Flood-prone area mapping using machine learning techniques: a case study of Quang Binh province,Vietnam

Natural Hazards - Vietnam’s central coastal region is the most vulnerable and always at flood risk, severely affecting people’s livelihoods and socio-economic development. In...     

湖南仁里稀有金属矿田36号伟晶岩地球化学特征、成矿时代及其意义

位于幕阜山岩体西南缘的仁里稀有金属矿田是近年来华南地区新发现的一处重要花岗伟晶岩型稀有金属矿产地,铌钽矿体赋存于岩体内外接触带伟晶岩中,具有明显成矿分带性.文章选取仁里矿床岩体内接触带36号伟晶岩脉为研究对象,开展伟晶岩的地球化学及云母Ar-Ar年代学研究,探讨其与花岗岩围岩成因关系及岩体内接触带伟晶岩的成岩成矿时代,以丰富仁里矿田稀有金属成矿作用研究.研究表明,36号伟晶岩具高硅(w(SiO2)为72.87％～76.21％)、高铝(w(Al2O3)为13.69％～15.14％)、低钙镁铁、相对富碱(w(Na2O+K2O)为6.59％～8.33％)、(高钾)钙碱性及过铝质特征;微量元素总体富集Nb、Ta、Hf、U等高场强元素(HFSE),相对亏损Ba、Sr等离子亲石元素(LILE);稀土元素总量(ΣREE)13.95×10-6～71.63×10-6,轻稀土元素富集,重稀土元素亏损,具壳源特征.白云母Ar-Ar坪年龄为早白垩世(136.6±1.4)Ma,成矿作用发生于仁里矿田稀有金属大规模成矿的早阶段.地球化学及矿物学特征显示,36号伟晶岩与花岗岩围岩具有良好的演化关系,结合野外观察现象及成岩年龄,认为36号伟晶岩为花岗质岩浆侵位后残余岩浆结晶分异的产物,母岩为中粗粒片麻状黑云母二长花岗岩.     

面向知识服务的地质资料管理转型研究

针对传统地质资料服务方式单一、数据共享困难等问题,提出了地质资料管理的转型方案.对面向知识服务的地质资料知识组织方式、知识检索以及知识管理理念如何指导地质资料服务等方面进行了探讨.以地质数据本体构建、基于关联数据技术的地质资料语义化组织以及基于地质大数据的知识检索模型搭建为转型手段,介绍了促进地质资料转型升级的语义化描述及数据关联技术,以期对地质资料管理转型起到参考作用.     

硬土软岩滑坡近水平滑移的离心机模型试验研究

中国西北地区存在大量的新近纪硬土软岩滑坡灾害,为研究该类滑坡的变形特征,开展两组离心机模型试验模拟滑带劣化引起滑坡变形破坏的全过程,获取模型坡体土压及位移的实时变化曲线。研究表明,当软弱带强度降低时,硬土软岩滑坡的上部滑体呈块体状滑动,在快速运动滑动过程中,滑体呈现块状平移,不会彻底解体、液化;硬土软岩滑坡中前部出现水平应力集中,导致下伏滑带塑性流动变形,诱发其中前部上覆滑体的水平运动,并向滑坡后缘扩展,最终形成多级水平滑动。     

Predicting rock size distribution in mine blasting using various novel soft computing models based on meta-heuristics and machine learning algorithms

Blasting is well-known as an effective method for fragmenting or moving rock in open-pit mines. To evaluate the quality of blasting, the size of rock distribution is used as a critical criterion in blasting operations. A high percentage of oversized rocks generated by blasting operations can lead to economic and environmental damage. Therefore, this study proposed four novel intelligent models to predict the size of rock distribution in mine blasting in order to optimize blasting parameters, as well as the efficiency of blasting operation in open mines. Accordingly, a nature-inspired algorithm (i.e., firefly algorithm – FFA) and different machine learning algorithms (i.e., gradient boosting machine (GBM), support vector machine (SVM), Gaussian process (GP), and artificial neural network (ANN)) were combined for this aim, abbreviated as FFA-GBM, FFA-SVM, FFA-GP, and FFA-ANN, respectively. Subsequently, predicted results from the abovementioned models were compared with each other using three statistical indicators (e.g., mean absolute error, root-mean-squared error, and correlation coefficient) and color intensity method. For developing and simulating the size of rock in blasting operations, 136 blasting events with their images were collected and analyzed by the Split-Desktop software. In which, 111 events were randomly selected for the development and optimization of the models. Subsequently, the remaining 25 blasting events were applied to confirm the accuracy of the proposed models. Herein, blast design parameters were regarded as input variables to predict the size of rock in blasting operations. Finally, the obtained results revealed that the FFA is a robust optimization algorithm for estimating rock fragmentation in bench blasting. Among the models developed in this study, FFA-GBM provided the highest accuracy in predicting the size of fragmented rocks. The other techniques (i.e., FFA-SVM, FFA-GP, and FFA-ANN) yielded lower computational stability and efficiency. Hence, the FFA-GBM model can be used as a powerful and precise soft computing tool that can be applied to practical engineering cases aiming to improve the quality of blasting and rock fragmentation.     

An approach to the modeling of viscoelastic damage. Application to the long‐term creep of gypsum rock materials

A three‐dimensional phenomenological model is developed to describe the long‐term creep of gypsum rock materials. The approach is based on the framework of continuum damage mechanics where coupling with viscoelasticity is adopted. Specifically, a local damage model based on the concept of yield surface is proposed and deeply investigated. Among the many possibilities, we choose in this work its coupling with a generalized Kelvin–Voigt rheological model to formulate the whole behavior. Long‐term as well as short‐term relaxation processes can be integrated in the model by means of as many as necessary viscoelastic processes. The numerical discretization is described for an easy integration within a finite element procedure. Finally, a set of numerical simulations is given to show the possibilities of the presented model. It shows good agreement with some experimental results found in the literature. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zooplankton community structure in a highly turbid environment (Charente estuary,France): Spatio-temporal patterns and environmental control

Zooplankton assemblages were studied from January 2007 to January 2008 along the salinity gradient of the Charente estuary (France). A Lagrangian survey was performed monthly at five sampling stations defined by salinity (freshwater, 0.5, 5, 15 and 25) in order to collect zooplankton and measure the main environmental parameters (concentrations of suspended particulate matter, particulate organic carbon, chlorophyll a and phaeopigments). A combination of multivariate cluster analysis, species indicator index and canonical correspondence analysis was used to relate the spatio-temporal patterns of the zooplankton assemblages with environmental drivers. The estuary was divided into three different zones by means of environmental parameters while four zooplankton assemblages were identified along the salinity gradient. The Charente estuary appeared as one of the most turbid systems in Europe, with suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration reaching 3.5 g l⁻¹ in the Maximum Turbidity Zone (MTZ). Algal heterotrophy and microphytobenthos resuspension from the wide mudflats could be responsible for the relatively high chlorophyll a concentrations measured within this MTZ. Salinity and SPM affected significantly the spatial distribution of zooplankton species while temperature and river flow seemed to control their temporal variations. From a zooplanktonic viewpoint, the highly turbid Charente estuary seemed to match an “ecotone–ecocline” model: the succession of species assemblages along the salinity gradient matched the concept of ecocline while the MTZ, which is a stressful narrow area, could be considered as an ecotone. Although such ecoclinal characteristics seemed to be a general feature of estuarine biocenoses, the ecotone could be more system-specific and biological compartment-specific.     

Geoacoustic Inversions of Horizontal and Vertical Line Array Acoustic Data From a Surface Ship Source of Opportunity

The application of an inversion methodology produces the first demonstration of a simultaneous solution for geoacoustic and source track parameters from acoustic data collected in a shallow-water, sandy sediment environment. Inversion solutions from data collected in the 2006 Shallow Water Experiment (SW06) are extracted from noise measurements of a surface ship source on an L-array. The methodology includes a screening algorithm to determine a set of frequencies for the inversion data. In addition, the methodology assesses the accuracy of the inversion solution and incorporates an estimation of parameter value uncertainties. The solution from the inversion of the horizontal component of the L-array data from the surface ship source before its closest point of approach (CPA) is used to construct modeled propagation loss for comparison with observed received level (RL) structure as the source departs from CPA. Inversion of the data from a single element in the vertical component of the L-array produces a solution that agrees with the solution obtained from the inversion of horizontal subaperture data. Also, modeled transmission loss (TL) structure obtained from the single-element inversion solution reproduces the depth dependence of the RL structure observed at other elements of the vertical component of the L-array.      

Slow quasigeostrophic unstable modes of a lens vortex in a continuously stratified flow

This work addresses the linear dynamics underlying the formation of density interfaces at the periphery of energetic vortices, well outside the vortex core, both in the radial and axial directions. We compute numerically the unstable modes of an anticyclonic Gaussian vortex lens in a continuously stratified rotating fluid. The most unstable mode is a slow mode, associated with a critical layer instability located at the vortex periphery. Although the most unstable disturbance has a characteristic vertical scale which is comparable to the vortex height, interestingly, the critical levels of the successively fastest growing modes are closely spaced at intervals along the axial direction that are much smaller than the vortex height.