Spatial and temporal structure of the Denmark Strait Overflow revealed by acoustic observations

In spite of the fundamental role the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) plays for global climate stability, no direct current measurement of the Denmark Strait Overflow, which is the densest part of the AMOC, has been available until recently that resolve the cross-stream structure at the sill for long periods. Since 1999, an array of bottom-mounted acoustic instruments measuring current velocity and bottom-to-surface acoustic travel times was deployed at the sill. Here, the optimization of the array configuration based on a numerical overflow model is discussed. The simulation proves that more than 80% of the dense water transport variability is captured by two to three acoustic current profilers (ADCPs). The results are compared with time series from ADCPs and Inverted Echo Sounders deployed from 1999 to 2003, confirming that the dense overflow plume can be reliably measured by bottom-mounted instruments and that the overflow is largely geostrophically balanced at the sill.     

Solar–terrestrial effects possibly stronger in biblical times

Paleomagnetic studies have shown that, moving backwards in time, the geomagnetic dipole moment increased to a peak nearly 50% greater than at present ca. 2500 years ago. Attempts to model how changes in dipole moment affect solar–terrestrial relations have hitherto invoked a scaling relation for the size of the magnetosphere based on finding where the magnetic pressure of the dipole field balances the ram pressure of the solar wind. This approach predicts that, following a solar storm, the strength of the terrestrial response represented by the electrical potential across the auroral zones in the ionosphere should vary as the 1/3 power of dipole moment. Such a weak dependence suggests that a 50% increase in dipole moment would minimally effect (14%) terrestrial manifestations of solar storms. Recent work, however, based on a feedback mechanism involving electrical currents coupling the magnetosphere and ionosphere has identified a stronger 4/3, power scaling relation applicable to storm conditions. Here we use a global MHD simulation to calculate for a 50% increased dipole moment the correspondingly increased auroral-zone potential and its extension to low latitudes.     

Assessment of village-wise groundwater draft for irrigation: a field-based study in hard-rock aquifers of central India

Extracted groundwater, 90% of which is used for irrigated agriculture, is central to the socio-economic development of India. A lack of regulation or implementation of regulations, alongside unrecorded extraction, often leads to over exploitation of large-scale common-pool resources like groundwater. Inevitably, management of groundwater extraction (draft) for irrigation is critical for sustainability of aquifers and the society at large. However, existing assessments of groundwater draft, which are mostly available at large spatial scales, are inadequate for managing groundwater resources that are primarily exploited by stakeholders at much finer scales. This study presents an estimate, projection and analysis of fine-scale groundwater draft in the Seonath-Kharun interfluve of central India. Using field surveys of instantaneous discharge from irrigation wells and boreholes, annual groundwater draft for irrigation in this area is estimated to be 212 × 10⁶ m³, most of which (89%) is withdrawn during non-monsoon season. However, the density of wells/boreholes, and consequent extraction of groundwater, is controlled by the existing hydrogeological conditions. Based on trends in the number of abstraction structures (1982–2011), groundwater draft for the year 2020 is projected to be approximately 307 × 10⁶ m³; hence, groundwater draft for irrigation in the study area is predicted to increase by ～44% within a span of 8 years. Central to the work presented here is the approach for estimation and prediction of groundwater draft at finer scales, which can be extended to critical groundwater zones of the country.     

Die Verwendung von orthogonalen Polynomen in der Meteorologie

Zusammenfassung Das Höhenfeld der 850 mb-Fläche über Mitteleuropa und dem Nordatlantik wird in einem Gitternetz aus 45 Punkten durch Orthogonalpolynome (Tschebytscheff-Polynome) dargestellt. Es wird ein Überblick darüber gegeben, welche Verwendungsmöglichkeiten dieser Darstellungsform künftighin untersucht werden sollen; es sind dies vor allem die objektive Klassifikation der Großwetterlagen, statistische Prognosen (besonders Mittelfristprognosen) und die Anwendung bei der numerischen Wettervorhersage. Als Beispiel für die Darstellung wird der Übergang von einer zonalen Wetterlage über eine meridionale wieder zu einer zonalen Lage an den Änderungen der Koeffizienten der Polynomkombinationen gezeigt.

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Summary The field of heights of the 850 mb-surface above Central Europe and the North Atlantic is represented in a grid of 45 points by means of orthogonal polynomials (Tchebycheff-polynomials). A general discussion is given which of the possible applications of this kind of representation shall further be investigated, i. e. first of all the objective classification of large scale weather situations (Großwetterlagen), statistical forecasts (especially medium range forecasts), and the application in numerical weather prediction. As an example of this representation, the variations of polynomial coefficients are given for the transition of a pressure field from zonal to meridional and back to zonal.

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Résumé Les hauteurs de la surface isobarique de 850 mb au dessus de l'Europe Centrale et de l'Océan Atlantique du Nord sont représentées dans un carrelage de 45 points par des polynoms orthogonaux (polynoms de Tchebycheff). Un aperçu est donné quel emploi possible de cette manière de représentation sera à examiner dans l'avenir; ce sont avant tout la classification objective des situations météorologiques générales (Großwetterlagen), les prévisions statistiques (particulièrement les prévisions à moyenne échéance) et l'application à la prévision numérique. Comme exemple de cette représentation la transition d'une situation météorologique zonale à une situation méridionale et vice versa à une situation zonale est montrée au moyen des variations des coefficients des combinaisons des polynoms.

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Mit 4 Textabbildungen

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Herrn Prof. Dr.R. Inzinger, dem Vorstand des Mathematischen Labors der Technischen Hochschule Wien, sei an dieser Stelle gedankt, daß er für die rechnerischen Vorarbeiten die Maschinen seines Instituts und einen seiner Assistenten für deren Programmierung zur Verfügung stellte.     

Geological and Isotope–Geochemical Criteria for the Existence of the Ancient Continental Crust in Basement Complexes of Primorye

The problem of the development of the ancient continental crust in the Primorye Region is discussed. It is substantiated by geological and isotope-geochemical criteria: a granite–metamorphic mineral composition of different-aged terrigenous deposits and pelagic cherts, occurrence of arkoses, as well as Proterozoic model age datings of sedimentary complexes and the occurrence of early Proterozoic zircons and monazites. The manifestation of potassium, high-Ba, LREE- and Nb-rich basite–ultrabasite magmatism, typical of Sino-Korean and Okhotsk Ba-bearing nuclears, of lengthy age intervals (Jurassic–Paleogene) in Primorye and the Amur Region is an important criterion.     

Alongshore Fluxes of Sand Sediments in the Region of Propagation of Tropical Cyclones (Example of the Hicacos Peninsula,Cuba)

Doklady Earth Sciences - The results of analysis of climatic peculiarities of the alongshore fluxes of bottom sediments are presented. The object of research is the coastal zone of the Hicacos...     

The dip equator over Peninsular India and its secular movement

A ground geomagnetic survey conducted in peninsular India has demarkated the dip equator for the epoch 1991.0. A well-defined southward migration in the last two decades is evident. The secular trend in the vertical component and the direction of the migration in the India zone are shown to be consistent. The migratory movement of the dip equator in different longitude sectors is compared to highlight the complex nature of the secular trends.     

Geoarchaeological evidence on a Late Bronze Age earthquake,Ohrid Basin (North Macedonia)

Geoarchaeological investigations on the northeastern shore of Lake Ohrid revealed 3.5 m thick deepwater lacustrine sediments overlying terrestrial vegetation macrofossils, worked wood and abundant potsherds dated to the Late Bronze Age (LBA). Distinct contact of deepwater sediment with the sub-aerial weathered limestone bedrock point to a sudden increase in lake level. According to radiocarbon data, catastrophic flooding occurred shortly after 1214 yr bc. Because the area is located in a highly active seismic zone, we propose that this event was caused by tectonically induced, metre-scale coseismic subsidence related to faults bordering the Ohrid alluvial plain. Moreover, this event coincides well with a dramatic switch in the habitation and settlement strategy in the region. More important, however, is the finding that the age of the proposed massive tectonic event and change in habitation lies within the interval of the proposed ‘earthquake storm’ in the eastern Mediterranean dated to 1225–1175 bc. As the Ohrid-Korça zone belongs to the same tectonic province, a relationship between the abovementioned earthquakes and the proposed event can be expected. This research therefore might provide the first direct evidence of a large-scale earthquake event linkable to the LBA collapse of Europe's first urban civilisation in the Aegean.     

Effectiveness of structural control based on control energy perspectives

A computational algorithm for maximizing the control efficiency in actively controlling the elastic structural responses during earthquake is proposed. Study of optimal linear control using a single degree of freedom shows that applying active control is very effective in reducing the structural displacement and velocity responses for long‐period structures, but at the same time it has an adverse effect in increasing the absolute acceleration response. The extent of this adverse effect reduces the effectiveness of the control system, and therefore it poses a limit on the maximum control force in order to provide maximum control efficiency. In view of this shortcoming, maximum control energy dissipation is used to define the most effective optimal linear control law. Less displacement and velocity response are expected as larger control force is applied, but there is always a limit that maximum control energy can be dissipated. This study shows that this limit depends on the structural characteristics as well as the input ground motion, and a general trend is that the maximum control energy decreases as damping increases. Finally, application of the proposed algorithm on a six‐storey hospital building is presented to show the effectiveness of using optimal linear control on a multi‐degree‐of‐freedom system from the control energy perspectives. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.