The influence of horizontally non-uniform heating upon the development of strong convective mesoscale disturbances

It is shown by observational data and synoptic analysis that the development of strong convective echo is influenced by the horizontally non-uniform heating, such as the one caused by lake-land distribution. In this paper, a simple linear cell-convection model is established using an appropriate heating field, and the instability of heating convection is theoretically studied. It is found that the heating convection development will be unstable if the heating-caused temperature gradientdT ₀/dy is greater than the critical value (dT ₀/dy) _c which is approximately 0.64°C/10 km, and that the development of convective band has a preferred width of 12.5 km. It will take 25 min for the initial disturbance to increase intensity by 10 times. All these results are in rather good agreement with the squall line process in the lake-land region of Jiangsu Province on June 8, 1979.     

The first peak ground motion attenuation relationships for North of Vietnam

The first attenuation relationships of peak ground acceleration (PGA) and peak ground velocity (PGV) for northern Vietnam are obtained in this study. Ground motion data are collected by a portable broadband seismic network in northern Vietnam as a part of cooperation between the Institute of Geophysics, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, Vietnam and Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. The database comprises a total of 330 amplitude records by 14 broadband stations from 53 shallow earthquakes, which were occurred in and around northern Vietnam in the period between 01/2006 and 12/2009. These earthquakes are of local magnitudes between 1.6 and 4.6, focal depths less than 30 km, and epicentral distances less than 500 km. The new attenuation relationships for PGA and PGV are:

log₁₀(PGA)=-0.987+0.7521M_L-log₁₀(R)-0.00475R,     

Action mechanism of geotextile-reinforced cushion under breakwater on soft ground

Various measures including material experiments, centrifuge modeling tests and FEM numerical analyses were performed to study systematically the action mechanism of the geotextile-reinforced cushion under breakwater on soft ground and the effects of the strata characterization and the reinforcement condition on the stability of the breakwater-ground system. In the aspect of controlling the deformation, the geotextile-reinforced cushion under breakwater constrains the lateral displacement of both the embankment and the ground. From the viewpoint of stress, the reinforcement suppressed the range of high stress level in the system. In general, the weaker the ground is and the greater the modulus of the geotextile is, the more effective the reinforcement is. The tensile force in the geotextile is greater in the range of the main part of the embankment.     

2.5 Ga gabbro-anorthosites in the Belomorian Province,Fennoscandian Shield: Petrology and tectonic setting

The Vorochistoozersky, Nizhnepopovsky, and Severo-Pezhostrovsky gabbro-anorthosite massifs have been studied in the central part of the Belomorian Province, Fennoscandian Shield. The similarity of geological setting and rock composition of these massifs suggests their affiliation to a single complex. The age of the gabbro-anorthosites was determined by U-Pb (SHRIMP II) zircon dating of gabbro-pegmatites from the Vorochistoozersky massif at 2505 ± 8 Ma. The studied massifs were overprinted by the high-pressure amphibolite facies metamorphism. Relicts of magmatic layering and primary magmatic assemblages preserved in the largest bodies. The massifs consist mainly of leucocratic gabbros but also contain rocks of the layered series varying in composition from olivinite to anorthosite. The presence of troctolites in the layered series indicates the stability of the olivine–plagioclase liquidus assemblage and, respectively, shallow depths of melt crystallization. Despite the composition differences between gabbro-anorthosites of the Belomorian and peridotite–gabbronorite intrusions Kola provinces, these simultaneously formed massifs presumably mark a single great igneous event. It also includes the gabbronorite dikes in the Vodlozero terrane of the Karelian province, the Mistassini swarm in the Superior province, and the Kaminak swarm in the Hearne Craton, Canadian Shield. The large igneous province of age ~2500 Ma reflects the oldest stage of within-plate magmatism after a consolidation of the Neoarchean crust of the Kenorland Supercontinent (Superia supercraton).     

Cs and Cl NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics modeling of Cs and Cl complexation with natural organic matter

Interaction of dissolved aqueous species with natural organic matter (NOM) is thought to be important in sequestering some species and enhancing the transport of others, but little is known about these interactions on a molecular scale. This paper describes a combined experimental ¹³³Cs and ³⁵Cl nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and computational molecular dynamics (MD) modeling study of the interaction of Cs⁺ and Cl⁻ with Suwannee River NOM. The results provide a detailed picture of the molecular-scale structure and dynamics of these interactions. Individual NOM molecules are typically hundreds to thousands of Daltons in weight, and on the molecular scale their interaction with small dissolved species can be investigated in ways similar to those used to study the interaction of dissolved aqueous species with mineral surfaces. As for such surface interactions, understanding both the structural environments and the dynamics over a wide range of frequencies is essential. The NMR results show that Cs⁺ is associated with NOM at pH values from 3.4 ± 0.5 (unbuffered Suwannee River NOM solution) to 9.0 ± 0.5. The extent of interaction increases with decreasing CsCl concentration at constant pH. It also decreases with increasing pH at constant CsCl concentration due to pH-dependent negative structural charge development on the NOM caused by progressive deprotonation of carboxylic and phenolic groups. The presence of NOM has little effect on the ¹³³Cs chemical shifts, demonstrating that its local coordination environment does not change significantly due to interaction with the NOM. Narrow, solution-like line widths indicate rapid exchange of Cs⁺ between the NOM and bulk solution at frequencies of >10² Hz. The MD simulations support these results and show that Cs⁺ is associated with the NOM principally as outer sphere complexes and that this interaction does not reduce the Cs⁺ diffusion coefficient sufficiently to cause NMR line broadening. The ³⁵Cl NMR data and the MD results are consistent in demonstrating that there is no significant complexation between Cl⁻ and NOM in the pH range investigated, consistent with negative structural charge on the NOM.     

Stratified unbounded flow past of obstacles

We studied the surface perturbations of a two-layer ideal fluid induced by a flow past a submerged obstacle (simulated by a point dipole) in the vicinity of the density-jump layer. It is shown that the formation of two different types of surface waves is possible behind the flowed past obstacle in the real conditions of the open sea. The comparison of the amplitudes of the surface perturbations induced by the obstacle located above and below the density jump revealed their significant differences, which seems to be important for the use of this effect in practical problems.     

Landscape planning in the Transcaucasia

We have developed the planning documents for model territories of a different dimension: the landscape program of Adzharia (Georgia), the landscape structure plan for the Lake Sevan watershed basin (Armenia), and the landscape plan for the Shirvan National Park (Azerbaijan). Variants of the solution of regional natural-ecological problems are proposed, and the measures for implementation of the target concepts are substantiated.