Focusing and spatial resolution of electromagnetic three-coil sounders

Doklady Earth Sciences - Distribution density functions for the sensitivity of a three-coil sounder are constructed as the weighted mean rock volume between the in-phase surfaces of running...     

The Karoo Basin of South Africa: type basin for the coal-bearing deposits of southern Africa

The coal-bearing sediments and coal seams of the Karoo Basin, Southern Africa are described and discussed. The Karoo Basin is bounded on its southern margin by the Cape Fold Belt, onlaps onto the Kaapvaal Craton in the north and is classified as a foreland basin. Coal seams are present within the Early Permian Vryheid Formation and the Triassic Molteno Formation.The peats of the Vryheid Formation accumulated within swamps in a cool temperate climatic regime. Lower and upper delta plain, back-barrier and fluvial environments were associated with peat formation. Thick, laterally extensive coal seams have preferentially accumulated in fluvial environments. The coals are in general inertinite-rich and high in ash. However, increasing vitrinite and decreasing ash contents within seams occur from west to east across the coalfields. The Triassic Molteno coal seams accumulated with aerially restricted swamps in fluvial environments. These Molteno coals are thin, laterally impersistent, vitrinite-rich and shaly, and formed under a warm temperate climatic regime.Palaeoclimate, depositional systems, differential subsidence and basin tectonics influence to varying degrees, the maceral content, thickness and lateral extent of coal seams. However, the geographic position of peat-forming swamps within a foreland basin, coupled with basin tectonics and differential subsidence are envisaged as the primary controls on coal parameters. The Permian coals are situated in proximal positions on the passive margin of the foreland basin. Here, subsidence was limited which enhanced oxidation of organic matter and hence the formation of inertinitic coals. The coals in this tectonic setting are thick and laterally extensive. The Triassci coals are situated within the tectonically active foreland basin margin. Rapid subsidence and sedimentation rates occurred during peat formation which resulted in the preservation of thin, laterally impersistent, high ash, vitrinite-rich, shaly coals.     

Mantle(?) xenoliths in the carbonatites of northern Transbaikalia

The composition and nature of high-Cr minerals in lithic clasts from the carbonatites of the Veseloe occurrence, northern Transbaikalia, were considered. In order to determine their source, the Cr-bearing phases were compared with chromite, magnetite, and rutile from ultrabasic rocks, mantle xenoliths, and eclogites. It was suggested that the xenoclasts studied were formed at great depths, whereas the carbonatites were directly derived from the mantle rather than formed by the crustal differentiation of a silicate-carbonate melt.     

Rock warming and drying under simulated intertidal conditions,part II: weathering and biological influences on evaporative cooling and near‐surface micro‐climatic conditions as an example of biogeomorphic ecosystem engineering

The way in which rocks and engineering materials heat‐up and dry‐out in the intertidal zone is of relevance to both weathering and ecology. These behaviours can be measured in the laboratory under controlled conditions designed to replicate those occurring in the field. Previous studies have demonstrated differences in thermal behaviours between rock types and through time as a result of soiling in terrestrial environments, but the influence of weathering and colonization on rock behaviours in the intertidal zone has not been previously assessed. We measured the warming and drying of blocks of rock (limestone and granite) and marine concrete during ‘low‐tide’ events simulated in the laboratory, before and after a period of exposure (eight months) on rock platforms in Cornwall, UK. As well as differences between the material types, temperatures of control (unexposed) and field‐exposed blocks differed in the order of 1 to 2 °C. Drying behaviours were also different after field exposure. Differences during the first few hours of exposure to air and heat were attributed to discolouration and albedo effects. Over longer periods of time, changes in the availability of near‐surface pore water as a result of micro‐scale bioerosion of limestone and the development of bio‐chemical crusts on marine concrete [observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)] are suggested as mechanisms enhancing and reducing, respectively, the efficiency of evaporative cooling. The retention of moisture by epilithic biofilms may also influence thermal and drying behaviours of granite. These observations represent one of the first examples of cross‐scalar biogeomorphic linkages in the intertidal zone. The significance of the results for the subsequent efficiency of weathering, and near‐surface micro‐climatic conditions experienced by colonizing organisms is discussed. The involvement of microorganisms in the creation of more (or less) ecologically stressful conditions through the alteration of substratum geomorphic properties and behaviours is suggested as an example of ‘biogeomorphic ecosystem engineering’. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于生态足迹的区域生态适度人口研究——以新疆生产建设兵团为例

适度人口取决于生态、经济和土地等多要素的综合承载力。介绍了生态足迹模型的基本概念和计算方法,并运用该模型对兵团1995—2008年的生态足迹和生态承载力进行了计算,在此基础上对兵团的1995—2010年的生态适度人口进行了估算。结果表明,1995—1999年兵团的实际人口虽然在增加,但相对于生态适度人口并没有出现过剩;2000—2010年兵团生态适度人口在不断下降,实际人口和过剩人口却在不断增加。兵团目前已经出现了过度人口和生态赤字,人地矛盾相对紧张,生态适度人口规模是不合理的。     

非均质地基中平面应变隧道开挖面稳定上限分析

非均质是软黏土地基中比较普遍的现象,而目前隧道开挖面稳定研究中比较成熟的理论主要是针对均质土体。因此,从塑性极限分析上限法的基本原理出发,采用平面应变隧道刚体平动破坏模式(多块体上限法),考虑软黏土地基的非均质性,推导了平面应变隧道极限支护压力关于隧道埋深、土体重度及土体强度的上限公式。通过与其他方法的比较分析,证明了极限分析方法在隧道开挖面稳定性方面的可行性;利用该方法的计算结果详细探讨了隧道开挖面稳定的影响因素;而且由计算结果可知,地基土的非均质性在影响隧道开挖面极限支护压力的同时,也影响着隧道开挖破坏面的位置和形状,为工程实践提供重要的理论依据。