Simulation of Meteorological Fields Within and Above Urban and Rural Canopies with a Mesoscale Model

Accurate simulation of air quality at neighbourhood scales (on order of 1-km horizontal grid spacing) requires detailed meteorological fields inside the roughness sub-layer (RSL). Since the assumptions of the roughness approach, used by most of the mesoscale models, are unsatisfactory at this scale, a detailed urban and rural canopy parameterisation, called DA-SM2-U, is developed inside the Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) to simulate the meteorological fields within and above the urban and rural canopies. DA-SM2-U uses the drag-force approach to represent the dynamic and turbulent effects of the buildings and vegetation, and a modified version of the soil model SM2-U, called SM2-U(3D), to represent the thermodynamic effects of the canopy elements. The turbulence length scale is also modified inside the canopies. SM2-U(3D) assesses the sensible and latent heat fluxes from rural and urban surfaces in each of the computational layers inside the canopies by considering the shadowing effect, the radiative trapping by the street canyons, and the storage heat flux by the artificial surfaces. DA-SM2-U is tested during one simulated day above the city of Philadelphia, U.S.A. It is shown that DA-SM2-U is capable of simulating the important features observed in the urban and rural RSL, as seen in the vertical profiles of the shear stress, turbulent kinetic energy budget components, eddy diffusivity, potential air temperature, and specific humidity. Within the canopies, DA-SM2-U simulates the decrease of the wind speed inside the dense canopies, the skirting of the flow around the canopy blocks, warmer air inside the vegetation canopy than above open areas during the night and conversely during the day, and constantly warmer air inside the urban canopy. The comparison with measurements shows that the surface air temperature above rural and urban areas is better simulated by DA-SM2-U than by the `standard version' of MM5.     

Use of slow-release fertilizer and biopolymers for stimulating hydrocarbon biodegradation in oil-contaminated beach sediments

Nutrient concentration and hydrocarbon bioavailability are key factors affecting biodegradation rates of oil in contaminated beach sediments. The effect of a slow-release fertilizer, Osmocote, as well as two biopolymers, chitin and chitosan, on the bioremediation of oil-spiked beach sediments was investigated using an open irrigation system over a 56-day period under laboratory conditions. Osmocote was effective in sustaining a high level of nutrients in leached sediments, as well as elevated levels of microbial activity and rates of hydrocarbon biodegradation. Chitin was more biodegradable than chitosan and gradually released nitrogen into the sediment. The addition of chitin or chitosan to the Osmocote amended sediments enhanced biodegradation rates of the alkanes relative to the presence of Osmocote alone, where chitosan was more effective than chitin due to its greater oil sorption capacity. Furthermore, chitosan significantly enhanced the biodegradation rates of all target polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

莒县整顿矿产资源开发秩序成效显著

莒县位于山东省东南部,总面积1 952.4 km2,辖1 260个行政村,总人口110万。因其地处沂沭断裂带,矿产资源较为丰富,现已发现和探明的矿产有36种,大部分矿种储量较小,只有石灰石、页岩粘土、花岗岩、白云岩、钛铁矿、河砂等矿种有一定储量规模并被开发利用。2006年以来,莒县开展了整顿和规范矿产开发秩序工作,圆满完成了整顿和规范第一阶段工作任务,全县矿产资源开发秩序全面好转,促进了经济的持续、快速、健康发展。1工作成绩(1)抓领导,形成合力。成立了整顿和规范矿产资源开发秩序工作领导小组,在县国土资源局下设办公室,抽调专业人员负责具…     

Glacially derived material in an Inner Mongolian desert lake during Marine Isotope Stage 2

Establishing the precise timing of continental glacial dynamics and abrupt high‐latitude climate events is crucial to understanding the causes of global climate change. Here we present multi‐proxy records in a lake sediment core from arid Inner Mongolia (Wuliangsuhai Lake) that show two distinct glacially derived sedimentation events at ～26.2–21.8 and ～17.3–11.5k cal a BP. Fine sediments from the Last Glacial Maximum separate these glacially derived coarse sediments. Within these intervals, the occurrence of granite clasts at ～24–23.5, 17.3–17 and 15.6–14.1k cal a BP implies either sediment discharge by meltwater as well as strong current flow in the Yellow River and/or sediment influx through hill‐slope mass wasting and landsliding from the nearby Yin Mountains. Surface microfeatures of quartz grains and spot elemental analysis of black specks in these intervals, however, indicate that physical weathering is dominant and that the provenance of the rocks is probably from a glacial source. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time glacier‐derived materials have been detected in any desert lake in the Yellow River basin. The occurrence of granite clasts roughly correlates with Heinrich events in the North Atlantic, suggesting synchronous ice sheet dynamics in high‐ and mid‐latitude regions during the Last Glacial period. Although our data provide unprecedented evidence for the influence of glacier‐related processes in arid Inner Mongolia, further well‐dated records are clearly needed to re‐evaluate the correlative inference drawn between granite clast layers in Wuliangsuhai Lake and Heinrich events in the North Atlantic. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inferred fault geometry and slip distribution of the 2010 Jiashian,Taiwan, earthquake is consistent with a thick-skinned deformation model

We invert measurements of coseismic displacements from 139 continuously recorded GPS sites from the 2010, Jiashian, Taiwan earthquake to solve for fault geometry and slip distribution using an elastic uniform stress drop inversion. The earthquake occurred at a depth of ~ 23 km in an area between the Western Foothills fold-and-thrust belt and the crystalline high mountains of the Central Range, providing an opportunity to examine the deep fault structure under Taiwan. The inferred rupture plane is oblique to the prominent orientation of thrust faults and parallel to several previously recognized NW-striking transfer zones that appear to connect stepping thrusts. We find that a fault striking 318°–344° with dip of 26°–41° fits the observations well with oblique reverse-sinistral slip under a low stress drop of about 0.5 MPa. The derived geodetic moment of 2.92 × 10¹⁸ N-m is equivalent to a M_w = 6.24 earthquake. Coseismic slip is largely concentrated within a circular patch with a 10-km radius at the depth between 10 and 24 km and maximum slip of 190 mm. We suggest this earthquake ruptured the NW-striking Chishan transfer fault zone, which we interpret as a listric NE-dipping lateral ramp with oblique slip connecting stepping thrust faults (ramps). The inferred slip on the lateral ramp is considerably deeper than the 7–15 km deep detachment identified in previous studies of western Taiwan. We infer an active basal detachment under western Taiwan at a depth of at least ~ 20–23 km based on these inversion results. The earthquake may have nucleated at the base of the lateral ramp near the intersection with the basal detachment. Coulomb stress change calculations suggest that this earthquake moved several NE-striking active thrust faults in western Taiwan nearer to failure.     

Large-scale environmental controls on the seasonal statistics of rapidly intensifying North Atlantic tropical cyclones

This study is concerned with the connections between the large-scale environment and the seasonal occurrence of rapid intensification (RI) of North Atlantic tropical cyclones. Physically-motivated statistical analysis using observations and reanalysis products suggests that for tropical cyclones over the open tropical North Atlantic, the interannual variability of the probability of storms undergoing RI is influenced by seasonal large-scale atmospheric and oceanic variables, but not so for storms over the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean Sea. We suggest that this differentiated response is due to the former region exhibiting a strong negative correlation between the seasonal anomalies of vertical wind shear and potential intensity. Differences in the mean climatology and subseasonal variations of the large-scale environment in these regions appear to play an insignificant role in the distinctive seasonal environmental controls on RI. We suggest that the interannual correlation of vertical wind shear and potential intensity is an indicator of seasonal predictability of tropical cyclone activity (including RI) across the tropics .     

Atmospheric density at 169 km from accelerometer measurements and orbital decay of a low altitude satellite

Atmospheric densities at 169 km have been obtained for the period 19 August–3 September 1970 from the measurements of an accelerometer on a low altitude satellite and from the orbital decay of the same satellite. Three different sets of local time and latitude conditions were provided by the data; two from the accelerometer measurements, before and after perigee, and one at perigee, from the orbital decay data. Under the generally quiet magnetic activity conditions that prevailed during the data-taking period, the short term density fluctuations were found to be poorly correlated with the small K_p variations. However, on the greater time scale of a day, a definite relationship was found between the daily average density and the daily geomagnetic index A_p. Further, the increase in the density corresponding to A_p was largest at the highest latitude. The high latitude accelerometer data exhibited a quasi-daily periodicity, with maximum densities occurring when the satellite was within the dayside cusp. This effect also appeared to depend on the degree of auroral electrojet activity as defined by the AE index. Comparisons of the data with the Jacchia?70 and ?71 models indicated that these models may give density values which are too small for the conditions and time period corresponding to the data.     

Time stability and variability of Electronically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer soil moisture during Southern Great Plains hydrology experiments

Variability and time‐stability analysis for field‐scale (800 m) Electronically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer soil moisture within a satellite scale footprint (∼ 50 km) were quantified using observations from the Southern Great Plains Hydrology Experiment 1997 and 1999 (SGP97 and SGP99). The pixels' time‐stability properties were examined with respect to soil, vegetation and topographic parameters in order to determine which physical parameters can be used to identify good candidate observation locations for validating soil moisture from satellite observations and global‐scale model output. The results show that the time‐stability concept remains valid at the satellite scale. The root mean square error values were 1·47, 1·51, 1·93 and 2·32% for the 1st, 2nd, 50th and 100th most stable fields, respectively. The most stable locations had sand and clay percentages consistent with sandy loam soils and moderate to high normalized difference vegetation index values. Neither land cover nor topography properties could be used to identify potentially stable fields in the study region. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Laser fusion argon‐40/argon‐39 ages of Darwin impact glass

Abstract— Three samples of Darwin Glass, an impact glass found in Tasmania, Australia at the edge of the Australasian tektite strewn field were dated using the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar single‐grain laser fusion technique, yielding isochron ages of 796–815 ka with an overall weighted mean of 816 ± 7 ka. These data are statistically indistinguishable from those recently reported for the Australasian tektites from Southeast Asia and Australia (761–816 ka; with a mean weighted age of 803 ± 3 ka). However, considering the compositional and textural differences and the disparity from the presumed impact crater area for Australasian tektites, Darwin Glass is more likely to have resulted from a distinct impact during the same period of time.     

Contaminant transport in one‐dimensional single fractured media: semi‐analytical solution for three‐member decay chain with pulse and Heaviside input sources

A semi‐analytical solution of the one‐dimensional transport for considering a three‐member decay chain in a single fracture with pulse and Heaviside input sources has been studied using the Laplace transform and its numerical inversion. The results reveal that breakthrough curves of dimensionless concentration for the decay chain of Np‐237, U‐233, and Th‐229 in the fracture can be well demonstrated in the temporal and spatial domains. The conditions with and without retardation effects are also compared. During the preliminary screening phase the solutions are suitable for performance assessment on radioactive waste disposal sites under a one‐dimensional single fracture condition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.