Study of the ionospheric TEC using GPS during the large solar flare burst on Nov. 6, 1997

Using the data from 15 global positioning system (GPS) stations scattered between 28° N—45° N and 90° W—77° E we obtained the total electron content (TEC) variations with time during a large solar flare. The results indicated that the flare makes the TEC of ionosphere increasing in a large spatial area. The amounts of the TEC enhancement are mainly determined by the local time of subionospheric point, and the largest TEC enhancement is about 2.5 TECU. It is also concluded that the TEC enhancement is not symmetrical about the local noon time, the TEC enhancement values during morning hours are larger than those of the afternoon hours.     

Sunlit boundary ionospheric response to the great flare on Oct. 28, 2003

The sudden increase in X-ray and EUV flux duringthe outburst of a large flare greatly elevate the electrondensity of the ionosphere, causing sudden ionosphericdisturbances (SIDs), such as sudden wave fadeout (SFD),sudden phase anomaly (SPA), sudden frequency deviation(SFD) and sudden increase in total electron content(SITEC)[1—4]. Two review articles addressed SIDs in detailrecently[5,6]. Due to the limitation of observing methods,the global ionospheric morphology during solar flares…     

Reconstructing temperature change in Central East China during 601–920 AD

Using historical records on first and last frost and snow, spring cultivation, David peach blossom, autumn crop harvest, grade of sea freeze and change in northern citrus boundary, we reconstructed temperature change during 601–920 AD. The mean temperature of the winter half-year (October to April) over Central East China during this period was about −0.22°C higher than that of the present (1961–2000 AD mean). During 601–820 AD, mean temperature was about −0.52°C higher than the present. During 821–920 AD, the mean temperature was 0.42°C lower than the present. The temperature fluctuations were characterized by a maximum amplitude of 1.05°C at the centennial scale, 1.38°C at the 50–year scale, 2.02°C at the 30-year scale, and 2.3°C at the 20-year scale. There were four peaks warmer than today (601–620 AD, mean of 1°C higher temperature; 641–660 AD, 1.44°C; 701–720 AD, 0.88°C; 781–800 AD, 0.65°C). Three cold periods were in 741–760, 821–840, and 881–900 AD, the mean temperature of which was 0.37–0.87°C lower than the present.     

Performance analysis of a 3D ionosphere tomographic model

A 3D high precision ionospheric model is developed based on tomography technique. This tomographic model employs GPS data observed by an operational network of dual-frequency GPS receivers. The methodology of developing a 3D ionospheric tomography model is briefly summarized. However emphasis is put on the analysis and evaluation of the accuracy variation of 3D ionosphere modeling with respect to the change of GPS data cutoff angle.Three typical cutoff angle values (15°, 20° and 25°) are tested. For each testing cutoff angle, the performances of the3D ionospheric model constructed using tomography technique are assessed by calibrating the model predicted ionospheric TEC with the GPS measured TEC and by employing the model predicted TEC to a practical GPS positioning application single point positioning (SPP).Test results indicate the 3D model predicted VTEC has about 0.4 TECU improvement in accuracy when cutoff angle rises from 15° to 20°. However, no apparent improvement is found from 20° to 25°. The model's improvement is also validated by the better SPP accuracy of 3D model than its counterpart-dual frequency model in the 20° and 25° cases.     

Preparation of semi-solid aluminum alloy slurry poured through a water-cooled serpentine channel

A water-cooled serpentine channel pouring process was invented to produce semi-solid A356 aluminum alloy slurry for rheocasting, and the effects of pouring temperature and circulating cooling water flux on the microstructure of the slurry were investigated. The results show that at the pouring temperature of 640-680℃ and the circulating cooling water flux of 0.9 m3/h, the semi-solid A356 aluminum alloy slurry with spherical primary α(Al) grains can be obtained, whose shape factors are between 0.78 and 0.86 and the grain diameter can reach 48-68 μm. When the pouring temperatures are at 660-680℃, only a very thin solidified shell remains inside the serpentine channel and can be removed easily. When the serpentine channel is cooled with circulating water, the microstructure of the semi-solid slurry can be improved, and the serpentine channel is quickly cooled to room temperature after the completion of one pouring. In terms of the productivity of the special equipment, the water-cooled serpentine channel is economical and efficient.     

Study of the ionospheric anomaly before the Wenchuan earthquake

The behavior of the ionosphere before the Wenchuan earthquake is analyzed with the global TEC and ionospheric foF2 observed at Xiamen. It can be found from TEC maps that in the afternoon (16―18LT) on May 9, 2008, 3 days before the earthquake, there is an enhancement of TEC with an amplitude of 10―15 TECU appearing in the east-south direction of Wenchuan, and another enhancement appears at the conjugate region of the Southern Hemisphere with an amplitude of 10 TECU, but no obvious in-crement or decrement can be seen in other regions on global scale. It can also be found that on May 6 (6 days before the great earthquake), there is a decrement of TEC with small amplitude of 4TECU and larger area with 80° along the longitude in southern China, and there is no synchronous decrement observed at the conjugate region of the Southern Hemisphere. There are also many anomalies ob-served by ionosondes across China. The result shows that foF2 and TEC abnormally increased, which is different from pervious results that ionospheric parameters decreased prior to earthquakes. Pre-liminary results suggest that the enhancement on May 9 maybe has a close relationship with the pos-sible enhancement of ionospheric electric fields, and it may be an ionospheric precursor of earth-quakes. Whereas the decrement on May 6 may be attributed to the geomagnetic disturbance appearing on May 5.     

A hierarchical cluster analysis of low-latitude Pc3—4 MHD waves

A hierarchical cluster analysis has been made on the geomagnetic and geoelectric data of Nagoya (ϕ=21. 1°), Japan (1978–1981, 1985, 1987) and geomagnetic data of Wuchang (ϕ=19. 1°), China (1985–1995). From the cluster diagram it is seen that the monthly mean occurrence of Pc3–4 observed at these two sites can be best grouped into 3 clusters. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Zhao Zhengyu: born in 1952, Doctor, Associate professor     

Interdecadal shift in the western North Pacific Summer SST anomaly in the late 1980s

An interdecadal shift in summer (June―August) sea surface temperature (SST) variations during the period of 1968―2002 was identified in the late 1980s, which is characterized by a phase alternating from negative to positive phases of the leading mode of the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the summer monthly mean SST in the Pacific domain 100°―180°E and 0°―40°N, accounting for 30.5% of the total variance. During the period of 1968―1987, the leading mode with a mean negative phase state (mean standard deviation = ?0.586) controlled SST variability in the western North Pacific. Correspondingly, negative SST anomalies occupied the western North Pacific south of Japan and Chinese marginal seas. During the period of 1988―2002, the leading mode shifted to its strong positive polarity (mean standard deviation = 0.781), thus positive SST anomalies appeared in the western North Pacific. Accompanied by the interdecadal shift in summer mean SST, summer mean rainfall increased in southern and southeastern China during the late period, particularly in southeastern China where increase in summer mean rainfall exceeded 40 mm, at the 0.05 significance level.     

Latitude-dependence and dispersion of the westward drift in the geomagnetic field

The main geomagnetic field models of IGRF1900---2000 are used to study the latitude-dependence of the westward drift in the main field. The results show that the latitude-dependence exists in the magnetic components with different wavelengths (m=l-10). The globai-average westward drift rate of the component of m=l is 0.189°/a with the maximum of 0.295°/a at latitudes 40°-45°. The component of m=2 has an average drift rate of 0.411°/a with the maximum of 1.305°/a at latitude -60°. As for the components with further shorter wavelengths, the drift is generally restricted in a limited latitude range, and has many smaller drift rates. This latitude-dependence of westward drift can not be explained by rigid rotation of the earth's core. The results of this note also show that there is a negative dispersion in the westward drift, namely the components of long wavelengths drift faster than those of short wavelengths.This dispersion feature is not in agreement with Hide's MHD model. It is likely needed to find a new mechanism for explaining the observed feature of dispersion.     

Hydrothermal plume anomalies along the Central Indian Ridge

Water column turbidity and temperature were investigated along the Central Indian Ridge （CIR） from 25°19＇S to 23°48＇S during a December 2005 cruise on board Chinese PJV DayangYihao. Measurements were made using NOAA＇s MAPR （Miniature Autonomous Plume Recorder） sensors during CTD casts, TV grabber operations, and tow-yo profiles, yielding the following results on hydrothermal plume anomalies： （1） Strong hydrothermal turbidity and temperature anomalies were recorded over the previously discovered Kairei （25°19.2＇S, 70°02.4＇E） and Edmond （23°52.7＇S, 69°35.8＇E） vent fields, with the plume anomalies concentrated at depths of 2150--2300 m and 2700--2900 m, respectively. The maximum height of the turbidity anomalies near the Kairei vent field recorded in December 2005 was slightly below 2100 m, which is consistent with the plume depth measured in June 2001, indicating that the Kairei plume may have maintained its buoyancy flux in the intervening 4.5 years. （2） The water column beneath the Kairei plume has background anomalies of about 0.005ANTU, whereas no such background turbidity anomalies were observed below the Edmond hydrothermal plume. （3） No visible turbidity anomalies were detected from 24°42＇S to 24°12＇S including the Knorr Seamount. Thus 24°12＇S marks the southern end of the hydrothermal plume. （4） Significant turbidity anomalies were observed at four individual sections from 24°12＇S to 23°56＇S at the depth of 2500--3000 m along the eastern rift valley wall. Whether the individual sections of anomalies are connected is still unknown due to the absence of data at the intervening gaps. If the four sections are connected with each other and are linked to the Edmond vent field farther to the north, the total along-axis length of the plume anomaly would be more than 37 km, implying a plume incidence value Ph of 0.38, greater than the predicted Ph of 0.21 --0.25 based on the spreading rate of the Central Indian Ridge.     

Hydrophobicity mechanism of non-smooth pattern on surface of butterfly wing

Twenty-nine species (24 genera, 6 families) of butterflies typical and common in northeast China were selected to make qualitative and quantitative studies on the pattern, hydrophobicity and hydrophobicity mechanism by means of scanning electron microscopy and contact angle measuring system. The scale surface is composed of submicro-class vertical gibbosities and horizontal links. The distance of scale is 48—91 μm, length 65—150 μm, and width 35—70 μm. The distance of submicro-class vertical gib-bosities on scale is 1.06—2.74 μm, height 200—900 nm, and width 200—840 nm. The better hydropho-bicity on the surface of butterfly wing (static contact angle 136.3°—156.6°) is contributed to the co-effects of micro-class scale and submicro-class vertical gibbosities on the wing surface. The Cassie equation was revised, and new mathematical models and equations were established.     

Discovery of a large area of ice-wedge networks in Ordos： Implications for the southern boundary of permafrost in the north of China as well as for the environment in the latest 20 kaBP

Deep sea deposits, ice cores and loess deposits have been used extensively and successfully, to study global climatic changes. Since permafrost is a consequence of cold climates, indicators of permafrost can also be used to reconstruct ancient climates in certain areas during certain periods. The recent discovery of large areas of ice wedge networks, and determination of their ages, have enabled us to locate the southern boundary of the permafrost that ex-isted in China about 20 thousand years…     

Cretaceous synfolding remagnetization components revealing tectonic rotation of the middle Yangtze fold belt

To reveal the deformation process of the middle Yangtze fold belt, we conducted a paleomagnetic study on Middle Triassic limestones and Middle to Late Jurassic sandstones from Wanzhou, Chongqing. Stepwise thermal and alternating field demagnetization were used to isolate the multi-component re-manent magnetizations. The Jurassic samples were overprinted by recent geomagnetic field, while three magnetization components were isolated from the Middle Triassic samples. A low temperature component (LTC) was isolated at temperatures below 200℃, an intermediate temperature component (ITC) at 200―360℃ and a high temperature component (HTC) at 400―460℃. The LTC is distributed around the present-day Earth magnetic field, probably a viscous component. Stepwise unfolding indi-cates that the maximum precision parameters of ITC and HTC components are achieved at 33±8% and 50±27% (with 95% confidence) unfolding, respectively. The best-clustered ITC mean direction, Dec = 11.2°, Inc = 45.2° (α₉₅ = 4.5°, N = 34), corresponding to a paleopole at 79.3°N, 219.5°E (d_p = 3.6°, d_m = 5.7°), is consistent with the Cretaceous reference direction of the South China Block (SCB). The best-clustered HTC mean direction (taking 70% unfolding), Dec = 24.2°, Inc =49.0° (α₉₅ = 3.6°, N = 23), corresponding to a paleopole at 69.2°N, 195.5°E (d_p =3.1°, d_m = 4.8°), suggests a clockwise rotation of 12.8°±3.5°. These synfolding remagnetization components clearly reveal that a clockwise rotation happened at the middle stage of folding, thus supporting that at least part of the variation in fold axis strikes is due to orocline rotation. Combined with published data, our analysis indicates that the Wan-zhou-Xiangxi segment of the middle Yangtze fold belt experienced oroclinal bending. Furthermore, a published post-folding component isolated from the Middle Triassic Puqi Formation suggests a 27.5°±5.8° clockwise rotation, confirming that at least 50% of the observed clockwise rotations in the eastern middle Yangtze fold belt can be attributed to oroclinal bending. The remagnetization data and geological evidence observed in the middle Yangtze fold belt suggest that collision between SCB and North China Block (NCB) probably lasted till the early period of Early Cretaceous.     

Chronology of the stratum containing the skull of the Dali Man

The field investigations of geomorphology and Quaternary sediment sequences show that the sediment stratigraphic profile containing the skull of the Homo sapiens Daliensis (Dali Man) at Tianshuigou trench, Jiefang Village (109° 44′E, 34°52′N), Dali County, Shaanxi Province, is composed of the loess-paleosol sequence, 17.3 m thick, in the upper part, and the alluvial silts, fine sands and sandy gravels interbedded, 15.4 m thick, in the lower part. There are the well developed layers L₁, S₁, L₂ and S₂ in the loess-paleosol sequence of the profile, which are comparable; to those of the Luochuan loess section on the basis of magnetic succeptibility measurements and IRSL dating of the loess samples. An alluvial gravel layer, where the skull of the Dali Man was discovered, is in 13 m beneath the bottom of paleosol S₂, implying that, the age of the Dali Man must be older than about 247 kaBP when the paleosol S₂ began to be developed. The samples of mammal animal tooth and shell fossils from the gravel layer containing the skull of the Dali Man have been dated by uranium series and ESR methods respectively. Based on the multiple dating results and the stratigraphic chronology, the age of the Dali Man, therefore, would be estimated as older than 250 kaBP and younger than 350 kaBP, and reasonably estimated as 260–300 kaBP.     

An experimental study of dehydration melting of phengite-bearing eclogite at 1.5―3.0 GPa

Dehydration melting experiments were performed on ultrahigh-pressure eclogite from Bixiling in the Dabie orogen at 1.5--3.0 GPa and 800--950℃ using piston cylinder apparatus. The results show that （1） eclogite with -5% phengite started to melt at T≤800--850℃ and P = 1.5--2.0 GPa and produced about 3% granitic melt; （2） the products of dehydration melting of phengite-bearing eclogite vary with temperature and pressure. Fluid released from dehydration of phengite and zoisite leads to partial melting of eclogite and formation of plagioclase reaction rim around kyanite at pressures of 1.5--2.0 GPa and temperatures of 800--850℃; （3） phengite reacted with omphacite and quartz and produced oligoclase, kyanite and melt at elevated temperatures. Oligoclase is the primary reaction product produced by partial melting of phengite in the eclogite; and （4） the dehydration melting of phengite-bearing eclogite at pressures of 1.5--3.0 GPa and temperatures ≥900℃ results in formation of garnets with higher molar fraction of pyrope （37.67 wt.%--45.94 wt.%）. Potassium feldspar and jadeite occur at P = 2.4--3.0 GPa and T≥900℃, indicating higher pressure and fluid-absent conditions. Our results constrain the solidus for dehydration melting of phengite-bearing eclogite at pressures of 1.5--3.0 GPa. Combining experi- mental results with field observations of partial melting in natural eclogites, we concluded that phengite-bearing eclogites from the Dabie-Sulu orogen were able to partially molten at P= 1.5--2.0 GPa and T= 800--850℃ during exhumation. The ultrahigh-high pressure eclogites would have experienced partial melting in association with metamorphic phase transformation under different fluid conditions.     

New Early Triassic paleomagnetic data from Huangben section, Guangdong and its tectonic implications

Continent China is composed of several blocks of variable sizes during different geological times, inwhich South China Block is composed of three tectonic units: Yangtze Block, Jiangnan Fold Belt and Southeast China Coastal Fold Belt (Fig. 1(a)), the last…     

A comparative study on 3-D solar wind structure observed by Ulysses and MHD simulation

Ulysses, which was a joint NASA/ESA probe to studythe sun and launched in October of 1990, has been thefirst spacecraft to explore the high latitudinal regions ofheliosphere till now[1]. One of its main scientific purposeswas to observe the latitudinal structures of solar wind pa-rameters, such as velocity, density, mass flux, magneticfield, etc.[1―4]. During its first rapid pole-to-pole transitcovering heliographic latitudes of ±80° from September of1994 to June of 1995, Ulysses observ…     

Latitudinal shift and tilt of the ring current during magnetic storms

The equatorial ring current (ERC) theory suggested that the distribution of global disturbed horizontal geomagnetic field only depends on the cosine of station’s latitude. However, we always observe a larger ΔH at higher latitude stations than lower ones, implying that the ERC could tilt or/and shift with respect to the equatorial plane during intense storms. In this paper, we analyze 11 intense magnetic storms from 2000 to 2004, and introduce two configurational factors to characterize the topology of storm time ring current. The results show that ERC has occasionally deviated off equatorial plane with both tilt angle δ_t≈13°―25° and latitude shift δ_s≈0°―21.8°. The ground disturbed field distribution should be improved as ΔH_k = ΔH_maxcos(φ_k-δ ), which agree well with the geomagnetic observations.     

Variations in equilibrium line altitude of the Qiyi Glacier,Qilian Mountains,over the past 50 years

Based on observations of the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of the Qiyi Glacier in the Qilian Mountain, we established a statistical model between ELA and its major influencing factors, warm season air temperature (air temperature averages for September, July and August) and cold season precipitation (total precipitation in the period January through March). Warm season air temperature was the leading climatic factor influencing ELA variations. The glacier ELA ascends (descends) 172 m when warm season air temperature increases (decreases) by 1°C, and ascends (descends) 62 m when cold season precipitation decreases (increases) by 10%. In the period 1958–2008, the glacier ELA showed a general increasing trend, ascending 230 m and reaching its highest altitude in 2006 at 5131 m a.s.l., close to the glacier summit. If future climate is similar to that in the period 2001–2008, the Qiyi Glacier will not stabilize until it retreats by 2.08 km.     

Barrier layer in the northeastern South China Sea and its formation mechanism

A VERTICALLY UNIFORM LAYER OF TEMPERATURE(ISOTHERMAL LAYER),SALINITY(ISOHALINE LAYER)AND DENSITY(MIXED LAYER)IS USUALLY FORMED IN THE UPPER OCEAN DUE TO THE WIND STIRRING.UNDERNEATH IS THE LAYER WITH RELATIVELY STRONG VERTICAL GRADIENT AS THE THERMOCLINE,…