Electroconducting Elements of the Ultradeep Fluid–Fault Systems as Indicators of Seismically Active Zones of the Eastern Margin of the Eurasian Continent: Evidence from Magnetotelluric Data

Doklady Earth Sciences - A fundamentally new conclusion that zones of high seismic activity are controlled by electroconducting (fluid-saturated) fragments rather than by the entire deep fault is...     

Interpersonal communication sources and natural hazard risk perception: a case study of a rural Chinese village

This exploratory study contributes to our knowledge about the relationships between interpersonal communication sources and risk perception regarding natural hazards. Survey data (N?=?186) from a small village in northwest China was used, and the correlations between eight types of interpersonal communication sources related to disaster risk reduction and the perceived severity and perceived likelihood of occurrence of eight types of natural hazards were explored. Past studies have suggested that interpersonal communication sources are more likely to influence individuals in their perceived severity of natural hazards than in their perceived likelihood of occurrence. The results of this study moderately corroborate this finding. The results indicated that different sources have different relationships to risk perception, as positive correlations were found between obtaining information via certain trained science professionals (science teachers, emergency responders, scientific experts) and certain natural hazard risk perceptions, while negative relationships were found between obtaining information via certain personal contacts (other villagers and relatives and friends) and certain natural hazard risk perceptions. However, the strength of these relationships was weak (??0.197?≥?r?≤? 0.245). Age showed statically significant correlations with the perceived severity of most of the natural hazards. Studies with more representative samples and controls for theoretical factors are needed to better understand how interpersonal communication sources affect individuals' natural hazard risk perceptions.     

精密工程测量仪器及数据处理

从精密工程测量的定义出发,指出其测量的特点,对精密工程测量的仪器如:马达全站仪、激光跟踪测量系统、数字摄影测量系统、测量机人和高程测量系统的发展和应用进行介绍;引用了某大堤作为工程实例,指出了在数据处理中利用自由网拟稳平差的优点,以及对它的适用性和网形布局对它的影响程度做了讨论.     

Protecting small cetaceans from coastal development: Impact assessment and mitigation experience in Hong Kong

Since the early 1990s, there has been an active program in Hong Kong to manage and protect local populations of small cetaceans from the effects of massive development in the area. This paper reviews the progress that has been made. Only two species regularly occur there: the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin and the finless porpoise. Because most development has occurred in the western waters of Hong Kong, where generally only the humpback dolphin occurs, most of the work has been conducted on that species. Development of large infrastructure projects (such as airports, bridges, expressways, power plants, fuel facilities, and container ports) in Hong Kong often results in land reclamation, dredging and dumping of spoils, pipe and cable laying, percussive and bored piling work, underwater blasting, large increases in vessel traffic, and other impacts. Several mitigation measures have been used with varying levels of success, including bubble curtains/jackets, exclusion zones, ramping up of piling hammers, acoustic decoupling of noisy equipment, vessel speed limits, no-dumping policies, and silt curtains. Baseline, construction-phase, and operational-phase cetacean monitoring is often conducted to evaluate the success of conservation measures put into place. The Environmental Impact Assessment process in Hong Kong has involved cetaceans to a degree perhaps higher than anywhere else in the world, and much can be learned from studying the successes and failures of this situation.     

Analysis of the contributions of topographic,soil, and vegetation features on the spatial distributions of surface soil moisture in a steep natural forested headwater catchment

Surface soil moisture has been extensively studied for various land uses and landforms. Although many studies have reported potential factors that control surface soil moisture over space or time, the findings have not always been consistent, indicating a need for identification of the main factors. This study focused on the static controls of topographic, soil, and vegetation features on surface soil moisture in a steep natural forested headwater catchment consisting of three hillslope units of a gully area, side slope, and valley‐head slope. Using a simple correlation analysis to investigate the effects of the static factors on surface soil moisture at depths of 0–20 cm at 470 points in 13 surveys, we addressed the characteristics of surface soil moisture and its main controlling factors. The results indicated that the mean of surface soil moisture was in the decreasing order of gully area > valley‐head slope > side slope. The relationship between the mean and standard deviation of surface soil moisture showed a convex‐upward shape in the headwater catchment, a negative curvilinear shape in the gully area, and positive curvilinear shapes at the side and valley‐head slopes. At the headwater catchment and valley‐head slope, positive contributions of soil porosity and negative contributions of slope gradient and saturated hydraulic conductivity were the main controlling factors of surface soil moisture under wetter conditions, whereas positive contributions of topographic wetness index and negative contributions of vegetation density were the main controlling factors of surface soil moisture under drier conditions. At the side slope underlain by fractured bedrocks, only saturated hydraulic conductivity and vegetation density were observed to be the controlling factors. Surface soil moisture in the gully area was mainly affected by runoff rather than were static features. Thus, using hillslope units is effective for approximately estimating the hydrological behaviours of surface moisture on a larger scale, whereas dependency between the main static factors and moisture conditions is helpful for estimating the spatial distributions of surface moisture on a smaller scale.     

Contact oxidation process followed by activated carbon adsorption for textile wastewater treatment

A pilot plant study and a full scale plant study were conducted to determine the feasibility of using contact oxidation followed by activated carbon adsorption process in textile wastewater treatment, and to determine the effects of types of packing media in the contact oxidation tank and types of aeration process on the treatment performance. Results indicated that contact oxidation followed by activated carbon adsorption process was effective in removing organics and color from textile wastewaters. Types of packing media and types of aeration processes had little effect on the treatment performance. The pilot plant performance was found to perform slightly better than the performance of the full scale plant.     

Case study of Pampa,Texas, multicell storms

Analysis of the Pampa, Texas, multicell storms showed prestorm environmental conditions of a strong horizontal convergence of moisture, mixing ratio 12 g/kg at the 850 mb level in the Texas Panhandle areas and strong winds with shear veering with height. Rapid-scan satellite imagery showed that the clouds penetrated above the tropopause and cloud-top temperatures were at least 4 to 9° C colder than the temperature of the tropopause. This formation and collapsing of high-mass-density overshooting cloud tops above the tropopause is characteristic of tornadoes in the middle portion of the United States.     

Elastic waves in visco-elastic half-space generated by various vehicle loads

In this paper, the response of a visco-elastic half-space subjected to moving loads with static and dynamic components is investigated. Four types of vehicle loads are considered, including the moving point load, uniformly distributed wheel load, elastically distributed wheel load, and a train load simulated as a sequence of elastically distributed wheel loads. In each case, the influence of the moving loads traveling in the subsonic, transonic and supersonic ranges on the dynamic responses of the half-space is studied. The parametric study conducted herein enables us to grasp insight into the mechanism of wave propagation for a visco-elastic half-space under moving loads.