Critical phenomena in thermal conductivity: Implications for lower mantle dynamics

Microscopic mechanisms for heat transport in dense minerals (phonon scattering and photon attenuation) exhibit aspects of threshold behavior, discussed qualitatively here. For all minerals examined so-far using laser-flash analysis, the lattice component of the thermal conductivity of the mantle asymptotes to a constant above a critical temperature of 1500 K. Radiative transfer calculated from absorption spectra has thresholds in both grain-size and Fe content, and a rather complex dependence on temperature. These critical phenomena impact convection of the lower mantle, because the lattice contribution tends to destabilize the cold boundary layers, whereas radiative transfer mostly promotes stability in the lower mantle, unless the grains are large and Fe-rich, which makes convection chaotic and time-dependent. The specific behavior suggests that flow in the lower mantle is sluggish, whereas flow in the upper mantle-transition zone is time-dependent. The decrease in k_rad as Fe/(Fe + Mg) increases beyond 0.1 may be connected with formation of lower mantle, thermo-chemical plumes through positive feedback.     

Effect of Initial Stress Conditions on the Threshold Shear Strain of Nanjing＇s Saturated Fine Sand

By using GDS dynamic hollow cylinder torsional apparatus,a series of cyclic torsional triaxial tests under complex initial consolidation condition are performed on Nanjing saturated fine sand. The effects of the initial principal stress direction α0,the initial ratio of deviatoric stress η0,the initial average effective principal stress p0 and the initial intermediate principal stress parameter b0 on the threshold shear strain γt of Nanjing saturated fine sand are then systematically investigated. The results show that γt increases as η0,p0 and b0 increase respectively,while the other three parameters remain constant. α0 has a great influence on γt,which is reduced when α0 increases from 0° to 45° and increased when α0 increases from 45° to 90°. The effect of α0 on γt plays a leading role and the effect of η0 will weaken when α0 is approximately 45°.     

Initiation conditions for debris flows generated by runoff at Chalk Cliffs, central Colorado

We have monitored initiation conditions for six debris flows between May 2004 and July 2006 in a 0.3 km² drainage basin at Chalk Cliffs; a band of hydrothermally-altered quartz monzonite in central Colorado. Debris flows were initiated by water runoff from colluvium and bedrock that entrained sediment from rills and channels with slopes ranging from about 14° to 45°. The availability of channel material is essentially unlimited because of thick channel fill and refilling following debris flows by rock fall and dry ravel processes. Rainfall exceeding I = 6.61(D)^− 0.77, where I is rainfall intensity (mm/h), and D is duration (h), was required for the initiation of debris flows in the drainage basin. The approximate minimum runoff discharge from the surface of bedrock required to initiate debris flows in the channels was 0.15 m³/s. Colluvium in the basin was unsaturated immediately prior to (antecedent) and during debris flows. Antecedent, volumetric moisture levels in colluvium at depths of 1 cm and 29 cm ranged from 4–9%, and 4–7%, respectively. During debris flows, peak moisture levels in colluvium at depths of 1 cm and 29 cm ranged from 10–20%, and 4–12%, respectively. Channel sediment at a depth of 45 cm was unsaturated before and during debris flows; antecedent moisture ranged from 20–22%, and peak moisture ranged from 24–38%. Although we have no measurements from shallow rill or channel sediment, we infer that it was unsaturated before debris flows, and saturated by surface-water runoff during debris flows.Our results allow us to make the following general statements with regard to debris flows generated by runoff in semi-arid to arid mountainous regions: 1) high antecedent moisture levels in hillslope and channel sediment are not required for the initiation of debris flows by runoff, 2) locations of entrainment of sediment by successive runoff events can vary within a basin as a function of variations in the thickness of existing channel fill and the rate of replenishment of channel fill by rock fall and dry ravel processes following debris flows, and 3) rainfall and simulated surface-water discharge thresholds can be useful in understanding and predicting debris flows generated by runoff and sediment entrainment.     

音频大地电磁法强干扰压制试验研究

压制非相关噪声已经有多种比较成熟的技术方法,如多次叠加、远参考、Robust阻抗估计等,但这些方法对压制矿集区存在的强电磁噪声(通常属于相关噪声)基本没有效果.本文在前期提出的针对矿集区大地电磁强噪声压制的数学形态滤波基础上,开展了音频大地电磁法强干扰压制的试验研究.在四川西昌某AMT测点附近,布置了大功率电磁发送站,通过接地导线向地下供20A的方波电流,同时在供电期和间歇期用凤凰公司MTU-5A仪器观测4个水平分量的电磁场.在室内采用数学形态滤波和阈值法相结合的手段在时间域对含有人工源强干扰的电磁场数据进行处理,以视电阻率对比、频谱和极化方向等参数对处理效果进行评价.结果表明:结构元素恰当的数学形态滤波可以对人工源强干扰进行识别、去除,阈值法则可以消除形态滤波后的脉冲干扰,二者结合可以有效地压制AMT中的强干扰噪声,提高数据可靠性.本文结果对AMT实际资料处理具有重要的实用和参考价值.     

WRF/Chem模式中两种起沙参数化方案对东亚地区一次强沙尘暴过程模拟的影响

利用耦合了GOCART和Shao04两种起沙参数化方案的WRF/Chem模式对2002年3月19~22日发生在东亚地区的强沙尘暴过程进行模拟,着重考察了不同起沙方案对沙尘暴过程模拟的影响。结果表明,耦合了两种不同方案的WRF/Chem总体上均能较合理地模拟出主要的起沙区域、起沙强度的变化以及沙尘浓度的时空演变特征,模式对沙尘源地附近及下游地区地面沙尘浓度时间变化特征的模拟与站点观测结果也十分接近。但总体说来Shao04方案对沙尘起沙的发生以及强度变化过程具有更好的模拟能力,该方案模拟的沙尘浓度与观测更为一致,整体性能要优于GOCART方案。进一步分析发现,由于GOCART方案中采用的临界起沙风速偏小,导致该方案下模拟的沙尘分布范围偏大;另外该方案忽略了蒙古东南部和内蒙古中东部的潜在沙尘源地,从而使得耦合了GOCART方案的模式未能模拟出上述区域的起沙过程,使得该区域及下游地区模拟的沙尘浓度也偏小。但在塔里木盆地,Shao04方案计算的起沙通量偏小,这可能与Shao04方案未能考虑风速较小情况下空气拖曳力夹卷作用对起沙的影响有关,也可能与该方案中采用的土壤质地数据不准确有关。     

Costly stakeholder participation creates inertia in marine ecosystems

Ecosystems often shift abruptly and dramatically between different regimes in response to human or natural disturbances. When ecosystems tip from one regime to another, the suite of available ecosystem benefits changes, impacting the stakeholders who rely on these benefits. These changes often create some groups who stand to incur large losses if an ecosystem returns to a previous regime. When the participation cost in the decision-making process is extremely high, this can “lock in” ecosystem regimes, making it harder for policy and management to shift ecosystems out of what the majority of society views as the undesirable regime. Public stakeholder meetings often have high costs of participation, thus economic theory predicts they will be dominated by extreme views and often lead to decisions that do not represent the majority viewpoint. Such extreme viewpoints can create strong inertia even when there is broad consensus to manage an ecosystem towards a different regime. In the same manner that reinforcing ecological feedback loops make it harder to exit an ecosystem regime, there are decision-making feedback loops that contribute additional inertia.     

消除CCD图像中宇宙射线的算法的比较

CCD天文图像在采集过程中会受到各种噪声的影响,其中宇宙射线噪声有时会严重影响到图像中的有用信息。研究如何有效识别和剔除宇宙射线噪声对于天文图像的信息提取是非常重要的。针对目前国际上较新的三种消除宇宙射线的算法:Laplacian边缘检测算法(A Laplacian Edge Detection Algorithm),基于直方图的快速算法(A Fast Algorithm BasedOn Histogram)以及万能噪声消除算法(A Universal Noise Removal Algorithm),采用由云南天文台1m望远镜拍摄的CCD图像进行了模拟实验和实际宇宙射线的处理。实验表明Laplacian边缘检测算法能相对准确地探测到恒星和星系图像上的宇宙射线。并对算法的效果和复杂度进行比较和分析。最后探讨了如何准确替代宇宙射线像素点的灰度值。     

河型成因的各种理论及其间关系

本文较为系统地将河型成因的各种研究方法按其所依据的理论分类,并指出了各种理论之间的内在联系。文中讨论了各种研究方法所具有的优缺点、各研究方法之间的互补作用以及各种研究方法在表面处理方式不同的背后所隐藏的使河流趋向某一极值状态(或稳定状态)的共同倾向,并据此指出了进一步研究河型成因问题时的侧重面。     

EFFECTS OF FLOW INTENSITY, OBSTACLE ALIGNMENT AND CROSS-SECTION GEOMETRY ON SCOUR AT BRIDGE ABUTMENTS

1 INTRODUCTION Local scour at bridge piers and abutments has long concerned engineers. Scour depth estimation has attracted considerable research interest and activity, and a number of prediction methods exist at present (see, e.g., comprehensive lists of predictors given by Melville and Colleman, 2000). Several studies have been completed since the 1950s for the particular case of scour at bridge abutments. Since the beginning of the 1980s, the University of Auckland, New Zealand, …     

Accounting seasonal nonstationarity in time series models for short-term ozone level forecast

Due to the nonlinear feature of a ozone process, regression based models such as the autoregressive models with an exogenous vector process (ARX) suffer from persistent diurnal behaviors in residuals that cause systematic over-predictions and under-predictions and fail to make accurate multi-step forecasts. In this article we present a simple class of the functional coefficient ARX (FARX) model which allows the regression coefficients to vary as a function of another variable. As a special case of the FARX model, we investigate the threshold ARX (TARX) model of Tong [Lecture notes in Statistics, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1983; Nonlinear time series: a dynamics system approach, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1990] which separates the ARX model in terms of a variable called the threshold variable. In this study we use time of day as the threshold variable. The TARX model can be used directly for ozone forecasts; however, investigation of the estimated coefficients over the threshold regimes suggests polynomial coefficient functions in the FARX model. This provides a parsimonious model without deteriorating the forecast performance and successfully captures the diurnal nonstationarity in ozone data. A general linear F-test is used to test varying coefficients and the portmanteau tests, based on the autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation of fitted residuals, are used to test error autocorrelations. The proposed models were applied to a 2 year dataset of hourly ozone concentrations obtained in downtown Cincinnati, OH, USA. For the exogenous processes, outdoor temperature, wind speed, and wind direction were used. The results showed that both TARX and FARX models substantially improve one-day-ahead forecasts and remove the diurnal pattern in residuals for the cases considered.