Sedimentology and palynology of the Calafate Formation (Maastrichtian), Austral Basin, Southern Patagonia, Argentina

The Calafate Formation crops out in south-western Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, and displays a stacking of asymmetrical coarsening–fining-upward cycles. These cycles are interpreted as the product of short-lived transgressive-regressive events in which the coarsening upward part represents sedimentary aggradation with a stable or decreasing sea level. Sedimentological and palynological analyses indicate nearshore marine conditions. Even though the existence of an estuary or incised valley cannot be determined, this is the most probable palaeogeographic model. Based on dinoflagellate cysts, the base of the section is considered to be not older than Maastrichtian. The presence of the oyster Ambigostrea clarae (Ihering) occurring together with the dinoflagellate cyst species Manumiella druggii (Stover) Bujak and Davies and Eisenackia circumtabulata Drugg in the middle part of the section indicates an age no older than late Maastrichtian. According to sedimentological data, deposits representing the Cretaceous–Palaeogene transition would have been eroded, which is confirmed by the presence of Grapnelispora loncochensis Papú. This megaspore is a consistent component of the Maastrichtian assemblages from Patagonia.     

Numerical analysis of reinforced soil walls with granular and cohesive backfills under cyclic loads

Novel approaches to the dynamic analysis of the reinforced soil walls have been reported in the literature. Use of marginal soils reduces the cost of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls if proper drainage measures are taken. Therefore the affect of using cohesive marginal soils as backfill in geosynthetic reinforced retaining structures were investigated in this research. The dynamic response of reinforced soil walls was investigated in a similar focus, using finite element analysis. The results obtained from walls with cohesive backfill were compared to the results obtained from walls with granular backfill. The height of the wall was chosen as 6 m in the two-dimensional plane strain finite element model and the base acceleration was chosen to be a harmonic motion. The effects of various parameters like the backfill type, facing type, reinforcement stiffness, and peak ground acceleration on the cyclic response of reinforced soil retaining walls were investigated. After analyzing the wall response for end of construction and dynamic excitation phases, it was determined that the deformations and reinforcement tensile loads increased during the cyclic load application and that the amount of additional deformation that occurred during cyclic load application was strongly related to backfill soil type, facing type, reinforcement type and peak ground acceleration. It was determined that a cohesive backfill and geotextile reinforcement was a good combination to reduce the deformations of geosynthetic reinforced walls during cyclic loading for medium height walls.     

STEREO observations of hybrid stars V775 Tau and V483 Tau

In this study, pulsational and physical characteristics of two \(\delta\) Scuti stars, V775?Tau and V483?Tau, are analysed by using four-year high-precision photometric data of the STEREO satellite. Thus, it is aimed to gain new insights into behaviours of these pulsators and evolution of \(\delta\) Scuti, \(\gamma\) Dor and Am type stars. The data are taken between 2007–2011 and examined with the help of the Lomb–Scargle method. The detection precision in the four-year combined data is around \(10^{-5}\) cd^?1 in frequency and \(10^{-5}\) mag in amplitude. It is revealed that V775?Tau exhibits weak pulsation characteristic which is interpreted as the existence of the interaction between the helium loss in the partial ionization zone and pulsation intensities. It is also considered that the absence of strong pulsations is also related to the evolution status of the star. Further, its periodogram shows low-frequency peaks. If these oscillations are g-modes, V775?Tau can be thought to be one of the rare stars that show all \(\gamma\) Dor, \(\delta\) Scuti and Am type variations. V483?Tau is comparatively more luminous, hotter and has higher rotational velocity. Therefore, although it shares the same region with V775?Tau in the H–R diagram, it is not considered to be an Am star. Yet, it exactly overlaps with the \(\gamma\) Dor stars. These clues as well as g-modes detected in its periodogram indicate that V483?Tau is a hybrid star. Finally, both V775?Tau and V483?Tau display period changes whose rates are between \(10^{-3}\) and \(10^{-4}\) yr^?1. Considering the \(\delta\) Scuti nature, it may be speculated that these changes are non-evolutionary.     

Investigation of dynamic behavior of geosynthetic reinforced soil retaining structures under earthquake loads

The results of an experimental study conducted on two 1:2 reduced-scale geotextile-reinforced soil retaining walls are presented and discussed. El Centro earthquake and sinusoidal harmonic motion excitations were applied to the 1.9 m tall models. The design parameter investigated was the reinforcement length (L/H = 0.9 in the 1st model and L/H = 0.6 in the 2nd model). The results were analyzed to evaluate the acceleration amplification, strains in the reinforcement layers and facing wall deformation. The test results showed that in both experiments the walls were in fact designed to behave rigidly and almost no residual displacements were observed on the front of the wall. The most important conclusion drawn from the experimental work was that Geosynthetic Reinforced Retaining Structures designed according to the current specifications behave very successfully under earthquake loading conditions.     

STUDY ON RECHARGE OF GROUNDWATERS AND INTERRELATIONS BETWEEN VARIOUS WATERS BY MEANS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISOTOPES

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Development of New Electrochemical Surfaces for the Detection of Metals in Waste Water

In this study, electrochemical experiments were performed in non‐aqueous media in order to determine electrochemical behavior of some of the glyoxime derivatives (GDs). Phenylglyoxime (PG), p‐chloro‐phenylglyoxime (p‐CPG), and 1,2‐phenylendiamino‐p‐chlorophenylglyoxime (PACPG) were chosen as GDs. Pt wire, Ag/Ag⁺ (in 0.01 M AgNO₃) and glassy carbon (GC) electrode were used as counter, reference, and working electrode, respectively. The multiscan cyclic voltammograms (CVs) of these compounds were registered in acetonitrile (MeCN) containing 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborat (TBATFB) at scan rate of 100 mV/s. The potential was swept from 0 to +2.0 V versus Ag/Ag⁺ (0.01 M). The CVs of GDs were compared with each other and the electrochemical behaviors of the compounds were investigated depending on the functional groups in their structures. The electrochemical characterization of these modified surfaces was performed and characterizations were compared with the chatacterization results of bare GC surfaces. The application areas for new surfaces were investigated. These results will be active in the disciplines of electrochemistry and industrial physical chemistry, and in related industrial fields at the dissemination of new information for scientific area.     

Responses of the stratified flows to their driving conditions—A field study

The Bosphorus is oceanographically very complicated two-layer stratified strait where denser water from the Marmara Sea flows towards North under the lighter water which is frequently flowing from the Black Sea towards South. The water level difference between both ends of the Bosphorus varies seasonally within the range of ?0.2 and 0.6 m. The seasonal variability depends mainly on the water level changes in the adjacent basins related to the hydrological cycle, short-term changes in the atmospheric pressure and the wind characteristics. These variations together with the depth and alignment of the cross section along the strait dominate the spatial and temporal variations and sometimes sharp changes in the flow pattern in three dimensions. Although these hydrodynamic conditions are critical for all marine and hydraulic works along the Bosphorus, there was not continuous long-term measurement for a sufficient time span in the strait for detailed evaluation of the current climate. An extensive site surveying work including current, wind, pressure and water level measurements was carried out between September 2004 and January 2006 in relation to the design and construction requirements of the Bosphorus Tube Crossing Project. In this study, the characteristics of stratified flow in the Bosphorus Strait and their relation to local and regional, short- and long-term changes in the meteorological parameters are studied by using the measurement data and the results are discussed comparatively.     

Implementation of 3D spatial planning through the integration of the standards

To plan future land use, zoning plans (i.e., spatial plans) are prepared to get the most out of land for both the public and the government. These plans manifest which facilities can be built and where they can be built on land based on defined requirements such as building height and road length. The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) is well-known and widely used standard for describing Rights, Restrictions, and Responsibilities (RRRs) with respect to land and buildings. The next version of the standard will contain the Spatial Plan Information (SPI) part to enable better land-use planning. Three-dimensional (3D) land-use planning has gained attention to delineate detailed requirements inclusively and allow different spatial analysis that provides a basis for decisions in the planning. Data standards pertaining to 3D geoinformation are vital to put into practice 3D spatial planning. To this extent, CityJSON is proposed for the effortless and efficient use of 3D city models. This article thus first aims to extend the CityJSON schema based on the proposed SPI part of the LADM such that it allows modeling, storing, visualizing, and utilizing the features and attributes required for the implementation of 3D spatial planning. Then, the usability of the proposed extension schema is demonstrated by the real-world use cases that benefit from the exemplary CityJSON files that are created based on approved zoning plans in the country. The results of this study show that there is an important opportunity coming from the integration of international standards that enables semantic information along with their spatial counterparts within 3D spatial planning.