Inertial Effects on the Vertical Transport of Suspended Particles in a Turbulent Boundary Layer

In many atmospheric flows, a dispersed phase is actively suspended by turbulence, whose competition with gravitational settling ultimately dictates its vertical distribution. Examples of dispersed phases include snow, sea-spray droplets, dust, or sand, where individual elements of much larger density than the surrounding air are carried by turbulent motions after emission from the surface. In cases where the particle is assumed to deviate from local fluid motions only by its gravitational settling (i.e., they are inertialess), traditional flux balances predict a power-law dependence of particle concentration with height. It is unclear, however, how particle inertia influences this relationship, and this question is the focus of this work. Direct numerical simulations are conducted of turbulent open-channel flow, laden with Lagrangian particles of specified inertia; in this way the study focuses on the turbulent transport which occurs in the lowest few meters of the planetary boundary layer, in regions critical for connecting emission fluxes to the fluxes felt by the full-scale boundary layer. Simulations over a wide range of particle Stokes number, while holding the dimensionless settling velocity constant, are performed to understand the role of particle inertia on vertical dispersion. It is found that particles deviate from their inertialess behaviour in ways that are not easily captured by traditional theory; concentrations are reduced with increasing Stokes number. Furthermore, a similarity-based eddy diffusivity for particle concentration fails as particles experience inertial acceleration, precluding a closed-form solution for particle concentration as in the case of inertialess particles. The primary consequence of this result is that typical flux parametrizations connecting surface emission models (e.g., saltation models or sea-spray generation functions) to elevated boundary conditions may overestimate particle concentrations due to the reduced vertical transport caused by inertia in between; likewise particle emission may be underestimated if inferred from concentration measurements aloft.     

Long-lasting floods buffer the thermal regime of the Pampas

The presence of large water masses influences the thermal regime of nearby land shaping the local climate of coastal areas by the ocean or large continental lakes. Large surface water bodies have an ephemeral nature in the vast sedimentary plains of the Pampas (Argentina) where non-flooded periods alternate with flooding cycles covering up to one third of the landscape for several months. Based on temperature records from 17 sites located 1 to 700 km away from the Atlantic coast and MODIS land surface temperature data, we explore the effects of floods on diurnal and seasonal thermal ranges as well as temperature extremes. In non-flooded periods, there is a linear increase of mean diurnal thermal range (DTR) from the coast towards the interior of the region (DTR increasing from 10 to 16 K, 0.79 K/100 km, r ² = 0.81). This relationship weakens during flood episodes when the DTR of flood-prone inland locations shows a decline of 2 to 4 K, depending on surface water coverage in the surrounding area. DTR even approaches typical coastal values 500 km away from the ocean in the most flooded location that we studied during the three flooding cycles recorded in the study period. Frosts-free periods, a key driver of the phenology of both natural and cultivated ecosystems, are extended by up to 55 days during floods, most likely as a result of enhanced ground heat storage across the landscape (~2.7 fold change in day-night heat transfer) combined with other effects on the surface energy balance such as greater night evaporation rates. The reduced thermal range and longer frost-free periods affect plant growth development and may offer an opportunity for longer crop growing periods, which may not only contribute to partially compensating for regional production losses caused by floods, but also open avenues for flood mitigation through higher plant evapotranspirative water losses.     

Reliability-based design of R/C water tank structures under seismic action

Based on a reliability level 2 method, a procedure is proposed to design reinforced concrete structures for elevated tanks subjected to seismic action, with a specified probability of failure in a 50-year design life. To evaluate the probability of failure the ultimate limit state is obtained when the top column displacement demanded by the earthquake, a random variable, reaches the allowable displacement, which is here treated as deterministic. The seismic action is characterized probabilistically by the power spectral density function of the ground acceleration, which is obtained from a design spectrum. The strength and ductility of an annular column section of confined reinforced concrete for cyclic loads are evaluated with design aids. Design charts are made for a given tank capacity and specified seismic zone that allow one to choose different combinations of strength, stiffness and ductility for the same tolerable probability of failure. A step by step method is suggested for the design of the annular column section, choosing finally the most convenient design. The advantage of this methodology is shown through a numerical example.     

A new methodology for computing ionic profiles and disjoining pressure in swelling porous media

A new two-scale computational model is proposed to construct the constitutive law of the swelling pressure which appears in the modified form of the macroscopic effective stress principle for expansive clays saturated by an aqueous electrolyte solution containing multivalent ionic species. The microscopic non-local nanoscale model is constructed based on a coupled Poisson-Fredholm integral equation arising from the thermodynamics of inhomogeneous fluids in nanopores (Density Functional Theory), which governs the local electric double layer potential profile coupled with the ion-particle correlation function in an electrolytic solution of finite size ions. The local problem is discretized by invoking the eigenvalue expansion of the convolution kernel in conjunction with the Galerkin method for the Gauss-Poisson equation. The discretization of the Fredholm equation is accomplished by a collocation scheme employing eigenfunction basis. Numerical simulations of the local ionic profiles in rectangular cell geometries are obtained showing considerable discrepancies with those computed with Poisson-Boltzmann based models for point charges, particularly for divalent ions in calcium montmorillonite. The constitutive law for the disjoining pressure is reconstructed numerically by invoking the contact theorem within a post-processing approach. The resultant computational model is capable of capturing ranges of particle attraction characterized by negative values of the disjoining pressure overlooked by the classical electric double layer theory. Such results provide further insight in the role the swelling pressure plays in the modified macroscopic effective stress principle for expansive porous media.     

Post-LGM sedimentation on the outer shelf-upper slope of the northernmost part of the São Paulo Bight, southeastern Brazil

Sedimentary and isotope data as well as ¹⁴C AMS dating on 15 box cores were used to identify the main post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) processes in the outer shelf and upper slope of the northernmost part of the São Paulo Bight, southeastern Brazil. Results show slight but significant variations in calcium carbonate, total sulphur and nitrogen contents as well as carbon and oxygen isotope ratios. Sedimentation rates, varying from 5 to 184 mm kyr⁻¹ are controlled by the shelf and upper slope morphology, the Brazil Current meander dynamics, and the Coastal Water offshore motion.     

Zooplankton responses to sandbar opening in a tropical eutrophic coastal lagoon

The effects of a disturbance by sandbar opening on the zooplankton community were evaluated through a long-term study in an eutrophic and oligohaline system, Imboassica Lagoon, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Zooplankton samples and limnological data were collected monthly from March 2000 to February 2003. Before the sandbar was opened in February 2001, the lagoon showed eutrophic conditions, with high mean nutrient concentrations and low salinity (total nitrogen – TN = 190.28 μM, chlorophyll a content – Chl. a = 104.60 μg/L and salinity = 0.87′). During this period, the zooplankton species present, such as the rotifers Brachionus calyciflorus and Brachionus havanaensis, were typical of freshwater to oligohaline and eutrophic environments. After the sandbar opening, the lagoon changed to a lower trophic status and increased salinity (TN = 55.11 μM, Chl. a = 27.56 μg/L and salinity = 19.64′). As a result, the zooplankton community came to consist largely of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis, marine copepods and meroplanktonic larvae, mainly Gastropoda. Salinity was the main force structuring the zooplankton community after the sandbar opening. Two years after this episode, the prior zooplankton community had not reestablished itself, indicating a low resilience to this disturbance. The conditions developed prior to a sandbar opening can be crucial to the community responses in the face of this disturbance and for the capacity of the original zooplankton community to re-establish itself.     

Formulation of a three‐dimensional constitutive model for unsaturated soils incorporating mechanical–water retention couplings

Wheeler, Sharma and Buisson proposed an elasto‐plastic constitutive model for unsaturated soils that couples the mechanical and water retention behaviours. The model was formulated for isotropic stress states and adopts the mean Bishop's stress and modified suction as stress state variables. This paper deals with the extension of this constitutive model to general three‐dimensional stress conditions, proposing the generalized stress–strain relationships required for the numerical integration of the constitutive model. A characteristic of the original model is the consideration of a number of elasto‐plastic mechanisms to describe the complex behaviour of unsaturated soils. This work presents the three‐dimensional formulation of these coupled irreversible mechanisms in a generalized way including anisotropic loading. The paper also compares the results from the model with published experiments performed under different loading conditions. The response of the model is very satisfactory in terms of both mechanical and water retention behaviours. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crustal growth of the central-eastern Paleoproterozoic domain,SW Amazonian craton: Juvenile accretion vs. reworking

The Trans-Amazonian cycle was an important rock-forming event in South America, generating voluminous juvenile and reworked fractions of continental crust. The Bacajá domain, in the southern sector of the Maroni-Itacaiúnas Province in the Amazonian craton, is an example of the Trans-Amazonian terranes adjacent to the Archean Carajás block. Zircon Pb-evaporation and whole-rock Sm–Nd analyses were carried out on representative samples of six lithological units, and allowed the proposal of a comprehensive tectonic-magmatic evolutionary sequence for the central and eastern parts of this domain, from the Neoarchean to the Rhyacian. Gneisses with ages of ca. 2.67 and 2.44 Ga are the oldest rocks recorded in the region, and probably represent remnants of island and continental arcs. The Três Palmeiras succession, emplaced between 2.36 and 2.34 Ga, hosts gold deposits and represents the first record of Siderian supracrustal rocks in the Amazonian craton. It was probably part of an island arc/ocean floor accreted to a craton margin. Rhyacian granitogenesis lasted for ca. 140 My (2.22–2.08 Ga), marking different stages of the Trans-Amazonian cycle. The first stage is represented by continental arc granitoids formed by melting of Archean crust at 2.22–2.18 Ga. The second is characterized by the production of juvenile material between 2.16 and 2.13 Ga. The third and final stage at ca. 2.08 Ga is represented by a large volume of granitoids originated from either juvenile material or reworked crust during compressive stresses. Nd isotopes reveal that juvenile rocks dominated in the northern part of the domain, whereas those formed from reworked crust predominate in the south. The present-day configuration of the Bacajá domain results from collision against the Archean Carajás block at the end of the Trans-Amazonian cycle.