Incorporation of Heavy Metals Bioavailability into Risk Characterization

The bioavailability of field‐aged Cd and Cu was calculated, and compared to the total concentrations determined by acid digestion. Only 0.60–4.15% for Cd and 0.59–9.43% for Cu were found to be bioavailable when determined by stomach‐phase extraction. The incorporation of bioavailability reduced more than 90% of the calculated risk of the metals at the site of study. It should be noted that such a reduction may not be generalized and the site‐specific bioavailability needs to be determined case by case.     

Stability of Kerogen Classification with Regard to Image Segmentation

This paper investigates the stability of an automatic system for classifying kerogen material from images of sieved rock samples. The system comprises four stages: image acquisition, background removal, segmentation, and classification of the segmented kerogen pieces as either inertinite or vitrinite. Depending upon a segmentation parameter d, called “overlap”, touching pieces of kerogen may be split differently. The aim of this study is to establish how robust the classification result is to variations of the segmentation parameter. There are two issues that pose difficulties in carrying out an experiment. First, even a trained professional may be uncertain when distinguishing between isolated pieces of inertinite and vitrinite, extracted from transmitted-light microscope images. Second, because manual labelling of large amount of data for training the system is an arduous task, we acquired the true labels (ground truth) only for the pieces obtained at overlap d=0.5. To construct ground truth for various values of d we propose here label-inheritance trees. With thus estimated ground truth, an experiment was carried out to evaluate the robustness of the system to changes in the segmentation through varying the overlap value d. The average system accuracy across values of d spanning the range from 0 to 1 was 86.5%, which is only slightly lower than the accuracy of the system at the design value of d=0.5 (89.07%).     

Seismic response of steel structures with seesaw systems using viscoelastic dampers

Vibration control systems are being used increasingly worldwide to provide enhanced seismic protection for new and retrofitted buildings. This paper presents a new vibration control system on the basis of a seesaw mechanism with viscoelastic dampers. The proposed vibration control system comprises three parts: brace, seesaw member, and viscoelastic dampers. In this system, only tensile force appears in bracing members. Consequently, the brace buckling problem is negligible, which enables the use of steel rods for bracing members. By introducing pre‐tension in rods, long steel rods are applicable as bracing between the seesaw members and the moment frame connections over some stories. Seesaw mechanisms can magnify the damper deformation according to the damper system configuration. In this paper, first, the magnification factor, that is, the ratio of the damper deformation to the story drift, is delivered, which includes the rod deformation. Results of a case study demonstrate that the magnification factor of the proposed system is greater than unity for some cases. Seismic response analysis is conducted for steel moment frames with the proposed vibration control system. Energy dissipation characteristics are examined using the time‐history response results of energy. The maximum story drift angle distributions and time‐history response results of displacement show that the proposed system can reduce the seismic response of the frames effectively. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow of a stratified fluid bounded by walls of finite thermal conductance

Abstract

A study is made of the behavior of a thermally stratified fluid in a container when the non-horizontal boundaries have finite thermal conductance. The theory of Rahm and Walin is briefly recounted. Numerical solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations for a Boussinesq fluid in a cylinder, adopting a Newtonian heat flux condition at the vertical sidewall, are presented. Results on the details of flow and temperature fields are given over ranges of the Rayleigh number Ra, the container aspect ratio H, and the sidewall conductance S. As S increases, the isotherms in the meridional plane are horizontal at small radii but they diverge at large radii. This creates temperature nonuniformilies in the horizontal direction, and convective motions result. The salient features of the interior temperature profiles are captured by the theoretical model. The velocity field is characterized by two oppositely-directed circulations. As Ra or S varies, the qualitative circulation patterns remain substantially unchanged, but the magnitudes of the convective flows differ by large amounts. The effects of the externally-imposed parameters on the flow and temperature structures are examined.     

Tropical forcing of Australian extreme low minimum temperatures in September 2019

We explore the causes and predictability of extreme low minimum temperatures (T_min) that occurred across northern and eastern Australia in September 2019. Historically, reduced T_min is related to the occurrence of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and central Pacific El Niño. Positive IOD events tend to locate an anomalous anticyclone over the Great Australian Bight, therefore inducing cold advection across eastern Australia. Positive IOD and central Pacific El Niño also reduce cloud cover over northern and eastern Australia, thus enhancing radiative cooling at night-time. During September 2019, the IOD and central Pacific El Niño were strongly positive, and so the observed T_min anomalies are well reconstructed based on their historical relationships with the IOD and central Pacific El Niño. This implies that September 2019 T_min anomalies should have been predictable at least 1–2 months in advance. However, even at zero lead time the Bureau of Metereorolgy ACCESS-S1 seasonal prediction model failed to predict the anomalous anticyclone in the Bight and the cold anomalies in the east. Analysis of hindcasts for 1990–2012 indicates that the model's teleconnections from the IOD are systematically weaker than the observed, which likely stems from mean state biases in sea surface temperature and rainfall in the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Together with this weak IOD teleconnection, forecasts for earlier-than-observed onset of the negative Southern Annular Mode following the strong polar stratospheric warming that occurred in late August 2019 may have contributed to the T_min forecast bust over Australia for September 2019.

     

Screening of extraction methods for Cd and As bioavailability prediction in rhizospheric soil using multivariate analyses

Heavy metals in tailings and mining wastes from abandoned mines can be released into adjacent agricultural field and bioaccumulated in crops or vegetables. Therefore, prediction of metal bioavailability has become an important issue to prevent adverse effect of bioaccumulated metals on human health. In this study, single and sequential extraction methods were compared using multivariate analysis to predict the bioavailability of Cd and As in contaminated rhizosphere soils. Single extraction using 0.1 M HCl for Cd and 1.0 M HCl for As had an extraction efficiency of 8–12% for soil Cd and 14–17% for soil As compared to total concentration extracted with aqua regia. Using sequential extraction, Fe–Mn-bound Cd (FR3) and residual Cd (FR5) were the dominant fractions representing 43 and 41% of total Cd concentration. For As, the strongly absorbed form (FR2) was the most abundant chemical fraction showing 45–54% of the total As concentration in soil. Multivariate analyses showed that single extraction with HCl and total concentration of Cd and As in soil were significantly correlated to potato and green onion plant tissue metal concentration. Although little information was obtained with multiple regression analysis because of multicollinearity of variables, the result of principle component analysis (PCA) revealed that the highest positive loading was obtained using total concentration of Cd and As in soil in the first principle component (PC1). In addition, total concentration of Cd and As in soil was independently grouped with other chemical fractions by cluster analysis. Therefore, the overall result of this research indicated that total concentrations of Cd and As in rhizosphere soils were the best predictors of bioavailability of heavy metals in these contaminated soils.     

High-resolution subtropical summer precipitation derived from dynamical downscaling of the NCEP/DOE reanalysis: how much small-scale information is added by a regional model?

This study assesses the regional-scale summer precipitation produced by the dynamical downscaling of analyzed large-scale fields. The main goal of this study is to investigate how much the regional model adds smaller scale precipitation information that the large-scale fields do not resolve. The modeling region for this study covers the southeastern United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina) where the summer climate is subtropical in nature, with a heavy influence of regional-scale convection. The coarse resolution (2.5° latitude/longitude) large-scale atmospheric variables from the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/DOE reanalysis (R2) are downscaled using the NCEP/Environmental Climate Prediction Center regional spectral model (RSM) to produce precipitation at 20?km resolution for 16 summer seasons (1990?C2005). The RSM produces realistic details in the regional summer precipitation at 20?km resolution. Compared to R2, the RSM-produced monthly precipitation shows better agreement with observations. There is a reduced wet bias and a more realistic spatial pattern of the precipitation climatology compared with the interpolated R2 values. The root mean square errors of the monthly R2 precipitation are reduced over 93% (1,697) of all the grid points in the five states (1,821). The temporal correlation also improves over 92% (1,675) of all grid points such that the domain-averaged correlation increases from 0.38 (R2) to 0.55 (RSM). The RSM accurately reproduces the first two observed eigenmodes, compared with the R2 product for which the second mode is not properly reproduced. The spatial patterns for wet versus dry summer years are also successfully simulated in RSM. For shorter time scales, the RSM resolves heavy rainfall events and their frequency better than R2. Correlation and categorical classification (above/near/below average) for the monthly frequency of heavy precipitation days is also significantly improved by the RSM.     

Evidence for significant clockwise rotations of the Korean Peninsula during Cretaceous

In an effort to evaluate the Cretaceous magnetostratigraphy for the Korean Peninsula and to establish the tectonic coherence of its various elements, we collected paleomagnetic data from 121 samples from 20 sites within the Chilgok Formation (108.3–109.9 Ma) in the Gyeongsang Basin. Together with previously published data, we evaluate the results from a total of 163 sites in the basin.We combine our age model with results from recent stratigraphic, paleomagnetic and radiometric geochemical studies. In this study, we found that two distinct declination shifts decrease with younging direction, indicating two clockwise rotational events of the Korean Peninsula with respect to the Eurasia continent. The earlier event took place during 130–100 Ma (Phase I, newly termed “Goguryeo Disturbance”) and a later one during 80–50 Ma (Phase III, belonging to “Bulguksa Orogeny”). The mean rotation rate in the interval from 115.2 to 103.8 Ma (Phase I) is about 0.74°/Ma, while the rate from 90.9 to 79.8 Ma (Phase II) is 0.19°/Ma. Based on paleolatitude change during Phase I, we infer that the Korean Peninsula (eastern part of the Sino-Korea Block) migrated southward about 300 km after the complete amalgamation of the Sino-Korea Block into the Eurasian continent resulting in N–S compression within the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Large-scale strike-slip faults (e.g., Tan-Lu Fault, Okcheon Boundary Fault) were probably rejuvenated in the Sino-Korea Block during Phase I.     

Evidence of gas hydrate from downhole logging data in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea

The Gas Hydrate Research and Development Organization (GHDO) of Korea successfully accomplished both coring (hydraulic piston and pressure coring) and logging (logging-while-drilling, LWD, and wireline logging) to investigate the presence of gas hydrate during the first deep drilling expedition in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea of Korea (referred to as UBGH1) in 2007. The LWD data from two sites (UBGH1-9, UBGH1-10) showed elevated electrical resistivity (>80 Ω-m) and P-wave velocity (>2000 m/s) values indicating the presence of gas hydrate. During the coring period, the richest gas hydrate accumulation was discovered at these intervals. Based on log data, the occurrence of gas hydrate is primarily controlled by the presence of fractures. The gas hydrate saturation calculated using Archie’s relation shows greater than 60% (as high as ∼90%) of the pore space, although Archie’s equation typically overestimates gas hydrate saturation in near-vertical fractures. The saturation of gas hydrate is also estimated using the modified Biot-Gassmann theory (BGTL) by Lee and Collett (2006). The saturation values estimated rom BGTL are much lower than those calculated from Archie’s equation. Based on log data, the hydrate-bearing sediment section is approximately 70 m (UBGH1-9) to 130 m (UBGH1-10) in thickness at these two sites. This was further directly confirmed by the recovery of gas hydrate samples and pore water freshening collected from deep drilling core during the expedition. LWD data also strongly support the interpretation of the seismic gas hydrate indicators (e.g., vent or chimney structures and bottom-simulating reflectors), which imply the probability of widespread gas hydrate presence in the Ulleung Basin.