Seismic response analysis of adjacent liquid‐storage tanks

A refined substructure technique in the frequency domain is developed, which permits consideration of the interaction effects among adjacent containers through the supporting deformable soil medium. The tank‐liquid systems are represented by means of mechanical models, whereas discrete springs and dashpots stand for the soil beneath the foundations. The proposed model is employed to assess the responses of adjacent circular, cylindrical tanks for harmonic and seismic excitations over wide range of tank proportions and soil conditions. The influence of the number, spatial arrangement of the containers and their distance on the overall system's behavior is addressed. The results indicate that the cross‐interaction effects can substantially alter the impulsive components of response of each individual element in a tank farm. The degree of this impact is primarily controlled by the tank proportions and the proximity of the predominant natural frequencies of the shell‐liquid‐soil systems and the input seismic motion. The group effects should be not a priori disregarded, unless the tanks are founded on shallow soil deposit overlying very stiff material or bedrock. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The chemical variability at the surface of Mars: Implication for sediment formation and rock weathering

Compositional data analysis was performed on chemical compositions of martian surface materials in order to unravel scenarios of past and present weathering and to evaluate the role of meteoritic accumulation. The observed chemical variability is analyzed by means of principal component analysis. Potential reservoirs that may have contributed primary material to soil formation are assessed. Chemical alteration in the course of in situ weathering is described in terms of alteration vectors that link the compositions of fresh rocks and their weathering crusts. The interplay of localized chemical alteration and global scale re-distribution and mixing of fines material is documented through the identification of different soil forming branches. These branches emanate from distinct compositional domains, which comprise basaltic and basalt-andesitic primary materials, and they converge to a global dust composition, which represents the product of chemical and physical disintegration and subsequent global mixing. Mass balance considerations applied to localized weathering phenomena are in line with findings from experimental acid-sulfate weathering on olivine-bearing basalts and the persistence of secondary silica in evaporitic rocks. In addition the composition and oxidation state of involved volcanic gases is deduced. Our findings corroborate the past activity of volcanic exhalation products in combination with liquid water. We conclude that average martian crust is dominated by basaltic materials at its topmost level and that the amount of meteoritic accumulation may contribute about 6 wt% to the martian fines. From the meteoritic contribution minimum soil formation rates of 60±20 cm/Gyr are derived. Sequestration of atmospheric oxygen during weathering of primary materials may account for the oxygen deficiency of the martian atmosphere. A 4-14-m-thick layer of oxidized martian fines may account for the estimated deficit of 1.7×¹⁰¹⁸ mol O₂ in the martian atmosphere depending on the primary oxidation state of volatile volcanic emanations.     

Existence and stability of strong potential double layers

An elementary integral equation technique is used to construct strong and weak stationary shock solutions from the one-dimensional Vlasov equation. It is shown that the plasma is Penrose stable in all points in space under certain conditions.This work was supported in part by the Atomic Energy Commission Grant No. AT(11-1)-2059, and NSF Grant GA-31676.supported by a CSIR bursary.     

Carbon,sulfur, oxygen and strontium isotope records,organic geochemistry and biostratigraphy across the Permian/Triassic boundary in Abadeh,Iran

Pelagic deposits at Abadeh represent a complete biostratigraphic record across the Permian/Triassic boundary (PTB). The presumed water depth during deposition of these sediments was between 60 and 90 m. Similar to other Permian/Triassic boundary sections, the succession at Abadeh is characterised by a negative carbon isotope shift of approximately 4. The values start to decrease in the lower C. changxingensis - C. deflecta s.l. Zone, reach –0.12 (V-PDB) in the uppermost Permian just below the PTB, remain low to the early I. isarcica Zone (–0.32) and increase subsequently in the upper I. isarcica Zone. For the time interval of the PTB negative carbon isotope excursion, between the C. iranica and the I. isarcica Zones, no correlation exists between the ¹³C_carb and the ¹⁸O_carb. The above observations argue against the conclusion of Heydari et al. (2001) that the carbon isotope event at the P/T transition is an alteration artefact and not a global signal. The decrease in ¹³C_carb is accompanied by a ~5 (and potentially up to 10) increase in ³⁴S_SSS. Together, these features are thought to reflect a complex global event, notably the development of widespread anoxic oceans with anoxic bottom layers rising onto the shelves. For the carbon isotope drop, other factors, such as the collapse of ocean primary productivity may also have played a role. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of Dzhulfian seawater show only a minor increase from 0.70705 to 0.70710, reaching 0.70720 in the Dorashamian. The increase becomes steeper in the Early Triassic reaching 0.70754 in the N. dieneri Zone. The rise of the strontium isotope values is thought to be related to enhanced continental weathering under humid climatic conditions in the uppermost Permian (C. meishanensis - H. praeparvus Zone) and the lack of a dense land vegetation in the Early Triassic, prior to the Spathian (Upper Olenekian).     

The Late Paleozoic felsic lava-dominated large igneous province in northeast Germany: volcanic facies analysis based on drill cores

In the deep subsurface of the northeast German basin products of extensive volcanism are present that formed during the waning phase of the Variscan orogeny (Permian–Carboniferous boundary). Large volumes (≥48,000 km³) of dominantly felsic magma were emplaced in the northern foreland of the Variscan mountains in a terrestrial semi-arid environment. Most of these units were inferred by previous authors to represent the products of explosive volcanic eruptions such as ignimbrites. However, a detailed analysis of the volcanic texture and lithofacies association shows that most units are best interpreted as coherent lavas emplaced either as extrusive units or as shallow intrusions, with important implications for the reconstruction of the paleo-environment. This study shows that detailed textural examination of drill cores provide important observations, which can be applied as criteria for the interpretation of the mode of volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, phenocryst logging and geochemical fingerprinting based on immobile element ratios can be employed for the classification and discrimination of individual emplacement units.     

Microthermometry, Raman and LA-ICP-MS of Fluid Inclusions Constrain on Fluids Chemistry and Evolution of Carlin-Type Gold System, Guizhou, China: Implications for Ore Genesis

The Shuiyindong and Yata Carlin-type gold deposits, located in Southwestern Guizhou, China, are hosted by Permianbioclastic limestone in the form of stratabound mineralization and Middle Triassic calcareous clastic rocks as fault-controlled mineralization, respectively. In these deposits, quartz crystals in the veins or veinlets associated with mineralization have contained several populations of fluid inclusions with relatively quite big size and clear paragenetic relationship of entrapment. Petrography, microthermometry, Raman and LA-ICPMS of fluid inclusions analyses are used to characterize fluids chemistry and their evolution of Carlin-type system in Guizhou.     

Impact of global warming on the interannual and interdecadal climate modes in a coupled GCM

In this study, we investigated the impact of global warming on the variabilities of large-scale interannual and interdecadal climate modes and teleconnection patterns with two long-term integrations of the coupled general circulation model of ECHAM4/OPYC3 at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg. One is the control (CTRL) run with fixed present-day concentrations of greenhouse gases. The other experiment is a simulation of transient greenhouse warming, named GHG run. In the GHG run the averaged geopotential height at 500?hPa is increased significantly, and a negative phase of the Pacific/North American (PNA) teleconnection-like distribution pattern is intensified. The standard deviation over the tropics (high latitudes) is enhanced (reduced) on the interdecadal time scales and reduced (enhanced) on the interannual time scales in the GHG run. Except for an interdecadal mode related to the Southern Oscillation (SO) in the GHG run, the spatial variation patterns are similar for different (interannual?+?interdecadal, interannual, and interdecadal) time scales in the GHG and CTRL runs. Spatial distributions of the teleconnection patterns on the interannual and interdecadal time scales in the GHG run are also similar to those in the CTRL run. But some teleconnection patterns show linear trends and changes of variances and frequencies in the GHG run. Apart from the positive linear trend of the SO, the interdecadal modulation to the El Niño/SO cycle is enhanced during the GHG 2040?～?2099. This is the result of an enhancement of the Walker circulation during that period. La Niña events intensify and El Niño events relatively weaken during the GHG 2070?～?2090. It is interesting to note that with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations the relation between the SO and the PNA pattern is reversed significantly from a negative to a positive correlation on the interdecadal time scales and weakened on the interannual time scales. This suggests that the increase of the greenhouse gas concentrations will trigger the nonstationary correlation between the SO and the PNA pattern both on the interdecadal and interannual time scales.