Late holocene environmental change in an upper Montane area of the snowy mountains,New South Wales

This study examines environmental change in the upper montane zone of the Australian Eastern Highlands during the late Holocene, by analysing vegetation, fire and erosion records contained within a small fen located in a frost hollow. Differences in environmental parameters across the prehistoric—historic boundary were particularly investigated in an attempt to characterise better the changes associated with the imposition of European land‐use practices. Decreases in arboreal pollen and an increased charcoal concentration near the base of the analysed sequence, interpreted to be about 1600 y BP until about 1300 y BP, are suggestive of reduced moisture availability. After this, a period of relative stability continued to the close of the prehistoric period. The arrival of Europeans in the region triggered changes in the sediment record, including an increase in the accumulation of sediment by an order of magnitude, and changes in the surrounding vegetation. Saturated isothermal remnant magnetism (SIRM) was found to be significantly higher in the historic period compared to the analysed prehistoric period, suggesting an alteration in the erosional processes within the catchment. The concentration of charcoal was comparable between the prehistoric and historic periods; however, the increased sedimentation rate of the historic period infers an increased accumulation of charcoal. Fire did not appear to be related to the vegetation changes evident in the historic period, perhaps due to the use of cool fires by the pastoralists.     

Comments on ’a Numerical Simulation of Boundary-Layer Flows Near Shelterbelts‘ by H. Wang and E. Takle

We implemented the windbreak model of Wang and Takle to investigate whythose authors could have obtained better agreement with the Bradley andMulhearn wind reduction measurements in the far lee of a fence, than wasobtained by Wilson using a very similar model. According to our experiencethe improvement of the Wang-Takle simulations (relative to Wilson's)largely arises from their having used a too-shallow computational domain(8H, versus Wilson's 47H; H being the windbreak height).     

The June 2013 Alberta Catastrophic Flooding Event: Part 1—Climatological aspects and hydrometeorological features

In June 2013, excessive rainfall associated with an intense weather system triggered severe flooding in southern Alberta, which became the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. This article provides an overview of the climatological aspects and large‐scale hydrometeorological features associated with the flooding event based upon information from a variety of sources, including satellite data, upper air soundings, surface observations and operational model analyses. The results show that multiple factors combined to create this unusually severe event. The event was characterized by a slow‐moving upper level low pressure system west of Alberta, blocked by an upper level ridge, while an associated well‐organized surface low pressure system kept southern Alberta, especially the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, in continuous precipitation for up to two days. Results from air parcel trajectory analysis show that a significant amount of the moisture originated from the central Great Plains, transported into Alberta by a southeasterly low level jet. The event was first dominated by significant thunderstorm activity, and then evolved into continuous precipitation supported by the synoptic‐scale low pressure system. Both the thunderstorm activity and upslope winds associated with the low pressure system produced large rainfall amounts. A comparison with previous similar events occurring in the same region suggests that the synoptic‐scale features associated with the 2013 rainfall event were not particularly intense; however, its storm environment was the most convectively unstable. The system also exhibited a relatively high freezing level, which resulted in rain, rather than snow, mainly falling over the still snow‐covered mountainous areas. Melting associated with this rain‐on‐snow scenario likely contributed to downstream flooding. Furthermore, above‐normal snowfall in the preceding spring helped to maintain snow in the high‐elevation areas, which facilitated the rain‐on‐snow event. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Assessment of Surface and Atmospheric Conditions Associated with the Extreme 2014 Wildfire Season in Canada’s Northwest Territories

Weather and climate are major factors influencing worldwide wildfire activity. This study assesses surface and atmospheric conditions associated with the 2014 extreme wildfires in the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada. Hot and dry conditions led to the NWT experiencing the most severe wildfire season in its recorded history. The season included a record number of cloud-to-ground lightning flashes and set a record for area burned. Lightning was the dominant ignition source and accounted for about 95% of the wildfires. Prolonged periods of smoke led to dramatic reductions in visibility, frequent road closures, and reduced air quality resulting in numerous health alerts. Temporal and spatial patterns of lightning characteristics in 2014, derived from Canadian Lightning Detection Network data, were different from those in other years with, for example, far more positive flashes from 0600 to 1200?utc (midnight to 6:00 am local time). The highest fraction of positive cloud-to-ground flashes (43.1%) occurred in the smoke-dominated North Slave region, which was more than in the Dehcho, South Slave, or Sahtu regions. Mid-tropospheric atmospheric circulation over a large region that included the NWT was classified into the six most common summer patterns. Results showed that ridging and ridge displacements occurred more frequently during 2014 although lightning was associated with all circulation patterns. This study has advanced the understanding of the roles of weather, lightning, and mid-tropospheric circulation patterns associated with extreme wildfires in northwestern Canada.     

南天山川乌鲁碱性杂岩体的岩石学和地球化学特征及其岩石成因

位于中国南天山西侧阔克萨彦岭一带的川乌鲁碱性杂岩体,与该区川乌鲁铜金多金属矿床有着直接的成因联系,该杂岩体由早期的辉长岩—闪长岩岩、主期的二长岩—正长岩和晚期的正长花岗斑岩脉组成,各期岩石在矿物组成和化学成分上有明显的变化。从早到晚,SiO2含量增加,变化范围是50.52%～70.64%;全碱含量先增后减,在SiO2含量小于61.69%时,随SiO2含量增加而增加,而当SiO2含量大于61.69%时,与SiO2含量负相关。在AR-SiO2图解上,大多样品落入碱性区间,在A/CNK-A/NK图解上表现出由准铝质向过碱性演化的趋势。微量元素表现为大离子亲石元素相对高场强元素富集,Rb、Ba、Th、Sr等元素的相对富集和Nb、Ta、P、Ti等元素的负异常。稀土元素表现为轻稀土相对富集的特征,其(La/Yb)N为14.13～25.09,具有Eu的正异常或极微弱的Eu负异常。一些元素比值的线性关系暗示了该杂岩体为岩浆混合成因,基性岩浆的源区为富水的岩石圈地幔,而酸性岩浆是中下地壳中性火成岩在含饱和水条件下部分熔融的产物。这些性质指示川乌鲁杂岩体是在后碰撞拉张环境中由岩石圈地幔熔融的基性岩浆的底侵作用导致地壳的熔融以及后期的岩浆混合作用有关。     

Multilevel optimization of surface coal mine truck and shovel fleets

Summary Optimization algorithms are developed to improve the selection of truck and shovel fleets for suface mine operations. These are based on performance estimation models developed by Fluor Utah (1977) and graphical display algorithms and other software within the SEAMPLAN system developed at Montana State University. The advantages and disadvantages of the method are considered.     

A technique for the calculation of time dependent wind driven currents

A technique has been presented that allows for the estimation of the wind driven current or transport due to an arbitrary, time dependent wind through simple calculations. The limitations involved are primarily those inherent in an Ekman force balance. The technique is useful where an immediatem, operational requirement exists to estimate the local wind driven current.