Surface roughness of alumina fragments caused by hypervelocity impact

Hypervelocity impact experiments are carried out with alumina ceramic targets at impact velocities of 2-4 km/s. The fractal dimension (or roughness exponent) of fragment surfaces is estimated by two different methods (different length scales). One is a divider method (large scale) and the other is a gas-absorption one (small scale). The obtained fractal dimensions are different: ∼2.2-2.4 for larger scale and ∼2.5-2.7 for smaller scale. These values are regardless of the degree of fragmentation.     

The history of environmental change and adaptation in eastern Saloum–Senegal—Driving forces and perceptions

Environmental change in the Sahel–Sudan zone of West Africa has been a major issue in development debates over the last decades. Using remote sensing based land cover change analysis, archival data, national and international statistical data, and household interviews, we analyze the drivers of environmental change in Eastern Saloum in Central East Senegal as well as the local perceptions of these changes and adaptation. Being part of the ground nut basin, Eastern Saloum has witnessed rapid environmental degradation caused by the conversion of forest and savanna areas to agricultural land during the last 20–30 years and by a combination of decline in precipitation, soil degradation, a diversity of policies with little concern for the environment, fluctuating markets and population pressure. Farmers perceive the environmental change mainly as land degradation and poor soil fertility, though recent extensification of agriculture counters this effect and has led to increased vegetation cover in marginal areas. They identified erratic climate, agricultural policies, insufficient food production and desire to increase income as the main drivers of change in the area. We conclude that while climate variability has influenced environmental change in the area, various types of State interventions in agriculture and global market fluctuations appear to have been the main underlying causes of environmental degradation.     

The NASA Lunar Impact Monitoring Program

NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office has implemented a program to monitor the Moon for meteoroid impacts from the Marshall Space Flight Center. Using off-the-shelf telescopes and video equipment, the Moon is monitored for as many as 10 nights per month, depending on weather. Custom software automatically detects flashes which are confirmed by a second telescope, photometrically calibrated using background stars, and published on a website for correlation with other observations. Hypervelocity impact tests at the Ames Vertical Gun Range facility have begun to determine the luminous efficiency and ejecta characteristics. The purpose of this research is to define the impact ejecta environment for use by lunar spacecraft designers of the Constellation manned lunar program. The observational techniques and preliminary results will be discussed. The U.S. Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

STUDIES ON ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND VALUES IN CHINA

An investigation on environmental background values was made in an area of about 1,140,000 km2, which included temperate and subtropical zones of China. The environmental background values of 142 soil environment units, 18 main soil types, 87 surface water environment units, 8 aquatic organism environment units and 20 underground water environment units were obtained. The rules, causes and effecting factors of regional differentiation of the environmental background values were deduced from over 200,000 various data.     

辽东湾葵花岛构造区浅层气分布特征、成因探讨及工程影响

揭示了葵花岛构造区浅层气规模小、埋藏浅、分布散、压力低、储层松散等分布特点,根据沉积环境和地质特征,推测浅层气为生物甲烷气,但并不完全排除是热生甲烷次生气藏的可能性,探讨了浅层气潜在的工程危害并提出相应防治措施,为今后海洋工程建设提供科学依据。     

热带和中纬太平洋海温异常对东北夏季低温冷害影响的诊断分析研究

利用1995~1997年东北地区23个测站的地面气温资料、1950~1996年太平洋地区月平均海温资料以及1980~1994年全球月平均风场资料,分析了东北夏季低温冷害的时空特征和变化规律,探讨了太平洋各区域的海温异常与低温冷害之间的可能联系及其影响机理。结果表明,用EOF分解得到的前三个特征向量（占总方差的84.28%）基本表示了东北夏季气温的变化,用这三个特征向量重建的气温距平场,存在着3~4年、6~8年和准16年的主周期,其中6~8年的主分量信号最强。在年代际尺度上,在1979年前后发生了由气温偏冷向偏暖的突变。热带西太平洋暖池（140°E~180°,10°S~10°N）是影响东北夏季气温的关键海域,那里前期冬季海表温度变化是预测东北夏季低温冷害的强信号。另一个关键海域是中纬西太平洋（130°E~180°,10~30°N）,前期春季的海温变化也与东北夏季低温有较密切的联系。     

环保型弱凝胶护壁护心钻井液研究与应用

海域浅层气地质调查和盐湖环境科学钻探在松散砂岩钻探取样工程中,存在孔壁易坍塌、成孔率低等技术难题,为此开展了松散砂岩地层环保型弱凝胶护壁护心钻井液技术研究。通过弱凝胶结构研究及成胶剂、交联剂及抗盐降滤失剂等材料优选,研发了一套环保型弱凝胶护壁护心钻井液,评价了钻井液的流变性、滤失性、抑制性、护心性能、环保性能等性能,并在山西某盐湖环境科学钻探工程进行现场应用。室内及现场应用结果表明：研制的弱凝胶护壁护心钻井液具有良好的流变性、降滤失性、抑制性（岩屑回收率96.3%）、护壁护心性能及环保性能（BOD5/COD比值24.6%,EC50值47950 mg/L）,能有效解决松散砂岩类地层孔壁坍塌、岩屑不易携带等问题,在松散地层钻探工程中具有广阔的应用前景。     

Volcanically Driven Terrestrial Environmental Perturbations during the Carnian Pluvial Episode in the Eastern Tethys

The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) fingerprints global environmental perturbations and biological extinction on land and oceans and is potentially linked to the Wrangellia Large Igneous Province (LIP). However, the correlation between terrestrial environmental changes and Wrangellia volcanism in the Ordos Basin during the CPE remains poorly understood. Records of negative carbon isotopic excursions (NCIEs), mercury (Hg), Hg/TOC, and Hg enrichment factor (HgEF) from oil shales in a large-scale terrestrial Ordos Basin in the Eastern Tethys were correlated with marine and other terrestrial successions. The three significant NCIEs in the study section were consistently correlated with those in the CPE successions of Europe, the UK, and South and North China. The U-Pb geochronology indicates a Ladinian–Carnian age for the Chang 7 Member. A comprehensive overview of the geochronology, NCIE correlation, and previous bio- and chronostratigraphic frameworks shows that the Ladinian–Carnian boundary is located in the lower part of Chang 7 in the Yishicun section. HgEF may be a more reliable proxy for tracing volcanic eruptions than the Hg/TOC ratio because the accumulation rates of TOC content largely vary in terrestrial and marine successions. The records of Hg, Hg/TOC, HgEF, and NCIEs in the Ordos Basin aligned with Carnian successions worldwide and were marked by similar anomalies, indicating a global response to the Wrangellia LIP during the CPE. Anoxia, a warm-humid climate, enhancement of detrital input, and NCIEs are synchronous with the CPE interval in the Ordos Basin, which suggests that the CPE combined with the regional Qinling Orogeny should dominate the enhanced rate of terrigenous input and paleoenvironmental evolution in the Ordos Basin.     

湖泊沉积物的矿物组成、成因、环境指示及研究进展

湖泊沉积物是不同地质、气候、水文条件下各类碎屑、黏土、自生/生物成因矿物以及有机物质等的综合体。沉积矿物蕴含着丰富区域和全球环境演变信息,如湖水的化学组成、流域构造、气候、水文以及人类活动的相互作用等。相关信息可以赋存在矿物外部微形貌、内部微结构、化学组成、物理和化学性质、同位素组成、谱学特征、成因以及共生组合等方面。因此,湖泊科学的许多关键课题都离不开矿物学,特别是在利用湖泊沉积物进行区域及过去全球变化研究中,深入的机理研究归根到底都要涉及矿物学,如流域化学风化作用、粒度组成、生物壳体化学组成、测年材料的选择等。然而,由于湖泊沉积物中矿物的多源性、复杂性,如何有效提取和解译其中的环境信息,是一项长期困扰研究者的课题,湖泊沉积矿物学的研究往往被许多研究者所忽视,中国的相关研究也较为薄弱。笔者综述了湖泊沉积物中碎屑、黏土、自生/生物矿物的矿物组合、特征、成因在(古)环境反演中的作用及最新研究进展,提出除了继续加强对湖泊沉积物中矿物来源、成因和古环境示踪的深入研究以外,矿物相间的转变及其对湖水和孔隙水组成的响应、一些非晶质或隐晶质及低丰度矿物相在湖泊化学和动力学中的作用也是很有潜力的研究领域,最后提出了研究中存在的一些问题、面对的挑战以及对研究前景的展望。