Analysis of seafloor backscatter strength dependence on the survey azimuth using multibeam echosounder data

The sediment backscatter strength measured by multibeam echosounders is a key feature for seafloor mapping either qualitative (image mosaics) or quantitative (extraction of classifying features). An important phenomenon, often underestimated, is the dependence of the backscatter level on the azimuth angle imposed by the survey line directions: strong level differences at varying azimuth can be observed in case of organized roughness of the seabed, usually caused by tide currents over sandy sediments. This paper presents a number of experimental results obtained from shallow-water cruises using a 300-kHz multibeam echosounder and specially dedicated to the study of this azimuthal effect, with a specific configuration of the survey strategy involving a systematic coverage of reference areas following “compass rose” patterns. The results show for some areas a very strong dependence of the backscatter level, up to about 10-dB differences at intermediate oblique angles, although the presence of these ripples cannot be observed directly—neither from the bathymetry data nor from the sonar image, due to the insufficient resolution capability of the sonar. An elementary modeling of backscattering from rippled interfaces explains and comforts these observations. The consequences of this backscatter dependence upon survey azimuth on the current strategies of backscatter data acquisition and exploitation are discussed.     

红壤丘陵区农业开发中的生态环境效应及其调控

文章以江西余江县为例。通过实验研究，历史资料对比分析及邻近参照等方法。研究红壤区农业开发中的生态环境效应。农业开发引起的微观环境效应在于改变土壤水分及其运动状况，加速土壤物质迁移及降低土壤肥力质量；区域性效应是植被减少，农业面源污染，水土流失扩大及气候异常；全球性影响除区域集聚效应外，则是农业活动中产生的温室气体对全球气候的影响等，采取的调控对策主要是：保持合理开发，适当减轻土地压力，优化农业开发模式，更新农业耕作技术。强化环境整治与生态建设。     

A Nd- and O-isotope study of the REE-rich peralkaline Strange Lake granite: implications for Mesoproterozoic A-type magmatism in the Core Zone (NE-Canada)

It is well established that A-type granites enriched in high field strength elements, such as Zr, Nb and the REE, form in anorogenic tectonic settings. The sources of these elements and the processes controlling their unusual enrichment, however, are still debated. They are addressed here using neodymium and oxygen isotope analyses of samples from the 1.24 Ga Strange Lake pluton in the Paleoproterozoic Core Zone of Québec-Labrador, an A-type granitic body characterized by hyper-enrichment in the REE, Zr, and Nb. Age-corrected εNd values for bulk rock samples and sodic amphiboles (mainly arfvedsonite) from the pluton range from ?0.6 to ?5.7, and ?0.3 to ?5.3, respectively. The εNd values for the Napeu Kainiut quartz monzonite, which hosts the pluton, range from ?4.8 to ?8.1. The ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios of the suite and the host quartz monzonite range from 0.0967 to 0.1659, large variations that can be explained by in situ fractionation of early LREE-minerals (Strange Lake), and late hydrothermal HREE remobilization. Oxygen isotope analyses of quartz of both Strange Lake and the host yielded δ¹⁸O values between +8.2 and +9.1, which are considerably higher than the mantle value of 5.7 ± 0.2‰. Bulk rock oxygen isotope analyses of biotite-gneisses in the vicinity of the Strange Lake pluton yielded δ¹⁸O values of 6.3, 8.6 and 9.6‰. The negative εNd values and positive δ¹⁸O values of the Strange Lake and Napeu Kainiut samples indicate that both magmas experienced considerable crustal contamination. The extent of this contamination was estimated, assuming that the contaminants were sedimentary-derived rocks from the underlying Archean Mistinibi (para-) gneiss complex, which is characterized by low εNd and high δ¹⁸O values. Mixing of 5–15% of a gneiss, having an εNd value of ?15 and a δ¹⁸O value of +11, with a moderately enriched mantle source (εNd = +0.9, δ¹⁸O = +6.3) would produce values similar to those obtained for the Strange Lake granites. Based on analogies between the Nain Plutonic Suite and the Gardar alkaline igneous province (SW-Greenland), we conclude that the Strange Lake pluton and associated REE-mineralized anorogenic bodies formed from a combination of subduction-induced fertilization of the sublithospheric mantle, crustal extension and in situ magma evolution.     

Soil erosion and its response to the changes of precipitation and vegetation cover on the Loess Plateau

Soil erosion is a major threat to our terrestrial ecosystems and an important global environmental problem. The Loess Plateau in China is one of the regions that suffered more severe soil erosion and undergoing climate warming and drying in the past decades. The vegetation restoration named Grain-to-Green Program has now been operating for more than 10 years. It is necessary to assess the variation of soil erosion and the response of precipita- tion and vegetation restoration to soil erosion on the Loess Plateau. In the study, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation （RUSLE） was applied to evaluate annual soil loss caused by water erosion. The results showed as follows. The soil erosion on the Loess Plateau between 2000 and 2010 averaged for 15.2 t hm-2 a 1 and was characterized as light for the value less than 25 t hm-2 a-1. The severe soil erosion higher than 25 t hm-2 a-~ was mainly distributed in the gully and hilly regions in the central, southwestern, and some scattered areas of earth-rocky mountainous areas on the Loess Plateau. The soil erosion on the Loess Plateau showed a deceasing trend in recent decade and reduced more at rates more than 1 t hm 2 a 1 in the areas suffering severe soil loss. Benefited from the improved vegetation cover and ecological construction, the soil erosion on the Loess Plateau was significantly declined, es- pecially in the east of Yulin, most parts of Yah＇an prefectures in Shaanxi Province, and the west of Luliang and Linfen prefectures in Shanxi Province in the hilly and gully regions. The variation of vegetation cover responding to soil erosion in these areas showed the relatively higher contribution than the precipitation. However, most areas in Qingyang and Dingxi pre- fectures in Gansu Province and Guyuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region were predomi- nantly related to precipitation.     

兰州台阵响应函数及不同方位小地震事件FK分析结果

计算了兰州台阵不同频率的台阵响应函数,对台阵附近不同方位的4个小震进行了FK分析。结果显示兰州台阵2 Hz以下的台阵响应函数在原点附近呈现出对称的单主峰图样,而高于2Hz时台阵响应函数出现较多旁瓣,表明该台阵对于2 Hz以下的信号具有较好的分辨能力。小震的FK分析结果表明,根据甘肃省地震局地震目录和IASP91速度模型计算得到P波方位角和慢度与FK分析的结果总体上比较一致,但也存在一定差别,这种差别可能由所使用的理论模型和当地模型有差别以及未做台阵校正所引起。     

Strategies to mitigate aliasing of loading signals while estimating GPS frame parameters

Although GNSS techniques are theoretically sensitive to the Earth center of mass, it is often preferable to remove intrinsic origin and scale information from the estimated station positions since they are known to be affected by systematic errors. This is usually done by estimating the parameters of a linearized similarity transformation which relates the quasi-instantaneous frames to a long-term frame such as the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). It is well known that non-linear station motions can partially alias into these parameters. We discuss in this paper some procedures that may allow reducing these aliasing effects in the case of the GPS techniques. The options include the use of well-distributed sub-networks for the frame transformation estimation, the use of site loading corrections, a modification of the stochastic model by downweighting heights, or the joint estimation of the low degrees of the deformation field. We confirm that the standard approach consisting of estimating the transformation over the whole network is particularly harmful for the loading signals if the network is not well distributed. Downweighting the height component, using a uniform sub-network, or estimating the deformation field perform similarly in drastically reducing the amplitude of the aliasing effect. The application of these methods to reprocessed GPS terrestrial frames permits an assessment of the level of agreement between GPS and our loading model, which is found to be about 1.5 mm WRMS in height and 0.8 mm WRMS in the horizontal at the annual frequency. Aliased loading signals are not the main source of discrepancies between loading displacement models and GPS position time series.     

Decadal seesaw of the Central and Subtropical Mode Water formation associated with the Kuroshio Extension variability

Available Argo profiling float data from 2002 to 2011 were analyzed to examine the effect of the Kuroshio Extension (KE) current system variability on the formation of the Central Mode Water. Just north of the upstream portion of the KE at 140–152°E, formation of a lighter variety of the Central Mode Water in winter was active during the unstable period of the upstream KE in 2006–2009 and was reduced when the upstream KE was in the stable period of 2002–2005 and 2010–2011. This decadal formation variability is out of phase with that of the Subtropical Mode Water just south of the KE.     

A Zonal Pathway for NADW in the South Atlantic

Several large deployments of neutrally buoyant floats took place within the Antarctic Intermediate (AAIW), North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), and the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) of the South Atlantic in the 1990s and a number of hydrographic sections were occupied as well. Here we use the spatially and temporally averaged velocities measured by these floats, combined with the hydrographic section data and various estimates of regional current transports from moored current meter arrays, to determine the circulation of the three major subthermocline water masses in a zonal strip across the South Atlantic between the latitudes of 19°S and 30°S. We concentrate on this region because the historical literature suggests that it is where the Deep Western Boundary Current containing NADW bifurcates. In support of this notion, we find that a net of about 5 Sv. of the 15–20 Sv that crosses 19°S does continue zonally eastward at least as far as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Once across the ridge it takes a circuit to the north along the ridge flanks before returning to the south in the eastern half of the Angola Basin. The data suggest that the NADW then continues on into the Indian Ocean. This scheme is discussed in the context of distributions of dissolved oxygen, silicate and salinity. In spite of the many float-years of data that were collected in the region a surprising result is that their impact on the computed solutions is quite modest. Although the focus is on the NADW we also discuss the circulation for the AAIW and AABW layers.