Numerical model of convection in sills

The numerical model of convection in magma sills is developed. The model is based on a full system of equations of fluid dynamics and includes heat transfer, buoyancy effects and diffusion of some minor component (marker). Solidification is treated as a phase transition. The results indicate that there are some qualitative differences between very thin sills with Rayleigh number Ra = 10⁵ and thin sills with Ra = 10⁶. For a basaltic magma the first case corresponds to the thickness of the sills of approximately 30 cm and the second case corresponds to the thickness of 60 cm. In the first case mixing is inefficient and conduction is the dominant form of heat transfer. In the second case mixing is efficient and convection is the dominant form of heat transfer. Some of the results can be scaled for the more viscous magmas in thicker sills.     

Manifestation and measurement of the fractal characteristics of karst hydrogeological formations

A new method of estimating the fractal dimension of the percolation backbone of karst systems, which are discharged through karst springs, is presented. This method is based on the simulation of the spring by the MODKARST deterministic mathematical model. Application has been made to the Psiloritis karst formation in Crete, which feeds the periodically brackish karst spring “Almiros” in Crete. Furthermore, the estimated dimension justifies an independently determined power law that quantifies the sea intrusion into the karst system.     

基于地貌单元的北京地区场地VS30分类研究

工程场地30m等效剪切波速（V_s30）是衡量场地放大效应的一个重要参数。通过收集北京地区1：100000精度地貌图、北京地区419个工程场地钻孔资料,统计了每一个实测孔的V_s30值。对每一类地貌下包含的钻孔资料,选取高程、地形坡度和到山的距离3个因素作为影响一类地貌单元V_s30的因子,进行多元线性回归分析,得到不同地貌单元属性的区域性V_s30估算公式。根据估算值与实测值间的残差,通过插值得到区域性的残差分布结果。将残差分布结果与估算V_s30结果叠加,得到区域性V_s30修正结果。再根据美国国家减灾计划（NEHRP）的场地分类结果对基于回归模型的V_s30结果、修正后的V_s30结果分别进行场地分类,经对比认为修正后的场地分类结果正确率高于修正前的结果。该方法及得到的认识对于工程场地分类、地震动作用下场地放大效应的估计和震后地震灾害评估,都具有一定的实用价值。     

Characteristics of eigen-system for flexural gravity wave problems

For a class of boundary value problems associated with flexural gravity waves, characteristics of the eigen-system are analysed which are used to study the convergence of the expansion formulae in both cases of single and two layer fluids in water of finite and infinite depths. Using Green’s function technique, the spectral representations of the vertical eigenfunctions are obtained which are used along with the orthogonal mode-coupling relations to prove the convergence of the expansion formulae. Using the expansion formulae flexural gravity wave scattering due to multiple articulations in the presence of compression are investigated. The problem is studied in both the cases of single-layer and two-layer fluids in finite water depth. Effects of compressive force, stiffness of the connectors, length of the elastic plates and water depth, position of interface on wave scattering by articulated plates are studied by analysing the reflection and transmission coefficients. This procedure of proving the convergence of expansion formulae is independent of water depth. The concept and methodology for dealing with wave-structure interaction problems discussed here can be generalised to deal with problems of similar nature arising in the broad area of mathematical physics and engineering.     

Reducing the non-axisymmetry of a planetary dynamo and an application to saturn

Abstract

If a conducting fluid shell is undergoing spin-axisymmetric differential rotation and overlies the dynamo generating region of a planet then it is capable of greatly reducing the non-spin-axisymmetric components of the generated field, provided the appropriate magnetic Reynolds number is large. The model, closely related to the electromagnetic skin effect, is quantified and applied to Saturn. The observed small dipole tilt (～ 1°) of Saturn's magnetic field can be explained because of the presence of a stably stratified conducting layer overlying the dynamo region. This layer is a predicted consequence of the thermal evolution, arises because of the limited solubility of helium in metallic hydrogen (Stevenson, 1980), and appears to be required by the Voyager infrared observations indicating depletion of helium from Saturn's atmosphere. The much larger dipole tilt angles of Jupiter and the Earth indicate the absence of any such stable, differentially rotating layer with a large magnetic Reynolds number.     

Delineation of the northern limit of the Congo Craton based on spectral analysis and 2.5D modeling of aeromagnetic data in the Akonolinga-Mbama area,Cameroon

Aeromagnetic data of the Akonolinga-Mbama region are analyzed in order to elucidate the subsurface geology of the area. The available data in the form of a residual aeromagnetic map is interpreted as a vast magnetically quiet region, and complex zones which do not correlate with the surface geology of the region.Within the magnetically quiet zone, a high negative circular elongated anomaly zone seems to represent an intrusion of a plutonic rock into the metamorphic formations of the region. Spectral analysis and two-and-a-half dimensional (2½-D) modeling are used to estimate the depth of the causative bodies and determine the source rocks along three profiles crossing the suspected areas. Models from various zones of granitic intrusions are obtained, thereby proposing some shallow fault lines along zones of contact. This permits us to mark out the northern margin of the Congo Craton, thus enabling us to distinguish the cratonic formations from the Pan African fold belt. Part of the belt has been thrust over the northern portion of the Congo Craton in Cameroon.