Torsional mode frequency and elastic anisotropy in alkali vermiculites

The torsional mode frequency _t in Cs_1–xRb_x-Vermiculite has been determined using an angular force constant model and a virtual crystal approximation. The sensitivity of _t has been examined with respect to the force constants between the Kagome' oxygen frame and the interlayer cations. These force constants were used to calculate the longitudinal elastic constants, C₁₁ and C₃₃ and are consistent with the observed elastic anisotropy in related layer silicates. The observed nonlinear x-dependence of the torsional mode frequency in ternary systems can be related to the polarizability of the interlayer cations (Cs⁺,Rb⁺).     

Empirical P-L-C relations for delta Scuti stars

Separate P-L-C relations have been empirically derived by sampling the Scuti stars according to their pulsation modes. The results based on these relations have been compared with those estimated from the model based P-L-C relations and the other existing empirical P-L-C relations. It is found that a separate P-L-C relation for each pulsation mode provides a better correspondence with observations.     

Propagation of Rayleigh waves in soils

Summary Propagation of Rayleigh type waves in soils is considered in this paper. It is a well known fact that soils do not behave like an ordinary isotropic elastic medium where the ratio of Young's modulus to the modulus of rigidity is much less than that in sandy soils. Considering the velocity of Rayleigh type wave as less than that of distortional wave (which is an observed fact) a probable value of this ratio is determined, and also assuming the value of this ratio based on some experimental data, the velocity of wave propagation in the medium is deduced.     

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Related Variations in Particulate Export Fluxes in the Western and Central Equatorial Pacific

Time-series data from sediment trap moorings intermittently deployed during 1991–1999 show that the fluxes of biogenic material (carbonate, opal and organic matter, including amino acids) and other related parameters are temporally and spatially distinct across the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP). These variations resulted from the El Niño and La Niña conditions, which alternately prevailed over the equatorial Pacific Ocean during the mooring deployments. The westernmost WPWP (a hemipelagic region) recorded relatively high average total mass and amino acid fluxes during the El Niño event. This was in sharp contrast to the eastern part of the WPWP (oligotrophic and weak upwelling regions) which recorded higher flux values during the La Niña event. Settling particulate organic matter was rich in labile components (amino acids) during La Niña throughout the study area. Relative molar ratios of aspartic acid to β-alanine together with relative molar content of non-protein amino acids β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid) suggested that organic matter degradation was more intense during La Niña relative to that during El Niño in the WPWP. This study clearly shows that during an El Niño event the well documented decrease in export flux in the easternmost equatorial Pacific is accompanied by a significant increase in export flux in the westernmost equatorial Pacific Ocean.     

Diagenesis of plant biopolymers: Decay and macromolecular preservation of Metasequoia

Analysis of modern Metasequoia leaves revealed the presence of the structural polyester cutin, guaiacyl lignin units and polysaccharides. Analysis of environmentally decayed Metasequoia leaves revealed that guaiacyl lignin units and cellulose were degraded more than vinyl phenol (the last being the primary pyrolysis product of cutin and plant cuticles) suggesting that cutin is more stable than lignin and cellulose during degradation, contrary to some previous studies. This observation is supported by electron microscopy showing changes in the cellular structure and cuticle of modern, decayed and fossil Metasequoia leaves. Metasequoia fossils from the Eocene of Republic (Washington State) showed a significant aliphatic component, but biopolymeric lignin and polysaccharides were not detected. Fossils from the Eocene of Axel Heiberg revealed the presence of lignin and an aliphatic polymer up to C₂₉ with cellulose, and fossils from the Miocene Clarkia deposit (Idaho) revealed lignin and an aliphatic polymer up to C₂₇ without any polysaccharides. Modern Metasequoia needles heated experimentally in confined conditions generated a macromolecular composition with an aliphatic polymer up to C₃₂ and additional phenolic compounds similar to those present in the fossils. Experimental heating of cutin is known to generate an aliphatic polymer with carbon chain length units <C₂₀. Thus, the n-alkyl component with chain length units >C₂₀ in the heated Metasequoia needles is a product of incorporation of longer chain plant waxes, indicated by the odd/even predominance of the >C₂₇ n-alkanes. The resistant nature of cutin compared to lignin and polysaccharides explains the presence of an n-alkyl component (<C₂₀) in fossil leaves even when polysaccharides are absent and lignin has decayed; cutin and its diagenetically altered products contribute significantly to the presence of aliphatic components in terrestrially derived sedimentary organic matter.     

Evaluation of potential landslide damming: Case study of Urni landslide,Kinnaur, Satluj valley,India

This work aims to understand the process of potential landslide damming using slope failure mechanism,dam dimension and dam stability evaluation. The Urni landslide, situated on the right bank of the Satluj River, Himachal Pradesh(India) is taken as the case study. The Urni landslide has evolved into a complex landslide in the last two decade(2000-2016) and has dammed the Satluj River partially since year 2013,damaging ～200 m stretch of the National Highway(NH-05). The crown of the landslide exists at an altitude of ～2180-2190 m above msl, close to the Urni village that has a human population of about 500.The high resolution imagery shows ～50 m long landslide scarp and ～100 m long transverse cracks in the detached mass that implies potential for further slope failure movement. Further analysis shows that the landslide has attained an areal increase of 103,900 ± 1142 m^2 during year 2004-2016. About 86% of this areal increase occurred since year 2013. Abrupt increase in the annual mean rainfall is also observed since the year 2013. The extreme rainfall in the June, 2013; 11 June(～100 mm) and 16 June(～115 mm),are considered to be responsible for the slope failure in the Urni landslide that has partially dammed the river. The finite element modelling(FEM) based slope stability analysis revealed the shear strain in the order of 0.0-0.16 with 0.0-0.6 m total displacement in the detachment zone. Further, kinematic analysis indicated planar and wedge failure condition in the jointed rockmass. The debris flow runout simulation of the detached mass in the landslide showed a velocity of ～25 m/s with a flow height of ～15 m while it(debris flow) reaches the valley floor. Finally, it is also estimated that further slope failure may detach as much as 0.80 ±0.32 million m^3 mass that will completely dam the river to a height of 76±30 m above the river bed.     

土壤、农作物中及家畜体内的微量营养元素

微量营养元素通常富集在表层土壤中,其含量随土层深度递减。尽管土壤中大多数微量元素的含量很高,但只有一小部分能被植物吸收。微量营养元素,也被称为痕迹元素,所需数量微小,但其缺乏会对农作物生产和动物健康造成严重影响。农作物对不同微量营养元素有着不同的反应。芸苔和豆类对Mo和B有较高的响应度,而玉米和其他谷类对Zn和Cu较为敏感。在温润和湿热地区,由于强降雨和强淋溶作用,微量营养元素缺乏较为普遍。土壤pH值是影响微量营养元素对植物有效性的重要因素之一。除Mo以外,微量营养元素的有效性随pH的增加而减小,Mo的有效性随pH的增加而增加。对于大多数植物来说,叶片中的微量营养元素含量高于植物的其他部分。因此,可以用叶片作为样品来测定农作物中微量营养元素的含量。大多数微量营养元素缺乏表现在植物顶部的新叶上,而过量则表现在老叶上。根据Deckers和Steinnes的结论,土壤较为贫瘠的发展中国家与土壤肥沃的欧洲及北美地区相比,微量营养元素缺乏现象较为普遍。许多营养元素缺乏区位于潮湿的热带地区,土壤极度贫瘠、高度风化和/或强淋溶,营养元素十分匮乏。此类其他土壤分部于半干旱及毗邻地区,这些地区的碱性和石灰性土壤条件严重限制了微量营养素对植物的供给。通常,可以满足草料作物生长的Cu、 Fe、Mn、 Zn 、Se含量水平,却不能满足家畜的需要。Se是植物生长所不需要的微量元素,因此草料作物中Se的含量很少。然而,如果动物所食农作物和草料中Se含量偏低,会造成严重的肌肉异常和其他疾病。白肌病是最常见的由于Se缺乏造成的疾病,在牛犊和羔羊中都有发现。本文讨论了与动物需求相关的农作物微量营养元素充足度。     

Biostratigraphic Analysis of the Top Layer of Sediment Cores from the Reference and Test Sites of the INDEX Area

Radiolarian fossil study in the sediment cores collected during the pre- and postdisturbance cruises of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Indian Ocean Experiment (INDEX) program of deep sea mining in the Central Indian Ocean Basin suggests a pronounced directional deposition of fossil radiolarians exhumed during the deep sea benthic disturbance experiment. The relative occurrences of the Stylatractus universus species that became extinct ~0.425 million years before present were mostly confined to the older and deeper strata of the sediment of the disturbance tract in the southwestern direction. This pattern is remarkable and suggests that the disturbance plume has been preferentially redeposited in the southwestern direction. This observation is in concurrence with the prevailing southwestern abyssal current during the disturbance experiment in the Central Indian Basin.     

Porous and fluffy grains in the regions of anomalous extinction

It has long been established that the ratio of total to selective extinction is anomalously large (>- 5) in certain regions of the interstellar medium. In these regions of anomalous extinction the dust grains are likely to be irregular in shape and fluffy in structure. Using discrete dipole approximation (DDA) we calculate the extinction for porous and fluffy grains. We apply DDA first to solid spheroidal particles assumed to be made of a certain (large) number of dipoles. Then we systematically reduce the number of dipoles to model the porous grains. The aggregates of these particles are suggested to form the fluffy grains. We study the extinction for these particles as a function of grain size, porosity and wavelength. We apply these calculations to interpret the observed extincttion data in the regions of star formation (e.g. the Orion complex).     

A new approximation for spectral velocity ordinates at short periods

Response spectrum methods in earthquake‐resistant design sometimes require information on the spectral velocity (SV) for a given single‐degree‐of‐freedom oscillator and specified seismic hazard. SV has been conventionally approximated as pseudo spectral velocity (PSV) in the case of lightly damped structures that are not too flexible. This study shows that the PSV approximation may lead to large overestimation errors when the structure is stiffer to the ground motion and the ground motion is a long‐period motion. It is also shown that a new approximation requiring the use of peak ground acceleration of the motion may significantly reduce these errors. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.