This article reports a method for forecasting an earthquake by synchronous anomalies of optical astronomic time-latitude residuals. The so-called optical astronomic time-latitude residuals for a certain astrometric instrument are the rest after deducting the effects of Earth whole motion from the astronomical time and latitude observations determined by the instrument. Forecasting practice for four earthquakes around the Yunnan Observatory occurring after 2010 shows that it does not generate false forecasts, and also does not miss forecasts of major earthquakes. This forecasting practice proves that the synchronous anomalies of astronomical time-latitude residuals can provide effective warning sign for earthquake occurrence around observatory station, thus deserves attention and further study. and Su Youjin, Gao Yuping, Hu Hui.
Purification of quartz using an environment-friendly method is important in the contaminants removal. This paper presents advanced method based on calcination pretreatment combined with ultrasound-assisted leaching, for removing iron impurities from industrial quartz. The solvent used is a mixture comprised by diluted hydrochloric acid and oxalic acid. The effects of experimental parameters were investigated and the purification mechanism was discussed using particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscope and polarized light microscope. SiO2 content of concentrate could be increased from 99.6828% to 99.9047%, which achieved 3N level high purity quartz, and Fe2O3 content reduced from 0.0857% to 0.0223%, under the optimal conditions, i.e., calcination temperature of 900 °C, holding time of 2 h, oxalic acid concentration of 10 g/L, hydrochloric acid concentration of 5%, liquid solid ratio of 5, leaching temperature of 60 °C, ultrasound power of 400 W and treatment time of 30 min. Compared to conventional method, the proposed method significantly accelerates the leaching process and increases the iron removal rate. At the same time, the method also can remove gas-liquid inclusions. and Yang Changqiao, Li Suqin, Bai Jiaxing, Han Shuaishuai.
Secondary deformations are ground movements occurring in areas of ceased underground mining. These are associated with delayed readjustment of rock mass resulting in subsidence, discontinuous deformations (sinks, cracks, etc.) due to destruction of underground, usually shallow, workings, and elevation of ground surface in response of rock mass to rising groundwater levels following the end of mine water drainage. Comparative analysis of secondary deformations in two former mining areas in the first period after cessation of underground hard coal mining is the subject of this study. We used ERS-1/2 and Envisat satellite radar interferometry data processed with PSInSAR technique and GIS to map vertical (in satellite’s line of sight, LOS) movements of the surface and analyse them in relation to location of coal fields and underground water table rise. In the study, two areas have been compared, the Ostrava city in the Czech part of the Upper Silesian Basin and the Wałbrzych Coal Basin in Poland. The results of analyses based on the results of PSInSAR processing between 1995 and 2000 for the Wałbrzych site indicate uplift (up to +12 mm/year) in closed parts of coal fields and subsidence (up to -8 mm/year) in areas of declining mining. Results of PSInSAR analysis over the Ostrava site indicate decaying subsidence after mine closures in the rate of up to -6 mm/year during 1995-2000. Residual subsidence and gentle uplift have been partly identified at surroundings of closed mines in Ostrava from 2003-2010 Envisat data. In Wałbrzych gentle elevation has been determined from 2002 to 2009 in areas previously subsiding. and Blachowski Jan, Jiránková Eva, Lazecký Milan, Kadlečík Pavel, Milczarek Wojciech.
Diatomite is a siliceous sedimentary rock, and it can be used in many industrial applications due to its high porosity, low density porous and permeable structure, chemical resistance, high purity, high specific surface area, absorptive capacity and to its absorbent properties. The best known Portuguese occurrences of diatomite are located in the regions of Óbidos and Rio Maior. The purpose of this research is to characterize the Rio Maior and Amieira diatomite and beneficiate this rock to be used in some potential applications locally or not. The studied diatomites present a fine texture; chemically the samples have a high SiO2 content, the principal minerlas are quartz and amorphous opal. The studied diatomites benefited with temperature and addition of NaCl (acting as accelerator of the crystallization process), with 5 % of NaCl being reduced the transformation temperature of the amorphous opal in opal C / CT at about 200 ºC. The diatomites from Rio Maior and Amieira in natural state has an enormous potential as absorbent, of heavy metals (e.g. in soil contamination) or dyes (textile industry). These diatomites after beneficiation can be used in construction materials (as additive), being more reactive and crystalline than in the natural state, diatomites can be promoters of mechanical resistance in mortars and geopolymers. and Costa Cristiana, Velosa Ana, Cerqueira Angela, Caetano Paulo, Rocha Fernando.
Set of events from West Bohemian 2008 seismic swarm with known source mechanisms is processed. The events or their slips respectively are clustered into two groups: (i) principal events with slip laying in the main fault plane and (ii) complementary events deviating from that plane. From those slips we constructed image of slip distribution (a new way of data/slip presentation) and from slip distribution and variations we hypothesized about foci zone properties. Namely, we propose that western block is more rigid and compact; the eastern block appears to be constituted from several sub blocks which can interact with each other during the swarm course. Our hypothesis is supported by similar image constructed from relative rupture velocities, which we consider as independent data. The proposed structural model agrees with the existence of the different observed types of source mechanisms. and Kolář Petr, Boušková Alena.
The values of density and velocity in the samples of the predominant rocks from the Archaean section of the Kola superdeep borehole (SG-3) drilled in the northern frame of the Pechenga palaeorift structure have been studied. The main part of rocks of the SG-3 Archaean section is represented by gneisses, schists and amphibolites. Their main rock-forming minerals are plagioclase, hornblende, mica and quartz. The texture of the rocks is mainly medium-grained, the structure is nematogranoblastic and lepidogranoblastic. The parameters of elastic anisotropy were estimated by the acoustopolariscopy method, the density and velocity of compression and shear waves were determined in the lab and the mentioned characteristics were calculated by mineral composition. The measured sample velocities are unusually low, which can be explained by the decompaction effect of deep rocks. The values of the velocity characteristics that are close to those for the conditions of the rock deep occurrence were obtained by calculation with regard to their specific mineral composition. The average values of the velocity of compression and shear waves for gneisses were calculated by mineral composition are 6.38 ± 0.16 km/s and 3.52 ± 0.14 km/s, respectively. The average of the compression wave velocity for schists is 6.40 ± 0.13 km/s, of the shear wave velocity - 3.46 ± 0.09 km/s and for amphibolites 6.84±0.13 km/s and 3.82±0.08 km/s, respectively. The dynamic moduli in different rocks are lower in schists, medium in gneisses and higher in amphibolites., Olga Trishina, Feliks Gorbatsevich and Mikhail Kovalevskiy., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In this article, the authors use the existing theoretical foundations and partial solutions to provide a general formula, which can be used to determine the value of horizontal deformation factor B for various applications of the Knothe theory. This applies to the calculation of surface deformation not only in the case of hard coal mining, but also in the case of salt mining by borehole. Convergence resulted from mining may cause deformations of caverns used to store liquid and gaseous fuels or the deformations related to the fluidized bed extraction. The calculations for the new analytical model are presented in the examples of the Etzel cavern (Germany) and the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (Poland). and Sroka Anton, Misa Rafał, Tajdus Krzysztof.
The GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) coordinates time series are still used as a source for determining the velocities of GNSS permanent stations. These coordinates, apart from the geodynamical signals, also contain an interference signal. This paper shows the results of the comparative analysis of the GNSS coordinates time series with a deformation of the Earth's crust obtained from loading models. In the analysis, coordinates time series are used (CODE Repro2013) without loading models (Atmospheric Pressure Loading, Hydrology, Non-Tidal Ocean Loading) at the stage of the reprocessing of GNSS archival data. The analyses showed that in the case of the Up component there is a high correlation between the GNSS coordinates changes and deformations of the Earth's crust from the loading models (coefficient 0.5-0.8). Additionally, we noticed that for horizontal components (North, East) changes occur in the phase shift between coordinates, and the Earth’s crust deformations signals are accelerated or delayed each other (-150 to 200 days). This article shows new methods of iLSE (iteration Least Square Estimation) to determine periodic signals in the time series. Additionally, we compared the values of estimated amplitudes for GNSS and deformation time series. and Kaczmarek Adrian, Kontny Bernard.
Reliable observations are the prerequisite for high-precision GNSS data processing. Data quality evaluation at the pre-processing procedure can help the user to identify the weakness of the observations. The open source software package G-Nut/Anubis developed at Geodetic Observatory Pecny (GOP) is introduced and used for the evaluation of long-term BeiDou/GPS signal. Several key indicators are selected to evaluate the BeiDou/GPS observations. Quantitative analysis shows that more than 100 stations can achieve 6-hour standalone BeiDou positioning at least. The completeness of the BeiDou phase and code observations at three frequencies is higher than that of the GPS observations in the selected station which is mainly attributed to the high elevation observations from GEO and IGSO satellites. Qualitative analysis shows that the multipath effects for pseudorange observations are correlated with signal, receiver types and firmware versions besides the station environment. Users attempting to improve the pseudorange observations by multipath filter should pay attention also to the receiver-specific settings. Cycle slip counts are used to indicate the quality of carrier-phase observations. Results show that BeiDou C05 satellite is more affected by the cycle slips, in particular the third frequency observables. For GPS, the third frequency is more robust compared to the legacy frequencies. Comprehensive single point positioning results show that positioning accuracy for BeiDou is worse than that of GPS, which is mainly caused by less active satellites, worse geometry and the larger errors in the broadcast ephemeris. The BeiDou positioning accuracy was further degraded by the C13/C15 satellite and dominated by large clock errors. Broadcast evaluation shows that the BeiDou orbit errors are related to the constellations. Overall, the orbit precision for both GPS and BeiDou has been gradually improved. Outliers were observed for navigation records assigned with the healthy status, especially for BeiDou broadcast orbits. and Zhao Lewen, Dousa Jan, Vaclavovic Pavel, Ye Shirong, Xia Fengyu.
The research is focused on the feasibility analysis of a numerical model describing the field of strains generated by mining-induced subsidence caused by a deep underground coal extraction, which may contribute to the formation of Earth fissures. The finite elements method and Knothe’s theory were used in the research. The geomechanical modeling was applied for defining zones of strains and maximum horizontal deformations of the terrain. Knothe’s theory was employed for defining boundary conditions of the geomechanical model. The parameters of the empirical and geomechanical models were scaled out on the basis of geodetic surveys in the mining area. The results of geomechanical modeling were compared with the geodetic surveys to select the best model. The presented research confirmed high congruence between the results of modeling with the finite elements method and observations of vertical movements on the surface. The results of modeling also confirmed the assumed highest stress in areas where earth fissures were observed. The proposed solution may be a new research tool applicable to areas where earth fissures potentially occur. and Malinowska Agnieszka A., Misa Rafał, Tajduś Krzysztof.