Experimental Investigation on the Basic Law of Hydraulic Fracturing After Water Pressure Control Blasting

Because of the advantages of integrating water pressure blasting and hydraulic fracturing, the use of hydraulic fracturing after water pressure control blasting is a method that is used to fully transform the structure of a coal-rock mass by increasing the number and range of hydraulic cracks. An experiment to study hydraulic fracturing after water pressure blasting on cement mortar samples (300 × 300 × 300 mm³) was conducted using a large-sized true triaxial hydraulic fracturing experimental system. A traditional hydraulic fracturing experiment was also performed for comparison. The experimental results show that water pressure blasting produces many blasting cracks, and follow-up hydraulic fracturing forces blasting cracks to propagate further and to form numerous multidirectional hydraulic cracks. Four macroscopic main hydraulic cracks in total were noted along the borehole axial and radial directions on the sample surfaces. Axial and radial main failure planes induced by macroscopic main hydraulic cracks split the sample into three big parts. Meanwhile, numerous local hydraulic cracks were formed on the main failure planes, in different directions and of different types. Local hydraulic cracks are mainly of three types: local hydraulic crack bands, local branched hydraulic cracks, and axial layered cracks. Because local hydraulic cracks produce multiple local layered failure planes and lamellar ruptures inside the sample, the integrity of the sample decreases greatly. The formation and propagation process of many multidirectional hydraulic cracks is affected by a combination of water pressure blasting, water pressure of fracturing, and the stress field of the surrounding rock. To a certain degree, the stress field of surrounding rock guides the formation and propagation process of the blasting crack and the follow-up hydraulic crack. Following hydraulic fracturing that has been conducted after water pressure blasting, the integrity of the sample is found to be far lower than after traditional hydraulic fracturing; moreover, both the water injection volume and water injection pressure for hydraulic fracturing after water pressure blasting are much higher than they are for traditional hydraulic fracturing.     

Levee failure mechanisms during the extreme rainfall event: a case study in Southern Taiwan

Extreme weather has recently caused many disasters worldwide. In August 8, 2009, Southern Taiwan suffered from serious floods during Typhoon Morakot. In this extreme rainfall event, the Chiuliao first levee in the Laonong River basin experienced catastrophic failure. Therefore, this study focuses on the levee failure mechanisms based on variations in levee water levels. Specifically, this study investigates four mechanisms based on limit state equilibrium. The first mechanism involves the slope stability under hydrostatic conditions at various water levels. The results of this analysis show that the levee cannot fail under this mechanism. The second mechanism involves the levee slope stability with steady-state seepage. Because the water levels are different on the protected and flood sides, the water recedes much faster on the flood side than the protected side. Based on this analysis, the levee slope might fail when the water level at the protected side is close to the top of levee and the water level at the flood side starts to recede. The third and fourth mechanisms involve the levee foundation failure in terms of sliding and overturning failure. The results of this study indicate that the levee foundation is more prone to sliding failure than overturning failure. Based on these results, this study shows that the levee failed when the water level at the protected side neared the top of levee while the water level at flood side started to recede. At this moment, the levee may fail because of both the slope failure with seepage and sliding failure of the levee foundation.     

Evacuees’ information sources and reentry decision making in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike

In the aftermath of a hurricane, local emergency managers need to communicate reentry plans to households that might be scattered over multiple counties or states. To better understand evacuees’ households’ reliance on different information sources at the time they decided to return home, this study collected data on reentry after Hurricane Ike. The results from a survey of 340 evacuating households indicated that there was low compliance with official reentry plans and that none of the information sources produced greater compliance with official reentry plans. Nonetheless, there were significant changes in the utilization of different sources of emergency information over the course of an evacuation but local news media remained the most common sources throughout the event. There also were significant differences in the relative importance of different sources of reentry information, with people relying most on information from peers. In summary, local authorities need to identify more effective ways to communicate with evacuees that have relocated to distant communities and to motivate them to comply with official reentry plans.     

Overexploitation status of groundwater and induced geological hazards in China

During the process of urbanization and industrialization, groundwater has been extensively overexploited, with the direct result of continuously decreasing groundwater level, followed by the appearance of large scale of depression cones, which is furthermore followed by land subsidence, seawater intrusion, and increasing difficulties in subsequent groundwater exploitation. This paper makes an analysis on the geological disasters caused by overexploitation of groundwater. The consumption and overexploitation status of groundwater in representative regions in China is discussed first, with the distribution and development of depression cones elaborated the next. And the problems of land subsidence, seawater intrusion, and increasing difficulties caused by overexploitation of groundwater are analyzed at last. Results show that overexploitation of groundwater is positively related to economic development. Moreover, geological disasters such as land subsidence and seawater intrusion caused by long term of overexploitation also aggregate, posing threats, and losses to people’s lives and production. According to the analysis, the fundamental resolution for overexploitation of groundwater as well as consequential geological damages is to properly control city size and to utilize groundwater rationally and efficiently.     

The comparison analysis of Chinese public perception of earthquakes on different time scales

China has suffered from severe earthquake disasters in recent years. In order to explore the impact of severe earthquakes on public risk perception on different time scales, four surveys were conducted twice each after the severe Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes. t tests were performed between two consecutive surveys to explore the change of public risk attitudes. The results demonstrated that after the two severe earthquakes, the public seismic risk acceptance has increased over time, and the comparison between pre- and post-Yushu earthquake illustrated that the severe disaster had more impact on vulnerable population such as females, children and low-income people. Moreover, linear regression models were employed to find the determining factors of public acceptance towards earthquake risks. It was discovered that the public perceived earthquake effect had significant negative relationship with seismic risk acceptance, and public trust towards local government had positive relationship with the risk acceptance. This study could help government to gain better understanding of public mental status and take more effective disaster preparedness measures when preventing and responding to a severe earthquake.     

黄河三角洲地下水动态变化及其与地面沉降的关系

为了分析黄河三角洲地下水动态及其与地面沉降的关系, 利用多年地下水和地面沉降监测数据, 发现黄河三角洲广饶县和东营区的地下水动态变化剧烈且地面沉降严重, 含水层多处于超采状态, 浅、深层地下水降落漏斗先后出现.深层地下水降落漏斗中心水位下降速度达2~3m/a.近年来, 东营和广饶地面沉降漏斗中心沉降量和速率分别为155.1mm、28.2mm/a和356.0mm、64.7mm/a.借助GIS技术及数理统计法, 发现深层地下水降落漏斗与沉降漏斗空间耦合良好, 深层地下水位与地面高程呈线性正相关, 相关系数为0.92, 深层地下水过度开采已成为影响沉降的最根本因素.井灌区第三粘性压缩层成为地面沉降主要贡献层, 且深层地下水降落漏斗中心的地下水位已低于第三承压含水层临界水位, 沉降趋于严重.      

Numerical simulation of erosion and deposition at the Thailand Khao Lak coast during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

A case study was conducted for the Thailand Khao Lak coast using a forward numerical model to understand uncertainties associated with interpreting tsunami deposits and relating them to their tsunami sources. We examined possible effects of the characteristics of tsunami source, multiple waves, sediment supply and local land usages. Numerical results showed that tsunami-deposit extent and thickness could be indicative of the slip value in the source earthquake near the surveyed coastal locations, provided that the sediment supply is unlimited and all the deposits are well preserved. Deposit thickness was found to be largely controlled by the local topography and could be easily modified by backwash flows or subsequent tsunami flows. Between deposit extent and deposit thickness, using deposit extent to interpret the characteristics of a tsunami source is preferable. The changing of land usages between two tsunami events could be another important factor that can significantly alter deposit thickness. There is a need to develop inversion models based on tsunami heights and/or run-up data for studying paleotsunamis.     

Development of an empirical model for rainfall-induced hillside vulnerability assessment: a case study on Chen-Yu-Lan watershed,Nantou, Taiwan

In Taiwan, the hillside is about 70 % of total area. These areas also have steep topography and geological vulnerability. When an event of torrential rain comes during a typhoon, the landslide disasters usually occur at these areas due to the long duration and high intensity of rainfall. Therefore, a design which considers the potential landslide has become an important issue in Taiwan. In this study, a temporal characteristic of landslide fragility curve (LFC) was developed, based on the geomorphological and vegetation factors using landslides at the Chen-Yu-Lan watershed in Taiwan, during Typhoon Sinlaku (September 2008) and Typhoon Morakot (August 2009). This study addressed an effective landslide hazard assessment process, linking together the post-landslide damage and post-rainfall data for LFC model. The Kriging method was used to interpolate the rainfall indices (R ₀, R, I) for numerical analysis. Remote sensing data from SPOT images were applied to analyze the landslide ratio and vegetation conditions. The 40-m digital elevation model was used for slope variation analysis in the watershed, and the maximum likelihood estimate was conducted to determine the mean and standard deviation parameters of the proposed empirical LFC model. This empirical model can express the probability of exceeding a damage state for a certain classification (or conditions) of landslides by considering a specific hazard index for a given event. Finally, the vulnerability functions can be used to assess the loss from landslides, and, in the future, to manage the risk of debris flow in the watershed.     

Geochemistry of rare-earth elements in shallow groundwater,northeastern Guangdong Province,China

Shallow groundwater and hot springs were collected from northeastern Guangdong Province, Southeast China, to determine the concentrations and fractionation patterns of rare-earth elements(REE). The results show that the La, Ce and Nd of REEs are abundant in groundwater and rock samples, and the ∑REE contents in groundwater and rock samples range from 126.5 to 2875.3 ng/L, and 79.44 to 385.85 mg/L, respectively. The shallow groundwater has slightly HREE-enriched PAAS-normalized patterns. However, the granitic rocks PAAS-normalized patterns, with remarkable negative Eu anomalies, are different from that of shallow groundwater. The enrichment of HREE is considered to be controlled by REE complexation and readsorption for most groundwater has Ce and Eu positive anomalies. The Ce and Eu anomalies in groundwater are controlled by redox conditions. Moreover, the Fe-contain sediments dissolution and/or the reduction of Fe oxyhydroxides are another factor contributing to Ce anomalies. The Eu anomalies in groundwater are controlled by the preferential mobilization of Eu2+ during water-rock interaction compared to Eu3+.     

“软−硬”关系框架下城市型目的地出入境旅游响应路径——基于1997―2019年中国香港特区数据的组态分析

选取1997―2019年中国香港特区数据,使用定性比较分析（QCA）方法对出入境旅游流产生路径的前因条件以及结果条件进行分析,研究结果表明：① 在路径数量上,虽持续简化,但是仍然具有复杂性;② 在核心条件中,所有的单因素均不构成影响的核心条件,中国香港出入境旅游流路径受到多因素组合作用;③ 在前因条件中,“软?硬”关系影响存在差异,硬实力关系对高出入境旅游流起主导作用,软实力关系则对非高出入境旅游流作用较大;④ 在路径国家（地区）中,高和非高出入境旅游流存在显著地区差异;⑤ 在时间层面上,阶段1与阶段2、阶段3路径差异较大,表明时间节点的分割事件对中国香港出入境旅游的影响不同。