Development,urban planning and political decisions. A triad that built territories at risk

Natural Hazards - Chilean geography exposes the country to high-level risks such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The disasters of 1930, 1960, 2010, and 2014 testify to the continuous link between...     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000594

A new model is suggested for the history of the Baikal Rift,in deviation from the classic two-stage evolution scenario,based on a synthesis of the available data from the Baikal Basin and revised correlation between tectonic-lithological-stratigraphic complexes(TLSC) in sedimentary sections around Lake Baikal and seismic stratigraphic sequences(SSS) in the lake sediments.Unlike the previous models,the revised model places the onset of rifting during Late Cretaceous and comprises three major stages which are subdivided into several substages.The stages and the substages are separated by events of tectonic activity and stress reversal when additional compression produced folds and shear structures.The events that mark the stage boundaries show up as gaps,unconformities,and deformation features in the deposition patterns. The earliest Late Cretaceous-Oligocene stage began long before the India-Eurasia collision in a setting of diffuse extension that acted over a large territory of Asia.The NW-SE far-field pure extension produced an NE-striking half-graben oriented along an old zone of weakness at the edge of the Siberian craton.That was already the onset of rift evolution recorded in weathered lacustrine deposits on the Baikal shore and in a wedge-shaped acoustically transparent seismic unit in the lake sediments.The second stage spanning Late Oligocene-Early Pliocene time began with a stress change when the effect from the Eocene India-Eurasia collision had reached the region and became a major control of its geodynamics.The EW and NE transpression and shear from the collisional front transformed the Late Cretaceous half-graben into a U-shaped one which accumulated a deformed layered sequence of sediments.Rifting at the latest stage was driven by extension from a local source associated with hot mantle material rising to the base of the rifted crust.The asthenospheric upwarp first induced the growth of the Baikal dome and the related change from finer to coarser molasse deposition.With time,the upwarp became a more powerful stress source than the collision,and the stress vector returned to the previous NW-SE extension that changed the rift geometry back to a half-graben. The layered Late Pliocene-Quaternary subaerial tectonic-lithological-stratigraphic and the Quaternary submarine seismic stratigraphic units filling the latest half-graben remained almost undeformed.The rifting mechanisms were thus passive during two earlier stages and active during the third stage. The three-stage model of the rift history does not rule out the previous division into two major stages but rather extends its limits back into time as far as the Maastrichtian.Our model is consistent with geological, stratigraphic,structural,and geophysical data and provides further insights into the understanding of rifting in the Baikal region in particular and continental rifting in general.     

加卸载响应比(LURR)理论的实验研究

利用大尺度岩石试件破坏声发射实验，对加卸载响应比(Load/Unload Response Ratio)理论进行了实验研究。实验采用的加载条件力求能够模拟地下岩石的复杂受力过程。在加载过程中，岩石试件内部出现的损伤用声发射技术进行了记录。实验数据经过分析之后所得的结论与加卸载响应比理论预测的结果相符合。把加卸载响应比值Y的变化情况与声发射事件定位的过程相对比，也可以进一步看出岩石材料内部的损伤发展过程与加卸载响应比Y值的变化具有一致性。而高Y值的异常情况出现，又是在材料发生最终破坏之前，所以，可以用加卸载响应比理论定量地分析岩石试件损伤演化情况，从而对岩石材料的破坏及地震做出预测。实验结果再一次验证了加卸载响应比理论。     

Numerical Stabilization of Orbital Motion

Mainly, the author focuses on Baumgarte's method and its applications in satellite, asteroid, stellar and planetary problems. In the paper arguments are given for the use of energy relations for stabilization in the elliptical two-body problem. Stabilizing properties of Baumgarte's equations and others are discussed. A simple approach is proposed for stabilizing the equations of almost circular motion. By using Baumgarte's technique, the author derives stabilized equations of perturbed restricted three-body problem. It is shown experimentally that stabilization in the problems mentioned above can raise the accuracy of numerical integration by several orders.     

Image analysis applied to quantitative evaluation of chromatic impact generated by open-pit quarries and mines

One of the most important environmental impacts resulting from opencast mining, and especially quarries, is the visual impact. Evaluation of this impact considers two aspects: first, the area occupied by the quarry as seen by an observer from a specific place, and, second, the chromatic contrast existing between landscape and exploitation. In this study we develop a methodology to assess the chromatic impact in an objective and comparable form. To assess this impact we developed a method based on image analysis that allows us to obtain from a picture or image its equivalent as a function of chromatic impact, according to the sensibility of the human eye to different wavelengths. The methodology was applied to the Martinenca limestone quarry (Alcanar, Tarragona) and to Cerro Kori Kollo mine, La Joya district (Bolivia).     

Pole-to-pole moisture conditions for the IGY

Summary A study of the mean atmospheric humidity conditions on a planetary scale during the IGY covering the calendar year 1958 is presented. The fields of mean precipitable water content and of the zonal and meridional transports of water vapor are analyzed for the entire globe. Zonally averaged values of the various quantities at several levels are presented in tabular form and compared whenever possible with previous results or indirectly are analyzed on the basis of information obtained from different sources. The structure of these fields is studied and the corresponding implications for the general circulations of the atmosphere are discussed. Finally the zonal water balance for all the globe is discussed and its implications analyzed.     

Robotic optical telescopes global network MASTER II. Equipment, structure, algorithms

Presented paper describes the basic principles and features of the implementation of a robotic network of optical telescopes MASTER, designed to study the prompt (simultaneous with gamma radiation) optical emission of gamma-ray bursts and to perform the sky survey to detect unknown objects and transient phenomena. With joint efforts of Sternberg astronomical institute, High altitude astronomical station of the Pulkovo observatory, Ural state university, Irkutsk state university, Blagoveshchensk pedagogical university, the robotic telescopes MASTER?II near Kislovodsk, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk and Blagoveshchensk were installed and tested. The network spread over the longitudes is greater than 6?h. A further expansion of the network is considered.     

Late Holocene linkages between decade–century scale climate variability and productivity at Lake Tanganyika, Africa

Microlaminated sediment cores from the Kalya slope region of Lake Tanganyika provide a near-annually resolved paleoclimate record between ∼∼2,840 and 1,420 cal. yr B.P. demonstrating strong linkages between climate variability and lacustrine productivity. Laminae couplets comprise dark, terrigenous-dominated half couplets, interpreted as low density underflows deposited from riverine sources during the rainy season, alternating with light, planktonic diatomaceous ooze, with little terrigenous component, interpreted as windy/dry season deposits. Laminated portions of the studied cores consist of conspicuous dark and light colored bundles of laminae couplets. Light and dark bundles alternate at decadal time scales. Within dark bundles, both light and dark half couplets are significantly thinner than within light bundles, implying slower sediment accumulation rates during both seasons over those intervals.Time series analyses of laminae thickness patterns demonstrate significant periodicities at interannual–centennial time scales. Longer time scale periodicities (multidecadal to centennial scale) of light and dark half couplet thicknesses are coherent and in some cases are similar to solar cycle periods on these time scales. Although laminae thickness cycles do not strongly covary with the actual Δ¹⁴C record for this same time period, two large Δ¹⁴C anomalies are associated with substantial decreases in both light and dark laminae thickness. In contrast to the multidecadal– centennial time scale, significant annual to decadal periodicities, which are broadly consistent with ENSO/PDO forcing and their impact on East African climate, are not coherent between light and dark half couplets. The coherency of light–dark couplets at decadal–centennial time scales, but not at shorter time scales, is consistent with a model of a long-term relationship between precipitation (recorded in wet season dark laminae thickness) and productivity (light laminae thickness), which is not manifest at shorter time scales. We hypothesize that this coupling results from long-term recharging of internal nutrient loading during wet periods (higher erosion of soil P) and reduced loading during drought intervals. The relationship is not expressed on short time scales during which the dominant control on productivity is wind-driven, dry season upwelling, which is uncorrelated with wet-season precipitation. Our record greatly extends the temporal record of this quasi-periodic behavior throughout the late Holocene and provides the first evidence linking decade- to century-scale episodes of enhanced productivity to enhanced precipitation levels and nutrient recharge in a productive tropical lake.     

Robust Regulation of Alkalinity in Highly Uncertain Continuous Anaerobic Digestion Processes

In this paper, a multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) model‐based robust control scheme is proposed for the indirect control of both total alkalinity and the ratio (intermediate alkalinity)/(total alkalinity) by regulating volatile fatty acid concentrations and strong ions concentration, while guaranteeing the so‐called operational stability in anaerobic digestion (AD) processes. The proposed MIMO regulator is an adaptive controller derived from an AD model which incorporates the physicochemical equilibrium of the system as well as the use of a robust interval observer to estimate key process bounds that are used in the computation of the control efforts. Numerical simulations were carried out for a number of operating conditions under the most uncertain scenarios. Results showed that the proposed multivariable control law is able to recover the system stability around a pre‐determined set point in the face of parameter uncertainty and load disturbances.     

Atmospheric forcing of the eastern tropical Pacific: A review

The increase in marine, land surface, atmospheric and satellite data during recent decades has led to an improved understanding of the air–sea interaction processes in the eastern tropical Pacific. This is also thanks to extensive diagnoses from conceptual and coupled ocean–atmosphere numerical models. In this paper, mean fields of atmospheric variables, such as incoming solar radiation, sea level pressure, winds, wind stress curl, precipitation, evaporation, and surface energy fluxes, are derived from global atmospheric data sets in order to examine the dominant features of the low level atmospheric circulations of the region. The seasonal march of the atmospheric circulations is presented to depict the role of radiative forcing on atmospheric perturbations, especially those dominating the atmosphere at low levels.In the tropics, the trade winds constitute an important north–south energy and moisture exchange mechanism (as part of the low level branch of the Hadley circulation), that determines to a large extent the precipitation distribution in the region, i.e., that associated with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Monsoonal circulations also play an important role in determining the warm season precipitation distribution over the eastern tropical Pacific through a large variety of air–sea–land interaction mechanisms. Westward traveling waves, tropical cyclones, low latitude cold air intrusions, and other synoptic and mesoscale perturbations associated with the ITCZ are also important elements that modulate the annual rainfall cycle. The low-level jets of the Gulf of California, the Intra-Americas Sea (Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea) and Chocó, Colombia are prominent features of the eastern tropical Pacific low-level circulations related to sub-regional and regional scale precipitation patterns. Observations show that the Intra-Americas Low-Level Jet intensity varies with El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases, however its origin and role in the westward propagation and development of disturbances that may hit the eastern tropical Pacific, such as easterly waves and tropical cyclones, are still unclear. Changes in the intensity of the trade winds in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico (associated with eastern tropical Pacific wind jets) exert an important control on precipitation by means of wind–topography interactions. Gaps in the mountains of southern Mexico and Central America allow strong wind jets to pass over the continent imprinting a unique signal in sea surface temperatures and ocean dynamics of the eastern tropical Pacific.The warm pools of the Americas constitute an important source of moisture for the North American Monsoon System. The northeastern tropical Pacific is a region of intense cyclogenetic activity, just west of the coast of Mesoamerica. Over the oceanic regions, large-scale properties of key variables such as precipitation, moisture, surface energy fluxes and wind stress curl are still uncertain, which inhibits a more comprehensive view of the region and stresses the importance of regional field experiments. Progress has been substantial in the understanding of the ocean and atmospheric dynamics of the eastern tropical Pacific, however, recent observational evidence such as that of a shallow meridional circulation cell in that region, in contrast to the classic concept of the Hadley-type deep meridional circulation, suggests that more in situ observations to validate theories are still necessary.This paper is part of a comprehensive review of the oceanography of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.