The simulation of European heat waves from an ensemble of regional climate models within the EURO-CORDEX project

The ability of a large ensemble of regional climate models to accurately simulate heat waves at the regional scale of Europe was evaluated. Within the EURO-CORDEX project, several state-of-the art models, including non-hydrostatic meso-scale models, were run for an extended time period (20 years) at high resolution (12 km), over a large domain allowing for the first time the simultaneous representation of atmospheric phenomena over a large range of spatial scales. Eight models were run in this configuration, and thirteen models were run at a classical resolution of 50 km. The models were driven with the same boundary conditions, the ERA-Interim re-analysis, and except for one simulation, no observations were assimilated in the inner domain. Results, which are compared with daily temperature and precipitation observations (ECA&D and E-OBS data sets) show that, even forced by the same re-analysis, the ensemble exhibits a large spread. A preliminary analysis of the sources of spread, using in particular simulations of the same model with different parameterizations, shows that the simulation of hot temperature is primarily sensitive to the convection and the microphysics schemes, which affect incoming energy and the Bowen ratio. Further, most models exhibit an overestimation of summertime temperature extremes in Mediterranean regions and an underestimation over Scandinavia. Even after bias removal, the simulated heat wave events were found to be too persistent, but a higher resolution reduced this deficiency. The amplitude of events as well as the variability beyond the 90th percentile threshold were found to be too strong in almost all simulations and increasing resolution did not generally improve this deficiency. Resolution increase was also shown to induce large-scale 90th percentile warming or cooling for some models, with beneficial or detrimental effects on the overall biases. Even though full causality cannot be established on the basis of this evaluation work, the drivers of such regional differences were shown to be linked to changes in precipitation due to resolution changes, affecting the energy partitioning. Finally, the inter-annual sequence of hot summers over central/southern Europe was found to be fairly well simulated in most experiments despite an overestimation of the number of hot days and of the variability. The accurate simulation of inter-annual variability for a few models is independent of the model bias. This indicates that internal variability of high summer temperatures should not play a major role in controlling inter-annual variability. Despite some improvements, especially along coastlines, the analyses conducted here did not allow us to generally conclude that a higher resolution is clearly beneficial for a correct representation of heat waves by regional climate models. Even though local-scale feedbacks should be better represented at high resolution, combinations of parameterizations have to be improved or adapted accordingly.     

Global river discharge and water temperature under climate change

Climate change will affect hydrologic and thermal regimes of rivers, having a direct impact on freshwater ecosystems and human water use. Here we assess the impact of climate change on global river flows and river water temperatures, and identify regions that might become more critical for freshwater ecosystems and water use sectors. We used a global physically based hydrological-water temperature modelling framework forced with an ensemble of bias-corrected general circulation model (GCM) output for both the SRES A2 and B1 emissions scenario. This resulted in global projections of daily river discharge and water temperature under future climate. Our results show an increase in the seasonality of river discharge (both increase in high flow and decrease in low flow) for about one-third of the global land surface area for 2071–2100 relative to 1971–2000. Global mean and high (95th percentile) river water temperatures are projected to increase on average by 0.8–1.6 (1.0–2.2) °C for the SRES B1–A2 scenario for 2071–2100 relative to 1971–2000. The largest water temperature increases are projected for the United States, Europe, eastern China, and parts of southern Africa and Australia. In these regions, the sensitivities are exacerbated by projected decreases in low flows (resulting in a reduced thermal capacity). For strongly seasonal rivers with highest water temperatures during the low flow period, up to 26% of the increases in high (95th percentile) water temperature can be attributed indirectly to low flow changes, and the largest fraction is attributable directly to increased atmospheric energy input. A combination of large increases in river temperature and decreases in low flows are projected for the southeastern United States, Europe, eastern China, southern Africa and southern Australia. These regions could potentially be affected by increased deterioration of water quality and freshwater habitats, and reduced water available for human uses such as thermoelectric power and drinking water production.     

Risk occurrences of damaging frosts during the growing season of vegetables in the Elbe River lowland,the Czech Republic

This study has, for the first time, analysed in detail the risk occurrences of the last spring frost, first fall frost and the length of the frost-free period during the growing season of vegetable crops at a high horizontal resolution of 10 km in the Elbe River lowland in the Czech Republic. The daily minimum air temperature from 116 grid points throughout the studied area for the period 1961–2011 was used. The daily values of minimum air temperature ranges of 0 to ?1.1 °C, ?1.2 to ?2.2 °C and below ?2.2 °C were considered to constitute mild, moderate and severe frost intensities, respectively. Firstly, the spatiotemporal variability of the date of the last spring frost, the date of the first fall frost and the length of the frost-free period in the Elbe River lowland is provided. Secondly, the estimation of the probability of a later date in the spring and an earlier date in the fall for various severe frost events and the length of the frost-free period is determined. Third, the changes in the timing of the last and first frosts of the three severities, as well as the length of the frost-free period, are evaluated. From 1961 to 2011, the Elbe River lowland has experienced a decrease in the number of frost days, while the length of the frost-free period between the last spring frost and the first fall frost has increased. The temporal evolution of the frost-free period anomalies displays two distinct periods: a shortening of the frost-free period in the 1960s and an intensified lengthening of the frost-free period since the 1980s. Whereas the latest spring frost has ended on an earlier date across the Elbe River lowland, the first frost date in the fall has generally been delayed to a later date. The dates of the last spring frost have advanced by ?0.21 days per year on average. The fall dates are delayed up to 0.18 days per year, whereas the frost-free period is lengthening by up to 0.39 days per year on average. However, regional frost series suggests that the frost-free period exhibits a large amount of inter-annual variability. In terms of the growth of field vegetables, a late spring frost remains a risk factor, but the degree of risk has decreased. There is a 25 % chance of the occurrence of dangerous spring frosts during the planting of field vegetables after 3rd May, but after 15th May, the risk is only 10 %.     

南极冰层钻进铠装钻具升降运动特性分析与试验

极地冰层取心钻具的升降运动特性对提高钻进效率、减少孔内事故具有重要影响。在总结极地冰钻特点的基础上,分析了钻孔直径、钻具质量和钻井液的流变特性对钻具在升降过程中的影响,钻具在钻孔过程中运动的两阶段特性、滞流层的存在与影响因素,确定了因钻具的运动所引起的流体扰动量与扰动范围。研制了用于测试铠装电缆悬挂式钻具升降测试试验台和测试的方法,通过对3个不同直径与3个不同质量的钻具在其下落过程的实际测试,得出了钻具下落速度与直径呈二次方关系,与钻具的质量成线性关系的结论。     

Impact of spatial correlation of ground motions on seismic damage for residential buildings in Bucharest,Romania

Natural Hazards - This paper focuses on the investigation of seismic risk for residential buildings situated in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. With a population of nearly 2 million...     

Long-lasting Cadomian magmatic activity along an active northern Gondwana margin: U–Pb zircon and Sr–Nd isotopic evidence from the Brunovistulian Domain,eastern Bohemian Massif

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Cadomian magmatic complexes of the Brunovistulian Domain crop out at the eastern termination of the Bohemian Massif. However, the age, nature and...     

埃达克岩：关于其成因的一些不同观点

埃达克岩的概念是十多年前提出来的,指由俯冲的年轻洋壳熔融形成的火成岩。自从最初在现代岛弧近十几个地方报道埃达克岩以来,新近又在几个地方发现有埃达克岩（如日本西南部,外墨西哥火山岩带,等等）。但是,过去十 多年的研究也表明,埃达克岩可以由俯冲期间的其它过程产生（例如,沿俯冲板片的撕裂边,留在上地幔中的板片残余等）。另外,埃达克岩似乎与一些岩石呈共生组合,这些岩石包括高镁安山岩、富Nb的弦玄武岩（NEAB）,还可能有玻安岩（几个研究者已在玻安岩中发现有埃达克岩的组分）。高镇安山岩不是来自埃达克与地幔的相互作用（Adak-type),就是来自此相互作用期间地幔的熔融（Piip-type);富Nb的弦玄武岩,据认为是来自一种被埃达我岩广泛交代的地幔的部分熔融。作为一个新的岩套,埃达克岩交代火山岩系列已被建议用来解释各种岩石组合。此外,大量的富Pb弧玄武岩也已被发现包含有超镁铁质的地幔包体,而这些包体有高亏损地幔与埃达克反应的明显证据。关于主要与下地壳熔而不是冲板片有关的埃达克岩的起源已提出几种假说,一个模型认为,下地壳熔融出现在玄武质岩浆底侵下地壳时。但是,有许多理由似乎可以排除这种模式。另一种模型认为,在大陆地壳很厚的区域,下地壳可能变成榴辉岩,从而拆离并下沉到地幔中（拆沉）。这个拆沉过程将导致下地壳下中拆沉的下地壳的上部与相对热的地幔接触,进而可引起下地壳熔融和埃达克岩的形成。这使我们认为,在中国东部发现的与俯冲作用无关的白垩纪埃达克可能是下地壳熔融与拆沉作用的产物。我们 还要强调,如果下地壳熔融与拆沉作用真能形成埃达克岩,那么埃达克岩这一术语不应该仅仅局限于与板片熔融有关的过程,而应包括那些与下地壳熔融有关的过程。太古宙的大陆地壳主要由奥长花岗岩、英云闪长岩和英安岩（TTD）组成。这种大陆地壳是来自板片熔融还是下地壳熔融仍是有争议的。然而,我们认为,太古宙期间地幔的较高温度会导致较多的洋中脊的形成,从而产生比今天“更多”的年轻洋壳的俯冲。据此,我们认为,太古宙TTD大陆地宙主要由板片熔融形成。我们也注意到,太古宙是广泛金矿化的时期。有些研究者还发现,金和铜的矿化与埃达克质交代火山岩系列有关。因此,该火山岩系列可能会寻找金属矿床的一个重要标志。     

Isothermal compression of an eclogite from the Western Gneiss Region (Norway)

In the Western Gneiss Region in Norway, mafic eclogites form lenses within granitoid orthogneiss and contain the best record of the pressure and temperature evolution of this ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane. Their exhumation from the UHP conditions has been extensively studied, but their prograde evolution has been rarely quantified although it represents a key constraint for the tectonic history of this area. This study focused on a well-preserved phengite-bearing eclogite sample from the Nordfjord region. The sample was investigated using phase-equilibrium modelling, trace-element analyses of garnet, trace- and major-element thermobarometry and quartz-in-garnet barometry by Raman spectroscopy. Inclusions in garnet core point to crystallization conditions in the amphibolite facies at 510–600°C and 11–16 kbar, whereas chemical zoning in garnet suggests growth during isothermal compression up to the peak pressure of 28 kbar at 600°C, followed by near-isobaric heating to 660–680°C. Near-isothermal decompression to 10–14 kbar is recorded in fine-grained clinopyroxene–amphibole–plagioclase symplectites. The absence of a temperature increase during compression seems incompatible with the classic view of crystallization along a geothermal gradient in a subduction zone and may question the tectonic significance of eclogite facies metamorphism. Two end-member tectonic scenarios are proposed to explain such an isothermal compression: Either (1) the mafic rocks were originally at depth within the lower crust and were consecutively buried along the isothermal portion of the subducting slab or (2) the mafic rocks recorded up to 14 kbar of tectonic overpressure at constant depth and temperature during the collisional stage of the orogeny.