Assessment of Surface Ecological Quality of Grassland Mining Area and Identification of Its Impact Range

Natural Resources Research - High-intensity coal mining in grasslands has negative impact on the surface ecology of the mining area and its surroundings. This impact shows spatio-temporal...     

Application of saddlepoint approximation in reliability analysis of dynamic systems

The application of the saddlepoint approximation to reliability analysis of dynamic systems is investigated. The failure event in reliability problems is formulated as the exceedance of a single performance variable over a prescribed threshold level. The saddlepoint approximation technique provides a choice to estimate the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the performance variable. The failure probability is obtained as the value of the complement CDF at a specif ied threshold. The method requires computing the saddlepoint from a simple algebraic equation that depends on the cumulant generating function (CGF) of the performance variable. A method for calculating the saddlepoint using random samples of the performance variable is presented. The applicable region of the saddlepoint approximation is discussed in detail. A 10-story shear building model with white noise excitation illustrates the accuracy and effi ciency of the proposed methodology.     

Densities of Huanghe River estuary and Bohai Bay waters

The densities of 36 water samples from the Huanghe River estuary and Bohai Bay were determinedby a magnetic float densimcter under three temperatures from 15℃ to 25℃.All the measured densities ofsamples were greater than that of the values calculated from the International Equation of State of Seawater.The differences between the measured and calculated densities increased with the decrease of salinities.The dif-ferences appeared exponentially correlated with[Ca~(2+)]/s,[Mg~(2+)]/s and[SO_4~(2-)]/s,and had"s"type curverelationship with the alkalinity in all salinity range.But in the salinity ranging from 25.72 to 31.57,therelationships were all linear.The density difference can be estimated from the equation △ρ（10~3kg·m~(-3)）=（-2.79+236.5([Ca~(2+)]/s)/(-9.7464×10~（-3）+[Ca~(2+)]/s).It was the high alkalinity and[Ca~(2+)]/s that resulted in the measured densi-ties of seawaters being higher than the calculated densities in the Huanghe estuary and Bohai Bay.     

Lateral continuity of basement seismic reflections in 15 Ma ultrafast-spreading crust at ODP Site 1256

The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) initiated drilling at Site 1256D in the Guatemala Basin, about 1,000 km off the East Pacific Rise to penetrate plutonic rocks, anticipated to be relatively shallow in this region, formed at an ultra-fast spreading rate. IODP Expedition E312 successfully drilled into gabbros at ~1,150 m in basement. Multi-channel seismic traces show weak laterally coherent sub-basement reflections at borehole depths. Synthetic reflectivity seismograms were computed using a Ricker wavelet and impedance profiles from borehole sonic logs. These seismograms show significant sub-basement amplitude peaks. A zero-offset vertical seismic profile, shot on E312, was processed to investigate the authenticity of these reflections and their relationship to borehole geology. A dual scheme of the median filtering and F–K dip filtering was used. Tests with synthetic seismograms indicate the approach is effective at reasonable SNR levels. Downgoing energy is clearly identified but negligible upgoing energy is visible over random noise. These results indicate that lava flows and igneous contacts in upper ocean crust have significant topography on lateral scales less than the Fresnel Zone (~300 m) due to igneous and tectonic processes.     

����CNESʵʱ����Ӳ����ݷ��ݴ����ɽ�ˮ��

????CNES???????????????????λ???????д?????????????????о????????????????????????????????????????????????CNES??????????????????SuomiNet????????????????IGS??????????????????????????????????????????????????к???????     

Environmental Geochemistry and Acid Mine Drainage Evaluation of an Abandoned Coal Waste Pile at the Alborz-Sharghi Coal Washing Plant,NE Iran

In this paper, an abandoned waste coal pile, which is resulted from Alborz-Sharghi coal washing plant, NE of Iran was mineralogically and geochemically characterized to evaluate pyrite oxidation, acid mine drainage (AMD) generation, and trace element mobility. After digging ten trenches and vertical sampling, a quantitative method including the atomic absorption test, and the quality-based methods including optical study were carried out for determination of pyrite fractions in the waste pile. The geochemical results revealed that the fraction of remaining pyrite increased with depth, indicating that pyrite oxidation is limited to the shallower depths of the pile which were confirmed by variations of sulfate, pH, EC, and carbonate with depth of the pile. To evaluate the trend of trace elements and mineralogical constituents of the waste particles, the samples were analyzed by using XRD, ICP-MS, and ICP-OES methods. The results showed the secondary and neutralizing minerals comprising gypsum have been formed below the oxidation zone. Besides, positive values of net neutralization potential indicated that AMD generation has not taken in the waste pile. In addition, variations of trace elements with depth reveal that Pb and Zn exhibited increasing trends from pile surface toward the bottom sampling trenches while another of them such as Cu and Ni had decreasing trends with increasing depth of the waste pile.     

Comparison of ecophysiological characteristics between introduced and indigenous mangrove species in China

Due to its rapid growth, the introduced mangrove species Sonneratia apetala from Bangladesh has been widely used in mangrove restoration in southeastern China since 1985. As an indigenous mangrove species in Hainan, China, Sonneratia caseolaris was also planted in Guangdong Province for afforestation purposes. Both species have developed well in their new habitats, but their ecophysiological differences with the native mangrove species have not been studied. In this study, leaf gas exchange, water and nitrogen use efficiencies of two Sonneratia species were compared with those of selected native mangrove species (Avicennia marina, Aegiceras corniculatum, Kandelia candel, and Excoecaria agallocha) in Hainan and Shenzhen. The introduced S. apetala maintained lower carbon assimilation rate (A) and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE) than the indigenous S. caseolaris. In Shenzhen, the two introduced Sonneratia had comparable photosynthetic rates and water use efficiency (WUE) with the native mangrove species, except that PNUE in S. caseolaris was significantly higher than in the native mangrove species. The two Sonneratia species showed significant overlap in PNUE and long-term WUE. Photosynthetic parameters derived from leaf photosynthetic light–response curves and A–C_i curves also suggested lower carbon assimilation capacities for the introduced Sonneratia than for the native mangrove species in both study sites. The lower light compensation point (LCP) of two introduced Sonneratia in both study sites also indicated a better adaptation to a low light regime than the native mangrove species. The results of photosynthetic capacities indicated that the introduced mangrove species have little competitive advantage over local native mangrove species in their respective new habitats.     

Mass-front velocity of dry granular flows influenced by the angle of the slope to the runout plane and particle size gradation

The mass-front velocities of granular flows results from the joint action of particle size gradations and the underlying surfaces.However,because of the complexity of friction during flow movement,details such as the slope-toe impedance effects and momentum-transfer mechanisms have not been completely explained by theoretical analyses,numerical simulations,or field investigations.To study the mass-front velocity of dry granular flows influenced by the angle of the slope to the runout plane and particle size gradations we conducted model experiments that recorded the motion of rapid and long-runout rockslides or avalanches.Flume tests were conducted using slope angles of 25°,35°,45°,and 55° and three particle size gradations.The resulting mass-front motions consisted of three stages:acceleration,velocity maintenance,and deceleration.The existing methods of velocity prediction could not explain the slowing effect of the slope toe or the momentum-transfer steady velocity stage.When the slope angle increased from 25° to 55°,the mass-front velocities dropped significantly to between 44.4% and59.6% of the peak velocities and energy lossesincreased from 69.1% to 83.7% of the initial,respectively.The velocity maintenance stages occurred after the slope-toe and mass-front velocity fluctuations.During this stage,travel distances increased as the angles increased,but the average velocity was greatest at 45°.At a slope angle of 45°,as the median particle size increased,energy loss around the slope toe decreased,the efficiency of momentum transfer increased,and the distance of the velocity maintenance stage increased.We presented an improved average velocity formula for granular flow and a geometrical model of the energy along the flow line.     

Practical Incorporation of Multivariate Parameter Uncertainty in Geostatistical Resource Modeling

There is a need to bridge theory and practice for incorporating parameter uncertainty in geostatistical simulation modeling workflows. Simulation workflows are a standard practice in natural resource and recovery modeling, but the incorporation of multivariate parameter uncertainty into those workflows is challenging. However, the objectives can be met without considerable extra effort and programming. The sampling distributions of statistics comprise the core theoretical notion with the addition of the spatial degrees of freedom to account for the redundancy in the spatially correlated data. Prior parameter uncertainty is estimated from multivariate spatial resampling. Simulation-based transfer of prior parameter uncertainty results in posterior distributions which are updated by data conditioning and the model domain extents and configuration. The results are theoretically tractable and practical to achieve, providing realistic assessments of uncertainty by accounting for large-scale parameter uncertainty, which is often the most important component impacting a project. A simulation-based multivariate workflow demonstrates joint modeling of intrinsic shale properties and uncertainty in estimated ultimate recovery in a shale gas project. The multivariate workflow accounts for joint prior parameter uncertainty given the current well locations and results in posterior estimates on global distributions of all modeled properties. This is achieved by transferring the joint prior parameter uncertainty through conditional simulations.