Climatic changes in central and eastern Canada inferred from deep borehole temperature data

We analyzed data from 23 boreholes at 19 sites in central and eastern Canada, for the purpose of estimating ground surface temperature (GST) histories. These boreholes were logged down to at least 550 m depth with thermistor probes. Thermal conductivity measurements had been previously made at small depth intervals for the entire depth ranges of most of the boreholes. The temperature profiles of these boreholes do not indicate water disturbance. We estimated terrain effects for each borehole using a time dependent solid-angle method. The thermal perturbations caused by lakes or deforestation near the borehole sites are insignificant in most cases. However, four of the holes were found to be severely influenced by terrain effects. GSTs estimated from the borehole data less influenced by the terraineffects form two groups. The first group, which are generally from data of better quality, show a cold period near the end of the last century before the recent warming trend; the second show it 80–100 years earlier. We consider the former typical of the climate of the Boreal climatic region of Canada. The difference between the two groups may reflect the spacial variability of the climate. Four GST estimates do not belong to either type, and the reasons are discussed.     

Numerical manifold method for dynamic nonlinear analysis of saturated porous media

It is well known that the Babuska–Brezzi stability criterion or the Zienkiewicz–Taylor patch test precludes the use of the finite elements with the same low order of interpolation for displacement and pore pressure in the nearly incompressible and undrained cases, unless some stabilization techniques are introduced for dynamic analysis of saturated porous medium where coupling occurs between the displacement of solid skeleton and pore pressure. The numerical manifold method (NMM), where the interpolation of displacement and pressure can be determined independently in an element for the solution of u–p formulation, is derived based on triangular mesh for the requirement of high accurate calculations from practical applications in the dynamic analysis of saturated porous materials. The matrices of equilibrium equations for the second‐order displacement and the first‐order pressure manifold method are given in detail for program coding. By close comparison with widely used finite element method, the NMM presents good stability for the coupling problems, particularly in the nearly incompressible and undrained cases. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the validity and stability of the manifold element developed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The grain-size characteristics of Quaternary deposits at Xingshan near Siping in Jilin province, China

This research paper analyses the grain-size characteristics of the Quaternary deposits at Xingshan near Siping, Jilin province in China by employing graphic measures to study the grain size distribution and its mode of transport and deposition. The Quaternary deposits at Xingshan lie unconformable on Cretaceous rocks made of siltstone, mudstone and sandstone. The average grain size is between 8.06 to 8.55Φ (0.002 6 ～0.003 7 mm). The Quaternary deposits at Xingshan mainly compose of very fine silt to clay. The compositions of the grade are clay 63% and silt 37%. The clay size components are weathered debris transported and deposited by flowing water from the SE highlands or hills to the low lying NW Xingshan plains whereas the silty components accumulated by aoelian process. The Quaternary deposits at Xingshan accumulated in the middle and late Pleistocene interglacial periods from (459.12～39.03) ka to (88.92～7.56) ka. The standard deviation ranged from 0.96 to 1.36Φ, indicating that the sediments are moderately to poorly sorted, Coefficient of skewness ranged from 0.16～0.31 with an average skewness of 0.218, (Positively skewed towards fine). Kurtosis values (0.84～1.05) from the grain size distribution and visual inspection of the frequency curves indicate platykurtic to mesokurtic curves and unimodal to bimodal grain-size distribution. The type of deposit formation is sand dune and the source is at a distal from its provenance.     

γ射线暴研究概况

γ射线暴(简称γ暴)的研究自1997年以来由于余辉的发现而有了很大的突破。在此，对γ暴的观测作了简要的概述，而对γ暴的理论进展和存在问题进行了较为全面的评述，内容包括γ暴本身、余辉、能源机制、寄主星系、暴周环境、高能粒子和引力波辐射、宇宙学意义等。     

A neural network approach to ship track-keeping control

This paper presents an on-line trained neural net work controller for ship track-keeping problems. Following a brief review of the ship track-keeping control development since the 1980's, an analysis of various existing backpropagation-based neural controllers is provided. We then propose a single-input multioutput (SIMO) neural control strategy for situations where the exact mathematical dynamics of the ship are not available. The aim of this study is to build an autonomous neural controller which uses rudder to regulate both the tracking error and heading error. During the whole control process, the proposed SIMO neural controller adapts itself on-line from a direct evaluation of the control accuracy, and hence the need for a “teacher” or an off-line training process can be removed. With a relatively modest amount of quantitative knowledge of the ship behavior, the design philosophy enables real time control of a nonlinear ship model under random wind disturbances and measurement noise. Three different track-keeping tasks have been simulated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the training method and the robust performance of the proposed neural control strategy     

On penetration depth of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments into the Jovian atmosphere

The actual penetration depth of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments into the Jovian atmosphere is still an open question. From fundamental equations of meteoric physics with variable cross-section, a new analytic model of energy release of the fragments is presented. In use of reasonable parameters, a series of results are calculated for different initial mass of the fragments. The results show that the largest fragment explodes above pressure levels of 3 bars and does not penetrate into the H₂O cloud layer of the Jovian atmosphere, and that airburst of smaller fragments occur even above the upper cloud layer.     

A new radiolarian species Clathrocorys gracilis from northern South China Sea

A new species,Clathrocorys gracilis nov. spec. of Tripocyrtidae (Radiolarians: Nassellaria) from surface water in northern South China Sea, is described in this paper. The new species has four radial beams arising from the cephalic base centre, each foot with cup-shaped structure and ramified bar in the proximal section (near cephalic base), and each wing with a large mesh in the middle, a medium mesh and a small mesh on each side respectively. Project supported by the NSFC (No. 40276044) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KSCX2-SW-101B).     

南水北调东线水质污染和湖泊水生经济的系统分析

本文讨论了我国南水北调东线水质污染的产生及其对调水水质的影响,同时对调水区域内工业排水与治理经济模式和湖泊水生经济系统的最优化分析进行了探论.