Numerical simulation for the coupling effect of local atmospheric circulations over the area of Beijing,Tianjin and Hebei Province

Using the model system MM5.V3 and multi-layer grid nesting technique, we have done a multi-scale numerical simulation over the area of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province to analyze the temperature and wind field there and study its local circulations. The results show a coupling effect of Urban Heat Island Circulation (UHIC), Mountain Valley Breeze (MVB) and Sea Land Breeze (SLB) occurs in this area when the synoptic system is weak. The SLB can penetrate deep into the mainland for about 200 km when it is blooming. MVB can extend to south and cover almost the whole plain area in Beijing. Both MVB and SLB are diurnal periodical; meanwhile the phase of MVB drops behind that of SLB for about six hours. As a local circulation, the UHIC weakens the two circulations above, and it also has a diurnal period. As a result, the coupling effect of circulations reveals not only different features in spring-summer period and autumn-winter period in a year but also the difference between early morning to noonday and afternoon to night in a day. We noted the diffusion of contamination over the area around Beijing, and found the steady presence of a transport routine of contamination over North-China throughout the year caused by the Coupling Effect mentioned above. This find is important for studying the environment pollution in this area. Supported by Central Public Welfare Special Fund Program for the Institute and Higher Education (Grant No. IUMKY200701), Public Welfare Special Fund Program (Meteorology) of China Scientific and Technological Ministry (Grant Nos. CYHY20080620, CYHY200706004), Spread New Technology Program of China Meteorological Administration (Grant No. CMATG2007M15) and Urban Meteorology Scientific Research Fund Program of the Institute of Beijing Urban Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration (Grant No. UMRF200702)     

Deepwater Ventilation and Stratification in the Neogene South China Sea

Combined data of physical property, benthic foraminifera, and stable isotopes from ODP Sites 1148, 1146, and 1143 are used to discuss deep water evolution in the South China Sea (SCS) since the Early Miocene. The results indicate that 3 lithostratigraphic units, respectively corresponding to 21-17 Ma, 15-10 Ma, and 10-5 Ma with positive red parameter (a*) marking the red brown sediment color represent 3 periods of deep water ventilation. The first 2 periods show a closer link to contemporary production of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) and Northern Component Water (NCW), indicating a free connection of deep waters between the SCS and the open ocean before 10 Ma. After 10 Ma, red parameter dropped but stayed higher than the modern value (a*=0), the CaCO3 percentage difference between Site 1148 from a lower deepwater setting and Site 1146 from an upper deepwater setting enlarged significantly, and benthic species which prefer oxygen-rich bottom conditions dramatically decreased. Coupled with a major negative excursion of benthic δ13C at ~10 Ma, these parameters may denote a weakening in the control of the SCS deep water by the open ocean. Probably they mark the birth of a local deep water due to shallow waterways or rise of sill depths during the course of sea basin closing from south to east by the west-moving Philippine Arc after the end of SCS seafloor spreading at 16-15 Ma. However, it took another 5 Ma before the dissolved oxygen approached close to the modern level. Although the oxygen level continued to stabilize, several Pacific Bottom Water (PBW) and Pacific Deep Water (PDW) marker species rapidly increased since ~6 Ma, followed by a dramatic escalation in planktonic fragmentation which indicates high dissolution especially after ~5 Ma. The period of 5-3 Ma saw the strongest stratified deepwater in the then SCS, as indicated by up to 40% CaCO3 difference between Sites 1148 and 1146. Apart from a strengthening PDW as a result of global cooling and ice cap buildup on northern high latitudes, a deepening sea basin due to stronger subduction eastward may also have triggered the influx of more corrosive waters from the deep western Pacific. Since 3 Ma, the evolution of the SCS deep water entered a modern phase, as characterized by relative stable 10% CaCO3 difference between the two sites and increase in infaunal benthic species which prefer a low oxygenated environment. Thesubsequent reduction of PBW and PDW marker species at about 1.2 Ma and 0.9 Ma and another significant negative excursion of benthic δ13C to a Neogene minimum at ~0.9 Ma together convey a clear message that the PBW largely disappeared and the PDW considerably weakened in the Mid-Pleistocene SCS. Therefore, the true modern mode SCS deep water started to form only during the "Mid-Pleistocene climatic transition" probably due to the rise of sill depths under the Bashi Strait.     

Flood risk assessment in a coastal lagoon under present and future scenarios: Ria de Aveiro case study

Iranian strong motion records as well as detailed conditions of their instrument sites and the characteristics of their causative seismic sources are compiled and processed. The dataset consists of 2286 three-component records from 461 Iranian earthquakes with at least two high-quality records having moment magnitude from 3.9 to 7.3. These records are about 20% of the Iranian database and are suitable for seismic hazard analysis and engineering applications. Perhaps for the first time in the literature, the distance to the surface projection of the fault is reported for a great number of records corresponding to earthquakes with M > 6.0. The raw accelerations are processed using the wavelet de-noising method. Having corrected and filtered these raw data, the pseudospectral accelerations are calculated for each of the three components of time series, separately. In addition to the ground motion parameters, a large and comprehensive list of metadata characterizing the recording conditions of each record is also developed. Moreover, careful revision of the characteristics of the earthquakes such as location, magnitude, style of faulting and fault rupture plane geometry, if available, is carried out using the best available information in a scientifically sound manner. Finally, we also focus on special ground motion records including records with peak ground acceleration (PGA) >300 cm/s² and distances less than 30 km. These are “exceptional” records in the Iranian dataset and include less than 2% of the selected dataset.     

Upscaling permeability for three-dimensional fractured porous rocks with the multiple boundary method

Upscaling permeability of grid blocks is crucial for groundwater models. A novel upscaling method for three-dimensional fractured porous rocks is presented. The objective of the study was to compare this method with the commonly used Oda upscaling method and the volume averaging method. First, the multiple boundary method and its computational framework were defined for three-dimensional stochastic fracture networks. Then, the different upscaling methods were compared for a set of rotated fractures, for tortuous fractures, and for two discrete fracture networks. The results computed by the multiple boundary method are comparable with those of the other two methods and fit best the analytical solution for a set of rotated fractures. The errors in flow rate of the equivalent fracture model decrease when using the multiple boundary method. Furthermore, the errors of the equivalent fracture models increase from well-connected fracture networks to poorly connected ones. Finally, the diagonal components of the equivalent permeability tensors tend to follow a normal or log-normal distribution for the well-connected fracture network model with infinite fracture size. By contrast, they exhibit a power-law distribution for the poorly connected fracture network with multiple scale fractures. The study demonstrates the accuracy and the flexibility of the multiple boundary upscaling concept. This makes it attractive for being incorporated into any existing flow-based upscaling procedures, which helps in reducing the uncertainty of groundwater models.     

基于作物系数与水分生产函数的向日葵产量预测

利用河套灌区向日葵2012年田间水分、分期播种试验数据和两个站点的农业气象历史资料,研究基于向日葵作物系数和水分生产函数的产量预测方法。结果表明:向日葵标准作物系数在生育期内的变化规律是前期小、中期大、后期小, 最高值为1.21, 出现在开花期。标准作物系数与出苗后日数和大于0℃积温有很好的二次和三次多项式关系,拟合优度在0.93以上。在分析相对叶面积指数和作物系数关系的基础上,提出标准作物系数的相对叶面积指数订正方法,得出河套灌区向日葵作物系数的动态计算式,为水分生产函数中实际蒸散量的计算提供支撑。建立以Jensen模型为基础的向日葵水分生产函数,得到对水分亏缺的敏感顺序从高到低是开花期、花序形成期、成熟期、苗期。综合应用向日葵作物系数方程和水分生产函数模型计算分期播种产量,与实际产量分别相差4.4%和4.1%,初步证明该文提出的方法对产量预测较为理想,在该地区具有很好的适用性。     

The effect of volatile components in oil on evolutionary characteristics of diamondoids during oil thermal pyrolysis

On the basis of the results of simulation experiments, now we better understand the contribution of high carbon number hydrocarbons to diamondoid generation during thermal pyrolysis of crude oil and its sub-fractions(saturated, aromatic, resin, and asphalene fractions). However, little is known about the effect of volatile components in oil on diamondoid generation and diamondoid indices due to the lack of attention to these components in experiments. In this study, the effect of volatile components in oil on diamondoid generation and maturity indices was investigated by the pyrolysis simulation experiments on a normal crude oil from the HD23 well of the Tarim Basin and its residual oil after artificial volatilization, combined with quantitative analysis of diamondoids. The results indicate that the volatile components(≤n C12) in oil have an obvious contribution to the generation of adamantanes, which occurs mainly in the early stage of oil cracking(Easy Ro1.0%), and influences the variations in maturity indices of adamantanes; but they have no obvious effect on the generation and maturity indices of diamantanes. Therefore, some secondary alterations e.g., migration, gas washing, and biodegradation, which may result in the loss of light hydrocarbons in oil under actual geological conditions, could affect the identification of adamantanes generated during the late-stage cracking of crude oil, and further influence the practical application of adamantane indices.     

The bubbles or the boiling pot? An ecosystemic approach to culture,environment and quality of life

For the diagnosis and prognosis of the problems of quality of life, a multidisciplinary ecosystemic approach encompasses four dimensions of being-in-the-world, as donors and recipients: intimate, interactive, social and biophysical. Social, cultural and environmental vulnerabilities are understood and dealt with, in different circumstances of space and time, as the conjugated effect of all dimensions of being-in-the-world, as they induce the events (deficits and assets), cope with consequences (desired or undesired) and contribute for change. Instead of fragmented and reduced representations of reality, diagnosis and prognosis of cultural, educational, environmental and health problems considers the connections (assets) and ruptures (deficits) between the different dimensions, providing a planning model to develop and evaluate research, teaching programmes, public policies and field projects. The methodology is participatory, experiential and reflexive; heuristic-hermeneutic processes unveil cultural and epistemic paradigms that orient subject-object relationships; giving people the opportunity to reflect on their own realities, engage in new experiences and find new ways to live better in a better world. The proposal is a creative model for thought and practice, providing many opportunities for discussion, debate and development of holistic projects integrating different scientific domains (social sciences, psychology, education, philosophy, etc.). Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

德昌大陆槽稀土矿床的发现及其意义

着重阐述德昌大陆槽稀土矿床的发现经过，矿床基本地质特征和发现的重大意义．     

HP–UHP metamorphism as an indicator of slab dip variations in the Alpine arc

HP/UHP and LT metamorphic units that commonly occur in the inner parts of mountain belts result from the subduction of continental and oceanic material, most often exhumed prior to continental collision. The prograde pressure–temperature history of HP–UHP rocks strongly depends on the convergence rate and on the subduction zone geometry. The maximum pressure recorded provides a proxy for the depth of shearing off and stacking of HP metamorphic nappes. A 2-D thermal model of continental subduction at lithospheric scale is used to compute the length and pressure peak of detached HP metamorphic units as a function of the slab dip angle and the convergence rate. Model results are applied to the metamorphic nappe pile of the inner Alps. A mean convergence rate of 1 cm/year during the subduction of the Briançonnais terrane is indicated by the paleogeographic reconstructions between 46 and 38 Ma. On this basis, the available petrological data and lengths of metamorphic units are used to compute the variations of the slab dip angle. The slab dip angle is shown to increase, from the northeast to the southwest, along the Alpine arc with estimated values of 20° for Suretta, 30–45° for Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso, and 60° for Dora Maira. From Eocene to Oligocene times, the increase in slab dip angle is controlled by changes of buoyancy, due to the spatial configuration of the Valaisan trough and the incoming of crustal material within the subduction zone.