Long term prediction of non-linear vertical bending moments on a fast monohull

An assessment is made of the maximum wave induced bending moment expected to occur during the operational lifetime of a fast monohull, based on long term distribution calculations of the non-linear vertical bending moment at mid-ship. The ship is assumed to operate in the Northern North Sea, with an operational life of 25 years. A succession of short-term stationary ship responses represented by Rayleigh distributions of peaks results in the long-term distribution of the structural loads. Non-linear pseudo transfer functions are used in the procedure to calculate the variances of the short-term responses. The amplitudes of these transfer functions are calculated by a non-linear time domain seakeeping program. The results are compared with rules minimum required values and also with results from simpler calculation procedures such as adopting design sea states.     

Holocene record of productivity in the NW Iberian continental shelf

A multiproxy approach (textural characteristics, heavy metal concentrations and benthic foraminifera data) was adopted to study the OMEX core KSGX 40, collected at the Galicia Mud Deposit (NW Iberian outer continental shelf) and recording the last ca. 4.8 ka cal BP. Geochemical profiles of Fe, Mn, Zn, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Al and Ca show significant temporal variations. Benthic foraminifera productivity proxy suggests that the recorded muddy events were contemporaneous of a higher C_org flux to the marine benthic environment. The higher flux of organic matter, following a long-term intensification of the upwelling and coinciding with a finer sedimentation, led to depressed levels of oxygen beneath the water-sediments interface and to early diagenetic processes of several redox-sensitive elements.     

玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚和重力测量——2001年诺贝尔物理学奖评介

介绍了2001年诺贝尔物理学奖获得者康奈尔，韦曼，克特勒的科学研究成果，实验玻色－爱因斯坦凝聚（BEC）及其在理论上的意义和应用前景，讨论了BEC在研制高精度重力仪方面的应用问题，为此回顾了重力测量现状，朱棣文等研制的原子干涉重力仪和ClauserJ提出的物质波干涉重力仪，分析表明，如果利用BEC，则重力仪的测量精度在朱棣文等工作基础上将会有很大的提高。     

Apatite-hosted melt inclusions from the Panzhihua gabbroic-layered intrusion associated with a giant Fe–Ti oxide deposit in SW China: insights for magma unmixing within a crystal mush

The ～?2-km-thick Panzhihua gabbroic-layered intrusion in SW China is unusual because it hosts a giant Fe–Ti oxide deposit in its lower zone. The deposit consists of laterally extensive net-textured and massive Fe–Ti oxide ore layers, the thickest of which is ～?60 m. To examine the magmatic processes that resulted in the Fe enrichment of parental high-Ti basaltic magma and the formation of thick, Fe–Ti oxide ore layers, we carried out a detailed study of melt inclusions in apatite from a ～?500-m-thick profile of apatite-bearing leucogabbro in the middle zone of the intrusion. The apatite-hosted melt inclusions are light to dark brown in color and appear as polygonal, rounded, oval and negative crystal shapes, which range from ～?5 to ～?50 µm in width and from ～?5 to ～?100 µm in length. They have highly variable compositions and show a large and continuous range of SiO₂ and FeO_t with contrasting end-members; one end-member being Fe-rich and Si-poor (40.2 wt% FeO_t and 17.7 wt% SiO₂) and the other being Si-rich and Fe-poor (74.0 wt% SiO₂ and 1.20 wt% FeO_t). This range in composition may be attributed to entrapment of the melt inclusions over a range of temperature and may reflect the presence of µm-scale and immiscible Fe-rich and Si-rich components in different proportions. Simulating results for the motion of Si-rich droplets within a crystal mush indicate that Si-rich droplets would be separated from Fe-rich melt and migrate upward due to density differences in the interstitial liquid when the magma unmixed. Migration of the Si-rich, immiscible liquid component from the interstitial liquid caused the remaining Fe-rich melt in the lower part to react with plagioclase primocrysts (An_59–60), as evidenced by fine-grained lamellar intergrowth of An-rich plagioclase (An_79–84)?+?clinopyroxene in the oxide gabbro of the lower zone. Therefore, magma unmixing within a crystal mush, combined with gravitationally driven loss of the Si-rich component, resulted in the formation of Fe-rich, melagabbro and major Fe–Ti oxide ores in the lower part and Si-rich, leucogabbro in the upper part of the intrusion.     

Carbon costs and benefits of France’s biomass energy production targets

Background

Concern about climate change has motivated France to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel by setting targets for increased biomass-based renewable energy production. This study quantifies the carbon costs and benefits for the French forestry sector in meeting these targets. A forest growth and harvest simulator was developed for French forests using recent forest inventory data, and the wood-use chain was reconstructed from national wood product statistics. We then projected wood production, bioenergy production, and carbon balance for three realistic intensification scenarios and a business-as-usual scenario. These intensification scenarios targeted either overstocked, harvest-delayed or currently actively managed stands.

Results

All three intensification strategies produced 11.6–12.4 million tonnes of oil equivalent per year of wood-based energy by 2026, which corresponds to the target assigned to French wood-energy to meet the EU 2020 renewable energy target. Sustaining this level past 2026 will be challenging, let alone further increasing it. Although energy production targets can be reached, the management intensification required will degrade the near-term carbon balance of the forestry sector, compared to continuing present-day management. Even for the best-performing intensification strategy, i.e., reducing the harvest diameter of actively managed stands, the carbon benefits would only become apparent after 2040. The carbon balance of a strategy putting abandoned forests back into production would only break even by 2055; the carbon balance from increasing thinning in managed but untended stands would not break even within the studied time periods, i.e. 2015–2045 and 2046–2100. Owing to the temporal dynamics in the components of the carbon balance, i.e., the biomass stock in the forest, the carbon stock in wood products, and substitution benefits, the merit order of the examined strategies varies over time.

Conclusions

No single solution was found to improve the carbon balance of the forestry sector by 2040 in a way that also met energy targets. We therefore searched for the intensification scenario that produces energy at the lowest carbon cost. Reducing rotation time of actively managed stands is slightly more efficient than targeting harvest-delayed stands, but in both cases, each unit of energy produced has a carbon cost that only turns into a benefit between 2060 and 2080.

     

A framework for addressing the lack of diversity in the Geosciences through evaluating the current structure of institutional efforts

How can universities build institutional partnerships through supporting community geography projects? This paper details the case of university members seeking to achieve a community goal of expanding Geosciences education opportunities, while also targeting a long-range goal of improving diversity within the university Geosciences. Over the course of one year, two Ph.D students collaborated with community members affiliated with a local middle school to design and organize the School of Earth, Society, and Environment (SESE) Geosciences Camp for Middle School Girls, held in August 2019. This paper deconstructs and critiques the camp organizing process and its outcomes. The conclusion addresses what worked and what did not as a model for future attempts at more sustainable institutional partnerships serving community geography projects.

     

Long-term monitoring of the behavior of a talus-colluvium deposit

Landslides - This article describes the behavior of a talus-colluvium deposit up to 70-m thick located in the Serra dos Orgaos, Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Brazil. The monitoring dataset of 13 years...     

三峡库区巫山移民新城址松散堆积体成因机制研究

以巫山移民新城址松散堆积体成因类型为例 ,对三峡库区分布较广的松散堆积体进行了研究。通过对大量新开挖剖面的调查测绘 ,在许多地段发现了堆积与基岩之间的滑坡主滑带 ,说明了在该区分布较广的松散堆积体成因具有复合性。它是构造和岩溶作用前提下形成的滑坡体、崩塌体、泥石流堆积体和岩溶坍陷堆积体。运用高分辨率浅层地震勘探揭示堆积体发育深度可达 40 m至 6 0 m ,通过面波测试可按波速将之划分为三层。最后 ,建立了松散堆积体形成演化的概念模型 ,并运用目前最新版本的离散元软件 (UDEC3.0 )对其中最为重要的一种类型滑崩堆积体的形成演化过程进行了模拟。结果表明 ,该区的层状岩体在长江河流下切过程中 ,形成了区域性的卸荷松动 ,而在岩体下部形成压碎张裂带 ;地下水沿卸荷拉裂带渗入 ,并与压裂带贯通 ,形成了岩溶发育带 ,为滑坡、崩塌、塌陷等表生改造提供了条件。