Contamination of marine biogenic habitats and effects upon associated epifauna

Habitat-forming organisms are frequently used as biomonitors in marine environments due to a widespread ability to accumulate toxic contaminants. Few studies, however, have considered the consequences of these accumulated contaminants on the abundant and diverse fauna associated with these habitats. In this review, we summarize research which has investigated the contamination of biogenic habitats (including seagrasses, macroalgae, ascidians, sponges and bivalve reefs) and the impact of this contamination on the habitat use, feeding behaviour and survival of associated epifauna. In many cases, ecological impacts upon epifauna are not simply predicted by levels of contamination in their habitat, but are determined by the foraging, feeding and reproductive behaviours of the inhabiting organisms. Thus, a thorough understanding of these ecological processes is essential in order to understand the effects of contaminants upon epifaunal communities. The scope of biomonitoring studies which assess the contamination of biogenic habitats should be expanded to include an assessment of potential effects upon associated epifauna. When combined with manipulative field experiments such an approach would greatly assist in our understanding of indirect effects of contaminants in these important benthic habitats.     

中国大陆精密重力潮汐改正模型

利用理论和实验重力固体潮模型,充分考虑全球海潮和中国近海潮汐的负荷效应,建立了中国大陆的精密重力潮汐改正模型.结果表明,采用不同的固体潮模型会对重力潮汐结果产生相对变化幅度小于0.06％的差异;在沿海地区海潮负荷的影响约为整个潮汐的4％,而中部地区约为1％,其中中国近海潮汐模型的影响约占整个海潮负荷的10%,内插或外推潮波的负荷约占海潮负荷的3％.通过比较实测的重力数据表明,本文给出的重力潮汐改正模型的精度远远优于0.5×10^-8 m·s^-2,说明了本文构建的模型的实用性,可为中国大陆高精度重力测量提供有效参考和精密的改正模型.     

频率域偶层位曲面位场处理和转换方法研究

在空间域偶层位法的基础上,研究了完整的频率域偶层位曲面位场处理和转换方法.该法可应用于平面或曲面、规则网或非规则网的位场数据处理和转换.通过对偶层面z坐标和计算面z坐标平移不同的量来加速正演快速收敛和保证反演稳定、快速收敛;提出了适合于不规则网曲面处理和转换的核心算法——单点快速Fourier变换;提出了频率域不规则网曲面处理和转换方法技术.通过以上技术措施解决了大数据量特别是曲面不规则网的位场处理和转换问题,模型试算以及实际资料处理验证了该方法的应用效果.     

扎塘赤泥库渗漏污染评价及治理研究

通过水文地质勘察,查清了扎塘赤泥库向牟老泉和百花湖方向的岩溶渗漏通道,根据弥散试验和长期水质监测资料,建立了水动力弥散叠加模型,进行了渗漏污染预测评价。对岩溶渗漏通道采取了垂直帷幕注浆、库内封堵落水洞、赤泥铺盖等综合防渗措施,历时10年,实现了在岩溶发育地区对高浓度碱水进行防渗治理的预定目标,杜绝了扎塘赤泥库废水外排,治理工程取得了显著的效果,保护了岩溶水资源环境。      

Calibration of the specific barrier model to Iranian plateau earthquakes and development of physically based attenuation relationships for Iran

Earthquake ground-motion relationships for soil and rock sites in Iran have been developed based on the specific barrier model (SBM) used within the context of the stochastic modeling and calibrated against up-to-date Iranian strong-motion data. A total of 171 strong-motion accelerograms recorded at distances of up to 200 km from 24 earthquakes with moment magnitudes ranging from Mw 5.2 to 7.4 are used to determine the region-specific source parameters of this model. Regression analysis was conducted using the “random effects” methodology that considers both earthquake-to-earthquake (inter-event) variability and within-earthquake (intra-event) variability to effectively handle the problem of weighting observations from different earthquakes. The minimization of the error function in each iteration of the “random effects” procedure was performed using the genetic algorithm method. The residuals are examined against available Iranian strong-motion data to confirm that the model predictions are unbiased and that there are no significant residual trends with distance and magnitude. No evidence of self-similarity breakdown is observed between the source radius and its seismic moment. To verify the robustness of the results, tests were performed to confirm that the results are unchanged if the number of observations is changed by removing different randomly selected datasets from the original database. Stochastic simulations, using the derived SBM, are then performed to predict peak ground-motion and response spectra parameters for a wide range of magnitudes and distances. The stochastic SBM predictions agree well with the new empirical regression equations proposed for Iran, Europe and Middle East in the magnitude–distance ranges well represented by the data. It has been shown that the SBM of this study provides unbiased ground-motion estimates over the entire frequency range of most engineering interests (1–10 Hz) for the Iranian earthquakes. Our results are also important for the assessment of hazards in other seismically active environments in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions.     

Multi-step and two-step experiments in heterogeneous porous media to evaluate the relevance of dynamic effects

The determination of hydraulic properties in non-stationary experiments is suspected to be affected by dynamic effects. This is based on thermodynamic considerations on the pore scale displacement of wetting and non-wetting phase. But also macroscopic heterogeneities at the continuum scale may influence the dynamics of water during drainage and wetting. In this paper we investigate both aspects. Firstly, we present the results of typical multi-step outflow experiments in heterogeneous sand columns which are compared with two-step outflow experiments covering the same pressure range. The discrepancies caused by pressure steps of different size reveal the impact of dynamic effects due to the non-stationarity of the experiments.     

Reprint of “Multi-step and two-step experiments in heterogeneous porous media to evaluate the relevance of dynamic effects”

The determination of hydraulic properties in non-stationary experiments is suspected to be affected by dynamic effects. This is based on thermodynamic considerations on the pore scale displacement of wetting and non-wetting phase. But also macroscopic heterogeneities at the continuum scale may influence the dynamics of water during drainage and wetting. In this paper we investigate both aspects. Firstly, we present the results of typical multi-step outflow experiments in heterogeneous sand columns which are compared with two-step outflow experiments covering the same pressure range. The discrepancies caused by pressure steps of different size reveal the impact of dynamic effects due to the non-stationarity of the experiments.     

江西武夷成矿带铜多金属矿产资源远景评价与展望

华南武夷山地区处于扬子、华夏两大构造单元交接叠加地段,构造变形复杂,中生代岩浆活动强烈,具有十分优越的成矿条件,矿产资源潜力巨大。本文以正在武夷山成矿带开展的矿产远景调查工作和资源评价工作所取得的阶段性成果为基础,分析了武夷山成矿带的成矿地质背景、主要矿床类型及近几年的找矿勘查成果,并对武夷成矿带江西省境内铜多金属矿产资源潜力进行了初步评价,划分了十七个找矿远景区。     

Correlation between damage distribution and ambient noise H/V spectral ratio: the SESAME project results

In the framework of the SESAME project one of the tasks was the compilation of all available ambient noise measurements within urban environments affected by historical or/and recent strong earthquakes in Europe. The aim of such a task was to give an answer to the question; “How does horizontal-to-vertical ambient noise spectral ratio compare with damage in modern cities?”. For this purpose five European urban areas, namely, Angra do Heroismo (Portugal), Fabriano and Palermo (Italy), Thessaloniki and Kalamata (Greece) were selected for which spatial damage information was available either in terms of modified Mercalli intensity or in EMS98 damage grades. The geological setting of the examined sites as well as the causative earthquakes are satisfactorily known. Ambient noise recordings compiled for all examined sites have been homogeneously processed by a technique developed and agreed upon SESAME project. Using a standard multivariate statistical analysis, namely, factor analysis and canonical correlation, the horizontal-to-vertical ambient noise spectral ratio (HVNSR) is correlated with damage pattern observed within examined urban areas. Results show that, in some cases (Thessaloniki, Palermo), the HVNSR seems to be able to differentiate between areas previously shown to be associated with higher damage. In other cases however (Angra do Heroismo, Fabriano, Kalamata), the correlation is not statistically significant indicating thus the complex character of the parameters involved, implying that currently there is no a straightforward way that a value of HVNSR can correctly predict the extent to which a given region will be associated with increased damage.     

2D equivalent linear site effect simulation: example applications to two deep valleys

In the framework of the Sismovalp European project, an equivalent linear 2D code was developed to compute the response of a valley to SH waves, using the discrete wave-number method proposed by Aki and Larner (Aki K, Larner KL (1970) J Geophys Res 75:5). To overcome the frequency upper bound limitation, the Aki and Larner’s method is combined with a one-dimensional computation using a classical multi-layer method (Aki K, Richards PG (1980) Quantitative Seismology: Theory and Methods, vols. 1 & 2. W.H. Freeman & Co, San Francisco). The so-called “Aki–Larner extended method” is associated to an iterative algorithm, as proposed by Seed and Idriss (Seed HB, Idriss IM (1969) Report No. EERC 70–10, Earthquake Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, California) which accounts for the modulus and damping degradation using a linear visco-elastic model. A comparison of the results in the linear and the equivalent linear cases, for a magnitude 6.0 earthquake, shows that the account for the equivalent linear behaviour of the soil significantly reduces the amplification level, especially at frequencies higher than the fundamental resonance frequency of the site. In the case of site effects or microzonation studies devoted to produce design spectra for engineering structures, this can have a major impact on the associated results and costs, depending on the frequency of interest for the considered structure. As a first application of the developed technique, 2D equivalent linear Aki–Larner computations are used to perform the seismic microzonation study of the upper Rhone valley, in the Visp area (Switzerland), a typical 2D alpine valley. These investigations made it possible to determine site specific spectra, associated with different zones, to be used instead of the code spectra that do not take into account the local 2D amplification.