Numerical investigation of tsunami-like wave hydrodynamic characteristics and its comparison with solitary wave

Solitary waves have been commonly used as an initial condition in the experimental and numerical modelling of tsunamis for decades. However, the main component of a tsunami waves acts at completely different spatial and temporal scales than solitary waves. Thus, use of solitary waves as approximation of a tsunami wave may not yield realistic model results, especially in the coastal region where the shoaling effect restrains the development of the tsunami wave. Alternatively, N-shaped waves may be used to give a more realistic approximation of the tsunami wave profile. Based on the superposition of the sech²(*) waves, the observed tsunami wave profile could be approximated with the N-shaped wave method, and this paper presents numerical simulation results based on the tsunami-like wave generated based on the observed tsunami wave profile measured in the Tohoku tsunami. This tsunami-like wave was numerically generated with an internal wave source method based on the two-phase incompressible flow model with a Volume of Fluid (VOF) method to capture the free surface, and a finite volume scheme was used to solve all the governing equations. The model is first validated for the case of a solitary wave propagating within a straight channel, by comparing its analytical solutions to model results. Further, model comparisons between the solitary and tsunami-like wave are then made for (a) the simulation of wave run-up on shore and (b) wave transport over breakwater. Comparisons show that use of these largely different waveform shapes as inputs produces significant differences in overall wave evolution, hydrodynamic load characteristics as well as velocity and vortex fields. Further, it was found that the solitary wave uses underestimated the total energy and hence underestimated the run-up distance.     

The exceptional activity and growth of the Southeast Crater, Mount Etna (Italy), between 1996 and 2001

Between 1971 and 2001, the Southeast Crater was the most productive of the four summit craters of Mount Etna, with activity that can be compared, on a global scale, to the opening phases of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō-Kūpaianaha eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Hawai‘i. The period of highest eruptive rate was between 1996 and 2001, when near-continuous activity occurred in five phases. These were characterized by a wide range of eruptive styles and intensities from quiet, non-explosive lava emission to brief, violent lava-fountaining episodes. Much of the cone growth occurred during these fountaining episodes, totaling 105 events. Many showed complex dynamics such as different eruptive styles at multiple vents, and resulted in the growth of minor edifices on the flanks of the Southeast Crater cone. Small pyroclastic flows were produced during some of the eruptive episodes, when oblique tephra jets showered the steep flanks of the cone with hot bombs and scoriae. Fluctuations in the eruptive style and eruption rates were controlled by a complex interplay between changes in the conduit geometry (including the growth of a shallow magma reservoir under the Southeast Crater), magma supply rates, and flank instability. During this period, volume calculations were made with the aid of GIS and image analysis of video footage obtained by a monitoring telecamera. Between 1996 and 2001, the bulk volume of the cone increased by ~36×10⁶ m³, giving a total (1971–2001) volume of ~72×10⁶ m³. At the same time, the cone gained ~105 m in height, reaching an elevation of about 3,300 m. The total DRE volume of the 1996–2001 products was ~90×10⁶m³. This mostly comprised lava flows (72×10⁶ m³) erupted at the summit and onto the flanks of the cone. These values indicate that the productivity of the Southeast Crater increased fourfold during 1996–2001 with respect to the previous 25 years, coinciding with a general increase in the eruptive output rates and eruption intensity at Etna. This phase of intense summit activity has been followed, since the summer of 2001, by a period of increased structural instability of the volcano, marked by a series of important flank eruptions.     

异常等级断面图的编制程序及其在电法中的应用

地球物理勘察是一种体积勘探，其观测值不仅与测点附近的物性、地质条件有关，而且还取决于装置以及物理场主要作用范围内物性体的分布。为了压制非目标因素，突出有效异常，采用适当的数学手段对观测数据进行处理是必要的。编制异常等级断面图就是一种行之有效的方法。详细叙述了异常等级断面图的编制程序和注意事项。实例介绍了在传统直流电法中的实际应用及其独特的地质效果。异常等级断面图适于在水文工程、环境物探中运用，其基本思路也可应用于其他诸多领域。     

变形岩石的体积变化及研究意义

变形岩石中普遍存在有不同程度的体积损耗。本文介绍了这方面的研究历史、现状及新进展，总结了三类体积损耗的估算方法．第一类方法是直接对比未变形的和已变形的标志体的体积；第二类方法是基于有限应变类型变化的分析对比；第三类方法是依据变形前后物质成分的变化。     

Factors influencing the height of Hawaiian lava fountains: implications for the use of fountain height as an indicator of magma gas content

The heights of lava fountains formed in Hawaiian-style eruptions are controlled by magma gas content, volume flux and the amounts of lava re-entrainment and gas bubble coalescence. Theoretical models of lava fountaining are used to analyse data on lava fountain height variations collected during the 1983–1986 Pu'u 'O'o vent of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. The results show that the variable fountain heights can be largely explained by the impact of variations in volume flux and amount of lava re-entrainment on erupting magmas with a constant gas content of 0.32 wt.% H₂O. However, the gas content of the magma apparently declined by 0.05 wt.% during the last 10 episodes of the eruption series and this decline is attributed to more extensive pre-eruption degassing due to a shallowing of the sub-vent feeder dike. It is concluded that variations in lava fountain height cannot be simply interpreted as variations in gas content, as has previously been suggested, but that fountain height can still be a useful guide to minimum gas contents. Where sufficient data are available on eruptive volume fluxes and extent of lava entrainment, greatly improved estimates can be made of magma gas content from lava fountain height.     

Volume rendering visualization of 3D spherical mantle convection with an unstructured mesh

We propose a new approach to utilize the algorithm of hardware-assisted visibility sorting (HAVS) in the 3D volume rendering of spherical mantle convection simulation results over unstructured grid configurations. We will also share our experience in using three different spherical convection codes and then taking full advantages of the enhanced efficiency of visualization techniques, which are based on the HAVS techniques and related transfer functions. The transfer function is a powerful tool designed specifically for editing and exploring large-scale datasets coming from numerical computation for a given environmental setting, and generates hierarchical data structures, which will be used in the future for fast access of GPU visualization facilities. This method will meet the coming urgent needs of real-time visualization of 3D mantle convection, by avoiding the demands of huge amount of I/O space and intensive network traffic over distributed parallel terascale or petascale architecture.     

从反射太阳光谱反演大气气溶胶体积谱分布的理论研究

由大气顶射出太阳辐射的形式解出发,结合球形粒子的米散射理论,由反射太阳光谱推导获得了反演整层大气气溶胶粒子体积谱分布的权重函数。在权重函数特征分析的基础上,根据一个简单的线性反演算法,利用大气辐射传输计算模拟的大气顶反射太阳光谱,反演获得了不同气溶胶浓度和复折射率条件下的气溶胶粒子体积谱。结果表明,初步建立了一套自洽的大气气溶胶体积谱分布的反演方法。通过米散射计算获得的反演参数考虑了波长对粒子半径的权重特征,使气溶胶体积谱的反演具有了明确的物理依据;同目前常用的查算表方法相比,简化了反演方案中参数化的复杂程度。     

On the mechanisms behind salinity anomaly signals of the northern North Atlantic

Hydrographic time series from the northern North Atlantic throughout the 20th century show oscillations in temperature and salinity at more or less regular intervals. The Great Salinity Anomalies described during the 1970s [Dickson, R.R., Meincke, J., Malmberg, S.-A., Lee, A.J., 1988. The “Great Salinity Anomaly” in the North Atlantic, 1968-1982. Progress in Oceanography 20, 103-151.], during the 1980s [Belkin, I.M., Levitus, S., Antonov, J., Malmberg, S.-A., 1998. “Great Salinity Anomalies” in the North Atlantic. Progress in Oceanography 41, 1-68.], and during the 1990s [Belkin, I.M., 2004. Propagation of the “Great Salinity Anomaly” of the 1990s around the northern North Atlantic. Geophysical Research Letters 31(8), L08306, doi:10.1029/2003GL019334.] have distinct amplitudes, and all three of them were interpreted as low salinity anomalies propagating downstream through the anti-clockwise circulation system of the northern North Atlantic Ocean. Further inspection of time series from the Northeast Atlantic and the Northwest Atlantic over the past century shows, however, several other distinct negative anomalies of lesser amplitudes. Additionally, a number of high salinity anomalies can be identified. The present paper analyses further the propagation of the negative and positive anomalies and links them together. It is shown that they have varying speeds of propagation, and that the varying speeds are correlated across the North Atlantic. We propose that varying volume fluxes in and out of the Arctic Basin is the causal mechanism behind the anomaly signals, and that the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) partly has influence on the flux variations described. Periods of large decadal-scale amplitudes of the NAO coincide with periods of large decadal-scale oscillation in the marine climate.     

波浪在泥床上传播时的波长变化

本文通过长江口航道淤泥的室内波浪试验研究,认为影响波长变化的主要因素有相对泥床厚度、泥床含沙浓度及相对(传播距离)波长等。在本试验范围内,波浪在泥床上传播时的波长变化一般在±5％以内;但在相对泥床厚度、泥床含沙浓度及相对(传播距离)波长均较大时,波浪被急剧衰减,波长也随之迅速减小。