Set-asides for carbon sequestration: implications for permanence and leakage

This paper examines the potential role of forest set-asides in global carbon sequestration policy. While set asides that protect forests from timber harvests and land-use conversion may alleviate concerns with permanence, and they may provide large ancillary environmental benefits, they may also lead to large leakage. This paper uses a global land use and forestry model to examine the efficiency of three crediting schemes for set-asides. The results show that if set-asides are integrated into a global forestry carbon sequestration program that includes a wide range of other management options, then 300 million hectares of land would be set-aside, and up to 128 Pg C could be sequestered in global forests by 2105. Under alternative policies that focus exclusively on set-asides, more forestland can be set-asides, up to 3.2 billion hectare, but these policies invite large leakage in the near-term, and in the long-run, they less net carbon is removed from the atmosphere. Specifically, leakage is estimated to be 47–52%, depending on the policy, and by the end of the century, up to 17% less carbon will be sequestered in all forests.     

Geochemical characteristics of sphagnum brown coal — A possible oil-generating precursor

A preliminary study of newly discovered sphagnum brown coal from the Jingsuo Basin, Yunnan Province, China, which is quite rich in montan wax, indicates the predominance of highern-alkane homologues and aromatized triterpenoid components. Aromatic hydrocarbons are composed mainly of pentacyclic and tetracyclic di-, tri- and tetra-aromatic components, which are obviously diagenetically related to higher plant-derived triterpenoids naturally occurring in the biosphere. Because the sphagnum brown coal still remains in the highly immature stage, it seems that the progressive diagenetic aromatization of the higher plant-derived triterpenoids may start at a very early stage.     

Recession of Milam Glacier,Kumaun Himalaya,Observed via Lichenometric Dating of Moraines

Glaciers being very sensitive to climate change have been identified as one of the best indicators of climate change and evidences have proved that most of the Himalayan glaciers have receded with an increased rate during the recent past under the influence of global warming. Lichenometric study was carried out on the moraines of Milam glacier (located in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand) with the help of lichen species Dimelaena oreina having an average annual growth rate of 1.31 mm. The study revealed that Milam glacier has receded 1450 m in last 69.37 years with an average recession rate of 20.90 m/year. Since lichenometric studies are cost effective and ecofriendly in comparison to carbon dating, satellite and remote sensing based studies and also reliable, hence, it should be promoted in Himalaya which is an abode of glaciers.     

浅析云峰井变径前后气压效应与井径比的关系

本文通过改变云峰井孔径试验,探讨了提高地下水观测井映震能力的一种途径。     

Effect of a nodular segment on the dynamic response of a tubular pile subjected to longitudinal vibration

Acta Geotechnica - This paper investigates the effect of a nodular segment, commonly found in nodular piles, on the dynamic response of a vertical vibrating tubular pile. A developed model of a...     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000058

<正>The thermo-electric coefficients of twenty-six magnetite samples,formed either by magmatism or metamorphism,were tested by the thermo-electric instrument BHET—06.Results showed that the coefficient is of a constant value of about -0.05 mV/℃.It is emphasized that because every magnetite grain was tested randomly,the coefficient is independent of the crystallographic direction.This fact means the thermal voltage generated from a single magnetite crystal can be accumulated,and as a result a new thermo-electric field can arise when a gradient thermal field exists and is active within the earth's crust.Because magnetite is widespread in the earth's crust(generally appearing more in the middle-lower crust),there is more-than-random probability that the additional thermo-electric field can be generated when certain thermal conditions are fulfilled.We,therefore,used the thermo-electric effect of magnetite to study the mechanism responsible for the presence of abnormal geo-electric fields during earthquake formation and occurrence, because gradient thermal fields always exist before earthquakes.The possible presence of additional thermo-electric fields was calculated under theoretical seismological conditions,using the following calcu-lation formula:E= - 0.159(σ×△T×φ×ρ_2×[(h~2-2x~2)cosα+ 3hxsinα]/ρ_1(h~2 +x~2)~(5/2)).In the above formula,σis thermo-electric coefficient of magnetite,△T is the temperature difference acting on it,φis a sectional area on a block of magnetite vertically perpendicular to the direction of the thermal current.ρ_1 andρ_2 are the respective resistivities of magnetite and the crust,and h,α,and x,respectively,h is the depth of embedded magnetite block,αmeans the angle created by the horizontal line and ligature of the two poles of magnetite block,and x is the distance from observation point to projective center point of the magnetite block on earth surface.According to simulations calculated with this formula,additional thermo-electric field intensity may reach as high as n to n×10~2 mV/km.This field is strong enough to cause obvious anomalies in the background geo-electric field,and can be easy probed by earthquake monitoring equipment. Therefore,we hypothesize that geo-electric abnormalities which occur during earthquakes may be caused by the thermo-electric effect of magnetite.     

High resolution facies record on late Holocene flood plain sediments from lower reaches of Narmada Valley,Western India

A high resolution quantitative granulometric record for site Uchediya [21°43′2.22″ N, 73° 6′26.22″ E; 10 m a. s. l.] gives understanding towards accretion history of the late Holocene flood plain in the lower reaches of Narmada River. Two sediment facies (sandy and muddy) and seven subfacies (sandy subfacies: St_MS+FS+CS, Sm_FS+MS, Sl_FS+VFS, and St_{MS + CS}; muddy subfacies: Fm_SILT+VFS+FS, Fm_SILT+VFS (O) and Fm_SILT+VFS (T)) are identified based on cluster analysis supplemented with sedimentary structures observed in field and other laboratory data. Changes in hydrodynamics are further deduced based on various sedimentological parameters and their ratios leading to arrive at a depositional model.     

Provenance of the Bosnian Flysch

Sandwiched between the Adriatic Carbonate Platform and the Dinaride Ophiolite Zone, the Bosnian Flysch forms a c. 3000 m thick, intensely folded stack of Upper Jurassic to Cretaceous mixed carbonate and siliciclastic sediments in the Dinarides. New petrographic, heavy mineral, zircon U/Pb and fission-track data as well as biostratigraphic evidence allow us to reconstruct the palaeogeology of the source areas of the Bosnian Flysch basin in late Mesozoic times. Middle Jurassic intraoceanic subduction of the Neotethys was shortly followed by exhumation of the overriding oceanic plate. Trench sedimentation was controlled by a dual sediment supply from the sub-ophiolitic high-grade metamorphic soles and from the distal continental margin of the Adriatic plate. Following obduction onto Adria, from the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition onwards a vast clastic wedge (Vranduk Formation) was developed in front of the leading edge, fed by continental basement units of Adria that experienced Early Cretaceous synsedimentary cooling, by the overlying ophiolitic thrust sheets and by redeposited elements of coeval Urgonian facies reefs grown on the thrust wedge complex. Following mid-Cretaceous deformation and thermal overprint of the Vranduk Formation, the depozone migrated further towards SW and received increasing amounts of redeposited carbonate detritus released from the Adriatic Carbonate Platform margin (Ugar Formation). Subordinate siliciclastic source components indicate changing source rocks on the upper plate, with ophiolites becoming subordinate. The zone of the continental basement previously affected by the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous thermal imprint has been removed; instead, the basement mostly supplied detritus with a wide range of pre-Jurassic cooling ages. However, a c. 80 Ma, largely synsedimentary cooling event is also recorded by the Ugar Formation, that contrasts the predominantly Early Cretaceous cooling of the Adriatic basement and suggests, at least locally, a fast exhumation.     

Comparison of Two Methods Used to Model Shape Parameters of Pareto Distributions

Two methods are compared for estimating the shape parameters of Pareto field-size (or pool-size) distributions for petroleum resource assessment. Both methods assume mature exploration in which most of the larger fields have been discovered. Both methods use the sizes of larger discovered fields to estimate the numbers and sizes of smaller fields: (1) the tail-truncated method uses a plot of field size versus size rank, and (2) the log–geometric method uses data binned in field-size classes and the ratios of adjacent bin counts. Simulation experiments were conducted using discovered oil and gas pool-size distributions from four petroleum systems in Alberta, Canada and using Pareto distributions generated by Monte Carlo simulation. The estimates of the shape parameters of the Pareto distributions, calculated by both the tail-truncated and log–geometric methods, generally stabilize where discovered pool numbers are greater than 100. However, with fewer than 100 discoveries, these estimates can vary greatly with each new discovery. The estimated shape parameters of the tail-truncated method are more stable and larger than those of the log–geometric method where the number of discovered pools is more than 100. Both methods, however, tend to underestimate the shape parameter. Monte Carlo simulation was also used to create sequences of discovered pool sizes by sampling from a Pareto distribution with a discovery process model using a defined exploration efficiency (in order to show how biased the sampling was in favor of larger fields being discovered first). A higher (more biased) exploration efficiency gives better estimates of the Pareto shape parameters.     

Pockmarks in the inner Oslofjord,Norway

Multibeam bathymetric surveys of the Inner Oslofjord, Norway have revealed a high density of pockmarks in the 179-km² inner fjord area, which contains over 500 pockmarks of varying size, typically 20–50 m in diameter and 2–10 m deep. These pockmarks have been investigated with a variety of techniques, including acoustic subbottom profiling, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of cores, remotely operated vehicle observation, and morphometry. Both the distribution and shapes of the pockmarks suggest that they are related to structures in the bedrock underlying relatively thin (<50 m) unconsolidated glacial and postglacial sediments. The data provide no direct indication of a particular mode of pockmark formation, but release of large amounts of biogenic, shallow methane seems unlikely. Several lines of evidence point to a continuous process of pockmark formation followed by inactivity, with some pockmarks recently active whereas others have been inactive for a considerable time. Some pockmarks are characterised by coarse sediment in their centres. The density, variety and easy access make this pockmark field an ideal model area for pockmark research. John S. Gray is deceased.