Harmonic analysis of cosmic microwave background data – I. Ring reductions and point-source catalogue

We present a harmonic model for the data analysis of an all-sky cosmic microwave background survey, such as Planck , where the survey is obtained through ring-scans of the sky. In this model, resampling and pixelization of the data are avoided. The spherical transforms of the sky at each frequency, in total intensity and polarization, as well as the bright-point-source catalogue, are derived directly from the data reduced on to the rings. Formal errors and the most significant correlation coefficients for the spherical transforms of the frequency maps are preserved. A clean and transparent path from the original samplings in the time domain to the final scientific products is thus obtained. The data analysis is largely based on Fourier analysis of rings; the positional stability of the instrument's spin axis during these scans is a requirement for the data model and is investigated here for the Planck satellite. Brighter point sources are recognized and extracted as part of the ring reductions and, on the basis of accumulated data, used to build the bright-point-source catalogue. The analysis of the rings is performed in an iterative loop, involving a range of geometric and detector response calibrations. The geometric calibrations are used to reconstruct the paths of the detectors over the sky during a scan and the phase offsets between scans of different detectors; the response calibrations eliminate short- and long-term variations in detector response. Point-source information may allow the reconstruction of the beam profile. The reconstructed spherical transforms of the sky in each frequency channel form the input to the subsequent analysis stages. Although the methods in this paper were developed with the data processing for the Planck satellite in mind, there are many aspects which have wider implementation possibilities, including the construction of real-space pixelized maps.     

土壤质量评价国外研究进展

土壤是人类赖以生存的根本资源。土壤质量涉及到动植物生产力,大气、水的质量和人类的健康,随着人们对自然资源和环境保护意识的增强,越来越多的国家和地区已将土壤质量评价工作作为实现可持续发展的一个重要方面。通过土壤质量评价,了解土壤管理和利用的现状,为土壤质量的改善及可持续利用提供理论依据和技术支撑。根据国外近10年的研究,总结了主要的评价指标体系和评价方法。评价指标主要包括土壤物理、化学和生物性质3个方面的指标。评价方法分为定性和定量评价,定量评价应用较广,包括土壤质量指数、土壤质量模型、多元线性回归、相对土壤质量法等。掌握和了解国外相关研究的动态,对于开展土地质量地球化学评估及土地的分等定级工作有着重要的意义。     

Trace metal concentrations in sediments of the Eastern Mississippi Bight

Sediments collected from 3 onshore-offshore transects (12 stations total) in the Eastern Mississippi Bight at 5 different times during 1987–1988 have been analyzed for total Ag, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Th and Zn. The data show considerable variation both spatially and temporally, largely as a result of natural variability in grain size and mineralogy. Clay-rich samples from deep water were always more metal-rich than sandy samples from shallow areas. Many samples from near the Mississippi River Delta appeared to be enriched in Ba by about a factor of two, probably as a result of contamination from oil well drilling mud, but there were few other indications of pollution influences. Many samples from throughout the area gave Mn/Fe and Cd/Fe ratios a factor of two or more lower than their Mississippi River source material. This shows that biochemical activity in the sediment is capable of solubilizing reducible and adsorbed metals.     

Authigenic carbonates from the eastern Black Sea as an archive for shallow gas hydrate dynamics – Results from the combination of CT imaging with mineralogical and stable isotope analyses

Authigenic carbonates associated with cold seeps provide valuable archives of changes in the long-term seepage activity. To investigate the role of shallow-buried hydrates on the seepage strength and fluid composition we analysed methane-derived carbonate precipitates from a high-flux hydrocarbon seepage area (“Batumi seep area”) located on the south-eastern Black Sea slope in ca. 850 m. In a novel approach, we combined computerized X-ray tomography (CT) with mineralogical and isotope geochemical methods to get additional insights into the three-dimensional internal structure of the carbonate build-ups.     

Pure aluminium shear panels as dissipative devices in moment‐resisting steel frames

The use of energy dissipation systems for the seismic control of steel structures represents a valid alternative to conventional seismic design methods. The seismic devices currently employed are mostly based on the metallic yielding technology due to the large feasibility and efficiency they can provide. Within this context, in the current paper an innovative solution based on the adoption of low‐yield‐strength pure aluminium shear panels (SPs) for seismic protection of steel moment‐resisting frames is proposed and investigated. In order to prove the effectiveness of the system, a wide numerical study based on both static and dynamic non‐linear analyses has been carried out, considering a number of different frame‐to‐shear panel combinations, aiming at assessing the effect of the main influential parameters on the seismic response of the structure. The obtained results show that the contribution provided by aluminium SPs is rather significant, allowing a remarkable improvement of the seismic performance of the structure in terms of stiffness, strength and ductility, with the possibility to strongly limit the damage occurring in the members of moment‐resisting frames. In particular, it is clearly emphasized that the stiffening effect provided by SPs allows a more rational design procedure to be adopted, since the serviceability limit state check does not lead to unavoidable and uneconomical increase of the size of main structural members. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dating of post-glacial landforms in the central howgills

Little is known of Holocene landform development in Upland Britain. This paper describes a site at Middle Langdale in the Howgill Fells of Cumbria where large, but now stabilized and inactive gullies cut through periglacial material. At the base of the gullies large debris cones have buried earlier alluvial sediments on the valley floor. On these sediments and buried by the debris cones is a well-developed organic soil from which two ¹⁴C dates have been obtained in an attempt to estimate the age range of the soil. These dates range from 2580±55 years BP for the fine particulate fraction from the base of the organic horizon to 940±95 years BP for fossil rootlets from the uppermost organic layer, immediately below the overlying debris cones. The pollen evidence suggests that the valley floor site was initially dominated by alder carr and later by a Juncus marsh with birch, alder and hazel nearby. The pollen, from the surrounding upland area suggests woodland on the valley sides, dominated by oak and elm that was later replaced by a more open environment rich in heath species and in which disturbed ground species were present. The magnetic evidence indicates a stable local environment during soil formation but shows a sudden inwash of unweathered debris at the top of the buried soil. The evidence suggests that the valley floor was geomorphologically stable throughout the period of soil formation, although there was a local change in valley floor vegetation and a reduction of woodland cover on the valley sides at sometime during the period. The evidence then points to major geomorphological changes; a wave of soil erosion, gully development and debris cone deposition, perhaps following the Scandinavian introduction of sheep farming in the tenth century A.D.     

Environmental variables related to wheat yields in the semiarid pampa region of Argentina

The current paper analyses various environmental parameters in relation to wheat yields in Bordenave, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The variables used are: precipitation (ppt), maximum (Tx) and minimum temperature (Tmi) as well as those obtained by applying the Palmer model. Decadic and phenological scales are used for data corresponding to the period 1977–2000. The stepwise method is used to obtain a multi-variate equation to calculate yield taking into account environmental variables only. For a five variates model the coefficient of determination, R² equals 95.79% and the standard error of estimation is 129.0 kg ha⁻¹. In the sample yields, the incidence of total variability for thermal variables is 42.7% and for hydrological variables, 53%. The value and sign of the correlation coefficients were analysed throughout the cultivation cycle. The α coefficient is mainly responsible for yield variance during tillering and stem elongation. There is good correlation with the values of Palmer's Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for the flowering and grain filling stages.     

Sediment routing in the Zagros foreland basin: Drainage reorganization and a shift from axial to transverse sediment dispersal in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

In the northwestern sector of the Zagros foreland basin, axial fluvial systems initially delivered fine-grained sediments from northwestern source regions into a contiguous basin, and later transverse fluvial systems delivered coarse-grained sediments from northeastern sources into a structurally partitioned basin by fold-thrust deformation. Here we integrate sedimentologic, stratigraphic, palaeomagnetic and geochronologic data from the northwestern Zagros foreland basin to define the Neogene history of deposition and sediment routing in response to progressive advance of the Zagros fold-thrust belt. This study constrains the depositional environments, timing of deposition and provenance of nonmarine clastic deposits of the Injana (Upper Fars), Mukdadiya (Lower Bakhtiari) and Bai-Hasan (Upper Bakhtiari) Formations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Sediments of the Injana Formation (~12.4–7.75 Ma) were transported axially (orogen-parallel) from northwest to southeast by meandering and low-sinuosity channel belt system. In contrast, during deposition of the Mukdadiya Formation (~7.75–5 Ma), sediments were delivered transversely (orogen-perpendicular) from northeast to southwest by braided and low-sinuosity channel belt system in distributive fluvial megafans. By ~5 Ma, the northwestern Zagros foreland basin became partitioned by growth of the Mountain Front Flexure and considerable gravel was introduced in localized alluvial fans derived from growing topographic highs. Foredeep accumulation rates during deposition of the Injana, Mukdadiya and Bai-Hasan Formations averaged 350, 400 and 600 m/Myr respectively, suggesting accelerated accommodation generation in a rapidly subsiding basin governed by flexural subsidence. Detrital zircon U-Pb age spectra show that in addition to sources of Mesozoic-Cenozoic cover strata, the Injana Formation was derived chiefly from Palaeozoic-Precambrian (including Carboniferous and latest Neoproterozoic) strata in an axial position to the northwest, likely from the Bitlis-Puturge Massif and broader Eastern Anatolia. In contrast, the Mukdadiya and Bai-Hasan Formations yield distinctive Palaeogene U-Pb age peaks, particularly in the southeastern sector of the study region, consistent with transverse delivery from the arc-related terranes of the Walash and Naopurdan volcano-sedimentary groups (Gaveh-Rud domain?) and Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc to the northeast. These temporal and spatial variations in stratigraphic framework, depositional environments, sediment routing and compositional provenance reveal a major drainage reorganization during Neogene shortening in the Zagros fold-thrust belt. Whereas axial fluvial systems initially dominated the foreland basin during early orogenesis in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, transverse fluvial systems were subsequently established and delivered major sediment volumes to the foreland as a consequence of the abrupt deformation advance and associated topographic growth in the Zagros.     

Volcano-tectonic controls and emplacement kinematics of the Iriga debris avalanches (Philippines)

Mt Iriga in southeastern Luzon is known for its spectacular collapse scar that was possibly created in 1628 ad by a 1.5-km³ debris avalanche. The debris avalanche deposit (DAD) covered 70?km² and dammed the Barit River to form Lake Buhi. The collapse has been ascribed to a non-volcanic trigger related to a major strike-slip fault under the volcano. Using a combination of fieldwork and remote sensing, we have identified a similar size, older DAD to the southwest of the edifice that originated from a sector oblique to the underlying strike-slip fault. Both deposits cover wide areas of low, waterlogged plains, to a distance of about 16?km for the oldest and 12?km for the youngest. Hundreds of metre-wide and up to 50-m-high hummocks of intact conglomerate, sand and clay units derived from the base of the volcano show that the initial failure planes cut deep into the substrata. In addition, large proportions of both DAD consist of ring-plain sediments that were incorporated by soft-sediment bulking and extensive bulldozing. An ignimbrite unit incorporated into the younger DAD forms small (less than 5?m high) discrete hummocks between the larger ones. Both debris avalanches slid over water-saturated soft sediment or ignimbrite and spread out on a basal shear zone, accommodated by horst and graben formation and strike-slip faults in the main mass. The faults are listric and flatten into a well-developed basal shear zone. This shear zone contains components from the substrate and has a diffuse contact with the intact substrata. Long, transport-normal ridges in the distal parts are evidence of compression related to deceleration and bulldozing. The collapse orientation and structure on both sectors and DAD constituents are consistent with collapse being a response to combined transtensional faulting and gravity spreading. Iriga can serve as a model for other volcanoes, such as Mayon, that stand in sedimentary basins undergoing transtensional strike-slip faulting.