Analysis of the 2003 Varunawat Landslide,Uttarkashi, India using Earth Observation data

Mass movements such as landslides in mountainous terrains are natural degradation processes and one of the most important landscape-building factors. Varunawat Parbat overlooking Uttarkashi town witnessed a series of landslides on 23 September 2003 and the debris slides and rock falls continued for 2 weeks. This landslide complex was triggered due to the incessant rainfall prior to the event, and its occurrence led to the blockage of the pilgrim route to Gangotri (source of the Ganges river) and evacuation of thousands of people to safer places. Though there was no loss of lives due to timely evacuation, heavy losses to the property were reported. High-resolution stereoscopic earth observation data were acquired after the incidence to study the landslide in detail with emphasis on the cause of the landslide and mode of failure. Areas along the road and below the Varunawat foothill region are mapped for landslide risk. It was found that the foothill region of the Varunawat Parbat was highly disturbed by man-made activities and houses are dangerously located below steep slopes. The potential zones for landslides along with the existing active and old landslides are mapped. These areas are critical and their treatment with priority is required in order to minimise further landslide occurrences.     

气候变化对塔里木河来自天山的地表径流影响

塔里木河水资源主要来自天山南坡两条源流,选择西段阿克苏河和中段开都河-孔雀河作为研究区.1956-2003年研究河源山区气温呈持续升温且降水波动增加的趋势,其中1995-2003年升温强劲,升温速率高出48 a期间平均的3倍以上;降水自1986年后持续增加,20世纪90年代较80年代增幅达18%,并显示出河源山区湿岛向塔里木盆地扩展.因高山缺少气象观测,出山径流过程变化可以综合反映中高山带的气候变化.塔里木河来自天山的地表径流在1986-2003年间持续增长,以冰川融水补给为主的库玛拉克河,1994年以来年径流量增加已在前期平均值基础上提升了一个台阶;开都河以降水径流补给为主,1986-2002年出现了观测记录以来的丰水期,并使1986年后博斯腾湖水位快速上升,恢复到1958年记录的最高水位以上.两河年径流变化趋势基本相似,但也显示有西、中段的气候变化局部差异,出现丰枯水期的不一致;然而,在近16 a升温过程中,年径流增长幅度和快慢相近.     

三峡库区生基包滑坡监测及成果分析

生基包滑坡监测属于三峡库区奉节县三期地质灾害监测预警项目之一,该滑坡位于长江左岸,临近人口稠密的安坪乡集镇,地理位置重要。三峡水库175 m蓄水后,其变形破坏特征有何表现？对航道安全运营有无潜在威胁？是否会对滑坡体上的重要建筑及村民生产生活构成危害？针对这些问题,首先分析了滑坡的工程地质特征及主要的影响因素;其次,确立以4种监测手段为主、人工巡查为辅的监测方案;通过对大地变形GPS、深部位移、滑坡推力等几种监测方法的运用及对其成果进行分析研究,以实例说明其在滑坡监测中的应用;再次,结合宏观人工巡查进行对照分析,以充分说明大地变形、深部位移和滑坡推力监测在实际运用中的可行性;最后,根据监测结论提出对生基包滑坡防治的建议。     

Predictability of Interannual Variability in the Kuroshio Transport South of Japan Based on Wind Stress Data over the North Pacific

It is expected that a roughly two-year forecast of the Kuroshio transport variation can be made from a past record of wind stress data over the ocean, since it takes nearly ten years for the first-mode baroclinic Rossby wave to traverse the entire basin in the midlatitude North Pacific (∼30°N). We therefore investigated the predictability using an ocean general circulation model driven by the wind stress data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis. Referring to a hindcast experiment as the control run, we carried out fifteen forecast experiments, the initial conditions of which are taken from the hindcast experiment at intervals of two years during the period from the end of 1969 to the end of 1997. Each of the forecast experiments is driven only by wind stress in the year preceding each experiment. The forecasted Kuroshio transport anomaly south of Japan agrees better with the hindcasted one during the first two years of the forecast in most cases. In some cases, however, significant disagreements occur, most of which are likely due to larger unpredictable variations caused by wind stress anomalies near Japan. At the end of forecast year 2, the anomaly correlation coefficient is about 0.7, and rms of the forecast error is smaller than rms of the hindcasted anomaly. These results indicate that the prediction of the interannual variability in the Kuroshio transport could be made two years in advance at a statistically significant level. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

E1 Nio phenomenon in simple ocean data assimilation data

1 IntroductionIt is well known that interaction between the trop-ical ocean and atmosphere produces the largest inter-annual climate signal, El Nino-Southern Oscillation(ENSO). In past decades many efforts have been madein understanding and predicting ENSO: such as the hy-pothesis of Bjerknes (1969) that ENSO arises as aself-sustained cycle in which SSTA in the Pacific O-cean causes the trade winds to strengthen or slackenand that this in turn drives the ocean circulation changesthat …     

The Agulhas Ridge, South Atlantic: The Peculiar Structure of a Fracture Zone

The Agulhas Ridge is a prominent topographic feature that parallels the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone (AFFZ). Seismic reflection and wide angle/refraction data have led to the classification of this feature as a transverse ridge. Changes in spreading rate and direction associated with ridge jumps, combined with asymmetric spreading within the Agulhas Basin, modified the stress field across the fracture zone. Moreover, passing the Agulhas Ridge’s location between 80 and 69 Ma, the Bouvet and Shona Hotspots may have supplied excess material to this part of the AFFZ thus altering the ridge’s structure. The low crustal velocities and overthickened crust of the northern Agulhas Ridge segment indicate a possible continental affinity that suggests it may be formed by a small continental sliver, which was severed off the Maurice Ewing Bank during the opening of the South Atlantic. In early Oligocene times the Agulhas Ridge was tectono-magmatically reactivated, as documented by the presence of basement highs disturbing and disrupting the sedimentary column in the Cape Basin. We consider the Discovery Hotspot, which distributes plume material southwards across the AAFZ, as a source for the magmatic material.     

新型波浪采集系统平台设计

主要介绍了新型波浪采集系统的设计思想与主要参数，采集、存储、运算和电源控制部分的结构与组成，以及各部分的特点和关键技术。     

多波束数据的海底数字地形模型构建

提出大批量多格式原始多波束数据的DTM构建方法，以满足大区域、大比例尺海底地形制图的需要。在多种格式原始多波束数据接口和系统内部标准数据结构的基础上，通过对数据文件、数据种类和数据运算量的有效组织管理，实施边读入、边权重配赋的网格插值，分析了高斯、指数和距离平方反比权重函数的适用性，及最小值、最大值和平均值的实用性。在权重配赋网格插值基础上，提出分形fBM和张力样条配合使用的方程式插值方法，保证DTM数据的有效外延和地形分辨。整套算法效率高，并能有效保证DTM的精度，对存储在外部介质的数据遍历一次即可完成网格插值。     

黄河三角洲造陆速率对夏季风强度变化和人类活动的响应

以夏季风强度指数和年均气温作为反映气候变化的指数,以人类净引水量和流域水土保持面积作为反映人类活动变化的指标,并以黄河流域为例,研究了三角洲造陆对气候变化和人类活动的响应.研究表明,夏季风强度指数的变化可分为三个阶段:(1)在1951~1963年夏季风强度指数呈持续增强的变化趋势;(2)在1963~1965年夏季风强度指数呈突变式减弱;(3)在1966~2000年夏季风强度指数保持在较低的水平上,且呈缓慢减弱的趋势.年降水量变化与夏季风强度指数有同步关系.从1950到1970年的年均温度在波动中略呈降低趋势,然而从1970年开始年均温度在波动中具有持续上升的趋势.气候变化会导致入海泥沙通量的变化,并可能进一步导致三角洲造陆速率的变化.黄河三角洲造陆速率、入海泥沙通量在1952~1964年均呈增大的趋势,1964年后则呈减小的趋势,在总体上与夏季风强度指数的变化趋势相同.除了气候变化以外,流域水土保持和引水对三角洲造陆也有影响.多元回归分析表明,三角洲造陆速率随夏季风强度指数的减弱而减小,随年气温的升高而减小,随梯田林草面积的增加而减小,随年净引水量的增加而减小,同时还表明,夏季风强度指数、年均气温、水土保持措施面积和人类净引水量对三角洲造陆速率变化的贡献率分别为34.94%,3.80%,53.82%和7.44%.表示气候变化的两个变量的贡献率之和为38.7%,说明气候变化对黄河三角洲造陆过程的影响是不容忽视的.     

Geophysical Evidence of a Relict Oceanic Crust in the Southwestern Scotia Sea

The southwestern part of the Scotia Sea, at the corner of the Shackleton Fracture Zone with the South Scotia Ridge has been investigated, combining marine magnetic profiles, multichannel seismic reflection data, and satellite-derived gravity anomaly data. From the integrated analysis of data, we identified the presence of the oldest part of the crust in this sector, which tentative age is older than anomaly C10 (28.7 Ma). The area is surrounded by structural features clearly imaged by seismic data, which correspond to gravity lows in the satellite-derived map, and presents a rhomboid-shaped geometry. Along its southern boundary, structural features related to convergence and possible incipient subduction beneath the continental South Scotia Ridge have been evidenced from the seismic profile. We interpret this area, now located at the edge of the south-western Scotia Sea, as a relict of ocean-like crust formed during an earlier, possibly diffuse and disorganized episode of spreading at the first onset of the Drake Passage opening. The successive episode of organized seafloor spreading responsible for the opening of the Drake Passage that definitively separated southern South America from the Antarctic Peninsula, instigated ridge-push forces that can account for the subduction-related structures found along the western part of the South Scotia Ridge. This seafloor accretion phase occurred from 27 to about 10 Ma, when spreading stopped in the western Scotia Sea Ridge, as resulted from the identification of the marine magnetic anomalies.