Fossil hunting in the Neolithic: Shells from the Taurus Mountains at Çatalhöyük,Turkey

The Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey contains thousands of mollusk shells, among them about 200 fossils. About 25 fossil gastropods and bivalvesoriginate in a Miocene fauna from the Mediterranean Tethys province, and are known from several localities in the Taurus Mountains, dating to the Miocene. The rest are scaphopods belonging to two species of Dentalium and dating to the Pliocene. The gastropods and bivalves were likely collected in the Karaman‐Mut Basin at adistance of about 50km from Çatalhöyük, while the scaphopods were brought from the Hatay Basin. Most of the fossil mollusks at the site were discovered in the upper phases, that is, late in the Pre‐Pottery Neolithic B sequence, and are associated with feasting activities. They may have been collected and brought to the site by the inhabitants as part of transhumance activities, or by visitors. © 2010Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Numerical simulation of seasonal distribution of precipitation over the eastern Mediterranean with a RCM

Regional climate model (RCM) RegCM3 with 50 km horizontal resolution driven from the lateral boundaries by the data from NCEP/NCAR re-analysis is used in a series of ten climate downscaling experiments over the eastern Mediterranean (EM) region. Results of the experiments are characterized by seasonal precipitation patterns with notable offshore precipitation zones positioned ~50 km westward of a less intense precipitation zone over the coastal area. Atmospheric processes determining the distribution of seasonal precipitation patterns in the EM are analyzed based on results of the RCM experiments performed. Level of success of the model representation of the actual precipitation over the ECM appears to be depending on that of precipitation balance over different parts of the domain. Excessive moisture convergence over a sub-area usually takes place at the expense of moisture divergence from neighboring areas. Synoptic mechanism causing formation of the precipitation zone in the offshore zone appears to be associated with the role of meridionally oriented atmospheric trough systems extending from Scandinavia or Siberia to the EM during the period with rainy events. In such situations, air flows with strong northern components lead to intense transport of cold air masses to the EM. Meeting of the cold air masses the warm and humid air over the sea surface in the offshore zone causes formation of persistent squall lines and heavy rains there. Such processes may continue quite long as long as the troughs are stationary.     

南极冰层取心钻探钻井液对雪层影响的模拟研究

深冰层取心钻探是极地科学考察的重要组成部分。在极地勘探取样过程中做到在获得高质量冰岩心样品的同时,将钻井液对极地环境的污染降低到最低程度,对保护极地原生环境具有重要意义。依据南极科学钻探的地层条件,应用Visual Modflow建立了污染物在雪层中的运移模型,在污染物浓度保持恒定时,对钻孔内污染物进行了数值模拟,预测了10年后污染物在雪中污染羽扩散范围。在此基础上,对比分析了不同弥散系数时,雪对污染物弥散的能力。极地科学钻探使用的钻井液粘度通常是水的10倍,随着污染物粘度的增大,其扩散的距离也将相应减少。研究结果为深入开展极地冰层取心钻探钻井液对极地环境影响评价研究奠定了重要的理论与技术基础。     

南极冰钻钻井液应用性试验研究

钻井液的性质及性能参数对于南极科学钻探有着重要的影响。钻井液除了必须要具备合适的粘度和密度,以满足冷却钻头、平衡孔壁压力、携带冰屑、清洁孔底的要求外,钻井液的性质如导电性、导热性及其腐蚀性对于保证钻具的正常工作、输送孔内信息也有着重要的影响。根据目前已经在南极使用的钻井液类型,分别对6种介质（国产硅油-3cst、KF96硅油-2cst、丁酸乙酯、丁酸丁酯、丁酸戊酯、丙酸丙酯）在不同温度下的电导率、导热系数和对密封件的腐蚀性进行了试验测试,选出了适合南极应用的钻井液类型及在钻具中使用的密封件材质,可供极地钻探选择钻井液类型及钻具设计提供重要的参考。     

Stochastic management of pump-and-treat strategies using surrogate functions

Typical pump-and-treat (PAT) optimization problems involve design of pumping schemes, while minimizing cost and meeting a set of constraints. Due to scarcity of information about the hydrogeological system, stochastic modeling approaches can be used to assess tradeoffs between optimality and reliability. Using a stochastic approach, the constrained, single-objective problem may be turned into a multiobjective problem by substituting constraint inequalities with an additional objective function (OF) that accounts for the reliability of the PAT process. In this work, two approaches are analyzed: in one case, the additional OF consists of the probability of failure of a given remediation policy; in another, the OF additional is represented by the recourse, namely the penalty cost induced by the violation of constraints. In order to overcome the overwhelming computational cost required by stochastic simulation, surrogate forms of the OFs are introduced. In the test case under investigation, such functions are estimated by a kriging interpolation of the OF over a series of data points obtained from stochastic simulations of flow and transport, and calibrated against stochastic optimization solutions. The analysis of the two approaches for addressing the tradeoff of cost vs. reliability indicates that recourse accounts not only for the frequency of constraint violations, as the probability of failure does, but also for the intensity with which these occur. Ultimately, the recourse method allows considering less restrictive policies, although these may be highly sensitive to the choice of penalty functions.     

A possible new molecular mechanism of thundercloud electrification

Thunderclouds are electrified when charge is transferred between small and large ice particles colliding in a cloud that contains strong updrafts. The small ice particles rise with one type of charge and the large ice particles fall and carry with them downward the other type of charge, which is most often negative, so that normally lightning lowers negative charge from cloud to the ground. While the collisional mechanism of thundercloud charging is well established, the nature of the charge transfer between the colliding ice particles is not very well understood on the atomic level, and no present theory can explain it in full detail. Here we propose a new charge separation mechanism that is based on molecular dynamics simulations of particle surfaces and collisions, keeping track of the individual charges as they move in the form of salt ions from one ice particle to another. Under normal conditions, when sulfates dominate as cloud condensation nuclei, this ionic mechanism is consistent with the prevailing negative charging of graupels in thunderclouds. Moreover, with dearth of sulfate anions, the present mechanism predicts a shift towards positive charging. This fits well to a large range of observations of enhanced positive lightning, connected with smoke rich in chlorides and nitrates, that could not be explained satisfactorily previously.     

Attribution of uranium ore concentrates using elemental and anionic data

The capability to correctly identify the geological or geographical source of unknown uranium ore concentrates (UOCs) has obvious nuclear security benefits. This paper reports on a scoping study where the trace elemental and anionic compositions of 24 UOC samples, sourced mainly from mines in Australia and Canada, were examined for their ability to allow attribution of the sample to a particular geological U deposit type or to a particular geographical source. Results of statistical analysis using canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) showed that samples originating from certain U ore deposit types, especially phosphorite and quartz-pebble conglomerate, contained a distinct impurity composition. Samples grouped according to their geographical region of origin appeared to contain distinctive impurities in certain cases (Elliot Lake and Bancroft, Ontario). The key impurities responsible for differentiating groups of samples from a particular geological deposit type were identified and the use of certain impurities as signatures of processing history is discussed. The methodology described in this scoping study provides a promising approach for more comprehensive databases.