Scattered emission from a relativistic outflow and its application to gamma-ray bursts

We investigate a scenario of photon scattering by electrons within a relativistic outflow. The outflow is composed of discrete shells with different speeds. One shell emits radiation for a short duration. Some of this radiation is scattered by the shell(s) behind. We calculate in a simple two-shell model the observed scattered flux density as a function of the observed primary flux density, the normalized arrival time delay between the two emission components, the Lorentz factor ratio of the two shells and the scattering shell's optical depth. Thomson scattering in a cold shell and inverse Compton scattering in a hot shell are both considered. The results of our calculations are applied to the gamma-ray bursts and the afterglows. We find that the scattered flux from a cold slower shell is small and likely to be detected only for those bursts with very weak afterglows. A hot scattering shell could give rise to a scattered emission as bright as the X-ray shallow decay component detected in many bursts, on a condition that the isotropically equivalent total energy carried by the hot electrons is large, ∼10⁵²–10⁵⁶ erg. The scattered emission from a faster shell could appear as a late short γ-ray/MeV flash or become part of the prompt emission depending on the delay of the ejection of the shell.     

新疆雅满苏铁矿床地空高光谱异常特征及应用

正雅满苏铁矿床位处东天山成矿带,成矿地质条件优越。前人在矿床的成矿规律、地球化学、矿床类型、流体来源等方面,开展了较多科研工作(李厚民等,2014;王兴保,2005)。但在遥感地质方面的研究和应用工作还未开展。铁矿床及外围区域属准平原状丘陵地貌,基岩出露,地表蚀变信息丰富,可获取高质量的地空高光谱遥感数据,有利于发挥高光谱遥感的技术优势。     

西准噶尔地区造山型金矿床时空分布、 成矿动力学背景及模式

造山型金矿形成于汇聚板块边缘,俯冲增生或碰撞造山体制,是现代矿床学研究的热点之一。西准噶尔地区有几十个造山型金矿,但其究竟形成在洋壳俯冲增生造山过程还是洋盆闭合后的碰撞造山过程,尚不清楚。本文系统总结了西准噶尔地区造山型金矿的时空分布及地质、地球化学特征,发现它们主要赋存于达拉布特断裂西北侧,可分为安齐(包括哈图金矿)和萨尔托海(包括萨Ⅰ金矿)两个成矿带;成矿作用受控于达拉布特走滑断裂引发的区域变质变形事件,矿体主要赋存于中晚石炭世变质火山沉积岩或蛇绿岩中,发育NaCl—H_2O—CO_(2 )±CH_(4 )±N_2流体包裹体体系,成矿温度为170～380℃,成矿流体主要为变质热液,晚期为大气降水热液;成矿同位素年龄为271～300 Ma,已有资料显示西准噶尔地区存在多期次俯冲增生作用,并于晚石炭世—早二叠世消减完毕。而造山型金矿广泛发育的达拉布特西北侧古洋盆闭合于308～328 Ma,此后为大陆碰撞造山体制,因此西准噶尔造山型金矿形成于大陆碰撞造山体制,适合于碰撞造山成岩成矿和流体作用模式。晚石炭世—早二叠世,达拉布特地区陆—陆或弧陆碰撞过程中,大规模的韧脆性剪切变形及区域变质事件导致地层及围岩中不稳定组分发生变质活化,形成含矿变质流体,流体向上运移至韧—脆性转换带内形成了西准噶尔造山型金矿成矿系统。     

新疆红海地区成矿有利地质体地面波谱特征及蚀变矿物分布研究

正红海地区位处新疆东天山成矿带卡拉塔格中西部,前人在该区已开展区域地质、物化探测量、多金属矿产勘查,以及针对多金属矿床的专题研究(聂凤军等,2001;左国朝等,1990),发现了较多的铜、金、铅锌等多金属矿床、矿点。但针对成矿有利地质体的蚀变研究较少。红海地区地表基岩裸露,植被分布极少,地形起伏小,围岩蚀变强烈发育,有利于发挥高光谱遥感的技术优势,开展成矿有利地质体的地面波谱特征研究,揭示成矿地质     

元素地球化学揭示的长江中游鄱阳湖地区中更新世以来粉尘堆积的物源特征及其环境意义

位于长江中游的鄱阳湖地区深受东亚季风影响,因其特殊的地理、地貌与水文、水系特征,自中更新世以来随着冬季风的加强,在大姑组、九江组砾石层之上风成堆积广泛发育。该区域中、上更新统表现为网纹红土、均质红土和下蜀黄土的独特沉积序列,厘清这三套独特沉积序列的物质来源对于我们认识东亚季风演化及其区域环境响应至关重要。本文选择了长江中游鄱阳湖地区10个典型剖面,基于<20μm颗粒组分的元素地球化学特征,研究了该地区中、上更新统粉尘堆积的特点,并将其与黄土高原西峰黄土和东秦岭黄土做了对比分析。研究认为,长江中游鄱阳湖地区这套独特的沉积序列,元素特征基本相似,具有贫Co、Pb,富Zr、Hf,低Eu/Eu^*(0.53~0.62)、LaN/YbN(4~8)、Ta/Zr(0~0.006)、Nb/Zr(0~0.09),高Y/Ho(28~30)、Zr/Hf(36~48)等特点,与黄土高原与东秦岭黄土有显著区别。基于Hf-Th-Co、Th-Sc-Zr/10和Th-Sc-La蜘蛛图投影分析,鄱阳湖地区第四纪粉尘物质的源岩接近于石英岩类,为被动大陆边缘构造背景下的产物,显著区别于黄土高原与东秦岭黄土(源岩接近于页岩,形成于大陆岛弧构造背景)。进一步分析认为,网纹红土、均质红土的母质均与区域下蜀黄土类似,推测它们均来自于其冬季风上风方向的长江或赣江的古河谷漫滩,这套独特的沉积序列是第四纪以来长江中游现代格局的水系贯通后,冬季风增强,吹蚀大江大河广阔的古河谷漫滩而形成的区域粉尘堆积的结果;是湿热的亚热带季风区对于中更新世以来在轨道尺度上冬夏季风均加强的背景下独特的区域响应。     

Rapid estimation of maximum and minimum void ratios of granular soils

Maximum and minimum void ratios (e_max and e_min) of granular soils are commonly used as indicators of many engineering properties. However, few methods, apart from laboratory tests, are available to provide a rapid estimation of both e_max and e_min. In this study, we present a theoretical model to map the densest and the loosest packing configurations of granular soils onto the void space. A corresponding numerical procedure that can predict both e_max and e_min of granular soils with arbitrary grain size distributions is proposed. The capacity of the proposed method is evaluated by predicting the maximum and minimum void ratios of medium to fine mixed graded sands with different contents of fines. The influence of the grain size distribution, characterized quantitatively by uniformity parameter and the fractal dimension, on e_max and e_min is discussed using the proposed method. Moreover, application of this method in understanding the controlling mechanism for the void ratio change during grain crushing is presented.

     

Multi-step ahead short-term predictions of storm surge level using CNN and LSTM network

Storm surges pose significant danger and havoc to the coastal residents' safety, property, and lives, particularly at offshore locations with shallow water levels. Predictions of storm surges with hours of warning time are important for evacuation measures in low-lying regions and coastal management plans. In addition to experienced predictions and numerical models, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are also being used widely for short-term storm surge prediction owing to their merits in good level of prediction accuracy and rapid computations. Convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) are two of the most important models among AI techniques. However, they have been scarcely utilised for surge level (SL) forecasting, and combinations of the two models are even rarer. This study applied CNN and LSTM both individually and in combination towards multi-step ahead short-term storm surge level prediction using observed SL and wind information. The architectures of the CNN, LSTM, and two sequential techniques of combining the models (LSTM–CNN and CNN–LSTM) were constructed via a trial-and-error approach and knowledge obtained from previous studies. As a case study, 11 a of hourly observed SL and wind data of the Xiuying Station, Hainan Province, China, were organised as inputs for training to verify the feasibility and superiority of the proposed models. The results show that CNN and LSTM had evident advantages over support vector regression (SVR) and multilayer perceptron (MLP), and the combined models outperformed the individual models (CNN and LSTM), mostly by 4％–6％. However, on comparing the model computed predictions during two severe typhoons that resulted in extreme storm surges, the accuracy was found to improve by over 10％ at all forecasting steps.     

Estimate of contribution of near-inertial waves to the velocity shear in the Bay of Bengal based on mooring observations from 2013 to 2014

Near-inertial motions contribute most of the velocity shear in the upper ocean. In the Bay of Bengal (BoB), the annual-mean energy flux from the wind to near-inertial motions in the mixed layer in 2013 is dominated by tropical cyclone (TC) processes. However, due to the lack of long-term observations of velocity profiles, our knowledge about interior near-inertial waves (NIWs) as well as their shear features is limited. In this study, we quantified the contribution of NIWs to shear by integrating the wavenumber-frequency spectra estimated from velocity profiles in the upper layers (40?440 m) of the southern BoB from April 2013 to May 2014. It is shown that the annual-mean proportion of near-inertial shear out of the total is approximately 50%, and the high contribution is mainly due to the enhancement of the TC processes during which the near-inertial shear accounts for nearly 80% of the total. In the steady monsoon seasons, the near-inertial shear is dominant to or at least comparable with the subinertial shear. The contribution of NIWs to the total shear is lower during the summer monsoon than during the winter monsoon owing to more active mesoscale eddies and higher subinertial shear during the summer monsoon. The Doppler shifting of the M₂ internal tide has little effect on the main results since the proportion of shear from the tidal motions is much lower than that from the near-inertial and subinertial motions.     

The cumulative characteristics of PAEs in PM2.5 in Changji,Northwest China

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses characteristics of the seasonal variation in phthalate acid esters (PAEs) in the PM_2.5 in the city of Changji, which is located an arid area of Xinjiang Province, northwest China. Samples were collected using a Laoying 2030 median discharge intelligent total suspended particulate (TSP) sampler and analyzed by a Shimadzu GC-2010 gas chromatograph. The results showed that PAEs in PM_2.5 were mainly composed of phthalic acid dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and phthalic acid (2-)ethyl hexyl ester (DEHP). DBP and DEHP are the most commonly used plasticizers, accounting for the majority of plasticizers used, and have large environmental emissions. Compared with the proportions of TSPs, proportions of DBP and DEHP in the PM_2.5 were lower, while the proportions of DMP and DEP were higher. A correlation exists between the distribution of PAEs and the particle size and concentration of atmospheric particulates. Seasonal variations in DBP and DEHP were the same, with lowest concentrations in the summer. Although seasonal variation in DMP was not the same as those of DBP and DEHP, the general trend was similar. Seasonal variation in DEP was different from those of other PAEs. This pattern is related to PAE characteristics and seasonal variations in their sources.     

Rutile inclusions in garnet from a dissolution‐reprecipitation mechanism

Metamorphic garnet commonly contains needle‐like rutile inclusions as well as equant rutile inclusions that surround quartz inclusions and range in size from submicrometer to nanometer. Although the origin of these equant rutile inclusions, that is, exsolution or non‐exsolution, has important implications for petrological and tectonic processes, the crystallographic characteristics of these inclusions have rarely been studied because of the small sizes and analytical difficulties involved. Here, we report the crystallographic characteristics pertinent to the genetic origin of minute equant rutile inclusions in cloudy, nearly spherically shaped garnet domains with Ti‐depleted compositions surrounding quartz inclusions in ultrahigh‐pressure garnet from several diamondiferous Erzgebirge quartzofeldspathic gneissic rock samples. TEM analyses show that the equant rutile crystals in cloudy garnet domains are partially bounded by the low‐energy {100}_rt ± {110}_rt ± {101}_rt facets and have rather random crystallographic orientation relationships (CORs) with the garnet host, with preferential alignment of low‐energy lattice planes, for example, {100}_rt//{112}_grt, for some rutile crystals. Although the rather random CORs are unlikely to be attributed to solid‐state exsolution subjected to the stringent topotactic garnet lattice constraints, the characteristic subhedral {100}_rt ± {110}_rt ± {101}_rt crystal forms of rutile can be rationalized by a metasomatic dissolution‐reprecipitation mechanism via a fluid phase. In this scenario, the quartz+fluid inclusions in garnet were first subjected to decompression microcracking during rock exhumation, followed by dissolution of Ti‐bearing garnet matrix at the crack tips or along the crack surfaces and subsequent reprecipitation of rutile, apatite, gahnite, akdalaite, and Ti‐depleted garnet. The rapid coalescence between rutile and garnet crystals in fluid or direct attachment of rutile crystals onto the dissolving crack surfaces would then yield the rather random CORs as reported here. These results, along with previous work on rutile needles, indicate rather diverse genesis of rutile inclusions in various crystal forms, thus shedding light on the controversial exsolution origin for other inclusion suite/microstructure in minerals.