GPS network monitors the Western Alps' deformation over a five-year period: 1993–1998     

C. Vigny  J. Chéry  T. Duquesnoy  F. Jouanne  J. Ammann  M. Anzidei  J.-P. Avouac  F. Barlier  R. Bayer  P. Briole  E. Calais  F. Cotton  F. Duquenne  K. L. Feigl  G. Ferhat  M. Flouzat  J.-F. Gamond  A. Geiger  A. Harmel  M. Kasser  M. Laplanche  M. Le Pape  J. Martinod  G. Ménard  B. Meyer  J.-C. Ruegg  J.-M. Scheubel  O. Scotti  G. Vidal 《Journal of Geodesy》2002,76(2):63-76

  The Western Alps are among the best studied collisional belts with both detailed structural mapping and also crustal geophysical investigations such as the ECORS and EGT seismic profile. By contrast, the present-day kinematics of the belt is still largely unknown due to small relative motions and the insufficient accuracy of the triangulation data. As a consequence, several tectonic problems still remain to be solved, such as the amount of N–S convergence in the Occidental Alps, the repartition of the deformation between the Alpine tectonic units, and the relation between deformation and rotation across the Alpine arc. In order to address these problems, the GPS ALPES group, made up of French, Swiss and Italian research organizations, has achieved the first large-scale GPS surveys of the Western Alps. More than 60 sites were surveyed in 1993 and 1998 with a minimum observation of 3 days at each site. GPS data processing has been done by three independent teams using different software. The different solutions have horizontal repeatabilities (N–E) of 4–7 mm in 1993 and 2–3 mm in 1998 and compare at the 3–5-mm level in position and 2-mm/yr level in velocity. A comparison of 1993 and 1998 coordinates shows that residual velocities of the GPS marks are generally smaller than 2 mm/yr, precluding a detailed tectonic interpretation of the differential motions. However, these data seem to suggest that the N–S compression of the Western Alps is quite mild (less than 2 mm/yr) compared to the global convergence between the African and Eurasian plate (6 mm/yr). This implies that the shortening must be accomodated elsewhere by the deformation of the Maghrebids and/or by rotations of Mediterranean microplates. Also, E–W velocity components analysis supports the idea that E–W extension exists, as already suggested by recent structural and seismotectonic data interpretation. Received: 27 November 2000 / Accepted: 17 September 2001  相似文献   

中国北方东部沙质荒漠化的地学观   总被引：8，自引：2，他引：8  

李智佩  张维吉  王岷  聂浩刚  岳乐平 《西北地质》2002,35(3):7-22

中国北方东部的土地荒漠化主要受新构造运动以来的权造－沉积特征、青藏高原隆升所引起的全球气候变化、尤其是亚洲季风等地质背景控制。北方东部沙质荒漠化区域地质分类，按其成因可分为就地起沙型、风沙型和土地粗粒化型等3种类型。其中，就地起沙型沙质荒漠化主要分布在东部毛乌素、科尔沁、浑善达克、呼伦贝尔等沙地内，流经这些沙地的古河道，广泛发育河湖相砂质沉积物以及以砂质沉积物为母质的土壤分布区。风沙型沙质荒漠化主要分布在上述沙地的边缘地带，如毛乌素沙地以南的覆沙黄土区等。土地粗化主要分布在内蒙古锡林郭勒草原－河北坝上草原－河北坝上草原，其土壤类型多为含砾沙土，其土壤母质为基岩风化壳、残坡积或冲洪积物。荒漠化发展趋势上，尽管就地起沙型沙质荒漠化在毛乌素、科尔沁和浑善达达沙地的局部地区均有所逆转，但总体上，在北方广大地区，主要以地表土壤粗化为主的荒漠化和风沙型荒漠化等均有不同程度的扩大。上述不同类型的沙质荒漠化，总体上受地背景控制。其中，第四纪以来的构造－沉积特征控制着不同类型荒漠化的区域分布，气候变化控制着荒漠化的进程，人类活动则是在上述背景的基础上进行。  相似文献   

Editorial     

Richard Le Heron 《New Zealand geographer》2001,57(1):4-7

  相似文献   

黄土高原一个连续的晚新生代剖面及其划分与对比   总被引：14，自引：3，他引：14  

薛祥煦  张云翔  岳乐平 《地层学杂志》2001,25(2):81-88,101

陕西旬邑地区一个地层厚约 2 30 m的晚新生代剖面 ,全为土状堆积。岩性划分、古地磁测年、古生物研究及其他一些手段的分析测定表明 ,该剖面记录了距今 6 .8Ma到现代的沉积 ,其中第四系厚 141.2 m,全为黄土—古土壤沉积序列 ;新近系厚约 90 m,全为红土沉积 ,底部不整合面之上有 6— 7m红土层被覆盖 ,无法取样 ,其上实测厚度83.4m,将每层红土层及紧接其下的钙质结核层称为一个成土—成壤组合 ,新近系约含 80个明显的成土—成壤组合。 N/Q岩性界线在剖面深度的 141.2 m处 ,但古地磁 M/G界线在相当于剖面深度的 137.6 m处 ,即 L43 顶界之上0 .4m处 ,古地磁极性的转移滞后于岩性的变化。多层生物化石的发现对各段地层时代的确定及古气候环境的分析起了积极的作用  相似文献   

Step-frequency radar applied on thin road layers     

X. Drobert  C. Fauchard  Cte  E. Le Brusq  E. Guillanton  J. Y. Dauvignac  Pichot 《Journal of Applied Geophysics》2001,47(3-4)

In the field of road construction and maintenance, the need for information on the thickness of very thin road layers is not satisfied by means of commercial pulse GPR, due to the inability of such devices to operate over ranges of several gigahertz. As a result, research has focused on the design of a step-frequency radar technique, able to work with very high-frequency synthetic pulses.An ultrawide band antenna, belonging to the family of Vivaldi antennas, has been developed for road applications. It has been created using stripline technology and yields a band width greater than one decade. During an initial step, this antenna was tested on various bituminous concrete samples with a network analyzer. Different parameters were studied, including band width, offset between antennas, and height and shape of the frequency-dependent pulse.A second step involved GPR dynamic measurements. A customized software program enabled recording data from the network analyzer. Several radar profiles were developed from selected road construction and maintenance test sites (e.g. the Circular Pavement Fatigue Test Track, composed of a number of known structures). Results show improved resolution when compared to a commercial impulse GPR system.  相似文献   

Fine sediment transport and accumulations at the mouth of the Seine estuary (France)     

Pierre Le Hir  Andre Ficht  Ricardo Silva Jacinto  Patrick Lesueur  Jean-Paul Dupont  Robert Lafite  Isabelle Brenon  Benedicte Thouvenin  Philippe Cugier 《Estuaries and Coasts》2001,24(6):950-963

A comprehensive study of fine sediment transport in the macrotidal Seine estuary has been conducted, including observations of suspended particulate matter (SPM), surficial sediment, and bathymetric data, as well as use of a three dimensional mathematical model. Tide, river regime, wind, and wave forcings are accounted. The simulated turbidity maximum (TM) is described in terms of concentration and location according to tidal amplitude and the discharge of the Seine River. The TM is mainly generated by tidal pumping, but can be concentrated or stretched by the salinity front. The computed deposition patterns depend on the TM location and are seasonally dependent. The agreement with observations is reasonable, although resuspension by waves may be overestimated. Although wave resuspension is likely to increase the TM mass, it generally occurs simultaneously with westerly winds that induce a transverse circulation at the mouth of the estuary and then disperse the suspended material. The resulting effect is an output of material related to wind and wave events, more than to high river discharge. The mass of the computed TM remains stable over 6 months and independent of the river regime, depending mainly on the spring tide amplitude. Computed fluxes at different cross-sections of the lower estuary show the shift to the TM according to the river flow and point out the rapidity of the TM adjustment to any change of river discharge. The time for renewing the TM by riverine particles has been estimated to be one year.  相似文献   

Study of the air-sea interactions at the mesoscale: the SEMAPHORE experiment     

L. Eymard  S. Planton  P. Durand  C. Le Visage  P. Y. Le Traon  L. Prieur  A. Weill  D. Hauser  J. Rolland  J. Pelon  F. Baudin  B. Bénech  J. L. Brenguier  G. Caniaux  P. De Mey  E. Dombrowski  A. Druilhet  H. Dupuis  B. Ferret  C. Flamant  P. Flamant  F. Hernandez  D. Jourdan  K. Katsaros  D. Lambert  J. M. Lefèvre  P. Le Borgne  B. Le Squere  A. Marsoin  H. Roquet  J. Tournadre  V. Trouillet  A. Tychensky  B. Zakardjian 《Annales Geophysicae》1996,14(9):986-1015

The SEMAPHORE (Structure des Echanges Mer-Atmosphère, Propriétés des Hétérogénéités Océaniques: Recherche Expérimentale) experiment has been conducted from June to November 1993 in the Northeast Atlantic between the Azores and Madeira. It was centered on the study of the mesoscale ocean circulation and air-sea interactions. The experimental investigation was achieved at the mesoscale using moorings, floats, and ship hydrological survey, and at a smaller scale by one dedicated ship, two instrumented aircraft, and surface drifting buoys, for one and a half month in October-November (IOP: intense observing period). Observations from meteorological operational satellites as well as spaceborne microwave sensors were used in complement. The main studies undertaken concern the mesoscale ocean, the upper ocean, the atmospheric boundary layer, and the sea surface, and first results are presented for the various topics. From data analysis and model simulations, the main characteristics of the ocean circulation were deduced, showing the close relationship between the Azores front meander and the occurrence of Mediterranean water lenses (meddies), and the shift between the Azores current frontal signature at the surface and within the thermocline. Using drifting buoys and ship data in the upper ocean, the gap between the scales of the atmospheric forcing and the oceanic variability was made evident. A 2 °C decrease and a 40-m deepening of the mixed layer were measured within the IOP, associated with a heating loss of about 100 W m⁻². This evolution was shown to be strongly connected to the occurrence of storms at the beginning and the end of October. Above the surface, turbulent measurements from ship and aircraft were analyzed across the surface thermal front, showing a 30% difference in heat fluxes between both sides during a 4-day period, and the respective contributions of the wind and the surface temperature were evaluated. The classical momentum flux bulk parameterization was found to fail in low wind and unstable conditions. Finally, the sea surface was investigated using airborne and satellite radars and wave buoys. A wave model, operationally used, was found to get better results compared with radar and wave-buoy measurements, when initialized using an improved wind field, obtained by assimilating satellite and buoy wind data in a meteorological model. A detailed analysis of a 2-day period showed that the swell component, propagating from a far source area, is underestimated in the wave model. A data base has been created, containing all experimental measurements. It will allow us to pursue the interpretation of observations and to test model simulations in the ocean, at the surface and in the atmospheric boundary layer, and to investigate the ocean-atmosphere coupling at the local and mesoscales.  相似文献   

Structure and evolution of the backstop in the eastern Nankai Trough area (Japan): Implications for the soon-to-come Tokai earthquake   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

X Le Pichon  S. Wmant    H. Tokuyama  F. Thoué  P. Huchon  P. Henry 《Island Arc》1996,5(4):440-454

Abstract We present data showing that the intra-oceanic shortening now occurring south of the eastern Nankai Trough that has produced the Zenisu Ridge has also been responsible for the formation of a previous ridge now buried below the continental margin. This ridge, that we refer to as Paleo-Zenisu, is presently adjacent to the backstop and its location coincides with the outer limit of the seismogenic decollement. The subduction of the paleo-Zenisu ridge below the wedge has led to its complete reorganization and has given its identity to the Great Tokai earthquake rupture zone. The formation of paleo-Zenisu and its consequent subduction has induced the tilting of the backstop toward the northwest since ca 2 Ma. This model suggests that the backstop and possibly the wedge are dextrally sheared because they are extruded southwestward in relation to the collision of the Izu-Bonin Ridge with Japan. We use the finite motion from Zenisu to paleo-Zenisu to derive both the subduction vectors along the Nankai Trough and the shortening vectors within Zenisu-Izu. The amount of shortening absorbed within Zenisu-Izu increases toward the northeast. The corresponding subduction vectors of the Zenisu platelet below the wedge decrease accordingly to the northeast from 50 to less than 20 mm/year and the Zenisu body rotates clockwise with a pole near 36° North, 139° East. This might explain the apparent longer repetition time of great earthquakes in the Tokai area. On the other hand, the 25-35 mm/year obtained for the rate of shortening along the Zenisu thrust indicates a high seismic potential there.  相似文献   

Cloud-radiation feedbacks in a general circulation model and their dependence on cloud modelling assumptions     

Zhao-Xin Li  Hervé Le Treut 《Climate Dynamics》1992,7(3):133-139

The general circulation model (GCM) used in this study includes a prognostic cloud scheme and a rather detailed radiation scheme. In a preceding paper, we showed that this model was more sensitive to a global perturbation of the sea surface temperatures than most other models with similar physical parametrization. The experiments presented here show how this feature might depend on some of the cloud modelling assumptions. We have changed the temperature at which the water clouds are allowed to become ice clouds and analyzed separately the feedbacks associated with the variations of cloud cover and cloud radiative properties. We show that the feedback effect associated with cloud radiative properties is positive in one case and negative in the other. This can be explained by the elementary cloud radiative forcing and has implications concerning the use of the GCMs for climate sensitivity studies.  相似文献   

Practical method for drawing a VGP path     

Maxime Le Goff  Bernard Henry  Lucien Daly 《Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors》1992,70(3-4):201-204

A statistical method is proposed for the smoothing of polar wander paths and for giving their confidence limits by the mean of successive ellipses. The method is fully parametrical and is based on the relations between the inertia matrix and the parameters of the Fisher distribution, from which a bivariate form is deduced. An elementary tensorial calculation gives the parameters of the confidence ellipse around a vectorial weighted mean, for any unimodal set of vectors. This model can also be used for other statistical tests, wherever the rotational symmetry hypothesis is not consistent (i.e. the fold test).  相似文献