Adsorption characteristics of perchloroethylene in natural sandy materials with low organic carbon content

Laboratory batch tests were conducted to investigate the sorption isotherms and sorption kinetics of the chlorinated hydrocarbon perchloroethylene (PCE) in five natural sandy materials with an organic carbon content (f _oc) in the range 0.080–0.540%. The amended non-linear dual-mode model can describe the sorption isotherms in materials with f _oc in the range 0.080–0.090%. For a sample with a much higher f _oc of 0.54%, the absorption isotherm was found to fit a linear model. These results may indicate that organic carbon is not the main factor influencing the sorption isotherm. The sorption kinetics of PCE in samples with f _oc in the range 0.080–0.090% are not first-order and are different from those observed in the samples with higher f _oc. The sorption process in the materials with lower f _oc involves fast sorption, fast desorption and an equilibrium stage. The results may imply that the factors affecting sorption kinetics of PCE in low f _oc media are pore filling and capillary condensation rather than organic carbon content.     

A monotonic limiter and flux-corrected transport approach for high-order time integration schemes

A monotonic transport algorithm for a high-order time integration scheme is described in this paper. The algorithm is a modified version of an existing high-order time integration scheme, and is tested using a simple one-dimensional pulse and two-dimensional deformational flows. It is found that the new formulation can remove the error, caused by new maxima/minima and excessive smoothing, which occurs in scalar transport using the original extrapolation scheme. The results show that there may be potential for the high-order time integration scheme to be applied in numerical weather prediction models.     

The potential hydrothermal systems unexplored in the Southwest Indian Ocean

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents possess complex ecosystems and abundant metallic mineral deposits valuable to human being. On-axial vents along tectonic plate boundaries have achieved prominent results and obtained huge resources, while nearly 90% of the global mid-ocean ridge and the majority of the off-axial vents buried by thick oceanic sediments within plates remain as relatively undiscovered domains. Based on previous detailed investigations, hydrothermal vents have been mapped along five sections along the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) with different bathymetry, spreading rates, and gravity features, two at the western end (10°–16°E Section B and 16°–25°E Section C) and three at the eastern end (49°–52°E Section D, 52°–61°E Section E and 61°–70°E Section F). Hydrothermal vents along the Sections B, C, E and F with thin oceanic crust are hosted by ultramafic rocks under tectonic-controlled magmatic-starved settings, and hydrothermal vents along the Section D are associated with exceed magmatism. Limited coverage of investigations is provided along the 35°–47°E SWIR (between Marion and Indomed fracture zones) and a lot of research has been done around the Bouvet Island, while no hydrothermal vents has been reported. Analyzing bathymetry, gravity and geochemical data, magmatism settings are favourable for the occurrence of hydrothermal systems along these two sections. An off-axial hydrothermal system in the southern flank of the SWIR that exhibits ultra-thin oceanic crust associated with an oceanic continental transition is postulated to exist along the 100-Ma slow-spreading isochron in the Enderby Basin. A discrete, denser enriched or less depleted mantle beneath the Antarctic Plate is an alternative explanation for the large scale thin oceanic crust concentrated on the southern flank of the SWIR.     

Residual curvature migration velocity analysis for angle domain common imaging gathers

Pre-stack depth migration velocity analysis is one of the keys to influencing the imaging quality of pre-stack migration. In this paper we cover a residual curvature velocity analysis method on angle-domain common image gathers (ADCIGs) which can depict the relationship between incident angle and migration depth at imaging points and update the migration velocity. Differing from offset-domain common image gathers (ODCIGs), ADCIGs are not disturbed by the multi-path problem which contributes to imaging artifacts, thus influencing the velocity analysis. On the basis of horizontal layers, we derive the residual depth equation and also propose a velocity analysis workflow for velocity scanning. The tests to synthetic and field data prove the velocity analysis methods adopted in this paper are robust and valid.     

工程设计Weibull分布参数拟合的改进方法

图解法是求解Ｗｅｉｂｕｌ分布中３个可调参数的传统方法。但参数的推求过程要图解试求,反复调整,最后结果往往不是最佳拟合参数;线性最小二乘法是最近几年提出的一种求解Ｗｅｉｂｕｌ分布参数的方法,但其精度受位置参数初始迭代值的影响很大。文中运用麦奎尔特法推求Ｗｅｉｂｕｌ分布的参数,实现了参数推求的一举寻优。算例表明,拟合方法可行实用,拟合精度明显提高。     

强震临震微波动现象初步研究(二)

为了验证和检验强震临震微波动现象及其主要特征,利用甘、青、川、滇、藏等区域台网200余个宽频带数字地震台站的波形资料,建立了实时监控技术系统。通过对2012~2014年间青藏块体发生的24次5级以上地震及部分无震区域台站观测的全程实时跟踪、动态监控,检验和验证了临震微波动现象的重现性和客观性,验证了临震微波动现象的频谱、时间、空间、方向性等特征,进一步得出了临震微波动现象可能与地震强度有关,且震级越大,震前出现持续临震微波动的可能性越大的结论。     

Comparative assessment of semantic-sensitive satellite image retrieval: simple and context-sensitive Bayesian networks

In recent years, Bayesian networks using unsupervised extracted image features have been applied in many remote sensing information mining systems to enable semantic-sensitive image retrieval. However, a simple Bayesian network insufficiently accounts for the spatial information, that is, the relations among image regions, for the semantic inference process. This drawback significantly impacts the retrieval performance, especially if the utilised features contain no or little spatial information. Therefore, this article proposes a context-sensitive Bayesian network, which infers semantic concepts of image regions based on the spectral and textural characteristics of the regions themselves as well as their contexts, that is, the adjacent regions. In order to compare the context-sensitive Bayesian network with the simple Bayesian network, comprehensive experiments were conducted based on high-resolution multispectral IKONOS imagery. The results show that the incorporation of the image regions' spatial relations not only significantly improves the accuracy of the semantic concepts inference, but also allows more flexibility in choosing the type of low-level features.     

Climatic change and Chinese population growth dynamics over the last millennium

The climate–population relationship has long been conceived. Although the topic has been repeatedly investigated, most of the related works are Eurocentric or qualitative. Consequently, the relationship between climate and population remains ambiguous. In this study, fine-grained temperature reconstructions and historical population data sets have been employed to statistically test a hypothesized relationship between temperature change and population growth (i.e., cooling associated with below average population growth) in China over the past millennium. The important results were: (1) Long-term temperature change significantly determined the population growth dynamics of China. However, spatial variation existed, whilst population growth in Central China was shown to be responsive to both long- and short-term temperature changes; in marginal areas, population growth was only sensitive to short-term temperature fluctuations. (2) Temporally, the temperature–population relationship was obscured in some periods, which was attributable to the factors of drought and social buffers. In summary, a temperature–population relationship was mediated by geographic factors, the aridity threshold, and social factors. Given the upcoming threat posed by climate change to human societies, this study seeks to improve our knowledge and understanding of the climate–society relationship.     

Soft‐sediment deformation structures in Cretaceous non‐marine deposits of southeastern Gyeongsang Basin,Korea: Occurrences and origin

A variety of soft‐sediment deformation structures formed during or shortly after deposition occurs in the Cretaceous Seongpori and Dadaepo Formations of the southeastern Gyeongsang Basin exposed along coastal areas of southeastern Korean Peninsula for 0.5–2 km. These are mostly present in a fluvial plain facies, with interbedded lacustrine deposits. In this study, the features of different kinds of soft‐sediment deformation structures have been interpreted on the basis of sedimentology of structure‐bearing deposits, comparison with normal sedimentary structures, timing and mechanism of deformation, and triggering mechanisms. The soft‐sediment deformation structures can be classified into four morphological groups: (i) load structures (load casts, ball‐and‐pillow structures); (ii) soft‐sediment intrusive structures (dish‐and‐pillars, clastic dykes, sills); (iii) ductile disturbed structures (convolute folds, slump structures); and (iv) brittle deformation structures (syndepositional faulting, dislocated breccia). The most probable triggering mechanisms resulting in these structures were seismic shocks. These interpretations are based on the following field observations: (i) location of the study area within tectonically active fault zone reactivated several times during the Cretaceous; (ii) deformation structures confined to single stratigraphic levels; (iii) lateral continuity and occurrences of various soft‐sediment deformation structures in the deformed level over large areas; (iv) absence of depositional slope to indicate gravity sliding or slumping; and (v) similarity to the structures produced experimentally. The soft‐sediment deformation structures in the study areas are thus interpreted to have been generated by seismic shocks with an estimated magnitude of M > 5, representing an intermittent record of the active tectonic and sedimentary processes during the development and evolution of two formations from the late Early Cretaceous to the Late Cretaceous.