Modelling the poroelastoplastic behaviour of soils subjected to internal erosion by suffusion

Granular soils subjected to seepage flow may suffer suffusion, ie, a selective internal erosion. Extending the classical approach of poromechanics, we deduce a new form of the Clausius-Duhem inequality accounting for dissipation due to suffusion, and we deduce restrictions on the constitutive laws of the soil. We suggest (a) a possible coupling between the seepage forces and the suffusion kinetics and (b) an extension of an existing elastoplastic model for the skeleton mechanical behaviour. Numerical integrations of the elastoplastic model are carried out under drained axisymmetric triaxial and oedometric conditions. As a result, we prove that the extended model is able to qualitatively reproduce the suffusion induced strains and the strength reduction experimentally observed. Predictions on the oedometric behaviour of suffusive soils are also provided.     

The Gondwanan Carboniferous-Permian Boundary Revisited: New Data from Australia and Argentina

The identification and correlation of the Carboniferous-Permian (Gzhelian-Asselian) boundary within the sedimentary sequences of Gondwana has always been a topic of debate. Type latest Carboniferous and earliest Permian marine sequences are characterised by warm tropical faunas and come from the Uralian Region of Russia and Kazakhstan. Faunas include conodonts and fusulinid foraminiferids which are prime tools for correlation. Such faunal groups are absent from most Gondwanan sequences where reliance for correlations must be placed primarily on brachiopods, bivalve molluscs and palynology. The Western Australian marine sequences, with their contained ammonoids, provide a pivotal link for the dating and correlating of Early Permian Gondwanan sequences with those of the type regions and their palynostratigraphical record is essential for trans-Australian correlations and correlations elsewhere throughout Gondwanaland.New data from the fully cored DM Tangorin DDHl bore hole, drilled in the Cranky Corner Basin, New South Wales, Australia, reveals a sequence of descending faunal zones. The stratigraphically highest zone with Eurydesrna cordaturn, encompasses the Late Sakmarian (Sterlitamakian). The middle zone with Torniopsis elongata, Sulciplica c r a m and Trigonotreta tangorini straddles the Sterlitamakian-Tastubian boundary, with the palynomorphs Pseudoreticulatispora pseudoreticulata high in the zone and Granulatisporites confluens low in the zone. An impoverished fauna with Trigonotreta nov., low in the Granulatisporites confluens Zone, is probably of latest Asselian or Tastubian age.Significant new data from Argentina has revealed marine faunas from below the occurrence of Granulatisporites confluens. These are considered to be of Asselian age. Outcrops of the Tupe Formation, with a marine fauna, at La Herradura Creek in the western Paganzo Basin, San Juan Province, are best regarded as being of mid to late Asselian age. The Tupe Fauna has been recognised as the Tivertonia jachalensis-Streptorhynchus inaequiornatus Zone. Previously, this fauna was considered to be of Late Carboniferous or Stephanian age. Three faunal associations are known from the Rio del Peii6n Formation, Rio Blanco Basin, La Rioja Province. The middle assemblage with Tivertonia, Costaturnulus, Kochiproductus and Trigonotreta, appears to correlate well with the Tupe Formation fauna. The lower assemblage, with Streptorhynchus, Etherilosia, Costaturnulus, Trigonotreta and a punctate spiriferid, as well as indeterminate productids, probably of Early Asselian age. The youngest assemblage includes a species ofRhynchopora that is close to Rhynchopora australasica from the latest Asselian-early Tastubian of Western Australia. The marine biostratigraphical data from Argentina has enabled a much greater understanding of the earliest Permian marine faunas to be achieved - a story that is apparently absent from the other cold and cool temperate regions of Gondwana.     

Backward modeling of the rifting kinematics in the Upper Rhine Graben: insights from an elastic-perfect contact law on the restoration of a multi-bloc domain

This paper addresses the problem of volume restoration for 3-D sedimentary basin kinematic deformation. The primary purpose is methodological and concerns the use of contact mechanics with the finite element method, in order to deform a geological multi-bloc domain. This approach is applied to backward model the later stage of rifting of a segment of the southern Upper Rhine Graben (France–Germany border). Preliminary results from our modeling demonstrate the ability of the method not only to handle complex geometries, but also to successfully perform retro-deformation of a complex geological domain. In addition, they provide or confirm crucial information on the rifting evolution and tectonic features of this segment of the Upper Rhine Graben, such as the distribution of deformation, the asymmetry of the graben and a significant left-lateral strike-slip component of displacement.     

Integrating isolated and riparian wetland modules in the PHYSITEL/HYDROTEL modelling platform: model performance and diagnosis

Mathematical modelling is a well‐accepted framework to evaluate the effects of wetlands on stream flow and watershed hydrology in general. Although the integration of wetland modules into a distributed hydrological model represents a cost‐effective way to make this assessment, the added value brought by landscape‐specific modules to a model's ability to replicate basic hydrograph characteristics remains unclear. The objectives of this paper were the following: (i) to present the adaptation of PHYSITEL (a geographic information system) to parameterize isolated and riparian wetlands; (ii) to describe the integration of specific isolated wetland and riparian wetland modules into HYDROTEL, a distributed hydrological model; and (iii) to evaluate the performance of the updated modelling platform with respect to the capacity of replicating various hydrograph characteristics. To achieve this, two sets of simulations were performed (with and without wetland modules), and the added value was assessed at three river segments of the Becancour River watershed, Quebec, Canada, using six general goodness‐of‐fit indicators and 14 water flow criteria. A sensitivity analysis of the wetland module parameters was performed to characterize their impact on stream flows of the modelled watershed. Results of this study indicate the following: (i) integration of specific wetland modules can slightly increase the capacity of HYDROTEL to replicate basic hydrograph characteristics; and (ii) the updated modelling platform allows for the explicit assessment of the impact of wetlands (e.g. typology and location) on watershed hydrology. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ba同位素揭示上地幔中广泛存在再循环的沉积物

正Ba同位素由于具有在低温环境中分馏的特性,相比放射性同位素与微量元素,可以更好地示踪地球深部动力学过程中的再循环物质。研究表明沉积物与蚀变洋壳具有明显不同的Ba同位素组成(沉积物富集来自重晶石的Ba),使得Ba同位素成为研究表层与地幔储库间物质交换的有力工具。最近美国伍兹霍尔海洋研究所报道了来自全球洋中脊的21个MORB样品的Ba、Sr、Nd同位素和微量元素组成以及两个钻井中沉积物和蚀变洋壳     

Densities deduced from perturbations at high altitudes

Atmospheric densities between 1500 and 3000km have been determined from observations of satellites with large surface to mass ratios. The analysis has been made for optimum periods where the satellite is continuously in sunlight and when the effects of Earth albedo are minimum. Twenty six values of density obtained from 1965 to 1970 have been analysed.     

黄土高原秦安中新世黄土-古土壤序列的蜗牛化石初步研究

通过对秦安中新世黄土-古土壤序列蜗牛化石的初步调查研究表明, 在距今22~6.2 Ma期间长达近16 Ma的黄土-古土壤沉积发育过程中, 无论黄土还是古土壤地层中都保存有较丰富的蜗牛化石种类, 目前发现的15种蜗牛化石全部是陆生种类, 化石个体保存完整, 为原地埋藏的种群, 未发现水生的种类, 多数为第四纪黄土-古土壤序列中的常见种类, 可划分为冷干和温湿两个生态类群, 冷干类主要见于黄土地层中, 温湿类主要分布于古土壤地层中. 自中新世至第四纪期间, 蜗牛化石Metodontia(间齿螺)类和Cathaica(华蜗牛)类的属种具有明显的演化趋势, 新的种类的出现和演化与这一时期大的气候环境的改变在时代上有较好的一致性, 反映了蜗牛生态种类对全球/区域性环境格局变化的响应. 初步研究结果表明, 中新世黄土-古土壤序列与第四纪黄土-古土壤序列有着相似的沉积背景. 研究结果为秦安中新世黄土-古土壤序列沉积环境、气候演化等提供了生物化石证据.     

Implications of broad dose distributions obtained with the single-aliquot regenerative-dose method on quartz fine-grains from loess

Six samples were collected from a section of Peoria Loess in Eustis, North America, for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz, and all except one (LV90) produced narrow dose distributions. A comparative study was conducted on this sample and on a ‘well-behaved’ sample (LV91), involving other dating methods and examination of the quartz OSL. These investigations revealed differences in the quartz OSL growth with dose, OSL response to thermal treatments and the range of components within the OSL signals. An ultra-fast component was found in LV90 that displayed a higher rate of sensitivity change than the fast component and this had a malign influence on the determination of the equivalent dose. The distinctive luminescence characteristics of LV90 imply either a change in wind dynamics and/or the source area for the silt.     

Lattice dynamical system modelling of molecular clouds

Because a comprehensive microscopic treatment of interstellar molecular clouds is out of reach, an alternative approach is proposed in which most of the crucial ingredients of the problem are considered, but at some 'minimal' level of modelling. This leads to the elaboration of a lattice dynamical system , i.e. a time-dependent, spatially extended, deterministic system of macroscopic cells coupled through radiative transfer. Each cell is characterized by a small set of variables and supports a caricatural chemistry possessing the essential dynamical features of more realistic reaction schemes.   This approach naturally precludes quantitative results, but allows heretofore unavailable insights into some of the basic mechanisms at play. We focus on the response of the transfer process and the chemistry to a frozen 'turbulent' velocity field. It is shown that the system settles generically into a state where the effective coupling between cells is neither local nor global, and for which no single length-scale exists.   The spectral lines reconstructed from the spatiotemporal evolution of our model may, depending on the velocity field, exhibit profiles ranging from Gaussian to bimodal with strong realization effects. In the bimodal case, the model intrinsically displays an energy cascade transport mechanism to the cells that cool most efficiently: the feedback of chemistry on radiative transfer cannot be neglected.   Finally, extensions of this work are discussed and future developments are outlined.     

Changes in stream water quality due to logging of the boreal forest in the Montmorency Forest,Québec

Summer stream water quality was monitored before and following the logging of 50% of the boreal forest within three small watersheds (<50 ha) nested in the ‘Ruisseau des Eaux‐Volées’ Experimental Watershed, Montmorency Forest (Québec, Canada). Logging was conducted in winter, on snow cover according to recommended best management practices (BMPs) to minimize soil disturbance and protect advance growth. A 20‐m forest buffer was maintained along perennial streams. In watershed 7·2, cut‐blocks were located near the stream network and logging was partially allowed within the riparian buffer zone. In watersheds 7·5 and 7·7, logging occurred farther away from the stream network. Observations were also made for watershed 7·3 that collected the runoff from watersheds 7·2 and 7·5, and watershed 7·6, the uproad portion of watershed 7·7. The control watershed 0·2 was contiguous to the impacted watersheds and remained undisturbed. Following clearcutting, changes in summer daily maximum and minimum stream temperatures remained within ± 1 °C while changes in diurnal variation did not decrease by more than 0·5 °C. Concentrations of NO₃^? greatly increased by up to 6000% and concentrations of K⁺ increased by up to 300% during the second summer after logging. Smaller increases were observed for Fe_total (up to 71%), specific conductance (up to 26%), and Mg²⁺ (up to 19%). Post‐logging pH decreased slightly by no more than 7% while PO₄^3? concentration remained relatively constant. Suspended sediment concentrations appeared to increase during post‐logging, but there was not enough pre‐logging data to statistically confirm this result. Logging of moderate intensity and respecting established BMPs may account for the limited changes of water quality parameters and the low exceedances of the criteria for the protection of aquatic life. The proximity of the cutover to the stream network and logging within the riparian zone did not appear to affect water quality. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.