Changes in sediment transport in the Kuye River in the Loess Plateau in China

In this paper, the changes in sediment transport over 51 years from 1955 to 2006 in the Kuye River in the Loess Plateau in China are assessed. Key factors affecting sediment yield and sediment transport, such as precipitation depth, discharge, and human activities are studied. To investigate the changes in sediment yield in this watershed, a trend analysis on sediment concentration, precipitation depth, and discharge is conducted. Precipitation depths at 2 Climate Stations （CSs）, as well as discharge and sediment transport at 3 Gauging Stations （GSs） are used to assess the features of sediment transport in the Kuye River. The rtmoff modulus （defined as the annual average discharge per unit area, L/（s·km^2）） and the sediment transport modulus （defined as the annual suspended sediment transport per unit area, t/（yr km^2）） are introduced in this study to assess the changes in runoff and sediment yield for this watershed. The results show that the highest average monthly discharge during the study period in the Kuye River is 66.23 m^3/s in August with an average monthly sediment concentration of 88.9 kg/m^3. However, the highest average monthly sediment concentration during the study period in the Kuye River is 125.34 kg/m^3 and occurs in July, which has an average discharge of 42.6 m^3/s that is much less than the average monthly discharge in August. It is found that both the runoff modulus and sediment transport modulus at Wenjiachuan GS on the Kuye River has a clear downward trend. During the summer season from July to August, the sediment transport modulus at Wenjiachuan GS is much higher than those at Toudaoguai and Longmen GSs on the Yellow River. The easily erodible loess in the Kuye River watershed and the sparse vegetation are responsible for the extremely high sediment yield from the Kuye River watershed. The analyses of the grain size distribution of suspended load in the Kuye River are presented. The average monthly median grain size of suspended load in the Kuye River is largest in February and then decreases until June. In July, the average monthly median grain size of suspended load approaches another peak and decreases until September. Then, the median grain size of suspended load starts to increase until February of the following year. However, the average monthly median grain size of suspended load in the Yellow River at Toudaoguai and Longmen GSs is the smallest between early summer and late fall The median grain size in the Yellow River starts to increase in November and approaches the largest size in January.     

Variations in trace gas concentrations in different environments in India

Observations of trace gases (SO₂, NH₃, NO₂ and O₃) were made during the period 1981 to 1984 at 6 different locations representative of urban industrial, urban, nonurban, thermal power plant and marine environment. Diurnal variations of the trace gases were studied in an urban environment. Except in the urban industrial environment, the concentration of NH₃ was found in the range of background values. Also, the average concentrations of NO₂ and O₃ at the different environments were in the order of background values. However, the concentrations of SO₂ were substantially higher by about 7 times, in urban industrial and thermal power plant environments. The diurnal variations of SO₂, NH₃ and NO₂ showed anitphase relationship with surface temperature at the urban environment station which is relatively free of industrial pollution. Discussion is centred on trace gas variations in different environments in India together with the values reported for various countries in the world.     

Applied volcanology in geothermal exploration in Iceland

In an active spreading area like Iceland, where the regional geothermal gradient is in the range 50–150°C/km, it is normally not a problem to find high enough temperature with deep drilling, but the difficulties arise with finding permeable layers at depth within the strata. Various volcanological methods can be applied in the search for aquifers and geothermal reservoir rocks. The flow pattern (as deduced from deuterium studies) indicates that the thermal water flows preferentially along high porosity stratiform horizons and dyke swarms from the recharge areas in the highlands to the hot spring areas in the lowlands. The primary porosity of the volcanic strata is dependent on the chemical composition and the mode of eruption of the volcanic units. Both the reservoir rocks and the flow channels forming the geothermal plumbing system are thought to vary from the Tertiary to the Quaternary provinces due to environmental conditions at the eruptive sites.     

TritiogenicHe in groundwater in Takaoka

³He/⁴He ratios up to 3.5 times the ratio of atmospheric He were found in groundwater samples. The³He enrichment can be attributed to radiogenic³He produced by in-situ beta-decay of³H. This shows that tritiogenic³He is accumulating in confined waters. From tritiogenic³He and³H concentrations, ages of groundwaters can be calculated. Detection of tritiogenic³He gives a tool to trace a tritium contamination which occurred in the past and cannot be assessed only by the³H counting method.     

2008年云南地震灾害概况

列出了2008年云南省破坏性地震目录.在此基础上,结合云南省地震局的地震灾害评估资料,总结了2008年云南地震灾害的主要数据和特性.最后列出1990～2008年云南地震灾害的相应数据,并进行了简要对比.     

2007年中国大陆地震灾害损失述评

在列出2007年中国5级以上地震目录的基础上,结合有关省(自治区、直辖市)地震局的地震灾害评估资料,总结出2007年中国大陆地震灾害的主要数据和特性。最后列出1990—2007年中国大陆地震灾害的相应数据,并进行了简要的比较。     

Projected changes in flood indices in selected catchments in Poland in the 21st century

The aim of this study is to estimate likely changes in flood indices under a future climate and to assess the uncertainty in these estimates for selected catchments in Poland. Precipitation and temperature time series from climate simulations from the EURO-CORDEX initiative for the periods 1971–2000, 2021–2050 and 2071–2100 following the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios have been used to produce hydrological simulations based on the HBV hydrological model. As the climate model outputs for Poland are highly biased, post processing in the form of bias correction was first performed so that the climate time series could be applied in hydrological simulations at a catchment-scale. The results indicate that bias correction significantly improves flow simulations and estimated flood indices based on comparisons with simulations from observed climate data for the control period. The estimated changes in the mean annual flood and in flood quantiles under a future climate indicate a large spread in the estimates both within and between the catchments. An ANOVA analysis was used to assess the relative contributions of the 2 emission scenarios, the 7 climate models and the 4 bias correction methods to the total spread in the projected changes in extreme river flow indices for each catchment. The analysis indicates that the differences between climate models generally make the largest contribution to the spread in the ensemble of the three factors considered. The results for bias corrected data show small differences between the four bias correction methods considered, and, in contrast with the results for uncorrected simulations, project increases in flood indices for most catchments under a future climate.     

冬季亚洲中强震与夏季我国东部主雨带的准同纬性

根据1954～2003年50年亚洲中强震与我国地温资料，分析了冬季震中纬度—震涡中心纬度—冬季我国东部强地热涡中心纬度—夏季我国东部主雨带纬度4者之间的相互关系，发现冬季中强震与夏季主雨带之间具有较好的准同纬性. 这是每年汛期降水预报的一个指标. 文中也讨论了应用此预报指标时的一些特例.     

Advances in ground motion studies in China

This paper briefly summarizes the works in the processing of strong ground motion data, the factors affecting strong ground motion, the modeling of strong ground motion and the calculating of broad-band response spectrum which have been done recent years by engineering seismologists and seismologists of China. In addition, we think back to the international cooperation in strong ground motion of the recent years and make some expectations for the future.     

Changes in rainfall and relative humidity in river basins in northwest and central India

Seasonal and annual trends of changes in rainfall, rainy days, heaviest rain and relative humidity have been studied over the last century for nine different river basins in northwest and central India. The majority of river basins have shown increasing trends both in annual rainfall and relative humidity. The magnitude of increased rainfall for considered river basins varied from 2–19% of mean per 100 years. The maximum increase in rainfall is observed in the Indus (lower) followed by the Tapi river basin. Seasonal analysis shows maximum increase in rainfall in the post‐monsoon season followed by the pre‐monsoon season. There were least variations in the monsoon rainfall during the last century and winter rainfall has shown a decreasing trend. Most of the river basins have experienced decreasing trends in annual rainy days with a maximum decrease in the Mahanadi basin. The heaviest rain of the year has increased from 9–27 mm per 100 years over different river basins with a maximum of 27 mm for the Brahamani and Subaranrekha river basins. A combination of increase in heaviest rainfall and reduction in the number of rainy days suggest the possibility of increasing severity of floods. Such information is useful in the planning, development and management of water resources in the study area. Further, the majority of river basins have also experienced an increasing trend in relative humidity both on seasonal and annual scales. An increase in annual mean relative humidity for six river basins has been found in the range of 1–18% of mean per 100 years, while a decrease for three river basins from ? 1 to ? 13% of mean per 100 years was observed, providing a net increase in the study area by 2·4% of mean per 100 years. It is understood that an increase in areal extent of vegetation cover as well as rainfall over the last century has increased the moisture in the atmosphere through enhanced evapotranspiration, which in turn has increased the relative humidity. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid hydrocarbon accumulation mechanism in later period in Kelasu thrust belt in Kuqa depression

Based on the analyses of generation, migration and accumulation of oil and gas in the structures of Kela 1, Kela 2 and Kela 3 in Kasangtuokai anticlinal belt using a series of geological and geochemical evidence, this paper proposes that the rapid rate of hydrocarbon generation, main drain path for over-pressured fluid flow and converging conduit system are indispensable conditions for the rapid, late-stage gas accumulation in the Kelasu thrust belt in the Kuqa depression. Due to structural over-lapping and the resultant rapid burial, the maturity of the source rocks had been increased rapidly from 1.3 to 2.5% Ro within 2.3 Ma, with an average rate of Ro increase up to 0.539% Ro/Ma. The rapid matura-tion of the source rocks had provided sufficient gases for late-stage gas accumulation. The kelasu structural belt has a variety of faults, but only the fault that related with fault propagation fold and cut through the gypsiferous mudstone cap could act as the main path for overpressured fluid release and then for fast gas accumulation in low fluid potential area. All the evidence from surface structure map, seismic profile explanation, authigenic kaolinite and reservoir property demonstrates that the main drain path related with faults for overpressured fluid and the converging conduit system are the key point for the formation of the giant Kela 2 gas field. By contrast, the Kela 1 and Kela 3 structures lo-cated on both sides of Kela 2 structure, are not favourable for gas accumulation due to lacking con-verging conduit system.     

我国油气开发监测技术进展

文章介绍了油气开发中主要关心的油气藏、井场设备及套管的监测技术和运用效果，油气藏监测主要是剩余油和油藏储藏物性的监测，套损直接影响油、水井的使用寿命、油、气产量和注水效果，井场设备运行的好坏直接关系油、气产量和注水效果，输油（注水）管道泄漏造成资源的浪费、人身伤害和环境污染事故.通过地球物理、地球化学及油气藏工程等检测和监测技术认识油气藏流体分布、性质、运动状态，评价套管、管线及井场设备的健康状况，为油田优化开发方案的制定、管理及实施提供依据.     

2600年以来台湾大鬼湖中的金属通量

Sediment cores were collected from the remote subalpine Great Ghost Lake in southern Taiwan. Because the lake is anoxic the sediments are well preserved, distinctive past variations can be dated accurately. The vertical distributions of total and acid-leached metal concentrations for aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, cerium, chromium, cesium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, nickel, lead, rubidium, strontium, vanadium and zinc are measured and the fluxes determined. The dates of higher fluxes in the past 2600 years seem to correlate with dry spells. Further, trace metal fluxes show a large increase but Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios show a large decrease since 1950, suggesting a significant anthropogenic input.     

Changes in complex resistivity during creep in granite

A sample of Westerly granite was deformed under constant stress conditions: a pore pressure of 5 MPa, a confining pressure of 10 MPa, and an axial load of 170 MPa. Pore volume changes were determined by measuring the volume of pore fluid (0.01M KCl_aq) injected into the sample. After 6 days of creep, characterized by accelerating volumetric stain, the sample failed along a macroscopic fault. Measurements of complex resistivity over the frequency range 0.001–300 Hz, taken at various times during creep, showed a gradual increase in both conductivity and permittivity. When analysed in terms of standard induced polarization (IP) techniques, the changing complex resistivity resulted in systematic changes in such parameters as percent frequency effect and chargeability. These results suggest that it may be possible to monitor the development of dilatancy in the source region of an impending earthquake through standard IP techniques.     

Sediment settling in the Latian Dam in Iran

Among the difficulties that influence future dam operations,reservoir sedimentation is the most problematic for engineers.This study predicted the amount and pattern of sedimentation for use in estimation of the useful lifespan of reservoirs and identification of optimal locations for outlets and intakes at the initial stages of dam design.Hydrographic surveys of different dams can provide better insight into this phenomenon.Latian Dam in Iran has conducted hydrographic surveys during 7 time periods.The amount and process of sedimentation in this reservoir were determined,and predictions of distribution of sediments were validated by well-known,common methods.The formation of a delta in the reservoir was investigated for different time periods after operation.Future problems due to the impacts of sedimentation on dam operation and the useful lifespan of the reservoir were predicted.In addition,the study results may be used for developing empirical methods to predict sedimentation patterns in other reservoirs.     

太湖水体氮素污染状况研究进展

氮是引起湖泊富营养化的关键要素之一.传统观点认为氮缺乏时,湖泊生态系统可以通过生物固氮作用从大气中获取氮来满足自身的需求,因此认为淡水湖泊水体的生产力主要受磷限制.但随着进一步的研究,发现氮限制与氮和磷共同限制更为普遍,且氮的限制常常伴随着水体的富营养化,因此了解富营养化湖泊水体的氮素污染状况具有重要意义.本文介绍了太湖水体氮素的污染状况及其发展趋势,从外源、内源两大方面介绍了太湖水体中氮素的来源,着重分析和比较了河道输入、大气输入以及沉积物释放不同污染源的输入比例.太湖水体氮素污染存在很大的空间差异,其中西部和北部污染较重而东南部相对较轻,入湖河道输入的外源污染是造成太湖水质空间分布差异的主要原因,其中农业面源污染及生活污染在太湖外源污染中占据了相当的比重;湖泊底泥所造成的内源释放也是氮素污染的一个重要原因,但目前对释放量的估算主要是基于底泥悬浮引起的总量估算,关于这些释放量能有多少比例可以被浮游植物利用还不清楚,尤其是有机颗粒物在水体中停留期间的矿化再生值得进一步研究;在氮素的生物转化过程中,生物固氮目前对太湖氮素输入的贡献很小,反硝化作用是太湖水体氮素自净的主要途径.     

Spatial and temporal variations in rainfall characteristics in mountainous and lowland areas in Taiwan

Although changes in rainfall characteristics have been noted across the world, few studies have reported those in mountainous areas. This study was undertaken to clarify spatial and temporal variations in rainfall characteristics such as annual rainfall amount (Pr), mean daily rainfall intensity (η), and ratio of rain days (λ) in mountainous and lowland areas in Taiwan. To this aim, we examined spatial and year‐to‐year variations and marginal long‐term trends in Pr, η, and λ, based on rainfall data from 120 stations during the period 1978–2008. The period mean rainfall () at the lowland stations had strong relationships with the period mean daily rainfall intensity () and the period mean ratio of rain days () during those 31 years. Meanwhile, was only strongly related to at mountainous stations, indicating that influences on spatial variations in were different between lowland and mountainous stations. Year‐to‐year variations in Pr at each station were primarily determined from the variation in η at most stations for both lowland and mountainous stations. Long‐term trend analysis showed that Pr and η increased significantly at 10% and 31% of the total 120 stations, respectively, and λ decreased significantly at 6% of the total. The increases in Pr were mostly accompanied by increases in η. Although stations with significant η increases were slightly biased toward the western lowland area, increases or decreases in Pr and λ were not common. These results contribute to understanding the impacts of possible climate changes on terrestrial hydrological cycles. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.