Environmental isotopes in determining groundwater flow systems, northern part of Epirus, Greece

On the basis of the isotopic composition of water in the northern part of Epirus, Greece, from springs at different altitudes with well-defined recharge areas, the altitude effect on the δ¹⁸O value of groundwater is –0.142±0.003ö (100?m)^–1 and is uniform over the entire study area. Using the δ¹⁸O composition of surface water and groundwaters, the contribution of Ioannina Lake and the channel draining the lake water to the Kalamas River to the recharge of springs and boreholes was confirmed and quantitatively defined. In contrast, the Voidomatis and Vikos Rivers are not sources for recharge of the big springs along their banks. However, water from the Aoos River does replenish the aquifer in the unconsolidated deposits underlying the plain of Konitsa. In addition, limestones of Senonian–Late Eocene ages, dolomites, and limestones of the "Vigles" facies are hydraulically interconnected, and the limestones of the "Pantokrator" facies are hydraulically isolated from the other carbonate formations.     

Stochastic evolution of hydraulic geometry relations in the lower Yellow River of China under environmental uncertainties

Hydraulic geometry relations comprise a classic way to understand characteristics of a river. However, environmental changes pose large uncertainties for the reliability of such relations. In the current study, on the basis of the ordinary differential equations (ODEs) formed through linear treatment of the deterministic power-law hydraulic geometry relations, a set of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) driven by Fractional white noise and Poisson noise are developed to simulate the historical dynamic probability distributions of typical hydraulic geometry variables such as slope, width, depth, and velocity with bankfull discharge variation over time in the lower Yellow River of China. One group of possible stochastic average behaviors within the next 50 years are calculated under three different design incoming water-sediment conditions (including 300, 600, and 800 million t of annual average sediment discharge). In each part of the lower reaches, after estimation of the SDE parameters using a nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method, the model is carefully examined using Monte Carlo simulation as compared with the deterministic control models. The results of this comparison reveal the potential responses of hydraulic geometry characteristics to environmental disturbances, and the average trends mainly agree with the measurements. Comparisons among the three different prediction results reveal the stochastic average solution generally is greater than the deterministic solution. The results also confirm the severe negative impacts that result from the condition of 300 million t of incoming sediment, thus, pointing out the need to raise the level of river evolution alert for the lower Yellow River of China in the future. Moreover, with the help of the stochastic computation, the stream power and hydraulic width/depth ratio could be representative of an effective systematic measure for river dynamics. The proposed stochastic approach is not only important to development in the field of fluvial relations, but also beneficial to the practical design and monitoring of a river system according to specified accuracy requirements.     

Weathering of an Arctic oil spill over 20 years: the BIOS experiment revisited. Baffin Island Oil Spill

A small experimental oil spill was conducted on the northern tip of Baffin Island Nunavut, Canada (72 degrees 31' N, 79 degrees 50' W) in August 1981, and the natural weathering of the oil has been followed by periodic visits. This paper reports on the chemical composition of oil collected in August 2001. The vast majority of the initial oil has gone, but small patches remain. Some samples remain essentially unaltered despite their 20 years of exposure to the elements, while others show that biodegradation and photooxidation can play important roles in removing the majority of the components of the oil. Using 17alpha(H)21beta(H)hopane as a conserved marker within the oil, we show that the most biodegraded sample has lost more than 87% of the hydrocarbons initially present, while another has lost a substantial proportion of its initial chrysene and alkylated congeners. Potential explanations for the different weathering patterns seen in samples collected from this small site are briefly discussed.     

垃圾填埋场防渗衬里粘性土的改性研究

鉴于垃圾填埋场常用天然粘性土衬里存在防渗能力的不足，提出了一种复合土(石灰 粘性土 膨润土)作为改性村里，并以垃圾浸泡液作为渗透液进行了改性衬里和天然粘性土衬里室内土柱对比实验。结果表明，相对于天然粘性土衬里，改性后衬里的渗透系数由lO^-8～lO^-7cm／s之间降低到lO^-9～lO-8cm／s之间，对垃圾浸泡液中的COD、三氮及铁离子的平均衰减百分比，分别由75．9l％升高到84．42％、91．3l％升高到94．06％、93．05％升高到94．67％。     

公路车辆产生振动波的衰减研究

精密仪器对周围振动环境要求很高，必须摆放在相对安静的地点。对公路两侧不同车辆的振动情况进行了实验研究。采用三分量检波器和24道工程地震仪进行测量。实验结果表明，测点上振动幅度随与公路的距离增加而减小，可用γ=Ar^α，y=Ar^1.71249表示，振动频率为10～20Hz。在今后类似的研究中，可以根据这一规律来确定仪器的安装地点，作10～20Hz带通滤波来消除汽车的干扰。     

小旋转椭球粒子群降水区雷达回波衰减订正模拟实验

计算了降水区雨滴形状和雨滴群旋轴相对于雷达波偏振方向不同取向情况下的Z－I关系和k-I关系，并用5种衰减订正算法进行雷达回波衰减订正效果研究，结果表明，在已知小旋转椭球粒子群取向的情况下，雨强越大，降水区回波衰减的可订正厚度越小；雨强80mm/h均匀分布时，使用R2或R3订正法，5．6cm雷达回波可订正厚度在120km以上，3．2cm雷达可订正厚度为50km左右；雷达遥感降水时，有必要正确估计小旋转椭球粒子群的取向，以便选用正确的k-Z关系，提高衰减订正效果。     

天气雷达反射率因子的实时衰减订正

基于当代天气雷达信号处理及其数据输出的特点，提出可供气象台站对天气雷达反射率因子进行实时衰减订正的基本订正算法和参考目标订正算法。通过数值仿真，比较了这两种算法的各自优缺点；还讨论了盲距衰减A(r0)和雷达系统误差△C对估算真实反射率因子的影响。     

The Role of Data Processing and Uncertainty Management in Seismic Hazard Evaluations: Insights from Estimates in the Garfagnana–Lunigiana Area (Northern Italy)

Significantly different estimates of seismic hazard may result for the same site as aneffect of different methodological choices underlying the adopted procedures. In orderto explore this aspect, two approaches devoted to probabilistic seismic hazard assessment are considered for the evaluation of hazard in a seismic area in Northern Italy. In particular, results of a standard procedure are compared with those obtained by an innovative approach. Fundamental features of this last methodology are the extensive use of intensity data relative to seismic effects observed at the site of interest during past earthquakes and the basic role attributed to the parameterisation of uncertainty which affects the considered pieces ofinformation. The analysis indicates that the new approach supplies results significantlydifferent from those obtained from standard methodology and that these differences strongly depend on strategies adopted for data processing and for the management of uncertainties which affect input parameters.     

Style-of-Faulting in Ground-Motion Prediction Equations

Equations for the prediction of response spectral ordinates invariably include magnitude, distance and site classification as independent variables. A few equations also include style-of-faulting as a fourth variable, although this has an almost negligible effect on the standard deviation of the equation. Nonetheless, style-of-faulting is a useful parameter to include in ground-motion prediction equations since the rupture mechanism of future earthquakes in a particular seismic source zone can usually be defined with some confidence. Current equations including style-of-faulting use different schemes to classify fault ruptures into various categories, which leads to uncertainty and ambiguity regarding the nature and extent of the effect of focal mechanism on ground motions. European equations for spectral ordinates do not currently include style-of-faulting factors, and seismic hazard assessments in Europe often combine, in logic-tree formulations, these equations with those from western North America that do include style-of-faulting coefficients. In this article, a simple scheme is provided to allow style-of-faulting adjustments to be made for those equations that do not include coefficients for rupture mechanism, so that style-of-faulting can be fully incorporated into the hazard calculations. This also considers the case of normal fault ruptures, not modelled in any of the current Californian equations, but which are the dominant mechanism in many parts of Europe. The scheme is validated by performing new regressions on a widely used European attenuation relationship with additional terms for style-of-faulting. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

云南地区地面峰值加速度衰减规律

根据云南地区的实测强震加速度资料，采用回归分析法研究了云南地区的地面水平、垂直峰值加速度衰减规律。共选取云南地区加速度记录240条，进行了加速度衰减规律的统计，并把得到的结果与前人的结果进行比较分析，提出更适合云南地区地震地质特征的加速度衰减规律。