The pulsating hydrogen-deficient star LSS 3184 (BX Cir)

We present extensive photometry and spectroscopy of the extremely hydrogen-deficient star, LSS 3184, recently discovered to be a rapid variable (period ∼0.1066 d) strikingly similar to V652 Her. Over 95 h of photometry confirms the reported variability, which is of rather low amplitude (Δ V ∼0.03 mag), defines the light curve with greater precision and establishes a much more accurate ephemeris (period ∼0.106 578 4 d) to form a basis for detecting period change. Attention is drawn to the usefulness of a period-finding technique that fits harmonic components to the photometric observations. Spectroscopy shows a peak-to-peak variation in radial velocity of about 30 km s⁻¹, which, when combined with the photometric observations, confirms the pulsational nature of the variability and strongly indicates that the pulsations are radial in nature.     

Late Jurassic subsidence and passive margin evolution in the Vulcan Sub-basin, north-west Australia: constraints from basin modelling

The Vulcan Sub-basin, located in the Timor Sea, north-west Australia, developed during the Late Jurassic extension which ultimately led to Gondwanan plate breakup and the development of the present-day passive continental margin. This paper describes the evolution of upper crustal extension and the development of Late Jurassic depocentres in this subbasin, via the use of forward modelling techniques. The results suggest that a lateral variation in structural style exists. The south of the basin is characterized by relatively large, discrete normal faults which have generated deep sub-basins, whereas more distributed, small-scale faulting further north reflects a collapse of the early basin margin, with the development of a broader, 'sagged' basin geometry. By combining forward and reverse modelling techniques, the degree of associated lithosphere stretching can be quantified. Upper crustal faulting, which represents up to 10% extension, is not balanced by extension in the deeper, ductile lithosphere; the magnitude of this deeper extension is evidenced by the amount of post-Valanginian thermal subsidence. Reverse modelling shows that the lithosphere stretching
factor has a magnitude of up to β=1.55 in the southern Vulcan Sub-basin, decreasing to β=1.2 in the northern Vulcan Sub-basin. It is proposed that during plate breakup, deformation in the Vulcan Sub-basin consisted of depth-dependent lithosphere extension. This additional component of lower crustal and lithosphere stretching is considered to reflect long-wavelength partitioning of strain associated with continental breakup, which may have extended 300–500 km landward of the continent–ocean boundary.     

A complete sample of radio sources in the North Ecliptic Cap, selected at 38 MHz – III. Further imaging observations and the photometric properties of the sample

Further imaging observations of a sample of radio sources in the North Ecliptic Cap are presented and a number of new identifications are made. Using redshifts from spectroscopic data presented in a companion paper by Lacy et al., the photometric properties of the galaxies in the sample are discussed. It is shown that: (1) out to at least z ≈0.6 radio galaxies are good standard candles irrespective of radio luminosity; (2) for 0.6≲ z ≲1 a large fraction of the sample has magnitudes and colours consistent with a non-evolving giant elliptical, and (3) at higher redshifts, where the R -band samples the rest-frame UV flux, most objects have less UV luminosity than expected if they form their stellar populations at a constant rate from a high redshift to z ∼1 in unobscured star-forming regions (assuming an Einstein–de Sitter cosmology). The consequences of these observations are briefly discussed.     

The value of multiple earthquake missions: the EEFIT L’Aquila Earthquake experience

In November 2012 EEFIT launched its first ever return mission to an earthquake affected site. The L’Aquila Earthquake site was chosen as this is a recent European event of interest to the UK and European earthquake engineering community. The main aims of this return mission were to document the earthquake recovery process and this paper presents an overview of the post-disaster emergency phase and transition to reconstruction in the Aquila area after the earthquake. It takes an earthquake engineering perspective, highlighting areas mainly of interest to the fields of structural/seismic engineering and reconstruction management. Within the paper, reference is made to published literature, but also to data collected in the field during the return mission that would not otherwise have been available. The paper presents some specific observations and lessons learned from the L’Aquila return mission. However, in light of current international efforts in conducting return missions, the paper ends with some reflections on the value that return missions can provide to the field of earthquake engineering in general, based on the EEFIT L’Aquila experience.     

钢管混凝土柱带钢板耗能键组合剪力墙抗震研究

提出了连排钢管混凝土柱带钢板耗能键组合剪力墙,它由钢管混凝土连排柱、柱间钢板耗能键、钢板耗能键外包混凝土条带三种单元组合而成。进行了4个不同设计参数试件的低周反复荷载试验研究。分析了各试件的承载力、刚度及其退化过程、滞回特性、延性和破坏特征,探讨了分灾耗能机制。研究表明:连排钢管混凝土柱带钢板耗能键组合剪力墙,承载力较大,后期刚度较稳定;混凝土条带在开裂与闭合过程中消耗地震能量,钢板耗能键通过弯剪变形消耗地震能量,钢管与混凝土条带共同工作协同耗能,具有良好的抗震耗能机制;这种新型组合剪力墙具有较强综合抗震耗能能力。     

新疆巴什布拉克地区有机地球化学特征及其对铀成矿的控制

巴什布拉克铀矿床是新疆典型的与地沥青有关的砂岩型铀矿床。研究该矿床油气有机质来源、演化程度及后期降解过程,有助于深入解读原生红层在油气二次还原条件下的铀富集机理。本文针对该区铀矿化与油气密切相关的特点,采集了钻孔中具明显油浸的铀矿化砂岩和砾岩进行提取物分析。通过对提取物氯仿沥青“A”及其族组成和饱和烃气相色谱分析可见,有机质正构烷烃主峰碳为C17、C18、C20、C24和C25;(C21+C22)/(C28+C29)为0.58～12.17;Pr/Ph为0.40～1.47;Ts/Tm为1.3～16.1,高含量的系列重排藿烷化合物和“V”型甾烷分布,显示该区油气有机质主要来源于中下侏罗统湖相沉积。OEP为1.04～1.14,深部样品的OEP＜1.0;C-21/C+22为0.18～2.11,指示局部烃源岩可能受到热改造提前进入生油门限,导致矿区深部浸入的油气有机质演化程度较高。早期浸入的油气有机质饱和烃气相色谱基线呈上飘“鼓包”状突出,Pr/nC17为0.6～0.9,Ph/nC18为0.8～11.98,表明受到氧化和微生物降解作用,在此过程中铀发生沉淀和富集。铀矿化主要受油气氧化和降解产物地沥青分布范围控制。     

Supporting farmer-managed irrigation systems in the Shigar valley,Karakorum: Role of the government and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme

Farmer-managed irrigation systems(FMIS) in the high altitude valleys of the Karakorum,Pakistan, continue to be managed effectively despite increased pressure on the social arrangements that sustain them. Colonial era records shows that over a century ago government agencies undertook irrigation support projects. In the past three decades,government agencies and the non-government agency Aga Khan Rural Support Programme(AKRSP), which channels foreign funds into the region, have actively engaged in the provision of irrigation support. This article seeks to explore whether such projects support or undermine farmer-managed irrigation systems and the complex institutional arrangements that underpin them. Field research using ethnographic and participatory methods was conducted in spring 2013 in the upper Shigar valley, Skardu district, GilgitBaltistan. The findings show that irrigation development is a political activity that involves village-based actors, religious leaders, local politicians,and government and non-government agencies.Government agencies operate in a largely top-down,engineering mode, their larger projects limited to villages suffering water scarcity. The local government provides small funds for renovation work of FMIS,though allocation of funds is highly politicized. Nongovernment agencies, for a variety of reasons including donor-funding cycles, apply a one-size-fitsall ‘participatory' model in an attempt to socially engineer rules and institutions. In communities divided by factionalism the use of such external models that stress formation of committees are unlikely to yield positive results, and could instead contribute to undermining the very systems they seek to support. This research argues that irrigation interventions should take care to build upon the rich and complex social arrangements that have sustained FMIS through the centuries.     

Grid-size dependence of Cauchy boundary conditions used to simulate stream–aquifer interactions

This work examines the simulation of stream–aquifer interactions as grids are refined vertically and horizontally and suggests that traditional methods for calculating conductance can produce inappropriate values when the grid size is changed. Instead, different grid resolutions require different estimated values. Grid refinement strategies considered include global refinement of the entire model and local refinement of part of the stream. Three methods of calculating the conductance of the Cauchy boundary conditions are investigated. Single- and multi-layer models with narrow and wide streams produced stream leakages that differ by as much as 122% as the grid is refined. Similar results occur for globally and locally refined grids, but the latter required as little as one-quarter the computer execution time and memory and thus are useful for addressing some scale issues of stream–aquifer interactions. Results suggest that existing grid-size criteria for simulating stream–aquifer interactions are useful for one-layer models, but inadequate for three-dimensional models. The grid dependence of the conductance terms suggests that values for refined models using, for example, finite difference or finite-element methods, cannot be determined from previous coarse-grid models or field measurements. Our examples demonstrate the need for a method of obtaining conductances that can be translated to different grid resolutions and provide definitive test cases for investigating alternative conductance formulations.     

Estimated Green’s function extracted from superconducting gravimeters and seismometers

Estimated Green’s function (EGF) between stations has been extracted from ambient seismic noise, direct surface wave and coda waves. It is also confirmed by laboratory experiments on ultrasonics and theoretical derivations assuming diffusive wave field, equi-partition of modes or random sources on an enclosed surface. This method provides a new approach to study the crust and mantle structure at regional scale, continental scale and global scale. Following the achievements with seismometer records, the reco...