The Global, Local and Cluster Galaxy Luminosity Function

We review selected measurements of the galaxy luminosity function including the field, the local group, the local sphere, nearby clusters (Virgo, Coma and Fornax) and clusters in general. We conclude that, excluding the super-luminous cD and D galaxies, the overall cluster luminosity function is fully consistent with the field luminosity function over the magnitude range in common (–22 ≤ M _B –5log _{h 0.68} ≤ –17). We find that only in the core regions of clusters (r ≤ 300 kpc) does the overall form of the luminosity function show significant variation. However when the luminosity function is subdivided by spectral type some further variations are seen. We argue that these results imply: substantial late infall, efficient star-formation suppression, and the confinement of mass-changing evolutionary processes to the core regions only. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Optimal design of an equipment isolation system with nonlinear hysteretic behaviour

Vibration isolation is well recognized as an effective mitigation strategy for acceleration‐sensitive equipment subjected to earthquake. In the present paper, an equipment isolation system with nonlinear hysteretic behaviour is proposed and a methodology for the optimal design is developed. An integrable constitutive model, derived from the mathematical Duhem hysteresis operator, is adopted for the isolation system. The optimization procedure is defined through a dual‐criteria approach that involves a transmissibility criterion combined with an energy performance criterion: the former consists in limiting the absolute acceleration of the isolated equipment below an allowable threshold value; the latter, in maximizing the ratio between the energy dissipation due to hysteresis and the input energy to reduce the isolator displacements. The seismic effectiveness of the nonlinear hysteretic isolation system is numerically investigated under natural accelerograms with different frequency content and increasing levels of excitation. Both ground‐mounted and floor‐mounted equipment items are considered in the analyses; in the second case, the dynamic interaction between the equipment and its supporting structure is taken into account in the design of the isolation system, and its effects on the isolation performance and the structural response are discussed. Comparisons in terms of effectiveness and robustness with a linear isolation system with viscoelastic behaviour are eventually provided. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scale effects of Hortonian overland flow and rainfall–runoff dynamics in a West African catena landscape

Hortonian runoff was measured from plots with lengths of 1·25 and 12 m, and at watershed level for rainstorms during the 1996 rainy season in cental Côte d'Ivoire, Africa. A clear reduction in runoff coefficients was found with increasing slope lengths, giving order of magnitude differences between runoff measurements at point level (1 m²: 30–50% of total rain) and watershed level (130 ha: 4% of total rain). Runoff reduction from 1·25 and 12 m slopes was reproduced for each major runoff‐producing rainstorm at two different sets of plots, but the reduction was erratic for rainfall events which produced little runoff. In addition, runoff reduction varied wildly from one rainstorm to the next. In the analysis, we show that the spatial variability of runoff parameters causes the erratic behaviour during rainstorms with little runoff. During the more important, larger runoff‐producing events, which give 78% of total runoff, the temporal dynamics of the rainfall–runoff process determine the reduction of runoff coefficients from longer slopes. A simple infiltration/runoff model was used to simulate the field results, thereby confirming the importance of rainfall dynamics as an explanatory factor for measured reduction of runoff coefficients. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Slope stability analysis on a regional scale using GIS: a case study from Dhading,Nepal

A spatially distributed physically based slope stability model combined with a hydrological model is presented and applied to a 350-km² area located in Dhading district, Nepal. Land slide safety factor maps are generated for five cases, including three steady state conditions assuming either completely dry soils, half saturated soils, or fully saturated soils, and two quasi-dynamic conditions, i.e. soil wetness resulting from storm events with, respectively a 2 or 25-year return period. For the quasi-dynamic cases, two methods are used, one based on accumulation of groundwater flow from upstream areas, and the other on accumulation of soil water from direct infiltration. The methodology delineates areas most prone to shallow land sliding in function of readily available data as topography, land-use and soil types. For the study area only 29% of the soils are unconditionally stable, while 25% of the soils are found to be unstable under fully saturated conditions. The comparison between the methods based on contributing area or on infiltration for quasi-dynamic conditions show that the approach based on infiltration is more reliable for the study area. The proposed methodology for predicting landslide susceptibility on a regional scale, based on basic data in GIS form, may be useful for other remote regions where detailed information is not available.     

On the origin and age of the Steep Rock buckshot, Ontario, Canada

The Steep Rock buckshot is a brecciated pisolithic ferruginous bauxite found in the Errington iron mine, Steep Rock Lake, Ontario, Canada. It occurs within the almost vertical ore zone included in the Archean Steep Rock Group, reaching a depth in excess of 1100 ft. (335 m). Successive authors considered its age as Precambrian. The biological observations now presented deny this supposed Precambrian age. Treatment of the concretions by HCI, followed by staining, put in evidence abundant microscopic figurate animal and vegetal remains, namely shreds of insect integument and varied fragments of vascular plant material. Comparable results were obtained by casting and by scanning electron miscroscopy (SEM) of the surface of the concretions and by thin sections. All these remains are Phanerozoic and one of them is probably not anterior to the Late Cretaceous. The macro- and micromorphology of the concretions obey models of termite constructions and the spectrum of organic remains is identical to the one found in tubulo-alveolar laterites and in termite constructions. The presence in the matrix of canaliculi attributable to thin roots gives force to the idea that the buckshot was originated near the soil surface.     

1997年9月26日意大利中部Umbria-marche地震前的水文地质变化

分析了1997年9月26日意大利中部Umbria与marche交界地区的Umbria-marche地震序列引起的水文体系的变化。为了量化水文体系的变化,从地方当局和矿泉水公司收集了地下水位、泉水的流量以及河水流速等的资料,这些资料可以确定异常的影响面积,并且可以通过与从震前几年资料估算出的年平均体系的对比来量化异常的变化,试图对异常进行判定。分析结果表明,两个含水单元,即Umbria-marche山峰和Val-nerina单元,具有紧密的联系,它们都由于水文系统的改变而受到影响。地震前几个月两条河流测量站记录到了异常变化,认为是地震前兆异常。     

A new estimate of the galactic halo mass based on the kinematics of globular clusters

We calculated the energy distribution function for globular clusters in our Galaxy, using the inversion procedure first suggested by Eddington. If the halo mass distribution is of the formM _H=r ^1.21, then the observed data on the velocity dispersion of F-clusters can be explained, resulting an enclosed mass of 4.3×10¹¹ M within a galactocentric radius of 33 kpc.     

Results Of An Artificial Recharge Test And A Double Pumping Test As Preliminary Studies For Optimizing Water Supply In The Western Belgian Coastal Plain

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RESUMEN: En la planicie costera occidental de Bélgica, la mayor parte de la demanda de agua se abastece mediante captaciones en lentejones de agua dulce, bajo el cordón de dunas. Debido a la sobreexplotación, especialmente durante el verano, las captaciones están amenazadas por intrusiones de agua salada. Existe la posibilidad de utilizar recarga artificial, ya que en invierno una gran cantidad de agua dulce superficial se vierte al mar. Se presenta una propuesta para mejorar la gestión del agua en dicha región. Los estudios preliminares han consistido en dos ensayos: uno de recarga artificial en la zona de las dunas, y uno de doble bombeo en un cordón arenoso cerca de un canal de drenaje en la zona pantanosa de la planicie costera. La interpretación de los ensayos se realizó mediante modelación inversa. Los resultados del ensayo de recarga artificial han demonstrado la posibilidad de usar recarga artificial en la zona de captación de Koksijde. El ensayo de doble bombeo ha demonstrado que el cordón arenoso de Avekapelle, situado en la zona pantanosa, se puede utilizar como zona de captación.

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RéSUMé: Dans la partie occidentale de la plaine c?tière belge, la demande en eau est pour la plupart satisfaite par des captages d'eau souterraine. Les puits captent l'eau d'une lentille d'eau douce sous le cordon dunaire. Par suite d'une surexploitation, surtout pendant l'été, ces captages d'eau sont menacés par une intrusion d'eau salé. La recharge artificielle de la nappe peut être envisagée parce que, pendant l'hiver, de grandes quantités d'eau douce sont évacuées vers la mer. Une amélioration de la gestion de la ressource en eau est donc proposée. Deux essais ont été réalisés pour une étude préliminaire: un essai de recharge artificielle dans la région des dunes et un essai de double pompage prés d'un canal de drainage dans les polders. Ces deux essais ont été interprétés grace à une méthode inverse. L'essai de recharge artificielle a démontré les possibilités de recharge de la nappe pour le site de captage de Coxyde. L'essai de double pompage a montré que le d?me sableux d'Avekapelle, dans les polders, est une région de recharge qui convient.