Radiation exposure and Mission Strategies for Interplanetary Manned Missions (REMSIM)

Cosmic radiation is an important problem for human interplanetary missions. The “Radiation Exposure and Mission Strategies for Interplanetary Manned Missions–REMSIM” study is summarised here. They are related to current strategies and countermeasures to ensure the protection of astronauts from radiation during interplanetary missions, with specific reference to: radiation environment and its variability; radiation effects on the crew; transfer trajectories and associated fluences; vehicle and surface habitat concepts; passive and active shielding concepts; space weather monitoring and warning systems.     

Frequency distributions and correlations of solar X-ray flare parameters

We have determined frequency distributions of flare parameters from over 12000 solar flares recorded with the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer (HXRBS) on the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite. These parameters include the flare duration, the peak counting rate, the peak hard X-ray flux, the total energy in electrons, and the peak energy flux in electrons (the latter two computed assuming a thick-target flare model). The energies were computed above a threshold energy between 25 and 50 keV. All of the distributions can be represented by power laws above the HXRBS sensitivity threshold. Correlations among these parameters are determined from linear regression fits as well as from the slopes of the frequency distributions. Variations of the frequency distributions were investigated with respect to the solar activity cycle.Theoretical models for the frequency distribution of flare parameters depend on the probability of flaring and the temporal evolution of the flare energy build-up. Our results are consistent with stochastic flaring and exponential energy build-up, with an average build-up time constant that is 0.5 times the mean time between flares. The measured distributions of flares are also consistent with predicted distributions of flares from computer simulations of avalanche models that are governed by the principle of self-organized criticality.     

中国北方农牧交错带与非洲萨哈尔地带全新世环境变迁的比较研究

中国北方农牧交错带和非洲萨哈尔带均为处在季风尾闾带的干旱向半湿润气候过渡的地带。通过对比分析 ,发现两个地带自然地理环境及其全新世以来的环境演变等具有很大程度的相似性 ;自全新世以来 ,两个地带均出现过几乎同步的 8个千年尺度的冷暖、干湿旋回 ;在近百年的干湿变化方面都有 10～ 2 0a变化周期 ;在少雨期和多雨期的转变过程中非洲萨哈尔带较中国北方农牧交错带提前 5a以上。这一超前信息的存在 ,为中国北方农牧交错带的气候预测提供了一个重要的前兆因素。     

Late Cenozoic Sedimentary Evolution of Pagri‐Duoqing Co graben,Southern End of Yadong‐Gulu Rift,Southern Tibet

The north trending rifts in southern Tibet represent the E–W extension of the plateau and confirming the initial rifting age is key to the study of mechanics of these rifts. Pagri–Duoqing Co graben is located at southern end of Yadong–Gulu rift, where the late Cenozoic sediments is predominately composed of fluvio-lacustrine and moraine. Based on the sedimentary composition and structures, the fluvio-lacustrine could be divided into three facies, namely, lacustrine, lacustrine fan delta and alluvial fan. The presence of paleo-currents and conglomerate components and the provenance of the strata around the graben indicate that it was Tethys Himalaya and High Himalaya. Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating and paleo-magnetic dating suggest that the age of the strata ranges from ca. 1.2 Ma to ca. 8 Ma. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating showed that moraine in the graben mainly developed from around 181–109 ka (late Middle Pleistocene). Combining previous data about the Late Cenozoic strata in other basins, it is suggested that 8–15 Ma may be the initial rifting time. Together with sediment distribution and drainage system, the sedimentary evolution of Pagri could be divided into four stages. The graben rifted at around 15–8 Ma due to the eastern graben-boundary fault resulting in the appearance of a paleolake. Following by a geologically quiet period about 8–2.5 Ma, the paleolake expanded from east to west at around 8–6 Ma reaching its maximum at ca. 6 Ma. Then, the graben was broken at about 2.5 Ma. At last, the development of the glacier separated the graben into two parts that were Pagri and Duoqing Co since the later stages of the Middle Pleistocene. The evolution process suggested that the former three stages were related to the tectonic movement, which determined the basement of the graben, while the last stage may have been influenced by glacial activity caused by climate change.     

空间分辨率对中国夏季降水时空演变特征的影响

本文使用1979—2021年国家气候中心160站(R₁₆₀)和国家级地面气象观测站2 314站(R₂₃₁₄)逐月降水观测资料,利用EOF (Empirical Orthogonal Function)分解和相关分析等方法,研究两类资料夏季降水时空变化特征及其与海气因素之间物理联系的表征水平差异,并分析了差异的可能原因。结果表明,R₁₆₀在我国西北、青藏高原等地区站点极为稀疏,导致其各EOF模态对上述地区降水的时空变化特征描述失真,中东部地区偏低的空间分辨率会使局地强降水的变化特征信号损失,造成降水的年际变率降低。而R₂₃₁₄主模态能够更为真实地反映我国降水的时空演变特征,特别是在极端降水频发的江淮地区以及降水受局地地形影响较大的山区,其EOF主模态的空间分布和时间系数演变与ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation)、西太平洋副热带高压、青藏高原雪盖等气候强迫信号之间的相关性更为显著。     

江苏吕四海岸沉积动力特征及侵蚀过程

海岸侵蚀与水动力之间有着密切的关系.基于现场调查和资料收集,探讨了吕四海岸地貌、水动力、泥沙运动以及沉积与动力之间的响应.研究结果表明,风浪和潮流是塑造吕四海岸的主要动力.风浪年内变化按向岸风频率可分为高频期(10 月至翌年 1月)、转频期(2 月、3 月和 9 月)和低频期(4～8月)三个时期.风浪高频期,潮滩冲蚀,物质粗化;低频期,潮滩淤积,物质细化;转频期,时冲时淤,动态稳定.潮流作用主要表现为输沙淤滩和侧蚀滩脚.在风浪高频期,滩脚同时受到风浪冲蚀和潮流侧蚀,向岸后退,使吕四岸段成为隐性侵蚀型海岸.岸滩塑造对沉积动力响应显著,东部处于滨岸环境,在潮流和风浪的作用下,沉积物由岸向海变粗;西部还受径流影响,处于滨岸-河口环境,物质由岸向海变细.在水动力要素中,风浪是导致岸滩侵蚀的主控动力,而潮流则是近岸泥沙进行滩槽滩槽交换和循环输运的输运动力.     

A lithogeochemical approach to Stratigraphical problems at the Millstream potash deposit, New Brunswick, Canada

A lithogeochemical study was undertaken of the Millstream potash deposit, New Brunswick, Canada, a marine evaporite deposit with a complex depositional and tectonic history. The objective of the study was to determine if potash intersections in boreholes represent different geological horizons, or the same stratum repeated by folding or faulting. The deposit is found at a depth of 800–1000 m.Water-soluble and -insoluble fractions of drill core from five ore zones in four holes were analyzed using multielement ICP instrumentation following sequential hot water and aqua regia leaches. Meaningful variations in the data for the different ore zones were evident for eight elements in the water-soluble portion, and for seventeen elements in the water-insoluble residue. These results characterize a lowermost sylvinite unit which is relatively depleted in most elements, with the exception of Mg and Al in the residue. Regression analysis indicates a weak correlation between Fe and the common base metals, in contrast to the immediately overlying sylvinite unit which is relatively enriched in most elements, including Fe, but where Fe apparently exerts no control over the base metals. Cluster analysis confirms these two units are easily distinguished from each other. The upper two ore horizons are distinguishable from the lower units on the basis of different abundances of some elements, such as water-soluble B, and on the strong scavenging abilities of Fe on the common base metals.No single element is able to uniquely fingerprint a particular sylvinite horizon, but suites of elements are able to classify each horizon as geochemically distinctive. The results appear to confirm the validity of the geological correlations.     

Seismogenic destruction of the Kamenka medieval fortress, northern Issyk-Kul region, Tien Shan (Kyrgyzstan)

A paleoseismological study of the medieval Kamenka fortress in the northern part of the Issyk-Kul Lake depression, northern Tien Shan in Kyrgyzstan, revealed an oblique slip thrust fault scarp offsetting the fortification walls. This 700 m long scarp is not related to the 1911 Kebin Earthquake (Ms 8.2) fault scarps which are widespread in the region. As analysis of stratigraphy in a paleoseismic trench and archaeological evidence reveal, it can be assigned to a major twelfth century a.d. earthquake which produced up to 4 m of oblique slip thrusting antithetic to that of the nearby dominant faults. The inferred surface rupturing earthquake apparently caused the fortress destruction and was likely the primary reason for its abandonment, not the Mongolian–Tatar invasions as previously thought.     

Epigenetic gorges in fluvial landscapes

Epigenetic gorges form when channels that have been laterally displaced during episodes of river blockage or aggradation incise down into bedrock spurs or side‐walls of the former valley rather than excavating unconsolidated fills and reinhabiting the buried paleovalley. Valley‐filling events that promote epigenetic gorges can be localized, such as a landslide dam or an alluvial/debris flow fan deposit at a tributary junction, or widespread, such as fluvial aggradation in response to climate change or fluctuating base‐level. The formation of epigenetic gorges depends upon the competition between the resistance to transport, strength and roughness of valley‐filling sediments and a river's ability to sculpt and incise bedrock. The former affects the location and lateral mobility of a channel incising into valley‐filling deposits; the latter determines rates of bedrock incision should the path of the incising channel intersect with bedrock that is not the paleovalley bottom. Epigenetic gorge incision, by definition, post‐dates the incision that originally cut the valley. Strath terraces and sculpted bedrock walls that form in relation to epigenetic gorges should not be used to directly infer river incision induced by tectonic activity or climate variability. Rather, they are indicative of the variability of short‐term bedrock river incision and autogenic dynamics of actively incising fluvial landscapes. The rate of bedrock incision associated with an epigenetic gorge can be very high (>1 cm/yr), typically orders of magnitude higher than both short‐ and long‐term landscape denudation rates. In the context of bedrock river incision and landscape evolution, epigenetic gorges force rivers to incise more bedrock, slowing long‐term incision and delaying the adjustment of rivers to regional tectonic and climatic forcing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.