Glauconites from the Late Palaeocene — Early Eocene Naredi Formation,western Kutch and their genetic implications

Glauconitic minerals are considered as one of the valuable input parameters in sequence stratigraphic analysis of a basin. In the present study glauconitic minerals are reported from subtidal green shale facies in the lower part of the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene Naredi Formation of western Kutch. On the basis of the foraminiferal assemblage the glauconite bearing beds are interpreted to have formed in a mid shelf depositional settings of an unstable marine conditions. XRD studies confirm the glauconite mineralogy of the green pellets and provide an estimation of glauconite maturity. Textural attributes of the glauconites confirm their derivation by different degrees of alteration of precursor feldspar grains. Because of the authigenic origin and autochthonous nature, these glauconites hold promise for understanding sequence stratigraphy of the Palaeogene succession of the western Kutch.     

Raman spectroscopic study of K-lingunite at various pressures and temperatures

K-lingunite is a high-pressure modification of K-feldspar that possesses the tetragonal hollandite structure. Variations of the Raman spectra of K-lingunite were studied up to ~31.5 GPa at room temperature, and in the range 79–823 K at atmospheric pressure. The Raman frequencies of all bands were observed to increase with increasing pressure, and decrease with increasing temperature for K-lingunite. This behavior is in line with those observed for most of other materials. New sharp Raman bands appear at pressures greater than 13–15 GPa, suggesting a phase transition in K-lingunite with increasing pressure. The transition is reversible when pressure was released. The appearance of these new Raman bands may correspond to the phase transition revealed earlier at around 20 GPa by X-ray diffraction studies. Instead of transforming back to its stable minerals, such as orthoclase, microcline or sanidine, K-lingunite became amorphous in the temperature range 803–823 K at atmospheric pressure.     

Fragmentation during Rock Falls: Two Italian Case Studies of Hard and Soft Rocks

In recent years, rock fall phenomena in Italy have received considerable attention for risk mitigation through in situ observations and experimental data. This paper reports the study conducted at Camaldoli Hill, in the urban area of Naples, and at Monte Pellegrino, Palermo, Italy. The rocks involved are volcanic Neapolitan yellow tuff (NYT) in the former area and dolomitic limestone in the latter. Both rocks, even though with different strength characteristics, have shown a significant tendency towards rock fragmentation during run out. This behavior was first investigated by comparing the volumes of removable blocks on the cliff faces (V ₀) and fallen blocks on the slopes (V _f). It was assumed that the ratio V _f/V ₀ decreases with the distance (x _f) from the detachment area by an empirical law, which depends on a coefficient α, correlated with the geotechnical properties of the materials involved in the rock fall. Finally, this law was validated by observation of well-documented natural rock falls (Palermo) and by in situ full-scale tests (Naples). From the engineering perspective, consideration of fragmentation processes in rock fall modeling provides a means for designing low-cost mitigation measures.     

Relationships between Interannual and Intraseasonal Variations of the Asian-Western Pacific Summer Monsoon Hindcasted by BCC_CSM1.1（m）

Using hindcasts of the Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model, the relationships between interannual variability （IAV） and intraseasonal variability （ISV） of the Asian-western Pacific summer monsoon are diagnosed. Predictions show reasonable skill with respect to some basic characteristics of the ISV and IAV of the western North Pacific summer monsoon （WNPSM） and the Indian summer monsoon （ISM）. However, the links between the seasonally averaged ISV （SAISV） and seasonal mean of ISM are overestimated by the model. This deficiency may be partially attributable to the overestimated frequency of long breaks and underestimated frequency of long active spells of ISV in normal ISM years, although the model is capable of capturing the impact of ISV on the seasonal mean by its shift in the probability of phases. Furthermore, the interannual relationships of seasonal mean, SAISV, and seasonally averaged long-wave variability （SALWV; i.e., the part with periods longer than the intraseasonal scale） of the WNPSM and ISM with SST and low-level circulation are examined. The observed seasonal mean, SAISV, and SALWV show similar correlation patterns with SST and atmospheric circulation, but with different details. However, the model presents these correlation distributions with unrealistically small differences among different scales, and it somewhat overestimates the teleconnection between monsoon and tropical central-eastern Pacific SST for the ISM, but underestimates it for the WNPSM, the latter of which is partially related to the too-rapid decrease in the impact of E1 Nifio-Southern Oscillation with forecast time in the model.     

长江下游仪征河段汊道分流属性及航道滩槽演变机制

长江下游仪征河段处于枯季潮流界的上边界,揭示其汊道分流属性及滩槽联动演变机制,对河势控制工程及深水航道工程实践具有重要意义.本研究收集了1955—2021年水文泥沙及地形等资料,在汊道分流关系及调整成因上:世业洲右汊的分流属性为枯水倾向型汊道,即低流量时期分流比大于高流量时期;1959—2021年期间,世业洲右汊分流比经历了“稳定-下降-上升”的调整过程,上游河段滩槽格局调整及流域来沙减少引起的汊道间不均衡冲刷是分流关系调整的主因;流域流量过程调整、河道崩岸等综合影响引起1959—2017年期间世业洲右汊分流比为减小态势,航道工程实施起到了调控汊道关系的功能,世业洲右汊分流比为增加态势.在滩槽联动演变关系上:仪征河段进口段以展宽为主,世业洲左汊展宽程度大于右汊,左汊河床形态变化与进口段滩槽形态的一致性关系优于右汊,即上游进口段滩槽演变、流域来沙量减少等综合作用会加速了左汊发展;2015年南京以下12.5 m深水航道二期工程建设以来,工程区域淤积且洲体完整性增强,且深槽冲刷及河槽容积增大,表明航道工程已实现汊道分流关系及滩槽调控的功能.     

CA-FCM方案与其它几种人工增雨评估方案的比较

对河南省12次飞机增雨作业,分别采用作业区域趋势对比双比分析评估方案、区域趋势相关回归分析方案、区域趋势协变量多元回归分析方案、浮动对比区历史回归分析方案(FCM)、以降水量为协变量的CA-FCM(Cluster-Analysis-based Floating Contro historical regression Method)方案和以降水量和整层大气可降水量为协变量的CA-FCM方案进行效果评估,均得到大于15%的相对增雨量.对结果比较分析表明:协变量由降水量和整层大气降水量两个组成的CA-FCM方案,由于采用了聚类分析提高了对比区和影响区相关系数和引入了整层大气可降水量作为协变量提高了作业区自然降水量估计值的准确性,从而比其它评估方案效果更好.     

Climatic change and Chinese population growth dynamics over the last millennium

The climate–population relationship has long been conceived. Although the topic has been repeatedly investigated, most of the related works are Eurocentric or qualitative. Consequently, the relationship between climate and population remains ambiguous. In this study, fine-grained temperature reconstructions and historical population data sets have been employed to statistically test a hypothesized relationship between temperature change and population growth (i.e., cooling associated with below average population growth) in China over the past millennium. The important results were: (1) Long-term temperature change significantly determined the population growth dynamics of China. However, spatial variation existed, whilst population growth in Central China was shown to be responsive to both long- and short-term temperature changes; in marginal areas, population growth was only sensitive to short-term temperature fluctuations. (2) Temporally, the temperature–population relationship was obscured in some periods, which was attributable to the factors of drought and social buffers. In summary, a temperature–population relationship was mediated by geographic factors, the aridity threshold, and social factors. Given the upcoming threat posed by climate change to human societies, this study seeks to improve our knowledge and understanding of the climate–society relationship.     

Scaling of Wall-Normal Turbulence Intensity and Vertical Eddy Structures in the Atmospheric Surface Layer

Adequate high-quality data on three-dimensional velocities in the atmospheric surface layer (height \(\delta \)) were acquired in the field at the Qingtu Lake Observation Array. The measurement range occupies nearly the entire logarithmic layer from approximately \(0.006\delta \)–\(0.2\delta \). The turbulence intensity and eddy structures of the velocity fluctuations in the logarithmic region were primarily analyzed, and their variations in the z (wall-normal) direction were revealed. The primary finding was that the turbulent intensity of wall-normal velocity fluctuations exhibits a sharp upswing in the logarithmic region, which differs from classic scaling law and laboratory results. The upswing of the wall-normal turbulence intensity in the logarithmic region is deemed to be linear based on an ensemble of 20 sets of data. In addition, the wall-normal extent of the correlated structures and wall-normal spectra were compared to low Reynolds number results in the laboratory.     

Some Insights into Topographic,Elastic and Self-gravitation Interaction in Modelling Ground Deformation and Gravity Changes in Active Volcanic Areas

Surface displacements and gravity changes due to volcanic sources are influenced by medium properties. We investigate topographic, elastic and self-gravitation interaction in order to outline the major factors that are significant in data modelling. While elastic-gravitational models can provide a suitable approximation to problems of volcanic loading in areas where topographic relief is negligible, for prominent volcanoes the rough topography could affect deformation and gravity changes to a greater extent than self-gravitation. This fact requires the selection, depending on local relief, of a suitable model for use in the interpretation of surface precursors of volcanic activity. We use the three-dimensional Indirect Boundary Element Method to examine the effects of topography on deformation and gravity changes in models of magma chamber inflation/deflation. Topography has a significant effect on predicted surface deformation and gravity changes. Both the magnitude and pattern of the geodetic signals are significantly different compared to half-space solutions. Thus, failure to account for topographic effects in areas of prominent relief can bias the estimate of volcanic source parameters, since the magnitude and pattern of deformation and gravity changes depend on such effects.     

UV attenuation in the cloudy atmosphere

Ultraviolet (UV) energy absorption plays a very important role in the Earth–atmosphere system. Based on observational data for Beijing, we suggest that some atmospheric constituents utilize or transfer UV energy in chemical and photochemical (C&P) reactions, in addition to those which absorb UV energy directly. These constituents are primarily volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from both vegetative and anthropogenic sources. The total UV energy loss in the cloudy atmosphere for Beijing in 1990 was 78.9 Wm⁻². This attenuation was caused by ozone (48.3 Wm⁻²), other compounds in the atmosphere (26.6 Wm⁻²) and a scattering factor (4.0 Wm⁻²). Our results for a cloudy atmosphere in the Beijing area show that the absorption due to these other compounds occurs largely through the mediation of water vapor. This fraction of energy loss has not been fully accounted for in previous models. Observations and previous models results suggest that 1) a cloudy atmosphere absorbs 25∼30 Wm⁻² more solar shortwave radiation than models predict; and 2) aerosols can significantly decrease the downward mean UV-visible radiation and the absorbed solar radiation at the surface by up to 28 and 23 Wm⁻², respectively. Thus, quantitative study of UV and visible absorption by atmospheric constituents involved in homogeneous and heterogeneous C&P reactions is important for atmospheric models.