Chemical spots and oscillatory diffusion modes in magnetic stars

The stars of the middle main sequence often have spot‐like chemical structures at their surfaces. We consider diffusion caused by electric currents and argue that such current‐driven diffusion can form chemical inhomogeneities in a plasma. The considered mechanism can contribute to a formation of element spots in Hg‐Mn and Ap‐stars. Due to the Hall effect, diffusion in the presence of electric currents can be accompanied by the propagation of a particular type of magnetohydrodynamic modes in which only the impurity number density oscillates. Such modes exist if the magnetic pressure is much greater than the gas pressure and can be the reason for variations of the abundance peculiarities in stars. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Geochemistry of rare-earth elements in thermal waters of Uzon-Geyzernaya hydrothermal system (Kamchatka)

Precisional analyses of the abundances of La, Ce, and major elements in thermal waters and rocks of the Uzon-Geyzernaya volcanotectonic depression, supplemented by published data on a number of modern high-temperature hydrothermal systems of Kamchatka and two other areas of the world, allowed defining genetically important patterns of rare-earth elements (REE) distribution. The La and Ce abundances positively correlate with silica contents both in fresh igneous rocks of the study areas and in the products formed by hydrothermal processes.All studied hydrothermal clays are enriched in La and Ce. The general enrichment trend is similar to the pattern of positive correlation between the La and Ce abundances. Geothermal waters display a strong relationship between REE enrichment and pH. Enhanced REE enrichment trend is observed in thermal waters with abundant SO₄^2 ? and K. The REE versus Cl and B diagrams show two individual fields reflecting the level of acidity-alkalinity of thermal waters. These data demonstrate that La and Ce concentrations in the products of modern hydrothermal systems (in fluids and secondary mineral phases) are governed by wallrock composition, anionic water composition, and pH/Eh-dependent adsorption processes.     

Rock-soil slope stability analysis by two-phase random media and finite elements

To investigate the strong random nature of the geometric interfaces between soil and rock, a rock-soil slope is considered as a two-phase random medium. A nonlinear translation of a Gaussian field is utilized to simulate the two-phase random media, such that the soil(or rock) volume fraction and the inclination of the soil layer can be examined. The finite element method with random media incorporated as the material properties is used to determine the factor of safety of the rock-soil slope. Monte-Carlo simulations are used to estimate the statistical characteristics of the factor of safety. The failure mode of the rock-soil slope is examined by observing the maximum principal plastic strain at incipient slope failure. It is found that the critical surface of a rock-soil slope is fairly irregular, and it significantly differs from that of a pure soil slope. The factor of safety is sensitive to the soil volume faction, but it is predictable. The average factor of safety could be well predicted by the weighted harmonic average between the strength of soil and rock; the prediction model is practical and simple. Parametric studies on the inclination of the soil layer demonstrate that the most instable scenario occurs when the slope angle is consistent with the inclination of the soil layer.     

Spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral images using wavelet transform and hidden Markov random fields

This paper proposes a spectral–spatial method for classification of hyperspectral images. The proposed method, called SSC, consists of two steps. In the first step, to overcome the computation complexity, a wavelet-based classifier is designed. In the second step, to enhance the classification accuracy, a novel hidden Markov random field called NHMRF technique in spatial domain is suggested. In NHMRF, we convert two-dimensional energies of traditional hidden Markov random field to three-dimensional energies and then we apply edge preserving regularization terms on each two-dimensional energy of this cube. The class label of each test pixel is fixed based on minimum three-dimensional energy achieved by edge preserving regularization terms. Experimental results show that the classification accuracy of the proposed approach based on three-dimensional energies and edge preserving regularization terms is effectively improved in comparison with the state-of-the-art methods.     

Boron geochemistry from some typical Tibetan hydrothermal systems: Origin and isotopic fractionation

The Tibetan plateau is characterized by intense hydrothermal activity and abnormal enrichment of trace elements in geothermal waters. Hydrochemistry and B isotope samples from geothermal waters in Tibet were systematically measured to describe the fractionation mechanisms and provide constraints on potential B reservoirs. B concentrations range from 0.35 to 171.90 mg/L, and isotopic values vary between −16.57 ‰ and +0.52 ‰. Geothermal fields along the Indus-Yarlung Zangbo suture zone and N–S rifts are observed with high B concentrations and temperatures. The similar hydrochemical compositions of high-B geothermal waters with magmatic fluid and consistent modeling of B isotopic compositions with present δ¹¹B values imply that the B in high-B geothermal waters is mainly contributed by magmatic sources, probably through magma degassing. In contrast, geothermal fields in other regions of the Lhasa block have relatively low B concentrations and temperatures. After considering the small fractionation factor and representative indicators of Na/Ca, Cl/HCO₃, Na + K and Si, the conformity between modeling results and the isotopic compositions of host rocks suggests that the B in low-temperature geothermal fields is mainly sourced from host rocks. According to simulated results, the B in some shallow geothermal waters not only originated from mixing of cold groundwater with deep thermal waters, but it was also contributed by equilibration with marine sedimentary rocks with an estimated proportion of 10%. It was anticipated that this study would provide useful insight into the sources and fractionation of B as well as further understanding of the relationships between B-rich salt lakes and geothermal activities in the Tibetan plateau.     

Global, 30-m resolution continuous fields of tree cover: Landsat-based rescaling of MODIS vegetation continuous fields with lidar-based estimates of error

Abstract

We developed a global, 30-m resolution dataset of percent tree cover by rescaling the 250-m MOderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) Tree Cover layer using circa- 2000 and 2005 Landsat images, incorporating the MODIS Cropland Layer to improve accuracy in agricultural areas. Resulting Landsat-based estimates maintained consistency with the MODIS VCF in both epochs (RMSE =8.6% in 2000 and 11.9% in 2005), but showed improved accuracy in agricultural areas and increased discrimination of small forest patches. Against lidar measurements, the Landsat-based estimates exhibited accuracy slightly less than that of the MODIS VCF (RMSE=16.8% for MODIS-based vs. 17.4% for Landsat-based estimates), but RMSE of Landsat estimates was 3.3 percentage points lower than that of the MODIS data in an agricultural region. The Landsat data retained the saturation artifact of the MODIS VCF at greater than or equal to 80% tree cover but showed greater potential for removal of errors through calibration to lidar, with post-calibration RMSE of 9.4% compared to 13.5% in MODIS estimates. Provided for free download at the Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) website (www.landcover.org), the 30-m resolution GLCF tree cover dataset is the highest-resolution multi-temporal depiction of Earth's tree cover available to the Earth science community.     

Prediction of ultimate axial load-carrying capacity of piles using a support vector machine based on CPT data

The support vector machine (SVM) is a relatively new artificial intelligence technique which is increasingly being applied to geotechnical problems and is yielding encouraging results. In this paper SVM models are developed for predicting the ultimate axial load-carrying capacity of piles based on cone penetration test (CPT) data. A data set of 108 samples is used to develop the SVM models. These data were obtained from the literature containing pile load tests and each sample contains information regarding pile geometry, full-scale static pile load tests and CPT results. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to examine the relative significance of each input variable with respect to ultimate strength prediction. Finally, a statistical analysis is conducted to make comparisons between predictions obtained from the SVM models and three traditional CPT-based methods for determining pile capacity. The comparison confirms that the SVM models developed in this paper outperform the traditional methods.     

中国大陆新生代典型火山区温室气体释放的规模及其成因

火山活动能够将地球深部的碳输送到大气圈,是地质碳排放和深部碳循环的重要形式.火山作用不仅在喷发期能够释放大量温室气体,而且在休眠期也能释放巨量的温室气体.在全球变暖的背景下,定量化地研究火山活动对大气圈温室气体含量增加的贡献具有至关重要的意义.本文利用密闭气室法等该领域国际先进的测试技术,测量并计算了长白山、腾冲、五大连池及青藏高原南部的羊八井等典型火山区的温室气体释放规模.结果显示,我国大陆新生代典型火山区向大气圈输送的温室气体总通量约为8.13×10⁶t·a^-1,接近10⁷t·a^-1级别,相当于全球火山活动导致的温室气体(主要为CO₂)释放总量的6%左右.太平洋构造域火山区的温室气体在释放通量与总量方面均低于特提斯构造域,并且太平洋构造域火山气体的地壳混染程度较低,显示出大洋俯冲带与大陆俯冲带火山区温室气体释放的成因差异.     

地理学参与健康中国建设的重点领域与行动建议

健康与环境关系是最基本的人地关系,“健康中国”建设需要地理学参与。地理学能为健康中国建设提供基于发展战略、过程评价和政策导向的路径指引,基于人地关系和谐和空间系统优化的理论指导,基于健康生活引导、健康服务优化、健康环境营造、健康保障决策、健康产业布局的实践指南。地理学参与健康中国建设,可在居民健康素养、健康生活方式与时空行为、区域人群心理健康,重点人群健康服务、重大疾病监测防控、重点区域健康促进,健康大数据与信息系统、医疗卫生资源优化配置、健康服务可达性与公平性,气候变化的健康应对、健康生态环境建设、环境健康风险治理、健康城市（环境）建设、健康乡村（环境）建设、健康文化景观建设,道地药材开发与中医药产业布局、康养旅游与健身休闲产业布局、养老服务与妇婴产业布局等18个领域发挥独特优势。地理学参与健康中国建设还存在地理科学的健康基础薄弱、地理学者的参与意识不强、地理组织的政策支持不够等问题,需要强化问题导向和目标导向的健康地理学的理论、实证和政策研究,强化地理应用技术与地理科学思维深度融合的健康促进研究,强化地理组织对地理学者参与健康中国建设的系统引领与政策支持。