Drop size distribution and kinetic energy load of rainfall events in the highlands of the Central Rift Valley,Ethiopia

Abstract

Knowledge of rainfall characteristics is important for estimating soil erosion in arid areas. We determined basic rainfall characteristics (raindrop size distribution, intensity and kinetic energy), evaluated the erosivity of rainfall events, and established a relationship between rainfall intensity I and volume-specific kinetic energy KE_vol for the Central Rift Valley area of the Ethiopian highlands. We collected raindrops on dyed filter paper and calculated KE_vol and erosivity values for each rainfall event. For most rainfall intensities the median volume drop diameter (D₅₀) was higher than expected, or reported in most studies. Rainfall intensity in the region was not high, with 8% of rain events exceeding 30 mm h^-1. We calculated soil erosion from storm energy and maximum 30-min intensity for soils of different erodibility under conditions of fallow (unprotected soil), steep slope (about 9%) and no cover and management practice on the surface, and determined that 3 MJ mm ha^-1 h^-1 is the threshold erosivity, while erosivity of >7 MJ mm ha^-1 h^-1 could cause substantial erosion in all soil types in the area.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate Editor Q. Zhang     

武汉和京都参站超导重力仪高精度潮汐重力观测结果

利用高精度潮汐重力场观测研究地球物理不和地球动力学问题已成为当今地学工作者的共识。由于某些信号十分微弱且具有区域和全球分布特征,相当一部分信号被混合在常规仪器的观测噪声水平上,因此获得全球分布的第一手高精度观测资料显得尤为重要超导重力仪具有精度高,连续性和稳定性好等特征,期望能在测定区域和全球重力场的精细结构方面发挥重要作用。有１８个台站参加的全球地球动力学合作项目于１９９７年７月份开始实施,其主     

Uneven Distribution of Pseudotormentus De Wever et Caridroit (Radiolaria, Protozoa): Provincialism of a Permian Planktonic Microorganism

The Permian planktonic distribution is not well known, in contrast to other fossil distributions of nekton and benthos. Radiolaria are representative microfossils of plankton in the Permian palaeocean. This study compares both correlated radiolarian occurrences (Pseudotormentus De Wever et Caridroit and Quadriremis Nazarov et Ormiston) in literature data from the Pacific Rim and quantitative data from the Liuhuang and Gujingling sections in South China. Pseudotormentus distributions are concentrated in the Panthalassa, whereas Quadriremis occurrences are distributed over both the Panthalassa and the Palaeotethys. The uneven distribution of Pseudotormentus seems to have been controlled by a difference in the oceanic basins, indicating the presence of faunal differences in Permian planktonic microorganisms between the Panthalassa and the Palaeotethys. In other words, this study infers the provincialism of Permian planktonic microorganisms. The uneven distribution is explainable by a hypothesis that Pseudotormentus was strongly affected by a Panthalassan equatorial current.     

Instability caused by the coalescence of two modes of a one-layer coastal current with a surface front

Stability of a one-layer density-driven coastal current with a surface front whose potential vorticity is uniformly zero is examined, and it is shown that such a current can be unstable if the stability condition derived by Paldor (1983) is not satisfied,i.e., the current width,L, is larger than 2/3U/f, wheref is the Coriolis parameter andU is the current velocity at the front. This instability is caused by the coalescence of a frontal trapped and coastal trapped waves. The energetics of this instability and the effect of potential vorticity gradient are also discussed.     

A complex earth slide–earth flow induction by the heavy rainfall in July 2006, Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

A seasonal rain front (Baiu front) accompanied a long-term accumulation of precipitation propagated over the wide areas of the main island of Japan during 15–24 July 2006. In Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture, several flow-type landslides occurred in the early morning of 19 July 2006, claiming eight lives. Among these landslides, a most peculiar complex earth slide–earth flow occurred on a north gentle slope of the upstream portion of the Motosawagawa River. In the source area, volcanoclastic soils overlying tuffaceous rocks at about 4-m depth slid due to the prolonged precipitation that raised the water table level in the soil. Along with the travel path, the failed materials fluidized causing the liquefaction of the volcanoclastic soils underlain by volcanic black ash soils. The resulting flow spread over a wide area up to the final deposition. Constant volume box-shear tests on undisturbed volcanoclastic soil specimens taken from the source area showed effective normal stress tended to decrease during shearing. The ring shear tests on saturated disturbed specimens produced the large loss of shear resistance, which may explain the fluidized motion of the complex landslide.     

Silica minerals in cumulate eucrites: Insights into their thermal histories

Some eucrites contain up to 10 vol% silica minerals; however, silica minerals have not been studied in detail so far. We performed a mineralogical study of silica minerals in three cumulate eucrites (Moore County, Moama, and Yamato [Y] 980433). Monoclinic tridymite was common in all three samples. Moama contained orthorhombic tridymite as lamellae within monoclinic tridymite grains. Y 980433 included quartz around an impact melt vein. The presence of orthorhombic tridymite in Moama indicates that Moama cooled more rapidly than the other two samples at low temperatures (<400 °C). This result is different from the slower cooling rates of Moama (?0.0004 °C yr^?1) than that of Moore County (>0.3 °C yr^?1, after the shock event) at high temperatures (>500 °C) estimated from compositional profiles of pyroxene exsolution lamellae. The difference of the cooling rates may reflect their geological settings. Y 980433 cooled slowly at low temperature, as did Moore County. Quartz in Y 980433 could be a local product transformed from monoclinic tridymite by a shock event. We suggest that silica minerals in meteorites record thermal histories at low temperatures and shock events.     

Contributions of sandy lands and stony deserts to long-distance dust emission in China and Mongolia during 2000–2006

More than 400 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images of dust storm events were collected and analyzed, and individual events were tracked back to their origins. Dust tracks were determined from color composite images, brightness temperature difference (BTD) and the NOAA Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model. The results showed that five regions (sandy lands in central Inner Mongolia and the adjacent area of Mongolia; the Gobi Desert in Xinjiang and Gansu provinces, western Inner Mongolia, and the adjacent southwestern area of Mongolia; the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia and the adjoining area of northern Inner Mongolia; sandy lands and deserts around the middle reaches of the Yellow River; and the area rimming the Taklimakan Desert) were the main contributors to long-lived mineral dusts in northern China and Mongolia. Of these dust production areas, sandy lands and stony deserts, rather than the sandy deserts of Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, were found to be the dominant dust sources, accounting for more than 75% of regional dust emission events. Dust events in the Taklimakan Desert were often local phenomena, although they could also be transported eastward if they were uplifted high enough to escape the enclosing topographic highs. Dust sources in northwestern China are mainly alluvial fans and dry lake and river beds. Success in identifying the sources and trajectories of Asian dust storms would guide future ground-based research and steppe degradation countermeasures and help reduce the uncertainties in modern modeling of Asian dust.     

Spectral analysis of the 3B flare on September 19, 1979: asymmetries and shifts of metallic lines

The asymmetries and Doppler shifts of metallic lines of the 3B flare on September 19, 1979 are investigated in this paper. The results show that: (1) red asymmetries dominate in strong metallic lines, but blue asymmetries also exist in some weak lines; (2) the maximum of the line asymmetry always precedes the maximum of the line intensity; (3) the blue asymmetry occurs generally in the early phase, and can occasionally turn to a red one in the later phase; and (4) the line center has no obvious shift, regardless of the line asymmetry. It is proposed that, the mass motions around the temperature minimum region caused by the impulsive heating or the propagation of the chromospheric condensation can explain these observational results. The study on metallic lines has an auxiliary help for understanding the dynamic process in the lower atmosphere of solar flares.     

Water transportation from the subducting slab into the mantle transition zone

Using a recently developed petrogenetic grid for MORB + H₂O, we propose a new model for the transportation of water from the subducting slab into the mantle transition zone. Depending on the geothermal gradient, two contrasting water-transportation mechanisms operate at depth in a subduction zone. If the geothermal gradient is low, lawsonite carries H₂O into mantle depths of 300 km; with further subduction down to the mantle transition depth (approximately 400 km) lawsonite is no longer stable and thereafter H₂O is once migrated upward to the mantle wedge then again carried down to the transition zone due to the induced convection. At this depth, hydrous β-phase olivine is stable and plays a role as a huge water reservoir. In contrast, if the geothermal gradient is high, the subducted slab may melt at 700–900 °C at depths shallower than 80 km to form felsic melt, into which water is dissolved. In this case, H₂O cannot be transported into the mantle below 80 km. Between these two end-member mechanisms, two intermediate types are present. In the high-pressure intermediate type, the hydrous phase A plays an important role to carry water into the mantle transition zone. Water liberated by the lawsonite-consuming continuous reaction moves upward to form hydrous phase A in the hanging wall, which transports water into deeper mantle. This is due to a unique character of the reaction, because Phase A can become stable through the hydration reaction of olivine. In the case of low-pressure intermediate type, the presence of a dry mantle wedge below 100 km acts as a barrier to prevent H₂O from entering into deeper mantle.     

1998 Compilation of Analytical Data for Five GSJ Geochemical Reference Samples: The "Instrumental Analysis Series"

Analytical data for five GSJ (Geological Survey of Japan) reference samples, the "Instrumental analysis series" received by October 1998, are compiled. The data reported in publications and personal communications were evaluated statistically, taking into account the analytical method and sample preparation. Based on the selected available data, recommended and preferred values for fourteen major and fifty one minor and trace elements are proposed.