Advances and Trends in Atmospheric Measurement by Smartphones*

With the development and popularization of smartphones and embedded sensors, a non-professional atmospheric measurement method by using smartphones carried by the public has been proposed recently. Without extra dedicated instrument, this method has many advantages, such as low hardware cost, high spatio-temporal resolution, and wide coverage, and it can supplement the professional atmospheric measurement methods, which has broad applications in the meteorological operation, scientific research, public service, and other fields. At present, the research on the non-professional atmospheric measurement in China is limited. In order to make full use of this method, this paper briefly outlined the states of existing smartphones and embedded sensors, highlighted the measurement of precipitation, air temperature, pressure, aerosols, and radiation by smartphones. To promote the development of smartphones for atmospheric measurement, future research should focus on mechanism study, available sources exploration, data quality control, big data processing, joining and matching with operation, research and service, etc.     

Analysis of mobilized stress ratio of gap-graded granular materials in direct shear state considering coarse fraction effect

Weathered rockfill materials, characterized by a mixture of soil matrix and rock aggregates, are widely distributed in mountainous areas. These soils are frequently used for subgrade or riprap in engineering practice, and the mobilized shear strength is crucial for analyzing the displacement and stability of these geo-structures. A series of direct shear tests are performed on a gap-graded soil with a full range of coarse fraction. The behavior of gap-graded soils is analyzed, and a simple model is proposed for the evolution of mobilized stress ratio during direct shearing process based on mixture theory. The change of inter-aggregate configuration is incorporated by introducing a structure variable which increases with coarse fraction and decreases approximately linearly with the overall horizontal shear strain in double logarithmic plot. It reasonably reflects a gradually transformation from a matrix-sustained structure into an aggregate-sustained one with the increase of coarse fraction. The model has four parameters, and at least two direct shear tests need to be done for the calibration. Validation of the model is done by using the test data in this work and those from the literature.

     

21世纪中国主要粮食产区的空间格局特征

Grain production is an important issue for the national economy and the livelihood of the Chinese people. It serves as the foundation of national development and social stability. China is a major grain producer as well as a major grain consumer. The grai…     

Early solar system aqueous activity: K isotope evidence from Allende

The alkali element K is moderately volatile and fluid mobile; thus, it can be influenced by both primary processes (evaporation and recondensation) in the solar nebula and secondary processes (thermal and aqueous alteration) in the parent body. Since these primary and secondary processes would induce different isotopic fractionations, K isotopes could become a potential tracer to distinguish them. Using recently developed methods with improved precision (0.05‰, 95% confidence interval), we systematically measured the K isotopic compositions and major/trace elemental compositions of chondritic components (18 chondrules, 3 CAIs, 2 matrices, and 5 bulks) in the carbonaceous chondrite fall Allende. Among all the components analyzed in this study, CAIs, which formed initially under high‐temperature conditions in the solar nebula and were dominated by nominally K‐free refractory minerals, have the highest K₂O content (average 0.53 wt%) and have K isotope compositions most enriched in heavy isotopes (δ⁴¹K: ?0.30 to ?0.25‰). Such an observation is consistent with previous petrologic studies that show CAIs in Allende have undergone alkali enrichment during metasomatism. In contrast, chondrules contain lower K₂O content (0.003–0.17 wt%) and generally lighter K isotope compositions (δ⁴¹K: ?0.87‰ to ?0.24‰). The matrix and bulks are nearly identical in K₂O content and K isotope compositions (0.02–0.05 wt%; δ⁴¹K: ?0.62 to ? 0.46‰), which are, as expected, right in the middle of CAIs and chondrules. This strongly indicates that most of the chondritic components of Allende suffered aqueous alteration and their K isotopic compositions are the ramification of Allende parent‐body processing instead of primary nebular signatures. Nevertheless, we propose the small K isotope fractionations observed (< 1‰) among Allende components are likely similar to the overall range of K isotopic fractionation that occurred in nebular environment. Furthermore, the K isotope compositions seen in the components of Allende in this study are consistent with MC‐ICP‐MS analyses of the components in ordinary chondrites, which also show an absence of large (10‰) isotope fractionations. This is not expected as evaporation experiments in nebular conditions suggest there should be large K isotopic fractionations. Nevertheless, possible nebular processes such as chondrules back exchanging with ambient gas when they formed could explain this lack of large K isotopic variation.     

Unique achondrite Northwest Africa 11042: Exploring the melting and breakup of the L chondrite parent body

Northwest Africa (NWA) 11042 is a heavily shocked achondrite with medium‐grained cumulate textures. Its olivine and pyroxene compositions, oxygen isotopic composition, and chromium isotopic composition are consistent with L chondrites. Sm‐Nd dating of its primary phases shows a crystallization age of 4100 ± 160 Ma. Ar‐Ar dating of its shocked mineral maskelynite reveals an age of 484.0 ± 1.5 Ma. This age coincides roughly with the breakup event of the L chondrite parent body evident in the shock ages of many L chondrites and the terrestrial record of fossil L chondritic chromite. NWA 11042 shows large depletions in siderophile elements (<0.01×CI) suggestive of a complex igneous history involving extraction of a Fe‐Ni‐S liquid on the L chondrite parent body. Due to its relatively young crystallization age, the heat source for such an igneous process is most likely impact. Because its mineralogy, petrology, and O isotopes are similar to the ungrouped achondrite NWA 4284 (this work), the two meteorites are likely paired and derived from the same parent body.     

A probabilistic framework for improving reverse geocoding output

Reverse geocoding, which transforms machine‐readable GPS coordinates into human‐readable location information, is widely used in a variety of location‐based services and analysis. The output quality of reverse geocoding is critical because it can greatly impact these services provided to end‐users. We argue that the output of reverse geocoding should be spatially close to and topologically correct with respect to the input coordinates, contain multiple suggestions ranked by a uniform standard, and incorporate GPS uncertainties. However, existing reverse geocoding systems often fail to fulfill these aims. To further improve the reverse geocoding process, we propose a probabilistic framework that includes: (1) a new workflow that can adapt all existing address models and unitizes distance and topology relations among retrieved reference data for candidate selections; (2) an advanced scoring mechanism that quantifies characteristics of the entire workflow and orders candidates according to their likelihood of being the best candidate; and (3) a novel algorithm that derives statistical surfaces for input GPS uncertainties and propagates such uncertainties into final output lists. The efficiency of the proposed approaches is demonstrated through comparisons to the four commercial reverse geocoding systems and through human judgments. We envision that more advanced reverse geocoding output ranking algorithms specific to different application scenarios can be built upon this work.     

北极冰下水声通信中改进的最小均方/四次方直接自适应均衡器

本文提出了一种适用于北极冰下水声通信的最小均方/四次方直接自适应均衡器（LMS/F-DAE）。它能处理基带复信号,与LMS相比,具有更好的均衡效果。考虑到均衡器的稀疏特性,在其代价函数中加入自适应范数（AN）作为约束。它能根据均衡器系数的大小自适应变化：对于小系数,此约束项存在以加快收敛速度;对于大系数,此约束项不存在以减小均衡误差。利用第九次中国北极科学考察得到的实验数据验证AN-LMS/F-DAE的性能。结果表明,与传统的LMS/F-DAE相比,AN-LMS/F-DAE能提升均衡器的稀疏性且均衡性能更优。     

Strain analysis of a seismically imaged mass‐transport complex,offshore Uruguay

Strain style, magnitude and distribution within mass‐transport complexes (MTCs) are important for understanding the process evolution of submarine mass flows and for estimating their runout distances. Structural restoration and quantification of strain in gravitationally driven passive margins have been shown to approximately balance between updip extensional and downdip contractional domains; such an exercise has not yet been attempted for MTCs. We here interpret and structurally restore a shallowly buried (c. 1,500 mbsf) and well‐imaged MTC, offshore Uruguay using a high‐resolution (12.5 m vertical and 15 × 12.5 m horizontal resolution) three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection survey. This allows us to characterise and quantify vertical and lateral strain distribution within the deposit. Detailed seismic mapping and attribute analysis shows that the MTC is characterised by a complicated array of kinematic indicators, which vary spatially in style and concentration. Seismic‐attribute extractions reveal several previously undocumented fabrics preserved in the MTC, including internal shearing in the form of sub‐orthogonal shear zones, and fold‐thrust systems within the basal shear zone beneath rafted‐blocks. These features suggest multiple transport directions and phases of flow during emplacement. The MTC is characterised by a broadly tripartite strain distribution, with extensional (e.g. normal faults), translational and contractional (e.g. folds and thrusts) domains, along with a radial frontally emergent zone. We also show how strain is preferentially concentrated around intra‐MTC rafted‐blocks due to their kinematic interactions with the underlying basal shear zone. Overall, and even when volume loss within the frontally emergent zone is included, a strain difference between extension (1.6–1.9 km) and contraction (6.7–7.3 km) is calculated. We attribute this to a combination of distributed, sub‐seismic, ‘cryptic’ strain, likely related to de‐watering, grain‐scale deformation and related changes in bulk sediment volume. This work has implications for assessing MTCs strain distribution and provides a practical approach for evaluating structural interpretations within such deposits.     

Northwest Africa 11024—A heated and dehydrated unique carbonaceous (CM) chondrite

Based on the high abundance of fine‐grained material and its dark appearance, NWA 11024 was recognized as a CM chondrite, which is also confirmed by oxygen isotope measurements. But contrary to known CM chondrites, the typical phases indicating aqueous alteration (e.g., phyllosilicates, carbonates) are missing. Using multiple analytical techniques, this study reveals the differences and similarities to known CM chondrites and will discuss the possibility that NWA 11024 is the first type 3 CM chondrite. During the investigation, two texturally apparent tochilinite–cronstedtite intergrowths were identified within two thin sections. However, the former phyllosilicates were recrystallized to Fe‐rich olivine during a heating event without changing the textural appearance. A peak temperature of 400–600 °C is estimated, which is not high enough to destroy or recrystallize calcite grains. Thus, calcites were never constituents of the mineral paragenesis. Another remarkable feature of NWA 11024 is the occurrence of unknown clot‐like inclusions (UCLIs) within fine‐grained rims, which are unique in this clarity. Their density and S concentration are significantly higher than of the surrounding fine‐grained rim and UCLIs can be seen as primary objects that were not formed by secondary alteration processes inside the rims. Similarities to chondritic and cometary interplanetary dust particles suggest an ice‐rich first‐generation planetesimal for their origin. In the earliest evolution, NWA 11024 experienced the lowest degree of aqueous alteration of all known CM chondrites and subsequently, a heating event dehydrated the sample. We suggest to classify the meteorite NWA 11024 as the first type 3 CM chondrite similar to the classification of CV3 chondrites (like Allende) that could also have lost their matrix phyllosilicates by thermal dehydration.     

(U‐Th)/He zircon dating of Chesapeake Bay distal impact ejecta from ODP site 1073

Single crystal (U‐Th)/He dating has been undertaken on 21 detrital zircon grains extracted from a core sample from Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) site 1073, which is located ~390 km northeast of the center of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. Optical and electron imaging in combination with energy dispersive X‐ray microanalysis (EDS) of zircon grains from this late Eocene sediment shows clear evidence of shock metamorphism in some zircon grains, which suggests that these shocked zircon crystals are distal ejecta from the formation of the ~40 km diameter Chesapeake Bay impact structure. (U‐Th/He) dates for zircon crystals from this sediment range from 33.49 ± 0.94 to 305.1 ± 8.6 Ma (2σ), implying crystal‐to‐crystal variability in the degree of impact‐related resetting of (U‐Th)/He systematics and a range of different possible sources. The two youngest zircon grains yield an inverse‐variance weighted mean (U‐Th)/He age of 33.99 ± 0.71 Ma (2σ uncertainties n = 2; mean square weighted deviation = 2.6; probability [P] = 11%), which is interpreted to be the (U‐Th)/He age of formation of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. This age is in agreement with K/Ar, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, and fission track dates for tektites from the North American strewn field, which have been interpreted as associated with the Chesapeake Bay impact event.