50 ml 4 N NaOH in the second compartment. Non-absorbed gases are determined by gas chromatography, the rest by standard analytical procedures. The determination of H₂O, CO₂, SO₂, SO₂, S₂, H₂S, HCl, HF, H₂, N₂, O₂, CH₄, CO and NH₂ is described.     

Optimal spherical spline filters for the analysis and comparison of regional-scale tomographic models

Advances in seismic tomography lead to increasingly detailed models of the Earth that are often represented on irregular and resolution-adaptive grids. To take full advantage of such models, their assessment must progress beyond a purely visual analysis, and tools must become available for their quantitative comparison.We present a method for the spectral analysis and comparison of multi-scale tomographic models. The method is applicable to irregular grids on the sphere, and is more efficient that filters based on spherical-harmonic expansions or convolution integrals. The combination of a spherical spline representation of tomographic information with Abel-Poisson scaling enables the construction of targetted spatial filters by solving a nonlinear inverse problem for appropriate weighting coefficients. This can be readily achieved with a simulated annealing approach for the limited number of weights. Once suitable filters have been generated they can be employed to address issues such as the patterns of small-scale heterogeneity, transitional structures and comparison of independent models from a region.We illustrate our method in a series of applications where we use different bandpass filters to detect differences in the distribution of small-scale heterogeneity beneath central and eastern Europe, and to compare several recent tomographic models of the Australian region.     

基于网络的山东地震灾情收集分析处理系统

本系统借助网络资源,把人们对地震的感觉、看到建筑物震害程度、以及地表破坏和生命线破坏现象迅速地收集、处理和分析,这样可以快速验证和修正地震应急指挥系统基于地震应急数据库给出的地震影响和灾情评估结果,为地震的应急指挥决策提供更可靠的基础.并阐述了主要基于J2EE体系结构的灾情收集分析处理系统的基本构架,介绍了适用于该系统的关键技术,同时给出在ORACLE、Weblogic和WebGIS平台上的C/S及B/S实现的解决方案.     

A comparison of instrumental dewatering methods for the separation and concentration of suspended sediment for subsequent trace element analysis

A comparison involving both field and laboratory trials was performed to evaluate the utility of two continuous-flow centrifuges and a tangential-flow filtration system for dewatering suspended sediments for subsequent trace element analysis. Although recovery efficiencies for the various devices differ, the analytical results from the separated suspended sediments indicate that any of the tested units can be used effectively and precisely for dewatering. Further, the three devices appear to concentrate and dewater suspended sediments in such a manner as to be equivalent to that which could be obtained by in-line filtration. Only the tangential-flow filtration system appears capable of providing both a dewatered sediment sample and a potentially usable effluent, which can be analysed for dissolved trace elements. The continuous-flow centrifuges can process whole water at an influent feed rate of 41 per minute; however, when suspended sediment concentrations are low (<30mg^?1), when small volumes of whole water are to be processed (30 to 401), or when suspended sediment mean grain size is very fine (<10 μm), influent feed rates of 21 per minute may be more efficient. Tangential-flow filtration can be used to process samples at the rate of 11 per minute.     

聊古一井气体总量异常变化分析

2003年5月初至2003年10月下旬，聊古一井气体总量现明显的低值异常过程，在对上述异常变化进行现场分析落实的基础上，结合对聊古一井水化学测项投测以来地震异常特征和聊古一井水化学测项前兆意义的分析结果，认为聊古一井气体总量的异常变化属场兆异常，可作为该井周围不同地震构造带上发生5级以上地震的一种判据。聊古一井气体总量异常过程较好地对应了2003年11月25日山西洪洞发生的5．0级地震。     

The use of geometric and gamma-related distributions for frequency analysis of water deficit

This paper presents an approach to perform statistical frequency analysis of water deficit duration and severity using respectively the geometric and exponential distributions. Monthly mean water discharges are compared to a given threshold and classified in two mutually exclusive ways. This leads to a two state random variable such that: a success represents the absence of a water deficit event (mean monthly discharge exceeds threshold), and a failure, a water deficit event (mean monthly discharge is below threshold). If we suppose that this random variable gives rise to a Markov process of order 1, then the duration of a water deficit event X (consecutive months in deficit) will have a geometric distribution. In turn, the summation of discharges in deficit will give the severity of a water deficit event which can be represented by a one-parameter exponential distribution. The threshold or base level is taken as a percentile of the observed mean discharges of a given month. This base level, which varies from month to month, can be viewed as the limit of an acceptable deficit (or energetic failure) associated to a given empirical probability of being in deficit. The second step of the approach is to estimate the value of the parameter for each distribution using the maximum likelihood method. Expressions for the estimator of a given percentile, , as well as its variance are deduced. Finally, the presented models are applied to observed data.     

The use of the discrete surface fourier analysis of anomalous fields for resolving them

Summary The subject of this paper is one method of numerical computing of the resolution of a summary anomalous field into its components, a method which respects the spectral approach to this problem.Dedicated to 90th Birthday of Professor Frantiek Fiala     

Asymptotic aspects of the Boussinesq approximation for gases and liquids

Abstract

The asymptotic formulation of the Boussinesq approximation relates the pressure of the fluid to a thermodynamical quantity involving the heat capacity c_Po . In this paper we examine the implications of such a scaling, in particular: (i) the singular degeneracy of the equation of state ρ = ρ* (1 ?α* (T?;T*)) of a liquid: this equation of state is valid only for small values of the coefficient α T*; (ii) in which manner the scaling introduces the Mach number of the flow as a small parameter e for a compressible fluid. The equations at order zero with respect to ? are the same equations for gases and for liquids only if the thermodynamics of the medium is described by using the Brunt-Väisälä frequency instead of the temperature.     

航空重力数据无限脉冲响应低通数字滤波器设计与试验研究

采用巴特沃思(Butterworth)和切比雪夫(Chebyshev)逼近,设计无限脉冲响应(Infinite Impulse Response, IIR)低通数字滤波器,对GT-1A航空重力勘查系统的测量数据进行了滤波试验研究,结果表明,通过选择合适的通带和阻带衰减等滤波参数,IIR低通数字滤波器在航空重力数据的低通滤波处理中可以发挥重要作用,获得与GT-1A系统滤波结果几乎同样满意的滤波效果.     

The collection and analysis of seismological data to detect possible violations of a nuclear test ban treaty

In an experimental study of requirements for the operational monitoring of nuclear tests, seismological data collected by a small but globally distributed network of array stations are transmitted to Blacknest Data Analysis Centre.Important features of the experiment have been the improvement of data communications links with the cooperating agencies which operate the overseas arrays and with other national data centres, together with the creation of a data-base on computer files linked to the ARPANETWORK and accessible to collaborating organisations.A brief summary is given of some results of event analyses using data mainly from single recording points at the array stations. These are preliminary results from the network, preceding an eventual improvement in detection capability of the array stations which will ensue when the installation of on-line processing systems is completed.     

The detection and interpretation of hydrogen in fault gases

Hydrogen gas can be released by chemical and mechanical changes in crustal rocks. Once released, it is highly mobile, buoyant, and almost insoluble in groundwater. A fault system may act as a conduit, allowing hydrogen to accumulate in soil gases near a surface expression. Since hydrogen is scarce in ambient air, its presence at elevated levels in soil gases may be a tool for fault mapping. In order to evaluate this tool, we surveyed eleven different faults by measuring the concentration of hydrogen and methane in 2 to 21 soil-gas samples that were collected near each of them. The sense of motion at four of those faults is normal (western United States, Greece), at five it is strike-slip or dip-slip (California, Colorado, Japan), and at two it is thrusting (California). At four of these faults (Hebgen Lake, Yellowstone, Yamasaki, Burro Mountain) maximum concentrations of hydrogen ranged from 80 ppm to 70% and methane from 300 ppm to 5%. All other sites showed ambient levels of both gases, except for one sample taken at Mt. Borah, Idaho, that was 2% methane. From this preliminary study it is not clear whether the presence of hydrogen is correlated uniquely to the location of faults or whether it occurs randomly. The conditions required to produced and accumulate hydrogen are also not clear. Excess hydrogen may well be produced by different mechanisms in different geological regimes. For example, if ferrous hydroxide is present in local rocks, it may react to produce hydrogen. Detailed and extensive studies are needed to clarify the connection between hydrogen and tectonic faulting.     

A laboratory instrumental complex for studying the physics of the destruction of rocks

An up-to-date laboratory investigation complex for testing rock samples under controlled uniaxial and triaxial compression is designed. A wide range of loading modes of samples allows one to simulate various natural seismic regimes. The complex is equipped with systems intended for measuring and recording service and physical parameters, namely, axial, uniform, and pore pressure, axial and radial deformation, velocities of longitudinal waves along 16 travel paths, and waveforms of separate acoustic events, recorded by 16 sensors. The system ensures the continuous recording of the acoustic emission stream. Data of all measuring systems are synchronized with time. The rock samples are tested in the automatic mode, which can be optionally corrected during experiments. The experimental results are stored in a single database, which contains both raw and processed data (loading history, catalogs and bulletins of acoustic events, 3D graphic visualizations of pressure-wave velocity distributions in the sample volume, etc.). The application of the complex for the laboratory modeling of the seismic regime is illustrated by a number of practical examples.     

The theory of motion of the horizontal pendulum with a Zöllner suspension and some indications for the instrumental design

Summary The aim of this paper is to examine the physical laws which govern the motion of a horizontal pendulum, mounted with the familiar Zöllner suspension geometry and to establish the equations of its motion. It is possible in this process to determine calibration parameters with greater precision and confidence and to demonstrate that procedures based upon period measurement can inherently claim a precision superior to some modern alternatives. Moreover in approaching the problem from a theoretical viewpoint it is possible to pinpoint those features of design which give rise to the troublesome aberrations. This facility makes it possible to comment upon design improvements so that a closer approach may be made to an ideal instrument.     

The case for a martian origin of the shergottites: nitrogen and noble gases in EETA 79001

Nitrogen and noble gases were measured in samples of a glass inclusion and the surrounding basaltic matrix from the antarctic shergottite EETA 79001. A nitrogen component trapped in the glass, but not present in the matrix, has a δ¹⁵N value at least as high as +190‰. Ratios of⁴⁰Ar/¹⁴N and¹⁵N/¹⁴N in the glass are consistent with dilution of a martian atmospheric component (δ¹⁵N = 620 ± 160‰,⁴⁰Ar/¹⁴N= 0.33 ± 0.03) by either terrestrial atmosphere adsorbed on the samples or by indigenous nitrogen from the minerals of the rock. Trapped noble gases in the glass reproduce, within error, the elemental and isotopic compositions measured in Mars' atmosphere by Viking, and are in general agreement with previous measurements except for much lower abundances of neutron-generated krypton and xenon isotopes. The most reasonable explanation at the present time for the noble gas pattern and the isotopically heavy nitrogen is that a sample of martian atmosphere has been trapped in the EETA 79001 glass, and that this meteorite, and thus the shergottites and probably the nakhlites and chassignites as well, originated on Mars.Nitrogen in the non-glassy matrix of EETA 79001 amounts to less than 0.5 ppm and has a spallation-corrected δ¹⁵N value in the range 0 to ?20‰; it may reflect indigenous nitrogen in the basalt or a mixture of indigenous and adsorbed terrestrial nitrogen. Spallogenic noble gases yield single-stage exposure ages between 400,000 and 900,000 years, depending on irradiation geometry. Trapped argon may have an unusually low³⁶Ar/³⁸Ar ratio. Trapped krypton, except for a small excess at⁸⁰Kr, is smoothly mass-fractionated with respect to either terrestrial or chondritic Kr. The trapped xenon composition is consistent with addition of neutron-capture, radiogenic and fissiogenic isotopes to a base composition resembling terrestrial atmospheric Xe. The elemental⁸⁴Kr/¹³²Xe ratio of 25 is close to the terrestrial value and very different from the chondritic ratio.     

小波分析在数字地震资料中的应用

安徽省霍山地区在 2002 年发生了两次震群,主震都为 ML4.0 地震,但表现为不同的衰减形式,7 月 14 日主震发生后只有 8 次小震（ML>1.0）,而 8 月 29 日主震后面有 60 多次小震（ML>1.0）。小波分析是 20 世纪 80 年代兴起的一门新学科,由于它在时频两域具有良好的局部特性,故在数学上被喻为“数字显微镜”。本文运用小波分析方法,对两个震群的主震作小波分析,希望能提取不同震群系列主震的一些频谱特性。     

The use and abuse of image analysis in geophysical potential field interpretation

Images of geophysical potential field data are becoming more common as a result of the increased availability of image analysis systems. These data are processed using techniques originally developed for remotely sensed satellite imagery. In general, geophysicists are not familiar with such techniques and may apply them without due consideration. This can lead to abuses of the geophysical data and reduce the validity of the interpretation. This paper describes some critical processes which can introduce errors to the data. The production of a regular grid from scattered data is fundamental to image processing. The choice of cell size is paramount and must balance the spatial distribution of the data. The necessary scaling of data from real values into a byte format for display purposes can result in small anomalies being masked. Contrast stretching of grey level images is often applied but can alter the shape of anomalies by varying degrees and should be avoided. Filters are often used to produce shaded relief images but without due regard to their frequency response and the effect on images expanded to fill the display space. The generation of spurious numerical artefacts can be reduced by ensuring that the filter is applied at real precision to the original data grid. The resultant images can then be processed for display. The use of image analysis systems for data integration requires careful consideration of the sampling strategy and information content of each dataset. It is proposed that such procedures are more appropriately conducted on a geographic information system.     

The use of the Schmidt Hammer and Equotip for rock hardness assessment in geomorphology and heritage science: a comparative analysis

Rapid, field‐based measurements of rock hardness are of use in investigating many geomorphological and heritage science problems. Several different methods are now available for taking such measurements, but little work has been done to assess their comparability and strengths and weaknesses. We review here the capabilities of two types of Schmidt Hammer (Classic N type and Silver Schmidt BL type) alongside two types of Equotip (standard type D and Piccolo) for investigating rock hardness in relation to rock weathering on various types of sandstone and limestone, as well as basalt and dolerite. Whilst the two Schmidt hammers and the two Equotips show comparable results when tested at 15 individual sites, interesting differences are found between the Equotip and Schmidt Hammer values which may reveal information about the nature of weathering on different surfaces. Operator variance is shown to be an issue in particular for the Equotip devices, which also exhibit higher variability in measurements and necessitate larger sample sizes. Carborundum pre‐treatment also has varying effects on the data collected, depending on the nature of the surface studied. The Equotip devices are shown to be particularly useful on smaller blocks and in situations where edge effects may affect Schmidt Hammer readings. We conclude that whilst each device contributes to geomorphological research, they do not necessarily produce comparable information. Indeed, using Schmidt Hammer and Equotip in combination and looking at any differences in results may provide invaluable insights into the structure of the near‐surface zones and the nature of weathering processes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of chemical weathering in the neutralization of acidic deposition

Chemical weathering of rocks and minerals is a key factor which mitigates acidic deposition and affects water chemistry. It supplies cations and alkalinity to the surface water, groundwater, ion-exchange complex, and vegetation in the watershed. The kinetics of chemical weathering have not been determined in the field, but based on laboratory experiments, the rate of weathering has a fractional order dependency on hydrogen ion and organic ligand concentration in bulk solution. Watersheds with the greatest degree of hydrologic and geologic sensitivity can produce only 200–500 eq/ha·yr of cations or alkalinity for export. This is equivalent to 100 cm/yr of precipitation with a pH of 4.3–4.6 or an annual sulfur deposition of 1.0–2.5 g S/m²·yr. When acid and sulfur deposition are greater than these levels, extremely sensitive lakes may become acidified. To illustrate this point, a simple steady-state model is applied to lakes in regions where acidification of lakes has been reported.