High-pressure granulite from Western Kunlun,northwestern China: Its metamorphic evolution,zircon SHRIMP U-Pb ages and tectonic implication

High-pressure mafic granulites occurring as lenticular bodies within garnet-amphibolites in Kangxiwar Fault have been first reported in this paper. The P-T conditions of two metamorphic stages were ob-tained using calibrated geothermal barometers and ThermoCalc Program. The peak metamorphic con-dition of these high-pressure granulites is about 760―820℃,1.0―1.2 GPa and the retrograde meta-morphic condition is about 620―720℃,0.7―0.8 GPa. The petrological studies show that they have a near-isobaric cooling P-T...     

Quantitative assessment of the spatial distribution of 239+240Pu inventory derived from global fallout in soils from Asia and Europe

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Due to the atmospheric nuclear weapon tests carried out, terrestrial environments have been extensively contaminated by global fallout of plutonium (Pu)...     

Source apportionment and distribution of atmospheric mercury in urban Beijing,China

The concentration of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) in the atmosphere of urban Beijing was measured from October 2003 to September 2004 to investigate the origins and spatial-temporal variations of atmospheric Hg. The mean value of Hg concentration is 17.1 ng·m-3 (n=653). The atmospheric Hg data showed spatial-temporal variations throughout the duration of our observation. The maximum GEM concentration (53.7 ng·m-3) was observed at Gucheng in the western area of urban Beijing. The GEM concentrations increased from the north to the south of the studied area, and were higher in winter than in summer. The highest and lowest monthly averages of GEM concentrations were measured to be 23.3 and 4.1 ng·m-3 in January and July, respectively. In addition, GEM concentrations are higher in the daytime than at night in Autumn and from 14 March to 15 April, but daily GEM variation showed an inverse pattern from 22 April to 22 May. In winter, two peak values of GEM concentrations occurred at 13:30 and 21:30. Daily variation of GEM concentrations in summer was the lowest in the four seasons. Mercury from coal combustion was estimated to be the main source of anthropogenic emissions in Beijing from October 2003 to September 2004. Additionally, Hg emission from natural gas burning was estimated to be another dominant source of atmospheric Hg in Beijing.     

Fractal kinetic characteristics for dissolving and leaching processes of strontium residue

The pore structural characteristics of strontium residue were studied with the N₂ adsorption method (ASAP2010). The kinetic properties concerning dissolving and leaching strontium waste were described by determining the concentrations of Sr²⁺, Ba²⁺ and soluble sulphides in solutions. The results showed that the specific surface area and pore volume increased with decreasing granule diameter, and the micropore surface of the residue was fractal. In the dissolving and leaching processes of strontium residue, soluble ion concentrations increased with decreasing granule diameter of the residue, and the reaction dimension was lower than the fractal dimension of pore surface. Sr²⁺ and soluble sulphide concentrations significantly exceeded the defined standard values, while Ba²⁺ concentrations did not, either in the dissolving or leaching solutions. In addition, dissolving and leaching reactions selectively occurred on the micropore surface of strontium residue.     

云南武定荒箐铁铜多金属矿矿床成因

矿床产于断层破碎带中,受断层和地层层位控制,与迤纳厂矿床具有一定的相似性。铁矿为中低温热液裂隙充填型脉状矿床,而铜矿床应为沉积——变质型。     

地下水-陆生植被系统研究评述

依赖于地下水的生态系统广泛分布,潜水含水层本身是个生态系统,地下水不仅维持许多水生生态系统,而且是干旱-半干旱地区陆生植被生存的重要水源。研究地下水与植被的相互联系是生态水文地质学的主要组成部分,重点介绍地下水-植被系统的研究方法。植被吸收的地下水量占总蒸腾量的比例是评价植被依赖地下水程度的一个定量指标,蒸腾量比例呈季节性与区域性变化,取决于植被类型、地下水位埋深与动态变化、土壤岩性与气候条件。植被总蒸腾量可以用涡流相关系统测量。地下水的蒸腾量可以用植物茎流计测量,或者用地下水位昼夜变化估算。用同位素混合模型也能估算地下水占总蒸腾量的比例。植被对地下水位下降的响应可能有两种形式,一种是线性比例响应,另一种是临界突变响应,只有通过长期系统观测植被长势与地下水位的变化才能利用统计分析建立两者响应关系。目前,植被-水文模型只能模拟植被冠层截流与蒸腾对土壤水与地下水的影响,或者模拟土壤水-地下水对植被生长的影响,地下水与植被相互作用与反馈的耦合模型还是个空白。     

The Triassic age for oceanic eclogites in the Dabie orogen: Entrainment of oceanic fragments in the continental subduction

Low-temperature and high-pressure eclogites with an oceanic affinity in the western part of the Dabie orogen have been investigated with combined Lu–Hf and U–Pb geochronology. These eclogites formed over a range of temperatures (482–565 °C and 1.9–2.2 GPa). Three eclogites, which were sampled from the Gaoqiao country, yielded Lu–Hf ages of 240.7 ± 1.2 Ma, 243.3 ± 4.1 Ma and 238.3 ± 1.2 Ma, with a corresponding lower-intercept U–Pb zircon age of 232 ± 26 Ma. Despite the well-preserved prograde major- and trace-element zoning in garnets, these Lu–Hf ages mostly reflect the high-pressure eclogite-facies metamorphism instead of representing the early phase of garnet growth due to the occurrence of omphacite inclusions from core to rim and the shell effect. An upper-intercept zircon U–Pb age of 765 ± 24 Ma is defined for the Gaoqiao eclogite, which is consistent with the weighted-mean age of 768 ± 21 Ma for the country gneiss. However, the gneiss has not been subjected to successive high-pressure metamorphism. The new Triassic ages are likely an estimate of the involvement of oceanic fragments in the continental subduction.     

Influences of overburden pressure and soil dilation on soil nail pull-out resistance

Soil nailing is the most popular technique for stabilizing newly formed and existing sub-standard slopes in Hong Kong because of its economic and technical advantages. The nail–soil interface shear resistance is an important parameter in design of soil nailed structures. A three-dimensional finite element model was established and used for simulating soil nail pull-out tests. The finite element model was verified by comparing simulated results with measured data. The agreement between the experimental and simulated results in terms of both average pull-out shear stress and stress variation was very good. Using this finite element model, a parametric study was carried out to study the influences of the overburden pressure and soil dilation angle on the soil nail pull-out resistance. The simulated peak pull-out resistance was not directly related to the overburden pressure, which was coincident with the observations in laboratory pull-out tests. The simulated pull-out resistance increased significantly with the increase in dilation angle of the shearing zone. This analysis indicated that the constrained dilatancy of the nail–soil interface and the soil surrounding the nail contributed a lot to the development of peak pull-out resistance.     

东海陆架盆地伸展率和压缩率及构造跃迁

东海陆架盆地位于欧亚板块的东南缘和西太平洋活动大陆边缘,本文选取了东海陆架盆地主要凹陷的17条地震剖面,采用平衡剖面技术,计算了主要凹陷新生代不同演化阶段的伸展率和压缩率。分析表明,东海陆架盆地构造演化总体由西向东跃迁。晚白垩世至晚古新世东海陆架盆地裂陷中心在西部坳陷带,始新世东迁至东部坳陷带,上新世东迁至东海陆架盆地东侧的冲绳海槽盆地。古新世中后期东海陆架盆地西部坳陷带北侧昆山凹陷反转;中新世东部坳陷带的西湖凹陷反转。东海陆架盆地西部坳陷带与东部坳陷带构造演化不同,证明了东海陆架盆地的东西分带。西部坳陷带北部的长江坳陷和南部的台北坳陷构造演化不同,东部坳陷带北部的西湖凹陷和南部的钓北凹陷构造演化不同,证明了东海陆架盆地的南北分块。     

Atlanta’s urban heat island under extreme heat conditions and potential mitigation strategies

The urban heat island (UHI), together with summertime heat waves, foster’s biophysical hazards such as heat stress, air pollution, and associated public health problems. Mitigation strategies such as increased vegetative cover and higher albedo surface materials have been proposed. Atlanta, Georgia, is often affected by extreme heat, and has recently been investigated to better understand its heat island and related weather modifications. The objectives of this research were to (1) characterize temporal variations in the magnitude of UHI around Metro Atlanta area, (2) identify climatological attributes of the UHI under extremely high temperature conditions during Atlanta’s summer (June, July, and August) period, and (3) conduct theoretical numerical simulations to quantify the first-order effects of proposed mitigation strategies. Over the period 1984–2007, the climatological mean UHI magnitude for Atlanta-Athens and Athens-Monticello was 1.31 and 1.71°C, respectively. There were statistically significant minimum temperature trends of 0.70°C per decade at Athens and −1.79°C per decade at Monticello while Atlanta’s minimum temperature remained unchanged. The largest (smallest) UHI magnitudes were in spring (summer) and may be coupled to cloud-radiative cycles. Heat waves in Atlanta occurred during 50% of the years spanning 1984–2007 and were exclusively summertime phenomena. The mean number of heat wave events in Atlanta during a given heat wave year was 1.83. On average, Atlanta heat waves lasted 14.18 days, although there was quite a bit of variability (standard deviation of 9.89). The mean maximum temperature during Atlanta’s heat waves was 35.85°C. The Atlanta-Athens UHI was not statistically larger during a heat wave although the Atlanta-Monticello UHI was. Model simulations captured daytime and nocturnal UHIs under heat wave conditions. Sensitivity results suggested that a 100% increase in Atlanta’s surface vegetation or a tripling of its albedo effectively reduced UHI surface temperature. However, from a mitigation and technological standpoint, there is low feasibility of tripling albedo in the foreseeable future. Increased vegetation seems to be a more likely choice for mitigating surface temperature.