An estimation of discharge using mean velocity derived through Chiu’s velocity equation

To estimate discharge through the year (dry season and flood season), a stage–discharge curve derived through monitoring discharge in about 20 rivers or channels every year has been generally used. As revealed in many studies, however, the stage–discharge curve is inevitably affected by their hydraulic characteristics. This suggests that the use of a stage–discharge curve derived without considering hydraulic characteristics unique to a river or channel may produce significant errors in estimating discharge at not only low stage (during dry seasons) but also high stage (during flood seasons). In this study, the authors proposed a method to calculate the mean velocity and to estimate the discharge considering the hydraulic characteristics of a river or channel (e.g. the bed slope, wetted perimeter, width, kinematic viscosity, etc.); the method was developed using Chiu’s velocity equation. With the proposed method, it is possible to calculate a maximum velocity that is difficult to measure in an open channel, derive an entropy function representing the equilibrium of the channel, and thereby, estimate reliable discharge even in a flood season. To comparatively verify the utility of the proposed method, relations between the results of analysis using Manning’s and Chezy’s mean velocity equations and the values of measured discharge were addressed together. The results of analysis using lab data sets and measured data sets revealed that the proposed method was significantly more accurate in estimating discharge, even in flood seasons, when compared with the conventional method.     

Retrieval and tentative indentification of the 3 μm spectral feature in Titan's haze

Recently, an unidentified 3.3-3.4 μm feature found in the solar occultation spectra of the atmosphere of Titan observed by Cassini/VIMS was tentatively attributed to the C-H stretching mode of aliphatic hydrocarbon chains attached to large organic molecules, but without properly extracting the feature from adjacent influences of strong CH₄ and weak C₂H₆ absorptions (Bellucci et al., 2009). In this work, we retrieve the detailed spectral feature using a radiative transfer program including absorption and fluorescent emission of both molecules, as well as absorption and scattering by haze particles. The spectral features of the haze retrieved from the VIMS data at various altitudes are similar to each other, indicating relatively uniform spectral properties of the haze with altitude. However, slight deviations observed near 127 km and above 300 km suggest inhomogeneity at these altitudes. We find that the positions of the major spectral peaks occur at 3.33-3.37 μm, which are somewhat different from the typical 3.3 μm aromatic or 3.4 μm aliphatic C-H stretches usually seen in the spectra of dust particles of the interstellar medium and comets. The peaks, however, coincide with those of the solid state spectra of C₂H₆, CH₄, and CH₃CN; and a broad shoulder from 3.37 to 3.50 μm coincides with those of C₅H₁₂ and C₆H₁₂ as well as those of typical aliphatic C-H stretches. This result combined with high-altitude (∼1000 km) haze formation process recently reported by Waite et al. (2007) opens a new question on the chemical composition of the haze particles. We discuss the possibility that the 3 μm feature may be due to the solid state absorption bands of these molecules (or some other molecules) and we advocate additional laboratory measurements for the ices of hydrocarbon and nitrogen-bearing molecules present in Titan's atmosphere for the identification of this 3 μm feature.     

古植被定量重建与R值模型的发展——R值和ERV模型在兴隆山地区的应用

基于兴隆山自然保护区及其周边地区30个样方的植被调查和表土花粉分析,运用R值计算方法和ERV模型估算了我国北方常见的几种乔木和草本植物花粉的代表性和相对花粉产量.R值显示蒿属花粉为超代表性,云杉属和沙棘属代表性略高,栎属和桦属代表性适中,禾本科和莎草科为低代表性.ERV模型估算结果显示云杉属、沙棘属和栎属的花粉产量较高,桦木属的花粉产量较低,而禾本科和莎草科的花粉产量很低.通过对结果的分析表明:云杉属、沙棘属、栎属、莎草科和禾本科根据R值计算得到的代表性结果和ERV模型估算得到的花粉产量结果有较好的一致性,但有很高背景花粉成分的桦属和蒿属的花粉产量较低,主要是由于R值没有考虑背景花粉成分对花粉百分比的影响.因此,在进行景观尺度的植被重建时一定要考虑背景花粉成分的影响,以确定当地是否有对应的母体植物大量分布.     

Tracing offshore low-salinity plumes in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico during the summer season by use of multispectral remote-sensing data

To trace offshore surface low-salinity water (LSW) in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, a proxy was developed using the surface water beam attenuation coefficient (c _p), and salinity matched with synchronous Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) satellite data from three annual summer cruises (July 1998–August 2000) using a two-step empirical approach. First, a relationship between in-situ salinity and c _p was obtained. Second, in-situ c _p was matched with SeaWiFS radiance ratios of all available blue-to-green wavelengths. Finally, satellite-derived surface salinity was determined directly by combining the two empirical relationships, providing a robust estimate over a range of salinities (26–36). This significantly improves the limited spatial and temporal resolution of surface salinity distribution obtained by shipboard sampling. The resulting correlation is best explained as mixing between low-salinity plume waters and normal salinity Gulf waters. The empirical relationships were used to map satellite-derived salinity using the average of SeaWiFS images during each summer cruise. As expected for summer, spatial patterns of LSW plumes with high c _p, particulate matter (PM), particulate organic carbon (POC), and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) were connected to the mouth of the Mississippi River Delta and extended to the east-southeast. Normal salinity Gulf water with lower c _p, PM, POC, and Chl-a was confined to the shelf and upper slope in the eastern part of the study area, outside the plumes. This proxy approach can be applied throughout the region of shipboard sampling for more detailed coverage and analysis.     

马朗凹陷低熟页岩油地球化学特征及成烃机理

勘探实践和研究表明,马朗凹陷二叠系芦草沟组源内油气为页岩油,该原油C₂₉甾烷立体异构化参数w(20S)/w(20S+20R)、w(ββ)/w(αα+ββ)均为0.2~0.4,为典型低熟原油。通过对芦草沟组烃源岩地球化学和有机岩石学特征的综合研究,发现低熟页岩油的生烃母质为原生的富氢无定形体,这些无定形体在沉积早期经历过细菌的改造作用,致使其具有特殊的生烃演化模式,即低熟-成熟阶段早期（R_o为0.55%~0.75%）处于生油高峰,对应埋深为1 800~2 900 m,埋深大于或小于该主峰带,烃源岩生烃能力急剧降低。泥岩生烃模拟实验、热解、抽提等实验数据表明:芦草沟组低熟页岩油正是位于该主生带的源岩所生,处于生烃带的源岩区即为马朗凹陷低熟页岩油富集的有利地区。     

The origin and emplacement of the Lajishankou ophiolite complex in the South Qilian belt: evidences from geological mapping

Many ophiolite complexes like those of Oman and New Caledonia represent fragments of ancient oceanic crust and upper mantle generated at supra‐subduction zone environments and have been obducted onto the adjacent rifted continental margin together with the accretionary complexes and intra‐oceanic arcs. The Lajishan ophiolite complexes in the Qilian orogenic belt along the NE edge of the Tibet‐Qinghai Plateau are one of several ophiolites situated to the south of the Central Qilian block. Our geological mapping and petrological investigations suggest that the Lajishankou ophiolite complex consists of serpentinite, wehrlite, pyroxenite, gabbro, dolerite, and pillow and massive basalts that occur in a series of elongate fault‐bounded slices. An accretionary complex composed mainly of basalt, radiolarian chert, sandstone, mudstone, and mélange lies structurally beneath the ophiolite complex. The Lajishankou ophiolite complex and accretionary complex were emplaced onto the Qingshipo Formation of the Central Qilian block which shows features typical of turbidites deposited in a deep‐water environment of passive continental margin. Our geochemical and geochronological studies indicate that the mafic rocks in the Lajishankou ophiolite complex can be categorized into three distinct groups: massive island arc tholeiites, 509 Ma back‐arc dolerite dykes, and 491 Ma pillow basaltic and dolerite slices that are of seamount origin in a back‐arc basin. The ophiolite and accretionary complex constitute a Cambrian‐early Ordovician trench‐arc system within the South Qilian belt during the early Paleozoic southward subduction of the South Qilian Ocean prior to Early Ordovician obduction of this system onto the Central Qilian block.     

Numerical Modeling the Formation Mechanism of L Tectonites

L‐tectonite is the deformed rock characterized by extremely developed lineation and weaker foliation. From the geometric, Flinn (1965) believed that a contracting rheological field may be a necessary condition for the development of L‐tectonite. In an ideal contracting field, only the maximum principal strain axis was stretching, and the other two principal strain axes were equally shortened. Obviously, this field is an end‐member solution in maths, and is difficult to be observed in nature. Sullivan (2013) summarized the possible tectonic settings in which a contracting field might develop and considered that the most likely contracting field would develop in macroscopic region of the orogenic belt. However, the appearance of L‐tectonites in nature is not widespread but often isolated. The previous analysis of the development mechanism of L‐tectonites still were focused on strain geometry and lacks of rock rheological mechanism.     

Imaging the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water from multichannel seismic data

The Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water (YSBCW) is a large cold water mass lying in the deep part of the Yellow Sea during the warm season. We acquired multichannel seismic (MCS) data using an air gun source to image the structure of the YSBCW. The MCS data recorded reflections from sea water. The recognition of these reflections was confirmed by finite-difference seismic modeling in the frequency-domain. The seismic section from MCS data enabled discrimination of water masses distinctly separated by reflecting horizons. The structure of the water masses is fairly consistent with temperature-depth variations obtained using expandable bathythermograph (XBT) casts. The YSBCW is imaged as the lowermost water mass, maximally 40 m thick, that extends as a lens-like form along the sea bottom under the warm mixed layer. The correlation of XBT measurements and the seismic section indicates a rapid decrease in temperature from around 11 to 8 °C in the uppermost part of the YSBCW. A transition zone between the mixed layer and the underlying YSBCW is also defined. This transition zone has fairly uniform thickness of 14–18 m and marks an interval of rapid temperature drop, indicating vigorous thermal mixing. Our study demonstrates that MCS profiling is a useful and reliable tool for imaging fine structures in the shallow Yellow Sea.     

地震动参数与地震灾害相关性分析——以汶川震区地震滑坡灾害为例

本文以汶川地震滑坡震害为例, 设计一种方法, 对几个反映不同地震动特性的地震动参数与地震滑坡灾害的相关性进行了分析比较.结果表明: Arias强度参数与地表破坏的相关性最好, 该参数比较适合小区域范围的震害预测评估; 峰值加速度与地表破坏的相关性较好, 但更适合作为较大区域的震害评估参数; 与持时和频率有关的参数对于具体场地的震害机理分析具有辅助作用; 垂向地震动对滑坡震害的作用不容忽视. 本文结论对于其它震害相关研究中评估因子的选取具有参考意义.