Performances of Landfill Liners under Dry and Wet Conditions

This paper addresses the study conducted on the performance of landfill liner interface parameters. Interface shear strength parameters for various combinations of 9 different lining materials were studied and presented in this paper. This comprehensive testing program covers the interfaces between: (1) soil and compacted clay liner (CCL), (2) geomembrane (HDPEs or PVC) and soil, (3) geosynthetic clay liner (GCL)/CCL and soil, (4) geomembrane and geotextile, (5) geotextile and soil, (6) geotextile and GCL/CCL, and (7) geomembrane and GCL/CCL. The experiments were conducted for both at dry or optimum moisture condition and at saturated or wet condition. The interface performance under both conditions were compared to access the material performances. Tabulated summaries of interface test data under dry or optimum moisture condition (OMO) and saturated or wet condition are presented in the paper.     

Three‐dimensional elasto‐plastic model for unsaturated compacted soils with different initial densities

This paper presents an elasto‐plastic model for unsaturated compacted soils and experimental results obtained from a series of suction‐controlled triaxial tests on unsaturated compacted clay with different initial densities. The initial density dependency of the compacted soil behaviour is modelled by establishing experimental relationships between the initial density and the corresponding yield stress and thereby between the initial density and the location and slope of normal compression line. The model is generalized to three‐dimensional stress states by assuming that the shapes of the failure surface and the yield surface in the deviatoric plane are given by the extended SMP criterion. A considerable number of the isotropic compression, triaxial compression and extension tests on unsaturated compacted clay with different initial densities were performed using a suction‐controllable triaxial apparatus, to measure the stress–strain–volume change in different stress paths and wetting paths. The model has well‐predicting capabilities to reproduce the mechanical behaviour of specimens compacted under different conditions not only in isotropic compression but also in triaxial compression and triaxial extension. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of long‐term water balance in the source area of the Yellow River basin

To analyse the long‐term water balance of the Yellow River basin, a new hydrological model was developed and applied to the source area of the basin. The analysis involved 41 years (1960–2000) of daily observation data from 16 meteorological stations. The model is composed of the following three sub‐models: a heat balance model, a runoff formation model and a river‐routing network model. To understand the heat and water balances more precisely, the original model was modified as follows. First, the land surface was classified into five types (bare, grassland, forest, irrigation area and water surface) using a high‐resolution land‐use map. Potential evaporation was then calculated using land‐surface temperatures estimated by the heat balance model. The maximum evapotranspiration of each land surface was calculated from potential evaporation using functions of the leaf area index (LAI). Finally, actual evapotranspiration was estimated by regulating the maximum evapotranspiration using functions of soil moisture content. The river discharge estimated by the model agreed well with the observed data in most years. However, relatively large errors, which may have been caused by the overestimation of surface flow, appeared in some summer periods. The rapid decrease of river discharge in recent years in the source area of the Yellow River basin depended primarily on the decrease in precipitation. Furthermore, the results suggested that the long‐term water balance in the source area of the Yellow River basin is influenced by land‐use changes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phytoplankton community adaptation to changing light levels in the southern Beaufort Sea,Canadian Arctic

The chlorophyll a specific absorption coefficient of phytoplankton, a_φ^∗(λ) is an important parameter to determine for primary production models and for the estimation of phytoplankton physiological condition. Knowledge of this parameter at high latitudes where nutrient rich cold water submitted to low incident light is a common environment is almost nonexistent. To address this issue, we investigated the light absorption properties of phytoplankton as a function of irradiance, temperature, and nutrients using a large data set in the southern Beaufort Sea during the open water to ice cover transition period. The a_φ^∗(λ) tended to increase from autumn when open water still existed to early winter when sea ice cover was formed, resulting from a biological selection of smaller-size phytoplankton more efficient to absorb light. There was no significant correlation between a_φ^∗(λ) and irradiance or temperature for both seasons. However, a_φ^∗(λ) showed a significant positive correlation with NO₃ + NO₂. Implications of the results for phytoplankton community adaptation to changing light levels are discussed.     

Evidence of earth catastrophe by anomalous shocked quartz at the K/T boundary

Anomalous shocked quartz with high density (less than 1 % of density-deviation) is considered to be a relict of ultra high-pressure at meteoritic impact. The shocked quartz grains can be found only in terrestrial and artificial impact craters, meteorites and the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundary samples. Volcanic activity is considered to be started or accelerated by enormous impact event.     

Variations of the pulse profile and the X-ray intensity of GX301-2 (4U1223-62)

Two successive X-ray outbursts of the recurrent X-ray pulsar GX301-2 were observed in April and May, 1982 from Hakucho. Apart from general increase during flares lasting for several days, the X-ray intensity was highly variable on a time-scale of the order of an hour. The outstanding feature is that the amplitude of 700 s pulsation of GX301-2 changes rapidly in a very wide range. When the pulsation is distinct, the depth of modulation is as large as 60%; whereas, the pulse amplitude occasionally diminishes almost to an undetectable level so that the observed X-rays become unpulsed. Such drastic changes are found to occur at any intensity levels observed. In several cases of abrupt changes of pulse amplitude, the intensity at the pulse bottom remained essentially unchanged. These properties suggest a hypothesis that the X-ray emission from GX301-2 consists of a pulsating component with variable amplitude and a non-pulsating component of less variable intensity.     

Measurement of the absolute intensity of cosmic X-rays

The intensity of the diffuse component of cosmic X-rays was measured with use of a rotating collimator system borne on a sounding rocket. A part of background counts proportional to the field of view of proportional counters enabled us to determine the intensity of the diffuse component to be 0.66±0.07 photons cm^–2 sec^–1 keV^–1 in the energy range between 3.6 and 9.0 keV. The spectrum in this energy range was found to be comparatively flat. The intensity of Sco X-1 was also measured and its time variation was investigated.     

The balloon observations of small cosmic X-ray bursts

In the record of the balloon observation which was performed on 27 September, 1970, a transient burst of X-rays was found. This event is concluded to be a cosmic gamma-ray burst of a smaller size or of a larger distance compared to the Vela bursts observed over the X-ray energy range. The energy spectrum is consistent with that of some of the Vela bursts. The time profile of the event is qualitatively similar to the 27 April, 1972 event studied by Apollo 16. The detection of small bursts over the X-ray energy range by the balloon observation during a period of the order of 10 to 100 h is not surprising considering a probable frequency-size distribution of the burst.Paper presented at the COSPAR Symposium on Fast Transients in X- and Gamma-Rays, held at Varna, Bulgaria, 29–31 May, 1975.