Urban geology: Glasgow's hidden industrial heritage

The growth of Glasgow from a small town into a heavily industrialised conurbation depended greatly on its local geological riches. Extensive mining and quarrying of a range of minerals took place from the 18th century onwards. The early underground stoop and room (pillar and stall) workings, and the backfilled quarries, together with variably consolidated natural superficial deposits, have bequeathed to the city a heritage of unwanted engineering problems which cannot easily be quantified. Recent work by the British Geological Survey (BGS) illustrates the scale of both geological and man-made problems.     

Instrument development to search for biomarkers on mars: Terrestrial acidophile, iron-powered chemolithoautotrophic communities as model systems

Recent findings by the MER rover opportunity confirming the presence of iron minerals that can only be formed in the presence of water emphasize the study of analogous environments to Mars on Earth. The study of chemolithoautotrophic communities living in acidic iron-rich habitats is highly relevant in order to identify Mars analog environment-specific biomarkers. Iron oxidizing bacteria like Leptospirillum ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans have ways of life for which it is feasible to identify a past or present hypothetical niche on Mars. We have developed a strategy for biomarker identification based on: (i) search for biosignatures on acid and metal-rich environments; (ii) development of an immunosensor microarray; and (iii) integration into an instrument for autonomous and remote operation. The instrument that we have built, called Signs Of LIfe Detector (SOLID), is capable of processing a variety of samples for the detection of specific biomarkers. Antibodies against several bacterial strains have been developed and tested in a microarray biosensor on SOLID. Tests with field samples have been successfully performed, allowing the detection of L. ferrooxidans, A. ferrooxidans present in sediment samples.     

On the stability of particular solutions of the singly averaged Hill problem

We consider the particular solutions of the evolutionary system of equations in elements that correspond to planar and spatial circular orbits of the singly averaged Hill problem. We analyze the stability of planar and spatial circular orbits to inclination and eccentricity, respectively. We construct the instability regions of both particular solutions in the plane of parameters of the problem.     

Modes to replace transitional asymptotic ray fields in a vertically inhomogeneous earth model

Summary. Asymptotic ray theory (ART) fails in transition regions near critically reflected, bottom glancing or caustic-forming rays in a vertically inhomogeneous layered earth. These deficiencies are repaired here by replacing the transitional ray fields with guided modes plus truncation remainders. Exact ray-mode equivalences and their high-frequency asymptotic approximations are formulated, and their validity and efficiency are verified by numerical comparisons for SH motion in a two-layer earth model comprised of an inhomogeneous sediment above an homogeneous semi-infinite bedrock.     

Self-similar solutions for the blast wave problem in radiative gasdynamics,I

Similarity solutions, describing the flow of a perfect gas behind spherical shock waves, are investigated including the radiation heat flux. The shock is assumed to be propagating in a medium at rest. Shock radius varies exponentially with time and density is inversely proportional to fifth power of the shock radius immediately ahead of the shock front.     

Kinematics of stars in Kovalsky-Kapteyn figures. II

Rostov State Pedagogical Institute; All-Union Scientific Research Institute Gradient. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 379–393, November–December, 1990.     

OTEC cold-water pipe research

Shelf-mounted Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plants require installation of cold-water pipes (CWP) on slopes of40degto depths of 1000 m. In addition, tower platforms containing OTEC power systems may be located on lesser sloped terrain near shore and exposed to special environmental loading problems affecting foundation design. Shelf-mounted installations require careful attention to site selection and geotechnical considerations for foundation integrity on sloped surfaces. This paper primarily discusses research associated with cold-water pipe and foundation installations on steep slopes, although research continues on tower platforms located on the shelf. At least five nations are in various stages of development of OTEC systems for island applications. Each of their systems is either shelf mounted or land based and requires that a large diameter cold-water pipe be installed on a steep slope to provide cold water from 1000-m depths. In addition to the installation and deployment of the large cold-water pipe, the most significant problem is the design and installation of suitable foundations that will last for several decades. To date there is very little experience in the offshore industry for large installations on steep slopes. A major scale-model research project is underway on the slopes of the island of Hawaii. A section of pipe 2.4 m in diameter and 24 m long was installed using combination concrete foundations and joints. The pipe and foundations are fully instrumented to measure environmental loading forces due principally to currents and waves. Environmental measurements will also be taken in the test area. The measurement data will be used to validate available analytical models for subsequent use in aiding industry in providing more cost-effective designs for OTEC pipes and foundations.     

Three dimensional simulation of fluid flow in X‐ray CT images of porous media

A numerical scheme is developed in order to simulate fluid flow in three dimensional (3‐D) microstructures. The governing equations for steady incompressible flow are solved using the semi‐implicit method for pressure‐linked equations (SIMPLE) finite difference scheme within a non‐staggered grid system that represents the 3‐D microstructure. This system allows solving the governing equations using only one computational cell. The numerical scheme is verified through simulating fluid flow in idealized 3‐D microstructures with known closed form solutions for permeability. The numerical factors affecting the solution in terms of convergence and accuracy are also discussed. These factors include the resolution of the analysed microstructure and the truncation criterion. Fluid flow in 2‐D X‐ray computed tomography (CT) images of real porous media microstructure is also simulated using this numerical model. These real microstructures include field cores of asphalt mixes, laboratory linear kneading compactor (LKC) specimens, and laboratory Superpave gyratory compactor (SGC) specimens. The numerical results for the permeability of the real microstructures are compared with the results from closed form solutions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Range of validity of seismic ray and beam methods in general inhomogeneous media – I. General theory

Summary. The limitations of asymptotic wave theory and its geometrical manifestations are newly formalized and scrutinized. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of acoustic and seismic rays and beams in general inhomogeneous media are expressed in terms of new physical parameters: the threshold frequency ω₀ associated with the P/S decoupling condition, the cut-off frequency ω_c associated with the radiation-zone condition, the total curvature of the wavefront and the Fresnel-zone radius.
The analysis is facilitated with the introduction of a new ancillary functional – the hypereikonal which is capable of representing ordinary as well as evanescent waves. The hypereikonal is the natural extension of the eikonal theory.
With the aid of the above new parameters, simple conditions are obtained for the decoupled far field, the decoupled near field, two point dynamic ray tracing, paraxial wavefields and Gaussian beams.