Zircon U–Pb age, trace element and Hf isotope composition of Kongling terrane in the Yangtze Craton: refining the timing of Palaeoproterozoic high-grade metamorphism

U–Pb age, trace element and Hf isotope compositions of zircon were analysed for a metasedimentary rock and two amphibolites from the Kongling terrane in the northern part of the Yangtze Craton. The zircon shows distinct morphological and chemical characteristics. Most zircon in an amphibolite shows oscillatory zoning, high Th/U and ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios, high formation temperature, high trace element contents, clear negative Eu anomaly, as well as HREE-enriched patterns, suggesting that it is igneous. The zircon yields a weighted mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age of 2857 ± 8 Ma, representing the age of the magmatic protolith. The zircon in the other two samples is metamorphic. It has low Th/U ratios, low trace element concentrations, variable HREE contents (33.8 ≥ Lu_N≥2213; 14.7 ≤ Lu_N/Sm_N ≤ 354) and ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios (0.000030–0.001168). The data indicate that the zircon formed in the presence of garnet and under upper amphibolite facies conditions. The metamorphic zircon yields a weighted mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age of 2010 ± 13 Ma. These results combined with previously obtained Palaeoproterozoic metamorphic ages suggest a c. 2.0 Ga Palaeoproterozoic collisional event in the Yangtze Craton, which may result from the assembly of the supercontinent Columbia. The zircon in two samples yields weighted mean two-stage Hf model ( T _DM2) ages of 3217 ± 110 and 2943 ± 50 Ma, respectively, indicating that their protoliths were mainly derived from Archean crust.     

Effect of spatial variation characteristics on contouring of design storm depth

The ordinary kriging method, a geostatistical interpolation technique, was applied for developing contour maps of design storm depth in northern Taiwan using intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) data. Results of variogram modelling on design storm depths indicate that the design storms can be categorized into two distinct storm types: (i) storms of short duration and high spatial variation and (ii) storms of long duration and less spatial variation. For storms of the first category, the influence range of rainfall depth decreases when the recurrence interval increases, owing to the increasing degree of their spatial independence. However, for storms of the second category, the influence range of rainfall depth does not change significantly and has an average of approximately 72 km. For very extreme events, such as events of short duration and long recurrence interval, we do not recommend usage of the established design storm contours, because most of the interstation distances exceed the influence ranges. Our study concludes that the influence range of the design storm depth is dependent on the design duration and recurrence interval and is a key factor in developing design storm contours. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HEMISPHERIC POLAR LOWS——A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Northern Hemispheric“polar lows”,i.e.maritime,small,but fairly intense cyclonic systems have been studied formore than two decades.Recently researchers have turned their attention towards the occurrence of polar lows and othersmall-scale cyclonic disturbances on the Southern Hemisphere.In this paper a short account of our present knowledgeof Northern Hemispheric polar lows will be given,followed by some preliminary results of an investigation of the natureand occurrence of polar lows on the Southern Hemisphere.     

Influence of soft clays on the response spectra for structures in eastern Canada

The 1990 edition of the National Building Code of Canada (Associate Committee of the National Building Code, National Research Council, Ottawa, 1990) makes a clear distinction between eastern and western Canada in terms of seismic acceleration and velocity zones. While it is well established that ground motions can be amplified significantly through loose clay deposits, no results are available that take into consideration the typical high frequency content of ground motions in eastern Canada. This paper develops ground amplification curves for clays having depths between 10 and 70 m excited by typical eastern Canadian ground motions scaled to two different values of peak horizontal accelerations. Simplified free-field spectral design curves, which could be used by structural designers, are proposed. The curves show that maximum spectral accelerations occur for structural periods between 0.2 and 0.5 s. In addition, soil depth does not appear to be an important parameter controlling the response of typical clay deposits in eastern Canada.     

PROPAGATION OF 30—60 DAY LOW FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS AND THEIR INFLUENCE UPON THE SUBTROPICAL WESTERLIES JET STREAM DURING NORTHERN HEMISPHERE WINTER

Based on daily ECMWF gridpoint data of two winters during 1981—1983 including an ENSOyear,propagation of low frequency oscillations(LFO)during Northern Hemisphere winters andtheir influences upon 30—60 day oscillations of the subtropical jet stream are studied with the sta-tistical methods as complex empirical orthogonal function(CEOF)and so on.Results show that inthe winter of a normal year(1981—1982),30—60 day oscillations in the subtropical zone aremainly in the northern and southern flanks of exit region of jet stream.In the ENSO year(1982—1983),they are mainly in the vicinity of entrance and exit regions of jet stream.Intraseasonalchanges of subtropical jet stream manifested themselves as latitudinal fluctuation or longitudinalprogression or regression of about 40 day period.There are marked differences between propagat-ing passages of low frequency modes responsible for changes of subtropical jet stream in the normalyear(1981—1982)and in the ENSO year(1982—1983).Changes of oscillation amplitude showobvious phases.In general,the one in late winter is stronger than that in early winter,strongestone occurs in February.     

大气层对GPS信号传播影响的规律之探讨──关于广州地区大气层对GPS系统定位定时影响问题研究之二

大气层对ＧＰＳ信号的传播有时间延迟作用，时廷将影响ＧＰＳ系统的定位和定时精度，且随气象因素的变化而变化．本文根据３年有关的气象资料，采用大气指数模型分析了广州地区大气层随昼夜变化、季节变化和太阳活动变化对ＧＰＳ信号传播时延影响的变化规律．分析得知，在信号垂直传播时，大气层对ＧＰＳ信号传播的影响，用距离表示．最大时为２．６９１ｍ，最小时也会产生１．９９３ｍ的误差；如果信号斜传播，误差因仰角因素将更大．