Modelling the effect of changing precipitation inputs on deep soil water utilization

Forests in the Southeastern United States are predicted to experience future changes in seasonal patterns of precipitation inputs as well as more variable precipitation events. These climate change‐induced alterations could increase drought and lower soil water availability. Drought could alter rooting patterns and increase the importance of deep roots that access subsurface water resources. To address plant response to drought in both deep rooting and soil water utilization as well as soil drainage, we utilize a throughfall reduction experiment in a loblolly pine plantation of the Southeastern United States to calibrate and validate a hydrological model. The model was accurately calibrated against field measured soil moisture data under ambient rainfall and validated using 30% throughfall reduction data. Using this model, we then tested these scenarios: (a) evenly reduced precipitation; (b) less precipitation in summer, more in winter; (c) same total amount of precipitation with less frequent but heavier storms; and (d) shallower rooting depth under the above 3 scenarios. When less precipitation was received, drainage decreased proportionally much faster than evapotranspiration implying plants will acquire water first to the detriment of drainage. When precipitation was reduced by more than 30%, plants relied on stored soil water to satisfy evapotranspiration suggesting 30% may be a threshold that if sustained over the long term would deplete plant available soil water. Under the third scenario, evapotranspiration and drainage decreased, whereas surface run‐off increased. Changes in root biomass measured before and 4 years after the throughfall reduction experiment were not detected among treatments. Model simulations, however, indicated gains in evapotranspiration with deeper roots under evenly reduced precipitation and seasonal precipitation redistribution scenarios but not when precipitation frequency was adjusted. Deep soil and deep rooting can provide an important buffer capacity when precipitation alone cannot satisfy the evapotranspirational demand of forests. How this buffering capacity will persist in the face of changing precipitation inputs, however, will depend less on seasonal redistribution than on the magnitude of reductions and changes in rainfall frequency.     

北部湾北部海上油田发现历程

北部湾北部海上油田的开发工作始于５０年代，６０～７０年代作了大量地质工作。改革开放后，油气勘查取得突破性进展。累计发现油气构造６个，含油面积超过４０ｋｍ２，石油地质储量约４亿ｔ，已开发油田２个，揭开我国南方油气资源开发序幕     

超基性岩中含铜、钴块状硫化物矿床——德尔尼铜矿成因新认识

长期以来对德尔尼铜矿的成因存在着不同认识。从矿石组成和结构、构造来看,应属典型的块状硫化物矿石,矿床亦应属于含铜黄铁矿型矿床。但从其地质产状来看又与一般的黄铁矿型矿床大不相同,与一般的岩浆熔离铜镍硫化物矿床也有较多差异。这就是本矿床类型独特之处。近年来通过工作又取得一些新资料,特别是超基性岩和矿石的同位素年龄数据。本文在综合新老资料基础上,提出新看法,认为该矿床形成于上地幔,再就位于地壳浅部。其成因类型暂定为:“深部熔离—构造侵位矿床”。鉴于本矿床与一般块状硫化物矿床相比有其独特性,建议命名为“德尔尼型”。     

胜利油气区有机包裹体研究及其在油气勘探中的应用

应用显微光度术、显微傅立叶红外光谱（Ｍｉｃｒｏ－ＦＴ．ＩＲ）和飞行时间二次离子质谱（ＴＯＦ－ＳＩＭＳ）等原位微分析技术并结合均一温度测量对胜利油气区下第三系沙河街组沙三段中有机包裹体进行了研究。区分出两类有机包裹体，即原生有机包裹体和次生有机包裹体。结果表明两类有机包裹体特征不同，二者物质组成、有机质成分及化学结构、热演化程度等差别也较大。结合地质分析表明原生有机包裹体是沙三段烃源岩生成烃类运移产物，具“自生自储”特点，而次生有机包裹体是沙四段烃源岩生成的烃类二次运移的产物。沙三段是沙河街组油气运移和聚集的主要层位，因而是寻找油气资源的主要目标层。研究表明，有机包裹体是研究油气生成、运移、聚集和演化等成藏系统最有效的手段之一，在油气勘探中有重要的应用意义。     

A photometric study of the polar ring galaxy UGC 5600

We analyze our BVR _c photometry for UGC 5600, a candidate polar ring galaxy, obtained with the 6-m telescope. We have confirmed the existence of an inner polar ring and show that the outer ring-shaped structure represents spiral arms; i.e., UGC 5600 belongs to the rare class of gas-rich spiral galaxies with inner polar rings.     

Challenging a Paradigm: Do We Need Active and Inactive Areas to Account for Near-Nuclear Jet Activity?

We briefly describe an advanced 3D gas dynamical model developed for the simulation of theenvironment of active cometary nuclei. The model canhandle realistic nucleus shapes and alternative physical models for the gas and dust production mechanism.The inner gas coma structure is computed by solving self-consistently(a) near to the surface the Boltzman Equation(b) outside of it, Euler or Navier-Stokes equations.The dust distribution is computed from multifluid ``zero-temperature' Euler equations,extrapolated with the help of a Keplerian fountain model.The evolution of the coma during the nucleus orbital and spin motion,is computed as a succession of quasi-steady solutions. Earlier versions of the model using simple,``paedagogic' nuclei have demonstrated that the surface orographyand the surface inhomogeneity contribute similarly to structuring the near-nucleusgas and dust coma,casting a shadow on the automatic attribution of such structures to ``active areas'.The model was recently applied to comet P/Halley, for whichthe nucleus shape is available. In the companion paper of this volume,we show that most near-nucleus dust structuresobserved during the 1986 Halley flybys are reproduced, assuming that the nucleus is strictly homogeneous. Here, we investigate the effect of shape perturbations and homogeneityperturbations. We show that the near nucleus gas coma structure is robust vis-a-vissuch effects. In particular, a random distribution of active and inactive areaswould not affect considerably this structure, suggesting that such areas,even if present, could not be easily identified on images of the coma.     

Biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in north Norfolk,UK

Considerable debate surrounds the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in East Anglia following some recent stratigraphical reinterpretations. Resolution of the stratigraphy here is important since it not only concerns the glacial history of the region but also has a bearing on our understanding of the earliest human occupation of north‐western Europe. The orthodox consensus that all the tills were emplaced during the Anglian (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12) has recently been challenged by a view assigning each major till to a different glacial stage, before, during and after MIS 12. Between Trimingham and Sidestrand on the north Norfolk coast, datable organic sediments occur immediately below and above the glacial succession. The oldest glacial deposit (Happisburgh Till) directly overlies the ‘Sidestrand Unio‐bed’, here defined as the Sidestrand Hall Member of the Cromer Forest‐bed Formation. Dating of these sediments therefore has a bearing on the maximum age of the glacial sequence. This paper reviews the palaeobotany and describes the faunal assemblages recovered from the Sidestrand Unio‐bed, which accumulated in a fluvial environment in a fully temperate climate with regional deciduous woodland. There are indications from the ostracods for weakly brackish conditions. Significant differences are apparent between the Sidestrand assemblages and those from West Runton, the type site of the Cromerian Stage. These differences do not result from contrasting facies or taphonomy but reflect warmer palaeotemperatures at Sidestrand and a much younger age. This conclusion is suggested by the higher proportion of thermophiles at Sidestrand and the occurrence of a water vole with unrooted molars (Arvicola) rather than its ancestor Mimomys savini with rooted molars. Amino acid racemisation data also indicate that Sidestrand is significantly younger than West Runton. These data further highlight the stratigraphical complexity of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ and support the conventional view that the Happisburgh Till was emplaced during the Anglian rather than the recently advanced view that it dates from MIS 16. Moreover, new evidence from the Trimingham lake bed (Sidestrand Cliff Formation) above the youngest glacial outwash sediments (Briton's Lane Formation) indicates that they also accumulated during a Middle Pleistocene interglacial – probably MIS 11. All of this evidence is consistent with a short chronology placing the glacial deposits within MIS 12, rather than invoking multiple episodes of glaciation envisaged in the ‘new glacial stratigraphy’ during MIS 16, 12, 10 and 6. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deep Processes of Basin Evolution:A Case Study of the Southern Songliao Basin and Adjacent Area,NE China in Mesozoic-Cenozoic

1IntroductionOne of the key factors related to basin geody-namics is deep process controlling formation and evolution of sedimentary basin. Depth and tempera-ture of asthenosphere,existence of mantle plume,occurrence of mantle melting,and amounts of melts under depressurization during thinning of lithosphere are controlling factors influenced formation and characteristics of extensional basin directly (Li,1994). Rifting is probably governed by frictional forces exerted on the base of litho…     

Tests and constraints on theories of galaxy formation and evolution

Tests and constraints on current theories of galaxy formation and evolution are presented. They are derived from observations of the Northern Hubble Deep Field with WFPC2 and NICMOS. Photometric redshifts, extinctions and spectral energy distributions are calculated for all objects in the field. The tests and constraints are derived from the output of this analysis. The tests of the predictions from hierarchical and pure luminosity evolution galaxy evolution calculations favor the hierarchical model. Constraints are provided by the current luminosity function and its evolution to a redshift of 6. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Reliability assessment of serviceability performance of braced retaining walls using a neural network approach

In urban environments, one major concern with deep excavations in soft clay is the potentially large ground deformations in and around the excavation. Excessive movements can damage adjacent buildings and utilities. There are many uncertainties associated with the calculation of the ultimate or serviceability performance of a braced excavation system. These include the variabilities of the loadings, geotechnical soil properties, and engineering and geometrical properties of the wall. A risk‐based approach to serviceability performance failure is necessary to incorporate systematically the uncertainties associated with the various design parameters. This paper demonstrates the use of an integrated neural network–reliability method to assess the risk of serviceability failure through the calculation of the reliability index. By first performing a series of parametric studies using the finite element method and then approximating the non‐linear limit state surface (the boundary separating the safe and ‘failure’ domains) through a neural network model, the reliability index can be determined with the aid of a spreadsheet. Two illustrative examples are presented to show how the serviceability performance for braced excavation problems can be assessed using the reliability index. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.