Modelling the effect of low soil temperatures on transpiration by Scots pine

For ecosystem modelling of the Boreal forest it is important to include processes associated with low soil temperature during spring‐early summer, as these affect the tree water uptake. The COUP model, a physically based SVAT model, was tested with 2 years of soil and snow physical measurements and sap flow measurements in a 70‐year‐old Scots pine stand in the boreal zone of northern Sweden. During the first year the extent and duration of soil frost was manipulated in the field. The model was successful in reproducing the timing of the soil warming after the snowmelt and frost thaw. A delayed soil warming, into the growing season, severely reduced the transpiration. We demonstrated the potential for considerable overestimation of transpiration by the model if the reduction of the trees' capacity to transpire due to low soil temperatures is not taken into account. We also demonstrated that the accumulated effect of aboveground conditions could be included when simulating the relationship between soil temperature and tree water uptake. This improved the estimated transpiration for the control plot and when soil warming was delayed into the growing season. The study illustrates the need of including antecedent conditions on root growth in the model in order to catch these effects on transpiration. The COUP model is a promising tool for predicting transpiration in high‐latitude stands. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marine tether dynamics: retrieval and deployment from a heaving platform

A tether management system of a winch module in a marine environment is proposed. For the purpose of this study the subsea body is considered as a mass attached at the free end of a long tether which is wrapped around a circular drum controlled by an external torque. The winch is considered mounted on a heaving platform. The effect of the heaving platform on the motions of the drum, tether and attached mass are studied with respect to the longitudinal vibrations of the tether in one dimension. The hydrodynamic effects are considered on the deployed portion of the tether and the tethered mass, both of which are assumed submerged in otherwise still water. The resulting nonlinear system of equations of motion is developed and solved numerically for an example of a marine tether system. The effect of the tether extensibility on the operation threshold of the system is identified. Comparison with an inextensible tether case is provided. The numerical results and their analysis for the retrieval/deployment of the system are presented.     

东北大兴安岭多年冻土区工程地质特征及评价

土体在冻结状态具有极高的压缩模量, 具有弹性体的工程地质特征。但是在冻土地温升高过程中, 这种特征急剧衰减, 产生蠕变和流变, 建筑物地基强度降低, 导致建筑物基础破坏。同时土体在冻结过程中产生的冻胀作用也将导致建筑物基础的破坏。东北大兴安岭地区多年冻土为高纬度低海拔多年冻土, 其分布具有明显纬度地带性特点。本文在分析该区多年冻土分布特征及冻土工程地质特点的基础上, 对由于土体的冻胀和融沉导致的建筑物基础的危害进行分类研究, 针对性的提出了用热棒降低土体温度以保证多年冻土稳定及用排水的方法减少水对建筑物地基多年冻土影响的工程病害处理措施。     

Stability Analysis and Numerical Simulation of Differential Frost Heave

Differential frost heave is often implicated in the formation of patterned ground in regions subject to recurrent freezing and thawing. A linear stability analysis (LSA) indicates that a continuum model of frost heave is linearly unstable under typical natural freezing conditions of silty-clay soils. A two-dimensional non-linear numerical analysis corroborates the frozen time LSA results, and also indicates the importance of non-linear and time-dependent terms that ultimately lead to a preferred mode, which the LSA fails to predict. Instability of the one-dimensional solution occurs at shallow freezing depths and near-zero surface loads when positive perturbations in the ice content at the freezing front lead to a concomitant increase in thermomolecular pressure and upward ice velocity. Differential frost heave can then occur because of the increased heat flux from the perturbed surfaces. A three-dimensional model using random initial surface perturbations indicates that regular surface patterns will evolve with a length scale in the order of 2–4 meters, which corresponds quite closely with naturally-occurring non-sorted patterned ground.     

多年冻土地区L型挡土墙土压力(冻胀力)的分析与试验

为适应多年冻土区土体冻胀过程所产生的较大变形的特性, 缩短施工进程, 减少扰动时间, 在青藏铁路格拉段选择了一个试验工点进行了L型悬臂挡墙的初步验证性试验研究. 通过对L型挡墙的受力模式分析, 确定了对粗颗粒填料不考虑冻胀力的土压力设计控制值. 通过与现场实测土压力分布规律的对比, 探讨了土压力与冻胀力的关系.     

Microclimate, freezing tolerance, and cold acclimation along an elevation gradient for seedlings of the Great Basin Desert shrub, Artemisia tridentata

Vegetation, microclimate, seedling frequency, freezing tolerance, and cold acclimation were compared for seedlings of Artemisia tridentata collected from 1775, 2175, and 2575 m elevation in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California. Data were used to test the hypothesis that ecotypic differences in stress physiology are important for seedling survival along gradients from desert to montane ecosystems. The vegetation canopy cover and A. tridentata seedling frequency were greatest at 2575 m, compared to 1775 and 2175 m. Snow cover ameliorated temperatures near the soil surface for part of the winter and depth varied across elevations. Freezing tolerance was compared for seedlings maintained in growth chambers at day/night air temperatures of 25°C/15°C. The temperature at which electrolyte leakage and Photosystem II function (F_V/F_M) from leaves were half-maximum was approximately −13·5°C for leaves of seedlings from all three elevations. Shifting day/night air temperatures from 25°C/15°C to 15°C/5°C initiated about 1·5° of acclimation by plants from all three altitudes, with seedlings from the highest elevation exhibiting the greatest acclimation change. Measurements of ambient air and canopy temperatures at the three elevations indicated that wintertime average low temperatures were consistent with the measured degree of freezing tolerance. At small spatial scales used in this study, pollen and seed dispersal between study sites may have precluded resolution of ecotypic differences. Patterns of freezing tolerance and cold acclimation may depend on a combination of mesoclimate and microclimate temperatures, canopy cover, snow depth, and snow melt patterns.     

添加剂对土体的加固作用及冻胀防治研究

将研制的高分子有机材料作为添加剂，加入到土体中，经过拌和夯实、干燥固结，能够起到稳定和提高土体的强度，并具有低渗透和低吸水等特性．冻胀试验表明：加入添加剂不仅能阻止土体冻胀的产生、外来水源的入侵及水分的迁移，还能隔断土体孔隙之间的联系，使水分在土体孔隙中不能运移，从而达到了防治冻胀的目的。     

Erosion rates of alpine bedrock summit surfaces deduced from in situ Be and Al

We have measured the concentration of in situ produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al from bare bedrock surfaces on summit flats in four western U.S. mountain ranges. The maximum mean bare-bedrock erosion rate from these alpine environments is 7.6 ± 3.9 m My⁻¹. Individual measurements vary between 2 and 19 m My⁻¹. These erosion rates are similar to previous cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN) erosion rates measured in other environments, except for those from extremely arid regions. This indicates that bare bedrock is not weathered into transportable material more rapidly in alpine environments than in other environments, even though frost weathering should be intense in these areas. Our CRN-deduced point measurements of bedrock erosion are slower than typical basin-averaged denudation rates ( 50 m My⁻¹). If our measured CRN erosion rates are accurate indicators of the rate at which summit flats are lowered by erosion, then relief in the mountain ranges examined here is probably increasing.

We develop a model of outcrop erosion to investigate the magnitude of errors associated with applying the steady-state erosion model to episodically eroding outcrops. Our simulations show that interpreting measurements with the steady-state erosion model can yield erosion rates which are either greater or less than the actual long-term mean erosion rate. While errors resulting from episodic erosion are potentially greater than both measurement and production rate errors for single samples, the mean value of many steady-state erosion rate measurements provides a much better estimate of the long-term erosion rate.     

Analysis of crack movements observed in an alpine bedrock cliff

Crack widths and rock temperatures were monitored on an andestic bedrock cliff in the summit area of the Daisetsu Mountains, Hokkaido, northern Japan. Sequential data recorded the gradual widening of a crack to the point of critical crack extension, which resulted in catastrophic rock breakage. The data indicate that a combination of liquid water in?ltration into crack tip and subsequent freezing is the most signi?cant factor contributing to critical crack extension. The recorded sub‐critical crack movements involved a number of minor crack extensions and contractions, the timing of which correlates well with the magnitude of the reconstructed thermal stresses at the crack tip derived from thermal deformation of the plate‐shaped rock fragment. Larger crack extensions occurred when stress at the crack tip exceeded a threshold value, possibly re?ecting the control of rock fracture mechanics by which cracks are thought to propagate when the stress intensity factor at the crack tip exceeds the threshold values for stress corrosion cracking and the fracture toughness of the material. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

土体冻结过程中的盐分场研究

As to salty soil, salt migrates with water in freezing soils, assembles and crystallizes continuously. Consequently the swelling of the soil volume leads to the phenomenon of salt heaving. It has a practical significance for solving salt-heaving and frost-heaving damage in engineering to deepen the understanding of salt heaving mechanism. In this paper a general overview about new research results at this aspect was presented. And then the study of salt migration and salt heaving mechanism and present salt heaving models were summarized. For further researching the field of salt transfer it is urgent to continually strengthen the salt migration and the numerical simulation study of salt heaving mechanism to expect perfecting the general evaluation of salt heaving prediction models so as to have a better service for engineering.