The nighttime winter anomaly (NWA) effect in the american sector as a consequence of interhemispheric ionospheric coupling

The nighttime winter anomaly (NWA) effect was observed during solar minimum conditions at the American sector by means of ionospheric electron content and vertical sounding measurements in Havana (Cuba). An effective interhemispheric transport of plasma is suggested to explain enhanced northern nighttime ionization during winter solstice. To elucidate this effect, an adequate physicalnumerical model of the coupled system ionosphere-plasmasphere is presented and applied to a corotating tube of plasma at L=1.5 in the American sector. The NWA can be explained by theoretically derived higher tube content during the December solstice and accordingly by more intense nighttime fluxes from the plasmasphere, compared to the June solstice.     

On the biological connectivity of oil and gas platforms in the North Sea

Tests are made of the conjecture that the platforms in the North Sea are biologically connected, with organisms originating from some platforms reaching and substantially augmenting those at others so that, together, the platforms effectively form a sort of artificial reef. The M₂ tide results in a relatively rapid transfer of organisms between neighbouring platforms. Some 60% of platforms in the southern UK Sector are directly connected by tidal flows. Such connection in the northern Sector is relatively rare, about 23% of platforms being connected. Mean flows connect platforms in ‘strings’ sharing a common streamline spread by turbulent dispersion. Metrics are devised to indicate how well a particular platform is connected to others. Strings are broken when contributions to the concentration of organisms from platforms fall below detection limits. Many platforms are likely to be connected in strings in the southern UK Sector, but relatively few in the northern Sector.     

Equatorial ionospheric response to the 10.7 cm radio flux over two sunspot cycles (1969-1991)

It is evident that fluctuations in a standard ionospheric parameter, the minimum (virtual) height (h^′F) of the equatorial F-region in the African (Ouagadougou), Asian (Manila) and American (Huancayo) longitudinal sectors, closely resemble changes in solar activity as deduced from the 10.7 cm solar flux index (S), over two solar cycles (1969-91). The monthly median hourly value of h^′F, particularly in the post-sunset period (18-20 LT), are positively correlated with the monthly average S. The value of h^′F can be deduced from an empirical formula: h^′F=0.68S+218.3, with the correlation coefficient (r) between h^′F and S being 0.78. The diurnal distribution of r during daytime (06-14 LT) was radically different for the African and Asian longitudinal sectors during 1980-1991, with the most pronounced difference in the post-noon period (12-14 LT) when the correlation coefficients r for the Asian and African sectors are 0.8 and 0.2, respectively. Thus, the daytime F-region in the African sector responded far less to changes in solar activity than the Asian F-region during this cycle. This longitudinal anomaly was however absent in the preceding cycle (1969-1979) when the African and Asian sectors were both characterised by low daytime and pronounced post-sunset correlation coefficient r. The American sector appears to have a high correlation coefficient r in daytime increasing to a small maximum in the post-sunset interval. The post-sunset enhancement in r is a characteristic feature for equatorial stations only (corrected geomagnetic latitude <10^°).     

Equatorial ionospheric response to isolated auroral substorms over a solar cycle (1980-85): evidence of longitudinal anomaly

The equatorial ionospheric response to 228 isolated, rapid-onset auroral substorms (as defined from the auroral electrojet index AE) was found from enhancements of the virtual (minimum) height of the F-region (h′F) in the declining phase of a solar cycle (1980-85). The responses, found for three longitudinal sectors at the equator: Africa (Ouagadougou and Dakar), Asia (Manila) and America (Huancayo), were compared with the response close to the auroral source region at Yakutsk (northern Siberia). The auroral substorm onsets were centered at 17 and 15 UT at sunspot maximum (1980-82) and minimum (1983-85), preceding by 3–5 h the period of post-sunset height rise in the African sector whereas other sectors were in the early afternoon (Huancayo) and morning (Manila). The African response, particularly at Ouagadougou, was distinctly different from other sectors. In the sunspot maximum years (1980-81) the auroral surges were followed after about 3 h by a sharp depression (h′F<0) in the post-sunset height rise, with a period of little or no response (h′F=0) in 1982. A response polarity reversal (h′F>0) was noted in this sector for sunspot minimum (1983-85) when large h′F enhancements were observed at the sunset region. The responses in the Asian and American sector were positive except for a case in Huancayo when response was negative, following an auroral surge before the sunset at this station. It appears that the aurorally generated large-scale travelling ionospheric disturbances (LSTIDs), which first cause positive height enhancements in a sub-auroral location (Yakutsk), subsequently affect the unstable post-sunset ionosphere in the equatorial Africa.     

磁暴期间热层大气密度变化

基于CHAMP卫星资料,分析了2002—2008年267个磁暴期间400km高度大气密度变化对季节、地方时与区域的依赖以及时延的统计学特征,得到暴时大气密度变化的一些新特点,主要结论如下:1)两半球大气密度绝对变化(δρa)结果在不同强度磁暴、不同地方时不同.受较强的焦耳加热和背景中性风共同作用,在北半球夏季,中等磁暴过程中夜侧和大磁暴中,夏半球的δρa强于冬半球;由于夏季半球盛行风环流造成的扰动传播速度快,北半球夏季日侧30°附近大气,北(夏)半球到达峰值的时间早于南(冬)半球.而可能受半球不对称背景磁场强度所导致的热层能量输送率影响,北半球夏季强磁暴和中磁暴个例的日侧,南半球δρa强于北半球;春秋季个例中日侧30°附近大气,北半球先于南半球1~2h达到峰值.2)受叠加在背景环流上的暴时经向环流影响,春秋季暴时赤道大气密度达到峰值的时间最短,日/夜侧大气分别在Dstmin后1h和2h达到峰值.至点附近夜侧赤道大气达到峰值时间一致,为Dstmin后3h;不同季节日侧结果不同,在北半球冬季时赤道地区经过更长的时间达到峰值.3)日侧赤道峰值时间距离高纬度峰值时间不受季节影响,为3h左右.在春秋季和北半球冬季夜侧,赤道大气密度先于高纬度达到峰值,且不同纬度大气密度的峰值几乎无差别,表明此时低纬度存在其他加热源起着重要作用.     

Debris avalanches and debris flows transformed from collapses in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, Mexico – behavior, and implications for hazard assessment

Volcanoes of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) have yielded numerous sector and flank collapses during Pleistocene and Holocene times. Sector collapses associated with magmatic activity have yielded debris avalanches with generally limited runout extent (e.g. Popocatépetl, Jocotitlán, and Colima volcanoes). In contrast, flank collapses (smaller failures not involving the volcano summit), both associated and unassociated with magmatic activity and correlating with intense hydrothermal alteration in ice-capped volcanoes, commonly have yielded highly mobile cohesive debris flows (e.g. Pico de Orizaba and Nevado de Toluca volcanoes). Collapse orientation in the TMVB is preferentially to the south and northeast, probably reflecting the tectonic regime of active E–W and NNW faults. The differing mobilities of the flows transformed from collapses have important implications for hazard assessment. Both sector and flank collapse can yield highly mobile debris flows, but this transformation is more common in the cases of the smaller failures. High mobility is related to factors such as water content and clay content of the failed material, the paleotopography, and the extent of entrainment of sediment during flow (bulking). The ratio of fall height to runout distance commonly used for hazard zonation of debris avalanches is not valid for debris flows, which are more effectively modeled with the relation inundated area to failure or flow volume coupled with the topography of the inundated area.     

The focal mechanisms in Iran and their relations to tectonics

Summary Data from focal mechanism solutions obtained by different authors and those of 8 fault-plane solutions found in this study have been used to search for the distribution of the main stress axes in Iran. For this purpose, the area has been divided into three regions as southern, central and northern Iran. The results indicate that the characteristics of the motion at the foci are different in each of the three regions. — By examining the B axes in south Iranian earthquakes, direction of tectonic motion has been obtained as N 66°E. Since the maximum and intermediate stress axes are nearly horizontal, it is concluded that focal movements in this region are of reverse fault type. Thus, there is a similarity between recent crustal movements and those occurring during Alpine orogeny which is in the form of an overthrusting to the southwest. — In central Iran earthquakes however, tension is predominant, and, therefore, in this region faultings are dip-slip normal or strike-slip, and the horizontal components of displacements are dextral. The mean direction of maximum tension axes is nearly perpendicular to the central Iranian complexes. — It is deduced from north Iranian shocks that, in this region, the earthquakes studied are of nearly almost pressural type, and horizontal components of the oblique displacements in foci are sinistral.     

Transtensional tectonics induced by oblique reactivation of previous lithospheric anisotropies during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic rifting in the Neuquén basin: Insights from analog models

The goal of this study was to determine the main factors that controlled the kinematic evolution and the structural architecture developed during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic rifting that led to the opening of the Neuquén basin in the southwestern sector of Gondwana. We carried out a series of analog models to simulate an extensional system with a bent geometry similar to the northeastern border of the basin. In different experiments, we varied the extension direction between NNE (N10°E) and NE (N45°E) orientations, inducing rift systems with different degrees of obliquity in each sector of the extended area. We compared the kinematic evolution and the final structural architecture observed in the experiments with data from two selected representative areas of the basin: (1) the Atuel depocenter, situated in the northern Andean sector, and (2) the Entre Lomas area, situated in the northeastern Neuquén Embayment. In both cases, the good match between the field and subsurface data and the results of the analog models supports a NNE orientation of the regional extension (N30°E–N20°E) during the synrift stage. Our experimental results suggest that lithospheric weakness zones of NNW to NW trend could have controlled and localized the extension in the Neuquén basin. These previous anisotropies were linked to the sutures and rheological contrasts generated during the collision of terranes against the southwestern margin of Gondwana during the Paleozoic, as well as further modifications of the thermo-mechanical state of the lithosphere during the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic evolution.     

Morphological aspects of a new type of counter electrojet event

The study describes the time and space morphologies of a rather new type of counter electrojet event on the basis of data from the excellent chain of magnetic and ionospheric observatories along the Indo-Russian longitude sector. Abnormally large westward currents are observed during almost the whole of the daytime hours on a series of days. These events do not form any vortices in the current system and do not apparently seem to be associated with tidal effects or any solar magnetosphere events or geomagnetic disturbances. The existence of a westward electric field over the equatorial ionosphere has been confirmed by the absence of an equatorial type of sporadic E in the ionograms at Thumba precisely during the periods when H at Trivandrum minus H at Alibag is negative. The equatorial F region anomaly was also absent on the counter electrojet day. Such counter electrojet events during the northern winter months of low solar activity years are suggested to be the result of the modified wind system in the ionosphere associated with stratospheric warming events.     

Distribution patterns of the Jurassic ostreids (Bivalvia) from Tanggula of China

Distribution of the Jurassic ostreids (Bivalvia) from Tanggula area of China includes three patterns, which are (1) Tethys: containingLiostrea birmanica andEligmus rollandi, (2) western Europe and northern Tethys: consisting ofGryphaea (Bilobissa) bilobata; and (3) Global: composed ofActinostreon gregareum andNanogyra nana. However, they are all limited between palaeolatidudes 60° South and North.Actinostreon gregareum originated in the Sinemurian of northern Chile and it entered Kenya and Madagascar in the Toarcian, but there is no reliable Sinemurian-ToarcianA. gregareum fossil record in continental margins between Chile and Kenya and Madagascar. Such distribution patterns and dispersal processes have demonstrated that (1) during the Jurassic all seas and oceans were connected to each other; (2) the Tethys and the western European epicontinental seas did produce some endemic taxa; (3) the distribution of these ostreids was most likely controlled by latitudes and creature ecology; and (4)A. gregareum underwent a trans-Pacific dispersal from east to west.

     

Classification of hydrological regimes of northern floodplain basins (Peace–Athabasca Delta,Canada) from analysis of stable isotopes (δ18O, δ2H) and water chemistry

We used stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δ²H) and water chemistry to characterize the water balance and hydrolimnological relationships of 57 shallow aquatic basins in the Peace‐Athabasca Delta (PAD), northern Alberta, Canada, based on sampling at the end of the 2000 thaw season. Evaporation‐to‐inflow ratios (E/I) were estimated using an isotope mass‐balance model tailored to accommodate basin‐specific input water compositions, which provided an effective, first‐order, quantitative framework for identifying water balances and associated limnological characteristics spanning three main, previously identified drainage types. Open‐drainage basins (E/I < 0·4; n = 5), characterized by low alkalinity, low concentrations of nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and ions, and high minerogenic turbidity, include large, shallow basins that dominate the interior of the PAD and experience frequent or continuous river channel connection. Closed‐drainage basins (E/I ≥ 1·0; n = 16), in contrast, possess high alkalinity and high concentrations of nitrogen, DOC, and ions, and low minerogenic turbidity, and are located primarily in the relict and infrequently flooded landscape of the northern Peace sector of the delta. Several basins fall into the restricted‐drainage category (0·4 # E/I < 1·0; n = 26) with intermediate water chemistries and are predominant in the southern Athabasca sector, which is subject to active fluviodeltaic processes, including intermittent flooding from riverbank overflow. Integration of isotopic and limnological data also revealed evidence for a new fourth drainage type, mainly located near the large open‐drainage lakes that occupy the central portion of the delta but within the Athabasca sector (n = 10). These basins were very shallow (<50 cm deep) at the time of sampling and isotopically depleted, corresponding to E/I characteristic of restricted‐ and open‐drainage conditions. However, they are limnologically similar to closed‐drainage basins except for higher conductivity and higher concentrations of Ca²⁺ and Na⁺, and lower concentrations of SiO₂ and chlorophyll c. These distinct features are due to the overriding influence of recent summer rainfall on the basin water balance and chemistry. The close relationships evident between water balances and limnological conditions suggest that past and future changes in hydrology are likely to be coupled with marked alterations in water chemistry and, hence, the ecology of aquatic environments in the PAD. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seasonal Abundance of the Zooplankton of Waste Water from the Industrial Complex at Birla Nagar (Gwalior), India

Zooplanktonic fauna of waste water from the industrial complex at Birla Nagar, Gwalior alongwith its seasonal abundance have been studied. In all, 16 species have been identified, viz. Arcella discoides, Lesquereusia modesta, Difflugia corona, D. muriformes and Acanthocystis spinibera under protozoa, Brachionus calyciflorus, Br. caudatus, Br. falcatus and Keratella tropica under rotifera, Daphnia (Daphnia) carinata and Daphnia (Daphnia) lumholtzi under cladocera, Cypris sp. and Cyprinotus qunninqi under ostracoda and Spicodiaptomus chelospinus and Mesocyclops leuckarti under copepoda. In their seasonal abundance members of protozoa showed the maxima in the month of April while the minima were observed in the month of July with an irregular trend of fluctuation. Rotifers, however, exhibited two maxima, one each during winter and early summer. Cladocera were maximum in February, while minimum in October. Ostracodes were maximum during May and June. Copepods were highest in the months of August and lowest in February. The total zooplankton population presented a clear-cut bimodal pattern of their seasonal fluctuation with the first peak appearing in the month of April and the other one in November. Lowest counts were obtained in the month of February. The zooplanktonic organisms belonging to rotifera were relatively abundant, followed by protozoa, copepoda, ostracoda and cladocera in a sequence.     

新青8.1级地震前卫星热红外异常

利用兰州卫星热红外接收站的资料 ,取 3 4°～ 3 8°N ,86°～ 94°E为研究区域 ,对2 0 0 1年 1 1月 1 4日新青 8.1级地震前的热红外资料进行了处理、分析与研究 .结果表明 :从 2 0 0 1年 1 0月 1 7日起出现明显的地温异常条带 ,随着时间的变化 ,异常区域不断扩大并存在迁移现象 ,异常持续时间近一个月 .     

Properties of the 1979 Monte Negro (southwest Yugoslavia) seismic sequence

Focal properties of the Monte Negro earthquake (15 April 1979,M=7.1) and its seismic sequence (foreshocks and aftershocks), which occurred near the southwestern coast of Yugoslavia, are investigated. Fault plane solutions of the main shock and its largest aftershock (24 May 1979,M=6.3) and the spatial distribution of the shocks of this sequence show that the seismic fault strikes about southeast-northwest (parallel to the coast) and dips northeast (towards the continent). It is a strike-slip left-lateral fault with a considerable thrust component. Its length is 95 km and its width 12 km. An aseismic belt, which separated the aftershock foci into two groups (the northwestern and southeastern), is interpreted as a section of the fault that slipped smoothly during the main shock. The aftershock foci were barriers where stress had been induced. One of these barriers broke later and produced the largest aftershock of 24 May.     

Geomagnetic control of the foF2 long-term trends

Further development of the method proposed by Danilov and Mikhailov is presented. The method is applied to reveal the foF2 long-term trends on 30 Northern Hemisphere ionosonde stations. Most of them show significant foF2 trends. A pronounced dependence of trend magnitude on geomagnetic (invariant) latitude is confirmed. Periods of negative/positive foF2 trends corresponding to the periods of long-term increasing/decreasing geomagnetic activity are revealed for the first time. Pronounced diurnal variations of the foF2 trend magnitude are found. Strong positive foF2 trends in the post-midnight-early-morning LT sector and strong negative trends during daytime hours are found on the sub-auroral stations for the period with increasing geomagnetic activity. On the contrary middle and lower latitude stations demonstrate negative trends in the early-morning LT sector and small negative or positive trends during daytime hours for the same period. All the morphological features revealed of the foF2 trends may be explained in the framework of contemporary F2-region storm mechanisms. This newly proposed F2-layer geomagnetic storm concept casts serious doubts on the hypothesis relating the F2-layer parameter long-term trends to the thermosphere cooling due to the greenhouse effect.     

A proposed structure–groundwater model: application to chalky media of the Paris Basin

The groundwater flow in a fissured chalky environment at the northern border of the Paris Basin depends on several geological and hydrogeological parameters. Although the studied sector of the basin presents a homogeneous rock type, it is affected by a fracture network. In this type of environment, in which the permeability is low, the groundwater flow displays significant disruption, which is localized in the Fruges region (northern France). The interconnection of the discontinuities (network of fault and/or joints) is reliant on the structural control of groundwater flow through increases in the hydraulic connection between the unsaturated and the saturated zone. The methodology developed herein makes use of microstructural and regional analysis of the fracture patterns, and allowed consideration of the piezometric variations of the chalk aquifer during periods of low and high groundwater levels (April and October 2001) and a diagraphic representation of the estimated physical parameters (electrical resistivity). This enabled us to construct a ‘flow structure’ conceptual model in which we identify two types of faults: tight walls and flow paths that control the piezometric heads and the flow rate. Model validation was carried out on a similar sector. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Substorm correlated absorption on a 3200 km trans-auroral HF propagation path

A high-frequency transmitter located at Clyde River, NWT, Canada, and a receiver located near Boston, USA, provide a 3200 km trans-auroral, near-meridional propagation path over which the propagation characteristics have been measured. Out of the fourteen frequencies in the HF band sampled every hour for the duration of the experimental campaign (16 January-8 February 1989), the signal level measurements of 6.800 MHz transmissions were selected in order to determine the extent and occurrence of auroral absorption. The median level of auroral absorption along the path is found to increase with geomagnetic activity, quantified by the index K_p, with the increase being greater in the post-midnight sector than in the pre-midnight sector. This asymmetric behaviour is attributed to the precipitation of high energy electrons into the midnight and morning sector auroral D region. The measured diurnal variation in the median level of absorption is consistent with previous models describing the extent and magnitude of auroral absorption and electron precipitation. Individual substorms, identified from geosynchronous satellite data, are found to cause short-lived absorption events in the HF signal level of \sim30 dB at 6.800 MHz. The occurrence of substorm correlated auroral absorption events is confined to the midnight and morning sectors, consistent with the location of the electron precipitation. The magnitude of absorption is related to the magnetotail stress during the substorm growth phase and the magnetotail relaxation during the substorm expansion phase onset. The absorption magnitude and the occurrence of substorms during the period of the campaign increase at times of high K_p, leading to an increase in median auroral absorption during disturbed periods.     

太湖浮游植物和各形态无机氮的时空分布特征

为研究太湖浮游植物和各形态无机氮的时空分布特征及其相互关系,于2010年3月至2011年2月在太湖全湖范围内选取9个采样点进行每月采样分析,结果表明:太湖无机氮主要以硝态氮和铵氮形式存在,前者占76%,后者占22%;太湖北部靠近西北沿岸的湖区以及竺山湾的铵氮和亚硝态氮浓度通常要明显高于其他点位.太湖各采样点TIN(总溶解性无机氮)的季节变化趋势很相似,都表现为春季最高,夏秋季降低,冬季又有所升高;夏季北部湖区TIN降幅明显大于南部,使得前者TIN/TSP(总溶解性磷)远小于后者.春季太湖南部的微囊藻复苏量大于北部,但夏秋季微囊藻的暴发主要发生在太湖北部,此时微囊藻大暴发的点位(如梅梁湾)通常都伴随着很低的硝态氮浓度和TIN/TSP,使得这些点位比其他地方更容易发生N限制;Chl.a/浮游植物的比值与浮游植物总数呈极显著负相关,而与TIN/TSP的比值呈极显著正相关,这说明当藻类大量暴发而TIN/TSP下降时,浮游植物单个细胞内的平均Chl.a含量会有所下降,这种现象的原因有待进一步研究;绿藻、硅藻、裸藻和隐藻在时空分布上有一定相似性,而这四种藻与微囊藻则有较大差异.     

Concordant late Paleozoic paleomagnetizations from the Atacama Desert: implications for tectonic models of the Chilean Andes

Paleomagnetic results are reported from three formations of late Paleozoic age from the northern Chilean Andes of the Atacama Desert. For the first time primary NRM components are resolved for Paleozoic units along the western flank of the central Andes. Pole positions are calculated for the formations, and compared with APW data for cratonic South America. These comparisons reveal that the collecting sites in the northern Domeyko and Almeida Ranges of the central Andes have undergone no paleomagnetically defined rotations or translation with respect to cratonic South America since the time of NRM acquisition, which is likely to have been in the lower parts of the Kiaman Reverse Interval. If growth of the South American lithosphere has involved accretion of exotic microplates they are either likely to be substantially older than units sampled here, or be restricted to more coastal terranes. The results, taken together with other paleomagnetic data from northern Chile and southern Peru which have showed a wide range of discordance in their declinations when compared to each other or APW data, lead to the conclusion that this region of the Andes during the Mesozoic or Cenozoic has not been affected by simple processes of clockwise oroclinal bending from Peru to Chile, nor regionally consistent patterns of block rotations.