Quasi-biennial oscillation in geomagnetic disturbance field

Using the techniques of second derivatives, digital filtering and power spectral analysis, the fine structure of the quasi-biennial oscillation (qbo) in the equatorial geomagnetic field in the Indian zone is studied. The salient results are: (i) in the quiet day field,qbo is weak and the signal strength has no local time dependence; (ii) in the disturbance field the signal is strongest in the afternoon and evening hours and (iii) larger magnitudes are manifested closer to the dip equator. The difference in dawn and dusk amplitudes of the signal and the absence of significant strength close to noon in the electrojet region rules outeuv flux as the responsible agent.     

Dipole sources of the main geomagnetic field

The parameters of 15 arbitrary dipoles that, in aggregate, represent the main geomagnetic field (MGF) are estimated to obtain information on the distribution of MGF sources within the Earth in the form of dipoles with an arbitrary position and value of the magnetic moment vector. For an adequate estimation of the results, the method of obtaining the data is described, including: the eccentric dipole model and the derivation of the basic formulas for the magnetic field components of an arbitrary dipole; the method of estimating the parameters of these dipoles, including the computational scheme and optimization method; necessary constraints on the dipoles parameters and a justification of the choice of the initial values in the optimization fitting of the parameters. The results are presented as a map of the location of the centers of the dipoles and their northern axial poles for the epochs 1955 and 2005 and plots of changes in all six parameters of 15 dipoles for 50 years. Most of the dipole centers are located in the lower mantle. The results suggest the existence of current systems in the lower mantle that produce dipole magnetic fields. These currents are provided by the high conductivity of wustite, an important component of the mantle, which, at a depth of 1000-2200 km, transforms to the low-spin state of iron with increased density and electrical conductivity.     

Variations of the geomagnetic field during the Cretaceous

This study provides a compilation of the paleointensity records for the Cretaceous period derived from sediments of the Russian Plate and adjacent areas. The paleoinetensity values were calibrated using the laboratory redeposition experiments. Remarkable differences in the relative paleointensity variations were detected at the Berriasian–Early Barremian, Late Barremian–Santonian and Early–Late Maastrichtian boundaries. In the Berriasian–Early Barremian interval, the paleointensity varied stochastically, with the amplitude of about 1H_o and the mean value of 0.63H_o (H_o is the present-day geomagnetic field intensity assumed to be 40 μT). The records for the Barremian–Santonian give a picture of the geomagnetic field with alternating high- and low-amplitude features. The mean paleointensities remain constantly high (being on average 0.87H_o), and intervals of low-amplitude variation alternate with the pronounced bursts (3.5H_o). The Late Maastrichtian interval is characterized by high-amplitude paleointensity variations (4H_o) and a sharp drop towards the end of the interval. All records show remarkable similarities near the boundaries between geological time intervals, which are an increase in the amplitude and mean values of intensity at the end of intervals followed by a decrease towards the beginning of the subsequent interval.     

古地磁场研究:挑战与机遇

地磁场源于地核流体的运动,至少已有约35亿年历史。地磁场的起源及演化一直是地球科学研究的前沿领域之一,这是因为它既是地球宜居环境的重要保障,也是探究地球系统各圈层联系的重要途径。本文重点围绕保留在岩石中的"深时"古地磁场记录,分析在地球内部磁场的形成与维持、地磁场极性倒转、以及地磁场强度变化等古地磁场研究三个方面的主要进展及面临的挑战。同时,结合古地磁测试技术的革新,磁发电机实验和超算模拟的应用,生物磁学的发展,阐述古地磁与地质学多学科交叉研究有望在揭示古地磁场变化及其对生物演化方面的贡献。对古地磁场变化的研究不仅有助于理解地磁场的起源与演化规律,也对认识地球的早期演化,甚至其它行星的演化有重要意义。     

Cyclic geomagnetic changes in Mid-Cretaceous rhythmites, Italy

Magnetic secular variation is recorded as a quasi-rhythmical process of uncertain origin. Rhythmic changes recorded in the Scisti a Fucoidi in the central Apennines of Italy, pelagic sediments of Mid-Cretaceous (Late Albian) age, show strong correspondence to patterns of orbital variation. In the same strata cyclic magnetic variations are found with peaks in the same range (105, 40, 26,19 kyr). These results appear to support earlier suggestions that secular variations may be related to these astronomical patterns.     

地球磁场的特性与分类研究

针对地球磁场起源研究中存在的有关地球磁极问题,在分析地球磁场特征的基础上,从地球磁场的成因和形成磁场的组合形式两方面,对地球磁场进行了分类。研究认为：地球磁场不仅具有突变性和偶极性,而且具有瞬时性、不变性等特征,初步分析了各种特性的影响原因。指出地球磁场具有二分结构,不同的分类方案可得到不同的分类结果,地球磁场可以分为...     

The signature of the interplanetary magnetic field components on the low latitude geomagnetic field disturbance

The signature of the interplanetary magnetic field componentB _y andB _z and their effects on the low lattitude field are studied for Alibag station. It has been found that the direction and magnitude of theB _y component of IMF have their signatures on the low latitude geomagnetic field, varying with the time of the day and season.     

The role of glaciations in the biosphere

Glaciations took place in five long intervals of the geologic history, called glacioeras: Kaapvaal (Late Archean), Huronian (Early Proterozoic), African (Late Proterozoic), Gondwanan (Paleozoic), and unfinished Antarctic (Late Cenozoic). The glacioeras were similar in structure, duration, and dynamics of evolution. They consisted of three to six glacioperiods including several discrete glacio-epochs. The glacioeras lasted ~ 200 Myr. They started with small regional glaciations, which expanded, reached intercontinental sizes, and then quickly degraded. There were serious differences between the Precambrian and Phanerozoic glacioeras. A series of ecologic crises related to numerous glacial events led first to abiotic and then to biotic factors. Glaciations caused extinction and stagnation of the Earth’s biota, the appearance of bionovations and new biota, and acceleration of evolution processes. Thus, the glacioeras were the turning intervals of the biosphere evolution.     

Value of epeirogenic curves in interpreting spatial distribution of the geomagnetic field

Use of electronic computers has made possible a wider and at the same time more detailed interpretation of magnetic anomalies. It also permits the making of three dimensional computations and interpretations, which were practically prohibited with older methods. The present paper is a detailed magnetic and structural study of the east flank of the Urals from the extreme south beyond Chelkar, through Magnitogorsk, to a latitude just north of Sverdlovsk. A complex history of fault formation and development is worked out and presented on a map of the block structure (fig. 3) and two series of "epeirogenic curves" (fig. 4). It is pointed out that these curves can also be useful in a study of the origin of mineral deposits in the area.--E. Ingerson.     

Multiple glaciations and sea level changes, northern Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada

Along the northern coasts of Ellesmere Island, at least two glaciations are recognized on the basis of morphostratigraphy. The early Holocene ice limit lay only 5 to 60 km beyond present glaciers due to constraints imposed by aridity and calving. This limited ice advance likely extended beyond any Wisconsinan glacial limit. Marine limits established during, retreat from the last glacial maximum reach 148 m a.s.l. In contrast, earlier, more extensive glaciations inundated the coastlines and are associated with former relative sea levels now reaching 286 m a.s.l. Correlation of these pre-Wisconsinan glaciations is based upon amino acid ratios. However, this approach is severely limited by slow rates of racemization, a lack of in situ samples, and complex thermal histories owing to multiple transgressions. Models favoring extensive regional glaciation of northern Ellesmere Island and Greenland must include a glacioclimatic scenario recognizing the constraint that aridity places on glaciation. We suggest that the large ice volume associated with the oldest recognized glaciation relates to a period of reduced sea-ice cover, possibly >400,000 BP, and may correlate with an interglacial stage of the marine oxygen isotope record.     

Modelling the physical and chemical changes in roofing slate caused by weathering processes

This research identifies the changes which takes place in roofing slate due to natural exposure and tries to replicate these changes experimentally. Traditional methods of testing, used by the British and other national standards, concentrate on the properties of unweathered samples and give no information on the relative durability of the different slates. Instead of concentrating on the initial properties, this research focuses on changes in the properties in order to assess durability. The effects of natural weathering were assessed by comparing old, used slates with new slates from the same or a similar source. The new slates were then weathered experimentally by repeated cycles of wetting and drying, and the increase in water absorbency compared with that observed in naturally weathering. Mineralogical differences due to both natural and experimental weathering were also measured using X-ray diffraction analysis. It was found that the effects of experimental weathering, using repeated cycles of wetting and drying, are similar to those observed in natural weathering. These include increased water absorbency and loss of crystallinity of the principal minerals. The greatest changes are found in those slates which are the most vulnerable to weathering, making it possible to identify poor quality slates.     

Over how much time should the geomagnetic field be averaged to obtain the mean-palaeomagnetic field?

Average geomagnetic field models are now available over six orders of magnitude in time. Models based on Present and historical, archaeomagnetic and palaeomagnetic data illustrate how the amplitudes of secular variation of nonaxial dipole terms strongly decrease as a function of averaging window, mostly when jumping from the 1-yr to the 1700-yr average. The mean archaeomagnetic field bridges the gap between the complex historical field and the far simpler palaeomagnetic field, and appears to be much closer to the latter. Confidences in average field coefficients based on statistical field models give a quantitative basis to the practice of averaging data over a few millenia in order to 'suppress secular variation'. In particular, the axial quadrupole emerges from noise when the available time series exceed about 6 kyr. This happens to be close to the timescales of excursions and reversals. It is now a priority to obtain detailed data spanning the last 50 kyr.     

Isotope measurements and ground water flow modeling using MODFLOW for understanding environmental changes caused by a well field in semiarid Brazil

Measurements of the environmental isotopes carbon-14 and oxygen-18 and of the electrical conductivity in ground water, together with MODFLOW-88 (DOS) simulations of pumping tests, were used to achieve a detailed understanding of the functioning of an aquifer in the area of a well field. The methodology was applied in the sedimentary basin of the Cariri region, in the south of Ceará State in Brazil. Localized hydraulic connections between adjacent aquifer units could be detected, and mixing ratios for the contributions from the units involved were determined. Cone of depression simulations for a three-year drought period revealed well interference and a drastic lowering of the piezometric level, thereby explaining the hydrogeologic changes and transformations in vegetation that were observed in the area of the well field. The combined use of the modeling tools and the geochemical field observations is shown to provide more detailed insight into the conceptual model of the groundwater flow system.     

Analytical representation of spatial and temporal variations of the geomagnetic field in the Indian region

The magnetic measurements of declination (D), horizontal (H) and vertical (Z) components of earth’s magnetic field, collected from ground surveys between 1962 and 1966, are used to develop an analytical model of geomagnetic field variations over Indian region for the epoch 1965. In order to reflect spatial features with wavelengths of approximately 1000 km, sixth degree polynomial as a function of differential latitude and longitude is calculated by the method of least squares. The root mean square fit of the model to the input data is better than that accounted by the International Geomagnetic Reference Field for 1965.0. Isomagnetic charts drawn forD, H, Z and total force (F) reflect more details than that shown on world magnetic charts. Further, the values of the field at common repeat stations recorded between 1962 and 1974, after eliminating the field values for the epoch 1965.0, are used to get the secular variation as well as its spatial dependence again by means of polynomial which now includes coefficients which are functions of time and of geographical locations. The accuracy of coefficients is tested against the behaviour of secular variation at permanent magnetic observatories. The merits and limitations of the model are discussed.     

斜度驱动第四纪冰期-间冰期转换——来自中国黄土的证据

第四纪气候冰期-间冰期旋回与地球轨道周期性变化之间的关系是古气候研究的重点。文章利用中国黄土沉积的粒度和次生碳酸盐微量元素记录,在同一剖面中同时获得了冰量信息和地球轨道斜度信息。黄土的平均粒径反映了冬季风的强度从而指示了北半球高纬冰盖的变化,而次生碳酸盐（生物微钙体）的Sr/Ca比值记录了东亚夏季降水的变化,反映了斜度对东亚夏季风的控制作用。通过分析冰消期时粒度快速变化所处的夏季降水指示的斜度变化的相对位置,发现过去1.5 Ma以来的冰消期总在地球轨道处于较高斜度时发生,从而验证了斜度对第四纪冰期-间冰期旋回的驱动作用。

     

Voltage stability in a long-distance power transmission system impacted by the geoelectric field due to a geomagnetic disturbance

The voltage stability problem in long-distance transmission systems can be exacerbated by geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) even in middle and low latitude areas where the effects of GMDs are considered to be mild compared to auroral areas. With the high voltage and the long-distance transmission lines, power system in China has to face the voltage instability risk. To clarify and measure the risk from GMD represented by geoelectric field, method for analysis of relationship between voltage stability of the long-distance transmission system and the size and direction of geoelectric field is provided. On the basis of calculation for geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) of power system and the additional reactive power losses of transformer due to GIC, the model of long-distance transmission line affected by geoelectric field is established. To measure the impact on the voltage stability of power system and the sensitivity of voltage to geoelectric field, the voltage stability index and the set of voltage limit violation nodes are proposed and calculated considering different geoelectric field and different initial operation conditions of power system. By taking the Northwest 750 kV power system in China as an example, voltage stability with geoelectric field magnitude from 1 V/km to 10 V/km, direction (0°) from north to south (180°) is analyzed and the voltage stability index is calculated, and the set of voltage limit violation nodes are summarized as well. The results show that the method is feasible and the index can reflect actually the relationship between the long-distance transmission system voltage stability and the geoelectric field, and the set of the voltage limit violation nodes can indicate which nodes are most susceptible to GMD.