Measurements in N2-CH4(C2H2) discharges of reaction rates and thermochemical constants for Titan atmosphere study

The kinetic reactions in N2-xCH4(C2H2) gas discharges with x less than 1% have been studied by emission spectroscopy in the afterglow of D.C. discharges and by mass spectroscopy from radiolysis ionization using alpha particles. The pressure range is from several Torr to 100 Torr. At the end of N2 D.C. discharges at room temperature, for a residence time of about 10(-2) s, the dominant active species are the N atoms with density of 10(14)-10(15) cm-3 for N2 density of about 10(17) cm-3 (3 Torr), the N2(X,V) vibrational molecules with for example [N2(X,V = 10)] approximately 10(14) cm-3 and the electronic metastable molecules N2(A 3 sigma u +) with a density of 10(12) cm-3. In such conditions, the following kinetic reactions have been studied: N2(A) + N2(A) --> N2(C,B,V') + N2(X), N2(A) + N2(X,V>5) --> N2(X) + N2(B,V') in pure N2 post-discharges and N2(A) + CH4 --> products, C + N + M2 --> CN(B,V') + M2, N2(X,V>4) + CN --> N2(X) + CN(B,A,V'), in N2-1% CH4 post-discharges. The clustering reactions of N2-(1-5%)CH4(C2H2) gas mixtures after radiolysis ionization have been studied for the H2CN+ nN2 ions and the equilibrium constants have been determined in the temperature range T = 140-300 K.     

China's urban transition

This article describes recent changes in urban patterns in Shanghai-Nanjing, Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan, Canton-Hong Kong, and Dalian-Shenyang. The urban patterns in these metropolitan areas are viewed as part of an urban transition that is responding to population growth, a structural shift in employment, relaxed rules on migration and household registration, and foreign investment and trade. It is argued that these metropolitan coastal areas will form the key growth centers and will lead China's economic development. Urban transition is defined as the shift from rural to urban and from agricultural employment to industrial, commercial, or service employment. China's large cities always dominated as important centers of politics and trade. The recent shift is from interior to coastal cities due to a new world view and a movement away from the isolationism of prior centuries. It is assumed that cities are formed to take advantage of economies of scale in production, consumption, and distribution and to conform to regional specialization. Governments can intervene in growth processes. China's development of cities reflects state controls and market forces. The size and scale of China's population influenced the development process, which resulted in differences in the shape and process of the urban transition. It was under Chinese communism that cities became more than a set of discrete regional urban systems. Reference is made to Oshima's model of change that is specific to monsoon countries. Oshima argues that monsoon agricultural conditions require a distinct strategy based on full employment in order to achieve industrial transition. Rice cultivation requires a large and disciplined labor force. The discussion focuses on other models as well, such as the McGee's model of the extended metropolis and its extension by Zhou Yixing to China. China's changes may not follow Skeldon's models of urbanization in developing countries, because of state control of migration. However, the longer migrants remain in cities the more likely Skeldon's models of early European transitions apply to China's urban transition.     

中国三个大地震的震源参数及讨论

大地震的震源机制及地震矩、应力降等参数,不(又对认识地震的破裂过程,而且对预报强地面运动都是非常重要的。一些文章对板内地震应力降的特点、地震矩与高频源谱的关系及区域特征的讨论,使我们可直接由长周期体波或面波得出的地震矩M₀估计出不同地区中大地震的高频源谱,以供强地面运动预报参考。 由于对发生在中国板内的1976年11月6日盐源地震（M_s=6.5）和1976年11月15日宁河地震（M_s=6.3）的震源参数还没有详尽的报道;另外,对1973年7月14日     

强雷暴环境的中尺度模拟

1.引言本文评述了当前有限区域中尺度模式提供中纬度强雷暴环境的准确预报以及风暴对环境可能的反馈作用的能力.这里的"中尺度模式"指的是用水平格距Δx=10～100公里作为在静力学原始方程中的有限差分近似.对平流波来说,要有满意的截断误差至少需4—6个格点(Pielke,1981),而要准确地计算非线性波的相互作用,则需近10个格点(Gerrity,1972).因此,这些模式适合模拟的天气现象尺度为Orlanski(1975)定义的中β尺度(25—250公里)上部到中α尺度     

Remediation and restoration of metal-contaminated sites： Concepts and appfications to mining areas

Metals, including heavy metals and metalloids, are a common group of environmental contaminants. Their sources in the environment are geogenic or anthropogenic. The growing trend in global industrialization ensures that more metals could be dispersed even in pristine ecosystems. To fuel industrialization, more metal ore mines have to be discovered and explored. These explorations often result in landscape disturbance, soil degradation and environmental contamination by unwanted mining constituents. Mine tailings brought up to the ground surface often serve as the main source of contaminants when these pyrite-rich materials oxidize. The oxidation of mine tailings results in proton generation, coupled with the dissolution of metals and other cations Unwanted anionic constituents are also produced. The so-called ＂acid mine drainage＂ may affect the productivity of farmlands and stability of receiving streams and other bodies of water-acidifying the waters and enriching the ecosystem with metals, i.e., high total dissolved solids. The acidified overburden materials become inhospitable to plant and microbial life as they are typically low in organic matter content and infertile. This exposes the landscape to runoff and erosion.     

Changes in manganese and lead in the environment and young children associated with the introduction of MMT in gasoline

This is a 4-year longitudinal study to evaluate changes to the environment and exposure of young children associated with the introduction of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl （MMT） into Australia in 2000. The cohort includes 57 females and 56 males; age range of 0.29 to 3.9 years. Samples are collected every 6 months from children in residences located at varying distances from major traffic thoroughfares in Sydney. Environmental samples： air, house and day care dustfall, soil, dust sweepings and gasoline. Samples from children： blood, urine, handwipes prior to and after playing outdoors, and a 6-day duplicate diet. All samples are analyzed for a suite of 20 elements using ICP-MS. Results are presented for the first three 6-month sampling periods for Pb and Mn. For dustfall accumulation, there was no significant change over the 3 sampling periods （time） for Pb or Mn, and a positive relationship between ‘traffic exposure＇ （traffic volume and proximity to the road） and Pb but not Mn. For handwipes, Pb and Mn in wipes taken from children after playing outdoors were usually significantly greater than for wipes taken prior to playing. There was no significant association between Pb or Mn in handwipes with traffic exposure. Dustfall accumulation was a significant predictor for Pb in the handwipes, and dust sweepings were a significant predictor of Mn in handwipes.     

Selenium contamination in the Colorado River Basin, western USA： Remediation by leaching and nanof＇dtration membranes

Selenium （Se） is an essential micronutrient to biota, but can become a potent toxicant at elevated concentrations. The natural sources and chemical properties of Se species make the boundary between deficiency and toxicity narrow for some biota, with both phenomena common around the globe. Large areas of farmland in the Colorado River Basin （CRB） generate salinized drainage water with Se concentrations much higher than 5 μg/L, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chronic water-quality criterion for the protection of aquatic life. We have carried out detailed field and laboratory studies to investigate Se geochemistry and remediation in two of these areas： the Middle Green River Basin, Utah and the Salton Sea Basin, California, located respectively in the Upper and Lower CRB. Results from these and other studies show that approximately 90% of the dissolved Se in the Colorado River and its tributaries originally is derived from the Upper Cretaceous Mancos Shale and equivalent pyritic marine units that outcrop in the Upper CRB. Selenium is mobilized commonly by biogeochemical oxidation of this pyritic shale and is concentrated mainly as selenate （SeO4^2-） in soils and agricultural drainage water of dry climates by evaporation. Minor （0%-5%） amounts of Se are present as the selenite species （HSeO3^-） and （SEO3^2-）, but these species and the more reduced species, elemental Se （SeO） and selenide （Se^2-）, have much lower solubility and/or have high sorptive affinity towards organic matter, clay minerals and iron oxyhydroxides. The concentration of dissolved Se （-2.5 μg/L） and salinity in the Lower Colorado River water are among the highest of the world major rivers. Because of low precipitation （7 cm/a） and extreme evapotranspiration （-1.8 m/a） rates in the Salton Sea Basin, California, Se values in irrigation water imported from the Colorado River increase to 〉300 μg/L in drainage wastewater. Removal of Se from contaminated wastewater by nanofiltration membranes was demonstrated in laboratory and pilot-scale field experiments.     

Associations and mobility of uranium in soils near a depleted uranium （DU） weapons testing site, SW Scotland

Natural uranium has three isotopes, ^238U, ^235U and ^234U, with natural abundances of 99.27 atom %, 0.72% and 0.0055%, respectively. Only ^235U is fissile and the production of nuclear fuel and nuclear weapons involves enrichment of uranium in ^235U. This process also results in separation of ^234U from ^238U, leaving depleted uranium （DU）, with typical ^234U/^238U and ^235U/^238U activity ratios of about 0.19 and 0.013, respectively, as a waste product. The high density, high melting and boiling points and chemical stability of uranium and the availability of DU in relatively pure form mean that DU has many uses, including armour-piercing munitions. Such munitions have been developed in the UK since the 1960s and testing has been carried out by the Ministry of Defence （MoD） at firing ranges such as Dundrennan, SW Scotland and Eskmeals, NW England. The firing of DU munitions can result in the dispersion of DU and its combustion products （oxides） as aerosols or as larger fragments, with the potential for human exposure either directly at the site of detonation or via post-depositional migration in the environment. The aim of this work was to investigate the potential environmental mobility of DU by characterizing the associations of U in soil porewaters with increasing distance from a firing site. To this end, several soil cores located down-wind of the firing site at Dundrennan, near Kirkcudbright, SW Scotland, were collected in May 2006. These were sectioned on-site into 1- or 2-cm depth intervals and porewaters were isolated by centfifugation （10 minutes; 8873 g） on return to the laboratory. Following filtration through 0.2-micron cellulose nitrate filters, the porewaters were analyzed by ICP-QMS （U concentration） and ICP-OES （Fe, Al, Ca, Mg, Mn concentrations）. Sub-samples were also subjected to centrifugal ultrafiltration （100, 30, and 3 kD） and to gel electrophoretic fractionation （agarose; 0.045 M Tris-borate; 20 mA, 30 minutes）. Results showed that U was present at up to 4 μg/L in the soil porewater and that the associations of U varied with sample location and soil depth.