自组织和地貌演化

1 前言 越来越多的文献认为地貌系统发育包含着自组织,并且证明自组织行为存在于多种不同的地球表面过程和地貌发育过程中。自组织在一些情况下是很明显的,例如象周期性河床和多边形土形成的有序的、重复性的模式,或者象流域水系和地势大范围稳定少变的特征(Hallet,1990)。这点具有一般性,包括景观或地貌演变引起空间组织程度或信息量增加方面的任何情况。本文的目的在于论证大范围的、长期的地貌演变过程中的地貌自组织问题。     

The diffusive boundary layer of sediments: oxygen microgradients over a microbial mat

Oxygen microelectrodes were used to analyze the distribution of the diffusive boundary layer (DBL) at the sediment-water interface in relation to surface topography and flow velocity. The sediment, collected from saline ponds, was covered by a microbial mat that had high oxygen consumption rate and well-defined surface structure. Diffusion through the DBL constituted an important rate limitation to the oxygen uptake of the sediment. The mean effective DBL thickness decreased from 0.59 to 0.16 mm as the flow velocity of the overlying water was increased from 0.3 to 7.7 cm s-1 (measured 1 cm above the mat). The oxygen uptake rate concurrently increased from 3.9 to 9.4 nmol cm-2 min-1. The effects of surface roughness and topography on the thickness and distribution of the DBL were studied by three-dimensional mapping of the sediment-water interface and the upper DBL boundary at 0.1-mm spatial resolution. The DBL boundary followed mat structures that had characteristic dimensions > 1/2 DBL thickness but the DBL had a dampened relief relative to the mat. The effective surface area of the sediment-water interface and of the upper DBL boundary were 31 and 14% larger, respectively, than a flat plane. Surface topography thereby increased the oxygen flux across the sediment-water interface by 49% relative to a one-dimensional diffusion flux calculated from the vertical oxygen microgradients.     

Small-scale electrical resistivity tomography of wet fractured rocks

This paper describes a series of experiments that tested the ability of the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method to locate correctly wet and dry fractures in a meso-scale model. The goal was to develop a method of monitoring the flow of water through a fractured rock matrix. The model was a four by six array of limestone blocks equipped with 28 stainless steel electrodes. Dry fractures were created by placing pieces of vinyl between one or more blocks. Wet fractures were created by injecting tap water into a joint between blocks. In electrical terms, the dry fractures are resistive and the wet fractures are conductive. The quantities measured by the ERT system are current and voltage around the outside edge of the model. The raw ERT data were translated to resistivity values inside the model using a three-dimensional Occam's inversion routine. This routine was one of the key components of ERT being tested. The model presented several challenges. First, the resistivity of both the blocks and the joints was highly variable. Second, the resistive targets introduced extreme changes the software could not precisely quantify. Third, the abrupt changes inherent in a fracture system were contrary to the smoothly varying changes expected by the Occam's inversion routine. Fourth, the response of the conductive fractures was small compared to the background variability. In general, ERT was able to locate correctly resistive fractures. Problems occurred, however, when the resistive fracture was near the edges of the model or when multiple fractures were close together. In particular, ERT tended to position the fracture closer to the model center than its true location. Conductive fractures yielded much smaller responses than the resistive case. A difference-inversion method was able to correctly locate these targets.     

Palaeoecology, reference conditions and classification of ecological status: the EU Water Framework Directive in practice

The European Union's Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires that all Member States within the European Union determine reference conditions for aquatic ecosystems to provide a baseline against which to measure the effects of past and present activities. Reference conditions are subsequently used to classify the ecological status of European waters. The decisions regarding environmental status will be important future elements in the management of European coastal waters. We have developed a number of classification scenarios for total nitrogen (TN) in the overlying waters of the southern part of Roskilde Fjord, Denmark, taking as our basis a palaeoecological reconstruction of fluctuations in TN between 1850 and 1995. We present a provisional classification scheme for the ecological status of Roskilde Fjord, sensu the WFD. Decision(s) regarding the deviation from reference conditions will give a wide range of apparent ecological status from good, through moderate and poor, to bad depending upon the definition of an acceptable deviation from reference conditions. The determination of an acceptable deviation will ultimately be a political decision, and will result in a wide range in the protection of coastal waters in Europe. There is still, however, an urgent need for a sound scientific documentation of the various scenarios for the implementation of the WFD.     

过去70 Ma中冰岛岩浆羽的脉动-来自幕式海山火山的证据

我们为了明确Rockall海槽中海山的成因，于1998年夏季在海山翼部进行了拖网取样。在Anton Dohrn 海山周围5个不同地点拖取的岩样中发现了4个不同时期的火山幕（即70±1 Ma，62±1 Ma, 47±1 Ma和41±1 Ma）。据我们所知，这是第一次得到的北大西洋火山区晚白垩世岩浆活动的可靠的岩石年代证据，与Anton Dohrn海山东翼和Rosemary海岸海山顶部的白垩纪化石年代相一致。在Hebrides阶地海山拖取的岩样的年代指出了3个火山期，即62±1 Ma，51±1 Ma和48±1 Ma。 Anton Dohrn海山也发生过其中的第一和第三幕，而在Rosemary海岸海山西北翼取…     

科学家们调查研究引起美国西北部极地冰原融化的温度变化

科学家们调查研究引起美国西北部极地冰原融化的温度变化得克萨斯农机大学学院站报道，全球变暖已影响到美国西北部地区，生活在那里的人们应该感到庆幸，大约在１．３—１．４万年以前，半英里厚的极地冰原覆盖着现在的西雅图以及其北地区．大型淡水湖在犹他、内华达和加...