Safety factor nomograms for homogeneous earth dams less than ten meters high

Homogeneous earth dams that are waterproofed with geomembranes are a suitable option for storing water and other sorts of liquids, like leachates from landfills. Such dams do not require complicated engineering technical calculations, their cost is usually low and they are not difficult to construct. To ensure the geotechnical safety of the dam, the slopes of the embankment must be correctly designed and constructed. This paper provides a set of nomograms which allow the user to get the safety factor of the slopes immediately. In some cases, it is only necessary to know previously the material classification according to the Unified Soil Classifications System. From this information it can be determined whether the material is appropriate or not. If the material classification is not available, geotechnical data of the material used in the construction of the embankment are needed. Examples of the application of nomograms are presented. Secondly, the paper includes a set of equations to calculate quickly the safety factor of a slope of earth upper than 7.5 m height.     

Study of the Interaction Mechanism in the Biosorption of Copper(II) Ions onto Posidonia oceanica and Peat

A systematic approach was used to characterize the biosorption of copper(II) onto two biosorbents, Posidonia oceanica and peat, focusing on the interaction mechanisms, the copper(II) sorption–desorption process and the thermal behavior of the biosorbents. Sorption isotherms at pH 4–6 were obtained and the experimental data were fitted to the Langmuir model with a maximum uptake (q_max) at pH 6 of 85.78 and 49.69 mg g^?1, for P. oceanica and peat, respectively. A sequential desorption (SD) with water, Ca(NO₃)₂, and EDTA was applied to copper‐saturated biosorbents. Around 65–70% copper(II) were desorbed with EDTA, indicating that this heavy metal was strongly bound. The reversibility of copper(II) sorption was obtained by desorption with HCl and SD. Fourier transform IR spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis detected the presence of peaks associated with OH groups in aromatic and aliphatic structures, CH, CH₂, and CH₃ in aliphatic structures, COO^? and COOH groups and unsaturated aromatic structures on the surface of both biosorbents, as well as peaks corresponding to Si? O groups on the surface of peat. The results of SEM‐EDX and FTIR analysis of copper‐saturated samples demonstrated that ion exchange was one of the mechanisms involved in copper(II) retention. Thermal analysis of biosorbent samples showed that copper(II) sorption–desorption processes affected the thermal stability of the biosorbents.     

Rainfall variability,rainfed agriculture and degree of human marginality in North Guanajuato,Mexico

Mexico has a heterogeneous climate due to its geographical location. Half of the Mexican territory is dryland, mostly in the centre and north of the country, within which agriculture is the main activity in the primary production sector. At present, climate variability has a strong impact on Mexican agriculture. This study analysed rainfall variability, its impact on the agricultural productivity in terms of harvested quantity and productivity of 1996‐2014, and in parallel, the role that socioeconomic development plays on the well‐being of the population who live in areas with rainfed agriculture and a semi‐dry climate. The data obtained were analysed with the Statistical Analysis System. A positive correlation was found between rainfall and productivity (r = 0.76 for maize; r = 0.711 for beans). Rainfall variations therefore have a great impact on agricultural productivity, on food security and on the economy. Besides production losses, a parallel consequence is marginalization of the population because producers' income is increasingly reduced due to smaller crop volumes.     

南海北部陆架和陆坡区小型底栖动物群落的比较研究

为了解南海北部陆架与陆坡区小型底栖动物的群落特征,以及影响群落特征的环境因素,2015年6月对南海北部海域(19.3°—21.4°N, 112.4°—115.1°E)7个站位的小型底栖动物及环境因子进行了采样,并对陆架和陆坡区小型底栖动物群落的丰度、生物量、类群组成和群落结构进行比较。结果表明,在陆架站位,小型底栖动物由13个类群组成,平均丰度为(132±130)ind./10cm2,平均生物量为(169±79)μgdwt/10cm2;在陆坡站位由8个类群组成,平均丰度为(33±14)ind./10cm2,平均生物量为(56±35)μgdwt/10cm2。单因素方差分析结果表明,陆坡区小型底栖动物的总丰度和总生物量以及线虫和多毛类的丰度均显著低于陆架区,但优势类群的相对丰度组成没有显著不同,海洋线虫占总丰度的83%,其次为多毛类和桡足类,分别占7%和3%。环境因子的主成分分析(Principal ComponentsAnalysis,PCA)将陆架和陆坡站位沿第一主分量轴分开,小型底栖生物丰度和生物量与沉积物叶绿素a和脱镁叶绿酸含量以及底层水温呈最大正相关,与水深呈负相关;聚类(Cluster)和排序(non-metric Multidimensional Scaling, MDS),以相似性系数65%将7个站位划分为2组,与按照水深划分的陆架和陆坡组基本吻合;单因素相似性分析(one-way ANOSIM)显示陆架和陆坡区小型底栖动物群落结构差异显著;生物-环境分析(Biota-Environment,BIOENV)表明影响群落结构的最佳环境因子组合为叶绿素a和底层水温。综上可知,随水深增加的食物减少和底层水温的下降是限制南海北部研究海域小型底栖动物丰度和生物量及影响群落组成和结构的主要因素。     

A spring and wooded habitat at FLK Zinj and their relevance to origins of human behavior

The 1959 discovery of the hominin fossil Zinjanthropus boisei brought the world's attention to the rich records at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Subsequent excavations of archaeological level 22 (FLK Zinj) Bed I uncovered remains of Homo habilis and a high-density collection of fossils and Oldowan stone tools. The occurrence of this unusual collection of bones and tools at this specific location has been controversial for decades. We present paleoecological data that provide new insights into the origin of FLK Zinj. Our recent excavations 200 m north of the site uncovered a 0.5-m-thick tufa mound draped by Tuff IC, in the same stratigraphic horizon as level 22. Stable isotope analyses indicate that the carbonates were deposited by a freshwater spring. Phytolith analysis of the waxy clay under Tuff IC revealed abundant woody dicotyledon and palm phytoliths, indicating that the site was wooded to densely wooded. The time equivalency and close physical proximity of the two environments indicate the two are related. This study has provided the first documented evidence of springs in Bed I and these data have important implications for the interpretation of hominin behavior in meat acquisition and the ongoing debate on scavenging versus hunting.     

Temperature — composition relationships of authigenic micaceous minerals in the Los Azufres geothermal system

Smectite, illite, celadonite and chlorite are the major products of alteration of rhyolites and andesites, in the upper part of the Los Azufres geothermal system. Changes in mineral assemblages and composition of phases are observed as a function of depth and host rock lithology. Two different sequences characterize the rhyolites and the andesites from the surface to a depth of about 1500 m: kaolinitesmectite (±interlayered illite/smectite)illitemuscovite (rhyolites), and kaolinitesmectite (±interlayered illite/smectite)illite+celadoniteillite+chloritechlorite (andesites).Illite, and chlorite at depth, are largely dominant. Similar substitutions and correlations among chemical constituents characterize illites from rhyolites or andesites, but their compositions in the two host rock lithologies exhibit slight but significant differences, especially in their Fe and Mg contents which are the highest in illites from andesites. Illite exhibits progressive changes in composition with depth: a strong increase in the K content in the interlayer, together with an increase of the Fe content in the octahedral site. These changes correspond to a slight increase in the molar fraction of Fe-(Mg) celadonite end-members, and mostly to a dramatic decrease of pyrophyllite with increasing temperature.Temperature of the mineralogical and compositional changes was estimated from fluid inclusions studies, combined with other geothermometric approaches (chemical geothermometers and direct measurements). Variation of X-pyrophyllite with temperature is proposed as a geothermometer for different host rock lithologies. Transitions between the stability fields of illite±interstratified illite-smectite and illite+chlorite is around 200±30° C, and between illite+chlorite and chlorite around 290±20° C.     

Coastal boulder deposit as evidence of an ocean-wide prehistoric tsunami originated on the Atacama Desert coast (northern Chile)

A Late Holocene cliff-top deposit of large boulders well above the limits of modern storm waves is described from the southern coast of the Atacama Desert (northern Chile). The largest moved boulder weighs >40 t and field data point to a flood height >18·5 m above high tide level and an inland penetration greater than 284 m from the cliff edge. The minimum flow velocity needed for particle entrainment was estimated as 10·1 ms⁻¹ and the most likely processes of sediment deposition for different boulders were deduced. The boulder distribution, sorting and orientation of imbricated debris, together with the significant wave height of extreme storms reported and the occurrence of interplate earthquakes in the study area indicate that the deposit records a single event, interpreted here as a tsunami wave train rather than exceptional storm waves. The boulder field was dated to between the 13th and the 16th Centuries ce and possibly correlates with the 1420 Oei orphan tsunami, that affected the eastern coast of Japan. A magnitude of 8·8 to 9·4 has been estimated for the earthquake, which may be one of the larger events of a super-cycle of earthquakes in the southern Atacama Desert. These cycle-ending earthquakes involve large rupture areas (lengths in excess of 600 km) and highly destructive ocean-wide tsunamigenic events.     

Artificial neural networks and geostatistical models for housing valuations in urban residential areas

Property valuation studies often use classical statistics techniques. Among these techniques, the Artificial Neural Networks are the most applied, overcoming the inflexibility and the linearity of the hedonic models. Other researchers have used Geostatistics techniques, specifically the Kriging Method, for interpreting spatial-temporal variability and to predict housing unit prices. The innovation of this study is to highlight how the Kriging Method can help to better understand the urban environment, improving the results obtained by classical statistics. This study presents two different methods that share the general objective of extracting information regarding a city’s housing from datasets. The procedures applied are Ordinary Kriging (Geostatistics) and Multi-Layer Perceptron algorithm (Artificial Neural Networks). These methods were used to predict housing unit prices in the municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcon (Madrid). The implementation of both methods provides us with the urban characteristics of the study area and the most significant variables related to price. The main conclusion is that the Ordinary Kriging models and the Neural Networks models, applied to predicting housing unit prices are necessary methodologies to improve the information obtained in classical statistical techniques.

Abbreviations: ANN: Artificial Neural Networks; OK: ordinary Kriging; MLP: multi-layer perceptron     

Loss of primary texture and geochemical signatures in speleothems due to diagenesis: Evidences from Castañar Cave, Spain

Geochemical signals from speleothems are commonly used in the investigation of palaeoenvironments. In most cases, however, little attention is paid to whether or not these signals are primary or altered by diagenesis. The speleothems of the Castañar Cave (Cáceres, Spain), which are initially formed of calcite or aragonite, have undergone a variety of meteoric diagenetic processes such as micritization and neomorphism (inversion), that collectively modify their primary features (textures, mineralogy, geochemical signals). The mean δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of the aragonites in the cave are −8.66 and −4.64 respectively, whereas the primary calcites have mean δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of −9.99 and −5.77, respectively. Following the diagenetic process of micritization, the aragonite isotopic signals averaged −7.63 δ¹³C and −4.74 δ¹⁸O and the calcite micrite signals −9.53 δ¹³C and −5.21 δ¹⁸O. Where inversion took place, some secondary calcites after the aragonite show preserved aragonite, whereas others do not. The secondary calcites without aragonite relics show isotopic values slightly higher than those of the primary calcite due to the inheritance of the aragonite signal. Where aragonite relics are preserved, the isotopic signatures are very similar to those of the aragonite micrite.In addition, the stable isotopic values and Sr and Mg contents of the speleothems became also modified by micritization and/or inversion. These diagenetic processes were driven by the changes in composition of the cave waters over time and space, but also, in the case of aragonite, by its initial unstable mineralogy.The present results highlight how important diagenesis is in caves and how the initial features of cave minerals may be lost. These changes alter the geochemical signals shown by speleothems, which may have an impact on the interpretation of the results obtained in palaeoenvironmental studies.