Unravelling a long-term multi-event thermal record in the cratonic interior of southern Finland through apatite fission track thermochronology

Apatite fission track thermochronology (AFTT) has been applied to the Precambrian basement rocks of southern Finland in an attempt to detect within the long-term thermal history, thermal manifestations in the cratonic interior of tectonic events at the craton margin. The likely subtle magnitude of these manifestations means that AFTT is a useful technique for such a study due to its low temperature sensitivity. A total of 10 samples have been analysed, generating AFTT ages, length statistics and thermal models. Ages range from 313 ± 22 to 848 ± 60 Ma and mean track lengths range from 11.0 ± 1.6 to 13.3 ± 1.8 μm. The data suggests the presence of thermal overprinting of an earlier cooling event. Thermal modelling produces similar results for all samples and typically contains the following major events: (1) two phases of Late-Proterozoic cooling, (2) Late-Silurian re-heating, (3) Cenozoic cooling. The first phase of Late-Proterozoic cooling is interpreted to be due to aulacogen inversion as a result of stress propagation from the collisional tectonics of the Sveconorwegian orogeny. The second phase is discussed in relation to passive margin formation and possible asthenospheric diaper induced relief and exhumation. The Late-Silurian re-heating coincides in time with a proposed Caledonian foreland basin. The Cenozoic cooling is interpreted to represent the latest exposure resulting from North Atlantic Margin formation induced uplift and associated denudation.     

Estimating the seismic displacement of friction pendulum isolators based on non‐linear response history analysis

A procedure for developing equations that estimate the isolator displacement due to strong ground motion is applied to buildings isolated with the friction pendulum system. The resulting design equations, based on rigorous non‐linear analysis, offer an alternative to the iterative equivalent‐linear methods used by current U.S. building codes. The governing equations of the system are reduced to a form such that the median normalized displacement of the system due to an ensemble of ground motions is found to depend on only the isolation period—a function of the curvature of the isolator—and the friction force at incipient slip normalized by peak ground velocity. The normalization is effective in minimizing the dispersion of the normalized displacement for an ensemble of ground motions, implying that the median normalized displacement is a reliable estimate of response. The design equations reflect the significant (20 to 38%) increase in displacement when the excitation includes two lateral components of ground motion instead of just one component. Equivalent‐linear methods are shown to underestimate by up to 30% the exact median displacement determined by non‐linear response history analysis for one component of ground motion, and building codes include at most a 4.4% increase for a second component. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic performance evaluation of steel arch bridges against major earthquakes. Part 1: dynamic analysis approach

In this study the inelastic behavior of steel arch bridges subjected to strong ground motions from major earthquakes is investigated by dynamic analyses of a typical steel arch bridge using a three‐dimensional (3D) analytical model, since checking seismic performance against severe earthquakes is not usually performed when designing such kinds of bridge. The bridge considered is an upper‐deck steel arch bridge having a reinforced concrete (RC) deck, steel I‐section girders and steel arch ribs. The input ground motions are accelerograms which are modified ground motions based on the records from the 1995 Hyogoken‐Nanbu earthquake. Both the longitudinal and transverse dynamic characteristics of the bridge are studied by investigation of time‐history responses of the main parameters. It is found that seismic responses are small when subjected to the longitudinal excitation, but significantly large under the transverse ground motion due to plasticization formed in some segments such as arch rib ends and side pier bases where axial force levels are very high. Finally, a seismic performance evaluation method based on the response strain index is proposed for such steel bridge structures. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地震动作用下滑坡稳定性分析

应用地震危险性分析理论和地震动人工合成技术,给出Newmark法中所需的地震动时程。通过滑坡实例计算,得出了坡体中地震动峰值加速度与深度存在负指数关系;坡体对地震动放大倍数与坡体厚度近似呈线性关系。通过对Ne wmark法中不同地震动时程作用位置的计算对比,发现使用地面地震动时程得到的结果虽有些偏于安全,但基本是合理的。     

At the heart of the cultural approach in geography: Thinking space

The way that space is thought of is at the heart of the cultural approach in geography. The passing down of all the components of a culture depends upon the way data is aquired and processed, the results memorized or broadcast. Communication shapes the experience and the knowledge of space and time. It gives to everyone the idea that the real world is doubled by a beyond which plays a central role in social life, since it is upon such a beyond that normative thinking relies and that a significance is given to individual and social life. The spheres of lived-in and known space and time, as well as that of the beyond, vary according to available technologies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Deformation History of the Kunavaram Complex, Eastern Ghats Belt, India: Implications for Alkaline Magmatism Along the Indo-Antarctica Suture

The Kunavaram alkaline complex is a NE-SW trending elongate body located along a major lineament, the Sileru Shear Zone (SSZ) that is regarded as a Proterozoic suture related to Indo-Antarctica collision. The complex is hosted within migmatitic quartzofeldspathic gneisses, mafic granulites retrogressed to amphibolites, and quartzites. The structural evolution of the country rocks and the alkaline complex are similar. The first phase of deformation, D₁, produces a pervasive segregation banding (S₁) in all rock units within and outside the complex. A second deformation phase D₂ isoclinally folded S₁ along subvertical axial planes with shallow plunging axes. F₂ isoclinal folds are ubiquitous in the country rocks and the eastern extremity of the complex. In the interior of the alkaline body, D₂ strain decreases and S₁ is commonly subhorizontal. While amphibolite to granulite facies conditions prevailed during deformation, post-D₂ annealing textures testify to persisting high grade conditions. In the west, a NNE-SSW trending dextral shear zone with strike-slip sense (D₃) truncates the complex. Within this shear zone, quartzofeldspathic country rocks are plastically deformed, while hornblende-K-feldspar assemblages of the complex are retrogressed to biotite and plagioclase. Warping related to D₃ shears also resulted in fold interference patterns on the subhorizontal S₁ foliation in low D₂ strain domains. Based on its steep dip, north-easterly trend, and non-coaxial nature with dextral strike-slip sense, the D₃ shear zone can be correlated with the SSZ. Since this shear zone, i.e., the SSZ, is not associated with primary igneous fabrics and resulted in solid state deformation of the complex, it cannot be considered as a conduit for alkaline magmatism, but is probably responsible for the post-tectonic disposition of the pluton.     

科尔沁沙地土地沙漠化的历史与现状

科尔沁沙地是我国自然条件相对较好的一个沙地，有着广阔的治理前景。回顾科尔沁沙地的历史变化，认为科尔沁沙地是一个全球气候变化大趋势下由人类生产活动过度而形成的沙漠化区域，在金代至清代之间由于人为活动强度减弱，曾经发生明显的沙漠化逆转。根据全国沙漠化普查所获得的资料，研究分析了科尔沁沙地土地沙漠化现状及其特点，结合土地沙漠化发生的历史过程，讨论了这一地区沙漠化的治理策略。     

SQUINTING BACK AT STRABO*

ABSTRACT. Strabo of Amasia (ca. 64 B.c.‐ca. A.D. 23) wrote the first comprehensive geography of the world known to the Greeks and Romans. Interest in Strabo and his Geography, which survives nearly intact in seventeen books, has fluctuated over the centuries among both classicists and historians of geography. After some historical background on Strabo and his reception, this essay considers the contribution of two significant recent English‐language treatments, as well as Strabo's Geography itself, and suggests ways in which the Strabonic model may have renewed relevance to the geographer's task of interpreting the oikoumene in the contemporary world.     

The use of heavy metal concentrations and dendrochronology in the reconstruction of sediment accumulation, Ma a Panew River Valley, southern Poland

Heavy metal concentrations were investigated in overbank sediments of the Mala Panew River, southern Poland. Samples were collected from seven vertical profiles located within channel infills of a 20th century floodplain at three sites, each up to 50 m wide. In each profile, 15–24 samples were collected and analysed for Ba, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Sequential extraction of these elements was carried out in the 0.063-mm fraction of selected samples. Additionally, the age of the oldest trees growing close to the profiles has been used to estimate the initiation of sediment accumulation there. Ba, Cu, and Pb, which occur mostly in less mobile, moderately reducible, and residual fractions, were used for sediment dating. Zn and Cd, which in 50–75% occur in the mobile exchangeable fraction, were not suitable for dating. Correlation of Ba, Cu, and Pb concentrations in vertical profiles with changes in the load of effluents discharged to the river showed abrupt changes in the thickness of the strongly polluted sediments across the floodplains. A comparison of the relative changes between heavy metal peaks in sediments of similar age in the different profiles suggests a variable rate of downward metal migration. In general, none of the heavy metals investigated seems to have been mobilised within the stratigraphic layers above the water table. In layers located at stratigraphically lower levels, the Zn and Cd peaks seem to migrate several centimetres to several decimetres down in the profile. In profiles inundated for several weeks every year, Zn and Cd, as well as the relatively less mobile Ba, Cu, and Pb, have migrated downward by several decimetres. The investigation shows that frequent fluctuations of the water table have blurred the original depositional metal patterns of metal concentrations within a period of less than 40 years.