Tide‐induced groundwater head fluctuation in a coastal aquifer system with a submarine outcrop covered by a thin silt layer

We present an analytical solution of groundwater head response to tidal fluctuation in a coastal multilayered aquifer system consisting of an unconfined aquifer, a leaky confined aquifer and a semi‐permeable layer between them. The submarine outcrop of the confined aquifer is covered by a thin silt layer. A mathematical model and the analytical solution of this model are given. The silt layer reduces the amplitude of the hydraulic head fluctuation by a constant factor, and shifts the phase by a positive constant (time lag), both of which depend on the leakances of the silt layer and the semi‐permeable layer. The time lag is less than 1·5 h and 3·0 h for semi‐diurnal and diurnal sea tides respectively. When the leakance of the semi‐permeable layer or the silt layer assumes certain special values, the solution becomes the existing solutions derived by previous researchers. The amplitude of the hydraulic head fluctuation in the confined aquifer increases with the leakance of the silt layer and decreases with the leakance of the semi‐permeable layer, whereas the phase shift of the fluctuation decreases with both of them. A hypothetical example shows that neglecting the silt layer may result in significant parameter estimation discrepancy between the amplitude attenuation and the time‐lag fittings. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Amplification of linear strain in a layer excited by a shear-wave earthquake pulse

Peaks of transient strains in a layer over semi-infinite half space are amplified by interference during up- and down-propagating waves, and they depend upon the impedance ratio of the layer and of the half space, as well as the wavelength. The amplification of incident motion on the ground surface is usually described in the frequency space for the response to a steady state, periodic excitation. To understand how this amplification develops for transient responses and for applications in which the linear theory leads to satisfactory answers, this paper describes the amplification in time in a layer excited by a shear-wave pulse. It is shown that the maximum amplification is equal to 2 for a “stiff” layer on a “soft” half space, and equal to 4 for a “soft” layer on a “stiff” half space, when the layer thickness corresponds to the quarter wavelength of the wave in the layer.     

Cone models for a soil layer on a flexible rock half-space

A modified truncated cone model is used to calculate approximately the dynamic response of a disk on the surface of a soil layer resting on flexible rock. The procedure is analogous to that for a layer on rigid rock, the only modification being that the reflection coefficient —α at the layer–rock interface is no longer equal to ?1. The modified value of α can be determined straightforwardly by considering one-dimensional wave propagation along the cone. The low- and high-frequency limits lead to a frequency-independent α, which allows the dynamic analysis to be performed directly in the familiar time domain. This cone represents a wave pattern with amplitude decay and also incorporates the reflection at the free surface and the reflection-refraction at the layer–rock interface. The results for the static stiffness of the disk are highly accurate for a wide range of geometrical and material properties of the layer and the rock. For the dynamic stiffness the agreement with the exact solution is satisfactory.     

Effects of a sill on selective withdrawal through a point sink in a linearly stratified fluid

Reservoir topography has significant effects on mechanism of selective withdrawal. We study selective withdrawal of a linearly stratified fluid through a point sink in a long rectangular reservoir with a sill at the bed experimentally and analytically. Experiments were conducted for various flow rates and sill heights to evaluate their effects on withdrawal layer in the inertial-buoyancy regime. Transition to the steady state is discussed in terms of dynamics of shear waves over the sill. The results show that in presence of a sill the withdrawal layer is thicker and higher in elevation. For flows controlled at the sill crest, the withdrawal layer thickness in the point-sink flow is almost equal to that in the similar line-sink flow. We propose an analytical relation for the withdrawal layer thickness in presence of a sill and confirm it by experiments.     

Disturbance due to a point source in a layered half-space

Summary In this paper the displacement components due to a compressional point source in a layered half-space consisting of a liquid layer of finite thickness overlying a semi-infinite solid homogeneous medium have been deduced. Two different cases have been considered. In the first case the source is taken in the liquid layer and in the second case the source is taken in the solid layer. The displacement components in cylindrical coordinates have been obtained in closed form in detail at the interface for all values of distance from the source for the second case.     

Near-surface layer traveltime inversion: a synthetic example1

The near-surface layer is modelled as a constant-velocity layer with varying thickness. The base of the layer is described by a B-spline curve. The optimum model is calculated by minimizing, with respect to the model parameters, the difference between traveltimes predicted by the model and those observed in the data. Once a model has been produced, corrections that are dependent on the raypath geometry through the near-surface layer can be calculated. The effect of the near-surface layer is normally considered to be consistent at each shot or geophone station for all traveltimes arriving at that location (the surface-consistent approximation). This assumption linearizes the problem, allowing timeshifts to be calculated and the traveltimes corrected to a chosen datum, representing static corrections. The single correction at each point is an averaged correction, based on an assumption that is particularly inaccurate in the presence of lateral variations of velocity or thickness of the surface layer, in the presence of large surface layer velocities or in the presence of a thick surface layer. The method presented considers the non-linear relationship between data and model explicitly, hence the correction that is dependent on the raypath. Linearization removes this dependence and reduces the problem to a surface-consistent approximation. The method is applied to synthetic data calculated from a model with surface layer variations. Comparisons are made between the corrected data resulting from the method described here and the conventional surface-consistent approach. From these results it becomes apparent that the near-surface layer inversion method presented here can reproduce accurate models and correct for near-surface layer effects in cases where conventional methods encounter difficulties. Additionally the method can be readily extended to 3D.     

Propagation of love waves in a two-layered heterogeneous halfspace

Summary This paper studies the propagation of Love waves in the following two-layered models: (i) a heterogeneous layer overlying a heterogeneous halfspace, (ii) a heterogeneous layer overlying homogeneous halfspace, (iii) a homogeneous layer overlying a homogeneous halfspace. The heterogeneities of the layer and halfspace are specified by different exponential functions of the depth. The dispersion curves have been drawn taking account of the actual variation of elastic parameters with depth in the Earth. The effects of the heterogeneities of the layer (crust) and halfspace (mantle) on dispersion curves have been discussed.     

Lithospheric necking: a dynamic model for rift morphology

Rifting is examined in terms of the growth of a necking instability in a lithosphere consisting of a strong plastic or viscous surface layer of uniform strength overlying a weaker viscous substrate in which strength is either uniform or decreases exponentially with depth. As the lithosphere extends, deformation localizes about a small imposed initial perturbation in the strong layer thickness. For a narrow perturbation, the resulting surface topography consists of a central depression and uplifted flanks; the layer thins beneath the central depression. The width of the rift zone is related to the dominant wavelength of the necking instability, which in turn is controlled by the layer thickness and the mechanical properties of the lithosphere. For an initial thickness perturbation with a width less than the dominant wavelength, deformation concentrates into a zone comparable to the dominant wavelength. If the initial perturbation is wider than the dominant wavelength, then the width of the zone of deformation is controlled by the width of the initial perturbation; deformation concentrates in the region of enhanced thinning and develops periodically at the dominant wavelength. A surface layer with limiting plastic (stress exponent n = ∞) behavior produces a rift-like structure with a width typical of continental rifts for a strong layer thickness consistent with various estimates of the maximum depth of brittle deformation in the continental lithosphere. The width of the rift is essentially independent of the layer/substrate strength ratio. For a power law viscous surface layer (n = 3), the dominant wavelength varies with layer/substrate strength ratio to the one-third power and is always larger than for a plastic surface layer of the same thickness. The great widths of rift zones on Venus may be explained by unstable extension of a strong viscous surface layer.     

Diffraction of a compressional wave by a rigid barrier in a liquid layer — Part I

Summary The problem of diffraction of compressional waves incident obliquely on a barrier of finite height fixed at a boundary between a liquid layer and a solid halfspace has been studied. The problem has been solved by employing the Wiener-Hopf technique. The displacement potential in the liquid layer has been obtained in terms of Fourier integrals, whose evalutation along an appropriate contour yields the transmitted, reflected and diffracted waves. Approximate values of the amplitudes of the waves reflected in the solid medium have also been found.     

Topography on the D′′ region from analysis of a thin dense layer beneath a convecting cell

In this study, we examine the development of topography on a thin dense layer at the base of the lower mantle. The effect of the convecting mantle above is represented as a traction acting on the upper surface of the layer. Topography on the layer boundaries is predicted by a balance of dynamic flow stress and external traction. The nature of boundary topography depends on the magnitude of the driving tractions and the density variation within the layer. If we assume that the layer density is greatest beneath areas of mantle downwelling and decreases to a minimum beneath areas of mantle upwelling (the layer is thermally coupled to the convection in the overlying mantle) then its upper boundary develops a cusp-like peak beneath the upwelling mantle. The height of this peak is potentially much greater than the layer thickness. If, however, the layers are effectively coupled by viscous shear then internal density gradients of the opposite sign may be established. In this case, we observe solutions where the layer is completely swept away beneath areas of mantle downwelling leaving steep-sided ‘islands’ of dense material. This mechanism therefore provides a possible explanation for steep-sided anomalously slow regions at the base of the mantle observed by seismic methods (e.g. beneath south Africa) or for discrete ultralow velocity zones detected at the core-mantle boundary beneath locations of surface hotspots. The magnitude of the upper boundary driving tractions compared to the density gradient within the layer is the key parameter that determines the nature of flow in, and consequently boundary topography of, the layer. The deflection of the core-mantle boundary is small compared with that of the top of the dense layer, but a change in sign of the ratio of these deflections is observed as the magnitude of the driving tractions changes relative to the magnitude of the internal density gradient. We compare seismic measurements of core-mantle boundary topography and D′′ topography with the predictions of this model in an attempt to constrain model parameters, but no clear correlation seems to exist between D′′ thickness and CMB topography.     

Analytical studies of groundwater-head fluctuation in a coastal confined aquifer overlain by a semi-permeable layer with storage

Analytical studies are carried out to investigate groundwater-head changes in a coastal aquifer system in response to tidal fluctuations. The system consists of an unconfined aquifer, a semi-confined aquifer and a semi-permeable confining unit between them. An exact analytical solution is derived to investigate the influences of both leakage and storage of the semi-permeable layer on the tide-induced groundwater-head fluctuation in the semi-confined aquifer. This solution is a generalization of the solution obtained by Jiao and Tang (Water Resource Research 35 (1999) 747–751) which ignored the storage of the semi-confining unit. The analytical solution indicates that both storage and leakage of the semi-permeable layer play an important role in the groundwater-head fluctuation in the confined aquifer. While leakage is generally more important than storage, the impact of storage on groundwater-head fluctuations changes with leakage. With the increase of leakage the fluctuation of groundwater-head in the confined aquifer will be controlled mainly by leakage. The study also demonstrates that the influence of storativity of the semi-permeable layer on groundwater-head fluctuation is negligible only when the storativity of the semi-permeable layer is comparable to or smaller than that of the confined aquifer. However, for aquifer systems with semi-permeable layer composed of thick, soft sedimentary materials, the storativity of the semi-permeable layer is usually much greater than that of the aquifer and its influence should be considered.     

Surface wave propagation in a transversely isotropic elastic layer overlying a liquid saturated porous solid half-space and lying under the uniform layer of liquid

Dispersion of Rayleigh-type surface wave is studied in a homogeneous transversely isotropic elastic layer overlying a nondissipative liquid-saturated porous solid half-space and lying under a uniform layer of homogeneous liquid. The frequency equation in the form of ninth-order determinant is obtained.Special cases have been deduced by reducing the depth of the layers to zero and by changing the transverse isotropic layer to an isotropic layer. Dispersion curves for the phase velocity have been plotted for a particular model.     

Resistance of soil to a horizontally vibrating pile

The resistance of a soil layer to steady horizontal vibration of an elastic pile is theoretically investigated. The pile is assumed to be vertical and of circular cross-section. The soil is modelled as a linear viscoelastic layer with hysteretic material damping. A closed form solution is obtained for the resistance of the soil layer to the motion. This resistance depends on shear modulus of soil, frequency, pile slenderness, material damping and Poisson's ratio. A parametric study of the effect of these parameters is included. The soil layer resistance is expressed in a form which can be used directly in the solution of the soil-pile interaction problem which is treated in a subsequent paper. The approach also applies for rigid deeply embedded footings.     

Computation of the potential of a simple inhomogeneous equipotential layer with a given density on a given surface

Summary The potential of a simple equipotential layer, defined by the equation of a surface, on which the layer is spread, and by the density function in the form of harmonic expansions, is expressed with the aid of the parameters of the surface and of the density function. The integral of the product of three Legendre associated functions is treated with the aid of Gaunt's integral [3, 4].     

层状半空间中洞室对平面SH波的放大作用

利用间接边界元法,求解了弹性层状半空间中洞室对入射平面SH波的放大作用问题,并以基岩上单一土层中洞室对入射平面SH波的放大作用为例进行了数值计算分析。本文模型的特点之一是考虑了层状场地的动力特性,因而更接近于实际工程;特点之二是计算精度非常高。研究表明,层状半空间中洞室对波的放大作用与均匀半空间中情况有着本质的差别;层状半空间中洞室附近地表动力响应由土层动力特性和洞室对波的散射二者共同决定。土层动力特性不仅影响洞室附近地表位移的幅值,还会影响地表位移的频谱。在土层的前几阶共振频率附近,随着基岩与土层剪切波速比的增大,土层的影响随之增大,而随着土层厚度的增加,土层的影响随之减小,并逐渐趋于均匀半空间情况。     

Large-scale seismic isolation through regulated liquefaction: a feasibility study

Using controlled liquefaction, a seismic isolation technique is introduced by which a large area with dozens of structures can be seismically isolated. The proposed Large Scale Seismic Isolation (LSSI) is in many ways similar to conventional base isolations. The required bearing is provided by a fully undrained pre-saturated liquefiable layer which has substantial vertical stiffness/capacity and minimal lateral stiffness. Moreover, required energy dissipation would be provided through material damping and Biot flow-induced damping within the liquefied layer. LSSI consists of a thick nonliquefiable crust layer and an underlying engineered pre-saturated liquefiable layer bounded by two impermeable thin clay layers. The liquefiable layer should be designed to trigger liquefaction as soon as possible within the early seconds of a design level seismic event. Adopting the energy-based GMP liquefaction theory, optimum gradation of the liquefiable layer is also investigated. It turned out that LSSI would effectively reduce acceleration response spectrum within short to medium periods. Contribution of the proposed LSSI is more pronounced in the case of stronger ground motions such as near field events as well as ground motions with longer return periods.     

Turbulent mixing in a rotating,stratified fluid

Abstract

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the effect of rotation on turbulent mixing in a stratified fluid when the turbulence in the mixed layer is generated by an oscillating grid. Two types of experiments were carried out: one of them is concerned with the deepening of the upper mixed layer in a stable, two-fluid system, and the other deals with the interaction between a stabilizing buoyancy flux and turbulence.

In the first type of experiments, it was found that rotation suppresses entrainment at larger Rossby numbers. As the Rossby number becomes smaller (Ro 0.1), the entrainment rate increases with rotation—the onset of this phenomenon, however, was found to coincide with the appearance of coherent vortices within the mixed layer. The radiation of energy from the mixed layer to the lower non-turbulent layer was found to occur and the magnitude of the energy flux was found to be increased with the rotational frequency. It was also observed that vortices are generated, rather abruptly, in the lower layer as the mixed layer deepens.

In the second set of experiments a quasi-steady mixed layer was found to develop of which the thickness varies with rotation in a fashion that is consistent with the result of the first experiment. Also the rotation was found to delay the formation of a pycnocline.     

高原地区路基地震液化数值模拟研究

在青海玉树地震之后,有大量路基出现由于液化而导致的病害问题。以青海S308线结古—曲麻莱段公路路基变形为例,通过FLAC3D数值模拟软件还原该路基在地震中的变形破坏过程,得出如下结论:(1)无地下水情况下,边坡出现明显塑性屈服的振动强度是0.6g,塑性屈服首先发生在填土厚度较薄的路基两端。(2)若砂土完全饱水,随振幅的增加,饱和砂土层液化趋势逐渐增强。振幅小于0.3g时砂土层没有液化。振幅为0.4g时5s以后砂土层出现液化;振幅大于0.5g以后,从振动的开始就出现了液化。(3)下伏饱和砂土的路基动力破坏机理为:饱和砂土层近地表处屈服屈服区在饱和砂土层中向中部扩展饱和砂土层屈服贯通饱和砂土层完全屈服填土后部首先破坏填土破坏区在填土-砂土界面向下扩展填土后部地表屈服开裂破坏区在填土内扩展。至最终破坏时,填土中后部大范围开裂屈服,但填土前部依然保持完整。     

Comparison of a simple planetary boundary layer model with measurements of a turbulent boundary layer under pack ice

A simple analytical theory which describes the motion in a turbulent planetary boundary layer near a rough sea bed by using a two-layer eddy viscosity model is presented. The vertical structure of the current in the boundary layer is presented, and comparisons are made with data fromMcPhee and Smith (1976, Journal of Physical Oceanography,6, 696–711) obtained from measurements of the turbulent boundary layer under drifting Arctic ice.     

Apparent resistivity over a three layer earth with anisotropic interstratum

Summary The present work aims at investigating the effects of anisotropy on the apparent resistivity measurements over the surface of a three layer Earth. An appropriate model with the anisotropic layer embedded between two isotropic media is chosen for study. The point current source is assumed to be present at the surface of such a model. After writing the values of the potentials in each layer, expressions for apparent resistivities for Wenner and Schlumberger configurations are derived. Also, the expressions for potential for the limiting cases in which the bottom layer is infinitely resistive or infinitely conducting are derived. It is shown that these expressions can be recast into simpler forms corresponding to isotropic layer (s) on an isotropic half-space.