青藏高原近地面层微气象学特征

利用1998年5月-7月在改则、当雄和昌都三测站获得的近地面层气象要素变化的观测资料，分析了青藏高原近地面层风速、温度和湿度日变化特征及廓线规律，发现高原近地面层微气象学特征具有自己的特点；同时还讨论了高原近地面层白天出现的逆湿现象。     

Variability of the photospheric radiation of active K-M dwarfs and their X-ray luminosities

Variability of the photospheric radiation of 40 (dKe-dMe) dwarfs in the solar neighborhood due to variations in the spottedness of their surfaces is analyzed based on the behavior of their mean annual brightnesses over long time intervals. The amplitudes and characteristic time scales of the variations of the mean annual brightness are taken to be indicators of photospheric activity and were used to infer the levels of photospheric activity in the stars studied. The influence of axial rotation on the development of cyclic activity in young red dwarfs and F-M main-sequence stars is analyzed. The durations and amplitudes of the photospheric variability of rapidly rotating (dK0e-dK5e) stars testifies to a higher level of photospheric activity among red dwarfs and solar-type stars. The X-ray luminosities of these stars grow with the amplitude of the variations of the mean annual brightness. However, this is not typical of rapidly rotating M dwarfs, for which the X-ray emission varies by more than two orders of magnitude, although their degrees of spottedness are all virtually the same. A linear relationship between the X-ray and bolometric luminosities is observed for young (dKe-dMe) stars, with their ratios log(L _x/L _bol) being about ?3. These properties can be used to determine whether a red dwarf is a young star or is already on the main sequence.     

Contested terrains: Cities and hinterlands in post-apartheid boundary delimitations

In South Africa attempts are being made to address the socio-spatial distortions of the apartheid era through a more equitable distribution of resources, and the re-drawing of municipal geographical boundaries. However, boundaries are not neutral geographic lines. Boundary changes are often associated with a redistribution of political power and resources. The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of the contemporary territorial and administrative restructuring on urban dynamics in South Africa. More specifically, the focus is on how the process of territorial restructuring impacted on metropolitan areas as well as on secondary cities and their hinterlands. Examining and elucidating the manner in which various social, economic and political forces have manifested themselves in the process of boundary delimitation in a major metropolitan centre as well as adjacent rural areas is a central theme of this paper. There were considerable contestations over the delimitation of new local government boundaries. Affluent metro authorities like that in Durban were opposed to the spatial extension of their boundaries because of the costs of the providing services and infrastructure in the deprived margins. Similarly, there was concern that incorporation of rural areas will result in increased municipal service charges being imposed on these communities. Tensions were heightened between urban and rural regions because traditional leaders believed that their territorial jurisdiction and authority were being undermined. In other parts of the country, the merger of traditionally white and black fragments of secondary cities often resulted in many black locations continuing to be marginalized. There appears to be neither the political will nor the economic capacity to upgrade these zones of marginalized urban communities. While the Municipal Demarcation Board was largely successful in eliminating the political geography of apartheid at a macro- scale, this paper suggests that the greater challenge for government and policy makers is to reduce the socio-spatial and economic inequalities which appears to be still very high and perhaps increasing. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Numerical simulations of deformation and movement of blocks within North China in response to 1976 Tangshan earthquake

Using methods of discontinuous deformation analysis and finite element (DDA+FEM), this paper simulates dynamic processes of the Tangshan earthquake of 1976, which occurred in the northern North China where its internal blocks apparently interacted. Studies focus upon both the movement and deformation of the blocks, in particular, the Ordos block, and variations of stress states on the boundary faults. The Tangshan earthquake was composed of three events: slipping motions of NNE-striking major fault, NE-striking fault near the northeastern end of the NNE-striking fault, and NW-striking fault on the southeastern side of the NNE-striking fault. Compared with previous studies, our model yields a result that is more agreeable with the configuration of aftershock distributions. A number of data are presented, such as the principle stress field during the earthquake, contours of the maximum shear stress, the strike-slip deformation between blocks near the earthquake focus, time-dependent variations of slips of earthquake-triggered faulting, the maximum slip distance, and stress drops. These results are in accord with the earthquake source mechanism, basic parameters from earthquake wave study, macro-isoseismic line, observed horizontal displacement vectors, etc. The Tangshan earthquake exerted different influences on the adjacent blocks and boundary faults between them, thus resulting in differential movement and deformation. The Ordos block seems to have experienced the small-scale counterclockwise rotation and deformation, but its northeast part, bounded on the east by the Taihangshan and on the north by the Yanshan and Yinshan belts, underwent relatively stronger deformation. The Tangshan earthquake also changed the stress state of boundary faults of the North China, leading to an increase in shear stress and a decrease in normal stress in the NW-trending Zhangjiakou-Penglai fault through Tangshan City and the northern border faults of the Ordos block, and therefore raises the potential risk of earthquake occurrence. This result is supported by the facts that a series of Ms ≥ 6 earthquakes took place at the northern margin of the Ordos block after the Tangshan earthquake.     

The chemical composition of stars in the globular clusters M 10, M 12, and M 71

The abundances of 19 chemical elements in the atmospheres of five stars belonging to three globular clusters have been determined by applying the model-atmospheremethod to 430.0–790.0 nm spectra obtained with the échelle spectrometer of the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory. The abundances of silicon, calcium, iron-peak elements, copper, zinc, and neutron-capture elements follow the abundance patterns for halo stars. The abundance of sodium in M 10 giants provides evidence that different mixing mechanisms operate in halo and cluster stars or that light elements are enriched in different ways in the pre-stellar matter from which some globular clusters and halo stars were formed.     

The empirical Melchior laws and parametric excitation of the Chandler wobble

Models of the motion of the terrestrial reference frame with respect to an inertial frame can describe the motions of the Earth-Moon system, which are traditionally separated into precession, nutation, the polar motion, and rotation about the Earth’s axis. Existing theoretical models do not describe variations in the Earth-orientation parameters with the required accuracy, so that the current polar coordinates and duration of the day must be determined from observations. To improve theoretical models for the time dependence of the coordinates of the Earth’s pole, we examine the possible excitation of the Chandler wobble due to internal properties of the Earth-Moon system. A differential equation describing the parametric resonance in the Earth-Moon system is obtained for the first region of the parametric excitation. The solution of this equation analytically describes the finite amplitudes of the nonlinear conservative system. The theoretical results are compared with the empirical laws of Melchior deduced from observational data on the coordinates of the Earth’s pole.     

The chemically distinct nucleus and structure of the S0 galaxy NGC 80

The giant lenticular galaxy NGC 80, which is the brightest member of a rich group, possesses a central evolutionarily-distinct region: the stars in the nucleus and in a circumnuclear ring of radius 5″t–7″ have a mean age of only 7 Gyr, whereas the stellar population of the bulge is older than 10 Gyr. The nucleus of NGC 80 is also chemically distinct: it is a factor of 2–2.5 richer in metals than its immediate neighborhood and is characterized by a high magnesium-to-iron abundance ratio [Mg/Fe]≈+0.3. The global stellar disk of NGC 80 has a two-tiered structure: its outer part has an exponential scale length of 11 kpc and normal surface density, while the inner disk, which is also exponential and axisymmetric, is more compact and brighter. Although the two-tiered structure and the chemically distinct nucleus obviously have a common origin and owe their existence to some catastrophic restructuring of the protogalactic gaseous disk, the origin of this remains unclear, since the galaxy lacks any manifestations of perturbed morphology or triaxiality.     

Estuary-specific variation in the air-water gas exchange coefficient for oxygen

Oxygen air-water gas exchange was measured using floating chambers in two shallow tidal estuaries of differing bathymetry and local terrain, near Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts (United States). The specific chamber design permitted measurements of gas flux in 15 min, allowing analysis of the relationship with wind speed and tidal stage. Exchange coefficients ranged from 0.5 to 2.5 g O₂·m^?2 h^?1 atm^?1 (equivalent to piston velocities of 1.5 to 7 cm h^?1) for wind speeds of 0.3 to 9 m s^?1 at 10 m elevation. While the relationships for each estuary appear linear (significant linear regressions with wind speed were shown for each estuary, and the slopes were different at the 99.5% confidence level), the range of speeds differed at the two sites and an exponential function of wind speed was consistent with the combined data from both estuaries. A power function of wind speed was not an acceptable model. The exchange coefficients for our estuaries are from 57% to as low as 9% of that predicted by previously published generic equations. Because the atmospheric correction can be significant in shallow, metabolically active coastal waters, we suggest that empirically determined relationships for gas exchange versus wind for a specific estuary are preferable to the predictions of the general equations. While the floating chamber method should be used cautiously, at low winds speeds (below 8 m s^?1) and in slowly flowing waters, it provides a convenient approach for quantifying these site-specific differences. The differences, especially those between shallow sheltered systems and the open waters best fit by some published relationships, are ecologically important and do not appear yet to be measurable by other methods.     

Calculations of horizontal mixing rates using222Rn and the controls on hypoxia in western Long Island Sound, 1991

Late summer hypoxia (<3 ppm oxygen) in western Long Island Sound (WLIS) is a persistent environmental and management issue whose controlling processes are poorly understood. Measured rates of sediment and water-column oxygen consumption in the bottom water suggest that a condition of no oxygen should be attained on the time scale of 13–30 d. Observations, however, indicate the onset of hypoxia is of the order 150 d. Therefore, horizontal and/or vertical transport of oxygen into the area of hypoxia must play an important role. Hypoxia decreases benthic activity and the sediment flux of²²²Rn. The resulting horizontal gradient in bottom water²²²Rn was measured and used to estimate the effective horizontal transport rate (>5–50 m² s^?1), which is considerably slower than previous estimates. Scale analysis of the hypoxia process indicates that horizontal transport rates alone can explain the slow progression of hypoxia in XLIS but that vertical processes may also be capable of delaying the onset of hypoxia especially under conditions of weak stratification or weak intermediate layer oxygen consumption. This scale analysis indicates a delicately balanced process that is sensitive to both climatologically-driven variability in the rates of horizontal and vertical transport as well as the biologically-driven rates of oxygen consumption. An improved ability to predict and/or control hypoxia must be based on a better understanding of temporal and spacial variations in circulation, mixing, and stratification as well as the biological processes in the water column and the sediments.