Inferred geothermal inflows to Lake Rotorua

Chemical data on samples from tributaries to Lake Rotorua are used to show that a large proportion of the chloride load on the lake comes from a source other than the surface tributaries. This source is probably a flow of c. 0.6 m³ s^‐1 of geothermal water with a chloride concentration of c. 500 g m^‐3.     

Spatial variations in broadband and air passenger service provision in the United States

With the resurgence of regions as key nodes in the global economy, there is a growing interest in better defining their competitive advantages, particularly those accrued through infrastructure provision. Two important components of this competitive landscape are information and communication technologies (ICTs) and commercial air passenger service. While the development of these two networks is frequently cited as being a critical factor in regional economic competitiveness, few empirical studies address the statistical relationship(s) between these infrastructures or the complexities associated with their spatial distribution. The purpose of this paper is to determine if an association exists between the provision of broadband telecommunication service and air passenger service in the United States. In addition, basic spatial statistical approaches are utilized to identify a suite of important social and economic determinants that play a central role in spurring infrastructure provision.     

Contemporary fiddling in human geography while Rome burns: has quantitative analysis been largely abandoned--and should it be?

Chris Hamnett [Geoforum 34 (2003) 1] has certainly been provocative in his claim that the nature of much contemporary human geography means that the discipline ‘will cease to be taken seriously in the world beyond the narrow confines of academe’ (p. 1). Much of his critique focuses on what he terms ‘post-modernism, new cultural geography and the interpretative turn’ (p. 2) practiced by those he identifies as ‘the new intellectual dilettanti’ (p. 3). In responding, however, our concern is not with that aspect of his critique, but rather with Hamnett’s misrepresentation of one section of contemporary human geography.     

铂族元素在地壳中的富集:以布什维尔德杂岩为例

地幔是地壳铂族元素富集的主要源库。铂族元素迁移主要有两个途径:(1)地幔部分熔融物质侵入地壳;(2)地幔板片就位于俯冲/碰撞带。前一途径比后一途径重要得多。地幔物质进入地壳造成铂族元素富集并成为可供开采的主矿产而非副产品,这一过程可包含许多成矿作用机制:(i)基性侵入体中Ni-Cu硫化物矿浆的发育,岩浆冷却与分离结晶作用导致富含Cu,Pt,Pd的硫化物矿浆的形成;(ii)层状侵入体一定层位形成高品位的铂族元素硫化物层,伴生或不伴生铬铁岩;(iii)富铂族元素及硫化物的岩浆沿着层状侵入体的边缘就位;(iv)直至层状侵入体结晶分异作用晚期的硫化物不混溶滞后分离;(v)不发育硫化物不混溶作用的铬铁矿结晶作用;(vi)低程度硫化物浸染带中的热液作用与铂族元素富集;(vii)乌拉尔-阿拉斯加型侵入体重结晶过程中的铂族元素与铬铁矿的次生富集作用,岩体在风化过程中形成砂矿床;(viii)黑色页岩形成过程中Pt的富集。南非布什维尔德火成杂岩蕴藏世界Pt资源的75%,Pd资源的54%,Rh资源的82%,并具有(ii)、(iii)、(iv)、(v)、(vi)成矿作用的实例。在这些作用中,作用(ii)形成的现有经济储量和资源量占90%,作用(iii)占9%。Merensky矿层(占总资源量30%)是一个铂族元素富集层位,它含1~3铬铁矿薄层,在可采宽度内硫化物平均含量为1%~3%(质量分数)。硫化物一般被认为是铂族元素的主要聚集体。该矿层由两个或两个以上含硫化物的基性热岩浆上升汇聚而成。这些岩浆的汇聚造成超镁铁质堆晶岩的厚度(主要是斜方辉石岩,某些地区包括橄榄岩)变化于50cm至数米之间。开采通常集中在厚度不到1m的地带。矿层的成因至今仍存在争议,一些观点认为铂族元素来自下部上升的热液流体,另一些观点认为铂族元素来自上部岩浆的硫化物沉降作用,并形成了Merensky辉石岩。已经知道矿层上覆的辉石岩、苏长岩和斜长岩中矿物来自两种岩浆类型:一种富含MgO(12%,质量分数)和Cr,而贫Al2O3(12%);另一种含典型的粒玄岩成分。UG-2铬铁岩含有全部经济资源量的58%,由一0.6~1m厚的铬铁岩层(有时见辉石岩夹层)和上覆的1~3层由铬铁矿所构成的薄层。虽然硫化物被认为至少是某些情况下对铂族元素的富集起作用,但UG-2的硫化物含量(0.5%~1.5%)显著低于Merensky矿层。UG-2层之下共有13个铬铁岩层位,所有的都含铂族元素,虽然铂族元素总含量和(Pt+Pd)/(Ru+Ir+Os)比值远低于UG-2。UG-2内所含的辉石岩"夹层"具高的87Sr/86Sr比值,说明与顶部熔融岩石的混合促进了铬铁岩和硫化物的形成。作用(iii)的主要实例是Platreef。目前它占总资源量的9%。不过,沿该带正积极开展找矿勘探工作,这一比例将来还会提高。这一矿层的厚度比Merensky和UG-2都要大,目前开采厚度达50多米。Platreef呈带状,上部为斜方辉石岩的堆晶岩;下部为辉石岩、长石辉石岩和苏长岩,它们与页岩、铁矿层和白云岩强烈相互作用,直接形成了底盘岩石。笔者认为Platreef是不同期次岩浆作用的结果,这些作用形成了不同的单元产物,包括布什维尔德主岩浆房的UG-2和Merensky矿层。新的岩浆进入主岩浆房会造成先存岩浆移位、岩浆错动并会冲破岩浆房的壁。圆筒状、带状岩管中的超镁铁岩含极高的Pt品位,在布什维尔德杂岩的下部切穿堆晶层,被认为是热液再活化的产物。它们现在未被开采,只是构成存封的铂族元素资源,对整个杂岩体资源没有重要的贡献。     

Dynamical analysis of mesoscale eddy-induced ocean internal waves using linear theories

This study aims to explore generation mechanisms of the ocean internal wave using the dynamical analysis methods based on linear theories. Historical cruise measurements and recent synthetic aperture radar （SAR） observations of mesoscale eddies with diameter of several tens of kilometers to hundreds of kilometers show that the internal wave packets with wavelength of hundreds of meters to kilometer exist inside the mesoscale eddies. This coexistence phenomenon and inherent links between the two different scale processes are revealed in the solutions of governing equations and boundary conditions for the internal wave disturbance with a horizontally slowly variable amplitude in a cylindrical coordinate system. The theoretical solutions indicate that the instability of eddy current field provides the dynamical mechanism to internal wave generation. The derived dispersion relation indicates that the internal wave propagation is modified by the eddy current field structure. The energy equation of the internal waves clearly shows the internal wave energy increment comes from the eddy. The theoretical models are used to explain the observation of the mesoscale eddy-induced internal waves off the Norwegian coast. The two-dimensional waveform solution of the anticyclonic eddy-induced internal wave packet appears as ring-shaped curves, which contains the typical features of eddy stream lines. The comparison of theoretical solutions to the structure of the internal wave packets on SAR image shows a good agreement on the major features.     

ON generation source sites of internal in the Luzon strait

This effort aims to determine the generation source sites in the Luzon Strait for energetic, long-crest, transbasin internal waves (IW) observed in the northern South China Sea (NSCS). The roles of islands distributed on eastern side of the strait, Kuroshio, submarine ridges, shoaling thermocline, and strait configuration played in the IW generation are examined using the cruise data analysis, satellite data interpretation, and dynamical analysis. The islands and channels on eastern side of the strait are excluded from a list of possible IW source sites owing to their unmatched horizontal dimensions to the scale of IW crest line length, and the relative low Reynolds number. The Kuroshio has a potential to be a radiator for the long-crest IW disturbances, meanwhile, the Kuroshio west (east) wing absorbs the eastward (westward) propagating IW disturbance. Namely, the Kuroshio blockades the outside west-east propagating IW disturbances. The 3-D configuration of the Luzon Strait is characterized by a sudden, more than one order widening of the cross-section areas at the outlets on both sides, providing a favorable condition for IW type initial disturbance formation. In the Luzon Strait, the thermocline is featured by a westward shoaling all the year around, providing the dynamical conditions for the amplitude growth (declination) to the westward (eastward) propagating IW type disturbance. Thus,the west slope of western submarine ridge at the western outlet of the Luzon Strait is a high possibility source sites for energetic,long-crest, transbasin Iws in the NSCS. The interpretation results of satellite SAR images during a 13 a period from 1995 to 2007 provide the convincing evidence for the conclusions.