Temperature dependence of large-scale water-retention curves: a case study

A local-scale model for temperature-dependence of water-retention curves may be applicable to large scales. Consideration of this temperature dependence is important for modeling unsaturated flow and transport in the subsurface in numerous cases. Although significant progress has been made in understanding and modeling this temperature effect, almost all the previous studies have been limited to small scales (on the order of several centimeters). Numerical experiments were used to investigate the possibility of extending a local-scale model for the temperature-dependence of water retention curves to large scales (on the order of meters). Temperature effects on large-scale hydraulic properties are of interest in many practical applications. Numerical experiment results indicate that the local-scale model can indeed be applicable to large-scale problems for special porous media with high air entry values. A typical porous medium of this kind is the porous tuff matrix in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed geologic disposal site for national high-level nuclear wastes. Whether this finding can approximately hold for general cases needs to be investigated in future studies.     

The diet of the Long-eared Owls, Asio otus, in the desert of northwest China

The contents of regurgitated Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) pellets collected in Minqin Desert Experimental Research Station of northwestern China were analysed. A total of 303 individuals representing five species of rodents and one of bird were identified in the pellets. By frequency, the most common species taken by Long-eared Owls was Meriones meridianus, followed by Cricetulus barabensis and Phodopus roborovskii. By biomass, Meriones meridianus was the most important species taken, followed by C. barabensis and Rhombomys opimus. Our results suggest that the Long-eared Owls were nocturnal hunters and fed on a wide range of animals with respect to their habitats.     

Ammonium regeneration in intertidal sediments of the Yangtze estuary during air-exposure

The influences of exposure to the atmosphere on ammonium cycle in the intertidal surface sediments were in situ studied with a geochemical approach at a typical station in the Yangtze Estuary during three tidal cycles in September 2003. During an about 8-h emersion period of each diurnal tide, six high-resolution vertical profiles of adsorbed and dissolved ammonium were measured. It was observed that both adsorbed and dissolved ammonium generally had an increasing trend in sediment cores during the exposure. The rate of ammonium regeneration in sediments was estimated using the accumulation amount of ammonium including adsorbed and soluble fractions during the daytime emersion. The calculation result showed that there was relatively high ammonification rate (˜500 nmol N cm⁻³ day⁻¹), which reflected that organic nitrogen in sediments was quickly decomposed with a residence time of ˜52.7 days. Due to the dramatic temperature difference observed in sediment profiles, free convection was considered an important mechanism of regulating the efflux of produced ammonium into overlying waters. The total estimated amount of regenerated ammonium was ˜1.35×10⁵ t N year⁻¹ in the intertidal flat of the Yangtze Estuary, which occupied 7.6% of the total inorganic nitrogen annually transported to the estuarine ecosystem.     

Fission track evidence for the Mesozoic Cenozoic tectonic uplift of Mt. Bogda, Xinjiang, Northwest China

1 IntroductionThe Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonic evolution and ki-netics mechanism of the intracontinental orogen are thekey subjects of continental dynamics (Ma Zongjin andGao Xianglin, 2004) and the key to understanding theregional geological tectonics (Qia…     

REE/trace element characteristics of sandstone-type uranium deposits in the Ordos Basin

1 Introduction The Ordos Basin is the second largest sedimentary basin in China. During the last 10 years, a great progress has been achieved in the aspects of tectonic evolution, dynamics process, inner and outer geological processes during Mesozoic-Cen…     

基于GIS的城镇土地定级信息系统建模方法探讨

基于GIS的城镇土地定级信息系统在建设过程中,定级方法确定、定级单元大小确定和定级因素/子权重值的生成是关键,且三者都具有不同的确定方法,因此选择什么样的方法决定了系统建立的优劣。本文着重归纳、总结了城镇土地定级信息系统定级方法,通过对比分析,探讨了最优定级方法、最优网格单元大小划分方法和最优因素/子权重值计算方法。     

Relationship of Uncertainty and Line Segment for Between Polygon Segment Spatial Data in GIS

The mathematic theory for uncertainty model of line segment are summed up to achieve a general conception, and the line error hand model of εσ is a basic uncertainty model that can depict the line accuracy and quality efficiently while the model of εm and error entropy can be regarded as the supplement of it. The error band model will reflect and describe the influence of line uncertainty on polygon uncertainty. Therefore, the statistical characteristic of the line error is studied deeply by analyzing the probability that the line error falls into a certain range. Moreover, the theory accordance is achieved in the selecting the error buffer for line feature and the error indicator. The relationship of the accuracy of area for a polygon with the error loop for a polygon boundary is deduced and computed.     

基于GIS的商业网点选址研究与实现

利用平面／网络优化模型，综合权衡市区选址的基本费用及商业网点日常经营的成本，引入交通便利因子作为限制条件，并运用直接搜索的Dixon方法，加强了不确定性选址问题的约束条件，降低不确定性问题计算的复杂度，减少在选址问题实现中主观因素对选址结果的影响。最后以某区新建商业网点选址为例，详细分析了直接搜索算法应用的具体过程。