2-D Crustal thermal structure along Thuadara-Sindad DSS profile across Narmada-Son lineament,central India

Central India is traversed by a WSW-ENE trending Narmada-Son lineament (NSL) which is characterized by the presence of numerous hot springs, feeder dykes for Deccan Traps and seismicity all along its length. It is divided in two parts by the Barwani-Sukta Fault (BSF). To the west of this fault a graben exists, whereas to the east the basement is uplifted between Narmada North Fault (NNF) and Narmada South Fault (NSF). The present work deals with the 2-D thermal modeling to delineate the crustal thermal structure of the western part of NSL region along the Thuadara-Sindad Deep Seismic Sounding (DSS) profile which runs almost in the N-S direction across the NSL. Numerical results of the model reveal that the conductive surface heat flow value in the region under consideration varies between 45 and 47mW/m². Out of which 23mW/m² is the contribution from the mantle heat flow and the remaining from within the crust. The Curie depth is found to vary between 46 and 47 km and is in close agreement with the earlier reported Curie depth estimated from the analysis of MAGSAT data. The Moho temperature varies between 470 and 500°C. This study suggests that this western part of central Indian region is characterized by low mantle heat flow which in turn makes the lower crust brittle and amenable to the occurrence of deep focused earthquakes such as Satpura (1938) earthquake.     

森林地下碳分配(TBCA)研究进展

森林地下碳分配(TBCA)是森林碳循环的重要通量,对森林碳吸存有十分重要作用.TBCA是森林生态系统GPP中一个最大的汇,可占GPP的21%～61%,土壤呼吸的2/3来自TBCA.目前国际上常用的TBCA测定方法为碳平衡法,在假定地下碳库处于稳定状态时,TB-CA可由土壤呼吸减去凋落物量获得,但该方法存在一系列问题.影响森林TBCA的因素有生产力、森林类型、树龄和森林演替阶段、土壤养分和水分有效性、林分密度和树种组成、气候变化因素等.TBCA中各个组成部分均较难以测定和量化,通常假定TBCA中根系呼吸与根系生产力各约占50%,而TBCA中菌根菌和根系分泌物的贡献则仍不清楚.有关TBCA各组分去向及影响机理的研究亦很少.TBCA未来的研究应致力于揭示TBCA的根本驱动因子和其对全球变化的响应机理,以及TBCA转化为土壤新碳的效率及控制因素;同时应提高TBCA测定方法的确定性,特别是应将碳同位素法、微根管法及碳平衡法三者相结合.     

Statistical properties of seismicity of fault zones at different evolutionary stages

We perform a systematic parameter space study of the seismic response of a large fault with different levels of heterogeneity, using a 3-D elastic framework within the continuum limit. The fault is governed by rate-and-state friction and simulations are performed for model realizations with frictional and large scale properties characterized by different ranges of size scales. We use a number of seismicity and stress functions to characterize different types of seismic responses and test the correlation between hypocenter locations and the employed distributions of model parameters. The simulated hypocenters are found to correlate significantly with small L values of the rate-and-state friction. The final sizes of earthquakes are correlated with physical properties at their nucleation sites. The obtained stacked scaling relations are overall self-similar and have good correspondence with properties of natural earthquakes.     

Andean evolution at the Guañacos and Chos Malal fold and thrust belts (36°30′–37°s)

The Andes between 36°30′ and 37°S represent a Cretaceous fold and thrust belt strongly reactivated in the late Miocene. Most of the features that absorbed Neogene shortening were already uplifted in the late Cretaceous, as revealed by field mapping and confirmed by previous fission track analysis. This Andean section is formed by two sectors: a western-inner sector generated by the closure of the upper Oligocene-lower Miocene intra-arc Cura Mallín basin between the middle and late Miocene (Guañacos fold and thrust belt), and an eastern-outer sector, where late Triassic-early Jurassic extensional depocenters were exhumed in two discrete phases of contraction, in the latest early Cretaceous and late Miocene to the Present, respectively (Chos Malal fold and thrust belt). Late Miocene deformation has not homogeneously reactivated Cretaceous compressive structures, being minimal south of 37°30′S through the eastern-outer sector (southern continuation of the Chos Malal fold and thrust belt). The reason for such an inhomogeneous deformational evolution seems to be related to the development of a late Miocene shallow subduction regime between 34°30′ and 37°45′S, as it was proposed in previous studies. This shallow subduction zone is evidenced by the eastward expansion of the arc that was accompanied by the eastern displacement of the orogenic front at these latitudes. As a result, the Cretaceous fold and thrust belt were strongly reactivated north of 37°30′S producing the major topographic break along the Southern Central Andes.     

Crustal Stress Measurement for Significant Project Construction and Its Application in Design

The hydrofracturing technique has developed into a reliable and practical method for determining the original three-dimensional crustal stress state of underground caverns,the load-bearing capacity of a high pressure cavern itself,and the high pressure hydraulic permeability of rock masses,and has also been extensively used in disposal of nuclear waste,long and deeply-buried traffic channels and high-pressure cavern engineering for hydraulic power plants.The practice shows that the comprehensive measurement of the physical parameters of the rock mass and taking full use of the wall rock load-bearing capacity to optimize the engineering design hold are very useful in ensuring the engineering safety and improving the design level.     

Impact of root architecture on the erosion‐reducing potential of roots during concentrated flow

Many studies focus on the effects of vegetation cover on water erosion rates, whereas little attention has been paid to the effects of the below ground biomass. Recent research indicates that roots can reduce concentrated flow erosion rates significantly. In order to predict this root effect more accurately, this experimental study aims at gaining more insight into the importance of root architecture, soil and flow characteristics to the erosion‐reducing potential of roots during concentrated flow. Treatments were (1) bare, (2) grass (representing a fine‐branched root system), (3) carrots (representing a tap root system) and (4) carrots and fine‐branched weeds (representing both tap and fine‐branched roots). The soil types tested were a sandy loam and a silt loam. For each treatment, root density, root length density and mean root diameter (D) were assessed. Relative soil detachment rates and mean bottom flow shear stress were calculated. The results indicate that tap roots reduce the erosion rates to a lesser extent compared with fine‐branched roots. Different relationships linking relative soil detachment rate with root density could be established for different root diameter classes. Carrots with very fine roots (D < 5 mm) show a similar negative exponential relationship between root density and relative soil detachment rate to grass roots. With increasing root diameter (5 < D < 15 mm) the erosion‐reducing effect of carrot type roots becomes less pronounced. Additionally, an equation estimating the erosion‐reducing potential of root systems containing both tap roots and fine‐branched roots could be established. Moreover, the erosion‐reducing potential of grass roots is less pronounced for a sandy loam soil compared with a silt loam soil and a larger erosion‐reducing potential for both grass and carrot roots was found for initially wet soils. For carrots grown on a sandy loam soil, the erosion‐reducing effect of roots decreases with increasing flow shear stress. For grasses, grown on both soil types, no significant differences could be found according to flow shear stress. The erosion‐reducing effect of roots during concentrated flow is much more pronounced than suggested in previous studies dealing with interrill and rill erosion. Root density and root diameter explain the observed erosion rates during concentrated flow well for the different soil types tested. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青藏高原北缘深部地壳结构特征及其形成机制探讨

柴达木盆地－祁连山地区位于青藏高原北缘，同青藏高原主体一样，该区具有多层地壳结构特征，并普遍出现壳内低速层，地壳厚度是华北及华南地区的2倍以上。其形成可能与地壳的横向挤压缩短及幔源物质的底侵作用有关。随着底侵作用增强，地壳厚度加大，岩石圈厚度则越趋于减薄，地壳上部表现为拉张，下部发生壳幔深熔及幔源流体的交代作用，从而导致了地壳低速层，地热和浅源地震的发育。同时，这也是青藏高原出现热壳冷幔的原因之一。