Calibration of the kinematic method of studying solar wind disturbances on the basis of a one-dimensional MHD solution and a simulation study of the heliosphere disturbances between 22 november and 6 december 1977

An empirical kinematic method developed by Hakamada and Akasofu (1982) is calibrated on the basis of a one-dimensional MHD solution. The calibrated results are used to simulate the stream-stream interaction and the background corotating structure in a simple situation and also during 22 November–6 December 1977. The solar wind disturbances caused by solar activities during this period are then introduced into the above background stream in simulating the heliospheric disturbance event which was observed by an aligned set of spacecraft at distances between 0.6 and 1.6 a.u. The observations and the simulated results are satisfactory, and a little more refinement in the simulation could reconstruct reasonably well the data by filling the data gaps in the solar wind speed, the density and the IMF magnitude.     

Climatic changes in central and eastern Canada inferred from deep borehole temperature data

We analyzed data from 23 boreholes at 19 sites in central and eastern Canada, for the purpose of estimating ground surface temperature (GST) histories. These boreholes were logged down to at least 550 m depth with thermistor probes. Thermal conductivity measurements had been previously made at small depth intervals for the entire depth ranges of most of the boreholes. The temperature profiles of these boreholes do not indicate water disturbance. We estimated terrain effects for each borehole using a time dependent solid-angle method. The thermal perturbations caused by lakes or deforestation near the borehole sites are insignificant in most cases. However, four of the holes were found to be severely influenced by terrain effects. GSTs estimated from the borehole data less influenced by the terraineffects form two groups. The first group, which are generally from data of better quality, show a cold period near the end of the last century before the recent warming trend; the second show it 80–100 years earlier. We consider the former typical of the climate of the Boreal climatic region of Canada. The difference between the two groups may reflect the spacial variability of the climate. Four GST estimates do not belong to either type, and the reasons are discussed.     

Finite element formulation and algorithms for unsaturated soils. Part II: Verification and application

The finite‐element formulation and integration algorithms developed in Part I are used to analyse a number of practical problems involving unsaturated and saturated soils. The formulation and algorithms perform well for all the cases analysed, with the robustness of the latter being largely insensitive to user‐defined parameters such as the number of coarse time steps and error control tolerances. The efficiency of the algorithms, as measured by the CPU time consumed, does not depend on the number of coarse time steps, but may be influenced by the error control tolerances. Based on the analyses presented here, typical values for the error control tolerances are suggested. It is also shown that the constitutive modelling framework presented in Part I can, by adjusting one constitutive equation and one or two material parameters, be used to simulate soils that expand or collapse upon wetting. Treating the suction as a strain variable instead of a stress variable proves to be an efficient and robust way of solving suction‐dependent plastic yielding. Moreover, the concept of the constitutive stress is a particularly convenient way of handling the transition between saturation and unsaturation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relict mountain slope deposits of northern Portugal: facies,sedimentogenesis and environmental implications

This paper deals with the formation processes and the palaeoenvironmental significance of relict slope deposits located on the uppermost part of the north Portugal mountains. For this purpose, seven key sites representative of the different lithofacies have been selected and analysed in detail. The data show that three main dynamic processes are responsible for the emplacement of regional fossil slope deposits: runoff, debris flows and dry grain flows. The ubiquity of these processes and the lack of frost‐related features or landforms do not support the existence of severe Pleistocene climates in this part of the lberian Peninsula as postulated by previous work. Pedological data gathered at one of the study sites show that a subalpine environment was probably present at 700–800 m altitude between 29 and 14 kyr. Using data from the Pyrenees Mountains, a 6.5 to 12°C depression in mean annual temperature has been tentatively postulated for this Pleniglacial period. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrated sulphuric acid in dense molecular clouds

We consider sulphur depletion in dense molecular clouds, and suggest hydrated sulphuric acid, H₂SO₄ ·  n H₂O, as a component of interstellar dust in icy mantles. We discuss the formation of hydrated sulphuric acid in collapsing clouds and its instability in heated regions in terms of the existing hot core models and observations. We also show that some features of the infrared spectrum of hydrated sulphuric acid have correspondence in the observed spectra of young stellar objects.     

The NAIAD experiment for WIMP searches at Boulby mine and recent results

The NAIAD experiment (NaI Advanced Detector) for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter searches at Boulby mine (UK) is described. The detector consists of an array of encapsulated and unencapsulated NaI(Tl) crystals with high light yield. Six crystals are collecting data at present. Data accumulated by four of them (10.6 kg × year exposure) have been used to set upper limits on the WIMP–nucleon spin-independent and WIMP–proton spin-dependent cross-sections. Pulse shape analysis has been applied to discriminate between nuclear recoils, as may be caused by WIMP interactions, and electron recoils due to gamma background. Various calibrations of crystals are presented.     

Effect of spatial variation characteristics on contouring of design storm depth

The ordinary kriging method, a geostatistical interpolation technique, was applied for developing contour maps of design storm depth in northern Taiwan using intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) data. Results of variogram modelling on design storm depths indicate that the design storms can be categorized into two distinct storm types: (i) storms of short duration and high spatial variation and (ii) storms of long duration and less spatial variation. For storms of the first category, the influence range of rainfall depth decreases when the recurrence interval increases, owing to the increasing degree of their spatial independence. However, for storms of the second category, the influence range of rainfall depth does not change significantly and has an average of approximately 72 km. For very extreme events, such as events of short duration and long recurrence interval, we do not recommend usage of the established design storm contours, because most of the interstation distances exceed the influence ranges. Our study concludes that the influence range of the design storm depth is dependent on the design duration and recurrence interval and is a key factor in developing design storm contours. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elastic solutions for stresses in a transversely isotropic half‐space subjected to three‐dimensional buried parabolic rectangular loads

In many areas of engineering practice, applied loads are not uniformly distributed but often concentrated towards the centre of a foundation. Thus, loads are more realistically depicted as distributed as linearly varying or as parabola of revolution. Solutions for stresses in a transversely isotropic half‐space caused by concave and convex parabolic loads that act on a rectangle have not been derived. This work proposes analytical solutions for stresses in a transversely isotropic half‐space, induced by three‐dimensional, buried, linearly varying/uniform/parabolic rectangular loads. Load types include an upwardly and a downwardly linearly varying load, a uniform load, a concave and a convex parabolic load, all distributed over a rectangular area. These solutions are obtained by integrating the point load solutions in a Cartesian co‐ordinate system for a transversely isotropic half‐space. The buried depth, the dimensions of the loaded area, the type and degree of material anisotropy and the loading type for transversely isotropic half‐spaces influence the proposed solutions. An illustrative example is presented to elucidate the effect of the dimensions of the loaded area, the type and degree of rock anisotropy, and the type of loading on the vertical stress in the isotropic/transversely isotropic rocks subjected to a linearly varying/uniform/parabolic rectangular load. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.