脉冲星对氢原子钟的频率驾驭算法研究

氢原子钟具有较高的短期稳定度,将其作为主钟可在短期内产生高精度的本地时间信号.但氢钟存在频率漂移现象,导致其长期稳定度较差,从而影响本地时间的准确性.毫秒脉冲星自转高度稳定,借助于其长期稳定度高的特性,可定期实现对氢原子钟的频率驾驭,并对实时信号加以控制.首先分析了国际脉冲星计时阵(International Pulsar Timing Array,IPTA)第二批发布数据中四颗毫秒脉冲星的稳定度随时间的变化,同时采用哈达玛方差分析了中国科学院国家授时中心(National Time Service Center,NTSC)一台氢钟的频率稳定性能,最终给出了利用脉冲星驾驭氢原子钟频率的方法.     

深时源-汇系统古地理重建方法评述

源-汇系统根据侵蚀、搬运及沉积作用的显著程度可划分为物源区、过渡区和沉积区,根据研究的时间尺度可划分为现代系统、第四纪系统和深时系统。洋陆边缘源-汇系统根据地貌单元的空间配置可划分为"陡—短—深"、"宽—深"及"宽—浅"3种空间分布类型,这3种类型在沉积体积分布及沉积记录保存潜力上存在差异。完整的源-汇系统古地理重建包括沉积区古地理重建和物源区古地理重建。深时尺度下沉积区古地理重建方法随着岩相古地理、构造古地理、生物古地理及层序地层学的发展已趋完善,而物源区古地理重建则更具挑战性,尤其是在物源区遭受侵蚀而不复存在的情况下更具难度。在源-汇分析方法体系中,物源区古流域水系形态、面积范围、地貌地势等古地理要素可通过构造要素分析、碎屑矿物分析、沉积体积回填、地貌学参数比例关系、古水力学参数比例关系和河流沉积通量模型等方法获得。总之,深时源-汇系统古地理重建能够通过盆地沉积记录揭示出物源区古地理演化特征,为沉积盆地充填过程提供沉积供给的信息,对能源矿产勘探和深时古环境研究具有重要意义。     

A meta-analysis of the impacts of forest logging on soil CO_2 efflux

Soil CO_2 efflux, the second largest flux in a forest carbon budget, plays an important role in global carbon cycling. Forest logging is expected to have large effects on soil CO_2 efflux and carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems. However, a comprehensive understanding of soil CO_2 efflux dynamics in response to forest logging remains elusive due to large variability in results obtained across individual studies. Here, we used a meta-analysis approach to synthesize the results of 77 individual field studies to determine the impacts of forest logging on soil CO_2 efflux. Our results reveal that forest logging significantly stimulated soil CO_2 efflux of the growing season by 5.02%. However, averaged across all studies, nonsignificant effect was detected following forest logging. The large variation among forest logging impacts was best explained by forest type, logging type, and time since logging. Soil CO_2 efflux in coniferous forests exhibited a significant increase(4.38%) due to forest logging, while mixed and hardwood forests showed no significant change. Logging type also had a significant effect on soil CO_2 efflux, with thinning increasing soil CO_2 efflux by 12.05%, while clear-cutting decreasing soil CO_2 efflux by 8.63%. The time since logging also had variable effects, with higher soil CO_2 efflux for 2 years after logging, and lower for 3-6 years after logging; when exceeded 6 years, soil CO_2 efflux increased. As significantly negative impacts of forest logging were detected on fine root biomass, the general positive effects on soil CO_2 efflux can be explained by the accelerated decomposition of organic matter as a result of elevated soil temperature and organic substrate quality. Our results demonstrate that forest logging had potentially negative effects on carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems.     

Travel times for snowmelt-dominated headwater catchments: Influences of wetlands and forest harvesting,and linkages to stream water quality

The time it takes water to travel through a catchment, from when it enters as rain and snow to when it leaves as streamflow, may influence stream water quality and catchment sensitivity to environmental change. Most studies that estimate travel times do so for only a few, often rain-dominated, catchments in a region and use relatively short data records (<10 years). A better understanding of how catchment travel times vary across a landscape may help diagnose inter-catchment differences in water quality and response to environmental change. We used comprehensive and long-term observations from the Turkey Lakes Watershed Study in central Ontario to estimate water travel times for 12 snowmelt-dominated headwater catchments, three of which were impacted by forest harvesting. Chloride, a commonly used water tracer, was measured in streams, rain, snowfall and as dry atmospheric deposition over a 31 year period. These data were used with a lumped convolution integral approach to estimate mean water travel times. We explored relationships between travel times and catchment characteristics such as catchment area, slope angle, flowpath length, runoff ratio and wetland coverage, as well as the impact of harvesting. Travel time estimates were then used to compare differences in stream water quality between catchments. Our results show that mean travel times can be variable for small geographic areas and are related to catchment characteristics, in particular flowpath length and wetland cover. In addition, forest harvesting appeared to decrease mean travel times. Estimated mean travel times had complex relationships with water quality patterns. Results suggest that biogeochemical processes, particularly those present in wetlands, may have a greater influence on water quality than catchment travel times.     

Adaptive analysis of infinite beams dynamics problems using the periodic configuration update method in the time domain

This paper proposes a new approach for the assessment of the dynamic response of continuously supported infinite beams under high‐speed moving loads. A change in the representation of equations of motion in the dynamics of discrete structures is proposed to obtain an improved accuracy of the numerical integration in the time domain. The proposed numerical method called the “periodic configuration update” or “PCU method” is applied to solve the problem of a vertical moving harmonic load on an infinite classical Euler‐Bernoulli beam resting on a continuous viscoelastic foundation. This study shows the superiority of the proposed method in comparison with other methods presented in the literature that suffer from the material time derivative, i.e., convective terms, that arises from the Galilean transformation. To confront this numerical problem, the PCU method retains the principle of the spatial follow of loads while zeroing the relative velocity with the traversed beam via a step‐by‐step adaptive integration of the equation of structural dynamics. The dynamic load is modeled with high theoretical velocities that can reach the critical velocity of the studied beam with different angular frequencies belonging to moderate frequency range. A parametric study is carried out to analyze the influence of key parameters on the convergence. The obtained results show a high efficiency of the PCU method for solving these types of problems relative to the dynamics of high speed trains/tracks.     

The duration of near‐peak metamorphism from diffusion modelling of garnet zoning

Garnet in a staurolite–kyanite zone sample from central Vermont displays a bell‐shaped Mn growth zoning with diffusional modification over the outer 100 μm. The diffusion is driven by the prograde net transfer reaction garnet + chlorite = kyanite + biotite as is evidenced by a well‐defined resorption zone on the rim. Analysis of the reaction history and resorbed garnet composition suggests that the peak temperature attained was 620–660 °C. Diffusional modelling of the rim diffusion provides an estimate of the duration of the metamorphic episode over which significant garnet diffusion occurs. The duration is a function of the assumed peak temperature and garnet diffusivities and range from a few hundred thousand years to a few million years. Such short durations require rapid tectonic burial and exhumation of relatively thin tectonic slices.     

Calibration method affects the measured δ2H and δ18O in soil water by direct H2Oliquid–H2Ovapour equilibration with laser spectroscopy

The direct H₂O_liquid–H₂O_vapour equilibration method utilizing laser spectroscopy (DVE-LS) is a way to measure soil pore water stable isotopes. Various equilibration times and calibration methods have been used in DVE-LS. Yet little is known about their effects on the accuracy of the obtained isotope values. The objective of this study was to evaluate how equilibration time and calibration methods affect the accuracy of DVE-LS. We did both spiking and field soil experiments. For the spiking experiment, we applied DVE-LS to four soils of different textures, each of which was subjected to five water contents and six equilibration times. For the field soil experiment, we applied three calibration methods for DVE-LS to two field soil profiles, and the results were compared with cryogenic vacuum distillation (CVD)-LS. Results showed that DVE-LS demonstrated higher δ²H and δ¹⁸O as equilibration time increased, but 12 to 24 hr could be used as optimal equilibration time. For field soil samples, DVE-LS with liquid waters as standards led to significantly higher δ²H and δ¹⁸O than CVD-LS, with root mean square error (RMSE) of 8.06‰ for δ²H and 0.98‰ for δ¹⁸O. Calibration with soil texture reduced RMSE to 3.53‰ and 0.72‰ for δ²H and δ¹⁸O, respectively. Further, calibration with both soil texture and water content decreased RMSE to 3.10‰ for δ²H and 0.73‰ for δ¹⁸O. Our findings conclude that the calibration method applied may affect the measured soil water isotope values from DVE-LS.     

Identification of groundwater mean transit times of precipitation and riverbank infiltration by two‐component lumped parameter models

Groundwater transit time is an essential hydrologic metric for groundwater resources management. However, especially in tropical environments, studies on the transit time distribution (TTD) of groundwater infiltration and its corresponding mean transit time (mTT) have been extremely limited due to data sparsity. In this study, we primarily use stable isotopes to examine the TTDs and their mTTs of both vertical and horizontal infiltration at a riverbank infiltration area in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD), representative of the tropical climate in Asian monsoon regions. Precipitation, river water, groundwater, and local ponding surface water were sampled for 3 to 9 years and analysed for stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δ²H), providing a unique data set of stable isotope records for a tropical region. We quantified the contribution that the two sources contributed to the local shallow groundwater by a novel concept of two‐component lumped parameter models (LPMs) that are solved using δ¹⁸O records. The study illustrates that two‐component LPMs, in conjunction with hydrological and isotopic measurements, are able to identify subsurface flow conditions and water mixing at riverbank infiltration systems. However, the predictive skill and the reliability of the models decrease for locations farther from the river, where recharge by precipitation dominates, and a low‐permeable aquitard layer above the highly permeable aquifer is present. This specific setting impairs the identifiability of model parameters. For river infiltration, short mTTs (<40 weeks) were determined for sites closer to the river (<200 m), whereas for the precipitation infiltration, the mTTs were longer (>80 weeks) and independent of the distance to the river. The results not only enhance the understanding of the groundwater recharge dynamics in the VMD but also suggest that the highly complex mechanisms of surface–groundwater interaction can be conceptualized by exploiting two‐component LPMs in general. The model concept could thus be a powerful tool for better understanding both the hydrological functioning of mixing processes and the movement of different water components in riverbank infiltration systems.     

GIS research to address tensions in geography

The rise of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies has been producing powerful tools for spatial data processing, management, analysis, modeling, and visualization. While supporting many tasks, GIS technologies have evoked new thinking and advanced intellectual inquiries in geography. Technological advances in other fields often stimulate new research questions and lead to revolutionary discoveries. The Hubble telescope revolutionizes our understanding of the universe, and 3D digital microscopes transform our knowledge of the coordination among biological, neurological, and physiological systems in living organisms. Can GIS claim similar revolutionary effects on geography? The answer is much up for debate. With GIS technologies, geographic studies can explore a broader extent across multiple scales in space and time and tackle problems through increasingly complex spatial statistics, visual analytics, computation, simulation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Both the Hubble telescope and 3D digital microscope were built based on scientific research that subserves the technological advances for inquiries into space and life systems. Likewise, GIScience research innovates GIS methods that enable novel geographic investigations and therefore contribute to geographic knowledge production. For the sake of simplicity, the term GIS used here represents both GIScience and GIS technologies. This essay attempts to clarify the intellectual contributions of GIS to geography on the following two questions: (1) What novel geographic thinking is driven by GIS? (2) How may GIS provoke new geographic inquiries and knowledge? Building on Nystuen's notion of four tensions that trigger geographic questions, the essay discusses how GIS innovations mediate historical tension, space‐time tension, dimensional tension and scale tensions.