Effects of low- to high-angle normal faults on sedimentary architectures in the Eocene Wenchang Formation,Enping Sag,Pearl River Mouth Basin,South China Sea

The effects of low- to high-angle (>30°) normal faults on sedimentary architectural units in the Eocene Wenchang Formation, Enping Sag, Pearl River Mouth Basin (PRMB), South China Sea were investigated utilising a high-quality 3D seismic data set and restored paleogeomorphology. It has been shown that sequence stratigraphic units and sedimentary architecture are significantly controlled by the low- to high-angle normal faults. The Wenchang Formation, a second-order sequence, can be subdivided into two para-second-sequences (the Lower and Upper Wenchang sequences, E₂W^L and E₂W^U) and seven third-order sequences (from base to top: SQ1～SQ7). The low-angle fault confined sequence architecture of the Wenchang Formation is mainly characterised by lateral stacking with the ratio of the vertical subsidence (V) to horizontal slip (H) being reduced from 1/2 for E₂W^L to 1/6 for E₂W^U. In contrast, the high-angle fault confined sequence is characterised by vertical stacking with the ratio of V/H close to 1 for sequences SQ1 to SQ7. In the 3D seismic area, the features of sediment-dispersal pattern were interpreted based on an integrated analysis of paleogeomorphology, seismic reflection characteristics, stratal thickness distribution and multiple attribute clustering. The results show that the large-scale fan delta, belt-shape lacustrine deposit and bird-foot braided delta systems mainly developed in the low-angle fault confined sequences, whereas small-scale fan delta, rhombus-shaped lacustrine deposit and lobe-shaped braided delta systems inherited tectono-sedimentary architectures in the high-angle fault confined sequences.     

Sedimentary facies analysis and depositional model of gravity-flow deposits of the Yanchang Formation,southwestern Ordos Basin,NW China

During the deposition of the Chang-7 (Ch-7) and Chang-6 (Ch-6) units in the Upper Triassic, gravity flows were developed widely in a deep lake in the southwestern Ordos Basin, China. Based on cores, outcrops, well-logs and well-testing data, this paper documents the sedimentary characteristics of the gravity-flow deposits and constructs a depositional model. Gravity-flow deposits in the study area comprise seven lithofacies types, which are categorised into four groups: slides and slumps, debris-flow-dominated lithofacies, turbidity-current-dominated lithofacies, and deep-water mudstone-dominated lithofacies. The seven lithofacies form two sedimentary entities: sub-lacustrine fan and the slump olistolith, made up of three and two lithofacies associations, respectively. Lithofacies association 1 is a channel–levee complex with fining-/thinning-upward sequences whose main part is characterised by sandy debris flow-dominated, thick-bedded massive sandstones. Lithofacies association 2 represents distributary channelised lobes of sub-lacustrine fans, which can be further subdivided into distributary channel, channel lateral margin and inter-channel. Lithofacies association 3 is marked by non-channelised lobes of sub-lacustrine fans, including sheet-like turbidites and deep-lake mudstones. Lithofacies association 4 is represented by proximal lobes of slump olistolith, consisting of slides and slumps. Lithofacies association 5 is marked by distal lobes of slump olistolith, comprising tongue-shaped debris flow lobes and turbidite lobes. It is characterised by sandy debris flow, muddy debris flow-dominated sandstone and sandstone with classic Bouma sequences. Several factors caused the generation of gravity flows in the Ordos Basin, including sediment supply, terrain slope and external triggers, such as volcanisms, earthquakes and seasonal floods. The sediment supply of sub-lacustrine fan was most likely from seasonal floods with a high net-to-gross and incised channels. Triggered by volcanisms and earthquakes, the slump olistolith is deposited by the slumping and secondary transport of unconsolidated sediments in the delta front or prodelta with a low net-to-gross and no incised channels.     

Mesoscale numerical simulation study of warm fog dissipation by salt particles seeding

Based on the dynamic framework of WRF and Morrison 2-moment explicit cloud scheme, a salt-seeding scheme was developed and used to simulate the dissipation of a warm fog event during 6–7 November 2009 in the Beijing and Tianjin area. The seeding effect and its physical mechanism were studied. The results indicate that when seeding fog with salt particles sized 80 μm and at a quantity of 6 gm~(-2) at the fog top, the seeding effect near the ground surface layer is negative in the beginning period, and then a positive seeding effect begins to appear at 18 min, with the best effect appearing at 21 min after seeding operation. The positive effect can last about 35 min. The microphysical mechanism of the warm fog dissipation is because of the evaporation due to the water vapor condensation on the salt particles and coalescence with salt particles.The process of fog water coalescence with salt particles contributed mostly to this warm fog dissipation. Furthermore, two series of sensitivity experiments were performed to study the seeding effect under different seeding amounts and salt particles sizes. The results show that seeding fog with salt particles sized of 80 μm can have the best seeding effect, and the seeding effect is negative when the salt particle size is less than 10 μm. For salt particles sized 80 μm, the best seeding effect, with corresponding visibility of 380 m, can be achieved when the seeding amount is 30 g m~(-2).     

Ensemble simulation of land evapotranspiration in China based on a multi-forcing and multi-model approach

In order to reduce the uncertainty of offline land surface model(LSM) simulations of land evapotranspiration(ET), we used ensemble simulations based on three meteorological forcing datasets [Princeton, ITPCAS(Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Qian] and four LSMs(BATS, VIC, CLM3.0 and CLM3.5), to explore the trends and spatiotemporal characteristics of ET, as well as the spatiotemporal pattern of ET in response to climate factors over mainland China during 1982–2007. The results showed that various simulations of each member and their arithmetic mean(Ens Mean) could capture the spatial distribution and seasonal pattern of ET sufficiently well, where they exhibited more significant spatial and seasonal variation in the ET compared with observation-based ET estimates(Obs MTE). For the mean annual ET, we found that the BATS forced by Princeton forcing overestimated the annual mean ET compared with Obs MTE for most of the basins in China, whereas the VIC forced by Princeton forcing showed underestimations. By contrast, the Ens Mean was closer to Obs MTE, although the results were underestimated over Southeast China. Furthermore, both the Obs MTE and Ens Mean exhibited a significant increasing trend during 1982–98; whereas after 1998, when the last big EI Ni ?no event occurred, the Ens Mean tended to decrease significantly between 1999 and 2007, although the change was not significant for Obs MTE. Changes in air temperature and shortwave radiation played key roles in the long-term variation in ET over the humid area of China, but precipitation mainly controlled the long-term variation in ET in arid and semi-arid areas of China.     

Trends of Regional Precipitation and Their Control Mechanisms during 1979–2013

Trends in precipitation are critical to water resources. Considerable uncertainty remains concerning the trends of regional precipitation in response to global warming and their controlling mechanisms. Here, we use an interannual difference method to derive trends of regional precipitation from GPCP(Global Precipitation Climatology Project) data and MERRA(ModernEra Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications) reanalysis in the near-global domain of 60?S–60?N during a major global warming period of 1979–2013. We find that trends of regional annual precipitation are primarily driven by changes in the top 30% heavy precipitation events, which in turn are controlled by changes in precipitable water in response to global warming, i.e., by thermodynamic processes. Significant drying trends are found in most parts of the U.S. and eastern Canada,the Middle East, and eastern South America, while significant increases in precipitation occur in northern Australia, southern Africa, western India and western China. In addition, as the climate warms there are extensive enhancements and expansions of the three major tropical precipitation centers–the Maritime Continent, Central America, and tropical Africa–leading to the observed widening of Hadley cells and a significant strengthening of the global hydrological cycle.     

An algorithm to retrieve precipitation with synthetic aperture radar

This paper presents a new type of rainfall retrieval algorithm, called the model-oriented statistical and Volterra integration. It is a combination of the model-oriented statistical (MOS) and Volterra integral equation (VIE) approaches. The steps involved in this new algorithm can be briefly illustrated as follows. Firstly, information such as the start point and width of the rain is obtained through pre-analysis of the data received by synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Secondly, the VIE retrieval algorithm is employed over a short distance to obtain information on the shape of the rain. Finally, the rain rate can be calculated by using the MOS retrieval algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is effective and simple, and can lead to time savings of nearly 50% compared with MOS. An example of application of SAR data is also discussed, involving the retrieval of precipitation information over the South China Sea.     

Factors controlling the interannual variations of MJO intensity

The interannual variations of intensity of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) during boreal winter are investigated by using the observed outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and the reanalysis data of ECMWF and NCEP. The standard deviation of 20-80-day filtered OLR anomaly is used to measure the MJO intensity. The dominant spatial structure of the interannual variability is revealed by an EOF analysis of the MJO intensity field. It is found that the leading mode is associated with eastern Pacific type ENSO, whereas the second mode is related to central Pacific type ENSO. A simple atmospheric model is used to investigate the relative roles of background moisture and wind changes in affecting the overall strength of MJO. The numerical experiments indicate that the background moisture effect is dominant while the background wind change has a minor effect.