Holocene grassland vegetation, climate and human impact in central eastern Inner Mongolia

~~Holocene grassland vegetation, climate and human impact in central eastern Inner Mongolia1.Ye,D.Z.,Chou,J.E,Liu,J.Y.et al.,Causes of sand-stormy weather in northern China and control measures,Acta Geographica Sinica(in Chinese),2000,55(5):513-520. 2.Qiu,X.E,Zeng,Y.,Miao,Q.L.,Temporal spatial distribution as well as tracks and source areas of sand dust storms in China,Acta Geographica Sinica(in Chinese),2001,56(3):316-322. 3.Cui,H.T,Kong,Z.C,Preliminary analysis on the cli…     

Late Quaternary Activity and Paleoearthquakes along the Nanyukou Segment of the Northern Piedmont Fault of Wutai Mountain

The northern piedmont fault of Wutai Mountain is located at the north of the Shanxi Graben system,which is the dominating fault of the south boundary of the Fanshi-Daixian depression. This paper discusses the fault activity and paleoearthquakes around the Nanyukou segment of the northern piedmont fault of Wutai Mountain during the late Quaternary through field investigation along the fault,measuring geomorphic deformation and excavating trenches at some important sites. From Nanyukou to the southwest of Shanhui,we find obviously dislocated alluvial fans,with strong neotectonic movement at these sites. Since nearly 20ka,the vertical average slip rate is 1. 55mm /a to 2. 0mm /a. However,since nearly 6ka,it has reached as high as 2. 3mm /a,which is twice that on other segments. 2 trenches were excavated around Nanyukou with 6 events discovered. The referenced ages of the events are before 7600a,6700a ～ 7600a,5321a ～ 5575a,4400a ～ 5400a,4200a ～ 4400a and after 1600a B. P. with approximate recurrence interval 1400a. The latest event is likely to be the earthquake occurring at 512 A. D. ,so it is necessary to do further work to verify this in the future.     

Radiating Vortices in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

The dynamics of a single vortex on a beta-plane is discussed in this paper. A barotropic, an equivalent barotropic, one-and-a half and two-layer models are considered. The momentum and energy balances are used to describe the evolution of a vortex. A quasi-stationary balance of the Rossby, Zhukovsky-Kutta forces and the force induced by Rossby-wave radiation, describes the dynamics of the barotropic vortex. A net Coriolis force occurs if the fluid is stratified. The difference between the dynamics of cyclones and anticyclones results directly from the Coriolis force acting on a single vortex in a stratified fluid.All vortices radiate Rossby waves in the quasigeostrophic approximation but intense anticyclones propagate steadily in a one-and-a half layer model. A critical amplitude that bounds radiating and steadily propagating anticyclones is found. Steady propagation of anticyclones in general is impossible in a two-layer fluid due to the radiation of a barotropic Rossby-wave. Some solutions of solitary wave type which are known for a two-layer model, survive owing to wave interference.A single vortex can extract energy from a Rossby wave if synchronism conditions are satisfied. The wave interference again plays a crucial role in this case. The wave interference also determines the energy exchange of vortices located at larger distances. If the distance between the vortices is shorter than the length of the radiated waves, modon may be formed due to a small energy loss.The unbounded monotonic variation of the planetary vorticity is a characteristic feature of a beta-plane approximation. As a result, a single vortex propagates up to a 'rest latitude' where it disappears. The evolution of a single barotropic vortex over bottom topography provides another example of a background vorticity distribution with a local extremum above hills (valleys) or ridges (troughs). Physics of its movement differs from a beta-plane case, but if a vortex lies over broad topography, equations are similar and the evolution of a vortex manifests the same typical features. Particularly, a cyclonic vortex tends to drift to the top of a hill or a ridge. An anticyclonic vortex, on the contrary, slides to the bottom of a valley or a trough.An interaction of a barotropic vortex with a broad mean flow is tractable qualitatively on the basis of previous results. Numerical examples illustrating absorption of a small vortex by a larger one and a vortex movement across the flow, are direct analogies of the vortex evolution over a hill and a ridge, respectively. At the same time, strong influence of strain drastically changes the vortex structure.     

西宁地区第四纪晚期孢粉组合及古环境

西宁地区位于黄土高原与青藏高原的接壤处,是环境和气候变迁的敏感地带。本文对西宁市北川河河谷地区黄土沉积的钻孔剖面进行了孢粉分析,获得了比较丰富的孢粉数据,结果呈现出以松、桦、蒿及藜等木本及草本植物花粉为主的孢粉组合。据各类植物花粉量在该剖面垂向上的明显变化,由下而上可划分为5个孢粉带。研究表明,该剖面的孢粉分析数据及资料不仅记录了75kaB.P以来大量的古地理及古环境的变迁,也揭示了西宁地区晚更新世以来古植被及古气候的演替及变化,其演变分别经历了5个阶段:第一阶段为森林型针叶林,反应了温爽轻湿的气候;第二阶段为针叶林,为温凉轻润的气候;第三阶段为针叶林夹稀树草原,属温和湿润夹温凉轻湿的气候;第四阶段为森林草原,反应了温凉轻爽的气候;第五阶段为针叶林,反应了温和湿润的气候。     

Boundary shock waves in a conducting gas

Summary In this paper, we have postulated, in a conducting gas, the occurrence of a boundary shock wave, considered as a quick transition region in which the viscous effects are compressive and are confined to a thin layer adjacent to a surface. The analogues of the well known Rankine-Hugoniot jump relations, Prandtl relation, and other properties of a shock wave are derived and a discussion about the existence of a boundary shock wave is made.     

The mechanism of basaltic explosions: Experimental modeling

An instrument package for simulating basaltic eruptions (IPSBE) with a height of 18 m has been developed for investigating the processes that occur during Strombolian eruptions. The device follows the geometrical ratio between the actual plumbing system of a volcano, with the ratio of conduit diameter to conduit height being 1 to 1000. For the first time in physical modeling studies, we created conditions in which a moving gas-saturated model liquid enters the conduit; this enabled us to study bubble nucleation, expansion, and coalescence, the generation and transformation of gas structures, and the kinetic features shown by the evolution of the gas phase. These experiments revealed a novel (previously unknown) flow pattern of two-phase mixtures in a vertical column, viz., a cluster flow that involves the regular alternation of compact clusters of gas bubbles that are separated by a fluid that does not involve a free gas phase. It is shown that the liquid, bubble, cluster, and slug flow patterns are mutually transformed under certain conditions; they are polymorphous modifications of a gas-saturated liquid moving in a vertical pipe. The data thus acquired suggested a new model for the gas-liquid movement of a magma melt in a conduit: depending on the type of gas-liquid flow behavior at the vent, the crater will exhibit different types of explosive activity, including actual explosions.     

Study on Paleoearthquakes of the Eastern Liupanshan Piedmont Fault Zone

Based on trench excavation and detailed field investigation, the authors have ascertained that 6 paleoearthquake events have occurred in the Haizixia area of the Eastern Liupanshan Piedmont fault zone since 46Ka B.P. The recurrence time of 6 events were about 15000a, 20250a, 14750a, 12150a, 8550a and 4000a B.P., respectively, the recurrence intervals were about 15000a, 5500a, 2600a, 3600a and 4550a, respectively. According to M-D empirical relations, the vertical dislocation of events 1 and 2 corresponded to the dislocation of the earthquake with M8.0; the vertical dislocation of events 3-6, was corresponded to the dislocation of earthquakes with M6.5~7.5.     

A three-scale cracking criterion for drying soils

Cracking is a most unwanted development in soil structures undergoing periodic drying and wetting. Desiccation cracks arise in an apparent absence of external forces. Hence, either an internal, self-equilibrated stress pattern resulting from kinematic incompatibilities, or a stress resulting from reaction forces at the constraints appear as a cracking cause, when reaching tensile strength. At a meso-scale, tubular drying pores are considered in the vicinity of a random imperfection, inducing a stress concentration in the presence of significant pore suction. This approach allows one to use the effective stress analysis, which otherwise, away from the stress concentration, usually yields compressive effective stress and hence a physically incompatible criterion for a tensile crack. Recent experiments on idealized configurations of clusters of grains provide geometrical data suggesting that an imperfection as a result of air entry deep into the granular medium penetrates over 4 to 8 internal radii of a typical pore could yield a tensile effective stress sufficient for crack propagation.     

Back front of seismicity induced by non‐linear pore pressure diffusion

Borehole fluid injections are accompanied by microseismic activity not only during but also after termination of the fluid injection. Previously, this phenomenon has been analysed, assuming that the main triggering mechanism is governed by a linear pressure diffusion in a hydraulically isotropic medium. In this context the so‐called back front of seismicity has been introduced, which allows to characterize the hydraulic transport from the spatiotemporal distribution of post‐injection induced events. However, rocks are generally anisotropic, and in addition, fluid injections can strongly enhance permeability. In this case, permeability becomes a function of pressure. For such situations, we carry out a comprehensive study about the behaviour and parametrization of the back front. Based on a model of a factorized anisotropic pressure dependence of permeability, we present an approach to reconstruct the principal components of the diffusivity tensor. We apply this approach to real microseismic data and show that the back front characterizes the least hydraulic transport. To investigate the back front of non‐linear pore‐fluid pressure diffusion, we numerically consider a power‐law and an exponential‐dependent diffusivity. To account for a post‐injection enhanced hydraulic state of the rock, we introduce a model of a frozen (i.e., nearly unchanged after the stimulation) medium diffusivity and generate synthetic seismicity. We find that, for a weak non‐linearity and 3D exponential diffusion, the linear diffusion back front is still applicable. This finding is in agreement with microseismic data from Ogachi and Fenton Hill. However, for a strong non‐linear fluid–rock interaction such as hydraulic fracturing, the back front can significantly deviate from a time dependence of a linear diffusion back front. This is demonstrated for a data set from the Horn River Basin. Hence, the behaviour of the back front is a strong indicator of a non‐linear fluid–rock interaction.     

Obituary – Emerita Professor Valerie Anne Hall BSc PhD FSA FHEA (1946–2016)

Professor Emerita Valerie Hall died on 28th July, 2016, in Belfast City Hospital after a long battle with cancer. Valerie was a renowned and highly esteemed inter-disciplinarian, who began her career in botany and palynology but made a truly international mark in the field of cryptotephrochronology. Between us, we knew her as a student, a supervisor, an examiner, a mentor, a colleague, a role model, and, above all, a wonderful, kind-hearted and generous friend. She touched the hearts and earned the respect of Quaternary scientists around the world. Here, to honour her memory, we reflect briefly on the great woman and scientist that she was.     

MAGNETOTELLURIGS: PRINCIPLE AND OUTLINE OF THE RECORDING TECHNIQUE A CASE HISTORY *

First, we review briefly the principle of the method, the computation of theoretical curves for a layered earth, and the recording technique in use in our surveys. The case history deals with an area covered with overthrust nappes (marls of Miocene age), which had slid on a Triassic sole, obscuring the geological picture. The magnetotelluric survey followed those of gravity and aeromagnetics and preceded the seismic one from North to South, it displayed a shallow and gently dipping basin, a major fault system, and a deep basin with a thick resistive layer, often underlying a conducting one. The seismics, and later the drilling of a well East of the profile, confirmed these features; in particular, the thick resistive layer was revealed to be Jurassic; only its thickness had been slightly overestimated. This fact lead the people in charge of the operations to ask for a reinterpretation synthesis of magnetotellurics, seismics and gravity, the results of which are also presented.     

Dipping-interface Mapping Using Mode-separated Rayleigh Waves

Multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method is a non-invasive geophysical technique that uses the dispersive characteristic of Rayleigh waves to estimate a vertical shear (S)-wave velocity profile. A pseudo-2D S-wave velocity section is constructed by aligning 1D S-wave velocity profiles at the midpoint of each receiver spread that are contoured using a spatial interpolation scheme. The horizontal resolution of the section is therefore most influenced by the receiver spread length and the source interval. Based on the assumption that a dipping-layer model can be regarded as stepped flat layers, high-resolution linear Radon transform (LRT) has been proposed to image Rayleigh-wave dispersive energy and separate modes of Rayleigh waves from a multichannel record. With the mode-separation technique, therefore, a dispersion curve that possesses satisfactory accuracy can be calculated using a pair of consecutive traces within a mode-separated shot gather. In this study, using synthetic models containing a dipping layer with a slope of 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 degrees and a real-world example, we assess the ability of using high-resolution LRT to image and separate fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves from raw surface-wave data and accuracy of dispersion curves generated by a pair of consecutive traces within a mode-separated shot gather. Results of synthetic and real-world examples demonstrate that a dipping interface with a slope smaller than 15 degrees can be successfully mapped by separated fundamental waves using high-resolution LRT.     

An Idealized Ground-Water Flow and Chemical Transport Model (S-PATHS)

The number of studies on the actual and potential environmental consequences of contaminated ground water is growing. One means of studying these consequences is through an idealized flow and transport model, S-PATHS, which allows the hydrologist to determine the salient features of contaminant migration with a minimum of data. The transport of contaminants by ground water from many waste disposal sites can be geometrically idealized as flow between a line and a circle. The flow system adjacent to the disposal site can be represented as a contaminant line source, and a downgradient pumping well as a circular sink. To study waste disposal sites on a larger scale the model geometry is reversed and the disposal site is represented as a circular source, and a river or other convenient line of evaluation is represented as a line sink. This idealization allows S-PATHS to describe the flow and transport process directly by a single partial differential expression. S-PATHS considers transmissivity, effective porosity, sorption, source strength, source concentration, decay, potentiometric gradient, circle size, and distance to the line. Coding for the model is not lengthy and can be run on a large-capacity, hand-held calculator.     

THE CROSS-HOLE MAGNETOMETRIC RESISTIVITY (MMR) RESPONSE OF A DISC CONDUCTOR*

The cross-hole variant of the magnetometric resistivity (MMR) method requires two bore holes in the vicinity of a conductive target. In the first, two fixed current electrodes are located, one above the other. They are linked to a low frequency current source by cables, the whole system forming a vertical current bipole. In the second, a sensitive coil measures the axial magnetic field as a function of depth. For a uniform earth, if both holes are vertical, the measured component vanishes by symmetry. However, the presence of a local conductor channels the current and causes an anomalous magnetic component which is interpreted to indicate the position, shape and relative conductance of the target. Mineral deposits are often lamellar in form. The conductive disc is the simplest bounded lamella for which MMR responses may be computed. It is excited by a single current source on its axis. The second source and the surface of the earth are assumed to be far away, a valid assumption for down-hole measurements. The numerical method introduces a new integral equation describing the interaction of current dipoles located in the plane of the disc. The equation is solved analytically for a disc of infinite radius, a layer, and the result is compared with a corresponding known boundary value solution. The computed radial current in the disc and the magnetic field generated by it are described in terms of a current channelling number. The magnitude of the computed field is of the order of one nanoTesla for a typical mining problem.     

The effect of single vegetation elements on wind speed and sediment transport in the Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso

Soil loss caused by wind erosion is a widespread phenomenon in the Sahelian zone of West Africa. According to Sahelian farmers, scattered vegetation standing in amongst the crop has the potential for a wind erosion control strategy. This study was conducted to study the effect of single vegetation elements on the pattern of average wind speed and sediment transport. This was done by two experiments that were carried out during the rainy seasons of 2002 and 2003 in north Burkina Faso, West Africa. Wind speeds were measured using three sonic anemometers, at a sampling frequency of 16 Hz. Sediment transport was determined by calculating the mass fluxes from 17 MWAC catchers. In this study, a shrub was defined as a vegetation element with branches until ground and a tree as a vegetation element with a distinctive trunk below a canopy. Behind shrubs wind speed near the soil surface was reduced up to approximately seven times the height of the shrub. The observed reduction in wind speed in the area where wind speed was reduced was 15 per cent on average. At the sides of the shrub, wind speed was increased, by on average 6 per cent. As the area of increase in wind speed is one‐third of the area of decrease in wind speed, the net effect of a shrub is a reduction in wind speed. A similar pattern was visible for the pattern of sediment transport around a shrub. Downwind of a shrub, sediment transport was diminished up to seven times the height of the shrub. Probably most of this material was trapped by the shrub. Trees showed a local increase of wind around the trunk, which is expected to relate to an increase in sediment transport around the trunk. Mass flux measurements of sediment transport were not made, but visual observations in the field substantiate this. Behind the canopy of a tree, a tree acts similarly to a shrub regarding its effects on average wind speed, but as a tree is generally a larger obstacle than a shrub the extent of this effect is larger than for shrubs. Thus, whereas shrubs are more effective than trees regarding their direct effect on soil loss by trapping sand particles near the soil surface, trees are more effective in affecting soil loss indirectly by reducing the wind speed downwind more effectively than shrubs. Therefore, to reduce soil loss in an area, the presence of both trees and shrubs is crucial. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DIKE FORMATION WITH SUBMERGED VANE

1 INTRODUCTION Increasing capital costs, emerging environmental concerns and rising maintenance expenses of conventional river training works around the world have led to the development of submerged vanes in practice. Submerged vanes are being favoured f…     

A stochastic methodology for risk assessment of a large earthquake when a long time has elapsed

We propose a stochastic methodology for risk assessment of a large earthquake when a long time has elapsed from the last large seismic event. We state an approximate probability distribution for the occurrence time of the next large earthquake, by knowing that the last large seismic event occurred a long time ago. We prove that, under reasonable conditions, such a distribution is exponential with a rate depending on the asymptotic slope of the cumulative intensity function corresponding to a nonhomogeneous Poisson process. As it is not possible to obtain an empirical cumulative distribution function of the waiting time for the next large earthquake, an estimator of its cumulative distribution function based on existing data is derived. We conduct a simulation study for detecting scenario in which the proposed methodology would perform well. Finally, a real-world data analysis is carried out to illustrate its potential applications, including a homogeneity test for the times between earthquakes.     

Storm response of a mixed sand gravel beach ridge plain under falling relative sea levels: A stratigraphic investigation using ground penetrating radar

Beach ridge stratigraphy can provide an important record of both sustained coastal progradation and responses to events such as extreme storms, as well as evidence of earthquake induced sediment pulses. This study is a stratigraphic investigation of the late Holocene mixed sand gravel (MSG) beach ridge plain on the Canterbury coast, New Zealand. The subsurface was imaged along a 370 m shore-normal transect using 100 and 200 MHz ground penetrating radar (GPR) antennae, and cored to sample sediment textures. Results show that, seaward of a back-barrier lagoon, the Pegasus Bay beach ridge plain prograded almost uniformly, under conditions of relatively stable sea level. Nearshore sediment supply appears to have created a sustained sediment surplus, perhaps as a result of post-seismic sediment pulses, resulting in a flat, morphologically featureless beach ridge plain. Evidence of a high magnitude storm provides an exception, with an estimated event return period in excess of 100 years. Evidence from the GPR sequence combined with modern process observations from MSG beaches indicates that a palaeo-storm initially created a washover fan into the back-barrier lagoon, with a large amount of sediment simultaneously moved off the beach face into the nearshore. This erosion event resulted in a topographic depression still evident today. In the subsequent recovery period, sediment was reworked by swash onto the beach as a sequence of berm deposit laminations, creating an elevated beach ridge that also has a modern-day topographic signature. As sediment supply returned to normal, and under conditions of falling sea level, a beach ridge progradation sequence accumulated seaward of the storm feature out to the modern-day beach as a large flat, uniform progradation plain. This study highlights the importance of extreme storm events and earthquake pulses on MSG coastlines in triggering high volume beach ridge formation during the subsequent recovery period. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3D geoelectric tomography and archaeological applications1

Following a previous paper in which the principles of a 3D ground-surface tomographic processing of self-potential data were established, we extend the method to active source geoelectric surveying. The main purpose of the new tomographic approach is to obtain a physical image reconstruction of the induced electric charges distributed over buried resistivity discontinuities. The information is produced in a probabilistic sense, as the mathematical formulation underlying the method treats only the intrinsic physical nature of the generated electric field underground and the method of its ground-surface detection, independently of the geometry of the unknown structures. In practice, a 3D tomography is realized by cross-correlating a set of distributed electric-field ground-surface data with a scanning function, representing a unit positive point charge located anywhere in the lower half-space. The resolution of the method is tested on the synthetic response of a 3D structural simulation of an archaeological target, consisting of an infinitely resistive prismatic body immersed in a half-space, including surface inhomogeneities and layering. Finally, the field response of a 3D structure consisting of a hypogeal dromos-chamber tomb inside the Sabine Necropolis at Colle del Forno, close to Rome, is presented and discussed.     

Morphodynamics of a bedrock‐alluvial meander bend that incises as it migrates outward: approximate solution of permanent form

In meandering rivers cut into bedrock, erosion across a channel cross‐section can be strongly asymmetric. At a meander apex, deep undercutting of the outer bank can result in the formation of a hanging cliff (which may drive hillslope failure), whereas the inner bank adjoins a slip‐off slope that connects to the hillslope itself. Here we propose a physically‐based model for predicting channel planform migration and incision, point bar and slip‐off slope formation, bedrock abrasion, the spatial distribution of alluvial cover, and adaptation of channel width in a mixed bedrock‐alluvial channel. We simplify the analysis by considering a numerical model of steady, uniform bend flow satisfying cyclic boundary conditions. Thus in our analysis, ‘sediment supply’, i.e. the total volume of alluvium in the system, is conserved. In our numerical simulations, the migration rate of the outer bank is a specified parameter. Our simulations demonstrate the existence of an approximate state of dynamic equilibrium corresponding to a near‐solution of permanent form in which a bend of constant curvature, width, cross‐sectional shape and alluvial cover distribution migrates diagonally downward at constant speed, leaving a bedrock equivalent of a point bar on the inside of the bend. Channel width is set internally by the processes of migration and incision. We find that equilibrium width increases with increasing sediment supply, but is insensitive to outer bank migration rate. The slope of the bedrock point bar varies inversely with both outer bank migration rate and sediment supply. Although the migration rate of the outer bank is externally imposed here, we discuss a model modification that would allow lateral side‐wall abrasion to be treated in a manner similar to the process of bedrock incision. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.