First Data on the Isotopic Age of Zircons from Rocks of the Roseta Ultramafic Massif,Southern Margin of the São Francisco Craton (Brazil)

Doklady Earth Sciences - The results of isotope U–Pb dating of zircons from lherzolite and vein olivine orthopyroxenite composing the Roseta ultramafic massif are presented. The zircons...     

The role of prior model calibration on predictions with ensemble Kalman filter

This paper, based on a real world case study (Limmat aquifer, Switzerland), compares inverse groundwater flow models calibrated with specified numbers of monitoring head locations. These models are updated in real time with the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and the prediction improvement is assessed in relation to the amount of monitoring locations used for calibration and updating. The prediction errors of the models calibrated in transient state are smaller if the amount of monitoring locations used for the calibration is larger. For highly dynamic groundwater flow systems a transient calibration is recommended as a model calibrated in steady state can lead to worse results than a noncalibrated model with a well-chosen uniform conductivity. The model predictions can be improved further with the assimilation of new measurement data from on-line sensors with the EnKF. Within all the studied models the reduction of 1-day hydraulic head prediction error (in terms of mean absolute error [MAE]) with EnKF lies between 31% (assimilation of head data from 5 locations) and 72% (assimilation of head data from 85 locations). The largest prediction improvements are expected for models that were calibrated with only a limited amount of historical information. It is worthwhile to update the model even with few monitoring locations as it seems that the error reduction with EnKF decreases exponentially with the amount of monitoring locations used. These results prove the feasibility of data assimilation with EnKF also for a real world case and show that improved predictions of groundwater levels can be obtained.     

A study on sample pretreatment of analysis of Cd, Pb and Zn in seawater by IDMS

Isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) and ultra-clean room approach are successfully used in the determination of Cd, Pb and Zn in seawater and the sample pretreatment of analysis. The precision in the determination of Cd, Pb and Zn in seawater is better than±3% and the limits of detection are 6×10-12, 6×10-11 and 2.4×10-10 respectively. The effects of sample pretreatment such as filtration and acidification on the results of determination of Cd- Pb and Zn in seawater are disscussed.     

Modelling changes in the epidemic range of Southern Pine Beetle using temperature and objective moisture indicators

Summary This report details as statistical model that relates changes in areal coverage of the Southern Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm.) to a multivariate combination of temperature and moisture status indices. It is applicable to larger geographic areas than our previous work (Michaels 1984). Performance in a true test (predictive) mode detected the algebraic sign of major coverage changes in a highly significant fashion. The results are purely correlative, rather than causative.This report describes a test-proven tool that can be used by planners to determine whether coverage will change, based upon easily accessed climatic data. An example of its application is provided.

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Zusammenfassung Diese Untersuchung führt ein statistisches Modell aus, welches das flächenmäßige Auftreten vonDendroctonus frontalis Zimm. mit einer Kombination von Temperaturund Feuchteverhältnisindikatoren in Verbindung bringt. Es kann für größere Gebiete verwendet werden als ein früher vorgestelltes (Michaels 1984). Die Anwendung zur Vorhersage zeigte in einem Test gute Übereinstimmung mit der tatsächlich aufgetretenen Richtung der Veränderung in der Verbreitung des Käfers. Die Ergebnisse zeigen Korrelationen, keine Kausalitäten auf.Es wird also ein Werkzeug für den Planer vorgestellt, mit dem die Verbreitungsänderung mit Hilfe leicht zugänglicher klimatologischer Daten bestimmt werden kann. Ein Anwendungsbeispiel wird näher ausgeführt.

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With 5 Figures     

Tsunamis as geological agents

When a tsunami wave series approaches and interacts with a coast, the consequent passage shorewards of great volumes of water and their invasion of the land, especially within bays and up river valleys, results in the disturbance of existing sediment and the removal seawards of land debris and coastal and shallow‐water marine sediments. Tsunami action builds up sequences of peculiar sediments in shallow water; it at least assists in the formation and maintenance of submarine canyons and, through them, produces turbidity currents of a particularly powerful kind. Tsunami action may explain many puzzling sedimentary phenomena, for example, sudden and drastic changes in near‐shore bathymetry; the formation of chaotic sediments such as some paraconglomerates and edgewise conglomerates. It offers solutions to problems arising from the study of turbiditic sequences, both modern and ancient.     

PolarGlobe: A web-wide virtual globe system for visualizing multidimensional,time-varying,big climate data

The increasing research interest in global climate change and the rise of the public awareness have generated a significant demand for new tools to support effective visualization of big climate data in a cyber environment such that anyone from any location with an Internet connection and a web browser can easily view and comprehend the data. In response to the demand, this paper introduces a new web-based platform for visualizing multidimensional, time-varying climate data on a virtual globe. The web-based platform is built upon a virtual globe system Cesium, which is open-source, highly extendable and capable of being easily integrated into a web environment. The emerging WebGL technique is adapted to support interactive rendering of 3D graphics with hardware graphics acceleration. To address the challenges of transmitting and visualizing voluminous, complex climate data over the Internet to support real-time visualization, we develop a stream encoding and transmission strategy based on video-compression techniques. This strategy allows dynamic provision of scientific data in different precisions to balance the needs for scientific analysis and visualization cost. Approaches to represent, encode and decode processed data are also introduced in detail to show the operational workflow. Finally, we conduct several experiments to demonstrate the performance of the proposed strategy under different network conditions. A prototype, PolarGlobe, has been developed to visualize climate data in the Arctic regions from multiple angles.     

海水声速剖面基函数的重构性能分析

海水声速剖面通常使用经验正交函数（Empirical Orthogonal Function,EOF）进行稀疏表示,然而基函数会受到数据完备性和数据测量时间的制约,其代表性误差会导致声速剖面重构精度受限。为了提高声速剖面的重构精度,本文利用模糊C均值聚类对BOA_Argo历史数据集进行聚类分析,探讨不同聚类空间的训练集数据对实测声速剖面重构精度的影响。研究表明,声速剖面具有明显的时空聚集特性,聚类后的历史声速剖面集生成的基函数和平均声速剖面具有最优的重构性能。本文研究结果有助于为历史声速剖面训练集的选取提供实际指导意义,进而提高声速剖面重构精度乃至反演精度。     

X-ray transient sources

The galactic distribution and physical nature of X-ray transient sources is investigated. Two types of transients are considered. The observational data on 41 X-ray transient sources are given, and the average parameters of hard and soft X-ray transients are estimated.     

A mass ratio limit for primordial black holes

We augment our scenario for the formation of astronomical objects from macroscopic superstrings by the assumption that the central matter keeps its identity in the fragmentation. From the condition that the angular momentum per mass squared of this matter should be less than the Kerr limit G/c, we obtain upper limits for the ratio of the mass of central black holes M(BH) to the mass M of the host object. This limit is M(BH)/M ≈ 0.001, and, expressed in observed quantities, approximately M(BH)/M ≈ σ²/(v · c) where σ is the r.m.s. velocity, v the rotational velocity and c the velocity of light. The valuesM(BH) agree with the observed behaviour both in order of magnitude and in the variation with velocity dispersion. (© 2003 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)