Water Pollution by Heavy Metals and Oil Products in Uglovoi Bay in February 2010–2016

Water Resources - Water pollution by heavy metals in Uglovoi Bay in 2015–2016 was analyzed. The concentrations of Mn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Hg, As, Pb, Cd, and oil products were found to exceed the...     

Comparison of electronic and mechanical Schmidt hammers in the context of exposure‐age dating: are Q‐ and R‐values interconvertible?

Application of Schmidt‐hammer exposure‐age dating (SHD) to landforms has substantially increased in recent years. The original mechanical Schmidt hammer records R‐(rebound) values. Although the newly introduced electronic Schmidt hammer (SilverSchmidt) facilitates greatly improved data processing, it measures surface hardness differently, recording Q‐(velocity) values that are not a priori interconvertible with R‐values. This study is the first to compare the performance of both instruments in the context of field‐based exposure‐age dating with a particular focus on the interconvertibility of R‐values and Q‐values. The study was conducted on glacially polished pyroxene‐granulite gneiss, Jotunheimen, southern Norway. Results indicate that mean Q‐values are consistently 8–10 units higher than mean R‐values over the range of values normally encountered in the application of SHD to glacial and periglacial landforms. A convenient conversion factor of ±10 units may, therefore, be appropriate for all but the softest rock types close to the technical resolution of the instruments. The electronic Schmidt hammer should therefore be regarded as a useful complement and potential replacement for the mechanical Schmidt hammer. Conversion of published R‐values data to Q‐values requires, however, careful control and documentation of instrument calibration. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Site-specific and spatially-distributed ground-motion intensity estimation in the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes

This paper presents site-specific and spatially-distributed ground-motion intensity estimates which have been utilized in the aftermath of the 2010–2011 Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes. The methodology underpinning the ground motion intensity estimation makes use of both prediction models for ground motion intensity and its within-event spatial correlation. A key benefit of the methodology is that the estimated ground motion intensity at a given location is not a single value but a distribution of values. The distribution is comprised of both a mean and standard deviation, with the standard deviation being a function of the distance to nearby observations at strong motion stations.The methodology is illustrated for two applications. Firstly, maps of conditional peak ground acceleration (PGA) have been developed for the major events in the Canterbury earthquake sequence, which among other things, have been utilized for assessing liquefaction triggering susceptibility of land in residential areas. Secondly, the conditional distribution of response spectral ordinates is obtained at the location of the Canterbury Television building (CTV), which catastrophically collapsed in the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The conditional response spectra provide insight for the selection of ground motion records for use in forensic seismic response analyses of important structures at locations where direct recordings are absent.     

Monitoring and prediction of volcanic activity in Kamchatka from seismological data: 2000–2010

Seismological Observations in Kamchatka were significantly improved due to the installation of new telemetered seismic stations near active volcanoes and the implementation of modern digital technologies for data transmission, acquisition, and processing in 1996–1998. This qualitative leap forward made it possible, not only to create an effective system for monitoring Kamchatka volcanoes and for timely and reliable assessment of the state of these volcanoes, but also to draw conclusions about volcanic hazard. The experience that was gained allowed us to make successful short-term forecasts for eight moderate explosive eruptions on Bezymyannyi Volcano of the ten that have occurred in 2004–2010, successful intermediate-term forecasts of evolving activity on Klyuchevskoi Volcano in three cases, as well as providing a successful forecast of an explosive eruption on Kizimen Volcano.     

Trends in land surface evapotranspiration across China with remotely sensed NDVI and climatological data for 1981–2010

Abstract

Using satellite observations of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from NOAA-AVHRR and Terra-MODIS, together with climatic data in a physical evapotranspiration (ET) model, the spatio-temporal variability of ET is investigated in terrestrial China from 1981 to 2010. The model predictions of actual ET (ET_a) are validated with ET values from in situ eddy covariance flux measurements and from basin water balance calculations. The national averaged crop reference ET (ET_p) and ET_a values are 916 ± 21 and 415 ± 12 mm year^-1, respectively. The annual ET_a pattern is closely associated with vegetation conditions in the eastern part of China, whereas ET_a is low in the sparsely-vegetated areas and deserts in the northwestern region, corresponding to scarce rainfall events and amounts. The trends of ET_p and ET_a are remarkably different over the country, and the complementary relationship between ET_p and ET_a is revealed for the study period. Averaged over the whole country, ET_a showed an increasing trend from the 1980s to the mid-1990s, followed by a decreasing trend, consistent with the precipitation anomaly. Across the main vegetation types, annual ET_a amounts are found to correspond clearly with the bands of precipitation and ET_p.     

Progress in Earthquake Science and Technology in China: Review and Prospects (I)

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＩｔｉｓｋｎｏｗｎｔｈａｔＣｈｉｎａｉｓａｎｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅ ｐｒｏｎｅｃｏｕｎｔｒｙｉｎｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄａｎｄｉｓａｌｓｏａｃｏｕｎｔｒｙｓｕｆｆｅｒｉｎｇｍｏｓｔｓｅｖｅｒｅｓｅｉｓｍｉｃｃａｌａｍｉｔｉｅｓｉｎｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄ .Ｃｈｉｎａ’ｓｔｅｒｒｉｔｏｒｙｏｃｃｕｐｉｅｓａｂｏｕｔ 1 1 4ｏｆｔｈｅｇｌｏｂａｌｃｏｎｔｉ ｎｅｎｔａｌａｒｅａ ,ｗｈｉｌｅａｂｏｕｔ 1 3ｏｆｇｌｏｂａｌＭ≥ 7.0ｃｏｎｔｉｎｅｎｔａｌｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅｓｏｃｃｕｒｒｅｄｉｎＣｈ…     

Optical properties of long-range transported volcanic ash over Romania and Poland during Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010

After Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption on 14 April 2010, due to a complex air mass circulation, Romania was exposed to volcanic ash and its mixture with continental aerosols. Ash particles with an average Ångström (UV-VIS) exponent of 1.4 ± 0.2 and (VIS-IR) of 1.2 ± 0.3, a color ratio (VIS-UV) of 0.54 and (IR-VIS) of 0.49, an average particle depolarization value ～9.4%, and a lidar ratio of 50 sr were retrieved on 18 April from multiwavelength Raman lidar measurements in Bucharest. Mixed volcanic ash with mineral dust particles advected from Sahara, depolarization ～12%, Ångström (UV-VIS) exponent of 1.25 ± 0.25 and (VIS-IR) of 1.45 ± 0.25, an increased color ratio (VIS-UV) of 0.61, (IRVIS) of 0.39 and lidar ratio of 53 sr were identified on 28 April. From observations in Poland conducted by an elastic lidar at 532 nm and a ceilometer at 1064 nm we retrieved an average backscatter related Ångström (VIS-IR) exponent of 1.25 ± 0.35, and a color ratio (IR-VIS) of 0.53 in the layer at about 5.5 km during the night of 16/17 April, indicating fresh ash over Warsaw.     

Seismicity and stress field in Okinawa Trough and Ryukyu regions

（黄培华）（苏维加）（陈金波）ＳｅｉｓｍｉｃｉｔｙａｎｄｓｔｒｅｓｓｆｉｅｌｄｉｎＯｋｉｎａｗａＴｒｏｕｇｈａｎｄＲｙｕｋｙｕｒｅｇｉｏｎｓ￥Ｐｅｉ－ＨｕａＨＵＡＮＧ；Ｗｅｉ－ｊｉａＳＵａｎｄＪｉｎ－ＢｏＣＨＥＮ（ＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＥａｒｔｈａ...     

Crustal movement and deformation in Taiwan and its coastal area

Introduction Both Taiwan Island and Chinese mainland belong to Eurasian plate in geological structure. And the nearest distance between Taiwan Island and Fujian Province, which is located on the opposite coast, is only 130 km. Although there are high-precision GPS networks in both Taiwan and Fujian Province, joint GPS measurement cannot be made directly because of the inconvenient contact due to the strait between them. However, the GPS networks arranged on b…     

Progress in Earthquake Science and Technology in China: Review and Prospects (Ⅰ)

In the article the author looks back the hard development course and great progress in earth quake science and technology in China during the last near a half of century and expounds the following 3 aspects: (1) The strong desire of the whole society to mitigate seismic disasters and reduce the effect of earthquakes on social-economic live is a great driving force to push forward the development of earthquake science and technology in China; (2) To better ensure people‘ s life and property, sustainable economic development, and social stability is an essential purpose to drive the development of earthquake science and technology in China; and (3) To insist on the dialectical connection of setup of technical system for seismic monitoring with the scientific research of earthquakes and to better handle the relation between crucial task, current scientif ic level, and the feasibility are the important principles to advance the earthquake science and technology in China. Some success and many setbacks in earthquake disaster mitigation consistently enrich our knowledge regarding the complexity of the conditions for earthquake occurrence and the process of earthquake preparation, promote the reconstruction and modernization of technical system for earthquake monitoring, and deepen the scientific research of earthquakes. During the last 5 years, the improvement and modernization of technical system for earthquake monitoring have clearly provided the technical support to study and practice of earthquake prediction and pre caution, give prominence to key problems and broaden the field of scientific research of earth quakes. These have enabled us to get some new recognition of the conditions for earthquake oc currence and process of earthquake preparation, characteristics of seismic disaster, and mecha nism for earthquake generation in China‘s continent. The progress we have made not only en courages us to enhance the effectiveness of earthquake disaster mitigation, but also provides a basis for accelerating further development of earthquake science and technology in China in the new century, especially in the 10th five-year plan. Based on the history reviewed, the author sets forth a general requirement for develop ment of earthquake science and technology in China and brings out 10 aspects to be stressed and strengthened at present and in the future. These are: upgrade and setup of the network of digitized seismic observation; upgrade and setup of the network for observation of seismic pre cursors; setup of the network for observation of strong motion; setup of the laboratories for ex periment on seismic regime; establishment of technical system for seismic information, emer gency command and urgent rescue; research on short-term and imminent earthquake predic tion; research on intermediate- and long-term earthquake prediction; research on attenuation of seismic ground motion, mechanism for seismic disaster, and control on seismic disaster; ba sic research fields related to seismology and geoscience. We expect that these efforts will signifi cantly elevate the level of earthquake science and technology in China to the advanced interna tional level, improve theories, techniques, and methods for earthquake precaution and predic tion, and enhance the effectiveness of earthquake disaster mitigation.     

Fluvial and slope‐wash erosion of soil‐mantled landscapes: detachment‐ or transport‐limited?

Many numerical landform evolution models assume that soil erosion by flowing water is either purely detachment‐limited (i.e. erosion rate is related to the shear stress, power, or velocity of the flow) or purely transport‐limited (i.e. erosion/deposition rate is related to the divergence of shear stress, power, or velocity). This paper reviews available data on the relative importance of detachment‐limited versus transport‐limited erosion by flowing water on soil‐mantled hillslopes and low‐order valleys. Field measurements indicate that fluvial and slope‐wash modification of soil‐mantled landscapes is best represented by a combination of transport‐limited and detachment‐limited conditions with the relative importance of each approximately equal to the ratio of sand and rock fragments to silt and clay in the eroding soil. Available data also indicate that detachment/entrainment thresholds are highly variable in space and time in many landscapes, with local threshold values dependent on vegetation cover, rock‐fragment armoring, surface roughness, soil texture and cohesion. This heterogeneity is significant for determining the form of the fluvial/slope‐wash erosion or transport law because spatial and/or temporal variations in detachment/entrainment thresholds can effectively increase the nonlinearity of the relationship between sediment transport and stream power. Results from landform evolution modeling also suggest that, aside from the presence of distributary channel networks and autogenic cut‐and‐fill cycles in non‐steady‐state transport‐limited landscapes, it is difficult to infer the relative importance of transport‐limited versus detachment‐limited conditions using topography alone. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Causes and solutions of overshoot and undershoot and end swing in Hilbert-Huang transform

Introduction Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) is a great break in processing nonlinear and non-stationary data and can be successfully used in many science domains. There are mainly two parts in this method. The first part is to decompose the original data into several intrinsic mode functions (IMF) with the empirical mode decomposition (EMD). IMF components are derived from the original data directly according to the local characteristics in the data under some rules, so that IMF are poste…     

Warming in Arctic intermediate and deep waters around Chukchi Plateau and its adjacent regions in 1999

Warming in the Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW) has been reported in a series of articles in recent years. Prior to 1992, the water temperature of AIW off the Chukchi Continental Slope had never exceeded 0.5℃. Aagaard et al.[1] and Carmack[2] were the first to report that the temperature in AIW in the area in 1993 was close to 1℃, based on the data observed in a Canadian expedition. In 1994, the temperature of AIW around the Chukchi Sea and Mendeleyev Ridge again rose by at least an…     

Investigation of ULF Seismo-Magnetic Phenomena in Kanto, Japan During 2000–2010: Case Studies and Statistical Studies

In order to clarify the ultra low frequency (ULF) seismo-magnetic phenomena, a sensitive geomagnetic network has been installed in Kanto, Japan. In this study, we have analyzed geomagnetic data observed during the past decade in Izu and Boso Peninsulas. Energy of ULF geomagnetic signals at the frequency around 0.01 Hz has been investigated by wavelet transform analysis. To identify anomalous changes in ionospheric disturbances, the station Memabutsu has been chosen as a reference station. Case studies of magnitude 6 class earthquakes have demonstrated that there are unusual geomagnetic energy enhancements in the vertical component before the main shocks. Statistical studies by superposed epoch analysis have indicated that, before a sizeable earthquake, there are clearly higher probabilities of ULF anomalies than after the earthquake: statistical results of daily counts were found significant at about 3–4 weeks before, 1 week before, few days before, and 1 day after the event for Seikoshi station in Izu and around 2 weeks before, few days before, and 1 day after the event for Kiyosumi station in Boso, respectively.     

Crust and upper mantle structure in east China and sea areas

Introduction Rayleigh wave is a kind of seismic wave propagating along the surface of the Earth, its propagation speed depends chiefly on the S-wave velocity structure of the Earth. Rayleigh wave energy of different periods concentrated in different depth ranges. The layered structure of the Earth causes the phenomenon of dispersion of surface waves, that is, surface waves of different periods are propagated with different speeds. By measuring the dispersion curves of surface waves the S-wav…