Tidal oscillations in shallow bays and sediment movement

The present study seeks to understand the interaction of a directly forced, large amplitude, tidal mode with non-directly forced resonant or nearly resonant tidal modes in a coastal bay or basin despite frictional effects. It is shown that in shallow basins a non-directly forced resonant mode may be indirectly activated with a response that may be time dependent, with the amplitude of this mode increasing and then decreasing before increasing again in a cyclical manner associated with amplitude beats. A laboratory experiment and theoretical arguments are used to support these conclusions and to study the effect when the amplitude of the tidal disturbances is comparable to the depth of the basin. It is noted that the presence of such modes, whether directly or indirectly forced, and whether resonant or non-resonant, may be able to move sediment and thereby change the resonance behaviour of the basin by changing its geometry. The changes in the geometry may then change the resonant frequencies of the basin, possibly causing the decay of the mode that caused the sediment motion. The implications of the mechanism for the modelling of the tidal behaviour in other bays with more complicated geometry are considered.     

FloPy Workflows for Creating Structured and Unstructured MODFLOW Models

FloPy is a Python package for creating, running, and post-processing MODFLOW-based groundwater flow and transport models. FloPy functionality has expanded to support the latest version of MODFLOW (MODFLOW 6) including support for unstructured grids. FloPy can simplify the process required to download MODFLOW-based and other executables for Linux, MacOS, and Windows operating systems. Expanded FloPy capabilities include (1) full support for structured and unstructured spatial discretizations; (2) geoprocessing of spatial features and raster data to develop model input for supported discretization types; (3) the addition of functionality to provide direct access to simulated output data; (4) extension of plotting capabilities to unstructured MODFLOW 6 discretization types; and (5) the ability to export model data to shapefiles, NetCDF, and VTK formats for processing, analysis, and visualization by other software products. Examples of using expanded FloPy capabilities are presented for a hypothetical watershed. An unstructured groundwater flow and transport model, with several advanced stress packages, is presented to demonstrate how FloPy can be used to develop complicated unstructured model datasets from original source data (shapefiles and rasters), post-process model results, and plot simulated results.     

贵州高原北部河流阶地发育与喀斯特地貌演化

贵州高原北部发育平缓丘丛和深切峰丛2种喀斯特地貌组合,保存于喀斯特山间盆地的河流阶地对区域地貌演化具有指示意义.本文根据阶地发育特征和光释光(OSL)测年,分析阶地形成的时代和动力,结合区域地质背景,探讨构造抬升和河流侵蚀对黔北喀斯特地貌演化的驱动作用.结果显示,绥阳盆地T1阶地时代18.8?8.2 ka,T2时代14...     

Superrotation of the thermosphere by global deposition of meteoroids?

Mitra has suggested that the Superrotation of the upper atmosphere is caused by a deposition of meteoroids. The meteoroids are assumed to impart to the atmosphere the excess of their orbital angular momentum per unit mass over the Earth's angular momentum per unit mass. The process is to take place in the height region above 150 km. Only above this height is a Superrotation of the atmosphere observed. In this report the forces that tend to make the atmosphere corotate with the Earth are analysed. It is shown that the most important of these forces is ion drag, and not viscous drag as postulated by Mitra. As the net angular spin momentum imparted by the meteoroids seems to be less than Mitra's estimate and its main part is applied to the atmosphere at altitudes much lower than 150 km, the hypothesis that meteoroids provide a significant contribution to the Superrotation is rejected.     

The optical performance of the PILOT instrument from ground end-to-end tests

The Polarized Instrument for Long-wavelength Observation of the Tenuous interstellar medium (PILOT) is a balloon-borne astronomy experiment designed to study the linear polarization of thermal dust emission in two photometric bands centred at wavelengths 240 μm (1.2 THz) and 550 μm (545 GHz), with an angular resolution of a few arcminutes. Several end-to-end tests of the instrument were performed on the ground between 2012 and 2014, in order to prepare for the first scientific flight of the experiment that took place in September 2015 from Timmins, Ontario, Canada. This paper presents the results of those tests, focussing on an evaluation of the instrument’s optical performance. We quantify image quality across the extent of the focal plane, and describe the tests that we conducted to determine the focal plane geometry, the optimal focus position, and sources of internal straylight. We present estimates of the detector response, obtained using an internal calibration source, and estimates of the background intensity and background polarization.     

Spectroscopy of the γ-ray burst GRB 021004: a structured jet ploughing through a massive stellar wind

We present spectra of the afterglow of the γ-ray burst GRB 021004 taken with the ISIS spectrograph on the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) and with the Focal Reducer/Low Dispersion Spectrograph 1 (FORS1) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at three epochs spanning 0.49–6.62 d after the burst. We observe strong absorption probably coming from the host galaxy, alongside absorption in H  i , Si  iv and C  iv with blueshifts of up to 2900 km s⁻¹ from the explosion centre, which we assume originates close to the progenitor. We find no significant variability of these spectral features. We investigate the origin of the outflowing material and evaluate various possible progenitor models. The most plausible explanation is that these result in the fossil stellar wind of a highly evolved Wolf–Rayet (WR) star. However, ionization from the burst itself prevents the existence of H  i , Si  iv and C  iv close to the afterglow surface where the fast stellar wind should dominate, and large amounts of blueshifted hydrogen are not expected in a WR star wind. We propose that the WR star wind is enriched by a hydrogen-rich companion, and that the GRB has a structured jet geometry in which the γ-rays emerge in a small opening angle within the wider opening angle of the cone of the afterglow. This scenario is able to explain both the spectral-line features and the irregular light curve of this afterglow.     

夏季金塔绿洲及邻近戈壁的冷湿舌及边界层特征分析

利用2004年7月金塔“绿洲系统能量与水分循环过程观测与数值研究”重点项目加强期系留梯度探测资料,对该绿洲边缘的冷湿舌现象及边界层特征进行了分析。结果表明,戈壁绿洲边缘的确存在冷湿舌;白天从09时至18时都有冷湿舌出现,高度一般维持在0～600m之间;冷湿舌受风速、风向、太阳对地面加热强度等因素的影响很大,也与午后绿洲辐散风有密切关系。这一发现对深入研究戈壁绿洲能量与水分循环,尤其是对绿洲与周围沙漠戈壁的水热交换研究具有重要意义,也为进一步研究绿洲的维持和发展提供了很好的基础。     

夏季不同天气条件下沙漠辐射和能量平衡的对比分析

利用2009 年7 月24 日-9 月12 日“巴丹吉林沙漠陆-气相互作用观测试验”资料,对比分析了典型晴天和阴天下巴丹吉林沙漠地表辐射、能量平衡和土壤温度的日变化规律.结果表明：①巴丹吉林沙漠典型晴天条件下总辐射、地表反射辐射、地表长波辐射、有效辐射、净辐射的峰值和日积分值都比典型阴天条件下大,大气长波辐射比阴天条件下小.两种天气条件下净辐射日积分值占太阳总辐射的1/3.②沙漠地区典型晴天地表反射率呈U型,白天均值为0.32;阴天变化较平缓,均值为0.29.③两种天气条件下地表热量平衡都以感热输送为主,波文比分别为4.55 和1.16.晴天不平衡能量达到净辐射的20%,阴天为30%.④晴天条件下有效能量夜间为负值,白天为正值,阴天全天为正值;湍流能量全天均为正值.能量闭合度(EBR)晴天平均为0.68,阴天为0.76.⑤土壤温度5~10 cm日较差逐渐减小,20、40 cm日变化不明显;5 cm土壤热通量日变化较大,20 cm土壤热通量振幅较小.     

Periglacial disruption and subsequent glacitectonic deformation of bedrock: an example from Anglesey,North Wales,UK

The deformed metasedimentary bedrock and overlying diamictons in western Anglesey, NW Wales, record evidence of glacier-permafrost interactions during the Late Devensian (Weichselian). The locally highly brecciated New Harbour Group bedrock is directly overlain by a bedrock-rich diamicton which preserves evidence of having undergone both periglacial (brecciation, hydrofracturing) and glacitectonic deformation (thrusting, folding), and is therefore interpreted as periglacial head deposit. The diamicton locally posses a well-developed clast macrofabric which preserves the orientation of the pre-existing tectonic structures within underlying metasedimentary rocks. Both the diamicton and New Harbour Group were variably reworked during the deposition of the later Irish Sea diamicton, resulting in the detachment of bedrock rafts and formation of a pervasively deformed glacitectonite. These structural and stratigraphic relationships are used to demonstrate that a potentially extensive layer of permafrost developed across the island before it was overridden by the Irish Sea Ice Stream. These findings have important implications for the glacial history of Anglesey, indicating that the island remained relatively ice-free prior to its inundation by ice flowing southwards down the Irish Sea Basin. Palynological data obtained from the diamictons across Anglesey clearly demonstrates that they have an Irish Sea provenance. Importantly no Lower Palaeozoic palynomorphs were identified, indicating that it is unlikely that Anglesey was overridden by ice emanating from the Snowdon ice cap developed on the adjacent Welsh mainland. Permafrost was once again re-established across Anglesey after the Irish Sea Ice Stream had retreated, resulting in the formation of involutions which deform both the lower bedrock-rich and overlying Irish Sea diamictons.