Free Wobble of the Triaxial Earth: Theory and Comparisons with International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) Data

Earth’s free wobble is often referred to as the Euler wobble (for the rigid case) or the Chandler wobble for the real case. In this study, we investigate the theory of the free wobble of the triaxial Earth and demonstrate that: (1) the Euler period should actually be expressed by the complete elliptic integral of first kind, and (2) the trace of the free polar motion is elliptic, with the orientations of its semi-minor and major axes being approximately parallel to the Earth’s principal axes A and B, respectively. Numerical calculations show that, due to the triaxiality of the Earth, the spin rate ω ₃ fluctuates with the semi-Euler/Chandler period, although its amplitude (about 10⁻¹⁹ rad/s) is rather small and beyond the present measurement accuracy; the tilt of the instantaneous spin axis (or the amplitude of the free wobble), θ, has a fluctuation whose amplitude is around 0.34 milli-arcsecond (mas), which could be detected by present observations. Thus, we conclude that the Earth’s triaxial nature has little impact on ω ₃, but has an influence on the polar motion which should not be ignored. On the other hand, our study shows that there is a mechanism of frequency–amplitude modulation in the Chandler wobble which might be a candidate to explain the correlation between the amplitude and period of the Chandler wobble. We compare the theoretical polar parameters (m ₁, m ₂) with the observed values for the Chandler components obtained from the data EOP (IERS) C 04, and find that they coincide with each other quite well, especially for recent years. In addition, a polar wander towards 76.7°W, which is in agreement with previous results given by other scientists, is also obtained.     

Comparison of two different equations of state for application of carbon dioxide sequestration

We suggest that different equations of state (EOS) algorithms can and frequently will provide very different predictions of CO₂ migration following injection for sequestration. Rather than carry out an exhaustive examination of all EOS algorithms available, we elected to evaluate this general hypothesis by making detailed comparisons of simulation results of two very common EOS algorithms. We simulated and compared CO₂ migration patterns using two fundamentally different EOS algorithms – Modified Redlich-Kwong EOS (MRKEOS) and Span and Wagner EOS (SWEOS). In general, the predictions of thermophysical properties for both algorithms are close, except for a contrast in the predicted fugacity coefficient of CO₂, which subsequently propagates to a contrast in predicted solubility in water/brine. Typically, MRKEOS underestimates solubility of CO₂ compared to both SWEOS and experimental solubility data. In simulations of CO₂ migration, dissolution rates of separate-phase CO₂ predicted from the two EOS algorithms were significantly different, even for small contrasts in predicted fluid properties from EOS algorithms, resulting in markedly different migration patterns.     

初涉地震科普宣传的几点体会

随着防震减灾事业的发展,社会和公众对地震科普宣传的需求与要求越来越高.特别是遇到汶川8.0级突发大震,科普宣传就更加重要.我退休后,按照单位领导的要求和安排,做了一些地震科普宣传方面的工作,尤其是汶川地震后,经常被媒体追得手忙脚乱,团团转.从地震科普宣传实践中,深深体会到几点.(1 好对公众的宣传,自己必须加强学习.     

Statistical model on the surface elevation of waves with breaking

In the surface wind drift layer with constant momentum flux, two sets of the consistent surface eleva- tion expressions with breaking and occurrence conditions for breaking are deduced from the first in- tegrals of the energy and vortex variations and the kinetic and mathematic breaking criterions, then the expression of the surface elevation with wave breaking is established by using the Heaviside function. On the basis of the form of the sea surface elevation with wave breaking and the understanding of small slope sea waves, a triple composite function of real sea waves is presented including the func- tions for the breaking, weak-nonlinear and basic waves. The expression of the triple composite func- tion and the normal distribution of basic waves are the expected theoretical model for surface elevation statistics.     

Accumulation characteristics and the main controlling factors of Lunnan multilayer oil province,Tarim Basin,China

Lunnan region is a large-scale paleohigh with many coexisting oil and gas bearing series. At present, about 2 billions tons of proved, probable and possible oil and gas reverses have been proved there. Eight oil and gas bearing series have been found in the Ordovician, Carboniferous, Triassic and Jurassic of Lunnan region, they all bear the characteristics of large-scale multilayer oil-gas province. Ordovician is the main reservoir series where over 0.8 billion tons of oil geologic reserves were discovered, and a super large-scale marine carbonate oil and gas field has formed. Reservoir space of the carbonate reservoirs is mainly composed of dissolved hole, dissolved pore and fracture in Lunnan paleo-burial hill. Generally, dissolved holes are widely distributed among them. Reservoir developments are mainly controlled by karstification and tectonic disruption. Due to the similar geochemical characters, the Ordovician, Carboniferous, Triassic and Jurassic oil and gas reservoirs present the same oil source rock of Mid-Upper Ordovician, the latter except Ordovician are mostly of secondary oil and gas reservoirs migrated vertically by faults during the process of multiple phase tectonic movement, adjustment and reconstruction. Lunnan composite oil and gas accumulation region is situated in the vicinity of large-scale hydrocarbon generation depressions in three directions, ample oil and gas from hydrocarbon generation depressions supplied the adjacent oil and gas reservoirs once. Hereby, the succeed paleohigh is the long-term hydrocarbon accumulation region, which is favor for the formations of high quality reservors, fault systems and huge-scale composite oil and gas accumulation.     

Late Eocene pollen records and palaeoenvironmental changes in northern Tibetan Plateau

The Eocene palaeovegetation landscape and palaeoclimate reconstructed from the pollen records in the Jiuquan Basin, northwest China provide some important information on the early uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and the origin and evolution of the aridification in northwest China. The records show the arid-semiarid scrubs with open forest palynofloras controlled by the subtropical high existed in northwest China during the 40.2–33.4 Ma. Four pollen assemblages are found: Nitrariadites-Cheno-podipollis-Pinaceae assemblage (40.2–37.9 Ma) is followed by Chenopodipollis-Nitrariadites assemblage (37.9–34.6 Ma), Pinuspollenites & Abietineaepollenites-Chenopodipollis assemblage (34.6–33.9 Ma), and Chenopodipollis-Nitrariadites assemblage (33.9–33.4 Ma). The percentage of thermophilic types is in anti-correlation with that of the dry types, which means the palaeoclimate is relatively warm-wet or cold-dry during most of that time. Such aridity may be related to the water vapor reduction and the planetary wind system movement northward in response to the cooling caused by small-ephemeral ice-sheets. Supported by the National Key Program for Developing Basic Sciences (Grant No. 2005CB422001), the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40334038, 40421101) and the President Fund of Chinese Academy of Sciences     

天津滨海新区潜在淹没区发展趋势研究

本文利用2006年以前天滓地面沉降监测资料和塘沽、汉沽地区潜在淹没区RTK加密观测资料,以水准监测点为基本研究对象,深入分析研究了每个测点随时间的沉降变化规律,进而“以点带面”绘制了2005年和2011年天津滨海新区地面沉降速率等值线图。同时,还绘制了2005年塘沽、汉沽地区潜在淹没区地面标高等值线分布图,以及预测的2011年塘沽、汉沽地区潜在淹没区的时空分布和面积。最后,提出了应对地面沉降的相关建议,以供政府控制地面沉降时参考。     

基于3S的近15 a新疆LUCC时空变化研究及分析

 以20世纪80年代末期新疆土地利用数据库为基础,以2004—2005年度中巴资源卫星影像数据为信息源,结合多层环境要素数据库、野外定点调查分析等数据,采用多要素综合分析的解译方法,通过人机交互式解译,综合判读并提取了20世纪80年代末期至2005年近15 a来新疆LUCC时空数据。从现状、动态变化等方面对LUCC信息进行定量和定性的分析,并运用土地利用动态度进一步说明了新疆的土地利用/土地覆盖变化。结果显示,新疆的耕地、林地、水域、建设地面积都有所增加,耕地的年变化率最大;未利用地面积有所减少,草地面积减少明显。     

Input data selection for solar radiation estimation

Model input data selection is a complicated process, especially for non‐linear dynamic systems. The questions on which inputs should be used and how long the training data should be for model development have been hard to solve in practice. Despite the importance of this subject, there have been insufficient reports in the published literature about inter‐comparison between different model input data selection techniques. In this study, several methods (i.e. the Gamma test, entropy theory, AIC (Akaike's information criterion)/BIC (Bayesian information criterion) have been explored with the aid of non‐linear models of LLR (local linear regression) and ANN (artificial neural networks). The methodology is tested in estimation of solar radiation in the Brue Catchment of England. It has been found that the conventional model selection tools such as AIC/BIC failed to demonstrate their functionality. Although the entropy theory is quite powerful and efficient to compute, it failed to pick up the best input combinations. On the other hand, it is very encouraging to find that the new Gamma test was able to choose the best input selection. However, it is surprising to note that the Gamma test significantly underestimated the required training data while the entropy theory did a better job in this aspect. This is the first study to compare the performance of those techniques for model input selections and still there are many unsolved puzzles. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.