Conservation laws of wave action and potential enstrophy for rossby waves in a stratified atmosphere

The purpose of this article is to discuss the evolution of wave energy, enstrophy and action for atmospheric Rossby waves in a variable mean flow. The presentation is theoretical, but does not represent original research; rather, it is pedagogic in nature. The work of a number of people has been drawn together into a unified account, with much of the algebra implicit in previous work made explicit here. The central results are that wave energy is conserved only when there are no spatial variations in the mean flow, and wave action is conserved even in the presence of such variations as long as they are not in the longitudinal direction. Finally, wave enstrophy is conserved in the presence of arbitrary (slow) mean flow variations.     

Effect of agricultural land use on the chemistry of groundwater from basaltic aquifers, Jeju Island, South Korea

Geochemical processes were identified as controlling factors of groundwater chemistry, including chemical weathering, salinization from seawater and dry sea-salt deposition, nitrate contamination, and rainfall recharge. These geochemical processes were identified using principal component analysis of major element chemistry of groundwater from basaltic aquifers in Jeju Island, South Korea, a volcanic island with intense agricultural activities. The contribution of the geochemical processes to groundwater chemistry was quantified by a simple mass-balance approach. The geochemical effects due to seawater were considered based on Cl contributions, whereas the effects due to natural chemical weathering were based on alkalinity. Nitrogenous fertilizers, and especially the associated nitrification processes, appear to significantly affect groundwater chemistry. A strong correlation was observed between Na, Mg, Ca, SO₄ and Cl, and nitrate concentrations in groundwater. Correspondingly, the total major cations, Cl, and SO₄ in groundwater were assessed to estimate relative effect of N-fertilizer use on groundwater chemistry. Cl originates more from nitrate sources than from seawater, whereas SO₄ originates mostly from rainwater. N-fertilizer use has shown the greatest effect on groundwater chemistry, particularly when nitrate concentrations exceed 6–7 mg/L NO₃–N. Nitrate contamination significantly affects groundwater quality and 18% of groundwater samples have contamination-dominated chemistry.     

Recent Geochemical Variation of the Hot-Spring Gases from the Tianchi Volcano, Changbai Mountains, Northeast China

Recent fluid monitoring work shows that the contents of mantle-derived CO_2,He and CH_4 increased anomalously in 2002 and 2003. The 3He/4He ratio of the deep-fault-type Jinjiang hot springs increased highly anomalously in 2003, and then decreased in 2004. The 3He/4He ratio from the thermal-reservoir-type Changbaijulong hot springs increased slowly in 2003, and the increase continued in 2004. The mantle-derived He content of the He released from the Changbaijulong springs increased obviously in 2004. The anomaly of the released gases and the isotopic He was consistent with the trends of seismic activities in the Tianchi volcanic area between 2002 and 2004. The abnormal release of the Jinjiang hot springs apparently decreased after the seismic activities ceased in the second half of 2004, while the abnormal release from the Changbaijulong increased significantly after these seismic activities. It shows that the abnormal release of magmas-derived gases from the thermal-reservoir-type springs lags behind that of the deep-fault-type springs. These characteristics may be of great significance for identifying deep magmatic activity and predicting volcanic earthquakes in the future.     

Determining magma flow in sills,dykes and laccoliths and their implications for sill emplacement mechanisms

Three-dimensional seismic data from the Faeroe-Shetland Basin provides detailed information on the relationships between sills, dykes, laccoliths and contemporaneous volcanic activity. The data shows that sills are predominantly concave upwards, being complete or partial versions of radially or bilaterally symmetrical forms that possess flat inner saucers connected to a flat outer rim by a steeply inclined sheet. Such morphologies are only partially modified by pre-existing faults. Sills can be sourced from dykes or the steep climbing portions of deeper sills. Both sills and dykes can provide magma to overlying volcanic fissures and sills can be shown to feed shallow laccoliths. Magma flow patterns, as revealed by opacity rendering, suggest that sills propagate upwards and outwards away from the magma feeder. As an individual sill can consist of several leaves emplaced at different stratigraphic levels, and as a sill or dyke can provide magma to volcanic fissures, other sills and laccoliths, the data suggests that neutral buoyancy concepts may not provide a complete explanation for the mechanism and level of sill emplacement. Instead, the data suggests that the presence of lithological contrasts, particularly ductile horizons such as overpressured shales may permit sill formation at any level below the neutrally buoyant level. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Ken Thomson–deceased, April 2007     

Wind erosion of blanket peat during a short period of surface desiccation (North Pennines,Northern England)

Strong winds are a characteristic feature of UK upland areas. Despite this, understanding of aeolian processes in upland environments of the UK is limited. This paper presents direct measurements and observations of blanket peat erosion by wind action during a two week period of desiccation in the North Pennines, Northern England. A circular configuration of mass flux sediment samplers was used to collect peat eroded by wind action from 16 cardinal compass directions. Meteorological conditions (wind speed, wind direction, precipitation and temperature) were recorded by an automatic weather station set up adjacent to the site. Surface desiccation led to peat crust erosion and dust deflation. During short (≤1 hour) periods of precipitation, wind‐driven rainfall also caused erosion. Typically, dust flux rates were up to two orders of magnitude lower than recorded during periods of sustained wet weather. Measurements demonstrate the hitherto unreported rapid switch in process regime between wind‐driven rainfall and dry blow deflation in blanket peat environments. Dry blow processes of blanket peat erosion may become more important in UK upland areas if climate change promotes more frequent surface desiccation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

浅述次生孔隙的成因

生油岩生成的油气，必须运移到储集层中贮存起来，这样油气才可成藏，而岩层的孔隙度是其储集性好坏的重要标志，次生孔隙在此更是有极重要的意义(因为随着岩层的埋深，成岩作用不断在进行，原生孔隙将减少，次生孔隙将在储油方面扮演重要角色)，因此，笔者着重论述次生孔隙的成因及其相关问题。     

近50年火山喷发和太阳活动对我国气候影响的研究

利用特征向量分析与时序叠加分析和谱分析相结合的方法，分析了近50a来我国地面气温和降水场中火山喷发和太阳活动的气候信号，强烈的火山喷发导致全国大部分地区降温，喷发1a多以后降温最明显，并能持续约半年。除这个主信号以外，青藏高原、东南沿海和东北地区都可能出现较为复杂的温度变化，温度变化与太阳活动之间的联系更多地反映在二者的振荡关系上。在降水场中的火山信号较弱，表现为火山喷发后的秋冬季节南方地区降水偏多。在青藏高原积雪和深层地温的变化中，没有发现火山和太阳活动信号。     

岩石变形所反映的地震作用过程--第13届国际变形机理、流变学和构造学学术会议概述

简要介绍了第13届国际变形机理、流变学和构造学学术会议的概况和特点，综述了地震变形作用的研究现状。     

农业生态的化学元素分类及其与作物优质高产的关系

利用国家科学技术成果，并根据国内外研究现状，将103个化学元素分成对作物生长发育、增产起显著作用、起一定作用、起有害作用和起未知作用4个农业生态元素类型，进而论述了它们与作物优质高产的关系。     

火山地区二维自然电位异常反演

将线性反演理论与正则化法相结合，提出一个火山地区二维自然电位（ＳＰ）异常反演方法．地下岩浆活动（对流体）是引起自电异常的极化源，反演的目的是计算地下视极化强度分布和极化源中心位置．可以通过用已知的各种资料改变地下极化源区域（简称源区）的方式来进行多次反演，以便获得一个比较合理的地下视极化强度分布模型．最后，分别给出意大利和墨西哥的两个火山地区的自然电位异常分析结果．