Building damage in Dujiangyan during Wenchuan Earthquake

A field damage survey of 1,005 buildings damaged by the Wenchuan Earthquake in Dujiangyan City was carried out and the resulting data was analyzed using the statistical method. It is shown that buildings that were seismically designed achieved the desired seismic fortification target; they sustained less damage than the non-seismically designed buildings. Among the seismically designed buildings investigated, RC frame buildings performed the best in terms of seismic resistance. Masonry buildings with a ground story of RC frame structure were the second best, and masonry buildings performed the worst. Considering building height, multistory buildings sustained more severe damage than high-rise buildings and 2- and 3-story buildings. Compared to residential buildings, public buildings, such as schools and hospitals, suffered more severe damage.     

Post-depositional modification of NO-3 in snow layers at EastAntarctica and at the headwater of ürumqi River

Acidic species, such as Nitrate, in polar snow and firn layers are “reversibly” deposited, and are sufficiently volatile to undergo significant postdepositional exchange between snow/firn and the atmosphere. Through comparison of the snowpit and snowpack nitrate concentrations from central East Antarctica and the headwater of ürumqi River, we conclude that the nitrate peaks in the uppermost surface snow layers in central Antarctica are not related to an atmospheric signal and must account for post-depositional effects. Such effects, however, are not found in the surface snowpack nitrate profiles from the headwater of ürumqi River. Two reasons may account for the post-depositional difference. At first, nitrate in the polar snow and firn layers appears to be hydrated ion, which can be taken up by the atmosphere, while at the headwater of ürumqi River it seems mainly as mineral ion, which assembles the behavior of aerosol-derived species that are “irreversibly” deposited and do not undergo significant post-depositional exchange with the atmosphere. Secondly, the chemical features of the snow and ice on the Antarctica are mainly determined by wet deposition, to the contrary, dry deposition is more significant at the headwater of lUrumqi River than that on the East Antarctic Plateau.     

黄河流域气候水分盈亏时空格局分析

以中国气象局整编的1961~2001 年的气象资料为数据基础,采用联合国粮食及农业组织(FAO)1998 年推荐使用的Penmanmonteith模型,并以GIS技术为手段进行黄河流域气候水分盈亏的时空分布格局分析。结果表明：黄河流域干旱缺水是一种普遍现象,气候水分盈亏量在空间上总的变化规律表现为自南向北、自东向西气候水分亏缺量呈逐渐增大趋势,大部分地区全年气候水分亏缺量介于200~600 mm之间;就季节分布而言,水分亏缺的主要时期在春季和初夏,亏缺量一般在180~300 mm之间;就典型站点气候水分盈亏量逐月变化而言,存在着区域差异。研究结果和结论对区域充分发挥水分利用效率、发展高效节水农业具有重要意义。     

Effects of natural attenuation processes on groundwater contamination caused by abandoned waste sites in Berlin

The aim of this research project is to identify, characterize and quantify natural attenuation (NA) processes in groundwater affected by emissions of abandoned waste disposal sites in Berlin-Kladow/Gatow, Germany. It is part of the funding priority called KORA established by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) to explore the extent to which NA can be used for remedial purposes for varied forms of soil and groundwater contamination. Information on the emission behaviour of individual parameters is generated on the basis of hydrogeochemical comparison of 20 years old and new data. Using groundwater-modelling and CFC-analysis, information on the transport and retention of pollutants in groundwater is compiled. The microbial colonization of contaminated aquifers is characterized by molecular biological methods [polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)] to differentiate between contaminated and not contaminated zones.     

Iron isotopic analyses of geological reference materials on MC-ICP-MS with instrumental mass bias corrected by three independent methods

Here we report iron (Fe) isotopic data of three pure Fe solution standards (IRMM-014, GSB Fe, and NIST 3126a) and five widely used geological reference materials (RMs) from the United States Geological Survey and Geological Survey of Japan obtained on a Neptune Plus multi-collector–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) in our laboratory over the past 3 years. The instrumental mass bias was corrected by three independent methods: sample-standard bracketing (SSB), Ni doping?+?SSB, and ⁵⁷Fe–⁵⁸Fe double spike?+?SSB. Measurements reveal that both the Ni doping and double spike methods helped calibrate short-term fluctuations in mass bias. Collectively, almost all measurements of RMs yielded δ⁵⁶Fe within?±?0.05 of recommended values, provided that each sample was measured four times on MC-ICP-MS. For the first time, new recommended values for NIST SRM3126a are reported (δ⁵⁶Fe?=?0.363?±?0.006, 2SE, 95% CI; and δ⁵⁷Fe?=?0.534?±?0.010, 2SE).     

Pretreatment of high strength waste emulsions by combined vibratory shear enhanced process with Fenton oxidation

Pretreatment of waste emulsions with high organic content by a combined process of vibratory shear enhanced process and Fenton’s oxidation prior to biological treatment was investigated. Vibrating membrane had shown good performance in chemical oxygen demand and oil removals and the mitigation of concentration polarization. However, the permeate after filtration processing still contained high content of organics. Thus, additional Fenton oxidation was applied to reduce the organic loading, and improve the biodegradability of the wastewater. The optimal molar ratio of ferrous iron to hydrogen peroxide was 0.05 obtained from the jar-test experiments. Removal of organics was enhanced by increasing hydrogen peroxide dosage, while efficiency of hydrogen peroxide reached maximum of 1.11(w/w) at the hydrogen peroxide dosage of 6.8 g/L. Furthermore, the biological experiments indicated that the high concentration of organics could inhibit microbial activity, which decreased the chemical oxygen demand degradation rates. The adaptive period of the microbe was greatly shortened using Fenton’s reagent at the low dosages. The improvement of the biodegradability could be explained by partial mineralization and chemical transformation of parent organic compounds after Fenton oxidation.     

The effect of annealing on the luminescence decay-time of synthetic calcite:Mn

Calcite was synthesized by four methods, and the luminescence decay-time was measured for nine samples before and after heating hydrothermally in the temperature range 200–400°C. Decay-time data were collected between room temperature and approximately 15 K. The decay time at room temperature is approximately 50 ms, with little difference between a given calcite before and after hydrothermal treatment. The decay time at 15 K is always greater than at room temperature as the effect of thermal quenching diminishes. Differences in decay time before and after heating are more apparent at low temperature owing to this reduction in thermal quenching. The decay time decreased significantly in two samples, and an increase in decay time was observed in the remaining seven samples following heating. Among the latter group, the change in decay time was insignificant in three samples. The results are compared with previous data in which it was shown that the effect of heating is to increase the intensity of luminescence.     

信阳市燃气混气站断裂活动性和场地稳定性系统研究

运用多学科、多手段相结合的方法，从区域构造稳定性、构造岩研究、构造裂隙统计分析、红外相位法位移监测，高密度电阻率法、钻探验证、年代学研究、新构造运动分析、遥感图像解译、地震安全性评价、数值模拟、工程地质条件分析等方面入手，对信阳市燃气混气站的断裂活动性和场地稳定性进行了全面而系统的论证；指出场区断裂规模小，第四纪无大规模差异升降运动，无活动断裂通过，邻区地震活动小且弱，区域构造稳定性高，应力平缓，工程地质条件良好，是一个稳定的“岛区”，井指出系统而全面的综合研究方法是研究工程稳定性项目行之有效的手段。     

Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography

In recent months there has been an explosion of interest in using the Web to create, assemble, and disseminate geographic information provided voluntarily by individuals. Sites such as Wikimapia and OpenStreetMap are empowering citizens to create a global patchwork of geographic information, while Google Earth and other virtual globes are encouraging volunteers to develop interesting applications using their own data. I review this phenomenon, and examine associated issues: what drives people to do this, how accurate are the results, will they threaten individual privacy, and how can they augment more conventional sources? I compare this new phenomenon to more traditional citizen science and the role of the amateur in geographic observation.     

Chromium speciation in oxide-type compounds: application to minerals,gems, aqueous solutions and silicate glasses

Cr K-edge XANES spectra were obtained for a variety of Cr-bearing model compounds containing Cr(II), Cr(III), Cr(IV), Cr(V) and Cr(VI), in which the Cr-site symmetry is D4h, Oh and Td. The centroid position of the pre-edge feature is a better indicator of the Cr valence than the edge position. In Cr-rich oxides, higher-energy transitions must be excluded in order to refine a robust valence for Cr. The pre-edge for chromates is not unique and varies as a function of the CrO₄ ^2? moiety distortion, which is often related to Cr-polymerization (monochromate vs. dichromate). Both the analogy with the Mn K-pre-edge information and ab initio FEFF calculations of the pre-edge feature for Cr(III) and Cr(VI) confirm the experimental trends. This methodology is applied to the Cr K-edge pre-edge feature collected in gems (emerald, spinel and ruby), the layered minerals fuchsite and kämmererite, two Cr-bearing aqueous solutions and a set of sodo-calcic silicate glasses used for bottling sparkling white wine. In emerald and fuchsite, the Cr-site is differently distorted than its ruby or spinel counterpart. In a Cr(III)-bearing aqueous solution and sodo-calcic glass, no evidence for Cr(III) with Td and C3v symmetry is detected. However, minor amounts of chromate moieties (most likely monomeric) are detected in a glass synthesized in air. Preliminary spectra for the wine bottle glass suggest that only trace amounts of chromates might possibly be present in these glasses.