Influence of pre-event water on streamflow in a granitic watershed using hydrograph separation

For water resources management, many studies for investigating flow paths from rainfall to subsurface have been conducted for last half century. A hydrograph separation based on end member mixing was carried out to evaluate the importance of the hydrological pathways providing the main sources of a small granitic watershed, Dorim-cheon, Seoul. An analysis of chloride, oxygen-18 and deuterium isotopes from precipitation and stream water during three storms was conducted with high-resolution data using 129 samples. Stream water, collected in advance of rain event, was assumed as a pre-event water (baseflow) component according to its dry condition and isotopic values compared with the values of different time periods. The contribution from vadose water was ignored due to the thin soil layer covering the study area. Using a two-component mixing model, hydrograph separation of the stream water in Dorim-cheon was conducted based on weighted mean values of rain water and pre-event water component with the high-resolution datasets. As a result of the analysis with water isotopes, contribution of groundwater was dominant during the entire study period (73–74%) except of instant dominance of rainfall at the earliest period. Using chloride as a tracer for hydrograph separation, a significant difference for the amount of pre-event water contribution was identified. This might be caused by the large variation of chloride concentration during the rain event and the end member determination.     

Petromagnetic parameters of bottom sediments as indicators of the climatic and environmental changes in the central zone of the Sea of Okhotsk during the last 350 kyr

Bottom sediments from the central zone of the Sea of Okhotsk were preliminarily dated. The petromagnetic parameters of two groups of samples formed at cold and warm climatic stages were studied. Warm oxygen isotopic stages and substages were characterized by the coexistence of pseudo-single-domain allogenic magnetite and predominant magnetite and greigite (pyrrhotite) grains subject to biologic control. At cold stages, sediments containing a mixture of pseudo-single-domain and multidomain terrigenous magnetite particles accumulated. The petromagnetic curves agree with the normalized standard oxygen isotopic curve over the last 350 kyr of the column section.     

Output‐only structural identification in time domain: Numerical and experimental studies

By identifying changes in stiffness parameters, structural damage can be detected and monitored. Although considerable progress has been made in this research area, many challenges remain in achieving robust structural identification based on incomplete and noisy measurement signals. The identification task is made even more difficult if measurement of input force is to be eliminated. To this end, an output‐only structural identification strategy is proposed to identify unknown stiffness and damping parameters. A non‐classical approach based on genetic algorithms (GAs) is adopted. The proposed strategy makes use of the recently developed GA‐based method of search space reduction, which has shown to be able to accurately and reliably identify structural parameters from measured input and output signals. By modifying the numerical integration scheme, input can be computed as the parameter identification task is in progress, thereby eliminating the need to measure forces. Numerical and experimental results demonstrate the power of the strategy in accurate and efficient identification of structural parameters and damage using only incomplete acceleration measurements. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow and Pollutant Transport in Urban Street Canyons of Different Aspect Ratios with Ground Heating: Large-Eddy Simulation

A validated large-eddy simulation model was employed to study the effect of the aspect ratio and ground heating on the flow and pollutant dispersion in urban street canyons. Three ground-heating intensities (neutral, weak and strong) were imposed in street canyons of aspect ratio 1, 2, and 0.5. The detailed patterns of flow, turbulence, temperature and pollutant transport were analyzed and compared. Significant changes of flow and scalar patterns were caused by ground heating in the street canyon of aspect ratio 2 and 0.5, while only the street canyon of aspect ratio 0.5 showed a change in flow regime (from wake interference flow to skimming flow). The street canyon of aspect ratio 1 does not show any significant change in the flow field. Ground heating generated strong mixing of heat and pollutant; the normalized temperature inside street canyons was approximately spatially uniform and somewhat insensitive to the aspect ratio and heating intensity. This study helps elucidate the combined effects of urban geometry and thermal stratification on the urban canyon flow and pollutant dispersion.     

Apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He thermochronology of the Rochovce granite (Slovakia) – implications for the thermal evolution of the Western Carpathian-Pannonian region

The thermal evolution of the only known Alpine (Cretaceous) granite in the Western Carpathians (Rochovce granite) is studied by low-temperature thermochronological methods. Our apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th)/He ages range from 17.5 ± 1.1 to 12.9 ± 0.9 Ma, and 12.9 ± 1.8 to 11.3 ± 0.8 Ma, respectively. The data thus show that the Rochovce granite records a thermal event in the Middle to early Late Miocene, which was likely related to mantle upwelling, volcanic activity, and increased heat flow. During the thermal maximum between ~17 and 8 Ma, the granite was heated to temperatures ? 60 °C. Increase of cooling rates at ~12 Ma recorded by the apatic fission track and (U-Th)/He data is primarily related to the cessation of the heating event and relaxation of the isotherms associated with the termination of the Neogene volcanic activity. This contradicts the accepted concept, which stipulates that the internal parts of the Western Carpathians were not thermally affected during the Cenozoic period. The Miocene thermal event was not restricted to the investigated part of the Western Carpathians, but had regional character and affected several basement areas in the Western Carpathians, the Pannonian basin and the margin of the Eastern Alps.     

Origin of the difference in the distribution behavior of tellurium and selenium in a soil-water system

The distribution behavior of tellurium (Te) between soil and water in a synthetic soil-water system was studied coupled with the speciation of Te both in soil and water phases by using X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy and a high-performance liquid chromatography connected to an ICP-MS (HPLC-ICP-MS), respectively. The results were compared with a similar data set for Se, which was simultaneously obtained in this study. The oxidation states and host phases of Te and Se in the soil samples were given by XAFS, while the oxidation states in water were given by HPLC-ICP-MS. It was found that both Te and Se in soil are mainly associated with Fe(III) hydroxides under oxic conditions. From the EXAFS analyses, the outer-sphere complex is important for the Se(VI) sorbed on Fe(III) hydroxides in soils, while Se(IV), Te(IV), and Te(VI) form inner-sphere complexes. Under reducing condition, it was found that Te(0) and Se(0) species were formed and that Se was more readily reduced to Se(0) than Te, as is predicted from their Eh-pH diagrams. The reduction process from hexavalent to zerovalent species was different between Se and Te, that is, the direct reduction from Se(VI) to Se(0) was observed for Se, while Te was reduced stepwise from Te(VI) to Te(0) via Te(IV). In terms of the distribution between soil and water, Se distribution to water was much higher than that of Te under wide redox conditions. For Se, selenate is the predominant species in water even under reducing condition due to the much higher solubility of Se(VI) than Se(IV). Furthermore, a much smaller distribution of Te in water was primarily due to the larger affinities of Te(IV) and Te(VI) to Fe(III) hydroxides than Se(VI), which originates from the formation of the inner-sphere complexes of Te(IV) and Te(VI) to Fe(III) hydroxides.     

The Estimation of the Cavity Effect by Higher Degree Finite Element Approximation

The measurements of tide-induced tilts and deformations are usually performed in underground cavities (mostly man-made). Therefore, the data obtained must be debugged of the influence of the cavity itself (cavity effect) and of the effect of elastic parameter inhomogeneities in the vicinity of the point of measurement (geological effect), if they are to he presented. Since these effects are reflected as a modulation of tidal waves (in both amplitude and phase), the only way to perform this can be modelling of the strain and stress field around the cavity as precisely as possible. The finite element method (F.E.M.) seems to be a very useful tool for this purpose. To justify some conclusions in this paper, a number of numerical runs of the F.E.M. models of the tide-induced strains and stresses (in two dimensions) were performed. A higher degree of approximation (up to the value of 7) was used in these calculations. To estimate the cavity effect, the correction factors (relative changes of particular strain components due to the presence of the cavity) were determined and plotted in the cavity's close neighbourhood. The distribution of the deformation energy (and also the work of external forces) over the whole domain of interest is given, and the conclusions for subsequent error estimation are drawn. An attempt was made to compare the real tilt data to the theoretical deduced from the numerical model.     

Dilution of North Pacific Intermediate Water studied with chlorofluorocarbons

Assessment was made of residual ratio of North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) produced in subpolar region of the North Pacific using chlorofluorocarbons, CFC-11 and CFC-12 (CCl₃F and CCl₂F₂), along 175°E. NPIW on density horizons less than 26.80 remained more than 80% north of 30°N. It was suggested that new NPIW laterally spreads over the northern North Pacific without hardly being diluted by the surroundings. For density horizons greater than 26.80 north of 30°N, NPIW remained less than 60%. The difference in the residual ratio between <26.80 and >26.80 north of 30°N suggests that NPIW is produced on density horizons less than 26.80, which contacts the atmosphere in the subpolar region, and that NPIW is diluted by upwelling deep water on density horizons greater than 26.80 in high latitude of the North Pacific. NPIW on a density horizon of 26.80 remained about 50% south of 30°N. The decrease in the horizontal distribution of the residual ratio of NPIW suggests that half the new NPIW produced in the subpolar region is laterally spread over the North Pacific with the southward movement of NPIW.     

Effects of stand characteristics on tree species richness in and around a conservation area of northeast Bangladesh

We investigated the effect of tree cover, forest patch and disturbances on tree species richness in a highly diverse conservation area of northeast Bangladesh. A systematic sampling protocol was adopted and 80 sub-plots from twenty five 1 ha plots were used for the vegetation survey. Linear regression analysis was performed to understand the effect of patch area, disturbances and tree cover on tree species richness. Ordination using Redundancy analysis (RDA) and Non-metric Multi Dimensional Scaling (NMDS) were also performed to explore the tree species compositional similarities along the stand characteristics gradient and locations of the sample plots. Our study revealed that, forest patch size has greater influence on species richness. Areas with medium level of disturbances have shown greater species richness. In constrained ordination the selected explanatory variables regulated the richness of common species. Our findings can be useful for better forest management and restoration of landscapes of conservation needs using ecologically important species.     

Nutrient and Phytoplankton Dynamics in Harima-Nada, Eastern Seto Inland Sea, Japan During a 35-Year Period from 1973 to 2007

Long-term monitoring of water quality and phytoplankton was conducted at 19 sampling stations in Harima-Nada, eastern Seto Inland Sea, Japan for 35 years from 1973 to 2007. There were two significant long-term changes, an increase in winter water temperatures of 0.042°C year^?1, and a decrease in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) from about 10 μM in the 1970s to ~5 μM in the late 1990s due to the reduction in nutrient inputs. DIN concentrations and total phytoplankton cell density were both higher during the 1970s to the early 1980s and then exhibited a significant decrease in the mid 1980s and remained relatively constant thereafter. Diatoms were the dominant phytoplankton group (>90%) over the 35-year period, and there was a dramatic shift from Skeletonema dominance (~70%) to Chaetoceros in the mid 1980s. This shift in diatom species may be attributed to differences in the life cycle of Skeletonema and Chaetoceros and the response to the decrease in DIN concentration.