As in all fields of sample analysis, reference materials play a large role in supporting measurements in the geosciences. While a rather large number of materials are in distribution (> 380), not all are equally effective or fit-for-purpose in supporting laboratory data quality and thereby assuring the desired comparability of measurements between laboratories. Equally important, reference values that are not fit-for-purpose cannot be used effectively to establish traceability links between laboratory measurements and national and international standards. The needed fitness-for-purpose is not achieved for reference values either when more than one reference value has been proposed and a consensus does not exist among users as to which should be used by all, or when reference value uncertainties are too large in comparison to those of routine laboratory measurements. The focus of this review will be, first to outline the current reality, and second to suggest ways in which certifications of RMs can be improved to provide reference values that are universally accepted and more fit-for-purpose in general laboratory use. The discussion will be illustrated largely by current uses of USGS BCR-1, NIST SRM 610 and IAEA NBS28, as these three materials are those for which the largest body of newly published data exists, according to recent bibliographies of the geoanalytical literature published annually in Geostandards Newsletter: The Journal of Geostandards and Geoanalysis. 相似文献
A new geochemical reference material, coral Porites sp. JCp-1 has been prepared by the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ). Provisional values for twenty one major, minor and trace elements are presented. The homogeneity tests showed that all elements studied are considered to be homogeneously distributed. 相似文献
This paper presents results recently obtained for generating site-specific ground motions needed for design of critical facilities. The general approach followed in developing these ground motions using either deterministic or probabilistic criteria is specification of motions for rock outcrop or very firm soil conditions followed by adjustments for site-specific conditions. Central issues in this process include development of appropriate attenuation relations and their uncertainties, differences in expected motions between Western and Eastern North America, and incorporation of site-specific adjustments that maintain the same hazard level as the control motions, while incorporating uncertainties in local dynamic material properties. For tectonically active regions, such as the Western United States (WUS), sufficient strong motion data exist to constrain empirical attenuation relations for M up to about 7 and for distances greater than about 10–15 km. Motions for larger magnitudes and closer distances are largely driven by extrapolations of empirical relations and uncertainties need to be substantially increased for these cases.
For the Eastern United States (CEUS), due to the paucity of strong motion data for cratonic regions worldwide, estimation of strong ground motions for engineering design is based entirely on calibrated models. The models are usually calibrated and validated in the WUS where sufficient strong motion data are available and then recalibrated for applications to the CEUS. Recalibration generally entails revising parameters based on available CEUS ground motion data as well as indirect inferences through intensity observations. Known differences in model parameters such as crustal structure between WUS and CEUS are generally accommodated as well. These procedures are examined and discussed. 相似文献
We study the October 18, MW = 7.1, 1992 Atrato earthquake, and its foreshocks and aftershocks, which occurred in the Atrato valley, northwestern Colombia. The main shock was preceded by several foreshocksof which the MW = 6.6, October 17 earthquacke was the largest. Inparticular, we examine foreshocks and aftershocks performing joint-hypocenter relocations using high quality Pn and Sn wave readingsfrom permanent regional networks. We observed a few hours prior to the main shock a sudden increase of foreshocks. Maybe this could be used as a predictor since foreshocks have been known for other major events in the region. Our locations align for 90 km with a trend of 5° ±4° in agreement with the Harvard CMT solution showing the faultplane trending 9° to be the plane of rupture. In relation to theepicenter of the main shock, maximum intensities were located to thesouth, consistent with a rupture that traveled from north to south witha larger energy release in the south as suggested by an empirical Green'sfunction study (Li and Toksöz, 1993; Ammon et al., 1994). The boundarybetween the Panama and North Andes blocks has been placed close to thePanama-Colombia border as either a sharp boundary or a diffuse zone. TheAtrato earthquake, however, shows that the plate boundary between thePanama and North Andes microblocks is a diffuse deformation zone. Thiszone has a width of at least 2° stretching from 78°W to 76°W. Quantification of earthquake moment release (during the past30 years) in this zone shows a similar amount of moment release in thewestern and eastern parts of this zone. 相似文献
The soil conservation campaigns that have been a prominent feature of Jamaican agricultural policy since the 1950s are frequently presented as having failed to ameliorate the problem of soil erosion in hillside agriculture. A case study of a small farming community in the Blue Mountains explores the development of the soil conservation practices currently employed by farmers. The use of trash barriers in carrot farming is described and the origins of this technology and its subsequent adaptation are considered. The study concludes that extension interventions and government policy have influenced the development of current soil conservation practices; practices which have their roots in indigenous techniques. Other factors such as the adaptation of trash barriers to suit local conditions and their importance in soil fertility management also play a role in their widespread use in the study area. The study demonstrates that to understand the process of technical change in farming communities, it is necessary to consider a range of factors, external and internal, technical and social, that have over time influenced farmers' decision making. 相似文献