Frequency–magnitude statistics and spatial correlation dimensions of earthquakes at Long Valley caldera, California

Intense earthquake swarms at Long Valley caldera in late 1997 and early 1998 occurred on two contrasting structures. The first is defined by the intersection of a north-northwesterly array of faults with the southern margin of the resurgent dome, and is a zone of hydrothermal upwelling. Seismic activity there was characterized by high b -values and relatively low values of D , the spatial fractal dimension of hypocentres. The second structure is the pre-existing South Moat fault, which has generated large-magnitude seismic activity in the past. Seismicity on this structure was characterized by low b -values and relatively high D . These observations are consistent with low-magnitude, clustered earthquakes on the first structure, and higher-magnitude, diffuse earthquakes on the second structure. The first structure is probably an immature fault zone, fractured on a small scale and lacking a well-developed fault plane. The second zone represents a mature fault with an extensive, coherent fault plane.     

Record of the younger part of the Pringle Falls excursion at Long Valley, California

The younger of two closely spaced palaeomagnetic excursions at Pringle Falls, Oregon, is recorded in lacustrine silts that crop out in Long Valley, California. Assigned an age of about 220 000 years, the virtual geomagnetic poles of the younger excursion form a clockwise loop that reached 35 °S latitude east of South America before returning to the northern hemisphere in the Pacific Ocean west of Central America. The poles then form a narrow band across North America while moving to high northern latitudes. This record matches extremely well feature B of the original excursion record from Pringle Falls reported by Herrero-Bervera et al. (1994) and is similar to this excursion at Summer Lake, Oregon ( Negrini et al. 1994 ), in that the pole path is confined primarily to the east–central Pacific Ocean. On the basis of an assumed sedimentation rate of 30  cm per thousand years, the younger excursion (feature B at Pringle Falls) spans an estimated 1200 years and followed by about 1000 years a larger excursion (feature A at Pringle Falls) previously discovered at the same Long Valley site. At a second Long Valley site 30  m away, the younger excursion (feature B) is only partially recorded because of a presumed small hiatus in the sedimentary section.     

The Hanaupah-Fan shoreline deposit at Tule Spring, a gravelly shoreline deposit of Pleisticene Lake Manly, Death Valley, California, USA

The Hanaupah-Fan Shoreline Deposit (HSD) is an as yet undescribed occurrence of shoreline sediments of late Pleistocene Lake Manly in Death Valley, California. It is located in the southern part of Death Valley, at the northeastern periphery of Hanaupah Fan. The HSD is a gently sloping, WSW-ENE elongated ridge, about 600 m long, 165 m wide and 8 m high. Its surface extends from -12 to +28 m in elevation, i.e. it has a vertical range of 40 m. We interpret the deposit as a sediment body that extended from the Hanaupah Fan east into the lake. Rising lake level, and waves approaching both from the north and south eroded fan materials, and produced a sediment body with a complex architecture. Fetch for waves approaching from either direction was about 40 km. The sedimentary inventory consists of cross-stratified gravel beds of various size ranges, dipping towards the north, south, and east, and of horizontal berm gravel beds, and horizontal silt layers. A discordant gravel layer covers the entire surface of the deposit, probably produced by wave action during the last phase of lake regression. This uniform gravel layer forms a surface that is distinctly different from the surrounding fan surfaces. It is relatively fine grained, much better sorted, and densely packed. Rock varnish is very well developed, and imparts a dark color to the surface, which makes it easily recognizable on aerial photographs. No absolute age date is available as yet, but circumstantial evidence places the formation of the deposit at the peak of marine isotope stage 2 (Wisconsinan/Weichsellian glacial maximum)     

Constraints on the frequency–magnitude relation and maximum magnitudes in the UK from observed seismicity and glacio-isostatic recovery rates

Earthquake populations have recently been shown to have many similarities with critical-point phenomena, with fractal scaling of source sizes (energy or seismic moment) corresponding to the observed Gutenberg–Richter (G–R) frequency–magnitude law holding at low magnitudes. At high magnitudes, the form of the distribution depends on the seismic moment release rate M˙ and the maximum magnitude m _max . The G–R law requires a sharp truncation at an absolute maximum magnitude for finite M˙ . In contrast, the gamma distribution has an exponential tail which allows a soft or 'credible' maximum to be determined by negligible contribution to the total seismic moment release. Here we apply both distributions to seismic hazard in the mainland UK and its immediate continental shelf, constrained by a mixture of instrumental, historical and neotectonic data. Tectonic moment release rates for the seismogenic part of the lithosphere are calculated from a flexural-plate model for glacio-isostatic recovery, constrained by vertical deformation rates from tide-gauge and geomorphological data. Earthquake focal mechanisms in the UK show near-vertical strike-slip faulting, with implied directions of maximum compressive stress approximately in the NNW–SSE direction, consistent with the tectonic model. Maximum magnitudes are found to be in the range 6.3–7.5 for the G–R law, or 7.0–8.2 m _L for the gamma distribution, which compare with a maximum observed in the time period of interest of 6.1 m _L . The upper bounds are conservative estimates, based on 100 per cent seismic release of the observed vertical neotectonic deformation. Glacio-isostatic recovery is predominantly an elastic rather than a seismic process, so the true value of m _max is likely to be nearer the lower end of the quoted range.     

Surface-wave propagation across the Mexican Volcanic Belt and the origin of the long-period seismic-wave amplification in the Valley of Mexico

A network of nine broad-band seismographs was operated from March to May 1994 to study the propagation of seismic waves across the Mexican Volcanic Belt (MVB) in the region of the Valley of Mexico. Analysis of the data from the network reveals an amplification of seismic waves in a wide period band al the stations situated in the southern part of the MVB.
The group velocities of the fundamental mode of the Rayleigh wave in the period range 2–13 s are found to be lower in the southern part of the MVB than in its northern part and in the region south of the MVB. The inversion of dispersion curves shows that the difference in group velocities is due to the presence of a superficial low-velocity layer (with an average S -wave velocity of 1.7 km s^-1 and an average thickness of 2 km) beneath the southern part of the MVB. This low-velocity zone is associated with the region of active volcanism.
Numerical simulations show that this superficial low-velocity layer causes a regional amplification of 8–10 s period signals, which is of the same order as the amplification measured from the data. This layer also increases the signal duration significantly because of the dispersion of the surface waves. These results confirm the hypothesis of Singh et al. (1995), who suggested that the regional amplification observed in the Valley of Mexico is due to the anomalously low shear-wave velocity of the shallow volcanic rocks in the southern MVB     

Paleocurrent and fabric analyses of the imbricated fluvial gravel deposits in Huangshui Valley, the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Gravel deposits on fluvial terraces contain a wealth of information about the paleofluvial system. In this study, flow direction and provenance were determined by systematic counts of more than 2000 clasts of imbricated gravel deposits in the Xining Region, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China. These gravel deposits range in age from the modern Huangshui riverbed to Miocene-aged deposits overlain by eolian sediments. Our major objectives were not only to collect first-hand field data on the fluvial gravel sediments of the Xining Region, but also to the reconstruct the evolution of the fluvial system. These data may offer valuable information about uplift of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau during the late Cenozoic era. Reconstructed flow directions of the higher and lower gravel deposits imply that the river underwent a flow reversal of approximately 130–180°. In addition, the lithological compositions in the higher gravel deposits differ significantly from the lower terraces, suggesting that the source areas changed at the same time. Eolian stratigraphy overlying the gravel deposits and paleomagnetic age determination indicate that this change occurred sometime between 1.55 Ma and 1.2 Ma. We suggest that tectonic activity could explain the dramatic changes in flow direction and lithological composition during this time period. Therefore, this study provides a new scenario of fluvial response to tectonic uplift: a reversal of flow direction. In addition, field observation and statistical analyses reveal a strong relationship between rock type, size and roundness of clasts.     

伊犁河谷文化遗址时空分布及地理背景研究

选取伊犁河谷为研究区,探讨了夏朝以来的1 029处遗址时空分布和地理背景。结果表明：遗址分布的地貌类型依次为“河岸阶地→河流谷地、谷地的丘陵和高阶地→低起伏低山和低丘陵→冲（洪）积平原、河谷平原”。遗址分布范围分别经历了“分散”、“扩大”、“收敛”、“集中”的演变,其空间格局由前3个时期的“东高西低”演变为后3个时期的“西高东低”,其分布中心经历了从河流“中上游→下游”的演变。遗址集中分布于第2～8级（601～1 300 m）高程和第1～5级坡度（0～9°）,且随着时间的推移,其表现出从高海拔、高坡度向低海拔、低坡度转移的趋势。古遗址数量、规模均以宋元明时期最高,而古墓葬则以春秋-秦时期居首。古墓葬遗址主导文化经历了“安德罗诺沃文化→索墩布拉克文化→乌孙文化”的演变过程。     

天山乌鲁木齐河源区大西沟表土花粉散布特征

在天山乌鲁木齐河源区大西沟垂直植被带表土孢粉分析及植被调查的基础上，对大西沟垂直带的植被与表土孢粉的关系进行了探讨。从表土孢粉百分比含量可划分出4个孢粉带，其对应的植被带分别为高山垫状植被、高山草甸、亚高山草甸和云杉(Picea)林带。孢粉百分含量基本上反映了大西沟地区垂直植被带分布的特征。云杉、麻黄(Ephedra)、藜科(Chenopodiaceae)和蒿属(Artemisia)等植物花粉明显表现为超代表性。山谷上升气流在天山山地垂直植被带的表土孢粉散布中起着重要的作用。     

青藏高原强降水日数的时空分布特征

 根据青海和西藏48个气象台站近48 a（1961-2008年）的逐日降水和气温资料,分别以日降水量超过5 mm和25 mm作为冬半年（11月～翌年3月）和夏半年（5～9月）强降水的临界值,分析了青藏高原冬、夏半年强降水日数的时空分布特征。结果表明：（1）高原强降水日数与总降水量的空间分布型非常相似,夏半年均表现为由东南向西北递减,而冬半年则为由高原腹地向四周递减。（2）夏（冬）半年强降水主要集中在7月上旬～8月中旬（11月上旬和3月中下旬）。（3）夏（冬）半年强降水存在准6 a（5～6 a）的年际振荡以及准10～11 a（15 a）的年代际振荡。（4）强降水日数变化趋势的空间差异较大,夏半年高原北（南）部强降水日数普遍以增加（减少）趋势为主,而冬半年除雅鲁藏布江流域呈减少趋势外,高原大多数地区均表现出显著增加趋势。     

Average attenuation of 0.7–5.0 Hz Lg waves and magnitude scale determination for the region bounding the western branch of the East African Rift

The investigation of L g attenuation characteristics in the region bounding the western branch of the East African rift system using digital recordings from a seismic network located along the rift between Lake Rukwa and Lake Malawi is reported. A set of 24 recordings of L g waves from 12 regional earthquakes has been used for the determination of anelastic attenuation, Q _Lg , and regional body-wave magnitude, m _{b Lg} , scale. The events used have body-wave magnitudes, m _b , between 4.6 and 5.5, which have been determined teleseismically and listed in ISC bulletins. The data were time-domain displacement amplitudes measured at 10 different frequencies (0.7–5.0  Hz). Q _Lg and its frequency dependence, η , in the region can be represented in the form Q _Lg = (186.2 ± 6.5)  f  ^(0.78±0.05). This model is in agreement with models established in other active tectonic regions. The L g -wave-based magnitude formula for the region is given by m _{b Lg} = log   A + (3.76 ± 0.38)  log   D − (5.72 ± 1.06), where A is a half-peak-to-peak maximum amplitude of the 1  s L g wave amplitude in microns and D is the epicentral distance in kilometres. Magnitude results for the 12 regional earthquakes tested are in good agreement with the ISC body-wave magnitude scale.     

区域经济空间分异机制研究——一个理论分析模型及其在黄河流域的应用

区域经济空间分异机制是区域经济研究的一个重要问题。目前对此问题的研究有多个视角,但各个视角的研究成果都只是从某个方面阐释区域经济空间分异的机制。本文从区域经济空间分异机制的内涵出发,以经济增长因素的相关理论和分工理论为基础,将各个视角的研究成果贯穿起来,构建了一个解释区域经济空间分异机制的理论分析模型,并运用这个模型对黄河流域经济空间分异机制进行了实证分析。结果表明,黄河流域综合要素禀赋、分工与集聚的耦合互动关系明显存在,黄河流域经济空间分异受要素禀赋决定作用机制、分工传导作用机制和循环累积因果机制的支配。     

拉萨河下游河谷风沙源分布特征及其成因

根据IKONOS和Qu ick B ird影像解译和实地调查,对拉萨河下游河谷区风沙源分布特征、沙源粒度特征、植被特征以及人类活动的作用进行了探讨。结果表明,受大中小尺度风场的影响,风沙源地沿河谷两侧呈小面积零星分布在多个地貌部位;河流冲积物是最主要的沙源,沙源粒径90%以上分布在0.25 mm以下,以细沙、极细沙和粘粒成分为主,平均含量占60.69%,易于发生风沙活动;风沙活动是影响沙生植被的主导因素,植物种类和盖度能很好反映沙源地的稳定程度;特别在流动沙地和半流动沙地上,植被演替朝着有利于风沙活动发展的方向进行,是风沙活动的主要驱动因素之一,也是风沙活动不断加剧的产物。尽管自然因素是该区域风沙活动的主要成因,人类活动对其发展起到了强化作用。