Compact non-singular expansions in the exterior space of a reference ellipsoid for the gravitational gradients in the local north-oriented ellipsoidal and spherical reference frames

Due to the complicated structure of their expressions, the ellipsoidal harmonic series for the derivatives of the Earth’s gravitational potential are commonly applied only on a reference ellipsoid. They depend on the first- and second-order derivatives of the associated Legendre functions of both kinds and contain a few singular terms. We construct ellipsoidal harmonic expansions in the exterior space for the first and second potential derivatives, which are similar to the series on the reference ellipsoid enveloping the Earth. We take a point P at an arbitrary altitude above the reference ellipsoid and construct the ellipsoid of revolution confocal to it, which passes through this point. The conventional complicated singular expressions for the first and second potential derivatives in the local north-oriented ellipsoidal reference frame, with the origin at the point P, are transformed into non-singular ellipsoidal harmonic series, which do not contain the first- and second-order derivatives of the associated Legendre functions. The resulting series have an accuracy of the squared eccentricity. These series can be applied for constructing a geopotential model, which is based, simultaneously, on the surface gravity data and the data of satellite missions, which provide measurements of the accelerations and/or the gravitational gradients. When the eccentricity of the considered external ellipsoid is equated to zero, the ellipsoid becomes an external sphere passing through the point P and the constructed ellipsoidal harmonic expansions are converted into non-singular spherical harmonic series for the first and second potential derivatives in the local north-oriented spherical reference frame.     

The Holocene record of Alberca de Tacámbaro,a tropical lake in western Mexico: evidence of orbital and millennial-scale climatic variability

Laminated sediments in a core from Alberca de Tacámbaro, western central Mexico, provide a high-resolution record of palaeoclimatic variability for most of the Holocene. Using compositional and textural characteristics we identified 14 facies classified in biogenic, clastic and volcaniclastic groups, in which diatoms and other algal remains are the most common components. In addition to facies analysis, high-resolution geochemical data from continuous core scanning XRF and the analysis of discrete samples for organic and inorganic carbon content, provide the basis for palaeoclimatic reconstruction. The age model indicates that the record spans from 9.4 cal ka bp toad 1760. Three main phases in the sequence are identified, controlled by millennial-scale variability. During the period between 9.4 and 5.7 cal kabp , the lake is dominated by siliceous organisms. Drier conditions between 8.2 and 6.3 cal kabp are linked to decreases in summer insolation and solar irradiance. By 5.7 cal kabp , the change in sedimentation is related to the increase in El Niño Southern Oscillation frequency. Evidence of the occurrence of dry conditions during the archaeological Late Classic period (ad 600–900) and historical droughts are also documented in the Alberca de Tacámbaro record. Unprecedented changes in the landscape are recorded afterad 1520.     

Sediment characteristics of tropical,karst lakes and their relationship with watershed topography,lake morphometry,and human activities

Journal of Paleolimnology - We analyzed multiple variables in recent sediments from 18 tropical, karst lakes in “Lagunas de Montebello” National Park, a Mexican Protected Natural Area...     

Present Limnological Conditions and Recent (ca. 340 yr) Palaeolimnology of a Tropical Lake in the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, Eastern Mexico

The Sierra de Los Tuxtlas is a recently active volcanic field, with eruptions in 1664 and 1792. It holds one of the reserves of tropical evergreen forest in Mexico, as well as several maar lakes. One of them, Lago Verde, was chosen for a three-fold study (1) on its present limnological conditions, (2) on the algal community living in the water column and preserved in the surface sediments; and (3) on its recent history (ca. 340 yr). The palaeolimnological study was based on multiproxy analyses on core material dated by ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs and ¹⁴C. Lago Verde is a small, shallow lake with dilute, slightly alkaline water (CO₃²⁻ + HCO₃⁻ > Cl⁻ > SO₄²⁻, Na⁺ + K⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺). It is turbid, eutrophic, with high phosphorus levels. It is a warm polymictic lake, with thermal and oxygen stratification establishing by midday during the warm months. The lake does not stratify in winter. Diatoms dominate the phytoplankton community in the cold ‘nortes’ season, Cyanobacteria in summer, and Chlorophyta in autumn. Cyanobacteria (Chroococcales) are not well preserved in the surface sediments while Chlorophyta are better preserved. Sedimentary diatoms are well preserved, dominated by the three most abundant species in the water column: Achnanthidium minutissimum, Fragilaria capucina and Aulacoseira granulata. The base of the studied sequences is constrained by the historic eruption of 1664. The period from 1664 to 1963 is characterised by a meso-eutrophic lake. Tropical Forest vegetation reaches maximum values between ca. 1800 and 1963. Between ca. 1785 and 1885 the lake was slightly shallower than in the rest of the 1664–1963 period, probably recording climatic variability. An early pulse of anthropogenic disturbance was recorded by ca. 1921 and after ca. 1963 intense forest clearance and high erosion rates led to a more turbid, more productive, nutrient-rich lake. The highest anthropogenic impact was reached by ca. 1988; afterwards the lake and its basin reached a new balance, with the establishment of the present modern conditions.     

Pb chronology and trace metal geochemistry at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, as evidenced by a sedimentary record from the Lago Verde crater lake

Lago Verde is a fresh-water maar found on the lower slopes of San Martin volcano, at the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, currently the northernmost remnant of the tropical rain forest in America. ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs analyzed in a sediment core were used to reconstruct the historical fluxes of Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg and Zn to the site during the last ∼ 150 yr. The ²¹⁰Pb_xs-derived sediment accumulation rates, the magnetic susceptibility, C/N ratios and δ¹³C data evidenced background conditions at the lake until 1960s, when enhanced erosion related to the clearing of large forested areas at Los Tuxtlas promoted higher accumulation rates of a heavier and more magnetic sedimentary material. Recent sediments from Lago Verde were found enriched by Pb (26-fold natural concentration level [NCLs]) and moderately enriched by Cd > Cu > Zn and Hg (6-, 5-, 4- and 4-fold corresponding NCLs, respectively). The fluxes of Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn have significantly increased since 1940s, with peak ratios of total modern to pre-industrial fluxes of 11, 11, 19 and 49, respectively. The lake occupies a relatively pristine, non-industrialized basin, and therefore the increased metal fluxes might be related to long-distance aeolian transport of trace metals.     

Land Degradation in the Test Areas of China and Argentina：Observed P

叙述中国西北地区的黑河流域、塔里木盆地南缘和阿根迁西北的门多萨、圣地亚哥德埃斯特罗省等检验区的退化土地的类型、分布特征、影响因素及其相互关系。结合近百年来平原区气候变化有明显暖化和旱化,阿根廷半干旱区的降水波,和人口增长对土地利用压力的加大趋势,可以预测在人工绿洲外围和河流下游,尽管人类在优化绿洲建设和合理利用水资源等方面可以取得很大进步,但土地退化的趋势还会继续,因此必须加强对这些生态脆弱边缘土     

Late Pleistocene: Holocene record of environmental changes in Lake Zirahuen,Central Mexico

Geochemical data obtained from X-ray fluorescence, physical properties, total organic and inorganic carbon content (TOC/TIC), and diatom analysis from a 6.61-m-long sedimentary sequence near the modern northern shore of Lake Zirahuen (101° 44′ W, 19° 26′ N, 2000 m asl) provide a reconstruction of lacustrine sedimentation during the last approximately 17 cal kyr BP. A time scale is based on ten AMS ¹⁴C dates and by tephra layers from Jorullo (AD 1759-1764) and Paricutin (AD 1943-1952) volcanoes. The multiproxy analyses presented in this study reveal abrupt changes in environmental and climatic conditions. The results are compared to the paleo-record from nearby Lake Patzcuaro. Dry conditions and low lake level are inferred in the late Pleistocene until ca. 15 cal kyr BP, followed by a slight but sustained increase in lake level, as well as a higher productivity, peaking at ca. 12.1 cal kyr BP. This interpretation is consistent with several regional climatic reconstructions in central Mexico, but it is in opposition to record from Lake Patzcuaro. A sediment hiatus bracketed between 12.1 and 7.2 cal kyr BP suggests a drop in lake level in response to a dry early Holocene. A deeper, more eutrophic and turbid lake is recorded after 7.2 cal kyr BP. Lake level at the coring site during the mid Holocene is considered the highest for the past 17 cal kyr BP. The emplacement of the La Magueyera lava flows (LMLF), dated by thermoluminiscence at 6560 ± 950 year, may have reduced basin volume and contributed to the relative deepening of the lake after 7.2 cal kyr BP. The late Holocene (after 3.9 cal kyr BP) climate is characterized by high instability. Extensive erosion, lower lake levels, dry conditions and pulses of high sediment influx due to high rainfall are inferred for this time. Further decrease in lake level and increased erosion are recorded after ca. AD 1050, at the peak of Purepechas occupation (AD 1300–1521), and until the eighteenth century. Few lacustrine records extend back to the late Pleistocene—early Holocene in central Mexico; this paper contributes to the understanding of late Pleistocene-Holocene paleoclimates in this region.     

Ar-Ar Geochronology in a gneiss dome within the Zagros Orogénic Belt

Exhumation of the Tutak mantled gneiss dome without significant cooling has taken place in a doubly plunging anticline within the Sanandaj-Sirjan HP-LT metamorphic belt in the Zagros Thrust System of Iran. Reconstruction of structural evolution of the Tutak gneiss dome at the contact between Arabian and Iranian plates by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology exhibits history of the closure of Neo-Tethyan Ocean. There are two granites of different ages in the core of dome; the oldest corresponds to the central Iranian continental crust and was deformed at about 180 Ma. The younger granite was emplaced in the NE–SW transpression system. The timing of strain-related fabrics and exhumation history of the region illustrates the closure of Neo-Tethys and beginning of continent-continent collision at about 77 Ma, as constrained by a well defined plateau ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age obtained on biotite. Then, the biotite age corresponds to the second stage of emplacement of the Bendenow granite-gneiss which illustrating repeated orogenic events. Continuing deformation without interruption that by now has been created at about 77 Ma, was largely restricted to the transpression and high proportion of simple shear components relative to the pure shear components along the NE–SW.     

Improved expressions for the ellipsoidal harmonic series representing the Earth gravitational potential and its first and second derivatives on and outside the reference ellipsoid of revolution

The Legendre functions of the second kind, renormalized by Jekeli, are considered in the external space on a set of ellipsoids of revolution which are confocal with respect to the normal ellipsoid. Among these ellipsoids a reference one is chosen which bounds the Earth. New expressions for the first and second order derivatives of the Legendre functions are derived. They depend on two very quickly convergent Gauss hypergeometric series which are obtained by transforming the slowly convergent initial hypergeometric series. The derived expressions are applied for constructing the ellipsoidal harmonic series for the Earth disturbing gravitational potential and its derivatives of the first and second orders. Since outside the chosen reference ellipsoid there are no Earth masses (as compared to the normal ellipsoid) then it is more appropriate for constructing the boundary-value equation and solving it on the basis of surface gravity data reduced to this ellipsoid.