Earthquake hazard of the northern parts of the Bohemian Massif and Western Carpathians

The new procedure of earthquake hazard evaluation developed by Kijko and Sellevoll is tested and applied for the border region of Czechoslovakia and Poland. The new method differs from the conventional approach. It incorporates the uncertainty of earthquake magnitudes, and accepts mixed data containing only large historical events and recent, complete catalogues. Seismic hazard has been calculated for nine regions determined in the border area. In the investigated area, data of historical catalogues are uncertain or, in many cases, the epicentral intensities are unknown. Thus, a number of assumptions have to be adopted in data preparation of catalogues since the year 1200. The calculated values of parameters b in the Gutenberg-Richter frequency-intensity relation as well as the return periods, seem to be reasonable and are generally confirmed by the results obtained from catalogues for the last 80–130 years.     

Indirect unstructured hex-dominant mesh generation using tetrahedra recombination

Corner-point gridding is widely used in reservoir and basin modeling but generally yields approximations in the representation of geological interfaces. This paper introduces an indirect method to generate a hex-dominant mesh conformal to 3D geological surfaces and well paths suitable for finite-element and control-volume finite-element simulations. By indirect, we mean that the method first generates an unstructured tetrahedral mesh whose tetrahedra are then merged into primitives (hexahedra, prisms, and pyramids). More specifically, we focus on determining the optimal set of primitives that can be recombined from a given tetrahedral mesh. First, we detect in the tetrahedral mesh all the feasible volumetric primitives using a pattern-matching algorithm (Meshkat and Talmor Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. 49(1-2), 17–30 2000) that we re-visit and extend with configurations that account for degenerated tetrahedra (slivers). Then, we observe that selecting the optimal set of primitives among the feasible ones can be formalized as a maximum weighted independent set problem (Bomze et al. 1999), known to be \(\mathcal {N}\mathcal {P}\)-Complete. We propose several heuristic optimizations to find a reasonable set of primitives in a practical time. All the tetrahedra of each selected primitive are then merged to build the final unstructured hex-dominant mesh. This method is demonstrated on 3D geological models including a faulted and folded model and a discrete fracture network.     

Enrichment characteristics and risk assessment of Hg in bird feathers from Caohai wetland in Guizhou Province,China

Based on the analysis of the enrichment characteristics of Hg and MeHg in bird feathers from Caohai National Nature Reserve in Guizhou, the risks of Hg pollution to the birds from Caohai wetland have been evaluated. The total Hg content of bird feathers ranges from 40 to 5058 ng/g with an average of 924 ng/g. The content of MeHg is significantly correlated with total Hg (r = 0.68, p < 0.01), and the content are among 0.75 and 113 ng/g. The total Hg content in the birds feathers is significantly dependent on their feeding habits, which is mainly in accordance with the following rule: carnivorous birds > omnivorous birds that are mainly carnivorous > omnivorous birds that are mainly herbivorous. There are also differences in the Hg enrichment ability in the different parts of bird feathers, and the total Hg and MeHg content in the wing feathers are significantly higher than that in the other parts of feathers. The bioaccumulation coefficients of aqueous Hg and MeHg by bird feathers are 0.9 × 10⁴–112.13 × 10⁴ (mean value is 20.47 × 10⁴) and 0.47 × 10⁴–70.4 × 10⁴ (mean value is 9.52 × 10⁴), respectively. Although the whole Hg level in Caohai bird feathers is not too high, the Hg content in some carnivorous birds exceeds over or approaches the abnormal threshold when birds are breeding (5 μg/g), which indicates that the birds in Caohai wetland are faced with some risks of ecological Hg pollution.     

澜沧江上游德钦县亚高山、高山草地群落类型及其特点

摘要：采用样方调查方法获得94个草地群落样方,对澜沧江上游德钦县亚高山、高山草地群落类型及其特点进行了初步分析。结果表明,该县亚高山、高山草地群落类型存在20个类型。在放牧干扰下,大多数群落类型处于退化状态,相互之间存在明显的群落替代关系;调查发现群落中每平方米内平均含8种草本植物,平均盖度62．4％,地上平均生物量是4859kg／hm^2,平均可食率为61．5％;鸢尾群落、牛旁群落和小狼毒群落是草地严重退化后形成的典型有毒害群落类型;长期的高强度放牧虽然增加了群落类型多样性,但减少了群落内物种多样性。总体而言,长期的放牧干扰降低了德钦草地的生物多样性的质量及其生态服务功能,导致草地生态系统的非持续发展。     

地下水气体组分的潮汐变化

我们观察了日本中部Omaezaki地区地下水气体组分时间序列数据的周期性变化,Omaezaki是日本地震预报目录中即将到来的Tokai地震前兆信号观察的重要地区.我们已经开始在一口100 m深的井中对地下水中气体组分进行持续监测.     

On the asymmetry of moustaches

A careful photometry of moustaches is carried out to reveal asymmetry of their emission in the far wings ( 1 Å), if it exists. The presence of background continuous emission in spectra of moustaches demands special care with the photometry, and makes the current method of comparison of rest-intensities inadequate. The other sources of errors are also discussed. The blue asymmetry, as a systematic difference of intensities between the blue and the red wing shows itself in some cases, being 2–3 times larger than the probable errors. In most moustaches investigated, the accompanying background continuous emission shows a rapid increase to the violet.     

On the problem of the flare-like emission in sodium lines

Unusual and intense emission in the D ₁, D ₂ lines has been registered photoelectrically in an undisturbed region near the center of the solar disk on 28 July, 1966. Various aspects of the possibility that the emission might originate in either artificial or natural comets by processes of resonance scattering or flu orescence have been analyzed. It is shown that the observed emission can only be located on the solar surface. Some aspects of the problem are discussed briefly.     

Modeling the temperature of the polar mesopause region: Part II—Intra-seasonal monthly oscillations

Measurements show that the polar mesospheric clouds (PMC) can vary, in the zonal mean, with periods around 1 month [Bailey et al., 2005. Observations of polar mesospheric clouds by the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer. J. Geophys. Res. 110, D13203, doi:10.1029/2004JD005422]. This observation has been the impetus for the present paper, where we describe corresponding temperature oscillations generated by the Numerical Spectral Model (NSM). Our numerical results are taken from the 3D and 2D versions of the NSM, which produce inter-annual and long-term variations in the polar mesopause region, as discussed in the accompanying paper (Part I). In the NSM, the intra-seasonal temperature variations with periods around 2 months are generated by the meridional winds that in turn are accelerated by the momentum deposition from small-scale gravity waves (GW) propagating north/south. The wave-driven dynamical process underlying the oscillations is intrinsically non-linear like that generating the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). Our analysis demonstrates that the seasonal annual and semi-annual variations excite the oscillation frequencies through non-linear cascading.     

Crystallization of loparite in alkaline fluid-magmatic systems (from experimental and mineralogical data)

We studied loparite-containing rocks (lujaurites, juvites, foyaite-juvites, etc.) sampled from a complex of differentiated rocks and, partly, from a complex of eudialytic lujaurites of the Lovozero alkaline massif. Zoned crystals of loparite (the zoning is due to variations in Ti, Nb, REE, Sr, and Th contents) were examined by microprobing. We also carried out experimental studies of loparite formation in complex silicate–salt systems including sodium carbonate, chloride, fluoride, or sulfate at 400–1200 °C and 1–2 kbar. They show that the composition of loparites depends on the physicochemical conditions of their formation (fluid composition) and that natural loparite can crystallize in a wide range of temperatures. The produced loparite crystals are zoned as a result of variations in Ti, Nb, La, Ce, Y, Ca, and Sr contents, which is probably related to the kinetic specifics of crystallization. Their zoning is similar to that of loparites of the Lovozero massif.