Change and variability in sea ice during the 2007–2008 Canadian International Polar Year program

In this paper we describe sea ice change and variability during the Canadian International Polar Year (IPY) program and examine several regional and hemispheric causes of this change. In a companion paper (Barber et al., Climate Change 2012) we present an overview of the consequences of this observed change and variability on ecosystem function, climatically relevant gas exchange, habitats of primary and apex predators, and impacts on northern peoples. Sea ice-themed research projects within the fourth IPY were designed to be among the most diverse international science programs. They greatly enhanced the exchange of Inuit knowledge and scientific ideas across nations and disciplines. This interdisciplinary and cultural exchange helped to explain and communicate the impacts of a transition of the Arctic Ocean and ecosystem to a seasonally ice-free state, the commensurate replacement of perennial with annual sea ice types and the causes and consequences of this globally significant metamorphosis. This paper presents a synthesis of scientific sea ice research and traditional knowledge results from Canadian-led IPY projects between 2007 and 2009. In particular, a summary of sea ice trends, basin-wide and regional, is presented in conjunction with Inuit knowledge of sea ice, gathered from communities in northern Canada. We focus on the recent observed changes in sea ice and discuss some of the causes of this change including atmospheric and oceanic forcing of both dynamic and thermodynamic forcing on the ice. Pertinent results include: 1) In the Amundsen Gulf, at the western end of the Northwest Passage, open water persists longer than normal and winter sea ice is thinner and more mobile. 2) Large areas of summer sea ice are becoming heavily decayed during summer and can be broken up by long-period waves being generated in the now extensive open water areas of the Chukchi Sea. 3) Cyclones play an important role in flaw leads??regions of open water between pack ice and land-fast ice. They delay the formation of new ice and the growth of multi-year ice. 4) Feedbacks involving the increased period of open water, long-period wave generation, increased open-ocean roughness, and the precipitation of autumn snow are all partially responsible for the observed reduction in multiyear sea ice. 5) The atmosphere is observed as remaining generally stable throughout the winter, preventing vertical entrainment of moisture above the surface.     

Performance-based analysis and design for internal stability of MSE walls

ABSTRACT

Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls must be designed with adequate margins of safety against internal stability failure described by tensile strength and pullout limit states. Probabilities of failure (or reliability index) will vary strongly with the accuracy of the underlying models that appear in limit state performance functions. In this paper, prior work by the authors and co-workers on this topic is reviewed. Relative performance is explored in the context of the reliability (or probability of failure) of steel and polymeric reinforcing elements in MSE walls using limit state performance functions with load and resistance models having different accuracy.     

Temporal shoreline change and infrastructure influences along the southern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia

Jizan is one of the Saudi Arabian coastal cities endowed with diverse natural settings, which includes Ash Shuqayq in the north, Turfah in the centre and Jizan in the South. This work analysed specific environmental characteristics, such as spits, sabkhas and wadis. Assessments used Landsat imagery to examine coastal change between 1973 and 2011. The cumulative temporal change identified regression trends given by coefficients of determination that explained a significant percentage of data variation for Jizan (R ² = 69%) and Turfah (R ² = 72%), while Ash Shuqayq was insignificant (R ² = 14%). Inter-survey results predicted future change, although trends were not significant, i.e. Jizan (R ² = 22%), Turfah (R ² = 14%) and Ash Shuqayq (R ² = 3 and 61% with outlying value removed). Aerial photos showed regional coastal changes, which included a maximum accretion of 36.4 m and maximum erosion of 12.9 m. These are scientifically effective techniques to monitor regional coastal change, i.e. erosion and accretion and identified rates of 0.59, 1.80 and 3.53 myr^?1 for Ash Shuqayq, Turfah and Jizan. Changes were linked to infrastructure developments, e.g. tourism, port development and natural causes, e.g. spit formations and wadi outfalls.     

贵州锦丰(烂泥沟)超大型金矿床构造解析及构造成矿作用

在矿区大比例尺填图的基础上,运用构造解析的理论和方法,对贵州锦丰(烂泥沟)金矿的构造特征、构造演化和构造控矿作用进行了系统的阐述。矿区构造线主要分为近NS向、NW向和NE向3组,其中NW向构造线控制了矿区的构造格架。构造变形主要经历了同生期裂陷、造山期挤压、后碰撞造山侧向挤压和岩石圈伸展等4个阶段。盆地裂陷期间(D2-T2)形成的同生断层为后续的构造活动提供了最初的构造薄弱面,并成为主要的热液通道;造山期挤压期间(T3)形成了矿区最为明显的近NS向和NW向大型倒转褶皱和逆冲断层以及配套的NE向右旋走滑断层;后碰撞造山侧向挤压期间(J1)形成走向NE的叠加褶皱,并在F2-F3"X"型断裂系上形成近EW向的拉张区,矿质沿着拉张的空间沉淀就位;燕山期(J2-K)岩石圈伸展,形成小规模的近水平逆断层。上述4个主要构造变形阶段与右江盆地的裂陷-闭合-坍塌的发展演化历史相吻合,成矿发生在由挤压向拉张过渡的构造体制转换阶段。造山期逆冲作用形成的构造闭圈和后碰撞造山期间挤压向伸展转变的过程中形成的局部张性构造环境是矿质得以大量聚集、沉淀的主要构造控制因素。构造成矿作用是锦丰(烂泥沟)金矿单一矿体垂向延深1000m以上的主要制约因素。构造成矿的观点将为在滇黔桂"金三角"卡林型金矿带的深部找矿提供重要的理论依据。     

An introduction to the South China Sea throughflow: Its dynamics, variability, and application for climate

The South China Sea throughflow (SCSTF) involves the inflow through the Luzon strait and the outflow through the Karimata, Mindoro, and Taiwan straits. Recent studies have suggested that the SCSTF act as a heat and freshwater conveyor, playing a potentially important role in regulating the sea surface temperature pattern in the South China Sea and its adjoining tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans. In this introductory paper, we attempt to convey the progress that has recently been made in understanding the SCSTF. We first provide an overview of existing observations, theories, and simulations of the SCSTF. Then, we discuss its interaction with the Pacific western boundary current and Indonesian throughflow. Finally, we summarize issues and questions that remain to be addressed, with special reference to the SCSTF's dynamics, variability, and implication for climate.     

A new titanium-bearing calcium aluminosilicate phase: III. Crystals from a mixer furnace slag

Abstract Small crystals of an optically uniaxial Ti-bearing calcium aluminosilicate were discovered in a mixer furnace slag consisting mostly of åkermanitic melilite. The crystals have the same unit cell as those observed for a phase crystallized from slowly-cooled melts used to simulate the formation of aluminous inclusions in meteorites. Moreover, compositions of synthetic and meteoritic occurrences of the phase are all very similar and can be expressed in terms of a binary solid solution between the end-members Ca₃TiAl₂Si₃O₁₄ and Ca₃Ti(AlTi)(AlSi₂)O₁₄. Thus, crystallographic and crystallochemical information obtained from crystals in the mixer furnace slag can be used to constrain the origin of similar crystals found in meteoritic inclusions. We separated crystals from the mixer furnace slag by acid leaching; some were used for EPMA analysis, others were crushed for study by TEM methods or X-ray powder diffraction. Convergent beam electron diffraction shows that the crystals belong to the trigonal (rhombohedral) class and have point group symmetry 3m. X-ray powder diffraction gives the unit cell parameters a = 0.791 ± 0.009 nm, c = 0.492 ± 0.006 nm. The results suggest that the mineral has space group symmetry P3ml or P31m.     

The organisational context of retail locational planning

Retailers have a large number of techniques at their disposal to assist them in their locational planning, but the use made of them is varied, regardless of their intrinsic merits. The reasons for this lie very much in the organisational context in which the techniques are applied. This paper discusses the nature of locational planning and decision making, and puts forward a framework which links locational planning and the organisational settings in which it takes place. The preliminary results of a survey of the use of techniques by U.K. retailers are presented, which show that while most companies use more than ‘Rules of Thumb’, it is the simplest techniques which are the most widely used. The application of the more advanced knowledge based methods is still relatively uncommon. The explanation for the variations lies in the attributes of the techniques themselves, the types of locational planning undertaken, and the structural and cultural characteristics of the companies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.