长江口及其邻近海域叶绿素a分布特征及其与低氧区形成的关系

于2013年3月和8月研究了长江口及其邻近海域叶绿素a的分布特征,并对环境因子和长江冲淡水对浮游植物生物量分布的影响进行了探讨。结果表明,叶绿素a浓度在丰水期较高,平均值为5.18μg/L,最高值达32.05μg/L,现场海水出现变色现象;与同期历史资料对比分析,发现该海域叶绿素a浓度呈现出波动增长趋势。丰水期与枯水期叶绿素a的相对高值区均位于冲淡水的中部,122.5°E~123°E之间;丰水期在调查海域出现溶解氧低值区与低氧区,最低值仅为0.64 mg/L;发现低氧区出现位置北移、面积扩大和溶解氧最低值下降的趋势。底层溶解氧低值区分布与表层叶绿素高值区大致吻合,表明低氧现象与表层浮游植物的生长和现存量密切相关,在跃层存在的水体中表层浮游植物的大量繁殖易造成底层低氧区的出现。     

高温刺激导致虾夷扇贝死亡因素的探究

本文探究了高温刺激导致一龄和二龄虾夷扇贝死亡的原因。在高温刺激以及恢复过程中,两种贝龄的扇贝存活率存在显著差异(P0.05),同时两者的谷丙转氨酶(glutamic-pyruvic transaminase,GPT)活性、p53蛋白含量、总抗氧化能力(total antioxidant capacity,TAOC)以及HSP70(heat shock protein 70)含量在高温刺激以及恢复过程中的变化均存在显著差异。而且这些酶的活性(TAOC活性除外)以及蛋白质含量(p53以及HSP70)均受到贝龄、处理时间以及两者综合作用的显著影响。经过Cox模型分析可知,虾夷扇贝受到高温刺激后的存活受到贝龄、GPT活性、TAOC活性、p53含量以及HSP70含量的显著影响。此外,高温刺激会影响扇贝的心跳频率以及心输出量,从而影响心脏对机体的供氧供血能力,影响扇贝对高温的适应能力。     

基于SMOS卫星数据的海表面盐度模型

海表面盐度是研究海洋对全球气候影响以及大洋环流的重要参量之一,而卫星遥感技术是获取海表面盐度数据的最有效方法.目前,L波段的SMOS和Aquarius/SAC-D遥感卫星正在用于探测海表面盐度,并根据卫星观测数据和物理机制反演出海表面盐度的产品.但在某些近陆地区域,由于淡水流入及陆地射频(RFI)等因素影响,卫星反演盐度的产品精度较低.文中利用“东方红2号”科学考察船的实测数据、SMOS卫星数据,首次针对中国南海海域提出了用贝叶斯网络模型计算海表面盐度,并用验证数据集(实测Argo盐度)对模型进行适应性评估.经过计算,模型误差和验证误差分别为0.47 psu和0.45 psu,而相应的SMOS Level 2产品的精度分别为1.90 psu和1.82 psu.此模型为海表面盐度的计算提供了一个新方法.     

Copper Speciation in a Collection of Geochemical Reference Materials Using Sequential Extraction and Evaluation of the Validity Using XANES Spectroscopy

Copper speciation in a collection of Japanese geochemical reference materials (JSO‐1, JLk‐1, JSd‐1, ‐2, ‐3 and ‐4, JMs‐1 and JMs‐2) was achieved by sequential extraction and characterised using X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure spectroscopy. In the first step of the extraction, referred to as the acid fraction, between 1% and 20% total Cu within the reference materials was extracted. Such a result is typically accounted for by absorption of Cu onto clay minerals. However, the presence of Cu sulfate (an oxidation product of chalcopyrite) was observed in some of the stream sediments affected by mining activity (JSd‐2 and JSd‐3) instead. Copper was extracted in the reducible fraction (targeting Fe hydroxide and Mn oxide) (2–49% total Cu). Between 2% and 51% Cu was extracted in the oxidised fraction (targeting sulfides and organic matter). X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure spectroscopy clarified that the reducible fraction consisted of Cu bound to Fe hydroxide, whereas the oxidised fraction was a mixture of Cu bound to humic acid (HA) and Cu sulfide. In the oxidisable fraction, chalcopyrite was the predominant species identified in JSd‐2, and Cu bound to HA was the major species identified in JSO‐1 (a soil sample).     

An Alternative Protocol for Single Zircon Dissolution with Application to (U‐Th‐Sm)/He Thermochronometry

Zircon (U‐Th‐Sm)/He (ZHe) thermochronometry is a powerful tool that has been widely used in geology to constrain the exhumation histories of orogens. In this study, we present an alternative protocol for dissolving zircon grains for determination of parent nuclides. This new alkali fusion procedure developed at the SARM (Service d'Analyse des Roches et des Minéraux) in Nancy, France, is fast (requiring only 2 d, including cleaning steps) and offers several advantages over conventional methods by avoiding: (i) use of HF pressure dissolution and (ii) complete removing of grains from the metal microvials. After dissolution, U, Th and Sm were measured using an ICP‐MS. We tested the new procedure on two different ZHe reference materials, the Fish Canyon Tuff and Buluk Tuff; these provided precision values for ZHe‐age estimations of 9 and 6% (1s), respectively. In addition, using this method, zircons from the Buluk Tuff are shown to be chemically more homogenous and more suitable for assessing the uncertainty of the entire integrated procedure.     

Community‐Derived Standards for LA‐ICP‐MS U‐(Th‐)Pb Geochronology – Uncertainty Propagation,Age Interpretation and Data Reporting

The LA‐ICP‐MS U‐(Th‐)Pb geochronology international community has defined new standards for the determination of U‐(Th‐)Pb ages. A new workflow defines the appropriate propagation of uncertainties for these data, identifying random and systematic components. Only data with uncertainties relating to random error should be used in weighted mean calculations of population ages; uncertainty components for systematic errors are propagated after this stage, preventing their erroneous reduction. Following this improved uncertainty propagation protocol, data can be compared at different uncertainty levels to better resolve age differences. New reference values for commonly used zircon, monazite and titanite reference materials are defined (based on ID‐TIMS) after removing corrections for common lead and the effects of excess ²³⁰Th. These values more accurately reflect the material sampled during the determination of calibration factors by LA‐ICP‐MS analysis. Recommendations are made to graphically represent data only with uncertainty ellipses at 2s and to submit or cite validation data with sample data when submitting data for publication. New data‐reporting standards are defined to help improve the peer‐review process. With these improvements, LA‐ICP‐MS U‐(Th‐)Pb data can be considered more robust, accurate, better documented and quantified, directly contributing to their improved scientific interpretation.     

A new assessment model for evacuation vulnerability in urban areas

In the high-speed urbanization process of China, the urban population has been increasing significantly, leading to a high-density aggregation of population. However, the sharp increase in population density has not produced commensurate improvements in the road networks. On the contrary, the population increase induced a serious evacuation vulnerability, which cities experience during various hazards and catastrophic events. Therefore, research on evacuation vulnerability is important to urban planning. To assess the evacuation vulnerability, the optimal and worst scenarios should be considered because all possible evacuation plans occur between these extremes. However, most previous evacuation vulnerability studies are based on the worst-case scenario, only providing an upper bound of a potential evacuation assessment. To provide a more comprehensive theoretical basis for decision-makers to understand the consequences caused by all possible evacuations, this paper proposes an optimal evacuation vulnerability assessment model that provides the lower bound on potential evacuation difficulties. The model is solved by a stepwise spreading algorithm based on Graph Theory. Subsequently, to evaluate the effectiveness of the model, the study adopts the model to assess the evacuation capability of different road network topologies. A comparison with previous research was performed. The model was demonstrated in an application to the South Luogu Alley of Beijing, China. The significance of this paper is that the combination of our model with previous research may provide a more complete theoretical basis for an evacuation vulnerability assessment.     

Optimal routing for waste collection: a case study in Singapore

ABSTRACT

To collect and dispose growing amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW) changed to be a hot topic along with the rapid urbanization in past decades. Cities are more and more dependent on the incineration instead of landfilling due to the cost-efficiency and environmental concerns. Considering the limited number of incineration plants and complicated situation of transportation in both spatial and temporal dimensions in different cities, the optimal routing for waste collection turns to be meaningful research topic. In this research, the ant colony optimization (ACO)-based multi-objective routing model coupled with min-max model and Dijkstra’s algorithm is proposed to address the question of which route to take from these waste-generating points to the target incineration plant(s) considering travel time, accident probability (black spots), and population exposure, so as to support the routing decision-making. The model is successfully implemented in Singapore and the effectiveness of the model has also been justified. Besides, few limitations of this research have also been discussed, some of which would also be the future directions of our research, especially the design and integration of a web-based routing decision-making support system.     

Applying disk-based discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) to simulate Donghekou landslide triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake

In this paper, for the first time, disk-based discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) is applied to simulate a real landslide triggered by an earthquake. For this purpose, the kinematic behaviour of the Donghekou landslide triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake is simulated and the results obtained using disk-based DDA are compared with actual data. The comparisons show that there is a good agreement between the results obtained using disk-based DDA and observed data. The simulation results provided an understanding of the failure behaviour and temporal evolution of the landslide. This study shows that disk-based DDA is a practical numerical tool that can be used to simulate the post-failure behaviour of landslides triggered by an earthquake.     

Leachate studies on fly ash-stabilised expansive clay liners

This paper presents leachate studies on fly ash-stabilised expansive clay liners. Fly ash in different contents (0%, 10%, 20% and 30%) by dry weight of the expansive clay was added to the clay, and the ash-clay blend was compacted as a liner overlying a compacted lateritic clay layer. Deionised water (DIW) and calcium chloride (CaCl₂) solutions of varying concentration (5 mM, 10 mM, 20 mM, 50 mM, 100 mM and 500 mM) were used as the permeating fluids in the leachate studies. Chemical analysis of the leachate was performed. For a given CaCl₂ concentration, the concentrations of both calcium ion and chloride ion in the leachate decreased up to a fly ash content of 20%, and thereafter they increased when the fly ash content was increased to 30%. Further, for a given fly ash content, concentrations of calcium ion and chloride ion increased with increasing CaCl₂ concentration.