First evidence for large earthquakes on the Deshir Fault,Central Iran Plateau

Although sliced by several strike slip faults, a large part of Central Iran remained aseismic during the period of time covered by the instrumental and historical seismic records. Stating the existence of earthquakes in the Holocene is therefore important for the assessment of the regional seismic hazard. A palaeoseismic study of the Deshir fault demonstrates that Central Iran hosted large earthquakes during latest Pleistocene and Holocene. The last event corresponds to 1 m‐deep fissures, which sandy infilling yielded an optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age of 2.8 ± 1.4 ka. At least two previous events, outlined by older fissures and/or colluvial wedges, have been recorded over the last 10–30 ka. The magnitudes are difficult to assess because the actual slips per event are unknown. The size of the fissures and the significant vertical displacement associated with a colluvial wedge are nevertheless compatible with M ≈ 7 events along a primary strike‐slip surface break.     

Understanding geomorphic responses to environmental change: a 19 000‐year case study from semi‐arid central Texas,USA

Understanding the impact of past climatic changes on landscape stability is crucial in order to predict and mitigate the effects of future changes. However, in arid and semi‐arid environments, reconstructions are often hampered by a poor understanding of the relationship between sediment deposition and climate. We present here data from central Texas, a region that is sensitive to environmental change but has received relatively little attention. The study integrates a chronology of 29 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from six sedimentary sites in a range of depositional contexts with a 19 000 a climate record derived from pollen extracted from the adjacent Boriack Bog. By comparing the two records, we aimed to assess the relationship between climate change and geomorphic activity. Data show that extensive aeolian and colluvial deposition occurred during the mid to late Holocene, with sedimentation generally increasing during more arid phases. However, a number of depositional events on slopes were associated with moister episodes, and sediment was also deposited in a summit setting immediately after phases of increased precipitation. Linkages between climate change and geomorphic response were therefore complex, being controlled by both sediment supply and transport energy. The climatic fluctuations identified in the Boriack Bog record highlight the sensitivity of central Texas to environmental change, while disparities in conditions recorded between it and other palaeoenvironmental sites in the southern USA emphasise the need for further work in order to enhance understanding of landscape sedimentary response to climate. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Underwater acoustic channel models for 4800 b/s QPSK signals

Two computer models are presented, one for short-range and one for long-range propagation of acoustic signals through an underwater channel from a transmitter to a receiver. In the short-range model, the received signal is due to a direct path (steady component) and a random path (diffused component) that could be the result of boundary scattering. For the long-range case, the received signal is the superposition of a number of time-delayed, randomly propagated components arriving by different paths. Both models assume perfect transmitter-receiver synchronization but use realistic channel time delays. They demonstrate the time-varying characteristics of underwater acoustic channels and are used in simulations to evaluate the performance of the detection technique     

戈壁风沙流结构特性及其意义

通过砾质戈壁风沙流野外实测数据的分析以及风洞模拟实验研究发现：戈壁风沙流结构具有与沙漠风沙流完全不同的风沙流特征,戈壁风沙地表的粗糙度随风速的增大而增加,其表面风沙流输沙量高度分布表现出独特的"象鼻"效应,在一定高度处呈现最大值,并随风速的增加而增高。该"象鼻"效应导致戈壁风沙流结构特征值λ远大于 1,不论风速多大,风沙流都处于未饱和状态的非堆积搬运状态。这种特殊性质比较清楚地解释了敦煌莫高窟千年来不被沙山埋没的谜底。并且在风沙防治工程实践中,采用砾石压沙措施,构造类似与砾质戈壁的下垫面,人工促使风沙流结构呈现"象鼻"形状,可使防沙工程达到理想的输导作用。     

Electrical current along balloon rigging line inside thunderstorms

We have designed a new instrument to measure the current flowing along balloon rigging line during flights through thunderstorms. This instrument was tested in a high voltage facility and used to collect line current data during one balloon flight into a thunderstorm. Using these data, worst-case calculations are made; as such, we claim that they are the upper limits of any alteration (to the measured electric field or particle charge) that may occur, and the real number is likely much less. It is postulated the rigging-line current could have two separate effects on the measured electric field: (1) reduction of the field due to emission of corona ions, and (2) enhancement of the field due to the insertion of a long thin ‘conductor.' Even with current as high as 1 μA (the largest measured was around 50–100 nA), these two effects were found to be about −1% and +1%, respectively. Also, the calculated worst-case alteration to charged precipitation measurements is about 0.1 pC. Thus, with proper efforts to make the rigging line as poor a conductor as possible, it seems that we are justified in stating that these effects are negligible.     

四川省盐源县盐泉的特征与形成

研究天然盐泉的形成有助于揭示陆地水文循环过程中的物质迁移。采用水文地球化学的方法,分析四川省盐源县的9个泉水和卤水水样的水化学特征和同位素特征,探讨盐泉的溶质来源,总结盐泉的成因模式。水样可以分为TDS为311.69 g/L的Cl-Na型卤水、TDS为55.77~89.43 g/L的Cl-Na型盐泉、TDS为1.17 g/L的Cl-Na型微咸泉和TDS为0.26~0.56 g/L的以HCO₃-Ca、HCO₃·SO₄-Ca·Mg型为主的淡水泉。泉水和卤水的氢氧同位素显示其来源于大气降水;水样的特征系数显示盐泉和卤水都属于溶滤型,且指示研究区基本不具有找钾前景。泉水的盐分主要来源于石盐、方解石、石膏和白云石等矿物的溶滤。盐泉的形成模式可以概括为:在山区获得大气降水入渗补给后,地下水经历较浅和较深的地下径流并且溶滤含盐地层或者盐矿,使其矿化度升高,在地形较低处汇集出露地表成泉。     

Sedimentology,palaeoecology and geochronology of Last Interglacial deposits from Deeping St James,Lincolnshire, England

Pollen, plant macrofossil, molluscan and coleopteran data from organic muds below the low terrace of the River Welland at Deeping St James, Lincolnshire indicate deposition in the mixed oak forest phase of a Late Pleistocene interglacial. Coleopteran and molluscan data suggest summer temperatures up to 4°C warmer than at present in eastern England, and plant macrofossil material suggests a climate more continental than that of Britain in the Holocene. No direct analogue of this biota, however, exists currently in Europe. Biostratigraphical indications from the pollen coleoptera and Mollusca suggest an age in the Ipswichian Interglacial. Thermoluminescence dates between 120 ka and 75 ka and amino-acid ratios with a mean of 0.11 show that deposition of the sediments took place during Oxygen Isotope Stage 5. This accurate dating of a partial Ipswichian succession allows discussion of the ages of a number of other interglacial sites in eastern England of assumed Ipswichian age. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seasonal and sub-seasonal oxygen and nutrient fluctuations in an embayment of an eastern boundary upwelling system: St Helena Bay

Seasonal, sub-seasonal and spatial fluctuations in bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) were examined in St Helena Bay, South Africa’s largest and most productive embayment, between November 2013 and November 2014. Alongshore bay characteristics were assessed through comparison of variables along the 50-m depth contour. A mean coefficient of variation of 0.35 provided a measure of the relative variability of near-bottom DO concentrations along this contour. Consistently lower DO concentrations in the southern region of the bay in summer and autumn are attributed to enhanced retention. Across-shelf transects captured the seasonal development of hypoxia in relation to the distribution of phytoplankton biomass. Exceptional dinoflagellate blooms form extensive subsurface thin layers preceding the autumn DO minima in the south of the bay, prior to winter ventilation of the bottom waters. The seasonal decline in DO concentrations in the bottom waters was marked by sub-seasonal events of hypoxia, and ultimately anoxia linked to episodic deposition of organic matter, as indicated by increases in bottom chlorophyll-a concentrations. Seasonal changes in bottom water macronutrient concentrations followed trends in apparent oxygen utilisation (AOU), both of which mirrored DO concentrations. In the south of the bay, nitrogen loss through denitrification/anammox in suboxic waters was indicated by a dissolved inorganic N deficit in the bottom waters, which was most pronounced in autumn.     

基于水准剖面的山西断陷带现今活动性研究

根据跨山西断陷带的水准剖面观测资料,计算其垂直形变量和垂直形变速率,研究其现今垂直活动性。2006年以来的垂直形变揭示,山西断陷带东北段延怀盆地和蔚县盆地呈掀斜上升活动,北段阳原盆地和大同盆地以下降活动为主,晋中盆地为上下波动,临汾盆地呈现上升活动。2013年山西断陷带活动出现转折性变化,蔚县盆地大幅度下降,大同盆地、代县-定襄盆地、晋中盆地和临汾盆地均呈现不同程度的上升。