The accuracy of methods used to estimate the whole-lake accumulation rate of organic carbon, major cations, phosphorus and heavy metals in sediment

The accuracy of three methods used to estimate the whole-lake accumulation rate of chemicals in sediment, the simple mean accumulation rate, regression against water depth and the mean accumulation rate in sedimentation zones, was assessed. The concentrations and accumulation rates of organic carbon, four major cations, phosphorus and four heavy metals in the 1902 to 1988 sediment layer at 43 sites in Kassjön were used and the three methods gave identical results. The accuracy of the simple mean accumulation rate method using 5 or 10 sites was investigated using Monte Carlo simulation and both versions gave accurate results. If the method used the dry sediment accumulation rate at 5 or 10 sites, along with chemical concentration at one central site, then the errors were less than ±10% for five of the chemicals and larger for the others (?20 or 20–40%), although the direction of the bias was predictable. If chemical accumulation rate at the central site only was used to estimate the whole-lake value, the bias increased to 25% for the major cations, 50% for the heavy metals and P, and 85% for organic carbon. Having 43 sites in Kassjön meant that the true whole-lake chemical accumulation rate was known and so the accuracy of the methods and their variants could be assessed for the first time. These findings allow the particulars of the simple mean accumulation rate method to be chosen to suit the accuracy needed for a palaeolimnological investigation.     

Review of Deep-Penetrating Geochemical Exploration Methods

It is a worldwide challenge to explore the deeply buried deposits. Deep-penetrating geochemical exploration methods were developed to solve the problems of how to get the information of the buried deposits in the covered layer. The methods were successfully used to indicate some buried deposits, but not all kinds of deposits. What is more, a method cannot be used in all kinds of landscapes. In this paper, theories and case studies of deep-penetrating geochemical exploration methods, including mobile metal ions, enzyme leach, leaching of mobile forms of metals in overburden, electro-geochemical extraction method, biogeochemical exploration, nano-metal in geogas were reviewed. Elements migration, unloading mechanism and anomaly models are the most important parts for deep-penetrating geochemistry and need to be further investigated. From the perspective of economic efficiency and applicability, sampling and analyzing procedures should be simplified to improve the stability of all methods.     

A high order Godunov scheme with constrained transport and adaptive mesh refinement for astrophysical and geophysical MHD

We propose to extend the well-known MUSCL-Hancock scheme for Euler equations to the induction equation modeling the magnetic field evolution in kinematic dynamo problems. The scheme is based on an integral form of the underlying conservation law which, in our formulation, results in a “finite-surface” scheme for the induction equation. This naturally leads to the well-known “constrained transport” method, with additional continuity requirement on the magnetic field representation. The second ingredient in the MUSCL scheme is the predictor step that ensures second order accuracy both in space and time. We explore specific constraints that the mathematical properties of the induction equations place on this predictor step, showing that three possible variants can be considered. We show that the most aggressive formulations reach the same level of accuracy than the other ones, at a lower computational cost. More interestingly, these schemes are compatible with the Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) framework. It has been implemented in the AMR code RAMSES. It offers a novel and efficient implementation of a second order scheme for the induction equation. The scheme is then adaptated to solve for the full MHD equations using the same methodology. Through a series of test problems, we illustrate the performances of this new code using two different MHD Riemann solvers (Lax–Friedrich and Roe) and the need of the Adaptive Mesh Refinement capabilities in some cases. Finally, we show its versatility by applying it to the ABC dynamo problem and to the collapse of a magnetized cloud core.     

GRBs in the 5-10 keV regime as seen by BATSE

The BATSE Spectroscopy Detectors (SDs) each have a thin beryllium window which allows detection of photons down to 5 keV. Until recently, exploitation of low-energy SD discriminator data has been held up by a lack of knowledge of its energy coverage. A recent series of in-flight changes in the instrument configuration has allowed the SD discriminators to be calibrated fairly accurately. With this in hand, we have surveyed BATSE GRBs for such features as X-ray precursors and after-glows in the roughly 5-10 keV band. For a large percentage of the BATSE bursts, no emission is observed in this energy band. In some cases where low-energy emission has been observed, ratios of flux histories indicate differential spectral evolution. In addition, we have obtained joint spectral fits between the low-energy data and the regular SD data, showing that a single spectral model is sometimes insufficient to fit the entire energy range.     

围海造地的软土地基处理方法与效果——以厦门新阳 大桥东南侧造地工程为例

面积为35.64万名的厦门市新阳大桥东南侧造地工程,从围海、吹填到地基处理共经历了18个月,其中软土地基处理从方法试验到大面积施工结束仅6个月时间。针对场地的原有土体条件和吹填土特性与分布条件,分别采用不同的动力排水固结法进行了地基处理,取得了地基土承载力、施工沉降及交工标高完全满足设计要求的效果。     

Numerical integration methods for orbital motion

The present report compares Runge-Kutta, multistep and extrapolation methods for the numerical integration of ordinary differential equations and assesses their usefulness for orbit computations of solar system bodies or artificial satellites. The scope of earlier studies is extended by including various methods that have been developed only recently. Several performance tests reveal that modern single- and multistep methods can be similarly efficient over a wide range of eccentricities. Multistep methods are still preferable, however, for ephemeris predictions with a large number of dense output points.     

大型稀疏矩阵的压缩技巧及其应用算法研究

本文通过对目前流行的两类关于大型稀疏矩阵优化压缩设计技巧的分析,提出一种在矩阵加、乘算法中统一使用的压缩格式。文中提出的算法,无论是矩阵的输入或者运算结果的输出均采用统一的压缩格式,所以能方便地应用于矩阵链相加或相乘的运算,而且所用的存储量较少,也大大加快了运算速度。用FORTRAN77编制的两算法的标准子程序已经在DPS7机上调试成功。     

A comparison of temporal properties of short and long gamma-ray bursts

In this paper, we have performed a temporal analysis of single pulses from short (46) and long (51) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) to investigate possible differences in their properties. In particular we pay detailed attention to the asymmetry of pulses. We find that the asymmetry ratio of short GRB pulses clusters around 0.81 and that these pulses are on average more symmetric than those from long GRBs, which have an average value of 0.47. In addition we note that the pulses in short GRBs display exponential rises and fast decays (ERFD) in comparison the fast rise exponential decays (FRED) pulses of long GRBs. The asymmetry ratio does not depend on the full width at half maximum (FWHM) and does not vary with energy channel. Moreover, there is a general trend for slower pulses to be more asymmetric. Finally, we deduce that the asymmetry could be used to probe the emission mechanisms of GRBs.     

Optical surveys for space debris

Space debris—man-made non-functional objects of all sizes in near-Earth space—has been recognized as an increasing threat for current and future space operations. The debris population in near-Earth space has therefore been extensively studied during the last decade. Information on objects at altitudes higher than about 2,000 km is, however, still comparatively sparse. Debris in this region is best detected by surveys utilizing optical telescopes. Moreover, the instruments and the applied observation techniques, as well as the processing methods, have many similarities with those used in optical surveys for ‘astronomical’ objects like near-Earth objects (NEOs). The present article gives a general introduction to the problem of space debris, presents the used observation and processing techniques emphasizing the similarities and differences compared to optical surveys for NEOs, and reviews the results from optical surveys for space debris in high-altitude Earth orbits. Predictions on the influence of space debris on the future of space research and space astronomy in particular are reported as well.     

Spiral arms as cosmic ray source distributions

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy with (or without) a bar-like central structure. There is evidence that the distribution of suspected cosmic ray sources, such as supernova remnants, are associated with the spiral arm structure of galaxies. It is yet not clearly understood what effect such a cosmic ray source distribution has on the particle transport in our Galaxy. We investigate and measure how the propagation of Galactic cosmic rays is affected by a cosmic ray source distribution associated with spiral arm structures.We use the PICARD code to perform high-resolution 3D simulations of electrons and protons in galactic propagation scenarios that include four-arm and two-arm logarithmic spiral cosmic ray source distributions with and without a central bar structure as well as the spiral arm configuration of the NE2001 model for the distribution of free electrons in the Milky Way. Results of these simulation are compared to an axisymmetric radial source distribution. Also, effects on the cosmic ray flux and spectra due to different positions of the Earth relative to the spiral structure are studied.We find that high energy electrons are strongly confined to their sources and the obtained spectra largely depend on the Earth’s position relative to the spiral arms. Similar finding have been obtained for low energy protons and electrons albeit at smaller magnitude. We find that even fractional contributions of a spiral arm component to the total cosmic ray source distribution influences the spectra on the Earth. This is apparent when compared to an axisymmetric radial source distribution as well as with respect to the Earth’s position relative to the spiral arm structure. We demonstrate that the presence of a Galactic bar manifests itself as an overall excess of low energy electrons at the Earth.Using a spiral arm geometry as a cosmic ray source distributions offers a genuine new quality of modeling and is used to explain features in cosmic ray spectra at the Earth that are else-wise attributed to other propagation effects. We show that realistic cosmic ray propagation scenarios have to acknowledge non-axisymmetric source distributions.