Long-term changes (1980–2003) in total ozone time series over Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes

Long-term changes in total ozone time series for Arosa, Belsk, Boulder and Sapporo stations are examined. For each station we analyze time series of the following statistical characteristics of the distribution of daily ozone data: seasonal mean, standard deviation, maximum and minimum of total daily ozone values for all seasons. The iterative statistical model is proposed to estimate trends and long-term changes in the statistical distribution of the daily total ozone data. The trends are calculated for the period 1980–2003. We observe lessening of negative trends in the seasonal means as compared to those calculated by WMO for 1980–2000. We discuss a possibility of a change of the distribution shape of ozone daily data using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and comparing trend values in the seasonal mean, standard deviation, maximum and minimum time series for the selected stations and seasons. The distribution shift toward lower values without a change in the distribution shape is suggested with the following exceptions: the spreading of the distribution toward lower values for Belsk during winter and no decisive result for Sapporo and Boulder in summer.     

New insights into rare earth element (REE) particulate generated by cigarette lighters: an electron microscopy and materials science investigation of a poorly understood indoor air pollutant and constraints for urban geochemistry

Cigarette smoking is a well-recognized cause of lung cancer and other diseases and is a major contributor to indoor air pollution in numerous settings worldwide. Most cigarette lighters use rare earth element (REE) mischmetal in their flints in order to aid ignition, and these lighters thus have pyrophoric properties. REE particulate emitted from these lighters presents a complexity in the role of health of smokers that has yet to be explored fully. Furthermore, these particles are likely present in numerous urban settings and contribute to the complexities of urban geochemistry. Details of the material properties of rare earth element (REE) particulate derived from smoking lighters are determined first the first time. Particulate was investigated using back-scatter detection scanning electron microscopy techniques and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Several particle types were observed and demonstrate a diverse range of size and textures, many of which are previously not documented and are much smaller than previous basic scanning electron microscopy investigations. These include irregularly shaped fragments of mischmetal, micrometer-scale spherules, aggregates of nanospherules, and platy sponge-like nanoparticles. All of these particles have significant REE content, and most are of a particle size that can be deposited deep in the lung. The available literature regarding toxicity of REEs and the material science data presented here argues very strongly for cause for concern.     

Predicting Sea Surface Salinity Using an Improved Genetic Algorithm Combining Operation Tree Method

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the use of an improved genetic algorithm combining operation tree method (IGAOT) and apply it to monitor the salinity of the Taiwan Strait by using remote-sensing data. The genetic algorithm combining operation tree (GAOT) is a data mining method used to automatically discover relationships among nonlinear systems. Based on genetic algorithms (GAs), the relationships between input and output can be expressed as parse trees. The GAOT method typically has the disadvantages of premature convergence, which means it cannot produce satisfying solutions and performs satisfactorily when applied to only low-dimensional problems. Therefore, the GAOT method is enhanced using an automatic incremental procedure to improve the search ability of the method and avoid trapping in a local optimum. In this case study, an IGAOT is used to determine the relationship between the in situ data on the salinity of the Taiwan Strait and the data on the spectral parameters, seven wavebands, of a Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor. The results indicate that the IGAOT model performs more favorably than do the GAOT and linear regression (LR₁ and LR₂) models, exhibits higher correlation coefficients, and involves fewer estimating errors. The results of this study indicate that the proposed technique is useful for estimating the Taiwan Strait salinity.     

Deformation features of garnet-bearing granites from Huwan,western Dabie Mountains

Foliated garnet-bearing granite, usually associated with high pressure and ultrahigh -pressure (UHP) metamophic rocks, is a particular rock-type extensively exposed in the Mesozoic Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt of China. This study focuses on deformation features and SHRIMP zircon dating of foliated garnet granite in a high-pressure metamorphic unit from Huwan, western Dabie Mountains in order to resolve discrepancies in current versions of its petrogenesis and structural evolution. SHRIMP dating reveals a zircon age of 762 ± 15 Ma (MSWD=1.7) for Huwan granites, representing the Middle to Late Neoproterozoic age of intrusion and crystallization. Field and microstructural studies show that the Huwan granite body underwent multiple-stage deformation. The deformation was manifested by an early stage of rootless folding and imposition of relict foliation (S₁); an Indosinian main stage marked by imposition of north-dipping penetrative gneissosity (S₂) and development of ductile shear zones under NNE-SSW directed compression; and a final Indosinian stage of southward thrusting of the Huwan high-pressure unit. Shallow level extension prevailed after the Late Triassic, giving rise to south-dipping thrust faults and north-dipping normal faults. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40802046 and 40334037) and the Project of Science & Technology Research and Development from Sinopec (Grant No. P02009)     

Comparative study of different wavelets for developing parsimonious Volterra model for rainfall-runoff simulation

Although the Volterra models are non-parsimonious ones, they are being used because they can mimic dynamics of complex systems. However, applying and identification of the Volterra models using data may result in overfitting problem and uncertainty. In this investigation we evaluate capability of different wavelet forms for decomposing and compressing the Volterra kernels in order to overcome this problem by reducing the number of the model coefficients to be estimated and generating smooth kernels. A simulation study on a rainfall?runoff process over the Cache River watershed showed that the method performance is successful due to multi-resolution capacity of the wavelet analysis and high capability of the Volterra model. The results also revealed that db2 and sym2 wavelets have the same high potential in improving the linear Volterra model performance. However, QS wavelet was more successful in yielding smooth kernels. Moreover, the probability of overfitting while identifying the nonlinear Volterra model may be less than the linear model.     

Automatic mapping of lunar landforms using DEM-derived geomorphometric parameters

Developing approaches to automate the analysis of the massive amounts of data sent back from the Moon will generate significant benefits for the field of lunar geomorphology. In this paper, we outline an automated method for mapping lunar landforms that is based on digital terrain analysis. An iterative self-organizing (ISO) cluster unsupervised classification enables the automatic mapping of landforms via a series of input raster bands that utilize six geomorphometric parameters. These parameters divide landforms into a number of spatially extended, topographically homogeneous segments that exhibit similar terrain attributes and neighborhood properties. To illustrate the applicability of our approach, we apply it to three representative test sites on the Moon, automatically presenting our results as a thematic landform map. We also quantitatively evaluated this approach using a series of confusion matrices, achieving overall accuracies as high as 83.34% and Kappa coefficients (K) as high as 0.77. An immediate version of our algorithm can also be applied for automatically mapping large-scale lunar landforms and for the quantitative comparison of lunar surface morphologies.     

利用大地电磁资料对玄武岩成像的可行性

The magnetotelluric （MT） method has been among the favorite supporting tools for seismic imaging of sub-salt and sub-basalt targets. In this paper we present an example from Kachchh, India （where basaltic rocks overlie Mesozoic sedimentary rocks）, and discuss the feasibility of using MT method as an exploration tool in this geological setting. Our results highlight the difference in magnetotelluric response caused by the thin intrabasalt layering. The key issue addressed in this paper is what MT can and cannot provide in such geological settings. First, we compute apparent resistivity and phase response curves using representative resistivity-depth models and borehole data from the study area. Later, we compare these results to assess the plausibility of using MT to image the sub-volcanic sediments at Kachchh. Finally, we substantiate our discussion through one-dimensional inversion of the field observed MT data from this region that exhibits poor sensitivity of MT for thin basalt layers.     

Rhyolitic pumice in the basaltic pyroclasts from the 1971 eruption of Teneguía volcano,Canary Islands

Fragments of acid pumice have been found among the basic pyroclastics thrown out by the Teneguía volcano during its explosive phases. The presence of these pumice fragments brings up the problem of their origin and their relationships to the mechanism of the eruption.The composition of the analysed samples coincides exactly with the low temperature trough in petrogeny's residua system, albits-orthoclase-silica. The samples can be classified as rhyolites and trachytes.The authors propose that the pumice was produced by the fusion of the acid phase in a subvolcanic complex located beneath the island of La Palma.     

Identification of buried sinkholes using refraction tomography at Ft. Campbell Army Airfield,Kentucky

Karst aquifers are highly susceptible to contamination, with numerous points of entry for contaminants through recharge features such as sinkholes, swallow holes and solutionally enlarged fractures. These recharge features may be filled or obscured at the surface, requiring the use of geophysical or remote sensing techniques for their identification. This study uses seismic refraction data collected at the Ft. Campbell Army Airfield (CAAF), Kentucky, USA, to test the hypothesis that refraction tomography is a useful tool for imaging bedrock depressions beneath thick overburden (greater than 20 m of unconsolidated sediment). Southeast of the main taxiway of CAAF seismic velocity tomograms imaged a bedrock low, possibly a closed depression, at a depth of 25 m that had been earlier identified through delay-time analysis of the same refraction data. Tomography suggests the bedrock low is about 250-m wide by 10-m deep at its widest point. High rates of contaminant vapor extraction over the western extension of this feature suggest a high concentration of contaminants above, and within, this filled bedrock low, the base of which may contain solutionally enlarged fractures (i.e. karst conduits) that could funnel these contaminants to the upper or lower bedrock aquifers. This study thus demonstrates the viability of seismic refraction tomography as a tool for identification of filled sinkholes and bedrock depressions in karst areas.     

Comparison of spectral and spatial methods for a Moho recovery from gravity and vertical gravity-gradient data

In global studies investigating the Earth’s lithospheric structure, the spectral expressions for the gravimetric forward and inverse modeling of the global gravitational and crustal structure models are preferably used, because of their numerical efficiency. In regional studies, the applied numerical schemes typically utilize the expressions in spatial form. Since the gravity-gradient observations have a more localized support than the gravity measurements, the gravity-gradient data (such as products from the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer - GOCE - gravity-gradiometry satellite mission) could preferably be used in regional studies, because of reducing significantly the spatial data-coverage required for a regional inversion or interpretation. In this study, we investigate this aspect in context of a regional Moho recovery. In particular, we compare the numerical performance of solving the Vening Meinesz-Moritz’s (VMM) inverse problem of isostasy in spectral and spatial domains from the gravity and (vertical) gravity-gradient data. We demonstrate that the VMM spectral solutions from the gravity and gravity-gradient data are (almost) the same, while the VMM spatial solutions differ from the corresponding spectral solutions, especially when using the gravity-gradient data. The validation of the VMM solutions, however, reveals that the VMM spatial solution from the gravity-gradient data has a slightly better agreement with seismic models. A more detailed numerical analysis shows that the VMM spatial solution formulated for the gravity gradient is very sensitive to horizontal spatial variations of the vertical gravity gradient, especially in vicinity of the computation point. Consequently, this solution provides better results in regions with a relatively well-known crustal structure, while suppressing errors caused by crustal model uncertainties from distant zones. Based on these findings we argue that the gravity-gradient data are more suitable than the gravity data for a regional Moho recovery.