Core Belt Research Articles

Glacial history of the King Haakon trough system, sub-Antarctic South Georgia

The glaciated island of South Georgia in the sub-Antarctic is a key area for climate reconstructions, because it is positioned in the Southern Ocean amidst the core belt of the Southern Westerlies and the main fronts of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. This makes it particularly susceptible to changes in local, regional, but also Southern Hemisphere-wide climate conditions. Marine-geological records recovered from its continental shelf therefore offer unique potential to constrain how ice masses in this part of the Southern Ocean responded to Quaternary climate change, but despite this, little glacial-geomorphological and sedimentological research has been done offshore South Georgia. Here, we present a new suite of glacial landforms, identified from high-resolution bathymetry data, supplemented with acoustic facies from sub-bottom profiles, in order to reconstruct the pre-Holocene glacial history of the King Haakon Trough System on the southwestern South Georgia continental shelf. Our data show numerous landforms common for phases of ice advance and retreat, which are interpreted to document the confluence of two major trunk glaciers during peak glaciation. Progressively elongated linear bedforms imply accelerated ice flow and/or softer sediment substrate towards the shelf edge and suggest that the South Georgia Ice Cap experienced streaming ice and behaved similarly to other palaeo-ice sheets. A grounding-zone wedge close to the shelf edge marks the position of maximum ice extent during a peak glaciation, while clusters of recessional moraines and three large morainal banks indicate repeated phases of staggered retreat. Multiple extensive ice advances are indicated by stacked till sequences within the sub-bottom profiles of the mid- and outer shelf. The second-to-last till generation appears to be slightly more extensive than the most recent glacial till, and could suggest that South Georgia may have had a similar glacial evolution to other sub-Antarctic islands. This paper complements two studies focusing on the Holocene depositional environments and their associated sedimentary processes in the same trough system, in an effort to elucidate an important part of the Quaternary evolution of South Georgia's marine environment.

Spatial Distribution Heterogeneity and Influencing Factors of Different Leisure Agriculture Types in the City

Leisure agriculture is a crucial carrier for city agriculture and tourism growth. This study aims to explore the overall leisure agriculture and different types of leisure agriculture spatial sub-characteristics and their influencing factors. Taking the city of Xi’an, China, as an example, leisure agriculture was classified into four types: agritainments, agricultural parks, resorts, and rural homestays. According to this study, two ring zones and one core belt zone for leisure agriculture in Xi’an are dispersed unevenly and aggregated. Furthermore, geographic detectors and spatial principal components were employed as empirical techniques to investigate the primary factors influencing the spatial distribution of multiple leisure agriculture heterogeneity. The results about the influence mechanism indicate that the gross domestic product, population density, and accessibility to transportation dominated the overall spatial distribution, while the distance to scenic spots and water areas had a significant impact on the spatial distribution of some types. This research contributes to the reconstruction of leisure agriculture and promotes the sustainable development of agriculture and recreation by merging leisure agriculture spatial resources.

Economic Policy Uncertainty: Cross-Country Linkages and Spillover Effects on Economic Development in Some Belt and Road Countries.

With the increase of economic environment uncertainty, it is of great importance to study the linkage and spillover effects of economic policy uncertainty among countries. Especially, this article selects eight countries along the Belt and Road as the core countries (China, Korea, Croatia, India, Russia, Greece, Pakistan, and Singapore) and four countries (Germany, France, Japan, and UK) as the peripheral countries, and then copula technique and mixed-frequency global vector autoregressive model are employed to analyze the correlation and the spillover effect of the economic policy uncertainty (EPU) for the twelve selected countries, respectively. The proposed empirical findings show clearly that the EPU correlation among the eight core Belt and Road countries is stronger and the spillover effect of the core countries to the peripheral countries is statistically significant. As a result, for harmonious and win-win development, the Belt and Road countries should pay a close attention to the EPU, because the stability of the EPU promotes greatly the economy development.

A Comparative Study On The Seismic Performance Of Multi-storey Buildings With Different Structural Systems

The increasing need of shelter in urban cities due to overpopulated spaces and land inadequacy has forced people to limit their needs and spaces. High-rise buildings are the best solution for providing people space for living and to work on, as the buildings are getting higher and slender, they are exposed to different loading condition, which leads the building to experience higher lateral deformations. With the help of different structural systems, the lateral stiffness of the buildings can be improved, there are many structural systems introduced for the high-rise structures which can provide the buildings adequate strength and stability against lateral loading. This paper examines behaviour of Special Moment Resisting Frame System with shear wall, Outrigger Core Belt Truss Structural System and Braced Frame System on a 30 storey building under worst seismic conditions in India i.e. Zone V. To understand effectiveness of the structural systems subjected to lateral loads, three different structural system are modelled using 3D finite element software ETABS 2018, all the models are subjected to the same loading conditions with same geometrical dimension and typical storey height. Comparison is examined on the basis of different parameters like Modal Mass Participation, Base shear, storey shear, Time period, Lateral displacement, storey drift, storey stiffness, and performance points. It was observed by the dynamic analysis method i.e., response spectrum analysis, and non-liner static analysis, the parameters which were compared between three structural system observed that building with outrigger core belt truss system performs better than Special Moment Resisting Frame + Shear Wall and Braced Frame Structural System.

Pollen evidence of variations in Holocene climate and Southern Hemisphere Westerly Wind strength on sub-Antarctic South Georgia

The Southern Hemisphere Westerlies (SHW) play a major role in the global climate system. The winds drive ocean circulation and affect the Southern Oceans’ ability to take up atmospheric CO2. Recently, the SHW core belt has strengthened and shifted south, but there is an insufficient understanding of its long-term behaviour. Palaeoclimatic records are key for capturing long-term variability through the SHW’s effect on surface temperature and moisture availability. However, terrestrial records are sparse in the Southern Hemisphere. We use a palynological record from Lake Diamond on sub-Antarctic South Georgia to provide reconstructions of vegetation and climate for the last ~10,000 years. Influx of long-distance transported pollen is used as a measure of surface wind strength. Changes in relative pollen abundance of native taxa occupying either upland (cold) or lowland (warm) environments indicate local climatic variability. On South Georgia, we find long-distance transported pollen from South American taxa, mainly Nothofagus and Ephedra. They show a general increase in abundance throughout the Holocene, with peak influxes between 5700–5400, 2800–1500 and 1000–500 cal yr BP. These intervals coincide with colder periods inferred from the palynological record, suggesting that SHW variation and temperature on South Georgia are highly connected. Agreement with palaeoecological records from eastern Patagonia show that climatic changes have been regionally consistent. The record from Lake Diamond further illustrates the importance of remote islands in contributing to a deeper understanding of atmospheric circulation and climatic variability in the sub-Antarctic.

Evolutionary Formation and Functional Significance of the Core–Belt Pattern of Neural Organization of Rostral Auditory Centers in Vertebrates

We survey the literature data on rostral auditory centers in amniotes with a focus on their core–belt neural organization, as related to lemniscal (core) and extralemniscal or non-lemniscal (belt) pathways. Our immunohistochemical results on the distribution of the calcium-binding proteins, parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin (CB), in the pigeon mesencephalic (MLD) and thalamic (Ov) auditory centers clearly demonstrate the presence of this cytoarchitectonic pattern of neural organization in birds. We analyze its functional significance for the optimal integration of the results of perceptual auditory information processing and its affective assessment due to neural connections between the belt regions of auditory centers and limbic centers. In the latter, specifically in the amygdala, there are audiomotor and audiovegetative relays responsible for the choice and implementation of behavioral types most adequate to each given context. A comparative analysis of different characteristics of auditory centers across a broad range of vertebrates allows hypothesizing about the origin, conservation and transformation of the core and belt regions of auditory centers during evolution.

Four new cytoarchitectonic areas surrounding the primary and early auditory cortex in human brains

The architectonical organization of putatively higher auditory areas in the human superior temporal gyrus and sulcus is not yet well understood. To provide a coherent map of this part of the brain, which is involved in language and other functions, we examined the cytoarchitecture and cortical parcellation of this region in histological sections of ten human postmortem brains using an observer-independent mapping approach. Two new areas were identified in the temporo-insular region (areas TeI, TI). TeI is medially adjacent to the primary auditory cortex (area Te1). TI is located between TeI and the insular cortex. Laterally adjacent to previously mapped areas Te2 and Te3, two new areas (STS1, STS2) were identified in the superior temporal sulcus. All four areas were mapped over their whole extent in serial, cell-body stained sections, and their cytoarchitecture was analyzed using quantitative image analysis and multivariate statistics. Interestingly, area TeI, which is located between area Te1 and area TI at the transition to the insula, was more similar in cytoarchitecture to lateral area Te2.1 than to the directly adjacent areas TI and Te1. Such structural similarity of areas medially and laterally to Te1 would be in line with the core–belt–parabelt concept in macaques. The cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps of all areas show the localization of the areas and their interindividual variability. The new maps are publicly available and provide a basis to further explore structural–functional relationship of the language network in the temporal cortex.

Use of Irradiated Fracture Toughness Values in Nuclear Vessel and Component Design Specifications for Fitness-For-Service Analysis Using the Unified Curve Method

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Section III Rules for Construction of Nuclear Facility Components subsection NB-2331 Material for Vessels requires that the effects of irradiation shall be considered on material toughness properties in the core belt line region of the reactor vessel. The code also states that “the design specifications shall include additional requirements, as necessary, to ensure adequate fracture toughness for the service lifetime of the vessel.” In a design report of nuclear pressure vessel, the design and service loads do not include loads that are affected by fracture toughness of the material. However, in the cases of fitness-for-service assessment for component flaws (prevalent with age of component), irradiated material properties become highly relevant. An example of a fitness-for-service is that of a beyond design basis reactor vessel head drop accident in a pressurized water reactor with a nozzle junction flaw. As a case study, the critical size of a postulated external surface semielliptical circumferential crack in the combustion engineering three-loop pressurized water reactor nozzle–vessel junction is calculated using ansys Workbench (Academic version) with the applied impact load from the vessel head drop accident. Failure assessment diagrams for numerous crack depths and lengths were developed considering the fracture toughness properties of the irradiated reactor vessel steel. The mode I stress intensity results used in the failure assessment diagram were compared with the available finite element and the American Petroleum Institute (API) standard API 579 analytical solutions for validation, showing good agreement. From this case study, it is demonstrated that the effects of irradiation on fracture toughness become prominent at the same postulated crack size in the nozzle–vessel junction dispositioned as “safe” becomes “unsafe” in the fracture assessment diagram. Using the unified curve method, the irradiated fracture toughness data in design specification can be supplied so that it may be used in fitness-for-service analysis to account for component aging.

A diatom–conductivity transfer function for reconstructing past changes in the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds over the Southern Ocean

ABSTRACTSub‐Antarctic islands are ideally placed to reconstruct past changes in Southern Hemisphere westerly wind behaviour. They lie within their core belt (50–60°S) and the strong winds deliver sea salt ions to the islands resulting in a west to east conductivity gradient in their water bodies. This means that the stronger (or weaker) the winds, the higher (or lower) the conductivity values measured in the water bodies. A survey of the water chemistry and diatom assemblages of lakes and ponds on sub‐Antarctic Campbell Island (52°32′S, 169°8′E) revealed that, similar to other sub‐Antarctic islands, conductivity was the most important, statistically significant ecological variable explaining turnover in diatom community structure. Based on this, a diatom–conductivity transfer function was developed (simple weighted averaging with inverse deshrinking: R2 = 0.86, R2jack = 0.66, RMSEP = 0.25 log10 μS cm−1). This transfer function will be applied to lake sediment cores from the western edge of the Campbell Island plateau to reconstruct past conductivity/sea spray and therefore directly reconstruct changes in Southern Hemisphere westerly wind strength within their core belt.

Coal Transport Tape Control System Based on Machine Vision

Coal transport security is one of the important links of mining safety in production chain. Most of Mines use long distance wire rope core belt conveyor transporting coal. By the reason of the load increases, the belt surface scratches and aging etc when the transmission belt in the long run, will cause the wire rope core corrosion, fracture, joint elongation, wire rope core and transmission belt adhesion decreased and finally the joint tensile fault. Once a fault occurs, the transmission security not only endangers mine, even causes the entire production system halted, so the security warning mechanism of coal transport tape proposed must be enforced. Article using machine vision and online transmission detection combined. In the first field observation, using the high accuracy linear array CCD real-time transmission of high-speed operation with the image acquisition and image processing threshold; Though extraction algorithm, simulation experiment and field test; finally comprehensive analysis gives the early warning scheme. The project mainly studies the transmission belt blob spot detection and algorithm with wear, based on digital image, image coding and image enhancement, compared the collected image speckle with set threshold so as to determine which set of real-time image for pre-alarm wear spots, mark the spot coordinates, at the same time to upload data in order to complete the transmission belt warning. The project solves the influence of transmission tape failure of coal production effectively.

Automatic Detection Apparatus Development of Steel Cord Conveyor Belt

Steel core belts are widely used in long-distance, large capacity, large angle of mine, metallurgy, port, electricity and other departments of the large-scale transportation systems. According to incomplete statistics, this kind of belt accident 93.75% occurred in the joints and most are due to joints tic was not timely detected. Hence, non-destructive detection of belt is the key to the whole transportation system’s safety. For steel core belt automatic detection technology, deep research has been carried out at home and abroad. Detection apparatus was developed based on the electromagnetic theory and principle of X-ray, however, some varying defects existed in the industrial applications. Automatic detection apparatus of steel cord conveyor belt, developed by Pingdingshan Industry Polytechnic College and Shanxi Huaning Beier Measurement & Control Co. Ltd., integrated both advantages of electromagnetic detection and X-ray detection. It overcomes the difficulties of X-ray machine explosion proof and long time radiation. This kind of automatic detection apparatus has been installed and worked well in more than 30 mines and achieved good economic and social benefits since it was installed in Zhong Ping Energy Chemical Group’s 12th main slope conveyor.

Regional and laminar distribution of the vesicular glutamate transporter, VGluT2, in the macaque monkey auditory cortex

The auditory cortex of primates contains 13 areas distributed among 3 hierarchically connected regions: core, belt, and parabelt. Thalamocortical inputs arise in parallel from four divisions of the medial geniculate complex (MGC), which have regionally distinct projection patterns. These inputs terminate in layers IIIb and/or IV, and are assumed to be glutamatergic, although this has not been verified. In the present study, immunoreactivity (-ir) for the vesicular glutamate transporter, VGluT2, was used to estimate the regional and laminar distribution of the glutamatergic thalamocortical projection in the macaque auditory cortex. Coronal sections containing auditory cortex were processed for VGluT2 and other markers concentrated in the thalamorecipient layers: cytochrome oxidase, acetylcholinesterase, and parvalbumin. Marker expression was studied with wide field and confocal microscopy. The main findings were: (1) VGluT2-ir was highest in the core, intermediate in the belt, and sparse in the parabelt; (2) VGluT2-ir was concentrated in the neuropil of layers IIIb/IV in the core and layer IIIb in the belt; (3) VGluT2-ir matched regional and laminar expression of the other chemoarchitectonic markers. The results indicate that the glutamatergic thalamic projection to auditory cortex, as indexed by VGluT2-ir, varies along the core–belt–parabelt axis in a manner that matches the gradients of other markers. These chemoarchitectonic features are likely to subserve regional differences in neuronal activity between regions of auditory cortex.

Results and evaluations of irradiation surveillance programmes of lightwater reactors in Germany

Nineteen nuclear power plants are in operation in Germany. The shift of the “ductile to brittle transition temperature” of the core belt materials, induced by neutron irradiation, was calculated as Δ T 41 in the design-phase of each power station. Additionally irradiation surveillance programmes for all plants were performed during operation. Most of the irradiation surveillance programmes are finished and the results are available. The paper presents some results of irradiation surveillance programmes of German Nuclear Power Stations and the comparison of the neutron-induced shift of the Charpy-V-transition curve measured and predicted according to the German KTA and other safety standards. For most of the materials the prediction according to different nuclear safety codes and procedures for calculating the irradiation reaction is in good agreement with the measured values, but some of them show a different behaviour. This paper also offers some new aspects for explanation of these deviations taking into account the chemical composition and the irradiation-induced strain-hardening.

Micro‐area Chemical Composition and Preserved P‐T Evolution Trace of Phengite in Albite Gneiss from the Donghai Ultrahigh‐Pressure Metamorphic Area, East China

AbstractStudy of micro‐area chemical compositions indicates that phengite in albite gneiss from hole ZK2304 of the Donghai region has evident compositional zoning. SiO2 and tetrahedrally coordinated Si contents decrease, and Al2O3, AlIVand AlVIcontents increase gradually from core to rim. However, K2O, MgO and FeO contents basically remain unchanged from core to rim. According to P‐T estimates obtained from geothermometers and barometers, combined with previous experimental data, the core belt (micro‐area I) of phengite was formed at T=637–672°C and P=1.55–1.73 GPa, and the transitional belt (micro‐area II) of the phengite were formed at T=594–654°C and P=1.35–1.45 GPa. Towards the rim belt (micro‐area III), the temperature decreased slightly, but the pressure decreased rapidly with T=542–630°C and P=1.12–1.19 GPa. The P‐T evolution path recorded by the compositional zoning of phengite is characterized by significant near‐isothermal decompression, revealing that the gneiss has undergone high‐pressure‐ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphism. The compositional zoning of the phengite in the albite gneiss may have formed in the geodynamic process of rapid exhumation in the Sulu ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphic belt.