North polar region of Mars: Advances in stratigraphy, structure, and erosional modification   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Kenneth L. Tanaka  J. Alexis P. Rodriguez  Mary C. Bourke  Kenneth E. Herkenhoff  Chris H. Okubo 《Icarus》2008,196(2):318-358

We have remapped the geology of the north polar plateau on Mars, Planum Boreum, and the surrounding plains of Vastitas Borealis using altimetry and image data along with thematic maps resulting from observations made by the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. New and revised geographic and geologic terminologies assist with effectively discussing the various features of this region. We identify 7 geologic units making up Planum Boreum and at least 3 for the circumpolar plains, which collectively span the entire Amazonian Period. The Planum Boreum units resolve at least 6 distinct depositional and 5 erosional episodes. The first major stage of activity includes the Early Amazonian (∼3 to 1 Ga) deposition (and subsequent erosion) of the thick (locally exceeding 1000 m) and evenly-layered Rupes Tenuis unit (Abrt), which ultimately formed approximately half of the base of Planum Boreum. As previously suggested, this unit may be sourced by materials derived from the nearby Scandia region, and we interpret that it may correlate with the deposits that regionally underlie pedestal craters in the surrounding lowland plains. The second major episode of activity during the Middle to Late Amazonian (1 Ga) began with a section of dark, sand-rich and light-toned ice-rich irregularly-bedded sequences (Planum Boreum cavi unit, Abb_c) along with deposition of evenly-bedded light-toned ice- and moderate-toned dust-rich layers (Planum Boreum 1 unit, Abb₁). These units have transgressive and gradational stratigraphic relationships. Materials in Olympia Planum underlying the dunes of Olympia Undae are interpreted to consist mostly of the Planum Boreum cavi unit (Abb_c). Planum Boreum materials were then deeply eroded to form spiral troughs, Chasma Boreale, and marginal scarps that define the major aspects of the polar plateau's current regional topography. Locally- to regionally-extensive (though vertically minor) episodes of deposition of evenly-bedded, light- and dark-toned layered materials and subsequent erosion of these materials persisted throughout the Late Amazonian. Sand saltation, including dune migration, is likely to account for much of the erosion of Planum Boreum, particularly at its margin, alluding to the lengthy sedimentological history of the circum-polar dune fields. Such erosion has been controlled largely by topographic effects on wind patterns and the variable resistance to erosion of materials (fresh and altered) and physiographic features. Some present-day dune fields may be hundreds of kilometers removed from possible sources along the margins of Planum Boreum, and dark materials, comprised of sand sheets, extend even farther downwind. These deposits also attest to the lengthy period of erosion following emplacement of the Planum Boreum 1 unit. We find no evidence for extensive glacial flow, topographic relaxation, or basal melting of Planum Boreum materials. However, minor development of normal faults and wrinkle ridges may suggest differential compaction of materials across buried scarps. Timing relations are poorly-defined mostly because resurfacing and other uncertainties prohibit precise determinations of surface impact crater densities. The majority of the stratigraphic record may predate the recent (<20 Ma) part of the orbitally-driven climate record that can be reliably calculated. Given the strong stratigraphic but loose temporal constraints of the north polar geologic record, a comparison of north and south polar stratigraphy permits a speculative scenario in which major Amazonian depositional and erosional episodes driven by global climate activity is plausible.  相似文献   

Soil carbon storage following road removal and timber harvesting in redwood forests          下载免费PDF全文

Joseph Seney  Mary Ann Madej 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2015,40(15):2084-2092

Soil carbon storage plays a key role in the global carbon cycle and is important for sustaining forest productivity. Removal of unpaved forest roads has the potential for increasing carbon storage in soils on forested terrain as treated sites revegetate and soil properties improve on the previously compacted road surfaces. We compared soil organic carbon (SOC) content at several depths on treated roads to SOC in adjacent second‐growth forests and old‐growth redwood forests in California, determined whether SOC in the upper 50 cm of soil varies with the type of road treatment, and assessed the relative importance of site‐scale and landscape‐scale variables in predicting SOC accumulation in treated road prisms and second‐growth redwood forests. Soils were sampled at 5, 20, and 50 cm depths on roads treated by two methods (decommissioning and full recontouring), and in adjacent second‐growth and old‐growth forests in north coastal California. Road treatments spanned a period of 32 years, and covered a range of geomorphic and vegetative conditions. SOC decreased with depth at all sites. Treated roads on convex sites exhibited higher SOC than on concave sites, and north aspect sites had higher SOC than south aspect sites. SOC at 5, 20, and 50 cm depths did not differ significantly between decommissioned roads (treated 18–32 years previous) and fully recontoured roads (treated 2–12 years previous). Nevertheless, stepwise multiple regression models project higher SOC developing on fully recontoured roads in the next few decades. The best predictors for SOC on treated roads and in second‐growth forest incorporated aspect, vegetation type, soil depth, lithology, distance from the ocean, years since road treatment (for the road model) and years since harvest (for the forest model). The road model explained 48% of the variation in SOC in the upper 50 cm of mineral soils and the forest model, 54%. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Simulation of Water‐Table Aquifers Using Specified Saturated Thickness          下载免费PDF全文

Rodney A. Sheets  Mary C. Hill  Henk M. Haitjema  Alden M. Provost  John P. Masterson 《Ground water》2015,53(1):151-157

Simulating groundwater flow in a water‐table (unconfined) aquifer can be difficult because the saturated thickness available for flow depends on model‐calculated hydraulic heads. It is often possible to realize substantial time savings and still obtain accurate head and flow solutions by specifying an approximate saturated thickness a priori, thus linearizing this aspect of the model. This specified‐thickness approximation often relies on the use of the “confined” option in numerical models, which has led to confusion and criticism of the method. This article reviews the theoretical basis for the specified‐thickness approximation, derives an error analysis for relatively ideal problems, and illustrates the utility of the approximation with a complex test problem. In the transient version of our complex test problem, the specified‐thickness approximation produced maximum errors in computed drawdown of about 4% of initial aquifer saturated thickness even when maximum drawdowns were nearly 20% of initial saturated thickness. In the final steady‐state version, the approximation produced maximum errors in computed drawdown of about 20% of initial aquifer saturated thickness (mean errors of about 5%) when maximum drawdowns were about 35% of initial saturated thickness. In early phases of model development, such as during initial model calibration efforts, the specified‐thickness approximation can be a very effective tool to facilitate convergence. The reduced execution time and increased stability obtained through the approximation can be especially useful when many model runs are required, such as during inverse model calibration, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, multimodel analysis, and development of optimal resource management scenarios.  相似文献   

New Ways of Using Well Construction Reports for Hydrostratigraphic Analyses          下载免费PDF全文

Kallina M. Dunkle  Mary P. Anderson  David Hart 《Ground water》2016,54(1):126-130

Hydrostratigraphic models require subsurface data. Those data can be gleaned from Well Construction Reports (WCRs) if the reports are properly reviewed and processed. In the United States, WCRs or similar documents are generally required to be submitted to a state agency. The quality of those reports varies considerably and depends on the water well contractor's level of geologic knowledge. Nevertheless, these types of reports are usually the largest available subsurface data set. We present two examples from Wisconsin, each of which had approximately 2000 WCRs, to demonstrate a variety of new applications of WCRs including obtaining information about the depositional environment; selecting sites to perform surface geophysical measurements; and creating three‐dimensional hydrostratigraphic models for groundwater modeling.  相似文献   

Darcy Velocity Is Not a Velocity          下载免费PDF全文

Henk M. Haitjema  Mary P. Anderson 《Ground water》2016,54(1):1-1

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A digital procedure for ground water recharge and discharge pattern recognition and rate estimation   总被引：3，自引：1，他引：2  

Lin YF  Anderson MP 《Ground water》2003,41(3):306-315

A digital procedure to estimate recharge/discharge rates that requires relatively short preparation time and uses readily available data was applied to a setting in central Wisconsin. The method requires only measurements of the water table, fluxes such as stream baseflows, bottom of the system, and hydraulic conductivity to delineate approximate recharge/discharge zones and to estimate rates. The method uses interpolation of the water table surface, recharge/discharge mapping, pattern recognition, and a parameter estimation model. The surface interpolator used is based on the theory of radial basis functions with thin-plate splines. The recharge/discharge mapping is based on a mass-balance calculation performed using MODFLOW. The results of the recharge/discharge mapping are critically dependent on the accuracy of the water table interpolation and the accuracy and number of water table measurements. The recharge pattern recognition is performed with the help of a graphical user interface (GUI) program based on several algorithms used in image processing. Pattern recognition is needed to identify the recharge/discharge zonations and zone the results of the mapping method. The parameter estimation program UCODE calculates the parameter values that provide a best fit between simulated heads and flows and calibration head-and-flow targets. A model of the Buena Vista Ground Water Basin in the Central Sand Plains of Wisconsin is used to demonstrate the procedure.  相似文献   

The Potassium—Argon Age of the Lava of Killerton Park, Near Exeter     

John A. Miller  Ken Shibata  Mary Munro 《Geophysical Journal International》1962,6(3):394-396

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A method of computing the gravitational field of an axially symmetric flat galaxy     

Mary M. Schaefer  Myron Lecar  George Rybicki 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1973,25(2):357-372

A method has been developed for computing the gravitational force field of an axially symmetric flat galaxy from its surface mass density. The method is simple to program, fast, and accurate. An inversion formula is derived that allows computation of surface density from rotation curves by use of any method that converts density to force. The method is compared with a method of Clutton-Brock that utilizes Hankel transforms of Laguerre functions.  相似文献   

Predicting conductance due to upconing using neural networks     

Coppola EA  McLane CF  Poulton MM  Szidarovszky F  Magelky RD 《Ground water》2005,43(6):827-836

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were developed to accurately predict highly time-variable specific conductance values in an unconfined coastal aquifer. Conductance values in the fresh water lens aquifer change in response to vertical displacements of the brackish zone and fresh water-salt water interface, which are caused by variable pumping and climate conditions. Unlike physical-based models, which require hydrologic parameter inputs, such as horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivities, porosity, and fluid densities, ANNs can "learn" system behavior from easily measurable variables. In this study, the ANN input predictor variables were initial conductance, total precipitation, mean daily temperature, and total pumping extraction. The ANNs were used to predict salinity (specific conductance) at a single monitoring well located near a high-capacity municipal-supply well over time periods ranging from 30 d to several years. Model accuracy was compared against both measured/interpolated values and predictions were made with linear regression, and in general, excellent prediction accuracy was achieved. For example, although the average percent change of conductance over 90-d periods was 39%, the absolute mean prediction error achieved with the ANN was only 1.1%. The ANNs were also used to conduct a sensitivity analysis that quantified the importance of each of the four predictor variables on final conductance values, providing valuable insights into the dynamics of the system. The results demonstrate that the ANN technology can serve as a powerful and accurate prediction and management tool, minimizing degradation of ground water quality to the extent possible by identifying appropriate pumping policies under variable and/or changing climate conditions.  相似文献   

A neural network model for predicting aquifer water level elevations   总被引：9，自引：0，他引：9  

Coppola EA  Rana AJ  Poulton MM  Szidarovszky F  Uhl VW 《Ground water》2005,43(2):231-241

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were developed for accurately predicting potentiometric surface elevations (monitoring well water level elevations) in a semiconfined glacial sand and gravel aquifer under variable state, pumping extraction, and climate conditions. ANNs "learn" the system behavior of interest by processing representative data patterns through a mathematical structure analogous to the human brain. In this study, the ANNs used the initial water level measurements, production well extractions, and climate conditions to predict the final water level elevations 30 d into the future at two monitoring wells. A sensitivity analysis was conducted with the ANNs that quantified the importance of the various input predictor variables on final water level elevations. Unlike traditional physical-based models, ANNs do not require explicit characterization of the physical system and related physical data. Accordingly, ANN predictions were made on the basis of more easily quantifiable, measured variables, rather than physical model input parameters and conditions. This study demonstrates that ANNs can provide both excellent prediction capability and valuable sensitivity analyses, which can result in more appropriate ground water management strategies.  相似文献