Short-lived radionuclides in the early solar system — A meteoritic perspective of the solar system formation

This paper reviews the evidence for short-lived radionuclides in the early solar system and evaluates the models of their origin. The stellar model requires that some freshly-nucleosynthesized radionuclides were injected into the proto-solar cloud shortly before it began to collapse. The spallation theory suggests that these nuclides were the products of interaction between energetic particles and gas/dust in the proto-solar cloud or solar nebula. A brief discussion is given to a new theory for the X-wind model of solar system formation.     

A re‐investigation of the low Reynolds number uniform flow past a porous spherical shell

This work reinvestigates the flow field of a uniform flow past a porous spherical shell based on Song and Huang's (2000) theory of laminar poroelastic media flow with proper boundary conditions. The analytical solution of this study not only indicates viscous effects inside the porous spherical shell, but it also preserves the continuities of tangential velocity and shear stress at the interfaces. The result reveals that as the porosity approaches unity, the flow is entirely comprised of the incident stream; as the porosity approaches zero, the well‐known Stokes' solution of a uniform flow past a sphere with low Reynolds number is obtained. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The lherzolitic shergottite Grove Mountains 99027: Rare earth element geochemistry

Abstract— We report here on an ion probe study of rare earth element (REE) geochemistry in the lherzolitic shergottite Grove Mountains (GRV) 99027. This meteorite shows almost identical mineralogy, petrology, and REE geochemistry to those of the lherzolitic shergottites Allan Hills (ALH) A77005, Lewis Cliff (LEW) 88516, and Yamato (Y‐) 793605. REE concentrations in olivine, pyroxenes, maskelynite, merrillite, and melt glass are basically comparable to previous data obtained from ALH A77005, LEW 88516, and Y‐793605. Olivine is the dominant phase in this meteorite. It is commonly enclosed by large (up to several mm) pigeonite oikocrysts. Non‐poikilitic areas consist of larger olivine grains (?mm), pigeonite, augite, and maskelynite. Minor merrillite (up to 150 μm in size) is widespread in non‐poikilitic regions, occurring interstitially between olivine and pyroxene grains. It is the main REE carrier in GRV 99027 and has relatively higher REEs (200–1000 × CI) than that of other lherzolitic shergottites. A REE budget calculation for GRV 99027 yields a whole rock REE pattern very similar to that of other lherzolites. It is characterized by the distinctive light REE depletion and a smooth increase from light REEs to heavy REEs. REE microdistributions in GRV 99027 strongly support the idea that all lherzolitic shergottites formed by identical igneous processes, probably from the same magma chamber on Mars. Despite many similarities in mineralogy, petrography, and trace element geochemistry, subtle differences exist between GRV 99027 and other lherzolitic shergottites. GRV 99027 has relatively uniform mineral compositions (both major elements and REEs), implying that it suffered a higher degree of sub‐solidus equilibration than the other three lherzolites. It is notable that GRV 99027 has experienced terrestrial weathering in the Antarctic environment, as its olivine and pyroxenes commonly display a light REE enrichment and a negative Ce anomaly. Caution needs to be taken in future chronological studies.     

中国东南部地区4-6月强降水的低频变化特征

利用全国2 400多台站逐日降水资料,分析了中国东南部地区4—6月10~30 d低频强降水的时空变化特征。结果表明:4—6月10~30 d低频强降水的方差大值区在中国的长江及其以南地区,中心位于江南的中东部,东南部地区4—6月10~30 d低频强降水距平的第一模态反映该区域呈一致变化。功率谱分析表明第一模态时间变化的周期以10~30 d低频分量为主。根据区域强降水及其10~30 d低频强降水、区域强降水正交经验函数(EOF)分析的第一模态时间系数(PC1)及PC1的10~30 d低频分量的年际方差,结合它们两两之间逐年的相关系数,确定了区域强降水10~30 d强振荡典型年份。对典型年降水异常分布的方差分析,表明强振荡年区域总降水量异常主要是由10~30 d强降水的低频变化引起的。     

Influence of heterogeneity on unsaturated hydraulic properties (2) – percentage and shape of heterogeneity

In subsurface porous media, the soil water retention curve (WRC) and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve (UHC) are two important soil hydraulic property curves. Spatial heterogeneity is ubiquitous in nature, which may significantly affect soil hydraulic property curves. The main theme of this paper is to investigate how spatial heterogeneities, including their arrangements and amounts in soil flumes, affect soil hydraulic property curves. This paper uses a two‐dimensional variably saturated flow and solute transport finite element model to simulate variations of pressure and moisture content in soil flumes under a constant head boundary condition. To investigate the behavior of soil hydraulic property curves owing to variations of heterogeneities and their arrangements as well, cases with different proportions of heterogeneities are carried out. A quantitative evaluation of parameter variations in the van Genuchten model (VG model) resulting from heterogeneity is presented. Results show that the soil hydraulic properties are strongly affected by variations of heterogeneities and their arrangements. If the pressure head remains at a specific value, the soil moisture increases when heterogeneities increase in the soil flumes. On the other hand, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity decreases when heterogeneities increase in the soil flumes under a constant pressure head. Moreover, results reveal that parameters estimated from both WRC and UHC also are affected by shapes of heterogeneity; this indicates that the parameters obtained from the WRC are not suitable for predicting the UHC of different shapes in heterogeneous media. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cold deep water in the South China Sea

Two deep channels that cut through the Luzon Strait facilitate deep (>2000 m) water exchange between the western Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. Our observations rule out the northern channel as a major exchange conduit. Rather, the southern channel funnels deep water from the western Pacific to the South China Sea at the rate of 1.06 ± 0.44 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³s⁻¹). The residence time estimated from the observed inflow from the southern channel, about 30 to 71 years, is comparable to previous estimates. The observation-based estimate of upwelling velocity at 2000 m depth is (1.10 ± 0.33) × 10⁻⁶ ms⁻¹, which is of the same order as Ekman pumping plus upwelling induced by the geostrophic current. Historical hydrographic observations suggest that the deep inflow is primarily a mixture of the Circumpolar Deep Water and Pacific Subarctic Intermediate Water. The cold inflow through the southern channel offsets about 40% of the net surface heat gain over the South China Sea. Balancing vertical advection with vertical diffusion, the estimated mean vertical eddy diffusivity of heat is about 1.21 × 10⁻³ m²s⁻¹. The cold water inflow from the southern channel maintains the shallow thermocline, which in turn could breed internal wave activities in the South China Sea.     

A modified Euler–Lagrange transformation for particle orbits in nonlinear progressive waves

This paper presents a modified Euler–Lagrange transformation method to obtain the third-order trajectory solution in a Lagrangian form for the water particles in nonlinear water waves. We impose the assumption that the Lagrangian wave frequency is a function of wave steepness and an arbitrary vertical position for each water particle. Expanding the unknown function in a small perturbation parameter and using a successive expansion in a Taylor series for the water particle path and the period of a particle motion, the third-order asymptotic expressions for the Lagrangian particle trajectories, the mass transport velocity and the period of particle motion can be derived directly in Lagrangian form. The wave frequency and mean level of the particle motion in Lagrangian form differ from those of the Eulerian. Finally, the third-order asymptotic solution obtained is uniformly valid in contrast with early works containing resonant terms presented by Wiegel [1964. Oceanographical Engineering. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, pp. 37–40] (Eqs. (B.1) and (B.1), (B.2) in Appendix B) or Chen et al.[2006. Theoretical analysis of surface waves shoaling and breaking on a sloping bottom. Part 2 nonlinear waves. Wave motion, 43, 356–369] based on a straightforward expansion for two-dimensional progressive waves.     

中国及邻区岩石层大地水准面正演模拟

依据地震层析成像、地震测深和大地电磁测深结果给出的地球内部结构和物性分布 ,模拟了中国及邻区岩石圈中短波长大地水准面起伏。正演模拟结果显示 :地形起伏引起的大地水准面异常巨大 ,幅值变化可达 2 10 m,最大值在青藏高原 ,达 150余 m。沉积层底面起伏产生的大地水准面异常非常小 ,幅值只有 6.5m,表现出短波长特征。岩石层底面起伏产生的大地水准面异常极为平缓 ,约为 2 0 m。莫霍面产生的大地水准面异常形态与地形起伏引起的大地水准面异常形态相近 ,异常幅值只有后者的 2 / 3,在青藏高原只有后者的一半。岩石层内密度不均匀引起的大地水准面异常的幅值约为 75m。