Hydrochemistry and isotope geochemistry as tools for groundwater hydrodynamic investigation in multilayer aquifers: a case study from Lomellina, Po plain, South-Western Lombardy, Italy

A multicriteria approach in studying hydrodynamics of a multilayer aquifer system has been used in the Lomellina region (Northern Italy). It involves the reconstruction of the hydrogeological framework coupled to the definition of the hydrochemical and isotopic features of the aquifers. A shallow phreatic aquifer, reaching depths of about 60–80 m from the surface, and deeper aquifers containing confined groundwater, were distinguished. Groundwater generally shows mineralisation decreasing with depth; dissolved ions depict calcium-bicarbonate hydrochemical facies and stable isotopes define the recharge mechanisms, the origin of groundwater, and the hydraulic confinement of deep aquifers. The phreatic aquifer is fed by local infiltration and by streams and irrigation channels. Tritium and Carbon-14 groundwater dating indicate long residence times (on the order of thousands of years) for confined aquifers. The confined aquifers show essentially passive hydrodynamic conditions and maintain a higher piezometric level than the phreatic aquifer. This inhibits the possibility of recent water penetrating far below the surface. The hydrogeological setting of the Lomellina region displays features which are common to other sectors of the Po plain. As a consequence, the results of this study, although conducted on a restricted area, are highly illustrative of groundwater hydrodynamics in large sedimentary aquifers.     

Displacement amplification factors for steel eccentrically braced frames

Inelastic deformation capacity of links is a factor that significantly influences design of steel eccentrically braced frames (EBFs). The link rotation angle is used to describe inelastic link deformation. The link rotation angle is generally calculated by making use of design story drifts that in turn are calculated by modifying the elastic displacements by a displacement amplification factor. This paper presents a numerical study undertaken to evaluate the displacement amplification factor given in ASCE7‐10 for EBFs and the rigid‐plastic mechanism used for calculating link rotation angles. A total of 72 EBFs were designed by considering the number of stories, the bay width, the link length to bay width ratio, and the seismic hazard level as the prime variables. All structures were analyzed using elastic and inelastic time history analyses. The results indicated that the displacement amplification factor given in ASCE7‐10 provides unconservative estimates of the story drifts. On the other hand, the rigid‐plastic mechanism provides conservative estimates of link rotations. Based on the results of the numerical study, a new set of displacement amplification factors that vary along the height of the structure and modifications to the rigid‐plastic mechanism were developed. In light of the proposed modifications, the EBFs were redesigned and analyzed using inelastic time history analysis. The results indicated that the proposed modifications provide improvements for the displacement amplification factor and link rotation angle calculation procedures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The postglacial history of three Picea species in New England, USA

Given the difficulty of separating the three Picea species—P. glauca, P. mariana, and P. rubens (white, black, and red spruce)—in the pollen record, little is known about their unique histories in eastern North America following deglaciation. Here we report the first use of a classification tree analysis (CART) to distinguish pollen grains of these species. It was successfully applied to fossil pollen from eight sites in Maine and one in Massachusetts. We focused on the late glacial/early Holocene (14,000 to 8000 cal yr B.P.) and the late Holocene (1400 cal yr B.P. to present)—the two key periods since deglaciation when Picea has been abundant in the region. The result shows a shift from a Picea forest of P. glauca and P. mariana in the late glacial to a forest of P. rubens and P. mariana in the late Holocene. The small number of P. rubens grains identified from the late glacial/early Holocene samples (<5%) suggests that that species was either absent or rare at most of the sites. The occurrence and distribution of the three species do not reveal any geographic or temporal trend during late glacial time, but the data suggest that they were distributed in local patches on the landscape. The results of this study indicate that the recent population expansion of Picea (1000 to 500 cal yr B.P.) was likely the first time since deglaciation that P. rubens was abundant in the region.     

Variation in Water Masses on Shelf of Northern Bering Sea in September 2016-2018

Abstract

Based on hydrological data obtained during the 7th to 9th Chinese National Arctic Research Expeditions in the summers of 2016–2018, the main water structure on the shelf of the northern Bering Sea and the volume and heat fluxes of the Bering Strait throughflow were analyzed. Distinct variability was identified in the three Pacific water masses feeding the strait - Anadyr Water (AW), Bering Shelf Water (BSW) and Alaskan coastal water (ACW). Overall, the temperature and salinity of the entire section increased each year, with 2018 showing significant anomalies, i.e., a temperature anomaly of up to 1?°C and a maximum salinity anomaly of 2. From 2016 to 2018, the extent of the ACW gradually narrowed in the eastern part of this section, while the AW expanded eastward each year. The net volume transport through each of the three sections increased poleward from 1.65?Sv to 2.76?Sv, with the AW increasing from 0?Sv to 1.03?Sv, the BSW varying between 0.52–1.65?Sv, and the ACW gradually decreasing from 1.04?Sv to disappearing completely. The net heat fluxes were also poleward, varying between 25.77 TW and 61.50 TW, and showing a significant increase. Significant variations in magnitude and extent were observed in each water mass of the Bering Strait throughflow, which could produce widespread effects in the Arctic Ocean and the global ocean beyond.     

Dangerous assemblages: Salts,trihalomethanes and endocrine disruptors in the water palimpsest of the Llobregat River,Catalonia

Water flows through time are connected to specific instances of socionatural and sociotechnical assemblages of human and non-human components. We propose the concept of “water palimpsest” in order to characterize the complex histories of chemical and metabolic alterations embodied in water flows, potentially disruptive for humans and other living beings. Through the concept of palimpsest we interpret the configuration of water flows as constantly evolving towards new patterns maintaining at the same time traces of past mixtures. In order to decipher water pollution by means of a political ecology approach we argue that it is necessary to characterize the historical contours under which certain substances in river waters appear, interact and become hazardous. Engaging critically with literature on assemblages but also with chemical and epidemiological scientific literature, and drawing from archival and oral sources, we provide an account of historically produced pollution in the waters of Llobregat River (Catalonia) by unravelling the assemblages that shape the water palimpsest in this river. In parallel, we narrate the advances in instrumentation and analysis which permitted to detect and measure substances beyond recognition by human senses and preceded legal regulations on pollutants, starting from milligrams and (thus far) arriving at nanoscales. Focusing on the emergence of three typologies of pollutants – salts, trihalomethanes (THMs) and endocrine disruptors (EDs) – we unveil how these three assemblages embody specific instances of Llobregat socioenvironmental history, pointing towards a palimpsest characterized by increasing levels of complexity and uncertainty. The concept of water palimpsest allows us to incorporate non-human agency into the analysis of water quality and to infuse political ecology with materiality and thus with a (largely missing) focus on physicochemical and biological processes.     

随机地震动模拟的时间序列法及其工程应用

系统研究了AR和ARMA时间序列方法生成给定加速度功率谱人工地震波的新方法，根据相应理论编制了程序，并生成了人工地震加速时程曲线，然后用生成的人工地震波进行结构动力时程分析，与实际地震波分析的结果进行了对比，计算结果表明，本文用于合成人工地震波的方法是可行的，生成的人工波可以用于实际结构的地震反应分析。     

花海拗陷的热演化和生烃期的磷灰石裂变径迹证据

利用裂变径迹分析方法测量了取自花海拗陷的钻井磷灰石样品的裂变径迹年龄和长度。结果表明,随井深增加年龄减小,平均径迹长度亦变短。取自白垩纪地层的磷灰石样品的裂变径迹年龄都比地层年龄年轻得多,表明沉积后曾长时间处于磷灰石裂变径迹退火带中,沉积前的径迹记录已部分消失,古地温高于今地温。利用蒙特卡罗随机取样的热史模拟方法对裂变径迹数据进行了分析,结果表明白垩纪地层沉积后曾经历过超过110 ℃的加热,达到最高古地温的地质时代是早白垩世晚期—晚白垩世末,为主要生烃期。新生代以来盆地变冷,生油岩的成熟度主要受古地温控制     

Apatite Fission Track Thermochronology of Granite from the Xiazhuang Uranium Ore Field, South China: Implications for Exhumation History and Ore Preservation

Xiazhuang uranium ore field, located in the southern part of the Nanling Metallogenic Belt, is considered one of the largest granite-related U regions in South China. In this paper, we contribute new apatite fission track data and thermal history modeling to constrain the exhumation history and evaluate preservation potential of the Xiazhuang Uranium ore field. Nine Triassic outcrop granite samples collected from different locations of Xiazhuang Uranium ore field yield AFT ages ranging from 43 to 24 Ma with similar mean confined fission track lengths ranging from 11.8 ± 2.0 to 12.9 ± 1.9 μm and Dpar values between 1.01 and 1.51 μm. The robustness time-temperature reconstructions of samples from the hanging wall of Huangpi fault show that the Xiazhuang Uranium ore field experienced a time of monotonous and slow cooling starting from middle Paleocene to middle Miocene (~60–10 Ma), followed by relatively rapid exhumation in the late Miocene (~10–5 Ma) and nearly thermal stability in the Pliocene–Quaternary (~5–0 Ma). The amount of exhumation after U mineralization since the Middle Paleogene was estimated as ~4.3 ± 1.8 km according to the integrated thermal history model. Previous studies indicate that the ore-forming ages of U deposits in the Xiazhuang ore field are mainly before Middle Paleocene and the mineralization depths are more than 4.4 ± 1.2 km. Therefore, the exhumation history since middle Paleocene plays important roles in the preservation of the Xiazhuang Uranium ore field.     

太湖流域西氿湖沉积岩芯中重金属污染及潜在生态风险

通过对太湖流域西沈湖沉积物岩芯XJ2中Cu、Pb、Zn、Cd、Cr等5种重金属元素总量的分析,结合测年结果,揭示了不同时间段重金属污染物的分布特征,并利用Hakansen潜在生态风险评价法对沉积物岩芯的污染状况及潜在生态风险的历史变化进行了研究.结果表明岩芯受Cd元素污染最重,其它4种元素较Cd则轻得多,因此Cd元素是影响该地区沉积物潜在生态风险的绝对主导因素.从20世纪初叶开始,沉积物中的重金属元素污染及其相应的潜在生态风险开始上升,并且上升幅度不断加剧,到20世纪90年代达到最大值,沉积物污染及潜在生态风险级别均为很高,随后便开始迅速下降,然而直到2004年这两个参数仍然维持在很高级别.     

中国北方年沙尘暴日数的气候特征及对春季高原地面感热的响应

选用中国185个常规气象观测站,从建站～2000年历年沙尘暴日数资料,分析了近50年来中国北方沙尘暴的气候特征及其对青藏高原地面感热异常的响应。结果表明：虽然单个沙尘暴过程具有一定的区域特征,但年沙尘暴日数具有较好的空间一致性,在空间上有5个自然尘源区,即河西走廊、南疆盆地南缘、阿拉善高原、鄂尔多斯高原和浑善达克沙地等沙尘暴高发区。比较近50年来中国沙尘暴日数的年代际变化,总体趋势在减少,20世纪90年代是近5个年代中最少的。但20世纪末至21世纪初,中国沙尘暴日数有明显的回升趋势。进一步研究表明,中国沙尘暴与春季青藏高原地面感热关系密切,当春季青藏高原地面感热呈EOF1模态时,当年中国北方沙尘暴日数明显较常年偏多。