Flexure of the Indian plate and intraplate earthquakes

The flexural bulge in central India resulting from India's collision with Tibet has a wavelength of approximately 670 km. It is manifest topographically and in the free-air gravity anomaly and the geoid. Calculations of the stress distribution within a flexed Indian plate reveal spatial variations throughout the depth of the plate and also a function of distance from the Himalaya. The wavelength (and therefore local gradient) of stress variation is a function of the effective elastic thickness of the plate, estimates of which have been proposed to lie in the range 40–120 km. The imposition of this stress field on the northward moving Indian plate appears fundamental to explaining the current distribution of intraplate earthquakes and their mechanisms. The current study highlights an outer trough south of the flexural bulge in central India where surface stresses are double the contiguous compressional stresses to the north and south. The Bhuj, Latur and Koyna earthquakes and numerous other recent reverse faulting events occurred in this compressional setting. The N/S spatial gradient of stress exceeds 2 bars/km near the flexural bulge. The overall flexural stress distribution provides a physical basis for earthquake hazard mapping and suggests that areas of central India where no historic earthquakes are recorded may yet be the locus of future damaging events.     

A statistical approach to evaluating distance metrics and analog assignments for pollen records

The modern analog technique typically uses a distance metric to determine the dissimilarity between fossil and modern biological assemblages. Despite this quantitative approach, interpretation of distance metrics is usually qualitative and rules for selection of analogs tend to be ad hoc. We present a statistical tool, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, which provides a framework for identifying analogs from distance metrics. If modern assemblages are placed into groups (e.g., biomes), this method can (1) evaluate the ability of different distance metrics to distinguish among groups, (2) objectively identify thresholds of the distance metric for determining analogs, and (3) compute a likelihood ratio and a Bayesian probability that a modern group is an analog for an unknown (fossil) assemblage. Applied to a set of 1689 modern pollen assemblages from eastern North America classified into eight biomes, ROC analysis confirmed that the squared-chord distance (SCD) outperforms most other distance metrics. The optimal threshold increased when more dissimilar biomes were compared. The probability of an analog vs no-analog result (a likelihood ratio) increased sharply when SCD decreased below the optimal threshold, indicating a nonlinear relationship between SCD and the probability of analog. Probabilities of analog computed for a postglacial pollen record at Tannersville Bog (Pennsylvania, USA) identified transitions between biomes and periods of no analog.     

采用交换式路由器结合代理服务器作为互联网接入方案的剖析

介绍交换式路由器结合代理服务器在实现不同网段局域网共享接入国际互联网的具体应用。     

Numerical Simulation of Drag Partition over Rough Surfaces

We present a numerical simulation of drag partition over rough surfaces. A computational fluid dynamics model is applied with high resolution to simulatingturbulent flows over arrays of roughness elements positioned on asmooth surface. The skin drag on the surface and the pressure drag on the roughnesselements are computed. The simulated drag partition compares well with wind-tunnelmeasurements and theoretical estimates for similar rough surfaces. This confirms that the computational approach offers an alternative to wind-tunnel and field experiments in studying drag and drag partition. The model is then applied to studying drag partition over rough surfaces with various roughness configurations. It is shown that drag partition depends not only on the magnitude of the roughness frontal area but also on the sizes and arrangement of roughness elements, because (1) the pressure drag coefficient is sensitive to roughness-element dimensions and (2) the arragement of roughness elements lead to different interferences of turbulent wakes. The impact ofthe latter factor is not insignificant.     

RELATIONSHIP OF ECO-ENVIONMENTAL CHANGE WITH NATURAL EROSION AND ARTIFICIALLY ACCELERATED EROSION

Ｆｏｒｌｏｎｇｔｉｍｅ,ｔｈｅｐｒｏｂｌｅｍａｂｏｕｔｎａｔｕｒａｌｅｒｏｓｉｏｎａｎｄａｒｔｉｆｉｃｉａｌｌｙａｃｃｅｌｅｒａｔｅｄｅｒｏｓｉｏｎｉｓｉｎｄｉｓｐｕｔｅ.ＨｉｓｔｏｒｉｃａｌｇｅｏｇｒａｐｈｅｒｓｃｏｎｓｉｄｅｒｔｈａｔｈｕｍａｎｉｎｄｕｃｅｄｅｃｏｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｄｅｓｔｒｕｃｔｉｏｎｉｓａｃｃｏｕｎｔａｂｌｅｆｏｒｔｈｅｓｅｖｅｒｅｓｏｉｌｅｒｏｓｉｏｎａｎｄｅｃｏｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔｄｅｔｅｒｉｏｒａｔｉｏｎｏｎＬｏｅｓｓＰｌａｔｅａｕ[7,8].Ｓｏｍｅｇｅｏｌｏｇ…     

ON BIO-EFFECTS ON KARST LANDSCAPE IN JIUZHAIGOU CONSERVATION, SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA—WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO A MICROMORPHOLOFICAL APPROACH

1.ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈｏｎｂｉｏｋａｒｓｔｓｔｒｅｔｃｈｆｒｏｍｎｉｎｅｔｅｅｎｔｈｃｅｎｔｕｒｙ,ｙｅｔｏｎｌｙｒｅｃｅｎｔｌｙ,ｍｏｒｅｅｆｆｉｃｉｅｎｔａｎｄｓｙｓｔｅｍａｔｉｃｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｈａｓｂｅｅｎｐｕｔｆｏｒｗａｒｄｗｉｔｈｔｈｅａｐｐｅａｒａｎｃｅｏｆｒｅｌａｔｅｄｓｐｅｃｉａｌｔｅｒｍｉｎｏｌｏｇｙａｎｄｄｅｔａｉｌｅｄｒｅｖｉｅｗｓ[3,11,30,3638],ａｎｄｉｔｓｅｅｍｓｔｈａｔｔｈｅｒｅｉｓｓｔｉｌｌｌａｃｋｏｆｂｉｏｋａｒｓｔｉｎａｌｐｉｎｅｅｎｖｉｒｏ…     

A record of accelerated erosion in the recent sediments of Blelham Tarn in the English Lake district

Two frozen cores from Blelham Tarn were subsampled and measured using mineral magnetic, loss-on-ignition (LOI), radiometric, granulometric and diatom analyses. A detailed chronology was established using varves, radioisotopes and diatoms. This has enabled an accurately dated reconstruction of sedimentation over the past forty years. Despite a large increase in lake productivity, evidence suggests that the observed exponential increase in sedimentation rates can be attributed to erosion within the catchment. The predominant sediment source has been identified as surface soil. A comparison between the trend of accelerated sedimentation and the record of increased sheep stocking density for the area within which the most of the catchment lies, as well as observations of contemporary surface processes within the catchment, both suggest that much of the recent erosion is a direct response to increased pressure from sheep grazing.     

泡沫泥浆钻进工艺及护壁堵漏机理研究

介绍了所研制的ＤＦ－１型泡沫剂组分及性能；对泡沫泥浆钻进的配方进行了研究，得出的最优配方应用于现场，取得了较好的效果，并对泡沫泥浆的护壁机理进行了研究。     

Streambank fish-shelter structures help stabilize tributary streams in Wisconsin

 A significant proportion of stream sediment yield in North America comes from stream channel and bank erosion. One method used for stream stabilization is the bank installation of timber and stone fish-shelter structures, but there is little evidence for their potential effectiveness. Nine to nineteen years of precise survey data from Coon Creek, Wisconsin, however, show that fish structures enhance sediment deposition along the stream and may retard lateral migration of channels. Such structures have greater utility for sediment control when streams are eroding away a high bank and replacing it with a lower bank. Received: 18 October 1996 · Accepted: 4 February 1997     

Geotechnical Hazards Associated with Desert Environment

The aridity of the Arabian Peninsula's deserts ranges between arid to hyperarid with hot dry climate, scarce precipitation and sparse vegetation. These harsh environmental conditions enhance some geomorphologic processes more than others, cause specific geotechnical problems, and increase desertification.From west to east, the general physiography of Saudi Arabia shows the Red Sea coastal plains and the escarpment foothills called Tihama followed by the Arabian Shield mountains, the Arabian Shelf plateau and finally the Arabian Gulf coastal plains. Sand moves by wind either as drifting sand or migrating dunes in four major sand seas, over the Arabian Shelf, and in the inter-mountain valleys, in the Arabian Shield causing problems of erosion and deposition. Human activities in the deserts may cause more instability to the sand bodies, enlarging the magnitude of the problem. Fine silty soil particles also move by wind, depositing loess mainly in selected areas downwind in the Tihama. These loess deposits subside and may form earth fissures by the process of hydrocompaction upon wetting. The addition of water can be either natural through storms or man-made through human agricultural or civil activities. Extensive sabkhas exist along the coastal plains of both the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf. The sabkha soil may also heave by salt re-crystallization or collapse by wetting. The shallow groundwater brines present in sabkhas also attack and corrode civil structures. Urbanization and excessive groundwater pumping may also deplete the fresh groundwater resources and may cause subsidence, ground fissuring and surface faulting as observed in some locations in the Arabian Shield. Although the average annual precipitation is very low, rain usually falls in the form of torrential storms, collected by dry valley basins and causing floods to unprotected downstream areas on the coastal plains of the Red Sea.The desert environment, being a fragile echo system, needs to be treated with care. Intercommunications between different national and international agencies and education of the layman should help to keep the system balanced and reduce the resulting environmental hazards. In addition, any suggested remedial measures should be planned with nature and engineered with natural materials.