Northern Eurasia earth science partnership initiative (NEESPI), science plan overview

Northern Eurasia Earth System Partnership Initiative, NEESPI, was established to address the global change processes associated with and/or originated within Northern Eurasia as well as to study the major socially-important processes within the region. NEESPI began as a US–Russian initiative but has quickly broadened into a fully international program. Scientists from 11 countries participated in preparing the NEESPI Science Plan. Current version of the Science Plan was released for public review on the World Wide Web in summer 2004 and finalized in December 2004. This paper provides an Overview of the Plan and is based, mainly, on its Executive Summary. The Overview describes the Plan's science themes and key science questions, provides a justification of the urgency studying Northern Eurasia from the global change prospective, and outlines research strategy and tools to address NEESPI science questions, as well as projected deliverables of the Initiative.     

The orbit and atmospheric trajectory of the Orgueil meteorite from historical records

Abstract— Using visual observations that were reported 140 years ago in the Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris, we have determined the atmospheric trajectory and the orbit of the Orgueil meteorite, which fell May 14, 1864, near Montauban, France. Despite the intrinsic uncertainty of visual observations, we were able to calculate a reasonably precise atmospheric trajectory and a moderately precise orbit for the Orgueil meteoroid. The atmosphere entry point was ?70 km high and the meteoroid terminal point was ?20 km high. The calculated luminous path was ?150 km with an entry angle of 20°. These characteristics are broadly similar to that of other meteorites for which the trajectory is known. Five out of six orbital parameters for the Orgueil orbit are well constrained. In particular, the perihelion lies inside the Earth's orbit (q ?0.87 AU), as is expected for an Earth‐crossing meteorite, and the orbital plane is close to the ecliptic (i ?0°). The aphelion distance (Q) depends critically on the pre‐atmospheric velocity. From the calculated atmospheric path and the fireball duration, which was reported by seven witnesses, we have estimated the pre‐atmospheric velocity to be larger than 17.8 km/sec, which corresponds to an aphelion distance Q larger than 5.2 AU, the semi‐major axis of Jupiter orbit. These results suggest that Orgueil has an orbit similar to that of Jupiter‐family comets (JFCs), although an Halley‐type comet cannot be excluded. This is at odds with other meteorites that have an asteroidal origin, but it is compatible with 140 years of data‐gathering that has established the very special nature of Orgueil compared to other meteorites. A cometary origin of the Orgueil meteorite does not contradict cosmochemistry data on CI1 chondrites. If CI1 chondrites originate from comets, it implies that comets are much more processed than previously thought and should contain secondary minerals. The forthcoming return of cometary samples by the Stardust mission will provide a unique opportunity to corroborate (or contradict) our hypothesis.     

Current climate change effects on the ground thermal regime in Central Yakutia

The evolution of ground thermal state has been studied to assess impacts of current climatic warming on permafrost in Central Yakutia. The analysis of long-term data of regional weather stations has revealed one of the highest increasing trends in mean annual air temperature in northern Russia. A forecast of surface air temperature fluctuations has been made by applying a frequency analysis method. Monitoring of ground thermal conditions allows us to identify inter-annual and long-term variability among a wide range of natural conditions. Experimental research has indicated a long-term dynamics of ground thermal state evolution： ground temperatures at the depth of zero annual amplitude and seasonally thawed layer depth. Long-term variability of thaw depth shows near-zero to weak positive trends in small valleys in contrast to weak negative trends on slopes. With significant climatic warming, the thermal state of near-surface layers of permafrost demonstrates steadiness. Anthropogenic impacts on ground thermal regime in various terrain types have been qualitatively evaluated. Clear-cutting, ground cover stripping, and post-fire deforestation in inter-alas type terrains result in a significant increase of temperature and seasonal ground thaw depth, as well as adverse cryogenic processes. The dynamics of mean annual ground temperature in slash and burn sites have been evaluated in reference to stages of successive vegetation recovery.     

Use of Groundwater Level Fluctuations near an Operating Water Supply Well to Estimate Aquifer Transmissivity

We developed a method to estimate aquifer transmissivity from the hydraulic-head data associated with the normal cyclic operation of a water supply well thus avoiding the need for interrupting the water supply associated with a traditional aquifer test. The method is based on an analytical solution that relates the aquifer's transmissivity to the standard deviation of the hydraulic-head fluctuations in one or more observation wells that are due to the periodic pumping of the production well. We analyzed the resulting analytical solution and demonstrated that when the observation wells are located near the pumping well, the solution has a simple, Dupuit like form. Numerical analysis demonstrates that the analytical solution can also be used for a quasi-periodic pumping of the supply well. Simulation of cyclic pumping in a statistically heterogeneous medium confirms that the method is suitable for analyzing the transmissivity of weakly or moderately heterogeneous aquifers. If only one observation well is available, and the shift in the phase of hydraulic-head oscillations between the pumping well and the observation well is not identifiable. Prior knowledge of aquifer's hydraulic diffusivity is required to obtain the value of the aquifer transmissivity.     

Solving the nonstationary Richards equation with adaptive hp-FEM

This paper examines the potential of the adaptive hp-FEM method for the numerical solution of time-dependent variably saturated Darcian flow problems described by the Richards equation. The method is illustrated on three model problems: a benchmark with known exact solution, groundwater seepage into a dry lysimeter box with time-dependent boundary conditions, and capillary barrier behavior under an intense infiltration. In the second part of the paper we present the weak formulation of the Richards equation for the Newton’s and Picard’s methods, give a brief overview of adaptive hp-FEM with emphasis on aspects that are usually not discussed in the literature, and we briefly introduce the open source adaptive hp-FEM library HERMES that was used to generate numerical results for this paper. All computations that we present are easily reproducible.     

极地冰层取心钻进超低温钻井液理论与试验研究

南极冰层取心钻进的关键之一是钻井液的耐温能力。根据南极冰层钻进的特点及对钻井液的特殊要求,在综合分析国内外冰层钻进钻井液应用经验的基础上,对有机硅、氟代烃、一元脂肪酸酯及二元脂肪酸酯进行了理论上的分析研究,测试了各自在不同温度条件下的粘度和密度,分析了粘度与密度变化的机理。确定出分子间相互作用中无氢键形成的物质的粘温系数最小,脂肪酸酯的粘温系数受到分子间氢键的数量影响最大,指出了介质密度的增加是由于体积收缩所致,与介质的分子结构与形态无关。所得到的结论对于极地冰层取心钻进钻井液的选择与确定具有重要的理论与实际意义。     

电动机械取心钻具反扭装置实验台设计及实验

大扭矩反扭装置是研制铠装电缆冰下基岩电动机械取心钻具的主要部分之一,该装置的失效将导致钻进无法进行,甚至将造成钻具脱落等严重的孔内事故。设计了铠装电缆钻具反扭装置实验台,并就实验装置的设计思想、设计原则、主要结构参数及初步实验结果进行了详细介绍。该实验台可以测试反扭装置在不同温度冰层和不同孔径任意组合下所能提供的反扭矩大小以及产生的下滑阻力。初步实验验证,该实验台工作性能良好,可以为更好的选择反扭装置类型及最优的使用参数提供重要依据。     

基于RecurDyn的极地冰下基岩取心钻具反扭装置的运动仿真及运动分析

在极地钻探技术领域中,铠装电缆式电动机械取心钻具应用广泛,优化、设计可靠的反扭装置,提高其反扭力矩,是冰下基岩电动机械取心钻具钻进成功的关键所在。为了分析反扭装置的全部性能,提出了基于数字化虚拟样机RecurDyn的仿真方法。反扭装置的组成机构是平面六杆机构,在RecurDyn中导入由inventor软件建立的反扭装置几何模型进行运动仿真及分析。介绍了利用RecurDyn软件来实现平面六杆机构（反扭装置）运动仿真及分析的方法和步骤。以反扭装置作为研究对象,在RecurDyn/post模块中,用动画来表现反扭装置的运动过程,用图表来反映运动仿真的结果。仿真的结果证明反扭装置设计的科学性、合理性以及实用性,可以实现预定位置变化,满足极地钻探中平衡钻进的要求。     

Spherical integral formulas for upward/downward continuation of gravitational gradients onto gravitational gradients

New integral formulas for upward/downward continuation of gravitational gradients onto gravitational gradients are derived in this article. They provide more options for continuation of gravitational gradient combinations and extend available mathematical apparatus formulated for this purpose up to now. The starting point represents the analytical solution of the spherical gradiometric boundary value problem in the spatial domain. Applying corresponding differential operators on the analytical solution of the spherical gradiometric boundary value problem, a total of 18 integral formulas are provided. Spatial and spectral forms of isotropic kernels are given and their behaviour for parameters of a GOCE-like satellite is investigated. Correctness of the new integral formulas and the isotropic kernels is tested in a closed-loop simulation. The derived integral formulas and the isotropic kernels form a theoretical basis for validation purposes and geophysical applications of satellite gradiometric data as provided currently by the GOCE mission. They also extend the well-known Meissl scheme.