Assessment of hydrogeological conditions in basement aquifers of the Precambrian Oban massif, southeastern Nigeria

A combined analysis of lineament length density from radar imagery and surface resistivity data is used to assess the hydrogeological conditions in the Oban massif, Nigeria. The results show that the data guided the qualitative and quantitative estimation of some aquifer parameters. These include resistivity of the water bearing formations (280–740 ω m), thickness (5–140 m), limited hydraulic conductivity (8.53-13.18 m/day) and transmissivity (410.65–725.88 m²/day) data. In addition, the lineament length density for the area ranged between less than 0.2 to slightly more than 0.4. Site evaluation for the location of productive boreholes/wells using a groundwater potential index (GWPI) indicates that areas with a GWPI of greater than 35 are consistent with relatively high yield.     

Temporal behaviour of artificial small-scale ionospheric irregularities: Review of experimental results

Features of artificial small-scale ionospheric irregularities (ASI) induced at F-region heights by powerful HF waves are discussed. The investigations presented here were performed during the past two decades at the Zimenki and Sura heating facilities, located at middle latitudes near Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, as well as at the Gissar facility located at a lower latitude near Dushanbe, Tadzhikistan. The measurements were made by a variety of diagnostic methods employing artificial field-aligned scattering of HF and VHF radio waves, sounding of the disturbed region by means of low-power probing waves and testing of the artificial turbulence by means of stimulated electromagnetic emission (SEE). The dependence of ASI on such parameters as transverse scale length of the artificial irregularities, their location in the disturbed region, the power of the heating wave, the duration of HF radiation, geophysical conditions, aftereffects of the preceding modification, and the schedule of heater operation is considered for both the development stage after pump turn-on and the decay stage after pump turn-off. The temporal evolution of ASI spectral characteristics during the heater period is discussed. An empirical model for the ASI, based on the data available, was elaborated and verified by computer simulation of SEE generation.     

Bildung bromhaltiger Desinfektionsnebenprodukte nach Chlorung von Bodenseewasser in Abhängigkeit von Aufbereitungsschritten und der Bromidkonzentration

Formation of Brominated Disinfection By-products after Chlorination of Water from Lake Constance Depending on Treatment Steps and Bromide Concentration The formation of halogenated disinfection by-products (DNP) (trihalomethanes (THM), haloacetic acids (HES), haloacetonitriles (HAN), haloketones (HKE) and chloropicrin (TCNM)) was studied after chlorination (0.5 mg/L) of raw water and drinking water from Lake Constance. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of bromide ion on the distribution of DNP-species resulting from chlorination and to draw up a bromide mass-balance. The treatment of water from Lake Constance with ozone decreased the formation of DNP about 35% and of total organic halogens (AOX) about 45%. This decline in DNP-formation is mainly due to the formation of chloroform, dichloro- and trichloroacetic acid. Though there is only a small amount of bromide (6.2 μg/L) in water from Lake Constance, about 32% of THM, 16% of HES, and 30% of HAN contained bromine after chlorination of treated water. The addition of bromide ion (up to 1 mg/L) shifted the DNP-composition to more brominated species. The distribution of the DNP-species depends on the initial molar bromide-to-chlorine ratio. A mathematic model showed the same pattern of DNP-species depending on the initial molar bromide-to-chlorine ratio that was observed experimentally in microstrained raw water and drinking water from Lake Constance. After chlorination of microstrained raw water, 27% of the bromide were incorporated in known DNP, 34% in unknown substances, and about 39% of bromide were not converted to organic bromine. After chlorination of treated water, only 16% of the bromide were incorporated in unknown substances, whereas 34% were found in known DNP. About 50% were found as bromide again. After addition of bromide (up to 25 μg/L) to ozonated and treated water from Lake Constance, between 60 and 72% of the bromide that had reacted after chlorination were found in analyzed low-molecular DNP.     

地震学家必须开始预报地震

去年，我一直从事某项活动，对于这项活动，有些地震专家认为是荒唐的，有人说是愚蠢的，有人说是真好笑，也有人说是在浪费时间。我做了什么事情会引起如此多同事的这些看法呢?噢，我所从事的活动就是主张进行一些定期的和频繁的地震预报。我公开为新英格兰，并私下为加州的一些同事     

Objective cyclone climatologies of the North Atlantic – a comparison between the ECMWF and NCEP Reanalyses

Simple and easily reproducible techniques have been used to construct two objective cyclone climatologies of the North Atlantic-European sector. The goal of this study is to increase understanding of cyclones with the potential to cause damage, in particular, those reaching Beaufort category 7 and above. The two climatologies constructed here span the period 1979–2000 and have been developed from reanalysis mean sea level pressure data from the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts) and NCEP (National Centres for Environmental Prediction). The ECMWF reanalysis data are only available for 15 years, and have been extended from 1994 using operational analyses. The major temporal and spatial characteristics of North Atlantic cyclones are examined and a comparison between the climatologies developed from the two data sets is carried out. The well-known cyclogenesis regions along the east coast of the United States and to the southeast of Greenland are replicated by both reanalyses, as is the characteristic southwest/northeast orientation of the dominant cyclone track across the Atlantic basin. However, only weak correlations are found between the time series of cyclone frequency produced from the two reanalyses, and this is particularly true for the lower intensity Beaufort Scale category 0–6 cyclones. This result, together with the large differences in the spatial distribution of cyclones over Greenland for Beaufort Scale 0–6 cyclones, indicates the NCEP reanalyses generates fewer systems than the ECMWF reanalyses. The overall conclusion is that the ECMWF mean sea level pressure data produce a more comprehensive climatology of North Atlantic cyclones at all scales.     

Time-dependent, coupled, Ekman boundary layer solutions incorporating Stokes drift

Recent technological advances in current measuring devices has resulted in a large observational database related to wind-driven motions in the upper ocean mixed layer. This has served to highlight the fact that transient motions make up a substantial contribution of the resulting Ekman currents. At the same time, certain discrepancies have emerged between the observed angular deflections of the steady-state currents from the surface wind stress, both at the surface and at sub-surface depths, which cannot be reconciled using the classical Ekman model. This paper seeks to tackle these two issues.First a general analytical method is presented for solving the time dependent horizontal momentum Ekman equations. Analysis of the unsteady terms that arise from simple special cases shows how the evolution proceeds through three stages. At early times, the Coriolis acceleration is insignificant, and the current is unidirectional and deepens through downward diffusion of momentum. Later Coriolis acceleration deflects the current vectors in the upper layers, whilst downward diffusion of momentum continues to deepen the layer. Finally, once diffusion has penetrated down to the depth of the steady-state current, then the transients decay on the inertial or diffusive timescale, depending upon the boundary conditions of the particular problem.In the second half of the paper, a new steady-state model is developed that includes the effects of wind-generated waves, through the action of their Stokes drift on the planetary vorticity. Comparisons between observations and the theoretical predictions, demonstrate that inclusion of the Stokes drift is the key to reconciling the discrepancies in the angular deflections of the steady-state currents. This leads to the conclusion that Ekman layer currents are significantly influenced by the surface waves.     

Numerical Studies with a Regional Atmospheric Climate Model Based on Changes in the Roughness Length for Momentum and Heat Over Antarctica

A regional atmospheric climate model is used toexamine the effect of changes in the roughnesslengths of momentum (_z0m) and heat (_z0h)on the structure of the lower atmosphere and on thesurface energy fluxes over Antarctica. Fourexperiments were carried out in which _z0mand/or _z0h were altered with respect to acontrol experiment. The changes consisted of (1) alowering of _z0m from a field aggregated froma vegetation map with an orographic correction basedon the European Centre for Medium-Range WeatherForecasts _z0m field, to a constant value of10^-3 m; and (2) a lowering of _z0h from a valueequal to _z0m to a constant value of 10^-3 mor a value dependent on the wind speed via a surfacerenewal model. A reduction of _z0m results in theexpected increase in near-surface wind speed. It alsoresults in an increase in the depth of the layer in whichsouth-easterly near-surface winds prevail, and in adecrease in the strength of the large-scale flow overthe continent, in particular in summer. In theescarpment region a decrease of _z0m is foundto result in too high wind speeds. Surface temperatureson average decrease while atmospheric temperaturesincrease, resulting in an increase of near-surfacestatic stability. Changes in roughness lengths donot significantly change the temperature profiles.The surface fluxes, on average found reduced, aremodelled best by using the _z0h based on thesurface renewal method.     

表生风化作用下多年冻土土壤的理论粒径分布

The paper discusses the distinctive features of grain size distribution of permafrost soils formed under conditions of continental lithogenesis and cryogenic weathering of rocks. As a functional consequence of surface erosion of mineral particles, the log-normal distribution of the density function of grain size is derived confirmed for any conditions and sediment types.     

A Least-squares Approach to Depth Determination from Numerical Horizontal Self-potential Gradients

We have developed a least-squares minimization approach to depth determination of a buried ore deposit from numerical horizontal gradients obtained from self-potential (SP) data using filters of successive window lengths (graticule spacings). The problem of depth determination from SP gradients has been transformed into the problem of finding a solution to a nonlinear equation of the form f(z)=0. Formulas have been derived for vertical and horizontal cylinders and spheres. Procedures are also formulated to estimate the electrical dipole moment and the polarization angle. The method is applied to synthetic data with and without random noise. Finally, the validity of the method is tested on two field examples. In both cases, the depth obtained is found to be in a very good agreement with that obtained from drilling information.     

Non-linear channel–shoal dynamics in long tidal embayments

The dynamics of finite-amplitude bed forms in a tidal channel is studied with the use of an idealized morphodynamic model. The latter is based on depth-averaged equations for the tidal flow over a sandy bottom. The model considers phenomena on spatial scales of the order of the tidal excursion length. Transport of sediment mainly takes place as suspended load. The reference state of this model is characterized by a spatially uniform M₂ tidal current over a fixed horizontal bed. The temporal evolution of deviations from this reference state is governed by amplitude equations: these are a set of non-linear equations that describe the temporal evolution of bed forms. These equations are used to obtain new morphodynamic equilibria which may be either static or time-periodic. Several of these bottom profiles show strong similarity with the tidal bars that are observed in natural estuaries. The dependence of the equilibrium solutions on the value of bottom friction and channel width is investigated systematically. For narrow channels (width small compared to the tidal excursion length) stable static equilibria exist if bottom friction is slightly larger than r_cr. For channel widths more comparable to the tidal excursion length, multiple stable steady states may exist for bottom friction parameter values below r_cr. Regardless of channel width, stable time-periodic equilibria seem to emerge as the bottom friction is increased.Responsible Editor: Jens Kappenberg