Timing of surficial process changes down a Mojave Desert piedmont

We measured ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al in 29 sediment samples to infer the history and millennial-scale rates of change down a low-gradient piedmont, a common but enigmatic landform that dominates the Mojave Desert. Nuclide data suggest that a large volume of sediment was deposited on the proximal East Range Road piedmont in Fort Irwin, California, ∼ 75,500 yr ago. Since then, this material has been stable or eroding slowly. In contrast, on the distal piedmont (3.5 km from the upland source basins) soil stratigraphy suggests that there have been alternating periods of surface stability, erosion, and deposition over the last 70,000 yr. Nuclide data from samples amalgamated along cross-piedmont transects suggest that long-term average down-gradient sediment speeds range from 9 cm yr^− 1 near the uplands to 22 cm yr^− 1 6 km down-piedmont. These speeds are similar to ¹⁰Be-estimated sediment speeds down three other piedmonts in the Mojave Desert, suggesting that piedmont surface morphologies dominated by shallow migrating channels have similar sediment transport rates. The timing of surface process change down the East Range Road piedmont is determined by a combination of sediment available in the source basins, sediment transport rates, and the size of the piedmont.     

2005年7月4—11日淮河流域强降水过程的水汽收支分析

通过对水汽通量向量的势函数和流函数分解以及水汽方程的诊断计算，分析了2005年7月4-11日淮河流域强降水过程水汽收支情况。结果表明，此次强降水过程主要水汽来源于菲律宾经南海向北转向流入我国中东部地区的较强盛的水汽输送带。这条水汽输送带由两部分组成：起重要作用的是强中心位于太平洋上，沿热带赤道以南地区一致向西到达菲律宾的水汽流，另一部分是沿赤道南侧的东风气流，在非洲东岸索马里附近越赤道向东北方向经孟加拉湾北部到达菲律宾的水汽流；水汽汇合区内，淮河流域附近存在东南与西北水汽汇集辐合，这可能是造成淮河流域持续出现强降水重要原因之一；水汽强辐合区域与强降水发生的区域相对应，降水发生区域的总体水汽收支和平均面降雨量的变化趋势相吻合，随着水汽收入的增加，降水量开始加大；中低层的水汽垂直输送与降水过程的平均面降雨量的变化具有较好的对应关系。     

Methodology for the Process Based Acquisition and Assessment of Non-Intended Outputs in the Mining Industry

For the activities of the mining industry land, equipment, material, and energy are used. During operation material and energy flows such as overburden, dead rock, tailings, wastewater, exhaust air, dust, energy, abrasion, coolant and lubricant losses, are released. These released material and energy flows are nearly always without value for the raw material supply chain as they are not production targets. Instead, they have negative effects on the economy and ecology and are, therefore, referred to as ‘non-intended’. The knowledge of the quantities and qualities of these non-intended outputs as a function of the processes and their parameters is the basis for technical and economical measures. A methodology for the acquisition and assessment of the material and energy flows in the mining industry was developed and tested at the Technical University Berlin, Germany. For that purpose and based on a system analysis in different mines, all relevant material and energy flows were assigned to individual processes. Causal relationships, possible interactions, quantities, and qualities were examined as functions of system parameters. Finally, a technical and economic evaluation was performed.     

Local boundary-layer development over burnt and unburnt tropical savanna: an observational study

Fire scars have the ability to radically alter the surface energy budget within a tropical savanna by reducing surface albedo, increasing available energy for partitioning into sensible and latent heat fluxes and increasing substrate heat flux. These changes have the potential to alter boundary-layer conditions and ultimately feedback to local and regional climate. We measured radiative and energy fluxes over burnt and unburnt tropical savanna near Howard Springs, Darwin, Australia. At the burnt site a low to moderate intensity fire, ranging between 1,000 and 3,500 kW m⁻¹, initially affected the land surface by removing all understorey vegetation, charring and blackening the ground surface, scorching the overstorey canopy and reducing the albedo. A reduction in latent heat fluxes to almost zero was seen immediately after the fire when the canopy was scorched. This was then followed by an increase in the sensible heat flux and a large increase in the ground heat flux over the burnt surface. Tethered balloon measurements showed that, despite the presence of pre-monsoonal rain events occurring during the measurement period, the lower boundary layer over the burnt site was up to 2^°C warmer than that over the unburnt site. This increase in boundary-layer heating when applied to fire scars at the landscape scale can have the ability to form or alter local mesoscale circulations and ultimately create a feedback to regional heating and precipitation patterns that may affect larger-scale processes such as the Australian monsoon.     

黑河下游鼎新戈壁近地层能量输送及微气象特征

利用在甘肃酒泉金塔地区进行的"绿洲系统能量与水分循环过程观测与数值研究"野外试验2005年5月16~21日的加强期观测资料,计算并分析了鼎新戈壁下垫面地表辐射平衡、地表能量平衡、地表空气动力学粗糙度、地表反射率以及动量、热量总体输送系数等物理量的变化特征,得到了鼎新戈壁下垫面近地层能量输送及微气象特征:(1)在5月份晴天天气下,太阳辐射各分量表现出了标准的地表辐射平衡的日循环形态,总辐射峰值可达1000 W.m-2以上;净辐射峰值达到526 W.m-2。(2)能量平衡各项都具有明显的日变化规律;白天感热通量最大值可达到400 W.m-2,潜热通量比感热通量小两个量级,地热流量峰值可达100 W.m-2以上;在下午和夜间存在负的水汽输送现象。(3)在中性条件下:z0=1.44×10-3m,CDN=2.1×10-3,CHN=1.8×10-3。(4)5月份地表反射率为0.217,反射率日分布大致呈"U"型。     

利用扫描电镜和能谱技术研究四川会理铂钯矿床中的铂族矿物特征及铂族元素赋存状态

四川会理铂钯矿床是独立的铂族元素矿床,局部地段的铂钯含量已达工业品位,当前迫切需要详细掌握铂族矿物和铂族元素赋存状态。由于原矿铂族元素品位总体较低,采用化学分析方法分析测试只能间接研究铂族元素的赋存状态,所得结论并不全面。本文结合化学分析方法的测试结果,利用扫描电镜及能谱获得了会理铂钯矿床铂族矿物的精细特征。结果表明:该矿床中铂族元素主要是铂和钯;铑、铱、钌、锇含量很低,且未发现这四种元素的独立矿物。铂和钯有单质和与砷、碲、锑、铋形成的化合物;独立铂族矿物有17种,主要是自然铂、砷铂矿、砷钯铂矿或砷铂钯矿、钯铂铜矿或铂钯铜矿,其次可见少量承铂矿及其他铂族矿物。铂族矿物嵌布状态有两种——被包裹和粒间,被包裹占52.39%,粒间占47.62%。绝大多数铂族矿物呈他形粒状,只有少量砷铂矿晶形较好。铂族矿物粒径范围为1.36~32.7μm,大小差异大。有的铂族矿物表面具微孔结构,有的呈葡萄状,有的可见环边现象。接触方式以曲线接触为主,直线接触次之。这些信息为该矿床矿石选冶和铂族资源评价提供了科学依据。     

Advances and Challenges in the Study on the Tropical Rainfall Changes Under Global Warming*

Since tropical rainfall is important in the global energy and hydrologic cycle, the tropical rainfall changes under global warming have attracted extensive attention around the world in recent decades. The advances in the observational studies and model projection for the tropical rainfall changes under global warming were reviewed here. The frontiers in the mechanism of regional tropical rainfall changes and the approaches of rainfall change research are summarized. The large intermodel spread in the multi-model projections, the sources of uncertainty and the methods to reduce the uncertainty were also introduced. Finally, the challenges about the tropical rainfall changes were discussed.     

Physical processes that drive the seasonal evolution of the Southwestern Tropical Atlantic Warm Pool

The thermodynamics of the seasonal evolution of the Southwestern Tropical Atlantic Warm Pool (hereafter SWTAWP), which is delimited by the 28 °C isotherm, is investigated using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Results indicate that the net heat flux is responsible for the appearance and extinction of the SWTAWP. From March to May, the SWTAWP attains its maximum development and sometimes merges with equatorial warm waters towards the African continent, whose development follows the same period. Along the equator, the combination of oceanic terms (i.e., advection and diffusion) is important to promote the separation – when it occurs – of equatorial warm waters from southwestern tropical waters, which develops off the Brazilian coast. An analysis of the relative contribution of the temperature tendency terms of the mixed layer (ML) heat budget over the appearance, development and extinction of the SWTAWP is also done. The most important term for warming and cooling inside of the ML is the net heat flux at the sea surface. The ML is heated by the atmosphere between October and April, whereas the upper ocean cools down between May and September. The highest heat content values occur during the lower-temperature period (August to October), which is linked to the deepening of the ML during this time period. The horizontal advection along the equator is important, particularly at the eastern domain, which is influenced by the cold tongue. In this area, the vertical diffusive term is also significant; however, it presents values near zero outside the equator. These results contribute to a better understanding of the behavior of the heat budget within the tropical Atlantic, as previous studies over this region focused along the equator only.