Rainfall yield characteristics of electrical storm observed in the Spanish Basque Country area during the period 1992–1996

This paper is focused on the study of rainfall yield characteristics of electrical storms observed over the Northern Iberian Peninsula during 1992–1996. To this aim Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) method have been used. The SOM method is a group of artificial neural networks based on the topological properties of the human brain. Results clearly suggest that there exist three different meteorological patterns that are linked to the characteristics of electrical events found in the study area. In winter, most of the electrical events are formed under oceanic advection (NW air fluxes). On these cases, mean rainfall yield estimates reach values of 700 10⁴ m³ per cloud to ground lightning flash (CG flash). During summer most frequent electrical storms are associated to local instability shooting by surface heating with advection of humidity coming from the Iberian Peninsula. Under these meteorological situations, rain is scarcer if compared with oceanic events but lightning CG counts reach the maximum values found in the area (about 10 CG counts per 20 × 20 km² and day) giving this way the smallest rainfall yield with a mean value of 15 10⁴ m³ per CG flash. Iberian air fluxes associated with cold air in upper parts of the atmosphere represent the third meteorological pattern found. This pattern is most common in spring and autumn but is not unusual in the rest of the seasons. In those cases mean rainfall yield in the area is about 150 10⁴ m³ per CG flash. In all electrical episodes K instability index is greater than 15 °C but in the most lightning producing events, this index reaches in the area values greater than 24 °C. PCA results pointed out that there exists a relationship between rain and CG counts expressed by the first principal component computed from standardized data. However, we must notice that no event is solely linked to this axis, since a seasonal influence which decreases lightning production when rain increases is always present. Results found are of great interest for short term forecasting of flashfloods in mountainous areas like the Spanish Basque Country region.     

Large-scale distributed deformation controlled topography along the western Africa–Eurasia limit: Tectonic constraints

In the interior of the Iberian Peninsula, the main geomorphic features, mountain ranges and basins, seems to be arranged in several directions whose origin can be related to the N–S plate convergence which occurred along the Cantabro–Pyrenean border during the Eocene–Lower Miocene time span. The Iberian Variscan basement accommodated part of this plate convergence in three E–W trending crustal folds as well as in the reactivation of two left-lateral NNE–SSW strike-slip belts. The rest of the convergence was assumed through the inversion of the Iberian Mesozoic Rift to form the Iberian Chain. This inversion gave rise to a process of oblique crustal shortening involving the development of two right lateral NW–SE shear zones. Crustal folds, strike-slip corridors and one inverted rift compose a tectonic mechanism of pure shear in which the shortening is solved vertically by the development of mountain ranges and related sedimentary basins. This model can be expanded to NW Africa, up to the Atlasic System, where N–S plate convergence seems also to be accommodated in several basement uplifts, Anti-Atlas and Meseta, and through the inversion of two Mesozoic rifts, High and Middle Atlas. In this tectonic situation, the microcontinent Iberia used to be firmly attached to Africa during most part of the Tertiary, in such a way that N–S compressive stresses could be transmitted from the collision of the Pyrenean boundary. This tectonic scenario implies that most part of the Tertiary Eurasia–Africa convergence was not accommodated along the Iberia–Africa interface, but in the Pyrenean plateboundary. A broad zone of distributed deformation resulted from the transmission of compressive stresses from the collision at the Pyrenean border. This distributed, intraplate deformation, can be easily related to the topographic pattern of the Africa–Eurasia interface at the longitude of the Iberian Peninsula.Shortening in the Rif–Betics external zones – and their related topographic features – must be conversely related to more “local” driven mechanisms, the westward displacement of the “exotic” Alboran domain, other than N–S convergence. The remaining NNW–SSE to NW–SE, latest Miocene up to Present convergence is also being accommodated in this zone straddling Iberia and Morocco, at the same time as a new ill-defined plate boundary that is being developed between Europe and Africa.     

Geological and Fluid Inclusion Constraints on Gold Deposition Processes of the Dayingezhuang Gold Deposit,Jiaodong Peninsula,China

The Dayingezhuang gold deposit, hosted mainly by Late Jurassic granitoids on Jiaodong Peninsula in eastern China, contains an estimated 170 t of gold and is one of the largest deposits within the Zhaoping fracture zone. The orebodies consist of auriferous altered pyrite–sericite–quartz granites that show Jiaojia-type (i.e., disseminated and veinlet) mineralization. Mineralization and alteration are structurally controlled by the NE- to NNE-striking Linglong detachment fault. The mineralization can be divided into four stages: (K-feldspar)–pyrite–sericite–quartz, quartz–gold–pyrite, quartz–gold–polymetallic sulfide, and quartz–carbonate, with the majority of the gold being produced in the second and third stages. Based on a combination of petrography, microthermometry, and laser Raman spectroscopy, three types of fluid inclusion were identified in the vein minerals: NaCl–H2O (A-type), CO2–H2O–NaCl (AC-type), and pure CO2 (PC-type). Quartz crystals in veinlets that formed during the first stage contain mainly AC-type fluid inclusions, with rare PC-type inclusions. These fluid inclusions homogenize at temperatures of 251°C–403°C and have low salinities of 2.2–9.4 wt% NaCl equivalent. Quartz crystals that formed in the second and third stages contain all three types of fluid inclusions, with total homogenization temperatures of 216°C–339°C and salinities of 1.8–13.8 wt% NaCl equivalent for the second stage and homogenization temperatures of 195°C–321°C and salinities of 1.4–13.3 wt% NaCl equivalent for the third stage. In contrast, quartz crystals that formed in the fourth stage contains mainly A-type fluid inclusions, with minor occurrences of AC-type inclusions; these inclusions have homogenization temperatures of 106°C–287°C and salinities of 0.5–7.7 wt% NaCl equivalent. Gold in the ore-forming fluids may have changed from Au(HS)0 as the dominant species under acidic conditions and at relatively high temperatures and fO2 in the early stages, to Au(HS)2– under neutral-pH conditions at lower temperatures and fO2 in the later stages. The precipitation of gold and other metals is inferred to be caused by a combination of fluid immiscibility and water–rock interaction.     

雷州半岛玛珥湖区玄武岩的年代、地球化学特征及其意义

我国南部雷州半岛是亚洲季风影响的核心区,区域内田洋、青桐洋和九斗洋这3个干玛珥湖沉积序列可为揭示低纬地区亚洲季风的轨道尺度变化提供关键证据。查明这些玛珥湖的形成年代、基底玄武岩的地球化学组成及其风化产物特征,为进一步获得沉积序列的年代控制、揭示沉积物替代指标的古气候意义提供了基础。本研究对3个干玛珥湖基底的玄武岩进行了K-Ar测年、地球化学成分和玛珥湖周围风化剖面粘土矿物的测试分析,得出了以下结论:1)田洋玛珥湖湖盆的形成年代为0.73~0.87Ma,首次报道的青桐洋和九斗洋湖盆的形成时代分别为0.82 Ma和0.81~1.08 Ma,它们均属于早更新世晚期到中更新世早期的石峁岭期火山射气喷发形成的。2)田洋、青桐洋和九斗洋玛珥湖基底玄武岩均属于石英拉斑玄武岩。同一时期喷发的石英拉斑玄武岩广泛分布在玛珥湖的周围,这些玄武岩风化的产物以高岭石、三水铝石以及赤铁矿为主,在降水较为充沛的时期,物理或化学风化的产物随地表径流汇入湖盆,是玛珥湖沉积的主要来源。本研究为正在进行的低纬地区更新世轨道尺度季风降水重建提供了基础。     

辽东半岛复州湾剖面寒武系第二统光合作用生物膜建造的核形石

作为一种经常大于鲕粒的包覆颗粒类型,核形石以其不平滑的圈层被解释为微生物成因,区别于成因存在较大争议的鲕粒,而且常与鲕粒和其他类型的碳酸盐颗粒相互共生;作为一种在围绕着生物碎屑和非生物碎屑核心的序列式纹层化作用过程中形成的球形或假球型生物沉积构造,核形石还常常单独产出和分布,所以又被解释为微生物碳酸盐岩,或者被归为球状叠层石。在辽东半岛寒武系第二统碱厂组和馒头组之中,厘米级别大小的核形石密集发育在三级层序的顶部,成为一种时间特化的相。另外,以下重要特征将辽东半岛寒武系第二统的核形石特征化,包括:(1)与凝块和微凝块共生;(2)多为球状和椭球状;(3)由不均一的非纹层状致密泥晶和微亮晶构成;(4)核形石皮层以及核形石间凝块中发育特别的蓝细菌鞘钙化化石等。尽管穿越成岩作用过滤器去解释古代核形石复杂的形成机理存在着巨大的挑战,也尽管形成这些核形石的复杂生物膜钙化作用细节需要更加深入地研究才能得到更好地了解,但是,辽东半岛第二统碱厂组和馒头组核形石中直接的微生物化石证据,尤其是核形石内较为丰富的钙化蓝细菌鞘化石,使其成为一个了解光合作用生物膜建造核形石的典型实例。     

地表暖化影响下温度示踪地下水流速方法

为构建温度示踪方法测算地下水流速技术体系,并应用于区域地下水资源评价,基于最小二乘法和垂向一维非稳定流水-热运移方程数值解法,提出地表暖化情形下地下水流速计算方法,并对雷州半岛东北部地下水流速进行测算。结果表明:研究区域地下水补给速度为0.796m/a,入渗以西北部降水和运河渗漏为主;地下水排泄速度为0.269m/a,排泄入海主要发生在东海岛、南三岛和硵州岛附近。温度示踪解析区域地下水流动情况与地下水位分布情况基本一致,观测和计算地温数据具有较强相关性(R^2>0.50)和较低均方根误差(均值0.748),表明提出方法率定得到的地下水流速具有较强的可靠性。参数敏感性分析结果表明,地质体热扩散率和地表温度均对地温计算结果产生较明显的影响,参数的准确率定对利用地温计算地下水流速十分重要。     

Estimating groundwater recharge for a freshwater lens in an arid region: Formative and stability assessment

The formation of subsurface freshwater lenses on top of brackish groundwater is a fascinating hydrologic phenomenon that creates groundwater supplies of great potential value in arid regions. Information on the recharge quantity and mechanism of these lenses is both scarce and uncertain. This study examines the formation and macroscale stability of the Rawdatain freshwater lens in Kuwait, for which significant pre-development data are available. The Rawdatain is a large (150 million m³) subsurface freshwater lens overlying brackish groundwater compared to the other freshwater lenses in the Arabian Peninsula. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) density-dependent groundwater flow model is tested against the following data targets to estimate long-term diffuse and focused groundwater recharge: (i) groundwater head, (ii) total dissolved solids (TDS) groundwater concentration, (iii) volume and vertical thickness of stored groundwater of three different water quality TDS ranges (0–700, 700–1000 and 1000–2000 mg/L) and (iv) geometrical shape features of the lens along cross-sections. To better represent the spatial variation in TDS, six different recharge zones were assigned to allocate diffuse and focused recharge conditions. Twelve recharge rate scenarios, encompassing a wide range of feasible long-term average annual recharge values (200,000–5,000,000 m³/year), were tested against the multiple targets and compared with the groundwater age of the Rawdatain lens. Based on comparison with data targets, the long-term average annual recharge is estimated to be 500,000 m³/year. Scenarios of reduced recharge, which may occur due to changes in land-use or climate, demonstrate the extremely slow response of the lens, which is in agreement with the slow development and formation of the lens (>2,000 years). Within a 100-year time frame, a 50% reduction in annual recharge reduces the lens volumes by 21, 17 and 9% for the three water quality categories, respectively. This study demonstrates the stability of freshwater lenses in arid regions and also provides methodology for similar focused rainfall recharge freshwater lenses.     

Late Pleistocene climate of the northern Iberian Peninsula: New insights from palaeoglaciers at Fuentes Carrionas (Cantabrian Mountains)

New ¹⁰Be dates for glacial landforms in the Fuentes Carrionas area (Cantabrian Mountains, nothern Spain) are presented. Mapped and dated landforms in Fuentes Carrionas made possible a palaeoglacier reconstruction for four glacial stages. Results were compared to other nearby palaeoenvironmental proxies, so a final approximation on the mean annual temperature and annual precipitation that caused the four glacial advance stages is proposed. Glaciers reached their maximum extension at 36 ka, in a cold and dry environment. A second advance stage took place between 18.5 and 19.5 ka, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), when glaciers advanced in a wet environment, with positive rainfall anomalies. A third glacial advance was dated during the Oldest Dryas, in which climate shifted to extremely cold and dry conditions. Finally, a last stage has been identified and proposed to the Younger Dryas, in which precipitation anomalies are negligible. Our results confirm some of the previously made palaeoglacial and palaeoenvironmental inferences for the Iberian Peninsula, as well as provide valuable and accurate anomalies, which are useful for climate modelling.     

Interdecadal variation of precipitation days in August in the Korean Peninsula

The present study examines a climate regime shift in the time series of the number of rainy days during August in the Korean Peninsula. The statistical change-point analysis indicates that a significant shift occurred in the time series around 1998, providing a rationale to divide it into two parts: 1975–1997 for the shorter rainy-day period and 1998–2012 for the longer rainy-day period. To examine the cause of recent rapid increases in the number of days with precipitation in August in the Korean Peninsula, differences in the averages of large-scale environments between the 1998–2012 period and the 1975–1997 period were analyzed.The differences in stream flows showed that anomalous cyclones were reinforced in the East Asian continent while anomalous anticyclones were reinforced in the western North Pacific at all layers of the troposphere. The anomalous anticyclones reinforced in the western North Pacific were associated with the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) developed a little more toward the Korean Peninsula recently. Consequently, the Korean Peninsula has been affected by anomalous south westerlies that supplied warm and humid airs from low tropical regions to the Korean Peninsula. The vertical thermal instability (warm anomaly at lower-level and cold anomaly at middle and upper-level) developed near the Korean Peninsula. In addition, upper tropospheric jets were reinforced further recently near the Korean Peninsula to provide good environments for development of upward flows. The frequency of TCs that affect the Korean Peninsula in August also increased rapidly since 1998.     

雷州半岛湛江组红树孢粉组合的发现及其意义

雷州半岛的第四纪沉积,为早更新世的湛江组、中更新世的北海组、晚更新世的湖光岩组,该区以湛江组沉积厚度最大且典型.