加里福尼亚Fremont谷一井可反映断层的最新活动

自1978年3月,在Fresmout谷(F谷)一口井中连续记录到水位资料.其靠近Garlock断裂带(G带)上的数条断层显示出有左旋位移和倾滑位移.水位差表明有断层从观测井和灌溉井间通过.4年间,记录到6次急剧的水位变化(脉冲),这些发生在2—4天以上的水位变化,幅度为15—30厘米,似断层蠕动的结果.在观测井南300米处的G带上可能有两种蠕动:(1)阶梯状的倾滑位移;(2)左旋位移.利用指数函数、反正切函数和斜余弦函数变化的位错模型分析了水位变化、压力分布和断层位移.结果表明,该断层上的单个蠕动事件的位移量在1厘米以内.1978—1982年期间,累计蠕变值为20-50毫米,这取决于使用模型的特殊性.     

地震区划图有助于拯救生命和财产

美国地震区划图为编制和修订美国建筑物抗震规范设计提供了所需资料。为了能反映最新的认识水平,科学家经常修订地震区划图。满足现代抗震设计规范的建筑具有较好的抗震性能,不仅能减少人员伤亡,而且能使如生命线工程等正常运转。     

全球变暖导致洪水风险增加——长江洪水前景分析

近期在很多地方洪水越来越频繁且破坏性更大.20世纪90年代以来全球大洪水造成社会经济财产巨大损失,30次大洪水每次总损失额均超过10×10⁸美元.1990-1998年的9a时间的大洪水爆发的次数比1950-1985年期间Ma大洪水次数还要多.近年来中国大陆也遭受了若干重大洪水灾害(包括1996和1998年两次大的财产损失).与气候变率和变化相关的洪水灾害和易爆发程度的显著增加,这是当前最紧迫的问题.随着气温升高大气中持水量也增加,因此大规模强度的降水的可能性也增大.己观测到高而集中的大降水事件而且这种趋势在未来气候变暖条件下可能增加,大降水事件的增加是洪灾增加的必然条件.当然也有一些其它的非气象因素加剧洪灾的发生,比如土地利用变化(森林砍伐、城市化)导致土壤持水能力下降,径流系数增加;此外,人类占据了洪泛区,可能导致洪水损失增大.另外物质财富在洪泛区的积聚也导致了洪灾损失增加.毫无疑问,由于人类活动和气候的共同作用,未来洪水风险在很多地方可能增加.洪水易爆发程度被认为是暴露系数和调节能力的函数,而且在许多地方所有这些变量都可能增加.而随着暴露系数比人类调节能力增加快,因此洪水易爆发程度增大.然而,要完全从径流变化中区分气候因素导致的强烈自然变率还是直接的人为环境变化是很困难的.由于使用不同的假定情景和不同的气候模型,得到的未来环境的预测结果差异也很大.IPCC第三次评估报告中广泛讨论了气候变化与洪水之间的关系.IPCC第三次评估报告警告说,在东亚季风区非常湿润的季风季节出现的可能性非常大,进而会导致相应地区洪水风险增加.本文总结了迄今为此可收集到的有关长江洪水的资料.利用一些案例来分析研究未来假定情景下气候对水文的影响,并对东亚地区的模拟结果进行了讨论.     

Performance-based concept on seismic evaluation of existing bridges

Conventional seismic evaluation of existing bridges explores the ability of a bridge to survive under significant earthquake excitations. This approach has several major drawbacks, such as only a single structural performance of near collapse is considered, and the simplified approach of adopting strength-based concept to indirectly estimate the nonlinear behavior of a structure lacks accuracy. As a result, performance-based concepts that include a wider variety of structural performance states of a given bridge excited by different levels of earthquake intensity is needed by the engineering community. This paper introduces an improved process for the seismic evaluation of existing bridges. The relationship between the overall structural performance and earthquakes with varying levels of peak ground acceleration (PGA) can successfully be linked. A universal perspective on the seismic evaluation of bridges over their entire life-cycle can be easily obtained to investigate multiple performance objectives. The accuracy of the proposed method, based on pushover analysis, is proven in a case study that compares the results from the proposed procedure with additional nonlinear time history analyses.     

ENCORE: the effect of nutrient enrichment on coral reefs. Synthesis of results and conclusions

Coral reef degradation resulting from nutrient enrichment of coastal waters is of increasing global concern. Although effects of nutrients on coral reef organisms have been demonstrated in the laboratory, there is little direct evidence of nutrient effects on coral reef biota in situ. The ENCORE experiment investigated responses of coral reef organisms and processes to controlled additions of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (N) and/or phosphorus (P) on an offshore reef (One Tree Island) at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. A multi-disciplinary team assessed a variety of factors focusing on nutrient dynamics and biotic responses. A controlled and replicated experiment was conducted over two years using twelve small patch reefs ponded at low tide by a coral rim. Treatments included three control reefs (no nutrient addition) and three + N reefs (NH4Cl added), three + P reefs (KH2PO4 added), and three + N + P reefs. Nutrients were added as pulses at each low tide (ca twice per day) by remotely operated units. There were two phases of nutrient additions. During the initial, low-loading phase of the experiment nutrient pulses (mean dose = 11.5 microM NH4+; 2.3 microM PO4(-3)) rapidly declined, reaching near-background levels (mean = 0.9 microM NH4+; 0.5 microM PO4(-3)) within 2-3 h. A variety of biotic processes, assessed over a year during this initial nutrient loading phase, were not significantly affected, with the exception of coral reproduction, which was affected in all nutrient treatments. In Acropora longicyathus and A. aspera, fewer successfully developed embryos were formed, and in A. longicyathus fertilization rates and lipid levels decreased. In the second, high-loading, phase of ENCORE an increased nutrient dosage (mean dose = 36.2 microM NH4+; 5.1 microM PO4(-3)) declining to means of 11.3 microM NH4+ and 2.4 microM PO4(-3) at the end of low tide) was used for a further year, and a variety of significant biotic responses occurred. Encrusting algae incorporated virtually none of the added nutrients. Organisms containing endosymbiotic zooxanthellae (corals and giant clams) assimilated dissolved nutrients rapidly and were responsive to added nutrients. Coral mortality, not detected during the initial low-loading phase, became evident with increased nutrient dosage, particularly in Pocillopora damicornis. Nitrogen additions stunted coral growth, and phosphorus additions had a variable effect. Coral calcification rate and linear extension increased in the presence of added phosphorus but skeletal density was reduced, making corals more susceptible to breakage. Settlement of all coral larvae was reduced in nitrogen treatments, yet settlement of larvae from brooded species was enhanced in phosphorus treatments. Recruitment of stomatopods, benthic crustaceans living in coral rubble, was reduced in nitrogen and nitrogen plus phosphorus treatments. Grazing rates and reproductive effort of various fish species were not affected by the nutrient treatments. Microbial nitrogen transformations in sediments were responsive to nutrient loading with nitrogen fixation significantly increased in phosphorus treatments and denitrification increased in all treatments to which nitrogen had been added. Rates of bioerosion and grazing showed no significant effects of added nutrients. ENCORE has shown that reef organisms and processes investigated in situ were impacted by elevated nutrients. Impacts were dependent on dose level, whether nitrogen and/or phosphorus were elevated and were often species-specific. The impacts were generally sub-lethal and subtle and the treated reefs at the end of the experiment were visually similar to control reefs. Rapid nutrient uptake indicates that nutrient concentrations alone are not adequate to assess nutrient condition of reefs. Sensitive and quantifiable biological indicators need to be developed for coral reef ecosystems. The potential bioindicators identified in ENCORE should be tested in future research on coral reef/nutrient interactions. Synergistic and cumulative effects of elevated nutrients and other environmental parameters, comparative studies of intact vs. disturbed reefs, offshore vs. inshore reefs, or the ability of a nutrient-stressed reef to respond to natural disturbances require elucidation. An expanded understanding of coral reef responses to anthropogenic impacts is necessary, particularly regarding the subtle, sub-lethal effects detected in the ENCORE studies.     

犹他州人面对未来

几乎75%的犹他州人居住在沃萨奇断层附近。地球科学家们已经证明这个断层一再发生7级或更大的强烈地震,而且将来会继续发生下去。犹他州努力增加公众对地震危险的意识,使得居民和团体领导人在未来地震中将采取行动来保护生命和减少损失。1847年当第一批疲倦不堪的摩门教移居者到达犹他州盐湖城的土地上时,他们宣布这就是选中的地方。然而,他们并不知道     

湖泊沉积物中胶黄铁矿的鉴出及其磁学意义

对青藏高原东部若尔盖盆地钻孔获取的湖泊沉积物进行了详细的岩石磁学调查及矿物学鉴定, 发现大量胶黄铁矿存在, 并认定其为主要的磁载体. 该矿物颗粒细小, 粒度均匀, 可能为生物化学成因. 与大量文献报道的相反, 在长期暴露于空气后, 样品中的胶黄铁矿仍未被氧化. 这可能与钻孔内该矿物被硅质胶结物包裹有关. 研究结果初步揭示了湖泊沉积物磁学研究的复杂性, 同时也为环境磁学机理的研究提供了新的线索.     

哈萨克斯坦地震短期预报系统中生物实验场的动物习性研究

作为地震短期预报系统中的环节之一，在阿拉木图周围地区建立了由一批生物实验站和生物观测点组成的生物观测网。注意力主要集中在对蛇、家鼠、鸽子、鹦鹉、鱼、晰蜴、蜘蛛等动物习性的观测研究上。结果发现，这些动物对10≤K≤13．5的地震有反应，对1992年8月19日苏萨梅尔7．4级地震的异常反应距离可达345km。对90年代4次强震前的资料研究表明，动物行为异常时间和异常量级随震级增大而增大。M≥6级地震前生物前兆的时空分布模型表明，强震前生物前兆出现的时间从1．5个月到几分钟，可分为3个阶段；距离从300km到10km，也分为3个阶段；动物异常行为从I型（烦躁、抑郁或侵犯型）变为Ⅱ型（逃避型）。文中还指出，要注意区分动物季节因素和气象变化有关的行为，地震生物学应与地球物理、形变、地区水地球化学等资料综合研究，将其用于地震的短期预报。     

THE STABILITY OF ROCK-VENEERED HILLSLOPES

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