The Rock of Gibraltar re‐visited     

Edward P.F. Rose 《Geology Today》2016,32(3):99-106

Gibraltar, a 6km² peninsula jutting south from Spain at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, is dominated by its 424 m‐high Rock: famous as a landmark to seafarers since ancient times. Twenty‐five years ago, an article in Geology Today (1991, v.7, pp.95–101) interpreted the Rock as a partly overturned mass of Early Jurassic dolomitic limestone, thrust into position during continent–continent collision about 15–20 million years before present and shaped finally by shoreline processes active during Quaternary tectonic uplift. Later articles featured the complex of tunnels and chambers excavated between 1782 and 1968 by British military engineers within its 2.6 km‐long main ridge (1992, v.8, pp.92–98), and the Neanderthals known to have used some of its caves (1997, v.13, pp.179–184). Significant aspects of the Rock's geological history have clarified since then.  相似文献   

Recent progress on combining geomorphological and geochronological data with ice sheet modelling,demonstrated using the last British–Irish Ice Sheet     

Jeremy C. Ely  Chris D. Clark  Richard C. A. Hindmarsh  Anna L. C. Hughes  Sarah L. Greenwood  Sarah L. Bradley  Edward Gasson  Lauren Gregoire  Niall Gandy  Chris R. Stokes  David Small 《第四纪科学杂志》2021,36(5):946-960

Palaeo-ice sheets are important analogues for understanding contemporary ice sheets, offering a record of ice sheet behaviour that spans millennia. There are two main approaches to reconstructing palaeo-ice sheets. Empirical reconstructions use the available glacial geological and chronological evidence to estimate ice sheet extent and dynamics but lack direct consideration of ice physics. In contrast, numerically modelled simulations implement ice physics, but often lack direct quantitative comparison with empirical evidence. Despite being long identified as a fruitful scientific endeavour, few ice sheet reconstructions attempt to reconcile the empirical and model-based approaches. To achieve this goal, model-data comparison procedures are required. Here, we compare three numerically modelled simulations of the former British–Irish Ice Sheet with the following lines of evidence: (a) position and shape of former margin positions, recorded by moraines; (b) former ice-flow direction and flow-switching, recorded by flowsets of subglacial bedforms; and (c) the timing of ice-free conditions, recorded by geochronological data. These model–data comparisons provide a useful framework for quantifying the degree of fit between numerical model simulations and empirical constraints. Such tools are vital for reconciling numerical modelling and empirical evidence, the combination of which will lead to more robust palaeo-ice sheet reconstructions with greater explicative and ultimately predictive power.  相似文献   

Engagement in the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment: commitment,capacity, and communication for impact     

Emily Cloyd  Susanne C. Moser  Edward Maibach  Julie Maldonado  Tinqiao Chen 《Climatic change》2016,136(1):39-55

This paper examines the dynamics of energy investments and clean energy Research and Development (R&D) using a scenario-based modeling approach. Starting from the global scenarios proposed in the RoSE model ensemble experiment, we analyze the dynamics of investments under different assumptions regarding economic and population growth as well as availability of fossil fuel resources, in the absence of a climate policy. Our analysis indicates that economic growth and the speed of income convergence across countries matters for improvements in energy efficiency, both via dedicated R&D investments but mostly through capital-energy substitution. In contrast, fossil fuel prices, by changing the relative competitiveness of energy sources, create an economic opportunity for radical innovation in the energy sector. Indeed, our results suggest that fossil fuel availability is the key driver of investments in low carbon energy innovation. However, this innovation, by itself, is not sufficient to induce emission reductions compatible with climate stabilization objectives.  相似文献   

Development of large‐scale seismites in Upper Cretaceous fluvial sandstones in a fault‐proximal setting          下载免费PDF全文

Michael C. Wizevich  Edward L. Simpson  Hannah L. Hilbert‐Wolf  Sarah E. Tindall 《Sedimentology》2016,63(6):1719-1738

Large‐scale soft‐sediment deformation structures occur within fluvial sandstone bodies of the Upper Cretaceous Wahweap Formation in the Kaiparowits basin, southern Utah, USA. These structures represent an exceptional example of metre‐scale fault‐proximal, seismogenic load structures in nearly homogenous sandstones. The load structures consist of two types: large‐scale load casts and wedge‐shaped load structures. Large‐scale load casts penetrate up to 4·5 m into the underlying sandstone bed. Wedge‐shaped load structures include metre‐scale, parallel, sub‐vertical features and decimetre‐scale features along the periphery of the large‐scale load casts or other wedge‐shaped load structures. Wedge‐shaped load structures contain well‐developed, medial cataclastic shear deformation bands. All load structures contain pervasive well‐defined millimetre‐thick to centimetre‐thick internal laminae, oriented parallel to the outside form of the load structures and asymptotic to deformation bands. Both types of load structures formed because of an inverted density profile, earthquake‐triggered liquefaction and growth of irregularities (a Rayleigh–Taylor instability) on the sandstone–sandstone erosional contact. The internal laminae and deformation bands formed during deformation and clearly demonstrate polyphase deformation, recording a transition from liquefied to hydroplastic to brittle modes of deformation. Decimetre‐scale wedge‐shaped load structures on the edge of the large‐scale load casts probably formed towards the end of a seismic event after the sediment dewatered and increased the frictional contact of grains enough to impart strength to the sands. Metre‐scale wedge‐shaped load structures were created as the tips of downward foundering sediments were driven into fractures, which widened incrementally with seismic pulsation. With each widening of the fracture, gravity and a suction effect would draw additional sediment into the fracture. Superimposed laminae indicate a secondary syndeformational origin for internal laminae, probably by flow‐generated shearing and vibrofluidization mechanisms. Large‐scale and wedge‐shaped load structures, polyphase deformation and secondary laminae may characterize soft‐sediment deformation in certain fault‐proximal settings.  相似文献   

Searching for Added Value in Simulating Climate Extremes with a High-Resolution Regional Climate Model over Western Canada     

Charles L. Curry  Bárbara Tencer  Kirien Whan  Andrew J. Weaver  Michel Giguère  Edward Wiebe 《大气与海洋》2016,54(4):364-384

We evaluate the capacity of a regional climate model to represent observed extreme temperature and precipitation events and also examine the impact of increased resolution, in an effort to identify added value in this respect. Two climate simulations of western Canada (WCan) were conducted with the Canadian Regional Climate Model (version 4) at 15 (CRCM15) and 45?km (CRCM45) horizontal resolution driven at the lateral boundaries by data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40-year Reanalysis (ERA-40) for the period 1973–1995. The simulations were evaluated using the spline-interpolated dataset ANUSPLIN, a daily observational gridded surface temperature and precipitation product with a nominal resolution of approximately 10?km. We examine a range of climate extremes, comprising the 10th and 90th percentiles of daily maximum (TX) and minimum (TN) temperatures, the 90th percentile of daily precipitation (PR90), and the 27 core Climate Daily Extremes (CLIMDEX) indices.

Both simulations exhibit cold biases compared with observations over WCan, with the bias exacerbated at higher resolution, suggesting little added value for temperature overall. There are instances, however, of regional improvement in the spatial pattern of temperature extremes at the higher resolution of CRCM15 (e.g., the CLIMDEX index for the annual number of days when TX?>?25°C). The high-resolution simulations also reveal similarly localized features in precipitation (e.g., rain shadows) that are not resolved at the 45?km resolution. With regard to precipitation extremes, although both simulations generally display wet biases, CRCM15 features a reduced bias in PR90 in all seasons except winter. This improvement occurs despite the fact that spatial and interannual variability of PR90 in CRCM15 is significantly overestimated relative to both CRCM45 and ANUSPLIN. We posit that these characteristics are the result of demonstrable differences between corresponding topographical datasets used in the gridded observations and CRCM, the resulting errors propagated to physical variables tied to elevation and the beneficial effect of subsequent spatial averaging. Because topographical input is often discordant between simulations and gridded observations, it is argued that a limited form of spatial averaging may contribute added value beyond that which has already been noted in previous studies with respect to small-scale climate variability.  相似文献   

Seismic hazard mapping and mitigation policy development in the central USA and western China     

Zhenming Wang  Alice M. Orton  Lanmin Wang  Edward W. Woolery 《Natural Hazards》2016,81(1):387-404

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Shrinking of Vann Island,Gulf of Mannar,SE coast of India: assessing the impacts     

M. Jayaprakash  K. Sivakumar  S. Muthusamy  R. R. Krishnamurthy  J. K. Edward Patterson 《Natural Hazards》2016,84(3):1529-1538

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New Joint Editors‐in‐Chief          下载免费PDF全文

Edward A. Williams 《Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research》2016,40(3):309-310

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Quantitative 3D imaging of partially saturated granular materials under uniaxial compression     

Milatz  Marius  Hüsener  Nicole  Andò  Edward  Viggiani  Gioacchino  Grabe  Jürgen 《Acta Geotechnica》2021,16(11):3573-3600

Acta Geotechnica - Gauging the mechanical effect of partial saturation in granular materials is experimentally challenging due to the very low suctions resulting from large pores. To this end, a...  相似文献   

Can marine fisheries and aquaculture meet fish demand from a growing human population in a changing climate?     

Gorka Merino  Manuel Barange  Julia L. Blanchard  James Harle  Robert Holmes  Icarus Allen  Edward H. Allison  Marie Caroline Badjeck  Nicholas K. Dulvy  Jason Holt  Simon Jennings  Christian Mullon  Lynda D. Rodwell 《Global Environmental Change》2012,22(4):795-806

Expansion in the world's human population and economic development will increase future demand for fish products. As global fisheries yield is constrained by ecosystems productivity and management effectiveness, per capita fish consumption can only be maintained or increased if aquaculture makes an increasing contribution to the volume and stability of global fish supplies. Here, we use predictions of changes in global and regional climate (according to IPCC emissions scenario A1B), marine ecosystem and fisheries production estimates from high resolution regional models, human population size estimates from United Nations prospects, fishmeal and oil price estimations, and projections of the technological development in aquaculture feed technology, to investigate the feasibility of sustaining current and increased per capita fish consumption rates in 2050. We conclude that meeting current and larger consumption rates is feasible, despite a growing population and the impacts of climate change on potential fisheries production, but only if fish resources are managed sustainably and the animal feeds industry reduces its reliance on wild fish. Ineffective fisheries management and rising fishmeal prices driven by greater demand could, however, compromise future aquaculture production and the availability of fish products.  相似文献