The use of acidimetric titration as a novel approach to study particulate trace metal speciation and mobility: Application to sediments of the Scheldt estuary

The study of trace metal speciation has benefited from a great deal of interest leading to the development and the diversification of sequential extraction schemes (SES), which triggered the need for harmonization by the standard, measurements and testing programme (SM & T). However, some uncertainties still persist in the application of the harmonized 3-step protocol, because of the difficulty in conceptualizing a technique that can be applied to environmental samples irrespective of their nature. The alternative method proposed in this study is based on the solubility of the sample components progressively dissolved during the course of an acidimetric titration by 1 mol L⁻¹ HCl. The major HCl-reactive mineralogical components are identified using mass balance calculation of H⁺ consumed by their dissolution together with the amount of major elements released into solution. The speciation of minor and trace elements is investigated by comparing their titrations to those of the major elements. This approach is much simpler than SES because it uses simple non-selective H⁺ at room temperature instead of a complex experimental design of so-called specific reagents. The different mineral components of the solid are no longer operationally defined and the problem of selectivity is irrelevant to the titration approach. The method was applied to several sediment samples from the Scheldt estuary and the particulate phase was further examined by Scanning Electron Microprobe and X-ray Diffraction techniques. The nearly complete consumption of H⁺ in the suspension is balanced by the total dissolution of carbonates and Fe-oxyhydroxides. In contrast to the speciation inferred from the Tessier SES, the acidimetric titration has demonstrated that the carbonate phase does not significantly contain trace metals with the exceptions of 40% of the Mn and 30% of the Co. In contrast, the Fe-oxyhydroxides seem to play a major role and account for 70% of Pb and 20% of Cr, in addition to 60% of P and additional amounts of 20% Co and 40% Mn. 70% of the Cu also occur in the oxyhydroxide phase, more likely coprecipitated with gibbsite. 90% of the Cd and 85% of Zn can be attributed to the Acid Volatile Sulfide (AVS) phase as evidenced from S titration. The acidimetric titration method not only provides information on the speciation of trace metals but also allows the quantification of their reactivity and mobility, if one considers that the titration roughly mimics pH changes that may occur as a result of chemical disequilibrium in the environment. The results demonstrate the potential of the acidimetric titration as an alternative to SES protocols in geochemical and environmental regulation studies. This method is applicable to a wide variety of environmental materials with little or minor adjustments.     

甘肃“5·5"黑风暴小波分析

用小波变换理论对１９９３年春季甘肃省河西走廊地区一场特大黑风暴进行了分析。结果表明，小波分析能比较客观地将时间序列中不同时间尺度的振动分离开，使我们能清楚地看到黑风暴中的中尺度扰动。     

山东及周边地块间近期运动状态分析

为研究山东所在块体及周边地块间的地壳相对运动状态,利用2001年以来中国地壳运动观测网络以及2007年以来山东GPS观测网的观测结果,使用K-L最佳直线拟合和滑动傅里叶法得到基线变化年周期,以此对处于不同地块的GPS基准站间基线变化趋势进行分析,得出近期山东内部及周边地块间的地壳运动特征。并利用GPS资料分析了2011年3月11日日本9.0级强震对山东地区的影响。     

Quaternary Climate and Environment in the Lop Nur, Xinjiang

Since the middle Early Pleistocene (1.20 Ma B.P.), the desert steppe climate and environment have predominated in the Lop Nur area, Xinjiang, characterized by warm humid epochs interrupted by dry cold intervals. The grain-size and magnetic susceptibility curves record 30 climatic oscillations, each with a ca. 40 ka cycle, in the area since 1.2 Ma B.P., which reflects the controlling effects exerted by the astronomic factor on the environment. The Quaternary sedimentary environment in the Lop Nur gradually changed from a fresh lake through a brackish lake to a saline lake, showing a spiral evolution, and finally it evolved into a playa.     

东昆仑大干沟火山岩SHRIMP锆石U-Pb测年及其地质意义

东昆仑大干沟以北地区造山后形成的牦牛山组磨拉石建造不整合覆盖于前泥盆系之上,其形成时代对限定柴达木盆地加里东造山作用的结束时间及晚古生代裂解作用的开始时间具有重要意义。应用单颗粒锆石离子探针质谱仪(SHRIMP)方法,对牦牛山组上部火山岩段的样品进行精确的锆石U-Pb测年。结果表明,牦牛山组上段火山岩样品DG01和DG02中的岩浆锆石206Pb/238U平均年龄分别为403.6±5.1Ma和409±3.4Ma。综合前人研究认为,造山后牦牛山组伸展型磨拉石的形成时代为晚志留世-早泥盆世,限定了晚古生代裂解的开始时间,也意味着早古生代加里东造山运动在晚志留世-早泥盆世之前已经结束。     

A numerical study of the pre-ejection, magnetically-sheared corona as a free boundary problem

A class of magnetostatic equilibria with axial symmetry outside a unit sphere in the presence of plasma pressure and an r ^–2 gravitational field is constructed. The structure contains a localized current-carrying region confined by a background bipolar potential field, and the shape of the region changes subject to the variation of the electric current. The continuity requirement for the magnetic field and plasma pressures at the outer boundary of the cavity defines a free boundary problem, which is solved numerically using a spectral boundary scheme. The model is then used to study the expansion of the current-carrying region, caused by the buildup of magnetic shear, against the background confining field. The magnetic shear in our model is induced by the loading of an azimuthal field, accompanied by a depletion of plasma density.We show that due to the additional effect of confinement by the dense surrounding plasma, the energy of the magnetic field can exceed the energy of its associated open field, presumably a necessary condition for the onset of coronal mass ejections. (However, the plasma beta of the confining fluid is higher than that in the outer boundary of a realistic helmet-streamer structure.) Furthermore, under the assumption that coronal mass ejections are driven by magnetic buoyancy, the result from our model study lends further support to the notion of a suspended magnetic flux rope in the low-density cavity of a helmet-streamer as a promising pre-ejection configuration.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Possible Evidence of Long-Term Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere

We have obtained the temporal correlation function, Q(t), from time sequences of Caii K filtergrams and Dopplergrams from Antarctica, Taiwan Oscillation Network (TON) and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Q(t) gives the time evolution of the pattern under examination, supergranulation in this case. It has been found that Q(t) shows oscillatory signals of both 5-min and long-term periods. The 5-min oscillations are suppressed by averaging the images over 10 min. An exponential decay curve which represents the lifetime trend of supergranules, is fitted to Q(t) and subtracted out. The Q(t) residuals thus obtained contain the oscillatory component and are then subjected to a periodogram analysis. Significant periodicities in the range of 1.4–10 hours have been noted. The causes of these oscillations are not fully known at present, but the instrumental and atmospheric factors can be ruled out, pointing to solar origin. Various possibilities are discussed. Some of the observed periodicities may be considered as probable candidates for long-term oscillations in the Sun, such as the elusive gravity modes.     

中国区域经济差异变化的空间特征及其政策含义研究

采用了种省区人均国内生产总值与全国平均值的离差和比离两个指标，分别判断１９９０￣１９９５年我国区域经济绝对差异和相对差异变化的空间状态，并进一步阐明了其调控区域经济差异的政策含义。     

高崖跨断层短水准异常变化机理分析

2017-01～2018-04高崖水准的观测结果出现异常,为研究该异常的机理,本文基于对二维不规则载荷模型的定量模拟和库容、降水量、地下水位等影响因子的定性、定量分析,得到如下认识：1）高崖水库库容载荷变化对高崖水准的影响微弱,基本可忽略不计;2）高崖水准异常变化的主要原因是地下水位变化通过水-岩作用造成水准两端岩体的不一致变形。通过跟踪观测资料的后续变化,验证了水准异常变化机理的合理性。     

GNSS/地磁组合的室内外无缝定位平滑过渡方法

针对室内外无缝定位在室内外过渡点精度低、不能平滑自动切换等问题,结合GNSS定位技术以及室内地磁指纹节点的组合方法来实现室内外无缝定位及导航。由于从室外至室内时接收机接收到的卫星星数减少、GDOP值逐渐增加、定位的误差增大,因此室内地磁定位精度逐渐优于GNSS定位精度,在两个定位精度临界点通过分析计算得出GDOP最优转化范围值,进行平稳切换。此次试验仿真结果表明,GDOP在3~3.5进行切换与单一GNSS或地磁方法定位的精度相比,分别提高85.7%和82.6%,从而达到了室内外的高精度无缝定位,填补了国内外在室内外无缝定位上没有合适的切换界定的空白。