Geosites inventory of the northwestern Tabular Middle Atlas of Morocco

Across the northwestern Tabular Middle Atlas of Morocco there are many examples of landscapes, rocks and fossils that provide key evidence of a particular moment or period in Earth history. Such Earth heritage sites are important for educating the general public in environmental matters. They also serve as tools for demonstrating sustainable development and for illustrating methods of site conservation as well as remembering that rocks, minerals, fossils, soils, landforms form an integral part of the natural world. The significance of certain sites for aesthetic or tourism reasons is obvious. There are numerous geosites, which could contribute to effective exploitation of geotourism, often in conjunction with ecotourism. The strategy employed to such sites involves close consultation with all communities in the vicinity of the respective geosite and is not only aimed at tourism and education, but also at sustainable improvement of the infrastructure of the people of this area. Geological heritage sites, properly managed, can generate employment and new economic activities, especially in regions in need of new or additional sources of income.     

Thermal behaviour and kinetics of dehydration of gypsum in air from in situ real-time laboratory parallel-beam X-ray powder diffraction

Thermal behaviour and kinetics of dehydration of gypsum in air have been investigated using in situ real-time laboratory parallel-beam X-ray powder diffraction data evaluated by the Rietveld method. Thermal expansion has been analysed from 298 to 373 K. The high-temperature limits for the cell edges and for the cell volume, calculated using the Einstein equation, are 4.29 × 10⁻⁶, 4.94 × 10⁻⁵, 2.97 × 10⁻⁵, and 8.21 × 10⁻⁵. Thermal expansion of gypsum is strongly anisotropic being larger along the b axis mainly due to the weakening of hydrogen bond. Dehydration of gypsum has been investigated in isothermal conditions within the 348–403 K range with a temperature increase of 5 K. Dehydration proceeds through the CaSO₄·2H₂O → CaSO₄·0.5H₂O → γ-CaSO₄ steps. Experimental data have been fitted with the Avrami equation to calculate the empirical activation energy of the process. No change in transformation mechanism has been observed within the analysed temperature range and the corresponding E _a is 109(12) kJ/mol.     

Changes of cloud microphysical properties during the transition from supercooled to mixed-phase conditions during CIME

A ground-based seeding experiment using carbon dioxide and propane sprayed from pressurized bottles was carried out under supercooled cloud conditions on a small spatial and short time scale. Water vapor deposition on the artificially generated dry ice and propane ice germs as the main ice formation process (nucleation and growth) is consistent with the experimental results. After nucleation, diffusional growth of the ice particles, partly at the expense of evaporating small droplets, was identified during the mixing of the seeding line with the ambient supercooled cloud. Within the seeding plume, ice water contents up to 80% of the total condensed water are observed, although the size of the formed ice particles did not exceed 25 μm. From the changes of the ice and supercooled liquid phase with time under mixed-phase conditions, liquid water content (LWC) evaporation, ice water content (IWC) formation, and ice crystal growth rates are estimated, which are not affected by the artificial nucleation process. Thus, these rates are assessed to be applicable for a growing ice phase of small ice particles in a young mixed-phase cloud, where other growth mechanisms, like riming or aggregation, are negligible.     

A design procedure for tied braced frames

The paper deals with the analysis of the seismic behaviour and design of tied braced frames (TBFs). The behavioural properties of TBFs are described and a comparison drawn with standard eccentrically braced frames. A design procedure is then proposed that aims to achieve optimal collapse seismic behaviour, i.e. a global collapse mechanism characterized by uniform plastic rotations of links. The procedure is based on the displacement‐based approach so as to achieve direct and efficient control of the peak ground acceleration of collapse. Applications are carried out on systems with different numbers of storeys and lengths of links to obtain confirmation of the accuracy of the design hypotheses and methodologies. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of Integrated Geodetic Data Models and Satellite Radar Interferograms to Infer Magma Storage During the 1991–1993 Mt. Etna Eruption

We compare the results obtained from the modelling of EDM, GPS, levelling and tilt data measured in the first part of the 1991–1993 eruption at Etna to the InSAR data acquired during the second part. The geodetic changes are very marked in the first half of the eruption and constrain a deflation source located at a few kilometers of depth ( 3 km b.s.l.), in agreement with other independent geophysical evidence. SAR data, available during the second part of the eruption, were analysed for different time intervals in the second part of the eruption. The interpretation of SAR interferograms reveals a large-scale but less marked deflation of the volcano that could be caused by a deeper source. This second source is in accord with a second deeper anomaly revealed by recent seismic investigations. The combination of geodetic data modelling and SAR images suggests a complex plumbing system composed at least of two possible storage regions located at different depths.     

青海湖水位变化对青藏高原气候变化的响应

利用1959-2008年青海湖流域刚察和天峻站的降水、气温、风速及布哈河流量、青海湖水位高度、青藏高原地面加热场强度距平指数和青藏高原季风指数等逐月资料,分析了气候变化对青海湖水位年际波动的影响。结果表明,冬季青藏高原地面加热场的加强有利于青藏高原冬季风的加强,春末夏初(5～6月)青藏高原地面加热场强度的增强有利于青藏高原夏季风的提前(5～6月)加强;冬、春季青海湖流域风速与布哈河流量是引起青海湖水位年际差变化的主要因子;夏、秋季,青海湖水位年际差受流域降水量、风速和流量的共同作用,随着流域降水增加、入湖流量的加大、风速减小,水位年际差呈上升趋势(水位下降速度减慢)。建立了青藏高原热力作用和气候变化的关系及其对青海湖水位下降趋缓(年际差增大)的概念模型。     

Geometric Integration of Aerial and High-Resolution Satellite Imagery and Application in Shoreline Mapping

This paper investigates the geopositioning accuracy achievable from integrating IKONOS and QuickBird satellite stereo image pairs with aerial images acquired over a region at Tampa Bay, Florida. The results showed that the accuracy is related to a few factors of imaging geometry. For example, the geopositioning accuracy of a stereo pair of IKONOS or QuickBird images can be improved by integrating a set of aerial images, even just a single aerial image or a stereo pair of aerial images. Shorelines derived from the IKONOS and QuickBird stereo images, particularly the vertical positions, are compared with the corresponding observations of water-penetrating LiDAR and water gauge stations and proved that differences are within the limit of the geopositioning uncertainty of the satellite images.     

甘肃省天水地区上第三系含坡缕石白土的研究

天水地区新第三纪湖相白土除含少量碎屑矿物石英、长石外,主要由伊利石、绿泥石、蒙皂石等粘土矿物及白云石、方解石等碳酸盐矿物组成。北部地区含有坡缕石,最多约40％,南部含有方沸石。白土中的粘土和碳酸盐矿物颗粒细小,有序度差。坡缕石由胶体结晶,或由碎屑云母转变而成。白土的形成温度约20～50℃,介质是咸水-半咸水,具碱性。当B、Sr/Ca值及盐度较高,而Sr/Ba、Br/Cl、δ~(18)O值及温度较低时,有利於形成坡缕石。     

煤矸石的环境危害及综合利用研究

针对我国矿区煤矸石大量排放的现状,介绍了煤矸石的形成以及煤矸石大量堆放对环境所产生的危害和影响,并概述了煤矸石污染的防治措施及其综合利用途径。     

差分GPS实现探地雷达图像地形校正方法研究

针对在地形起伏较大的区域探地雷达获取的图像不能表达地形变化的缺点,通过探地雷达与差分GPS同步采集记录数据,实现探地雷达图像与GPS数据时间同步,选择某一标准水准面为参考面,根据时间位移和线性插值方法,将探地雷达数据进行时深转换,从而实现探地雷达地形校正。探地雷达图像地形校正前后对比表明此方法在保留地下介质体水平方向分布特征的同时,实现了探地雷达图像在垂直方向的精确校正,对地下目标的解译和精确定位有很大的帮助,对浅层活动断层探测具有一定的实际意义。