The Uryakh ore field (NE Transbaikalia): Formation of structural assemblages in the centroid-type seismic regime

Syn-ore centroid type deformations that produced unusual structural assemblages are identified in the Uryakh ore field. The regularities of the deformation process comparable to a mechanism of the centroid-type seismic focus are established. The results of studying fluid inclusions suggest that the pressure—temperature parameters of the system correspond to conditions typical of the seismic regime. A model of formation of structural assemblages in a centroid-type dynamic regime with the participation of fluids is proposed for the first time.     

Potential for localized groundwater contamination in a porous pavement parking lot setting in Rhode Island

The control of polluted surface runoff and the assessment of possible impacts on groundwater is a concern at the local and regional scale. On this background, a study investigates possible impacts of organic and inorganic pollutants (including bacteria) originating from a permeable asphalt parking lot on the water quality immediately beneath it. The functioning of the permeable pavement, including clogging and restricted vertical percolation, was also evaluated. Four nested sample ports (shallow and deep) were installed below low- and high-traffic areas, including one port outside the parking lot. At least initially there was a good hydraulic connection between the parking surface and the shallow sample ports. The presence of a geotextile layer at the base of the parking lot structure, however, was identified in lab tests as one factor restricting vertical percolation to the deeper ports. Clogging of the permeable surface was most pronounced in heavy traffic areas and below snow pile storage areas. Corroborated by high electric conductivity and chloride measurements, sand brought in by cars during winter was the principal cause for clogging. No bacteria or BOD were found in percolating water. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were present at concentrations near minimum detection limit. Nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) were being leached into the ground via the permeable parking lot surface at annual flux rates of 0.45–0.84 g/m²/year. A multi-species tracer test demonstrated a retention capacity of the permeable parking lot structure of >90% for metals and 27% for nutrients, respectively.     

Ingestion of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brachionus plicatilis</Emphasis> under different microalgae conditions

The effects of four microalgae,Chlorella vulgaris,Platymonas helgolandicavar,Isochrysis galbana,and Nitzschia closterium on the grazing and filtering rates of the marine rotifer,Brachionus plicatilis,were evaluated under laboratory conditions.The grazing rates in separate cultures of the four microalga were as follows:C.vulgaris > P.helgolandicavar > I.galbana > N.closterium.However,the filtering rates occurred in the following order:P.helgolandicavar > N.closterium > C.vulgaris > I.galbana.A mixed diets ex...     

Solar coronal heating by magnetic cancellation – III. Thermodynamics

We present two-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamics simulations of a coronal X-ray bright point (XBP) caused by a cancelling magnetic feature (CMF). Cancellation is driven by converging motions of two magnetic bipolar sources. These sources are initially disconnected from each other so that both, the CMF and the associated reconnection/heating event (i.e. the XBP), are modelled in a self-consistent way. In the initial state, there is no X-point but two separatrices are present. Hence, the reconnection/heating and the cancellation phases have not yet started. Our numerical experiments end shortly after the converging magnetic bipole has fully cancelled. By this time, reconnection in the inner domain has ceased and occurs only at the base. Solving the energy equation with various heating and cooling terms included, and considering different bottom boundary conditions, reveals that the unrealistically high temperatures produced by Ohmic heating are reduced to more moderate temperatures of 1.5–2 MK consistent with observations of XBPs, if thermal conduction is included and density and temperature are fixed at the base.     

Common features of the tectonosphere deep structure in the Western Pacific Margins (Northeast Asia Region and Australia)

This paper analyses the spatial distributions of gravity sources and density contrast of geological media between the centers of mass of density heterogeneities and surfaces of some layers, which is reflected by the values of parameter μ_z, in the Northeast Asia Region and Australia. Statistical images of complex distributions of density heterogeneities are generally consistent with the shallowest tectonic structures, wave velocity, and electric anomalies. The correlation of μ_z minimums with high heat flow suggests melted magmas beneath the crust base and in the asthenosphere. In the lower crust layer, large μ_z maximums correlate with major continental megaelements, which are divided by extended linear μ_z minimums, high conductivity anomalies, and Vp/Vs maximums marking zones of lower viscosity. Deep boundaries and a thickness of lithospheric plates and asthenosphere lenses have been defined in the Northeast Asia Region. In Australia, two roughly NS-striking low-viscosity zones crossing the continent reflect the deep setting of the Lasseter (in the west) and the Tasman (in the east) lines. These zones are displayed in a wide depth range (15–120 km) and are confined to the Archean–Proterozoic and Proterozoic–Phanerozoic boundaries in the Australian lithosphere. Statistical gravity models derived without external (relatively to gravity) geological and geophysical information prove the multilayered tectonosphere structure of both continents and the similar deep structure features of their margins.     

The influence of air-sea interaction on the development and motion of a tropical cyclone: Numerical experiments with a triply nested model

Summary Tropical cyclone (TC)—ocena feedbacks are studied using a coupled tropical cyclone-ocean model consisting of an eightlayer triply-nested movable grid model of a TC and a three-layer primitive equation ocean model. The numerical results indicate that the TC-ocean interaction influences intensities, structures, and the trajectories of tropical cyclones. Two possible mechanisms, barotropic and baroclinic, influencing TC tracks under TC-ocean interaction are suggested. The barotropic mechanism is related to the changes of the vertically averaged TC structure, induced by the TC-ocean coupling. The baroclinic mechanism is related to the asymmetry of the condensation heating within the TC caused by the asymmetry of heat and moisture fluxes at the sea surface. This asymmetry arises due to the asymmetry in sea surface cooling relative to the storm center. The experiments indicate that the influence of TC-ocean interaction on the TC tracks is the greatest for the case of a zero background flow. In the case of a non-zero background flow the sensitivity of storm tracks to the coupling with the ocean decreases. It is found that the influence of the ocean coupling on the TC track is quite sensitive to the method of convective heating parameterization in the TC model. The TC-ocean interaction also results in a change of the amount and spatial distribution of precipitation.     

The characteristic pattern of multiple colored layers in coastal stratified lakes in the process of separation from the White Sea

An unusual feature of the saline stratified lakes that were formed due to ongoing postglacial uplift on the White Sea coast is the presence of several differently colored thin layers in the zone with sharp gradients. Colored layers in five lakes at various stages of separation from the sea were investigated using optical microscopy, spectrophotometry, spectrofluorimetry, and photobiology. The upper greenish colored layer located in the aerobic strata of all lakes near the compensation depth of 1% light penetration contains green algae. In the chemocline, another layer, brightly green, red or pink, is dominated by mixotrophic flagellates. Despite the very low light intensities and the presence of H 2 S, active photosynthesis by these algae appears to be occurring, as indicated by high values of the maximum quantum yield of primary photochemistry, electron transport activity, photosynthetic activity of photosystem II, the fraction of active centers, and low values of heat dissipation. In the reduced zone of the chemocline, a dense green or brown suspension of anoxygenic phototrophs(green sulfur bacteria) is located.     

Geochemical processes in a Mediterranean Lake: a high-resolution study of the last 4,000 years in Zoñar Lake,southern Spain

High-resolution geochemical analysis of a 6-m-long sediment core from Zoñar Lake, southern Spain, provides a detailed characterization of major changes in lake and watershed processes during the last 4,000 years. Geochemical variables were used as paleolimnological indicators and complement Zoñar Lakes’s paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on sedimentological and biological proxies, which define periods of increasing allochthonous input to the lake and periods of dominant autochthonous sedimentation. Chemical ratios identify periods of endogenic carbonate formation (higher Ca/Al, Sr/Al and Ba/Al ratios), evaporite precipitation (higher S/Al, Sr/Al ratios), and anoxic conditions (higher Mo/Al, U/Th ratios and Eu anomaly). Higher productivity is marked by elevated organic carbon content and carbonate precipitation (Mg/Ca). Hydrological reconstruction for Zoñar Lake was based on sedimentological, mineralogical and biological proxies, and shows that lower lake levels are characterized by Sr-rich sediments (a brackish lake with aragonite) and S-rich sediments (a saline lake with gypsum), while higher lake levels are characterized by sediments enriched in elements associated with alumino-silicates (Al, K, Ti, Fe, trace and rare earth elements), reflecting fresher conditions. Geochemical indicators also mark periods of higher detrital input to the lake related to human activity in the watershed: (1) during the Iberian Roman Humid Period (650 BC–AD 300), around the onset of the Little Ice Age (AD 1400), during the relatively drier Post-Roman and Middle Ages (AD 800–1400), and over the last 50 years, due to mechanized farming practices. Heavy metal enrichment in the sediments (Cu and Ni) suggests intensification of human activities during the Iberian Roman Period, and the use of fertilizers during the last 50 years.     

Impacts of climate change and human activities on the aboveground production in alpine grasslands: a case study of the source region of the Yellow River,China

Changes in aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) in alpine grasslands are the consequence of climate change and human activities, but it is difficult to disentangle their relative contributions. Based on monthly remote-sensed vegetation index and meteorological data during the period 1982–2010, we analysed the long-term variation of annual ANPP in the source region of the Yellow River and quantified the effects of climate and human activities including grazing on ANPP variability, using the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) model and the ANPP-based residual trend analysis method. Our results suggested that ANPP increased in 80% of alpine grasslands. Areas with negative changes in ANPP were found mainly in the eastern portion of the region, accounting for 0.3% of alpine grasslands. ANPP was positively correlated with the monthly mean temperature from June to September and the sunshine duration in September at a regional scale. Moreover, ANPP was negatively correlated with the total livestock numbers. Using the residual trend analysis method, we demonstrated that climate and human activities accounted for 76.6 and 23.4%, respectively, of the variability in ANPP for the entire study region in 1982–2010. We concluded that climate change alleviated climatic constraints, in particular temperature limitations and sunshine duration, resulting in a significant increase in ANPP. Overgrazing was supposed to be the primary driver for grassland degradation in the eastern region. Our study has implications for grassland management and its sustainability to minimize the risk of grassland degradation and desertification processes in geo-ecologically and socially important regions such as the study region in China.     

Use of multitemporal remote sensing data for mapping the Alfios River network changes from 1977 to 2000

Alfios is the biggest river of the Peloponnese and the ninth longest river in Greece. It drains an area of almost 2575 km² in Western Peloponnese and discharges at Kiparissiakos Gulf. Due to its extent, the Alfios basin presents complex physiography and geomorphology.

During the last 50 years, major direct human activities have had an important impact on the river network shape and on the valley floor morphology. The most important human activities were the channel straightening caused by meander cut-offs in 1950, the construction of two dams: the Ladonas dam in 1955 and the Flokas dam in 1968 and the illegal in-stream gravel extraction that started in the 1960s and continues until today. As a result, the Alfios riverbed has presented very rapid vertical and horizontal (lateral) erosion and significant changes to its network shape. The drainage network follows a straighter course, the number of meanders has been reduced and the seventh order branch is deeply incised. Besides the morphological impacts to the river network shape there are also serious economic damages caused by human activity. During the winter of 1999, the Flokas dam bridge was closed for a long period due to damages at its foundation caused by the heavy rain and illegal gravel extraction. Transportation between the villages in the area became extremely difficult and time consuming and the cost of the repairs was estimated at 500 000 euros. In this study, there is an effort to map the network shape transformation for the period 1977–2000 using multitemporal and multisensor satellite images. One Landsat MSS image, three Landsat TM images, two Landsat ETM images, and one Terra ASTER image have been orthorectified and processed in order to cover the specific period. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques have been applied to map the changes in the Alfios River channel. The drainage network straightening and the cut-off of five big meanders were detected and mapped. These changes occurred between 1986 and 2000.