Magnetic properties of tidal flat sediments of the Yangtze Estuary and its relationship with particle size

Since the 1970s, environmental magnetism has found extensive applications in diverse research areas of geoscience[1]. In China, a lot of environmental magnetic studies have been carried out on loess, lake and marine sediments for the purpose of paleoclima…     

Pore scale modeling of immiscible and miscible fluid flows using smoothed particle hydrodynamics

A numerical model based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) was developed and used to simulate immiscible and miscible fluid flows in porous media and to study effects of pore scale heterogeneity and anisotropy on such flows.     

Simulations demonstrating interaction between coarse and fine sediment loads in rain‐impacted flow

Rain‐impacted flows dominate sheet and interrill erosion and are important in eroding soil rich in nutrients and other chemicals which may have deleterious effects on water quality. Erosion in rain‐impacted flow is associated with raindrop detachment followed by transport either by the combination of flow velocity and raindrop impact (raindrop‐induced flow transport, RIFT) or the inherent capacity of the flow to transport detached material. Coarse particles tend to be transported by RIFT, while fine particles tend to be transported without any assistance from raindrop impact. Because the transport process associated with coarse particles is not 100 per cent efficient, it generates a layer of loose particles on the soil surface and this layer protects the underlying soil from detachment. Simulations were performed by modelling the uplift and downstream movement of both fine and coarse particles detached from the soil surface by individual raindrop impacts starting with a surface where no loose material was present. The simulations produced a flush of fine material followed by a decline in the discharge of fine material as the amount of loose material built up on the bed. The decline in the discharge of fine material was accompanied by an increase in the discharge of coarse material. The relative amounts of coarse and fine material discharged in the flow varied with flow velocity and cohesion in the surface of the soil matrix. The results indicate that the discharge of various sized sediments is highly dependent on local soil, rain and flow conditions and that extrapolating the results from one situation to another may not be appropriate. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An approximate analytical solution for the deposition of heavy particles released from an elevated line source

This work re-examines and further develops an analytical solution for the deposition swath of heavy particles released in the atmosphere from an elevated source over uniform terrain, correcting the particle diffusivity for the crossing trajectory effect. The revised (approximate) analytical solution proves to be accurate within 20% over a wide range of micrometeorological conditions and particle size, despite its neglect of the turbulence component of the deposition flux. It compares very satisfactorily with experimental data and with the simulations of a Lagrangian stochastic model, provided the variable U(H)/w _g ≤7 (ratio of the mean horizontal wind speed at source height to the particle settling velocity). In this domain of validity, simple formulae relating the statistics of the deposition swath to U(H)/w _g are derived.     

纳米级微粒地球化学测量中异常重现性研究

纳米级微粒测量是寻找隐伏矿的新方法,选取实地模拟实验和在已知隐伏矿区,利用液态捕集剂和等离子体质谱分析测试样品,进行重复测量试验,研究结果表明,不同成矿元素,在地表形成异常的运移富集速率不同,其运移速率主要取决于纳米级微粒本身的地球化学性质,地下上升气流、断裂等裂隙有利于微粒的上升运移富集;纳米级微粒地球化学重复测量时,异常可具有良好的重现性,但异常重现较常规气体缓慢,通常需要2~3个月。     

Parsivel~激光降水粒子谱仪及其在气象领域的应用

降水粒子特性是大气运动和云内微物理过程的综合结果,在云降水物理及人工影响天气领域有着重要的意义。传统的测量方法不适合对大量数据分析寻找规律,德国OTT公司的Parsivel激光降水粒子谱测量系统可以较好解决自动测量难题。该仪器是以激光测量为基础的粒子测量传感器,采用平行激光束和光电管阵列结合,当有降水粒子穿越采样空间时,自动记录遮挡物的宽度,通过穿越时间计算降水粒子的尺度和速度,根据各种参数的综合信息对降水粒子进行分类,并能够以数字形式显示瞬时降水强度、降水粒子总数、累积降水量、降水时的能见度和雷达反射因子,以图形方式显示降水粒子尺度谱、速度谱、降水粒子分类且自动生成天气现象代码,实现天气现象的自动识别。激光降水粒子谱仪主要用于气象水文观测。在雷达气象学领域可用于Z/R关系的拟合修正,比传统的用雨量筒观测数据拟合效果好得多;由降水粒子谱仪测量雨滴的降落速度,可以对天气雷达垂直向上测量的粒子径向速度谱进行校正。人工影响天气的效果检验一直是一个难题,自然降水粒子谱分布形式与人工催化以后的降水粒子谱型理论上应当具有较大的差别,人工增雨作业降水滴谱变化物理响应和降水强度时间变化响应都有明显的区别。如果能够实时检测到这些差别,就能够充分说明人工催化的有效性。未来如果能够进行联网观测记录区域性降水、降雹,就有充分证据表明人影作业的有效性,在定量化作业效果评估以及灾害损失评估等方面应用潜力巨大。利用该仪器已经对一年的自然降水过程进行了连续观测,并将所获得的降水粒子谱、雨滴浓度值随时间变化状况与卫星反演的云顶有效粒子半径时间变化趋势进行了对比,发现有较好的一致性。     

Metamorphic evolution of a subduction complex, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

A subduction complex composed of ocean floor material mixed with arc-derived metasediments crops out in the Elephant Island group and at Smith Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, with metamorphic ages of 120–80 Ma and 58–47 Ma, respectively. Seven metamorphic zones (I–VII) mapped on Elephant Island delineate a gradual increase in metamorphic grade from the pumpellyite–actinolite facies, through the crossite–epidote blueschist facies, to the lower amphibolite facies. Geothermometry in garnet–amphibole and garnet–biotite pairs yields temperatures of about 350 °C in zone III to about 525 °C in zone VII. Pressures were estimated on the basis of Si content in white mica, Al₂O₃ content in alkali amphibole, Na^M4/Al^IV in sodic-calcic and calcic amphibole, Al^VI/Si in calcic amphibole, and jadeite content in clinopyroxene. Mean values vary from about 6–7.5 kbar in zone II to about 5 kbar in zone VII. Results from the other islands of the Elephant Island group are comparable to those from the main island; Smith Island yielded slightly higher pressures, up to 8 kbar, with temperatures estimated between 300 and 350 °C. Zoned minerals and other textural indications locally enable inference of P–T –t trajectories, all with a clockwise evolution. A reconstruction in space and time of these P–T –t paths allows an estimate of the thermal structure in the upper crust during the two ductile deformation phases (D₁ & D₂) that affected the area. This thermal structure is in good agreement with the one expected for a subduction zone. The arrival and collision of thickened oceanic crust may have caused the accretion and preservation of the subduction complex. In this model, D₁ represents the subduction movements expressed by the first vector of the clockwise P–T–t path, D₂ reflects the collision corresponding to the second vector with increasing temperature and decreasing pressure, and D₃ corresponds to isostatic uplift accompanied by erosion, under circumstances of decreasing temperature and pressure.     

Modelling dispersion in complex open channel flows: Fuzzy calibration (2)

Part 1 of this study assessed the effectiveness of dispersion models based around random particle tracking (RPT) applied an overbank flow in the Flood Channel Facility at HR Wallingford. Several of the RPT models that were used predicted the mixing behaviour of the tracer in the complex channel flow to within an acceptable accuracy. If there is no uniqueness in the model structure which can be used to represent the true system to within the limitations of the available observations, then this implies an inherent degree of ambiguity in our knowledge of the physically based model structure. This suggests that we should be less forthright in the optimisation of each individual model structure, and perhaps investigate more of the parameter combinations for each model which yield feasible simulations of the system. An alternative fuzzy calibration technique is introduced which avoids the optimisation process and takes account of uncertainties in the model structure, parameter sets and observed data in prediction.     

Measurements of the direction of the solar wind using interplanetary scintillation

EISCAT observations of the interplanetary scintillation of a single source were made over an extended period of time, during which the orientation of the baselines between the two observing sites changed significantly. Assuming that maximum correlation between the scintillations observed at the two sites occurs when the projected baseline is parallel to the direction of plasma flow, this technique can be used to make a unique determination of the direction of the solar wind. In the past it has usually been assumed that the plasma flow is radial, but measurements of eleven sources using this technique have indicated conclusively that in at least six cases observed at mid or high heliocentric latitude there is a significant non-radial component directed in four cases towards the heliocentric equator and in two cases towards the pole.     

P–T–t paths and post-metamorphic exhumation of the Day Nui Con Voi shear zone in Vietnam

The Day Nui Con Voi belt in Vietnam is the southeasternmost part of the Red River shear zone in Asia. It is a narrow high-grade metamorphic core complex consisting of garnet–sillimanite–biotite gneisses, mylonite bands, amphibolite layers and migmatites. Geothermobarometric study of the complex revealed that the peak metamorphism took place under amphibolite-facies conditions of 690₋₆₀⁺³⁰°C and 0.65±0.15 GPa and the subsequent mylonitization occurred under greenschist-facies conditions of 480°C and under 0.3 GPa. Fifteen synkinematic hornblende and biotite separates from gneisses, amphibolites and mylonites were dated with the K/Ar method. Hornblende separates from the Day Nui Con Voi give K–Ar ages of 26.4–28.5 Ma, and the biotite separates do give 24.5–24.7 Ma. Combination of thermobarometric and geochronological data yields the cooling history of 500°C at 28 Ma and 300°C at 24 Ma with a cooling rate of 70–110°C Ma⁻¹, and 23 km post-metamorphic exhumation of the core complex. The first 16 km exhumation from the peak of metamorphism (at probably 31 Ma) to 28 Ma was triggered by the left-lateral strike-slip displacement of the Red River shear zone.