The discrete methods for free vibration analyses of an immersed beam carrying an eccentric tip mass with rotary inertia

In this paper, a beam without contact with water is called the “dry” beam and the one in contact with water is called the “wet” beam. For a partially (or completely) immersed uniform beam carrying an eccentric tip mass possessing rotary inertia, the conventional analytical (closed-form) solution is achieved by considering the inertial forces and moments of the tip mass and rotary inertia as the boundary conditions at the tip end of the beam. However, it has been found that the approximate solution for the last problem may be achieved by two techniques: Method 1 and Method 2. In Method 1, the basic concept is the same as the conventional analytical method; but in Method 2, the tip end of the beam is considered as a free end, while the inertial forces and moments induced by the tip mass and rotary inertia are considered as the external loads applied at the tip end of the beam. The main differences between the formulation of Method 1 and that of Method 2 are: In Method 1, the “normal” shapes of the “dry” beam are functions of the frequency-dependent boundary conditions but the external loads at the tip end are equal to zero; On the contrary, in Method 2, the “normal” mode shapes of the “dry” beam are determined based on the zero boundary conditions at the tip end of the beam but the external loads at the tip end due to the inertial effects of the tip mass and rotary inertia must be taken into consideration for the free vibration analysis of the “wet” beam. Numerical results reveal that the approximate solution obtained from Method 2 are very close to that from Method 1 if the tip mass moment of inertia is negligible. Besides, the two approximate solutions are also very close to the associated analytical (closed-form) solution or the finite element solution. In general, it is hoped that there exist several methods for tackling the same problem so that one may have more choices to incorporate with the specified cases. It is believed that the two approximate methods presented in this paper will be significant from this point of view.     

Ephemeral sand waves in the hurricane surf zone

Airborne bathymetric LIDAR observations along the Florida panhandle after Hurricane Dennis (2005) show the first unequivocal observations of surf-zone sand wave trains.

These are found in depths of 5m along the trough of the hurricane bar, where hindcasts show strong longshore currents only during severe storms. The waves extend over tens of kilometers of coast after Dennis but are absent from the same area in four other datasets. Observed wavelength to water depth ratios are comparable to river dunes and tidal sand waves but height to depth ratios are smaller, with the largest wave heights around 0.1 times the water depth. The sand wave generation mechanism is hypothesized to be from wind-and-wave-induced longshore currents, which were hindcast to be large during Dennis, with destruction from water wave orbital velocities.     

Multi-model MJO forecasting during DYNAMO/CINDY period

The present study assesses the forecast skill of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) observed during the period of DYNAMO (Dynamics of the MJO)/CINDY (Cooperative Indian Ocean Experiment on Intraseasonal Variability in Year 2011) field campaign in the GFS (NCEP Global Forecast System), CFSv2 (NCEP Climate Forecast System version 2) and UH (University of Hawaii) models, and revealed their strength and weakness in forecasting initiation and propagation of the MJO. Overall, the models forecast better the successive MJO which follows the preceding event than that with no preceding event (primary MJO). The common modeling problems include too slow eastward propagation, the Maritime Continent barrier and weak intensity. The forecasting skills of MJO major modes reach 13, 25 and 28 days, respectively, in the GFS atmosphere-only model, the CFSv2 and UH coupled models. An equal-weighted multi-model ensemble with the CFSv2 and UH models reaches 36 days. Air–sea coupling plays an important role for initiation and propagation of the MJO and largely accounts for the skill difference between the GFS and CFSv2. A series of forecasting experiments by forcing UH model with persistent, forecasted and observed daily SST further demonstrate that: (1) air–sea coupling extends MJO skill by about 1 week; (2) atmosphere-only forecasts driven by forecasted daily SST have a similar skill as the coupled forecasts, which suggests that if the high-resolution GFS is forced with CFSv2 forecasted daily SST, its forecast skill can be much higher than its current level as forced with persistent SST; (3) atmosphere-only forecasts driven by observed daily SST reaches beyond 40 days. It is also found that the MJO–TC (Tropical Cyclone) interactions have been much better represented in the UH and CFSv2 models than that in the GFS model. Both the CFSv2 and UH coupled models reasonably well capture the development of westerly wind bursts associated with November 2011 MJO and the cyclogenesis of TC05A in the Indian Ocean with a lead time of 2 weeks. However, the high-resolution GFS atmosphere-only model fails to reproduce the November MJO and the genesis of TC05A at 2 weeks’ lead. This result highlights the necessity to get MJO right in order to ensure skillful extended-range TC forecasting.     

East Asian,Indochina and Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon - An update

This review provides a summary of the major research progress in the variability of East Asian, Indochina and Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon. Time scales of the reviewed phenomena range from diurnal to interannual and interdecadal. Research results published in the past decades are the major sources for this review.     

The early 1950s regime shift in temperature in Taiwan and East Asia

A summer climate regime shift in temperature in Taiwan and East Asia during the early 1950s was identified in this study. The event was characterized by a cooling land-warming ocean dipole in East Asia and the western North Pacific, marking the decreasing land–sea thermal contrast from the 1940s to the 1950s. The corresponding sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly was characterized by the sign flipping of a north–south dipole in the western North Pacific from north/cool-south/warm to north/warm-south/cool, indicating a weakening north–south SST gradient in the area. The corresponding change in mean sea level pressure was characterized by the rising pressure in continental East Asia and the Philippine Sea, and the falling pressure over the extratropical western North Pacific to the east of Japan. This change was the reflection of a weakening thermal low in the continental East Asia, a weakening monsoon trough in the tropical western North Pacific, a strengthening and southwestward-expanding ridge in the subtropical western North Pacific, and a deepening mid-latitude trough over eastern China and Japan. The phase reversal of the SST anomaly in the western North Pacific exhibited the characteristics of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), but lagged behind the phase reversal of the PDO in the extratropical North Pacific by several years. The connection with the PDO is speculated, although the mechanism is not understood. This paper is a contribution to the AMIP-CMIP Diagnostic Sub-project on General Circulation Model Simulation of the East Asian Climate, coordinated by W.-C. Wang.     

L群普通球粒陨石母体的撞击历史

撞击作用发生在太阳系形成和演化的所有阶段,是最基本的地质过程之一。陨石可以从微观尺度记录下这些重要的过程。在所有陨石族群中,L群普通球粒陨石保留了最完备的冲击变质记录,对撞击发生的时间、冲击过程中的物理条件提供了重要制约。矿物学证据表明,在太阳系形成100 Ma内,L群陨石母体可能发生一次撞击裂解事件,并在随后重组。4.48 Ga左右,原始小行星带经历大范围的撞击作用,这一事件也记录于L群普通球粒陨石中,可能是由月球大撞击事件溅射的大量碎屑进入到原始主小行星带引起。约800 Ma,包括L群陨石母体在内的内太阳系部分天体经历了同时期撞击事件,可能由这一时期裂解的大质量小行星产生的溅射物引发。L群陨石母体在～465 Ma发生撞击裂解,这一事件在L群陨石中保留了丰富的矿物学、年代学记录,并在地球全球奥陶纪地层发现相关信息。综合与该事件相关的所有L群陨石冲击变质特征,本文认为该裂解事件是由一颗大直径(18～22 km)石陨石质小行星,以较低速率(5～6 km/s)撞击导致。同位素年代学数据表明,L群普通球粒陨石母体很可能未受到晚期大撞击事件的影响,这难以用L群陨石母体过小予以解释。可能的原因有...     

青藏高原东北缘岩石圈三维密度结构

综合重力观测资料和地震波走时资料反演了青藏高原东北缘岩石圈三维密度结构,并对该区岩石圈结构及动力学特征进行了讨论.首先利用收集到的P波近震和远震走时数据进行地震层析成像,得到研究区岩石圈三维P波速度结构.然后利用速度-密度经验关系式,将速度扰动转化为密度扰动建立研究区三维初始密度模型.最后利用分离的布格重力异常反演得到了岩石圈三维密度结构.反演结果表明:青藏高原东北缘地壳密度结构特征有利于地震孕育发生和地壳物质侧向流动;地壳内,密度异常等值线走向与地表断裂走向基本一致,进入地幔后,密度异常等值线走向发生了顺时针旋转,这表明青藏高原东北缘地壳和地幔具有不同的构造运动模式,暗示该区可能发生了壳幔解耦;80~100 km深度上,P波速度异常较密度异常明显偏低,推测该区可能发生了部分熔融或者岩石含水量的增加;印度板块俯冲和周围坚硬块体阻挡联合作用,使得青藏高原东北缘形成了强大的区域构造应力场,并导致深部软流圈热物质上涌,为该区壳幔解耦、部分熔融和P波速度降低创造了条件.     

中国南极球粒陨石的高精度钾同位素研究

钾和其他中等挥发性元素亏损是类地行星普遍的全岩化学成分特征之一,能用来示踪不同的亏损过程.球粒陨石是组成行星的前体物质,研究球粒陨石中钾同位素的亏损和分异机制,对于太阳系物质或行星的起源、形成和演化具有十分重要的意义.本文利用近年来发展的高精度钾同位素分析技术,测试了 14 个中国南极陨石以及6 个目击型陨石(Murc...