Atmospheric nitrogen inputs into the North Sea: effect on productivity

The ANICE (Atmospheric Nitrogen Inputs into the Coastal Ecosystem) project addressed the atmospheric deposition of nitrogen to the North Sea, with emphasis on coastal effects. ANICE focused on quantifying the deposition of inorganic nitrogen compounds to the North Sea and the governing processes. An overview of the results from modelling and experimental efforts is presented. They serve to identify the role of the atmosphere as a source of biologically essential chemical species to the marine biota. Data from the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory (UK) are used to evaluate the effect of short episodes with very high atmospheric nitrogen concentrations. One such episode resulted in an average deposition of 0.8 mmol N m⁻² day⁻¹, which has the potential to promote primary productivity of 5.3 mmol C m⁻² day⁻¹. This value is compared to long-term effects determined from model results. The total calculated atmospheric deposition to the North Sea in 1999 is 948 kg N km⁻¹, i.e. 0.19 mmol N m⁻² day⁻¹ which has the potential to promote primary productivity of 1.2 mmol C m⁻² day⁻¹. Detailed results for August 1999 show strong gradients across the North Sea due to adjacent areas where emissions of NO_x and NH₃ are among the highest in Europe. The average atmospheric deposition to the southern part of the North Sea in August 1999 could potentially promote primary production of 2.0 mmol C m⁻² day⁻¹, i.e. 5.5% of the total production at this time of the year in this area of the North Sea. For the entire study area the atmospheric contribution to the primary production per m² is about two-third of this value. Most of the deposition occurs during short periods with high atmospheric concentrations. This atmospheric nitrogen is almost entirely anthropogenic in origin and thus represents a human-induced perturbation of the ecosystem.     

U–Pb zircon chronostratigraphy of early-Pliocene ignimbrites from La Pacana, north Chile: implications for the formation of stratified magma chambers

High spatial resolution U–Pb dates of zircons from two consanguineous ignimbrites of contrasting composition, the high-silica rhyolitic Toconao and the overlying dacitic Atana ignimbrites, erupted from La Pacana caldera, north Chile, are presented in this study. Zircons from Atana and Toconao pumice clasts yield apparent ²³⁸U/²⁰⁶Pb ages of 4.11±0.20 Ma and 4.65±0.13 Ma (2σ), respectively. These data combined with previously published geochemical and stratigraphic data, reveal that the two ignimbrites were erupted from a stratified magma chamber. The Atana zircon U–Pb ages closely agree with the eruption age of Atana previously determined by K–Ar dating (4.0±0.1 Ma) and do not support long (>1 Ma) residence times. Xenocrystic zircons were found only in the Toconao bulk ignimbrite, which were probably entrained during eruption and transport. Apparent ²³⁸U/²⁰⁶Pb zircon ages of 13 Ma in these xenocrysts provide the first evidence that the onset of felsic magmatism within the Altiplano–Puna ignimbrite province occurred approximately 3 Myr earlier than previously documented.     

An experimental study of nominally symmetric and asymmetric structures isolated with the FPS

This experimental investigation deals with the earthquake behaviour of a nominally symmetric and a mass‐asymmetric three‐storey structural model isolated with the frictional pendulum system (FPS). Both accidental and natural torsion are evaluated in the structure by using recorded accelerations in all building floors and measured deformations at the isolation level. A 3D‐shaking table was used to subject the model to five different ground motions, including impulsive as well as far‐field subduction‐zone type earthquakes. Results show that the analytical predictions of the earthquake behaviour of the isolated structure, as obtained from a physical model of the FPS, are in close agreement with the true complex inelastic measured behaviour of the FPS. Besides, experimental results also validate previous observations about the importance of accounting for the variability of the normal loads in modelling the earthquake behaviour of FPS isolators. Measured torsional deformation amplifications at the base of the building vary, in the mean, from 2.5% to 6% for the symmetric and asymmetric structural configurations, respectively. In relation to the fixed base structure, the reduction factors for the base shear of the isolated structure are, in the mean, about 3.9 for both configurations. Finally, it is concluded that the FPS is capable of controlling the lateral–torsional motions of mass‐asymmetric structures quite effectively by aligning the centre of mass of the superstructure with the centre of pendular and frictional resistance of the isolation system. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

渭干河流域"2002·7"特大洪水分析

渭干河是塔里木河流域第六大源流, 位于天山西部南麓, 渭干河干流起点有新疆最大的流域性控制工程--克孜尔水库. 2002年7月下旬天山中西部山区出现大暴雨(雪)过程, 渭干河流域山区降水持续时间长达30 h以上, 山区降水量50 mm左右, 导致5条支流和渭干河干流出现有水文记录以来的最大洪峰, 流量超过警戒流量和危险流量的2～3.5倍, 暴雨(雪)过程结束之后, 融雪型洪峰长时间居高不下. 洪水过程中, 各支流以及暴雨与融雪等多种洪峰遭遇现象很明显. 克孜尔水库入库洪峰流量达3 660 m3*s-1, 经水库调洪错峰, 出库峰值流量为1 000 m3*s-1, 削峰率72.7%.     

Towards non-linear inversion for characterization of time-lapse phenomena through numerical modelling

We compare two geophysical survey measurements of the same type made at different times in order to characterize the change in the geological medium during the elapsed time. The aim of this study is to develop a strategy using a full non-linear inversion algorithm as the interpretation tool. In this way, not only the location and the form of the changes are recovered, but also the changes in the material parameters of the geological medium can be estimated. In order to solve this fully non-linear problem, the so-called ‘multiplicative regularized contrast source inversion’ (MR-CSI) method is employed. The unique property of this iterative method is that it does not solve the forward problem at each iterative step. This makes it possible to use the non-linear inversion algorithm for large-scale computation problems. The numerical results show that by taking into account the non-linear nature of the problem, interpretation of the time-lapse data can be significantly improved, compared with that obtained using linear inversion.     

Verteilung und Wanderung von Neunaugen im Elbeästuar (Deutschland)

From March 1989 until May 1995 overall 675 hauls were performed using a commercial stow net vessel to get information concerning spatial and seasonal distribution, length frequency distribution, stock situation and migration patterns of lampreys in the Elbe estuary in northern Germany.2217 river lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis) and 10 sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) were caught during the whole study period. The river lamprey occurred in 40.3% of the performed stow net hauls. The catch success was highest in the western main channel, whereas the frequency of occurrence of river lampreys was only about 10.9% at the most upstream site in the southern marginal area. In 1989 and 1990 significantly more than 50% of the hauls contained river lampreys. In contrast, from 1991 to 1995 their frequency of occurrence was lower than 40%, in 1991 even lower than 20%. Sea lampreys occurred only at 6 from 9 sampled sites and were only observed in 1990 and 1992-1994.Total lengths of river lampreys varied between 7 and 46 cm. Based on the length frequency distribution, the following three size classes of river lampreys were separated: LF I (7 to 16 cm), LF II (17-26 cm) and LF III (27-46 cm). The majority of the caught individuals could be grouped in size class LF III. Total lengths of sea lampreys ranged between 69 and 85 cm and were restricted to only one size class (PM III).70% of all sea lampreys were caught in April and May. Most of the sea lampreys were observed in the eastern main channel. The maximum average abundance of river lampreys was observed with 6.75 Ind · m⁻³ · 10⁻⁶ in the same area in 1992. However, in 1993 and 1994 the highest average abundances of river lampreys occurred in the western main channel.Based on redundance analysis, a significant correlation between the abundances of lampreys and the environmental variables autumn, spring, summer, salinity, water temperature, grain size, new moon and first moon quarter was found. The downstream migrating river lampreys of size class LF I und the sea lampreys during their anadromous spawning migration showed highest abundances mainly in spring, whereas high abundances of river lampreys of size class LF II in the feeding phase occurred in summer. The presence of both size classes LF I and LF II confirms the successful reproduction of river lampreys in the catchment area of the Elbe. The observation of river lampreys of size class LF III during their anadromous spawning migration was closely correlated with the variable autumn. A spring spawning migration of river lampreys was not observed.     

Wrench tectonics flip at oblique subduction. A model from New Zealand

In eastern North Island New Zealand, oblique subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Australian Plate is associated with strain partitioning. Dextral along-strike component of displacement occurred first at Early Miocene major faults within the eastern fore-arc domain. These faults were active from Early Miocene to Pliocene times. Since Pliocene times, most of the movement occurs at western faults such as the Wellington Fault. The latter joins the back-arc domain to the north. The jump of wrench faulting is related to the oblique opening of the back-arc domain. Both phenomena are impeded southwards by the Hikurangi oceanic plateau entering the subduction zone. To cite this article: J. Delteil et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Use of Geomorphological Information in Indirect Landslide Susceptibility Assessment

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the importance of geomorphological expert knowledge in the generation of landslide susceptibility maps, using GIS supported indirect bivariate statistical analysis. For a test area in the Alpago region in Italy a dataset was generated at scale 1:5,000. Detailed geomorphological maps were generated, with legends at different levels of complexity. Other factor maps, that were considered relevant for the assessment of landslide susceptibility, were also collected, such as lithology, structural geology, surficial materials, slope classes, land use, distance from streams, roads and houses. The weights of evidence method was used to generate statistically derived weights for all classes of the factor maps. On the basis of these weights, the most relevant maps were selected for the combination into landslide susceptibility maps. Six different combinations of factor maps were evaluated, with varying geomorphological input. Success rates were used to classify the weight maps into three qualitative landslide susceptibility classes. The resulting six maps were compared with a direct susceptibility map, which was made by direct assignment of susceptibility classes in the field. The analysis indicated that the use of detailed geomorphological information in the bivariate statistical analysis raised the overall accuracy of the final susceptibility map considerably. However, even with the use of a detailed geomorphological factor map, the difference with the separately prepared direct susceptibility map is still significant, due to the generalisations that are inherent to the bivariate statistical analysis technique.