敦煌造山带长山子地区变质演化及年代学研究

长山子地区位于敦煌造山带东北部,瓜州南部约100km处。该区主要出露一套中-高级变质表壳岩,主要岩石类型有长英质片麻岩、变泥质麻粒岩、高压基性麻粒岩、斜长角闪片麻岩。高压基性麻粒岩岩块、斜长角闪片麻岩岩块以构造透镜体或布丁(长度为0. 5~15m)的形式,被夹持于长英质片麻岩、变泥质麻粒岩组成的基质之中,呈现典型"基质夹岩块"的混杂带特征。高压基性麻粒岩、斜长角闪片麻岩、泥质麻粒岩中,普遍保留了二至三个阶段的变质矿物组合。进变质阶段矿物组合(M1)为石榴子石变斑晶中的细小矿物包裹体,变质高峰期矿物组合(M2)为石榴子石变斑晶和基质矿物,退变质阶段矿物组合(M3)主要为围绕石榴子石变斑晶边部发育的"白眼圈"状后成合晶。本区各类变质岩石均记录了顺时针型变质作用P-T轨迹,系典型俯冲-碰撞造山带变质作用特征。退变质阶段P-T轨迹属于西阿尔卑斯型,说明变质岩折返速率较快。变质高峰期(M2)属于中压变质相系,P-T条件分别为790~870℃/1.29~1.37GPa(高压基性麻粒岩)、680~685℃/0.89~0.97GPa(斜长角闪片麻岩)、860~880℃/0.90~1.14GPa(变泥质麻粒岩),它们之间存在大的差异。这说明,它们是形成于同一俯冲隧道内不同深度的变质岩石,在构造折返阶段才混杂在一起形成构造混杂岩。二次离子质谱(SIMS)锆石U-Pb定年表明,长山子地区变质杂岩记录了早泥盆世的俯冲事件(419~417Ma)。     

Simplified formulae for designing coastal forest against tsunami run-up: one-dimensional approach

In the present study, laboratory experiments were conducted to validate the applicability of a numerical model based on one-dimensional nonlinear long-wave equations. The model includes drag and inertia resistance of trees to tsunami flow and porosity between trees and a simplified forest in a wave channel. It was confirmed that the water surface elevation and flow velocity by the numerical simulations agree well with the experimental results for various forest conditions of width and tree density. Further, the numerical model was applied to prototype conditions of a coastal forest of Pandanus odoratissimus to investigate the effects of forest conditions (width and tree density) and incident tsunami conditions (period and height) on run-up height and potential tsunami force. The modeling results were represented in curve-fit equations with the aim of providing simplified formulae for designing coastal forest against tsunamis. The run-up height and potential tsunami forces calculated by the curve-fit formulae and the numerical model agreed within ± 10% error.     

Carbon costs and benefits of France’s biomass energy production targets

Background

Concern about climate change has motivated France to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel by setting targets for increased biomass-based renewable energy production. This study quantifies the carbon costs and benefits for the French forestry sector in meeting these targets. A forest growth and harvest simulator was developed for French forests using recent forest inventory data, and the wood-use chain was reconstructed from national wood product statistics. We then projected wood production, bioenergy production, and carbon balance for three realistic intensification scenarios and a business-as-usual scenario. These intensification scenarios targeted either overstocked, harvest-delayed or currently actively managed stands.

Results

All three intensification strategies produced 11.6–12.4 million tonnes of oil equivalent per year of wood-based energy by 2026, which corresponds to the target assigned to French wood-energy to meet the EU 2020 renewable energy target. Sustaining this level past 2026 will be challenging, let alone further increasing it. Although energy production targets can be reached, the management intensification required will degrade the near-term carbon balance of the forestry sector, compared to continuing present-day management. Even for the best-performing intensification strategy, i.e., reducing the harvest diameter of actively managed stands, the carbon benefits would only become apparent after 2040. The carbon balance of a strategy putting abandoned forests back into production would only break even by 2055; the carbon balance from increasing thinning in managed but untended stands would not break even within the studied time periods, i.e. 2015–2045 and 2046–2100. Owing to the temporal dynamics in the components of the carbon balance, i.e., the biomass stock in the forest, the carbon stock in wood products, and substitution benefits, the merit order of the examined strategies varies over time.

Conclusions

No single solution was found to improve the carbon balance of the forestry sector by 2040 in a way that also met energy targets. We therefore searched for the intensification scenario that produces energy at the lowest carbon cost. Reducing rotation time of actively managed stands is slightly more efficient than targeting harvest-delayed stands, but in both cases, each unit of energy produced has a carbon cost that only turns into a benefit between 2060 and 2080.

     

Flood-prone area mapping using machine learning techniques: a case study of Quang Binh province,Vietnam

Natural Hazards - Vietnam’s central coastal region is the most vulnerable and always at flood risk, severely affecting people’s livelihoods and socio-economic development. In...     

Predicting rock size distribution in mine blasting using various novel soft computing models based on meta-heuristics and machine learning algorithms

Blasting is well-known as an effective method for fragmenting or moving rock in open-pit mines. To evaluate the quality of blasting, the size of rock distribution is used as a critical criterion in blasting operations. A high percentage of oversized rocks generated by blasting operations can lead to economic and environmental damage. Therefore, this study proposed four novel intelligent models to predict the size of rock distribution in mine blasting in order to optimize blasting parameters, as well as the efficiency of blasting operation in open mines. Accordingly, a nature-inspired algorithm (i.e., firefly algorithm – FFA) and different machine learning algorithms (i.e., gradient boosting machine (GBM), support vector machine (SVM), Gaussian process (GP), and artificial neural network (ANN)) were combined for this aim, abbreviated as FFA-GBM, FFA-SVM, FFA-GP, and FFA-ANN, respectively. Subsequently, predicted results from the abovementioned models were compared with each other using three statistical indicators (e.g., mean absolute error, root-mean-squared error, and correlation coefficient) and color intensity method. For developing and simulating the size of rock in blasting operations, 136 blasting events with their images were collected and analyzed by the Split-Desktop software. In which, 111 events were randomly selected for the development and optimization of the models. Subsequently, the remaining 25 blasting events were applied to confirm the accuracy of the proposed models. Herein, blast design parameters were regarded as input variables to predict the size of rock in blasting operations. Finally, the obtained results revealed that the FFA is a robust optimization algorithm for estimating rock fragmentation in bench blasting. Among the models developed in this study, FFA-GBM provided the highest accuracy in predicting the size of fragmented rocks. The other techniques (i.e., FFA-SVM, FFA-GP, and FFA-ANN) yielded lower computational stability and efficiency. Hence, the FFA-GBM model can be used as a powerful and precise soft computing tool that can be applied to practical engineering cases aiming to improve the quality of blasting and rock fragmentation.     

ALMA observations of the circumstellar envelope around EP Aqr

Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimetre Array(ALMA) observations of CO(1–0) and CO(2–1) emissions from the circumstellar envelope of the asymptotic giant branch(AGB) star EP Aqr have been made with four times better spatial resolution than previously available. They are analysed with emphasis on the de-projection in space of the effective emissivity and flux of matter using as input a prescribed configuration of the velocity field, assumed to be radial. The data are found to display an intrinsic axisymmetry with respect to an axis making a small angle with respect to the line of sight. A broad range of wind configurations, from prolate(bipolar) to oblate(equatorial) has been studied and found to be accompanied by significant equatorial emission. Qualitatively, the effective emissivity is enhanced near the equator to produce the central narrow component observed in the Doppler velocity spectra and its dependence on star latitude generally follows that of the wind velocity with the exception of an omni-present depression near the poles. In particular, large equatorial expansion velocities produce a flared disc or a ring of effective emissivity and mass loss. The effect on the determination of the orientation of the star axis of radial velocity gradients, and possibly competing rotation and expansion in the equatorial disc, is discussed. In general,the flux of matter is found to reach a broad maximum at distances of the order of 500 AU from the star.Arguments are given that may be used to favour one wind velocity distribution over another. As a result of the improved quality of the data, a deeper understanding of the constraints imposed on morphology and kinematics has been obtained.     

The galaxy luminosity function in the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap

We present optical luminosity functions(LFs) of galaxies in the~(0.1) g,~(0.1) r,~(0.1) i bands, calculated using data in~40 deg~2 sky area of the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area(LaCoSSPAr) in the Southern Galactic Cap. Redshifts for galaxies brighter than r = 18.1 were obtained mainly with LAMOST. In each band, LFs derived using both parametric and non-parametric maximum likelihood methods agree well with each other. In the0.1 r band, our fitting parameters of the Schechter function are φ_*=(1.65 ± 0.36) × 10~(-2) h~3 Mpc~(-3), M_*=-20.69 ± 0.06 mag and α =-1.12 ± 0.08,which agree with previous studies. Separate LFs are also derived for emission line galaxies and absorption line galaxies. The LFs of absorption line galaxies show a dip at~(0.1) r ~18.5 and can be fitted well by a double-Gaussian function, suggesting a bimodality in passive galaxies.     

Geological and geophysical studies of the Agoudal impact structure (Central High Atlas,Morocco): New evidence for crater size and age

Since the discovery of shatter cones (SCs) near the village of Agoudal (Morocco, Central High Atlas Mountains) in 2013, the absence of one or several associated circular structures led to speculation about the age of the impact event, the number, and the size of the impact crater or craters. Additional constraints on the crater size, age, and erosion rates are obtained here from geological, structural, and geophysical mapping and from cosmogenic nuclide data. Our geological maps of the Agoudal impact site at the scales of 1:30,000 (6 km²) and 1:15,000 (2.25 km²) include all known occurrences of SCs in target rocks, breccias, and vertical to overturned strata. Considering that strata surrounding the impact site are subhorizontal, we argue that disturbed strata are related to the impact event. Three types of breccias have been observed. Two of them (br1‐2 and br2) could be produced by erosion–sedimentation–consolidation processes, with no evidence for impact breccias, while breccia (br1) might be impact related. The most probable center of the structure is estimated at 31°59′13.73?N, 5°30′55.14?W using the concentric deviation method applied to the orientation of strata over the disturbed area. Despite the absence of a morphological expression, the ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys reveal anomalies spatially associated with disturbed strata and SC occurrences. The geophysical data, the structural observations, and the area of occurrence of SCs in target rocks are all consistent with an original size of 1.4–4.2 km in diameter. Cosmogenic nuclide data (³⁶Cl) constrain the local erosion rates between 220 ± 22 m Ma^?1 and 430 ± 43 m Ma^?1. These erosion rates may remove the topographic expression of such a crater and its ejecta in a time period of about 0.3–1.9 Ma. This age is older than the Agoudal iron meteorite age (105 ± 40 kyr). This new age constraint excludes the possibility of a genetic relationship between the Agoudal iron meteorite fall and the formation of the Agoudal impact site. A chronolgy chart including the Atlas orogeny, the alternation of sedimentation and erosion periods, and the meteoritic impacts is presented based on all obtained and combined data.     

On the mode of propagation of light

Starting from the fundamental assumptions of the special theory of relativity which do not take into consideration gravitational effects the isotropic propagation of light and how to check experimentally the mode of propagation have been analyzed.