Annual deformation signals from homogeneously reprocessed VLBI and GPS height time series

The first part of this paper compares homogeneously reprocessed Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and Global Positioning System (GPS) long-term height series from 1994 to 2007. The data analysis used fully adapted state-of-the-art models (like VMF1 and a priori zenith delays from ECMWF) for the GPS and VLBI processing. The series are compared in terms of long-term non-linear behaviour, harmonic and mean annual signals (not necessarily of harmonic nature). The similarity between both techniques is very good (especially the mean annual signals), which is assumed to be due to the adapted models and consistent reprocessing of both series. As two almost independent observing techniques see the same annually recurring signals at almost all co-located sites, we expect a good geophysical interpretability as integral vertical deformation. For the second part of this paper, the height time series of 161 suitable GPS sites (of the same solution as before) are used to determine a harmonic and a mean annual signal for each of them. Comparing the annual signals for this big dataset visually to GRACE-determined load deformations described in other publications, we find good agreement. This puts emphasis to the assumption that our height data have a lot of potential to be interpreted as geophysical signals. Out of these 161, 131 are grouped to 55 clusters, if at least two nearby (some thousand kilometres) sites show similar mean annual signals, which are thus confirmed to be real regional deformation, not local or technical artefacts. These 55 signals are presented on a “world map” of regional average mean annual height signals, as easy-to-handle tool to validate geophysical models. The data of these measured regional mean annual signals can be downloaded from a web-page for numerical analysis.     

电离层残差对掩星反演温度精度的影响

本文以MSIS90大气模式和3D NeUoG电离层模式为大气背景,用三维射线追踪法模拟研究了太阳活动强度、地方时、掩星平面方位角对弯曲角电离层残差和温度电离层残差的影响,以及电离层残差对全球日平均温度的影响.结果表明：电离层残差是平流层顶部（35~50 km）和中间层底部（50~70 km）掩星大气温度反演的主要误差.在太阳活动活跃期,电离层残差对单一掩星事件的平流层顶部平均温度的影响可达1.8 K,中间层底部平均温度的影响可达7 K;对全球日平均温度的影响在平流层顶可达-0.6 K,在70 km高度处可达1.2 K.发展新的电离层改正方法或电离层残差修正算法对提高掩星大气反演精度和全球气候监测意义重大.     

Loss of iron to the Pt-container in melting experiments with basalts and a method to reduce it

The loss of iron from basalts to Pt containers has been investigated as a function of temperature, hydrogen fugacity, run duration, and Fe content of the sample. The loss of iron is very significant even after a short time and increases with increasing temperature and run duration and increasing hydrogen fugacity.The absorbed iron is concentrated in the inner half of the Pt-wall. The iron-containing zone of the Pt broadens only slightly with increasing run duration. Based upon this uneven distribution of Fe in the Pt-wall, a method is developed to reduce iron loss from the sample. By electroplating, a thin film of metallic iron is coated onto the inner surface of the capsule wall in order to get a Fe-Pt alloy in the inner section of the Pt-tube.     

Long-term simulation of the eutrophication of the North Sea: temporal development of nutrients, chlorophyll and primary production in comparison to observations

The ecosystem model ERSEM II has been used to hindcast the development of the ecosystem of the North Sea during the years 1955 to 1993. The simulation was driven by the box-aggregated output from a general circulation model of the North Sea of corresponding duration; radiation, river inputs, atmospheric input and boundary conditions at the borders to the Atlantic Ocean and to the Baltic Sea were applied as realistically as possible. The general features of the eutrophication process are reproduced in the hindcast: the coastal areas show strong changes in nutrient concentrations in the hindcast as well as in the observations. Eutrophication not only shows up in the nutrient concentrations, but also in primary production. The simulated spatial distributions of phosphate, nitrate and primary production compare well with the observed ones. In addition, the hindcast simulates considerable trend-like changes of the nutrients in the southern part of the North Sea, where the nutrients are transported from the continental coastal strip to the southern central North Sea. The line from the river Humber to southern Norway separates the region of noticeable anthropogenic influence of riverine and atmospheric input from the northern area, which is mainly influenced by the Atlantic nutrient inflow. The observed annual cycles in the central and northern North Sea are quite well reproduced by the hindcast. The comparison of the hindcast with the long-term observations at two sites in the continental coastal zone of the North Sea shows that the long-term behaviour of phosphate, nitrate and silicate is simulated well. Primary production is increased in summers during the main period of eutrophication, 1975 to 1989, in the hindcast and in the observations. The flagellates at Helgoland, however, experience much more pronounced annual cycles with much less interannual variability in the hindcast than in the observations.     

Incomplete reaction of plagioclase in experimental dehydration melting of amphibolite

Dehydration melting of a hornblende‐plagioclase mixture of amphibolitic composition was investigated at 1000°C and at 800 MPa and 1200 MPa. At 1200 MPa the reaction products are garnet, clinopyroxene, melt and relatively Ab‐rich plagioclase (An₄₇). At 800 MPa the products are orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, magnetite, amphibole (pargasite) and An‐rich plagioclase (An₇₅). The melts are rich in plagioclase components (especially in Ab) and, when compared to tonalites, relatively poor in silica. The grainsize of the starting materials was ≤?5 μm in the 800 MPa and ≤?10 μm in the 1200 MPa runs. All run products show unchanged plagioclase cores, which are the remnants of a very sluggish reaction assumed to be controlled by dissolution/precipitation processes at the plagioclase grain boundaries. The results indicate that only local equilibrium could have been obtained in recent investigations on dehydration melting experiments in plagioclase‐bearing systems. The results also suggest that plagioclase compositions once formed may persist for a very long time, even in hot magma chambers, if the prevailing water activity is low.     

Exposing the urban continuum: implications and cross-comparison from an interdisciplinary perspective

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing availability of geospatial data describing patterns of human settlement and population such as various global remote-sensing based built-up land layers, fine-grained census-based population estimates, and publicly available cadastral and building footprint data. This development constitutes new integrative modeling opportunities to characterize the continuum of urban, peri-urban, and rural settlements and populations. However, little research has been done regarding the agreement between such data products in measuring human presence which is measured by different proxy variables (i.e. presence of built-up structures derived from different remote sensors, census-derived population counts, or cadastral land parcels). In this work, we quantitatively evaluate and cross-compare the ability of such data to model the urban continuum, using a unique, integrated validation database of cadastral and building footprint data, U.S. census data, and three different versions of the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) derived from remotely sensed data. We identify advantages and shortcomings of these data types across different geographic settings in the U.S., which will inform future data users on implications of data accuracy and suitability for a given application, even in data-poor regions of the world.     

Recent uplift and hydrothermal activity at Tangkuban Parahu volcano, west Java, Indonesia

Tangkuban Parahu is an active stratovolcano located 17 km north of the city of Bandung in the province west Java, Indonesia. All historical eruptive activity at this volcano has been confined to a complex of explosive summit craters. About a dozen eruptions-mostly phreatic events- and 15 other periods of unrest, indicated by earthquakes or increased thermal activity, have been noted since 1829. The last magmatic eruption occurred in 1910. In late 1983, several small phreatic explosions originated from one of the summit craters. More recently, increased hydrothermal and earthquake activity occurred from late 1985 through 1986. Tilt measurements, using a spirit-level technique, have been made every few months since February 1981 in the summit region and along the south and east flanks of the volcano. Measurements made in the summit region indicated uplift since the start of these measurements through at least 1986. From 1981 to 1983, the average tilt rate at the edges of the summit craters was 40–50 microradians per year. After the 1983 phreatic activity, the tilt rate decreased by about a factor of five. Trilateration surveys across the summit craters and on the east flank of the volcano were conducted in 1983 and 1986. Most line length changes measured during this three-year period did not exceed the expected uncertainty of the technique (4 ppm). The lack of measurable horizontal strain across the summit craters seems to contradict the several years of tilt measurements. Using a point source of dilation in an elastic half-space to model tilt measurements, the pressure center at Tangkuban Parahu is located about 1.5 km beneath the southern part of the summit craters. This is beneath the epicentral area of an earthquake swarm that occurred in late 1983. The average rate in the volume of uplift from 1981 to 1983 was 3 million m³ per year; from 1983 to 1986 it averaged about 0.4 million m³ per year. Possible causes for this uplift are increased pressure within a very shallow magma body or heating and expansion of a confined aquifier.