Two-fluid Dynamics in Clusters of Galaxies

We develop a theoretical formulation for the large-scale dynamics of galaxy clusters involving two spherical ‘isothermal fluids‘ coupled by their mutual gravity and derive asymptotic similarity solutions analytically. One of the fluids roughly approximates the massive dark matter halo, while the other describes the hot gas, the relatively small mass contribution from the galaxies being subsumed in the gas. By properly choosing the self-similar variables, it is possible to consistently transform the set of time-dependent two-fluid equations of spherical symmetry with serf-gravity into a set of coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We focus on the analytical analysis and discuss applications of the solutions to galaxy clusters.     

Self-regulated gravitational accretion in protostellar discs

We present a numerical model for the evolution of a protostellar disc that has formed self-consistently from the collapse of a molecular cloud core. The global evolution of the disc is followed for several million years after its formation. The capture of a wide range of spatial and temporal scales is made possible by use of the thin-disc approximation. We focus on the role of gravitational torques in transporting mass inward and angular momentum outward during different evolutionary phases of a protostellar disc with disc-to-star mass ratio of order 0.1. In the early phase, when the infall of matter from the surrounding envelope is substantial, mass is transported inward by the gravitational torques from spiral arms that are a manifestation of the envelope-induced gravitational instability in the disc. In the late phase, when the gas reservoir of the envelope is depleted, the distinct spiral structure is replaced by ongoing irregular non-axisymmetric density perturbations. The amplitude of these density perturbations decreases with time, though this process is moderated by swing amplification aided by the existence of the disc's sharp outer edge. Our global modelling of the protostellar disc reveals that there is typically a residual non-zero gravitational torque from these density perturbations, i.e. their effects do not exactly cancel out in each region. In particular, the net gravitational torque in the inner disc tends to be negative during first several million years of the evolution, while the outer disc has a net positive gravitational torque. Our global model of a self-consistently formed disc shows that it is also self-regulated in the late phase, so that it is near the Toomre stability limit, with a near-uniform Toomre parameter Q ≈ 1.5–2.0. Since the disc also has near-Keplerian rotation, and comparatively weak temperature variation, it maintains a near-power-law surface density profile proportional to r ^−3/2.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing Aerial photography and image interpretation for Resource Management . DAVID P. PAINE . Analytical Models and Techniques Spatial Processes Models and Applications A. D. CLIFF AND J. K. ORD Quantitative and Statistical Approaches to Geography: A Practical Manual JOHN A. MATTHEWS . Cartography and Maps Map Data Processing . HERBERT FREEMAN AND GOFFREDO G. PIERONI , eds. Computer-assisted Cartography: Principles and Prospects, 1982 . MARK S. MONMONIER . Cultural Navajo Architecture: Forms, History, Distributions . STEPHEN C. JETT AND VIRGINIA E . SPENCER . Rational Landscapes and Humanistic Geography . EDWARD RELPH . Economic The Structure and Control of a State Economy . W. L. L'ESPERANCE . Economic Geography . JAMES O. WHEELER AND PETER O. MULLER . The Myth of the Family Farm: Agribusiness Dominance of U.S. Agriculture . INGOLF VOCELER . Libya: The Experience of Oil . J. A. ALLEN . Geography of Public Finance, Welfare Under Fiscal Federalism and local Government Finance . ROBERT BENNETT . Environmental Management, Resources, and Systems Mountains and Man . LARRY W. PRICE . Environmental Geology . DONALD R. COATES . An Introduction to Environmental Systems . G. H. DURY . The Environment: Chinese and American Views . Edited by LAURENCE J. C. MA AND ALLEN G. NOBLE . Land Use in America . RICHARD H. JACKSON . Medical Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Medical Geography . MELINDA S. MEADE (ed.). Philosophy and Geographic Thought Birds in Egg/Eggs in Bird . GUNNAR OLSSON . PhysicaI Climatology: Selected Applications . J. E. OLIVER . Geomorphological Techniques . ANDREW GOUDIE (ed.). Political Politics, Geography and Behaviour . RICHARD MUIR AND RONAN PADDISON . The State of the World Atlas . MICHAEL KIDRON AND RONALD SECAL . Population The Population of the South . DUDLEY L. POSTON , JR . AND ROBERT H. WELLER , eds. Regional Latin America: Economic Development and Regional Differentiation . ARTHUR MORRIS . Developing the Amazon . EMILIO F. MORAN . Western Europe: A Systematic Human Geography . BRIAN W. ILBERY . Settlement Systems in Sparsely Settled Regions: The United States and Australia . RICHARD E. LONSDALEAND JOHN H. HOLMES , eds. African Perspectives: The Economic Geography of Nine African States . HARM DE BUJ AND ESMOND MARTIN , eds. Rural Nonmetropolitan America in Transition . AMOS H. HAWLEY AND SARA MILLS MAZIE , eds. Social Crime and Environment . R. NORMAN DAVIDSON . The Ghetto: Readings with Interpretations . JOE T. DARDEN , ed. Urban Urban Problems and Planning in the Developed World . MICHAEL PACIONE (ed.) Problems and Planning in Third World Cities . Edited by MICHAEL PACIONE . The City in West Europe . D. BURTENSHAW , M. BATEMAN , AND C. J. ASHWORTH .     

RESOURCE NEEDS AND LAND STRESS IN RAPTI ZONE,NEPAL *

Regional and village land resource issues and environmental conditions in the Rapti zone, western Nepal are discussed in the context of the Himalaya Environmental Degradation theory (Ives 1987). Ecological stress is indicated in agriculture to forest land ratios, farmland capability, and land use change. Intra-regional differences and specific local conditions indicate the complex dimensions of environmental and development issues in the Rapti zone.     

我国恐龙空间分异原因初探

本文讨论了中国境内先后出现的恐龙动物在古地理位置、分布范围上的变化特点，提出引起中国恐龙空间分异的主要原因是占地理环境的巨大变迁，同时也与占气候、占植物的变化有密切关系。并进一步指出，中国恐龙绝灭的原因应该是突发的灾变。     

PROBLEMS OF THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT AND COUNTERMEASURES IN RAPID ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE ZHUJIANG RIVER DELTA

ＰＲＯＢＬＥＭＳＯＦＴＨＥＡＱＵＡＴＩＣＥＮＶＩＲＯＮＭＥＮＴＡＮＤＣＯＵＮＴＥＲＭＥＡＳＵＲＥＳＩＮＲＡＰＩＤＥＣＯＮＯＭＩＣＤＥＶＥＬＯＰＭＥＮＴＩＮＴＨＥＺＨＵＪＩＡＮＧＲＩＶＥＲＤＥＬＴＡ￥ＷｅｎＹａｎｍａｏ（温琰茂）；ＣｈｅｎｇＧｕｏｐｅｉ...     

西北地区土壤资源特征及其开发利用与保护

在分析西北地区土壤分布规律的基础上,研究了不同类型区土壤的资源特征及其在开发利用中存在的问题,认为黄土地区土壤土质疏松、粉砂含量高、富含碳酸钙是水土流失的物质基础;干旱区广为分布的荒漠土壤资源的性能低劣、绿洲区水土资源的利用比例失调是造成土地荒漠化、土壤盐渍化的根本原因;而高原土壤的粗骨性、土层浅薄、有效肥力低则加速了草场的退化和沙漠化.提出了西北地区土壤资源的合理利用与生态环境保护相协调的途经,即搞好农田基本建设,采用旱作技术节水和合理用水,扩大林草植被,保护天然草场和林木.并认为西北土壤资源的开发利用要在充分发挥其生产潜力的同时,首先应遵循生态规律,开发与保护并重,防止土壤资源衰竭和破坏.     

Interfacial instabilities driven by self-gravity: first numerical results

The evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) is driven by a variety of phenomena, including turbulence, shearing flows, magnetic fields and the thermal properties of the gas. Among the most important forces at work is self-gravity, which ultimately drives protostellar collapse. As part of an ongoing study of instabilities in the ISM, Hunter, Whitaker & Lovelace have discovered another process driven by self-gravity: the instability of an interface of discontinuous density. Theory predicts that this self-gravity driven interfacial instability persists in the static limit and in the absence of a constant background acceleration. Disturbances to a density interface are found to grow on a time-scale of the order of the free-fall time, even when the perturbation wavelength is much less than the Jeans length. Here we present the first numerical simulations of this instability. The theoretical growth rate is confirmed and the non-linear morphology displayed. The self-gravity interfacial instability is shown to be fundamentally different from the Rayleigh–Taylor instability, although both exhibit similar morphologies under the condition of a high density contrast, such as is commonly found in the ISM. Such instabilities are a possible mechanism by which observed features, such as the pillars of gas seen near the boundaries of interstellar clouds, are formed.