Nuclear field shift effects on stable isotope fractionation: a review

An anomalous isotope effect exists in many heavy element isotope systems (e.g., Sr, Gd, Zn, U). This effect used to be called the “odd–even isotope effect” because the odd mass number isotopes behave differently from the even mass number isotopes. This mass-independent isotope fractionation driving force, which originates from the difference in the ground-state electronic energies caused by differences in nuclear size and shape, is currently denoted as the nuclear field shift effect (NFSE). It is found that the NFSE can drive isotope fractionation of some heavy elements (e.g., Hg, Tl, U) to an astonishing degree, far more than the magnitude caused by the conventional mass-dependent effect (MDE). For light elements, the MDE is the dominant factor in isotope fractionation, while the NFSE is neglectable. Furthermore, the MDE and the NFSE both decrease as temperatures increase, though at different rates. The MDE decreases rapidly with a factor of 1/T², while the NFSE decreases slowly with a factor of 1/T. As a result, even at high temperatures, the NFSE is still significant for many heavy element isotope systems. In this review paper, we begin with an introduction of the basic concept of the NSFE, including its history and recent progress, and follow with the potential implications of the inclusion of the NFSE into the kinetic isotope fractionation effect (KIE) and heavy isotope geochronology.     

Review on Montane Forest Eco-hydrology in Arid Area

Since the forest eco-hydrology of arid area shows a well sensitivity of the global climate change, the relationship between forest and water and the hydrological function has attracted the attention of academic communites and management departments. This paper expounds the research progress in arid mountain forest eco-hydrology, and analyses the formation and stable mechanism of forest patch pattern, the relationship between forest and water yield and the response of forest eco-hydrology to climate change from three aspects: Forest spatial pattern, hydrological process and its response to climate change. In addition, combined with the current research progress, the research emphases in the future are put forward: Strengthening the research on the coupling of vegetation pattern and hydrological process; solving the scale problem by using remote sensing technique and model; enhancing the understanding towards the hydrological function of forest; determining the suitable forest scale which can balance the relationship of ecology and hydrological effect.     

Application of ICTs in Airspace Management and Collaborative Decision-Making—Analyzing the Risk Avoidance in the Condition of Risky Weather as an Example

The application of ICTs makes structural change of the development and effective utilization of airspace. Next generation air transportation system (NextGen) includes new automation concepts with automated information to support the traffic control decision-making. As a result, in the field of academia and industry, air traffic controllers integrate information automatically while making decisions to change the previous manually integrated and decided pattern. The safety ability of airspace is reduced and airspace system is endangered under risky weather conditions of airspace. So there is an urgent demand for new information and communication technologies. The paper is an overview of the information constitution and support of NextGen and provides the study of the development of technique of airspace collaborative decision-makings to confirm the new features based on ICTs. It contains basic application-the input of data and output of the routes of airspace management and collaborative decision-making, and general application-the choose of probability nets of avoiding risky weather, and special application-the affection in the management of the air routes, which are made up of position and direction. The research shows the accurate schedule characteristics of airspace management and collaborative decision-making based on ICTs, which made the space accurate by time accurate. Second, the visualization of airspace management and collaborative decision-making based on ICTs made the maps of flight path under mobile data quickly generated. This could make the fully development and utilization of national airspace, ensure safety, and reduce air traffic controllers’ workload and the costs in delaying and operating in risky weather.     

大凌河河口地区晚更新世晚期以来的沉积环境演化

对大凌河河口地区ZK3钻孔(孔深36.7 m)岩心开展粒度分析、AMS14C年代测定、有孔虫鉴定分析等综合研究,同时结合该地区5口工程钻孔的岩心以及部分测年资料,初步建立了大凌河河口地区晚更新世晚期以来典型的地层序列格架和时空对比框架,揭示该地区晚更新世晚期以来河道-湖沼-滨海/河口湾-浅海-三角洲的沉积演化过程。研究结果表明:大凌河河口地区在8 500 cal a BP前后开始接受海相沉积,并约在4 000 cal a BP之后进入三角洲沉积阶段;晚更新世晚期以来的海平面变化是大凌河河口沉积演化和沉积环境演变的主要控制因素;大凌河对现代辽河三角洲的形成和演化过程可能有较重要的影响。     

Depth classification of underwater targets based on complex acoustic intensity of normal modes

In order to solve the problem of depth classification of the underwater target in a very low frequency acoustic field, the active component of cross spectra of particle pressure and horizontal velocity (ACCSPPHV) is adopted to distinguish the surface vessel and the underwater target. According to the effective depth of a Pekeris waveguide, the placing depth forecasting equations of passive vertical double vector hydrophones are proposed. Numerical examples show that when the sum of depths of two hydrophones is the effective depth, the sign distribution of ACCSPPHV has nothing to do with horizontal distance; in addition, the sum of the first critical surface and the second critical surface is equal to the effective depth. By setting the first critical surface less than the difference between the effective water depth and the actual water depth, that is, the second critical surface is greater than the actual depth, the three positive and negative regions of the whole ocean volume are equivalent to two positive and negative regions and therefore the depth classification of the underwater target is obtained. Besides, when the 20 m water depth is taken as the first critical surface in the simulation of underwater targets (40 Hz, 50 Hz, and 60 Hz respectively), the effectiveness of the algorithm and the correctness of relevant conclusions are verified, and the analysis of the corresponding forecasting performance is conducted.     

Characterizing groundwater/surface-water interactions in the interior of Jianghan Plain,central China

Hydrogeology Journal - Quantifying groundwater/surface-water interactions is essential for managing water resources and revealing contaminant fate. There has been little concern on the exchange...     

Prediction of open stope hangingwall stability using random forests

Natural Hazards - The prediction of open stope hangingwall (HW) stability is a crucial task for underground mines. In this paper, a relatively novel technique, the random forest (RF) algorithm, is...