A numerical study of the pre-ejection, magnetically-sheared corona as a free boundary problem

A class of magnetostatic equilibria with axial symmetry outside a unit sphere in the presence of plasma pressure and an r ^–2 gravitational field is constructed. The structure contains a localized current-carrying region confined by a background bipolar potential field, and the shape of the region changes subject to the variation of the electric current. The continuity requirement for the magnetic field and plasma pressures at the outer boundary of the cavity defines a free boundary problem, which is solved numerically using a spectral boundary scheme. The model is then used to study the expansion of the current-carrying region, caused by the buildup of magnetic shear, against the background confining field. The magnetic shear in our model is induced by the loading of an azimuthal field, accompanied by a depletion of plasma density.We show that due to the additional effect of confinement by the dense surrounding plasma, the energy of the magnetic field can exceed the energy of its associated open field, presumably a necessary condition for the onset of coronal mass ejections. (However, the plasma beta of the confining fluid is higher than that in the outer boundary of a realistic helmet-streamer structure.) Furthermore, under the assumption that coronal mass ejections are driven by magnetic buoyancy, the result from our model study lends further support to the notion of a suspended magnetic flux rope in the low-density cavity of a helmet-streamer as a promising pre-ejection configuration.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Composition and quality of coals in the Huaibei Coalfield, Anhui, China

The Huaibei Coalfield, Anhui Province, China, is one of the largest coalfields in China. The coals of Permian age are used mainly for power generation. Coal compositions and 47 trace elements of the No. 10 Coal of the Shanxi Formation, the No. 7, 5, and 4 Coals of the Lower Shihezi Formation, and the No. 3 Coal of the Upper Shihezi Formation from the Huaibei Coalfield were studied. The results indicate that the Huaibei coals have low ash, moisture, and sulfur contents, but high volatile matter and calorific value. The ash yield increases stratigraphically upwards, but the volatile matter and total sulfur contents show a slight decrease from the lower to upper seams. Magmatic intrusion into the No. 5 Coal resulted in high ash, volatile matter, and calorific value, but low moisture value in the coal. Among the studied 47 trace elements, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Th, U, V, and Zn are of environmental concerns. Four elements Hg, Mo, Zn, and Sb are clearly enriched in the coals as compared with the upper continental crust.     

Growth of Five Species of Gorgonians (Sub-Class Octocorallia) in the Sedimented Waters of Singapore

Abstract. Annual growth rates of gorgonians in the Indo-Pacific region are reported ror the first tinie. A method of measuring gorgonian growth using periodic photographic monitoring that is sensitive to horizontal growth and changes in growth foci but that does not require tedious underwater measurements is applied. Growth parameters of five species of gorgonians from three Families ( Plexauridae. Melithaeidae . and Subergorgiidae ) were monitored over a period of 18 months using this method. Growth rates ranged from 2.30 cm a^-1 to 7.88 cm. a ^-1 in the highly sedimented waters of Singapore. The maximum number of branches added per year ranged from 1.7 to 14.5.     

A comparison of airborne eddy correlation and bulk aerodynamic methods for ocean-air turbulent fluxes during cold-air outbreaks

Four bulk schemes (LKB, FG, D and DB), with the flux-profile relationships of Liuet al. (1979), Francey and Garratt (1981), Dyer (1974), and Dyer and Bradley (1982), are derived from the viscous interfacial-sublayer model of Liuet al. These schemes, with stability-dependent transfer coefficients, are then tested against the eddy-correlation fluxes measured at the 50 m flight level above the western Atlantic Ocean during cold-air outbreaks. The bulk fluxes of momentum (), sensible heat (H), and latent heat (E) are found to increase with various von Kármán constants (k _M for k _H forH, andk _E forE). Except that the LKB scheme overestimates by 28% (46Wm^–2), on the average, the fluxes estimated by the four bulk schemes appear to be in fairly good agreement with those of the eddy correlation method (magnitudes of biases within 10% for , 17% forH, and 13% forE). The results suggest that the overall fluxes and surface-layer scaling parameters are best estimated by FG and thatk _H <k _E . On the average, the FG scheme underestimates by 10% (0.032N m^–2) andE by 4% (12Wm^–2), and overestimatesH by 0.3% (0.5W m^–2). The equivalent neutral transfer coefficients at 10 m height of the FG scheme compare well with some schemes of those tested by Blanc (1985).The relative importance of various von Kármán constants, dimensionless gradients and roughness lengths to the oceanic transfer coefficients is assessed. The dependence of transfer coefficients on wind speeds and roughness lengths is discussed. The transfer coefficients for andE agree excellently between LKB and FG. However, the ratio of the coefficient forH of LKB to that of FG, increasing with decreasing stability, is very sensitive to stability at low winds, but approaches the neutral value of 1.25 at high winds.     

A procedure for evaluating seismic energy demand of framed structures

Energy serves as an alternative index to response quantities like force or displacement to include the duration‐related seismic damage effect. A procedure to evaluate the absorbed energy in a multistorey frame from energy spectra was developed. For low‐ to medium‐rise frames, it required a static pushover analysis of the structure to determine the modal yield force and ductility factor of an equivalent single‐degree‐of‐freedom system for the first two modes. The energy spectra were then used to determine the energy contribution of each mode. A procedure was also developed to distribute the energy along the frame height based on energy shapes. This study showed that the second‐mode response in some cases needs to be considered to reflect the energy (or damage) concentration in the upper floors. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

松潘-甘孜造山带地壳速度结构

位于川西地区的奔子栏——唐克深地震测深剖面以NNE走向穿越松潘——甘孜造山带．根据人工地震记录分析得到的震相走时和相关的振幅信息，确定了该剖面二维P波地壳速度结构．剖面的地壳结构可分为5层，其中第1，2，3层为上地壳；第4，5层为下地壳．上地壳中部普遍存在低速异常带，但龙日坝以北，这一低速带与其上覆的低速基底合为一体．同时，沿剖面的地壳速度结构具有较强的横向变化．据此，可将剖面分为4段，即甘孜——理塘断裂以南、甘孜——理塘断裂至鲜水河断裂、鲜水河断裂至龙日坝断裂和龙日坝断裂以北. 这与区域构造划分基本一致． 地壳厚度沿测线从南西向北东逐渐减薄，即从金沙江畔的62 km减小到黄河附近的52 km． 根据PmP震相分析，莫霍界面深度在鲜水河断裂两侧没有明显变化．全剖面的地壳平均速度较低，为6.30 km/s．奔子栏——唐克剖面揭示了该地区的造山带型地壳上地幔结构特征．鲜水河断裂带位于剖面的中部，该地区的上地壳速度为正异常，而下地壳和上地幔顶部存在负异常．笔者认为，这是一类有利于强震孕育和发生的深部构造环境．      

中国大陆地震构造研究回顾

简要回顾了近4年来(1999～2002年)我国在地震构造方面研究的进展，重点介绍了在地壳上地幔结构、活动断裂和大地震构造背景、地壳形变和数值模拟方面的工作．在我国境内发生的绝大多数地震都属于大陆地震的范畴，因此,中国地震学家把研究的重点放在大陆地震上．中国在九五期间完成的中国数字地震观测系统和中国地壳运动观测网络重大科学工程为地震构造的研究提供了大量的基础资料．因此，４年来的地震构造研究取得了相当大的进展．      

FURTHER STUDY ON THE PROPERTIES OF OPERATORS OF ATMOSPHERIC EQUATIONS AND THE EXISTENCE OF ATTRACTOR

The equivalent operator equation is derived from the full primitive nonlinear equations of theatmospheric motion and the properties and physical senses of the operators are studied.In theinfinite dimensional Hilbert space,the global asymptotic behavior of the atmosphere system withthe non-stationary external forcing is studied under the assumption of the bounded externalforcing.The existence theorems of the global absorbing set and the global attractor are obtained.Thus,the conclusions deduced from the large-scale atmosphere(Li and Chou 1996 a;1996 b)areextended to the general atmosphere.     

THE EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL FORCING,DISSIPATION AND NONLINEARITY ON THE SOLUTIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC EQUATIONS*

Based on the primitive equations of the atmosphere,we study the effects of external forcing.dissipation and nonlinearity on the solutions of stationary motion and non-stationary motion.The results show that the asymptotic behavior of solutions of the forced dissipative nonlinear system is essentially different from that of the adiabatic non-dissipative system,the adiabatic dissipative system,the diabatic non-dissipative system and the diabatic dissipative linear system,and that the joint action of external forcing,dissipation and nonlinearity is the source of multiple equilibria.From this we can conclude that the important actions of diabatic heating and dissipation must be considered in the models of the long-term weather and the climate.     

Crustal structure of Dabieshan orogenic belt

The crustal structures ofP velocity and density on the deep seismic sounding profile across the Ilabieshan orogenic belt are presented. There is a 5-km-thick crustal “root” between the Yuexi and Xiaotian where the elevation is highest on the profile. An apparent Moho offset of 4. 5 km beneath the Xiaotian-Mozitan fault marks the paleo-suture of the Triassic collision. A high-velocity anomaly zone at the depth below 3 km beneath the ultra-high pressure (UHP) zone may be correlated to the higher content of UHP metamorphic rocks. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Joint Earthquake Science Foundation.