On the assumption that a plate is elastically deformable and may rotate as a whole, we found that Eurasian area may be divided into an Eurasian plate and three blocks of the Xiyu, the North China and the Southeast Asi...On the assumption that a plate is elastically deformable and may rotate as a whole, we found that Eurasian area may be divided into an Eurasian plate and three blocks of the Xiyu, the North China and the Southeast Asia according to tectonic frame of the East and Southeast Asia and the ITRF2008 velocity field in Eurasian area. F tests show that the accuracy of this elastic-plate/block model is significantly higher than the corresponding rigid-plate models; the area covered is notably larger also.展开更多
Based on their Euler poles,we calculated the relative velocities between every two plates in the typical global plate motion models,respectively,and estimated the area change along these boundaries. In our calculation...Based on their Euler poles,we calculated the relative velocities between every two plates in the typical global plate motion models,respectively,and estimated the area change along these boundaries. In our calculations,plates on both sides accommodated area changes depending on the boundary types: extensional, convergent or transform, so we can estimate area change of each plate and then globally. Our preliminary results show that the area of the southern hemisphere increased while that of the northern hemisphere decreased over the past 1 million years,and global area has increased by 26,000km2 to 36,000km2,which corresponds to the 160m～250m increment on the Earth's radius if all these area increments are attributed to Earth's expansion. Taking the NUVEL-1 model as an example,of the 14 plates in this model,11 are decreasing,but the global area has increased because of the larger increment amount from Africa,North America and Antarctica. Finally,we also discussed factors affecting the global area change such as subduction zone retreating and back-arc spreading.展开更多
Based on eight published plate motion models, we separately estimated the net area changes of tectonic plates and the area change of the solid Earth surface over geological time using the Euler vectors of plates with ...Based on eight published plate motion models, we separately estimated the net area changes of tectonic plates and the area change of the solid Earth surface over geological time using the Euler vectors of plates with determined boundaries. Then, under the context of a currently expanding Earth, we inferred the change rate of the Earth’s mean radius from the estimated net area changes. The results show that the total increases and decreases in the areas of different plates cannot be compensated. Specifically, the area of the Northern Hemisphere decreases while that of the Southern Hemisphere increases, but the net area of the solid Earth surface slightly increases in th computing period(0.01 Ma). For the latest NNRMORVEL56 plate motion model, the area of the Southern Hemisphere increases by 7802 km2 while the area of the Northern Hemisphere decreases by 7711 km^2. This indicates a net area increase of 91 km2 in the solid Earth surface corresponding to an expansion rate of 0.06 mm/a for the Earths mean radius.This result coincides with the slow rate of expansion derived from geodetic measurements and geophysical modeling.展开更多
Heave plates can be employed to control undesirable heave motion amplitudes of the deepwater octagonal Floating, Drilling, Production, Storage, and Offloading(FDPSO) platform. Numerical simulations and model tests wer...Heave plates can be employed to control undesirable heave motion amplitudes of the deepwater octagonal Floating, Drilling, Production, Storage, and Offloading(FDPSO) platform. Numerical simulations and model tests were applied to analyze and investigate the hydrodynamic response and the feasibility of the heave plate configurations. The diameter and the depth below the free surface of a single-layer heave plate, as well as the spacing of two-layer heave plates, were considered as the primary variables when studying the effect of heave plates on FDPSO hydrodynamics. The analysis results indicate that the heave plate diameter significantly affects the heave hydrodynamics, and heave performance could be improved with an increased diameter. In addition, increasing the depth below the free surface of a single-layer heave plate does not effectively suppress the heave motion within the range of draft depths tested. The target FDPSO obtained better heave characteristics with increased spacing between the two-layer heave plates. Furthermore, the global performances of the octagonal FDPSO with these typical heave plate configurations were comparatively analyzed. The results indicate that from a hydrodynamic point of view, the single-layer heave plate configuration has an advantage over the two-layer heave plate configuration.展开更多
基金supported by the China National Key Basic Research Program (2007CB411702)the National Natural Science Fundation of China(40474036,40474039)+1 种基金Earthquake Industry Research Special MajorProjects China Comprehensive Geophysical Fied Observation( 200908029)the Old Expert Research Foundation of China Earth-quake Administration
文摘On the assumption that a plate is elastically deformable and may rotate as a whole, we found that Eurasian area may be divided into an Eurasian plate and three blocks of the Xiyu, the North China and the Southeast Asia according to tectonic frame of the East and Southeast Asia and the ITRF2008 velocity field in Eurasian area. F tests show that the accuracy of this elastic-plate/block model is significantly higher than the corresponding rigid-plate models; the area covered is notably larger also.
基金sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation (40574047),China
文摘Based on their Euler poles,we calculated the relative velocities between every two plates in the typical global plate motion models,respectively,and estimated the area change along these boundaries. In our calculations,plates on both sides accommodated area changes depending on the boundary types: extensional, convergent or transform, so we can estimate area change of each plate and then globally. Our preliminary results show that the area of the southern hemisphere increased while that of the northern hemisphere decreased over the past 1 million years,and global area has increased by 26,000km2 to 36,000km2,which corresponds to the 160m～250m increment on the Earth's radius if all these area increments are attributed to Earth's expansion. Taking the NUVEL-1 model as an example,of the 14 plates in this model,11 are decreasing,but the global area has increased because of the larger increment amount from Africa,North America and Antarctica. Finally,we also discussed factors affecting the global area change such as subduction zone retreating and back-arc spreading.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No. 41474086 and 41704080)the Basic Research Project of Institute of Earthquake Forecasting of China Earthquake Administration (Grant No. 2018IES0402)supported by Academia Sinica
文摘Based on eight published plate motion models, we separately estimated the net area changes of tectonic plates and the area change of the solid Earth surface over geological time using the Euler vectors of plates with determined boundaries. Then, under the context of a currently expanding Earth, we inferred the change rate of the Earth’s mean radius from the estimated net area changes. The results show that the total increases and decreases in the areas of different plates cannot be compensated. Specifically, the area of the Northern Hemisphere decreases while that of the Southern Hemisphere increases, but the net area of the solid Earth surface slightly increases in th computing period(0.01 Ma). For the latest NNRMORVEL56 plate motion model, the area of the Southern Hemisphere increases by 7802 km2 while the area of the Northern Hemisphere decreases by 7711 km^2. This indicates a net area increase of 91 km2 in the solid Earth surface corresponding to an expansion rate of 0.06 mm/a for the Earths mean radius.This result coincides with the slow rate of expansion derived from geodetic measurements and geophysical modeling.
基金Supported by the National Scientific and Technology Major Project under Grant No.2016ZX05028
文摘Heave plates can be employed to control undesirable heave motion amplitudes of the deepwater octagonal Floating, Drilling, Production, Storage, and Offloading(FDPSO) platform. Numerical simulations and model tests were applied to analyze and investigate the hydrodynamic response and the feasibility of the heave plate configurations. The diameter and the depth below the free surface of a single-layer heave plate, as well as the spacing of two-layer heave plates, were considered as the primary variables when studying the effect of heave plates on FDPSO hydrodynamics. The analysis results indicate that the heave plate diameter significantly affects the heave hydrodynamics, and heave performance could be improved with an increased diameter. In addition, increasing the depth below the free surface of a single-layer heave plate does not effectively suppress the heave motion within the range of draft depths tested. The target FDPSO obtained better heave characteristics with increased spacing between the two-layer heave plates. Furthermore, the global performances of the octagonal FDPSO with these typical heave plate configurations were comparatively analyzed. The results indicate that from a hydrodynamic point of view, the single-layer heave plate configuration has an advantage over the two-layer heave plate configuration.
