A simple theoretical interpretation of the cloud system in a dying cyclone from the aspect of the boucher-newcomb model

Резюме С помощью принятия простых кинематических предположений и на основании ω—уравнения выла определена конфигурация полос облаков в полностью окклюдированном циклоне без фронтов. Облачная система определяется полем скрытой теплоты, выделяемой в процессах конденсации. Полосы облаков теоретически представляют собой в основном листы синусоидальной спирали.

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Address: Boční II, Praha 4-Spořilov.     

Seismic modelling,development and outlook

Резюме Описаны этапы развития сейсмического моделирования, взаимоотношения между сейсмическим моделированием, теоретическими разработками и полевыми наблюдениями и формулированы перспективные задачи сейсмического моделирования.

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Address: B. Gruzinskaja 10, Moskva G-242, USSR.     

An attempt to the explanation and to the prediction of the eleven-year cycle of solar activity

Summary According to the author the reason of the subsistence of the 11 years' sunspot cycle is to be found in the conjunction of the planets. As a result of the investigations it has been stated that from among the nine planets the joint tidal effect of Venus-Jupiter-Earth is a decisive factor in the variations of sunspot activity. The above three planets are every 10.4 years and 12.0 years respectively, in a close conjunction. The mean value (11.2 years) is in an almost full accordance with the average cycle-period. The fluctuations of the period of the cycle come from the fact that the planets' getting into approximately one line takes a different time within each cycle. This time delay is the cause of the stronger or weaker sunspot activity, and of the shorter or longer cycles.     

Electrochemical strengthening of clayey sandy soils

Most previous studies and applications of electrochemical stabilization of soils through electroosmosis have been made on clayey soils. The object of this investigation was to find out if relatively small amounts of clay (1.5%–3.5%, by weight) present in a sandy soil would be enough for stabilization and strengthening to be possible. The results indicate increases of cohesion of the order of 100–200 lb./sq.ft. X-ray analyses of treated soils indicate that sheet structures of clays are reduced and silicates destroyed upon treatment by electroosmosis. Newly-formed minerals also cement the soil. These neoformations include gibbsite, limonite, calcite, hydrohematite, hydrogoethite (hydrolepidocrocite), hisingerite, allophane, allophanoid, gypsum, hematite, magnetite, nontronite, trona and natron (Na₂ CO₃, 10H₂O). The process seems to be irreversible.     

Climatic satellite monitoring of the external heat balance of the oceans and Black Sea

The long-wave outgoing radiation, effective cloudiness equal to the product of the total cloud amount by their optical density, and the sea-surface temperature determined from the satellites are used to determine the annual course of the components of external heat balance on the sea surface whose climatic anomalies, parallel with the meridional heat and water transfer in the ocean-atmosphere system, specify the intraannual and interannual large-scale variations of weather in different regions of the Earth. The development of these studies is connected with the progress of satellite hydrophysics because the data obtained from the space become sufficiently exact, regular, and global. The increase in the existing data array on the external heat balance of the oceans from ∼15–20 to 100 yr and more would promote the solution of the problem of oscillations of Earth's climate. We present examples of coordinated numerical analysis of the heat balance of the upper (0–100 m ) layer of the Black Sea performed on the basis of the shipborne and satellite data. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 6, pp. 59–75, November–December, 2007.     

Deep tow studies of the Tamayo transform fault

The Tamayo transform fault occurs at the north end of the East Pacific Rise where it enters the Gulf of California. The two deep-tow surveys reported here show that the transform fault zone changes significantly as a function of distance from the spreading center intersections. At site 1, near the intersection, one side of the fault is young and the fault zone is narrow and well-defined. Strike slip occurs in a zone approximately 1-km wide suggesting a correspondingly narrow zone of decoupling between the Pacific and North American plates. On the young side of the strike-slip zone, normal faults occur along shear zones which are 45°–50° oblique to the transform strike. They occur parallel to the short axis of the strain ellipse for transform fault strain here, i.e., perpendicular to the least compressive stress. The transform walls are formed by normal faulting as has been pointed out in previous detailed surveys. Here, however, the age contrast of 2.5 m.y. across the transform valley is apparent in the morphology of the normal fault scarps. While the scarps are steep and well-defined on the young side, the scarps on the older side have gradual 10°–30° slopes and appear to be primarily talus ramps. Apparently, the scarps have been tectonically eroded by continued strike slip activity after the initial stages of normal faulting. Thus, transform valleys should be quite asymmetric in cross-section where there is a significant age contrast and one side is less than approximately 0.5 m.y. old. Also, along older sections of the transform valley walls, normal faulting may not be at all obvious due to degradation of the scarps by tectonic erosion. This phenomenon makes the likelihood of transform faults providing windows into the oceanic crust most unlikely except in special cases.The picture of transform deformation is more complex at site 2 in the central portion of the fault where both sides of the fault are greater than 1 m.y. old. Here the transform valley is wider (25–30 km as opposed to 2–5 km). There is no clear simple zone of strike slip tectonics. In fact, the only clear evidence for deformation is the intrusion of magmatic or serpentinite diapirs through the sediments of the transform valley floor. The diapirs have deformed the turbidite layers flooring the valley and in one carefully studied case the turbidite sequence has been uplifted, perched atop the diapir. The pattern of deformation on this outcropping diapir shows radial and concentric fractures which can be modeled by a vertical intrusion circular in plan view. Magnetic studies limit the possible composition to basalt or serpentinite. A 60-km-long median ridge is also likely to be the product of intrusion along the transform fault. The survey at site 2 pointed out the importance of vertical tectonics in the transform valley floor and in particular the importance of diapiric intrusions of either basaltic or serpentinite composition.Based on initial boundary conditions and present tectonic elements in the Tamayo fault zone, a possible history of the mouth of the Gulf of California is outlined. The median ridge was emplaced starting approximately 0.8 m.y. ago by regional extension across the transform fault, the result of leaky transform faulting. The diapirs occur along a possible relay zone of extension midway along the fault which began approximately 0.15 m.y. ago. The extension in this case is parallel to the trend of the transform fault, is still occurring at present, and may evolve into a true spreading center.Contribution of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, new series.     

Geophysical evidence of mud diapirism on the Mediterranean Ridge accretionary complex

Mud volcanoes, mud cones, and mud ridges have been identified on the inner portion of the crestal area, and possibly on the inner escarpment, of the Mediterranean Ridge accretionary complex. Four areas containing one or more mud diapirs have been investigated through bathymetric profiling, single channel seismic reflection profiling, heat flow measurements, and coring. A sequence of events is identified in the evolution of the mud diapirs: initially the expulsion on the seafloor of gasrich mud produces a seafloor depression outlined in the seismic record by downward dip of the host sediment reflectors towards the mud conduit; subsequent eruptions of fluid mud may create a flat topped mud volcano with step-like profile; finally, the intrusion of viscous mud produces a mud cone.The origin of the diapirs is deep within the Mediterranean Ridge. Although a minimum depth of about 400 m below the seafloor has been computed from the hydrostatic balance between the diapiric sediments and the host sediments, a maximum depth, suggested by geometric considerations, ranges between 5.3 and 7 km. The presence of thermogenic gas in the diapiric sediments suggests a better constrained origin depth of at least 2.2 km.The heat flow measured within the Olimpi mud diapir field and along a transect orthogonal to the diapiric field is low, ranging between 16 ± 5 and 41 ± 6 mW m^–2. Due to the presence of gas, the thermal conductivity of the diapiric sediments is lower than that of the host hemipelagic oozes (0.6–0.9 and 1.0–1.15 W m^–1 K^–1 respectively).We consider the distribution of mud diapirs to be controlled by the presence of tectonic features such as reverse faults or thrusts (inner escarpment) that develop where the thickness of the Late Miocene evaporites appears to be minimum. An upward migration through time of the position of the décollement within the stratigraphic column from the Upper Oligocene (diapiric sediments) to the Upper Miocene (present position) is identified.     

Numerical modelling of the seasonal variability of hydrophysical fields in the Black Sea

The results of research into the seasonal variability of hydrothermodynamic characteristics of the Black Sea are presented. These have been obtained using field data on the fields of temperature, salinity, and wind, and by mathematical modelling. The seasonal variability of the current and heat content fields and of the cold intermediate layer and other hydrophysical characteristics is discussed.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

Validation of a finite difference method for the simulation of vortex-induced vibrations on a circular cylinder

The Karman Vortex Street generated by a circular cylinder is investigated by the numerical solution of the compressible Navier–Stokes equations in the incompressible Mach number range (Mach<0.3) using the Beam and Warming implicit scheme. The agreement with the fully incompressible projection method (Chorin, 1968) is fairly good while convergence time is very much better. The investigation suggests that the compressible Navier–Stokes equations may be used as an efficient alternative to study incompressible flows as well. Mach numbers just below 0.3 are enough to simulate incompressible flow behavior and at the same time do not cause numerical ill-conditioning in the solution. In addition, some relevant features of the vortices generated and carried by the wake of the cylinder could be fairly well captured.