Seismic tests on reinforced concrete and steel frames retrofitted with dissipative braces

Seismic tests have been conducted on two 3‐storey structures protected with pressurized fluid‐viscous spring damper devices. One of the structures was a reinforced concrete frame with clay elements in the slabs, while the other one was a steel frame with steel/concrete composite slabs. The spring dampers were installed through K bracing in between the floors. The tests were performed by means of the pseudodynamic method, which allowed the use of large and full‐size specimens, and by implementing a specific compensation strategy for the strain‐rate effect at the devices. The test results allowed the verification of the adequacy of the attachment system as well as the comparison of the behaviour of the unprotected buildings with several protected configurations, showing the benefits of the application of the devices and the characteristics of their performance. The response of the protected structures was always safer than that of the unprotected ones mainly due to a significant increase of equivalent damping. The increase in the damping ratio depends on the level of deformation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

天津盛夏降水趋势与初夏华北高压的统计分析

根据初夏(6月)的天气气候演变，预测盛夏(7～8月)的短期气候趋势，一直是急需解决的难题。文章揭示了自1958年以来天津盛夏降水趋势与初夏时节临近地区上空的环流特征之间的统计关系。结果表明，初夏华北高压强时盛夏天津降水偏少，反之盛夏天津降水偏多，不仅逐年的对应关系显著，而且变化趋势相反，转折时期也一致。初步解释了20世纪70年代以前天津(华北)盛夏多雨和80年代至今天津(华北)少雨的物理原因。以此为主要根据建立了初夏对于盛夏天津降水的短期气候预测方法，1998～2003年连续6年预报正确。     

北京连续降雪过程分析

该文对2002年12月份北京出现的1841年以来历史上最长的连续6天的降雪天气进行了合成分析和诊断分析。北半球合成环流形势显示，连续降雪发生在东亚稳定的纬向环流形势下，其上游地区强大经向环流和阻塞高压使中纬度东亚和西太平洋纬向环流得以维持。东亚合成环流的垂直结构表明，连续降雪期间华北地区始终处于锋区中，并存在低空辐合、高空辐散的散度场垂直分布结构。卫星水汽云图显示出有水汽通道向河套倒槽云系输送水汽。华北地区的诊断分析表明，地面和边界层中山东地区分裂高压南侧向北回流的偏南气流是造成降雪的主要水汽通道。变形场的流场结构使水汽在北京附近辐合。垂直剖面展现了华北回流降雪天气近地面层的浅薄的冷空气垫，和暖湿空气回流在冷空气垫上的爬升，并在其上形成一个浅薄的饱和层。     

青藏高原影响亚洲夏季气候研究的最新进展

文中回顾了近 10a来吴国雄等在青藏高原影响亚洲夏季气候研究方面的最新进展。通过分析东西风交界面的演变证明 ,由于青藏高原的春季加热 ,亚洲季风区对流层低层冬季盛行偏东风转变为夏季偏西南风最早发生在孟加拉湾东部 ,与其相伴随的激烈对流降水出现在其东面。因此孟加拉湾东部至中印半岛西部是亚洲季风最早爆发的地区。同时也指出盛夏伊朗高原和青藏高原加热所激发的同相环流嵌套在欧亚大陆尺度的热力环流中 ,从而加强了东亚的夏季风 ,加剧了中西亚的干旱 ;并通过其所激发的波动对夏季东亚的气候格局产生重要影响。文中还比较了夏季南亚高压的伊朗模态和青藏模态性质的异同及其对亚洲夏季降水异常分布的不同影响。     

喜马拉雅中段高压麻粒岩变质作用、地球化学与年代学

研究的高压麻粒岩发现于西藏亚东以北约40公里的(Zherger-La)、出露在藏南拆离系(STDS)主构造面下盘的高喜马拉雅结晶岩系中,是继喜马拉雅东西构造结的Nanga Barbat、Namjag Barwa和喜马拉雅中段Khatra & Marina地区、定结地区发现的榴辉岩或高压麻粒岩之后,在青藏高原上新近发现的高压麻粒岩.该麻粒岩呈岩片被包裹于花岗质片麻岩中.麻粒岩记录了两期变质作用,早期矿物组合为Grt+Cpx+Pl+Qz,属麻粒岩相变质产物,矿物成分分析显示早期矿物组合达到了平衡,并且没有表现成分扩散;后期矿物组合为Hbl+Pl+Bio或Opx+Pl,指示了较高温但相对压力较低的麻粒岩相退变变质作用,矿物成分分析和结构显示了退变作用没有达到变质平衡.显微结构可以观察到多组变质反应Grt+Cpx+Qtz=Opx+Pl,Grt+Qtz=Opx+Pl,Grt+Cpx+L=Hbl+Pl+Bio+Mt,和Cpx+L=Hbl+Mt.根据矿物平衡关系,利用Grt-Cpx温度计和Grt-Cpx-Pl-Qz压力计估算的早期变质作用温压为T=780～850℃,P=12～15kbar,相对应的地温梯度16℃～18℃/km.借用Hbl-Pl温度计和A1tot in Hbl压力计估算的晚期变质作用温压为T=730～760℃;P=4～6kbar,相当的地温梯度为38℃～50℃/km.变质作用P-T演化呈等温降压轨迹,指示麻粒岩地体从增厚(或俯冲)地壳到减薄增温(或部分熔融)地壳,进而被快速剥露地表的构造过程.初步的地球化学结果表明高压麻粒岩原岩可能相当于大陆拉斑玄武岩.麻粒岩锆石SHRIMP年代学有两组相对集中的年龄分别为98±5 Ma(5 spots)和17.0±0.3 Ma(13 spots).高压麻粒岩的两期变质作用的温度都在700℃以上,略高于锆石U-Pb同位素体系计时封闭温度,推断17 Ma是高压麻粒岩变质后发生折返,随高喜马拉雅结晶岩系剥露冷却的年龄;98.4Ma的测年结果被推测是高压麻粒岩原岩形成的年龄.在喜马拉雅山,高压麻粒岩记录了类似增厚地壳到减薄地壳的转变一方面可能是地壳深部作用机制的转变,另一方面,这种机制与喜马拉雅南坡巨大的降雨量和去顶作用有密切关系,意义重大.     

Hydrothermal Mineralization on the Mesoproterozoic Passive Continental Margins of China： A Case Study of the Langshan-Zha＇ertaishan Belt, Inner Mongolia, China

Most ore-forming characteristics of the Langshan-Zha‘ertaishan hydrothermal exhalation belt, which consists of the Dongshengmiao, Huogeqi, Tanyaokou and Jiashengpan large-superlarge Zn-Pb-Cu-Fe sulfide deposits, are most similar to those of Mesoproterozoic SEDEX-type provinces of the world. The characteristics include: (1) All deposits of this type in the belt occur in third-order fault-basins in the Langshan-Zha‘ertaishan aulacogen along the northern margin of the North China Platform; (2) these deposits with all their orebodies hosted in the Mesoproterozoic impure dolomite-marble and carbonaceous phyllite (or schists) have an apparent stratabound nature; ores display laminated and banded structures, showing clear depositional features; (3) there is some evidence of syn-sedimentary faulting, which to a certain extent accounts for the temporal and spatial distribution and the size of the orebodies in all deposits and the formation of intrabed conglomerates and breccias; (4) they show lateral and vertical zonation of sulfides; (5) The Cu/(Pb Zn Cu) ratio of the large and thick Pb Zn Cu orebodies gradually decreases from bottom to top; and (6) barite is interbedded with pyrites and sometimes with sphalerite. However, some characteristics such as the Co/Ni radio of the pyrites, the volcanism, for example, of the Langshan-Zha‘ertalshan metallogenic belt, are different from those of the typical SEDEX deposits of the world. The meta-basic volcanic rock in Huogeqi, the sodic bimodal volcanic rocks in the Dongshengmiao and potassic bimodal-volcanic rocks with blastoporphyfitic and blasto-glomeroporphyritic texture as well as blasto-amygdaloidal structure in the Tanyaokou deposits have been discovered in the only ore-bearing second formation of the Langshan Group in the past 10 years. The metallogeny of some deposits hosted in the Langshan Group is closely related to syn-sedimentary volcanism based on the following facts: most of the lead isotopes in sphalerite, galena, pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite plot on both sides of the line for the mantle or between the lines for the mantle and lower crust in the lead isotope composition diagram; cobalt content of some pyrites samples is much higher than the nickel content (Co/Ni= 11.91-12.19). Some volcanic blocks and debris have been picked out from some pyritic and pyrrhotitic ores. All Zn-Pb-Cu-Fe sulfide orebodies in these deposits occur in the strata overlying metamorphic volcanic rocks in the only ore-bearing second formation. In the Jiashengpan deposit that lacks syn-sedimentary volcanic rocks in the host succession only Pb and Zn ores occur without Cu ore, but in the Dongshengmiao, Tanyaokou and Huogeqi deposits with syn-sedimentary volcanic rocks in the host succession Cu ores occur. This indicates a relatively higher ore-forming temperature. The process of synsedimentary volcanic eruption directly supplied some ore-forming elements, and resulted in secular geothermal anomaly favorable for the circulation of a submarine convective hydrothermal system, which accounts for the precipitation of deep mineralizing fluids exhaling into anoxidic basins along the syn-sedimentary fault system in the Langshan-Zha‘ertai rift. The Dongshengmiao, Tanyaokou, and Huogeqi deposits hosted in the Langshan Group appear to be a transitional type of mineral deposit between SEDEX and VMS-types but with a bias towards SEDEX, while the Jiashengpan deposit hosted in the Zha‘ertai Group is of a characteristic SEDEX type. This evidence, together with other new discoveries of Mesoproterozoic volcanic rocks and the features of lithogeny and metallogeny of the Bayun Obo deposit in the neighborhood emphasize the diversity, complexity and uniqueness of the Mesoproterozoic Langshan-Zha‘ertal-Bayun Obo ore belt.     

High-pressure experimental growth of diamond using C–K2CO3–KCl as an analogue for Cl-bearing carbonate fluid

High-pressure, high-temperature diamond growth experiments have been conducted in the system C–K₂CO₃–KCl at 1050–1420 °C, 7.0–7.7 GPa. KCl is of interest because of the strong effect of halogens on the phase relations of carbonate-rich systems [Geophys. Res. Lett. 30 (2003) 1022] and because of the occurrence of KCl coexisting with alkali silicate–carbonate fluids in natural-coated diamond [Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 64 (2000) 717]. We have used system C–K₂CO₃–KCl as an analogue for these mantle fluids in diamond growth experiments. The presence of KCl reduces the potassium carbonate liquidus to ≤1000 °C at 7.7 GPa, allowing it to act as a solvent catalyst for diamond growth at temperatures below the continental geotherm. This is a reduction on the minimum diamond growth temperature reported in the alkali-carbonate–C–O–H system [Lithos 60 (2002) 145]. Diamond growth using carbonate solvent catalysts is characterised by a relatively long induction period. However, the addition of KCl also reduced the period for diamond growth in carbonate to 5 min; no such induction period appears to be necessary. It is suggested that KCl destabilises carbonate, allowing greater solubility and diffusion of carbon.     

Modeling Spatially and Temporally Complex Land‐Cover Change: The Case of Western Honduras*

This article presents an econometric analysis of land‐cover change in western Honduras. Ground‐truthed satellite image analysis indicates that between 1987 and 1996 net reforestation occurred in the 1,015‐km² study region. While some reforestation can be attributed to a 1987 ban on logging, the area of reforestation greatly exceeds that of previously clear‐cut areas. Further, new area was also deforested between 1987 and 1996. Thus, the observed land‐cover changes represent a complex mosaic of changing land‐use patterns across time and space. The analysis contributes to the literature on land‐cover change modeling in that: (1) it compares two econometric approaches to capture complex and often bidirectional changes in land cover from 1987 to 1996 as a function of agricultural suitability and transportation costs, and (2) it addresses techniques to identify and correct for spatial autocorrelation in a categorical regression framework.     

In the Critical Zone: Geography at the U.S. Geological Survey

Geography is again becoming an integral part of the premier natural‐science agency of the federal government. Geographic research emphasizes the surface of the earth, a portion of the earth system that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) defines as the “critical zone.” Although geography was part of the USGS from the creation of the agency, in recent years geography in the agency has largely been limited to topographic mapping. Recently, the USGS and an advisory committee of the National Research Council (NRC) reviewed the role of geography at the Survey. The committee's report, along with ongoing decision‐making in the federal government, is likely to reshape geography in the USGS. The newly defined USGS has a regional structure and four disciplines: geology, hydrology, biology, and geography. The NRC report emphasizes the need for the creation of a spatial database called the National Map to replace the existing series of paper topographic maps. The report also outlines the need for geographic research in geographic information science (GIScience), nature‐society connections, and bridging of science to decision‐making. The NRC report has been briefed throughout the USGS, in the federal executive branch, and in Congress. The changing role for geography in the USGS requires change in the agency culture, revised budgetary decisions, and the establishment of a long‐term core agenda for research. Academic geographers will need to prepare a new generation of geographers for participation in the USGS and similar agencies.     

From Chicago to L.A. and Back Again: A Chicago‐Inspired Quantitative Analysis of Income Distribution in Montreal*

In a recent issue of Urban Geography (2001) , a number of key players in the 1960s and 1970s school of quantitative urban geography (called Chicago II in this article) set out some of the approach's key methodological premises and assessed its influence in the wider arena of urban studies. At about the same time, the 1920s and 1930s Chicago School of urban sociology (called the Chicago School in this article) was being reassessed in France ( Huet 2000 ), and deconstructed in Los Angeles ( Dear 2001 ). In this article, we outline a selection of basic models of urban space proposed by the Chicago School and further elaborated by Chicago II. We then consider certain aspects of three important critiques: humanist/aesthetic, Marxist, and postmodern. We argue that none of these invalidates the Chicago II approach to the study of urban areas, and we demonstrate its resilience and usefulness by way of the empirical example of Montreal. Though the results are of interest in their own right, the principal purpose of the analysis is to illustrate the type of insight that a structured quantitative approach provides and the way this approach rests on a theoretical understanding of processes at work in cities. We conclude by arguing that the humanist and Marxist critiques shed important light upon the possibilities and limits of the Chicago II approach, but that the postmodern claim that the spatial development of urban areas is not structured by at least some general processes is inaccurate.