Assessment of cement’s dust impact on the soil using principal component analysis and GIS

To evaluate the impact of the cement’s dust emitted by the eastern Moroccan cement factory (Oujda Holcim) and deposited on the soil of the Ain Lahjar commune, 58 samples of soil were collected around the factory on a radius of 3 km approximately. The physicochemical analyses of the upper 3 cm of the soil surface samples correspond to the pH, electrical conductivity, the chlorides and the oxides of Ca, Al, Fe, K, Mn, S and Si which were analyzed by the fluorescence of X-rays. The preliminary results demonstrate that this dust are especially basic and contain a high free lime (43% CaO). The principal component analysis (applied on the 58 samples of soil) allows deducting that the free lime and the sulfur oxide are the tracer elements of this form of pollution. Furthermore, the spatial projection of the factor scores of the principal component analysis using the geographical information system permits to determine the spatial distribution of more polluted areas of soils as well as to estimate their surface (63.3% of the survey zone).     

研究“源兆”的若干问题及途径分析

从位场理论的观点讨论了场和源的概念,建议将“场兆”改称为构造前兆,将“源兆”称为震源前兆。文中还分析了震源体与各种前兆观测方法探测的深度,并根据地磁与重力观测方法不同的物理基础和地质基础,指出震磁效应对于研究震源前兆的特殊意义,文中还介绍了１９７６唐山地震观测到震源前兆的部分实际地磁资料。     

Spatial orientation of the spin vectors of the disk galaxies in the Virgo cluster I. A catalogue of the disk galaxies in the Virgo cluster

Based on four UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) IIIa-j direct plates which had been digitized by the Automated Plate Measuring System (APM), a detailed identification of the disk galaxies in the Virgo cluster has been carried out. The certain and possible member galaxies are mainly selected from the updated Catalogue of 2096 Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster Area (VCC). The area of this identification covers a 85 square degree region centered on this cluster. As a result, we compiled a new catalogue of 340 certain and possible member disk galaxies, including 85 lenticulars (SO), 136 spirals (S) and 119 irregulars (Irr), where the APM-measured values of the position angle (P.A.) and diameters of 299 disk galaxies are provided. For at least 149 galaxies, the values of the P.A. and diameters are published for the first time.Comparison between the APM-measured P.A. and diameters of galaxies and those given by the Uppsala General Catalog of Galaxies (UGC) demonstrates the reliability of our data. The statistical properties and completeness of this database are also discussed. Compared with the UGC-given P.A. and diameters which were determined by eyes, our data has no selection effect owing to the instrument measurements. Within our searching region, this might be the largest and relatively complete photometric database published so far for investigating the spatial orientation of the spin vectors of galaxies in the Virgo cluster.     

Calorimetric study of the coesite-stishovite transformation and calculation of the phase boundary

High temperature drop-solution calorimetry in molten 2 PbO · B₂O₃ at 1044 K for coesite and stishovite polymorphs of silica was carried out to determine the enthalpy of the coesite-stishovite transition. These experiments were performed on high-purity, single-phase samples of coesite and stishovite. Our new value for the enthalpy of the coesitestishovite transition (ΔH ₂₉₈ ⁰ ) is 29.85 ± 0.78 kJ/mol, which is about 35% lower than previously reported by Akaogi and Navrotsky (1984) and Holm et al. (1967), but which compares well with new measurements by Akaogi et al. (1994b). Using these new data, we have calculated the equilibrium phase boundary between coesite and stishovite and obtained a slope, dP/dT=0.0031 (2) GPa/K. This calculated slope is in good agreement with that determined [0.0026 (2) GPa/K] from the in-situ X-ray diffraction study of Zhang et al. (1996).     

A robust-symmetric mean: A new way of mean calculation for environmental data

Environmental data seldom follow normal distributions, so how to calculate their means is a very important problem. Commonly used methods for mean calculation, such as arithmetic mean, geometric mean, and median, were evaluated. Arithmetic means should only be used when datasets follow normal distributions. Geometric means are suitable for datasets which follow log-normal distributions. Medians are a kind of robust treatment. However, their efficiency is very low. Based on the methods described, two new ideas are developed: robust and symmetric, for calculating means. As far as the symmetric feature is concerned, Box-Cox power transformation is better than logarithmic transformation. Robust statistics and Box-Cox transformation are combined to produce the robust-symmetric mean. As environmental data often follow log-normal or skewed distributions, this method is better than the previous ones and also is appropriate.     

The idea and project of the “Medium-Scale Experiment Field for Earthquake Prediction”

A brief account of the development of the research on mining earthquakes and the general situation of the Mentougou Coal Mine medium-scale experiment field for earthquake prediction and the project of monitor and prediction is given. The differences of waveforms between mining earthquakes and natural earthquakes is discussed. The magnitude-frequency distribution of the 79 000 mining earthquakes of overM _l 1. 0 from 1984 to 1995 is summarized. Finally, taking PH and PV, the principal compressive stress components of the focal mechanism of the mining earthquakes, as the criteria, analyses the stress background of the 12 large mining earthquakes.     

The contact binary system YY Eri

Relatively new and unanalysed photometric data-sets of the contact binary system YY Eri are presented. The light curves have been analysed using information limit optimization techniques, and the Binary Maker program of Bradstreet (1992).Comparison of the results allows insight into determinacy questions affecting the W UMa type of light curve, which relates to our general understanding of contact binaries. A limiting contact configuration cannot be ruled out on the basis of empirical data-analysis alone.Very careful analysis of the photospheric flux distribution over the surface of the Sun may help establish appropriate values of the gravity brightening parameter for cool dwarf stars. At present, however, empirical photometric information on contact binaries is non-discriminatory: i.e. alternative cosmogonies can find alternative support from available evidence. The implication is then for more and better observational data to allow better real independent parameter determination.     

Propagation of MHD body and surface waves in magnetically structured regions of the solar atmosphere

The fact that magnetically structured regions exist in the solar atmosphere has been known for a number of years. It has been suggested that different kinds of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves can be efficiently damped in these regions and that the dissipated wave energy may be responsible for the observed enhancement in radiative losses. From a theoretical point of view, an important task would be to investigate the propagation and dissipation of MHD waves in these highly structured regions of the solar atmosphere. In this paper, we study the behavior of MHD body and surface waves in a medium with either a single or double (slab) magnetic interface by use of a nonlinear, two-dimensional, time-dependent, ideal MHD numerical model constructed on the basis of a Lagrangean grid and semi-implicit scheme. The processes of wave confinement and wave energy leakage are discussed in detail. It is shown that the obtained results depend strongly on the type of perturbations imposed on the interface or slab and on the plasma parameter, . The relevance of the obtained results to the heating problem of the upper parts of the solar atmosphere is also discussed.     

A solar flare in the Fe I 5324 line on 24 June, 1993

A solar flare with both H and Fe i 5324 emissions was observed in AR 7529 (S13, E65) on 24 June, 1993 at the Bejing Astronomical Observatory. Our calculations show that the Fe i 5324 emission region of the flare was located in the low photosphere at a height of about 180 km above ₅₀₀₀ = 1, which is lower than many previous studies of white-light flares. To study a Fe i 5324 flare, which represents a kind of extreme case in solar flares, would be useful for clarifying some arguments in the researches of white-light flares as well as for understanding the mechanism of solar flares.The synthetic analyses from vairous features of the flare lead to the following possible exciting mechanism of the Fe i 5324 flare: owing to the flow of energetic electrons from the corona and probably also the thermal conduction downward into the lower atmosphere, a condensation with a temperature higher than that below it was formed near the transition region. Then the low photosphere was heated through backwarming. The Fe i 5324 flare occurred as an indicator of the excitation in the low photosphere.