Review of Mercury's dynamic magnetosphere:Post-MESSENGER era and comparative magnetospheres

This review paper summarizes the research of Mercury’s magnetosphere in the Post-MESSENGER era and compares its dynamics to those in other planetary magnetospheres,especially to those in Earth’s magnetosphere.This review starts by introducing the planet Mercury,including its interplanetary environment,magnetosphere,exosphere,and conducting core.The frequent and intense magnetic reconnection on the dayside magnetopause,which is represented by the flux transfer event"shower",is reviewed on how they depend on magnetosheath plasma β and magnetic shear angle across the magnetopause,followed by how it contributes to the flux circulation and magnetosphere-surface-exosphere coupling.In the next,Mercury’s magnetosphere under extreme solar events,including the core induction and the reconnection erosion on the dayside magnetosphere,as well as the responses of the nightside magnetosphere,are reviewed.Then,the dawn-dusk properties of the plasma sheet,including the features of the ions,the structure of the current sheet,and the dynamics of magnetic reconnection,are summarized.The last topic is devoted to the particle energization in Mercury’s magnetosphere,which includes the energization of the Kelvin-Helmholtz waves on the magnetopause boundaries,reconnection-generated magnetic structures,and the cross-tail electric field.In each chapter,the last section discusses the open questions related to each topic,which can be considered by the simulations and the future spacecraft mission.We end this paper by summarizing the future Bepi Colombo opportunities,which is a joint mission of ESA and JAXA and is en route to Mercury.     

Existence,morphology and structure of the Yellow Sea Warm Current Branch approaching waters offshore Qingdao,China

In this study, we focused on full-region cruise survey data, near-bottom continuous mooring observations and sea surface wind products from the western South Yellow Sea in winter; after ensuring the data reliability and accuracy, we processed and analyzed the data. Image resolution experiments were carried out to determine the lowest recognition resolutions for all image types, which represent the resolution characteristics of the data. The existence of a warm water tongue originating from the Yellow Sea Warm Current(YSWC) that approached waters offshore Qingdao was confirmed. For the first time, a high salinity water tongue, corresponding to the warm water tongue, was described and found to be more representative of the YSWC branch path. This warm tongue is a sign of the branch originating from the YSWC, which we defined as the Yellow Sea Warm Current Branch approaching waters offshore Qingdao(YSWC-QDB). The pattern of the warm and salty water tongues showed remarkable rear, branching middle, shrinking neck and expanding top regions. These patterns showed a temporal feature of the tongues, and were the result of multi-temporal branches in front of the YSWC main section as well as the YSWC-QDB crossing the southwestward path of the extension of the North Shandong Coastal Current flowing along the southeast coast of the Shandong Peninsula(NSCC-SESE). Analysis using mooring data at a sensitive and representative station also showed the existence of the YSWC-QDB. It is a probabilistic event that manifests as a northwestward flow that decreases gradually from the bottom to the surface in the early cold air transit stage and consistent in the whole water column profile in the later stage. It varies quasi-periodically with weather processes. It also transports some of the YSWC water stored in the entrance area of the Bohai and Yellow seas under winter wind conditions to the western South Yellow Sea as a compensatory current. This current, caused by northerly winds, especially northwest winds and obstruction of the NSCC-SESE, was present, and strong water reduction and compensation caused significant residual sea level oscillations. The compensatory current, if caused by strong northwest wind,began to appear when its direction was opposite to the wind direction. In addition, confirmation of the YSWC-QDB provides an oceanographic basis for the short cooling time and rapid warming in the Qingdao area in winter. This research provides a basis for further studies of the YSWC-QDB at high spatial and temporal resolutions using large sea surface datasets. For monsoon basin dynamics, this study can also be extended to the whole Bohai and Yellow seas and closed or semi-closed basins on the continental margin.     

Recent progress of seismic research on tall buildings in China Mainland

To study the seismic behavior of high strength concrete fi lled double-tube(CFDT) columns,each consisting of an external square steel tube and an internal circular steel tube,quasi-static tests on eight CFDT column specimens were conducted.The test variables included the width-to-thickness ratio(β1) and the area ratio(β2) of the square steel tube,the wall thickness of the circular steel tube,and the axial force(or the axial force ratio) applied to the CFDT columns.The test results indicate that for CFDT columns with a square steel tube with β1 of 50.1 and 24.5,local buckling of the specimen was found at a drift ratio of 1/150 and 1/50,respectively.The lateral force-displacement hysteretic loops of all specimens were plump and stable.Reducing the width-to-thickness ratio of the square steel tube,increasing its area ratio,or increasing the wall thickness of the internal circular steel tube,led to an increased fl exural strength and deformation capacity of the specimens.Increasing the design value of the axial force ratio from 0.8 to 1.0 may increase the fl exural strength of the specimens,while it may also decrease the ultimate deformation capacity of the specimen with β1 of 50.1.     

Geological and surfacial processes and major disaster effects in the Yellow River Basin

The Yellow River Basin(YRB) is characterized by active geological and tectonic processes, rapid geomorphological evolution, and distinct climatic diversity. Correspondingly, major disasters in the YRB are characterized by varied types,extensive distributions, and sudden occurrences. In addition, major disasters in the YRB usually evolve into disaster chains that cause severe consequences. Therefore, major disasters in the YRB destroy ecologies and environments and influence geological and ecological safety in the basin. This paper systematically reviews research on geological and surface processes, major disaster effects, and risk mitigation in the YRB, discusses the trends and challenges of relevant research, analyzes the key scientific problems that need to be solved, and suggests prospects for future research based on the earth system science concept. Themes of research that should be focused on include geological, surface and climatic processes in the YRB and their interlinking disaster gestation mechanisms;formation mechanisms and disaster chain evolutions of giant landslides in the upper reach of the YRB;mechanisms and disaster chain effects of loess water-soil disasters in the middle reach of the YRB;occurrence patterns and amplifying effects of giant flood chains in the lower reach of the YRB;and risk mitigations of major disasters in the YRB. Key scientific problems that need to be solved are as follows: how to reveal the geological, surface and climatic processes that are coupled and interlinked with gestation mechanisms of major disasters;how to clarify the mutual feedback effects between major disasters and ecology;and how to develop a human-environmental harmony-based integrated risk mitigation system for major disasters. Prospects for future studies that follow the earth system science concept include the following: highlighting interdisciplinary research to reveal the interlinked disaster gestation mechanisms of the geology, surface and climate in the YRB in the past, present, and future;forming theories to clarify the regional patterns, dynamic mechanisms, and mutual-feedback effects between disaster chains and ecology in the YRB on land and in rivers in the region;solving technological bottlenecks to develop assessment models and mitigation theories for integrated risks in the YRB by following the human-environment harmony concept;and finally, establishing a demonstratable application pattern characterized by "whole-basin coverage" and "zonal controls", thereby guaranteeing ecological and geological safety in the basin and providing scientific support for ecological conservation and high-quality development of the YRB.     

The intrinsic nonlinear multiscale interactions among the mean flow,low frequency variability and mesoscale eddies in the Kuroshio region

Using a new functional analysis tool, multiscale window transform(MWT), and the MWT-based localized multiscale energetics analysis and canonical transfer theory, this study reconstructs the Kuroshio system on three scale windows, namely,the mean flow window, the interannual-scale(low-frequency) window, and the transient eddy window, and investigates the climatological characteristics of the intricate nonlinear interactions among these windows. Significant upscale energy transfer is observed east of Taiwan, where the mean Kuroshio current extracts kinetic energy from both the interannual and eddy windows.It is found that the canonical transfer from the interannual variability is an intrinsic source that drives the eddy activities in this region. The multiscale variabilities of the Kuroshio in the East China Sea(ECS) are mainly controlled by the interaction between the mean flow and the eddies.The mean flow undergoes mixed instabilities(i.e., both barotropic and baroclinic instabilities) in the southern ECS, while it is barotropically stable but baroclinically unstable to the north. The multiscale interactions are found to be most intense south of Japan, where strong mixed instabilities occur; both the canonical transfers from the mean flow and the interannual scale are important mechanisms to fuel the eddies. It is also found that the interannual-scale energy mainly comes from the barotropically unstable jet, rather than the upscale energy transfer from the high frequency eddies.     

Evaluation of vertical impact factor coefficients for continuous and integral railway bridges under high-speed moving loads

In the railway bridge analysis and design method,dynamic train loads are regarded as static loads enhanced by an impact factor(IF).The IF coefficients for various railway bridges have been reported as a function of span length or frequency of the bridges in Eurocode(2003).However,these IF coefficient values neglect the effects of very high speeds(>200 km/h)and soil-structure interaction(SSI).In this work,a comprehensive study to assess the impact factor coefficients of mid-span vertical displacements for continuous and integral railway bridges subjected to high-speed moving loads is reported.Three different configurations,each for the three-dimensional(3D)continuous and integral bridge,are considered.Also,single-track(1-T)and two-track(2-T)“real train”loading cases for both these bridge types are considered.Subsequently,finite element analysis of the full-scale 3D bridge models,to identify their IF values,considering the effects of SSI for three different soil conditions,is conducted.The IF values obtained from the study for both bridge types are comparable and are greater than the values recommended by Eurocode(2003).The results reveal that with a loss of soil stiffness,the IF value reduces;thus,it confirms the importance of SSI analysis.     

Distribution and structural characteristics of the Xi'an Section of the Weihe Fault

The results of seismic deep reflection,high resolution refraction and shallow artificial seismic exploration indicate that the fault on the northern bank of the Weihe river is composed of two faults,one is the Yaodian-Zhangjiawan fault and the other is the Chuanzhang-Zuitou fault.The 22 km long Yaodian-Zhangjiawan fault of EW-striking starts from Chenjiagou via Yaodian town,Qianpai village,Bili village,Wujia town and Zhangjiawan to Jiajiatan.The 15 km long Chuanzhang-Zuitou fault striking near EW starts from Chuanzhang via Mabei to Zuitou.The Weihe fault offset the basement and upper crust,the reflecting layers of TQ,TN,TE and Tg are ruptured at depth of about 15 km.In the deep part,the Weihe fault and the secondary fault form a Y-shaped structure or a synthetic low angle intersection.The Weihe fault is a listric normal fault.The fault has obvious structural characteristics of a reversed-drag normal fault and a normal drag normal fault with the depth of 1 000 m,and also has the characteris-tics of syngenetic sediment.The Weihe fault is one of the faults which control the basin sediment,and it is the boundary fault of Xi’an depression and Xianyang salient.The depth of the fault decreases from the west to east gradually,the deep part intersects with the Lintong-Chang’an fault at the intersection part of Weihe River,Jinghe River and Bahe River and the shallow part connects with the Weinan-Jingyang fault.The seismic exploration re-sults indicate that no fault exists on southern bank of the Weihe River.     

Prestack reverse-time depth migration of arbitrarily wide-angle wave equations

Based on arbitrarily wide-angle wave equations,a reverse-time propagation scheme is developed by substituting the partial derivatives of depth and time with central differences. The partial derivative of horizontal direction is replaced with high order difference. The imaging condition is computed by solving the eikonal equations. On the basis of above techniques,a prestack reverse-time depth migration algorithm is developed. The processing exam-ples of synthetic data show that the method can remove unwanted internal reflections and decrease the migration noise. The method also has the advantage of fidelity and is applicable of dip angle reflector imaging.     

New supervised learning classifiers for structural damage diagnosis using time series features from a new feature extraction technique

The motivation for this article is to propose new damage classifiers based on a supervised learning problem for locating and quantifying damage.A new feature extraction approach using time series analysis is introduced to extract damage-sensitive features from auto-regressive models.This approach sets out to improve current feature extraction techniques in the context of time series modeling.The coefficients and residuals of the AR model obtained from the proposed approach are selected as the main features and are applied to the proposed supervised learning classifiers that are categorized as coefficient-based and residual-based classifiers.These classifiers compute the relative errors in the extracted features between the undamaged and damaged states.Eventually,the abilities of the proposed methods to localize and quantify single and multiple damage scenarios are verified by applying experimental data for a laboratory frame and a four-story steel structure.Comparative analyses are performed to validate the superiority of the proposed methods over some existing techniques.Results show that the proposed classifiers,with the aid of extracted features from the proposed feature extraction approach,are able to locate and quantify damage;however,the residual-based classifiers yield better results than the coefficient-based classifiers.Moreover,these methods are superior to some classical techniques.     

Local scour around two side-by-side cylindrical bridge piers under ice-covered conditions

In the current study, 108 flume experiments with non-uniform, cohesionless sediments have been done to investigate the local scour process around four pairs of side-by-side bridge piers under both open channel and ice-covered flow conditions. Similar to local scour around bridge piers under open channel conditions and a single bridge pier, it was observed in the experiments that the maximum scour depth always occurred at the upstream face of the pier under ice-covered conditions. Further, the smaller the pier size and the greater the spacing distance between the bridge piers, the weaker the horseshoe vortices around the bridge piers, and, thus, the shallower the scour holes around them. Finally, empirical equations were developed to estimate the maximum scour depth around two side-by-side bridge piers under both open channel and ice-covered flow conditions.     

九寨沟7.0级地震前四川地区地磁异常分析

利用地磁垂直分量日变幅逐日比方法分析了2017年8月8日九寨沟7.0级地震前的地磁异常时空变化特征,结果表明:震前6个月成都、松潘、江油和崇州4个台站出现了同步的逐日比超阈值异常,异常台站集中于四川北部地区,震中位于异常阈值线上。外空场活动调查排除了空间环境对计算结果的影响,显示此次多台同步逐日比异常很可能是浅层地下介质电性结构改变的一种表现。     

基于SHALSTAB模型与面向对象遥感影像分析的地震滑坡信息快速检测

滑坡是最为常见的地震次生灾害之一,对其进行有效监测一直都是业界研究的热点。基于此,提出了一种高分遥感影像地震滑坡信息快速检测方法,该方法将SHALSTAB模型与面向对象影像分析相结合,首先对遥感影像进行多尺度分割,并根据稳定性模型赋权,然后根据深度学习机制对滑坡对象进行检测,最后对检测结果进行过滤,并将该方法应用于2013年芦山地震滑坡检测,与目视解译结果进行对比。结果表明:该方法能快速检测高分遥感影像上滑坡,滑坡检测正确率达85%以上。     

川西龙门山及邻区地壳上地幔远震P波层析成像

本文利用川西地震台阵记录到的远震P波走时数据和非线性层析成像算法,获得龙门山地区400 km深度范围内的三维P波速度结构.为了适应川西地区复杂的地质结构,本文的层析成像方法采用了快速行进三维走时计算算法和Tarantola非线性反演算法.我们的结果揭示了川滇地块、松潘-甘孜地块和四川盆地三个不同地块构造差异及该区深部动力学特征.本文的研究表明：1）研究区地壳上地幔P波速度结构具有较为明显的分区特征,松潘-甘孜地块和川滇地块岩石圈速度较低,四川盆地岩石圈速度较高,四川盆地的岩石圈厚度从南250 km向北逐渐减薄至100 km.松潘-甘孜地块上地幔存在地幔上涌的特征.2）川滇地块和四川盆地仅是垂直接触关系,而在龙门山地区四川盆地前缘存在减薄的现象,并伴随松潘-甘孜地块上地幔低速物质有侵入四川盆地岩石圈下方的特征,这显示了四川盆地与松潘-甘孜地块和川滇地块的动力学关系的差异.3）以映秀为界,龙门山断裂带被从松潘-甘孜侵入的低速异常分为南北两段：龙门山南段和龙门山北段,汶川大地震及其余震序列均分布在龙门山断裂带的北段.在青藏高原向东挤压和地幔上涌的双重作用下造成松潘-甘孜地块隆升,由于汶川处于龙门山北段的最南端,应力容易在此集中.这些因素可能是汶川M_S8.0地震的基本动力学背景.本文的结果不支持四川盆地的俯冲及层间流动的动力学模型.     

基于天地图的地震灾情综合研判系统设计与实现

阐述了基于天地图的地震灾情综合研判系统建设目的、系统设计以及系统功能实现,并将该系统应用于2017年九寨沟7.0级地震。结果表明:该系统实现了灾区基础背景信息与快速评估结果的查询和可视化,多源灾情信息汇聚,灾区范围、次生灾害、交通震害等主题综合研判,以及研判成果产出等功能,为开展灾情协同综合研判提供了便捷的工具,为震后地震应急指挥决策提供了重要灾情信息支持,有效支撑了地震应急工作。     

基于天地图高精度建筑物的四川宝兴县人口估算

为了提高震前灾害风险评估和震后灾情快速评估工作中人口空间分布估计的准确性,利用2016年四川宝兴县乡镇人口数据及天地图中的建筑物数据,运用居住建筑人口密度方法得到四川宝兴县各乡镇居住建筑物尺度的人口分布矢量数据,并利用实地调研获取的单体建筑物实际人口进行精度验证。实验结果表明:以居住建筑物体积作为人口空间分布指示因子建模,得到的拟合精度为0.9027,人口平均相对误差为15.23%,结果具有可靠性,可为震前灾害风险评估和震后灾情快速评估提供更为可靠的数据支撑。     

四川兴文5.7级地震烈度评定及结构震害简析

四川兴文5.7级地震共致宜宾市兴文县、珙县和长宁县3个县22个乡镇受灾,震区抗震设防烈度为Ⅵ度。震区主要建筑物结构类型为框架结构、砖混结构、砖木结构和土木结构,大多数房屋没有经过抗震设防加固,抗震性能一般。通过对震区3个县68个抽样点的调查,发现框架结构和设防砖混结构在此次地震中表现出了良好的抗震性能。同时对不同结构类型房屋的构造方式、分布情况和震害特点进行了分析,并针对不同的震害特征,为今后该地区的灾后恢复重建和防震减灾工作提出了对策建议。     

四川地区一维地壳速度模型研究

本文以四川地震台网2009~2014年的编目报告为基础,选择定位精度为1且记录台站数大于30的地震,筛选去除其中因定位深度误差或者空隙角偏大而造成的异常结果,验证了数据的合理性和稳定性;优选出47个地震,对其重新判读,结合折合走时调整以及Hyposat批处理方法,得到了适应四川地区地震的平均速度模型;并利用人工爆破事件、PTD方法的地震定位结果进行对比,分析使用不同模型时的结果差异。     

2014年康定M_S6.3级地震前后的重力变化特征

利用四川地区2010年8月至2015年3月的流动重力观测数据作出重力场等值线变化图像,研究分析2014年康定MS6.3级地震前后的重力变化特征,结果表明:(1)三岔口地区长期保持区域性重力正值变化异常及重力变化高梯度带;(2)在康定MS6.3级地震前后三岔口地区的区域性重力正值变化异常及重力变化高梯度带变化并不是特别显著;(3)在康定MS6.3级地震前震区重力变化等值线出现四象限区域或者类似于四象限区域的分布特征;(4)康定MS6.3级地震发震位置处于0值线附近且0值线在此处发生明显的转折、畸变;(5)康定MS6.3级地震发生在重力减小后回调增加的过程中,震后重力继续回调增加。     

川东弧形带三维构造扩展的AFT记录

对川东弧形褶皱带北段、中段和南段的三条剖面,进行了7件样品的磷灰石裂变径迹(AFT)测试,结合前人已发表的4件样品,分析模拟了主要背斜的隆升－剥露热历史.结果表明川东弧形带主体构造变形时间为135→65 Ma,即早白垩世早期到晚白垩世晚期.进而建立并对比了三条剖面的构造变形时序,揭示出川东弧形带的三维构造扩展历史:(1) 平行于构造线走向,表现为从中心向两翼的构造扩展,弧形带中段的构造变形最早,起始时间为早白垩世早期(约135 Ma),北段和南段的变形较晚,起始时间为早白垩世晚期(约100 Ma);(2) 垂直于构造线走向,在弧形带北段和中段均表现为由东向西的构造扩展,而在弧形带南段,由于受到前缘华蓥山断裂的影响,表现为自西向东的变形时序.川东弧形带的三维构造扩展历史暗示了"弯山构造"的成因模式,以及华蓥山先存断裂对弧形构造的限制作用.     

四川地区的地震层析成像

由四川地震台网的P波数据所进行的层析成像研究得到了该区地壳及上地幔速度图像的新信息(结果表明:1.20^-km深度处的速度图像与地表构造特征密切有关,反映了地壳的岩性分布,呈现为断块结构;龙门山、鲜水河主要断裂及南北构造带和四川盆地清晰地成像在图上.一直被认为是隐伏存在的华蓥山断裂则鲜明地展现在20-85km深度的速度图像上.2.50±km深度处的速度图像则反映了该区的莫霍面深度明显起伏;四川盆地、徽（县）成（县）盆地和汉中盆地的地壳厚度小于50km,上地幔顶部速度约8.1km/s.龙门山以104°E为界,北段地壳厚度与四川盆地一样,中南段与川西相近.康滇地轴为四川地区地壳由东向西增厚的过渡地带.3.岩石层厚度显著变化,扬子准地台为比较活动的褶皱区,具有较厚的岩石层.4.速度结构与地震活动性存在一定的联系,该区1930年以来M≥6.0的强震震中在20^-km深度（上地壳）上的投影大都分布在速度梯度带上,成条带分布.考虑到强震的余震区大都偏高速体一侧,似乎表明,高速体有高于周围介质的剪切强度,它可能起沿断裂带凹凸体的作用.强震震中在50⁺km深度（上地幔顶部）上的投影几乎都分布在低速区及其边缘,那里壳幔间速度呈过渡关系,是软流层顶部较浅地区.