PROPOSAL TO ORGANIZE A WORLD ASSOCIATION FOR SEDIMENT RESEARCH

Sediment Problems·Matter of Global Concern In the twenty-first eentury,humanity will be confronted with three major Problems,namely raPid inerease in PoPulation,shortage of natural resources and Proteetion of the     

Monitored Natural Attenuation of Contaminants in the Subsurface: Applications

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the application of passive technologies to reduce or remove contaminants from the subsurface environment including soil and ground water. In most cases, the impetus for this interest lies in a perceived savings compared with more traditional remedial alternatives. In a few cases, the infrastructure at contaminated sites, such as buildings, paved areas, and utilities, makes the use of conventional remedial measures difficult and expensive.
To demonstrate that natural processes are effective in reaching established goals, it is necessary to determine that transformation processes are taking place at a rate that is protective of human health and the environment and that these processes will continue for an acceptable period of time. The basic conditions that must be present to confirm natural attenuation processes arc taking place are discussed along with the behavior of contaminated plumes, monitoring requirements, data analysis, rates of degradation, and mathematical modeling.     

The status of wetlands, threats and the predicted effect of global climate change: the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa

The larger wetlands of Sub-Saharan Africa, cover 2,072,775 km² (9.01 %) of the landmass. This paper reviews the major threats, including climate change, to these wetlands, a number of which lie in semi-arid regions. Climate change predictions are that the arid or semi-arid regions of Africa in the latitudes around the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer will become drier. The future of wetlands is allied to human well-being, and the effects of climate change cannot be de-linked from human activities occurring in and around wetlands. The high productivity of wetlands supports substantial populations of poor people dependent on ecosystem services for at least part of their livelihood. This is particularly so in the semi-arid Sahel in the North and equivalent latitudes in the south, which are seen as vulnerable to climate change largely due to high levels of poverty and low adaptive capacity. While sustainable ecosystem management is a long-term goal, survival is more immediate to poor people depending on ecosystem services for their livelihoods. Population increase and a decrease in the resource base due to predicted decreased rainfall will lead to over exploitation of the resource base. Certain engineering interventions redistribute ecosystem services to the benefit of those upstream or away from the river system. Governance systems play a key role in the sustainable management of resources. Breakdown of governance systems through civil war is seen as a driver of poverty and a major cause of breakdown in resource conservation, increasing the dependence of poor people on ecosystems.     

石油和天然气运移、聚集的特征

虽然石油和天然气都是流体矿产，但它们的物理性质有很大不同，诸如：密度、粒度、溶解度、表面张力、扩散性等等，从而引起它们在运移和聚集特征上也有很大不同，这些不同的特征决定了天然气勘探的时空领域比石油更广阔，然而却比石油更难于保存下来。     

Hydro‐morphologic Revision of the Cuautla Channel at Nayarit,Mexico

Pollution, habitat modification, and species migration are some of the results of human activities on natural environments which can be mitigated or compensated with proper planning. Irresponsibility or ignorance in planning coastal projects too often produces damage to natural systems which can be unpredictable and sometimes irrevocable. The specific site analyzed in this paper is the Cuautla littoral sub‐system which was originally a lagoon that diverted river water to other lagoons and estuaries, thus irrigating the Mexican Marismas Nacionales system, in the states of Nayarit and Sinaloa, Mexico. In the 1970s social and economic considerations motivated the construction of a small breaching canal from the sea to the lagoon. The subsequent growth of this channel was unforeseen and has produced an irreversible impact not only in the sub‐system but probably in the entire area of Marismas Nacionales. A lack of understanding of the present balances in the damaged system and of the impacts the changing morphology has on future change has created the need to study this area using numerical hydrodynamic simulation. The present distribution of water in the sub‐system was established and the governing processes were detected. By means of an analytical estimation of equilibrium conditions it was found that if nothing is done, the channel will continue eroding and the ecosystem will continue to degrade. Only by understanding the dramatic perturbations caused by the construction of the channel to the hydrologic and morphologic equilibriums can there be any hope of rescuing the ecosystem, including its human activities.     

Monitored Natural Attenuation of Contaminants in the Subsurface: Processes

Among the alternatives considered for the remediation of soil and ground water at hazardous wastes sites are the use of natural processes to reduce or remove the contaminants of concern, Under favorable conditions, the use of natural attenuation can result in significant cost savings and compensate for uncertainties encountered in complex subsurface settings. In order to demonstrate that natural processes are effective in reaching established goals it is necessary to determine that transformation processes are taking place at a rate which is protective of human health and the environment, and that these processes will continue for an acceptable period of time.
While chemical transformation, dispersion, dilution, sorption, and volatilization are discussed, aerobic and anaerobic degradation comprise the major processes for the reduction of contaminant mass in the subsurface. In discussing the mechanisms of natural attenuation, chlorinated aliphatics and petroleum hydrocarbons are used as examples because of their significant impact on subsurface contamination and the effect of their physiochemical properties on attenuation processes.     

Incidence of imposex in thais orbita from Port Phillip Bay (Victoria, Australia), following 10 years of regulation on use of TBT.

Imposex, the phenomenon in which induced male sex characteristics are superimposed on normal females, still occurs widely in the gastropod Thais orbita from Port Philip Bay, and its incidence is greatest in areas that have high boating and shipping activities. Compared to 1992, both the extent and severity of imposex has reduced. By inference, this means that pollution by tributyltin (TBT) in Port Phillip Bay has decreased and that the bans limiting its use to vessels greater than 25 m in length, in place since 1989, have been effective. However, TBT pollution is still an issue at locations that are adjacent to major ports, such as the Port of Melbourne, where TBT from large ships and ship maintenance activities continues to pollute fish habitats. It is anticipated that the incidence of imposex, and therefore TBT pollution, will continue to decrease in Port Phillip Bay as long as the bans currently in place continue to be observed. If the trends observed in the present study continue, then it is unlikely, with the notable exception of commercial ports, that TBT will pose a threat to the health of fish habitats in Port Phillip Bay.     

Multi-scale variability and trends of precipitation in North China

The issue of water shortage and related eco-environmental degradation in North China is one of the major emerging problems in China. Precipitation is the most key factor for water resources. Based on the historical flood/dryness grade dataset during the period of 1470–2000 obtained from 25 gauging stations in North China, the multi-scale variability and trends are analyzed by means of power spectral and continuous wavelet transform. It is found that the precipitation is characterized by obvious seasonal changes, quasi biennial oscillations, inter-annual 4–7 year component and inter-decadal 19-year periodicity. The MK test results showe that step changes occurred around 1914 and 1964 in the annual precipitation. As for the historical flood/dryness grade time series, it is characterized by 4∼5 year ENSO mode inter-annual oscillation, quasi-10 year inter-decadal variability, quasi-24 year component and 50–80 year centurial periodicity. However, the scales of these variations have decreased significantly since the 1970s. The trend for precipitation change in North China has been negative for last 30 years. Further research shows that North China will continue to become dryer until 2015 and may change to a wetter regime after 2020. These findings should be helpful for future decision-making to ensure sustainable water resource management in North China.     

Dealing with earthquakes: the practice of seismic engineering ‘as if people mattered’

This paper sets out to explore the different ways in which communities deal with earthquakes. As is well known, the ability to recover from a damaging earthquake varies greatly across the world. The events of 2010 were of course a striking reminder of this, when the death toll from the Haïti earthquake was at least 100,000; in the very different conditions of Chile, a much larger event the same year killed just 525 people. In a narrow sense, much of the difference can be explained in terms of the engineering properties of the physical infrastructure affected; the better it has been designed and constructed to withstand strong ground shaking, the greater the chance that the community affected has of recovering quickly. However, the central thesis of this paper is that the ability of a community to deal with earthquakes involves much more than just technical factors. Seismically resilient buildings and other infrastructure will only be in place when an earthquake strikes if there has been a willingness and ability to devote the necessary resources to building them. Moreover, taking prior steps to limit physical damage is only one part of the process for dealing with earthquakes; providing for immediate post-earthquake needs and for the longer term rebuilding of communities is also important. To pursue these issues further, and how they might affect engineers, I visited four widely differing regions of high seismicity. During this study tour, I examined the societal context in which seismic engineers operate and talked to many people involved in earthquake protection and response. The intention was to identify the ways in which the ability of communities to deal with earthquakes depend on societal factors such as economics, politics and more general cultural dimensions. Based on these investigations, I believe that seismic engineers can contribute more effectively to ensuring successful outcomes after an earthquake strikes if fully aware of these societal factors. We need to look beyond our narrow technical field of providing earthquake resistant facilities and widen our vision to consider the complex systems, both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’, in which those facilities will operate. E. F. Schumacher’s famous book (Schumacher 1973) ‘Small is beautiful’ has the subtitle ‘the study of economics as if people mattered’. I believe that seismic engineering should be practised ‘as if people mattered’.     

Riverine quality at the Anthropocene: Propositions for global space and time analysis,illustrated by the Seine River

The control of riverine quality (water, particulates) by human-related pressures is now a major feature of the Anthropocene era. A set of general typologies and approaches to address the complex relationships between pressures, environmental impacts and some of the related social responses is proposed here on the basis of various examples, among others the Seine basin. Riverine quality management is described through a dozen major types illustrated by river fluxes and riverine quality trends (>> 10 years). A successful restoration cycle, still seldom documented, is used as an example of the decomposition of the multiple social, societal and hydrological inertia and time lags, generally spanning several decades. Human impacts can also be described by finer temporal analysis, over hourly to year-on-year scales, and spatial analysis including classical longitudinal profiles, stream-order ranking and sediment pathways. The Seine river example illustrates the pressures from intensive agriculture, industrialisation, hydrological regulation and urbanisation with the impact of the World's second largest treated urban sewer discharge (from 8 million people in greater Paris). The impacts of the Paris megalopolis are much more widely spread than might be expected and include retro-impacts (in upstream reaches), distal (> 100 km) and external impacts (outside of watershed). They are illustrated by specific spatial distributions of indicators of each particular phenomenon (organic pollution, metal contamination, xenobiotic occurrence, nitrate pollution, eutrophication). Although not comprehensive (acidification and salinization are not addressed here), such typologies should facilitate the comparisons between basins and phenomena at the regional and global scales.     

Modelling long term stream acidification trends in upland wales at plynlimon

Historical reconstructions and predictions of streamwater acidification are presented for moorland and afforested catchments in the Welsh Uplands at Plynlimon. MAGIC (Model of Acidification of Groundwater In Catchments) is validated by application to an afforested catchment. MAGIC is used to illustrate that atmospheric deposition is primarily responsible for stream acidification but that conifer afforestation can enhance stream acidity. The historical trends determined by the model illustrate that long-term acidification has been present since the turn of the century and will continue unless either deposition levels are reduced significantly or liming is undertaken on a major scale.     

再论地震大小的度量

本文是针对迄今为止中国在地震大小的度量方面存在的主要问题撰写的。 在阐明地震大小物理含义的基础上, 首先指出由震源辐射能量E_R出发所定义的传统震级标度M_L, m_b(m_B), M_S都存在着“以偏概全”, “震级饱和”和M_L震级标度的“局限性”, 以及不同标度的震级之间不可相互换算等问题。 而由在地震破裂的整个过程中震源区“等效力”所做的功出发导出的地震矩M₀是对地震大小最科学的度量。 为继续应用“震级”这一术语来描述地震的大小, 由M₀所定义的矩震级标度M_W不仅克服了传统震级标度存在的各种问题, 而且适用对不同大小、 不同震中距、 不同震源深度地震大小的度量。 因此近20年已被国际地震学界普遍采用。 最后强调推进地震大小的度量与国际接轨是推进中国地震科技现代化必须解决的重要基础性工作, 不仅有利于国际地震科技交流合作, 而且有助于增强防震减灾工作的科学性。     

Soil erosion in the Anthropocene: Research needs

Soil erosion is a geomorphological and, at the same time, a land degradation process that may cause environmental and property damage, loss of livelihoods and services as well as social and economic disruption. Erosion not only lowers soil quality on‐site, but causes also significant sediment‐related problems off‐site. Given the large number of research papers on this topic, one might therefore conclude that we know now almost everything about soil erosion and its control so that little new knowledge can be added. This conclusion can be refuted by pointing to some major research gaps. There is a need for more research attention to (1) improved understanding of both natural and anthropogenic soil erosion processes and their interactions, (2) scaling up soil erosion processes and rates in space and time, and (3) innovative techniques and strategies to prevent soil erosion or reduce erosion rates. This is illustrated with various case studies from around the world. If future research addresses these research gaps, we will (1) better understand processes and their interactions operating at a range of spatial and temporal scales, predict their rates as well as their on‐site and off‐site impacts, which is academically spoken rewarding but also crucial for better targeting erosion control measures, and (2) we will be in a better position to select the most appropriate and effective soil erosion control techniques and strategies which are highly necessary for a sustainable use of soils in the Anthropocene. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

多龄期钢框架时变损伤模型研究

对3种不同厚度的钢材标准试件进行酸性大气环境气雾加速腐蚀试验,并对锈蚀后的试件进行单向拉伸试验,得到钢材力学性能随失重率的衰变规律。同时考虑构件截面削弱与材料力学性能降低,建立不同锈蚀程度下的钢框架有限元分析模型,利用非线性静力推覆分析得到锈蚀钢框架结构的整体初始刚度随锈蚀程度增大的退化规律,以表征结构因锈蚀造成的损伤。提出同时反映最大变形效应和累积耗能效应的双参数结构整体地震损伤模型,并在此损伤模型的基础上集合钢材材性试验结果及有限元分析结果,提出适用于锈蚀钢结构的"时变"损伤模型。对比分析以层间位移角及时变损伤模型为性能指标建立的不同龄期钢框架结构的地震易损性曲线,结果表明:随着锈蚀程度的增加,在相同地震动强度下结构超越某一极限状态的失效概率均增大。     

Transforming management of tropical coastal seas to cope with challenges of the 21st century

Over 1.3 billion people live on tropical coasts, primarily in developing countries. Many depend on adjacent coastal seas for food, and livelihoods. We show how trends in demography and in several local and global anthropogenic stressors are progressively degrading capacity of coastal waters to sustain these people. Far more effective approaches to environmental management are needed if the loss in provision of ecosystem goods and services is to be stemmed. We propose expanded use of marine spatial planning as a framework for more effective, pragmatic management based on ocean zones to accommodate conflicting uses. This would force the holistic, regional-scale reconciliation of food security, livelihoods, and conservation that is needed. Transforming how countries manage coastal resources will require major change in policy and politics, implemented with sufficient flexibility to accommodate societal variations. Achieving this change is a major challenge – one that affects the lives of one fifth of humanity.     

Geomorphic knowledge for mangrove restoration: a pan‐tropical categorization

Extreme events such as storm surges and tsunamis in combination with subsidence of densely populated coastal areas pose an increasing threat to millions of people in the tropics. Intertidal mangrove forests may form a natural protection against some extreme events, but have also widely been destroyed by coastal development. The establishment of mangroves and the maintenance of their stability over the short‐ to long‐term requires an understanding of sedimentary processes and landforms in the coastal zone, making geomorphology a crucial, but sometimes neglected discipline when attempting restoration for disaster risk reduction. Mangrove geomorphic setting varies markedly across the tropics, depending on abiotic parameters such as suspended sediment supply and tidal range, with different restoration strategies suitable for each. In this study we provide a global categorization of mangrove geomorphic settings, based on the literature and global remote sensing data. The world's mangroves can be broadly defined as: (1) minerogenic and high tidal range; (2) minerogenic and low tidal range; and (3) organogenic and low tidal range. We further discuss restoration and management approaches most suitable for each geomorphic setting. Overall, this study can be used to inform managers about the relevance of geomorphic knowledge for successful mangrove restoration, how an understanding of geomorphology can influence site selection and restoration success, and how to match specific restoration methods to the prevailing geomorphic context. The stronger incorporation of geomorphic knowledge into site planning and design will improve the success rates of restoration for this important and globally threatened ecosystem. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Climate change,population trends and groundwater in Africa

Abstract

Global climate change is affecting Africa, as it is every other continent and region of the world. The absolute poverty of a large proportion of the continent's people renders them highly vulnerable to changes in climate. Mitigation of climate change is a global imperative. However, numerous other changes continue apace, notably population growth, natural resource degradation, and rural—urban migration. Probably 50% or more of the continent's population rely on groundwater. This paper explores the relative impacts of changes in climate, demography and land use/cover on groundwater resources and demands. It concludes that the climate change impacts are likely to be significant, though uncertain in direction and magnitude, while the direct and indirect impacts of demographic change on both water resources and water demand are not only known with far greater certainty, but are also likely to be much larger. The combined effects of urban population growth, rising food demands and energy costs, and consequent demand for fresh water represent real cause for alarm, and these dwarf the likely impacts of climate change on groundwater resources, at least over the first half of the 21st century.     

Resources-related and water-environmental problems of the integrated use of the Novosibirsk Reservoir

The use of water resources of the Novosibirsk Reservoir by the existing water management complex is analyzed at different stages of reservoir operation. The natural and anthropogenic factors that determine the development of reservoir water resources for water supply, a priority objective now, are discussed. The problems of water quality formation in the reservoir are considered for different hydrological seasons and periods of water abundance in the major river. The major contradictions between the participants of water management system are specified. Perspective approaches for optimizing the use of water resources of the reservoir are proposed.     

固结比对土最大动剪切模量的影响

采用共振柱试验方法,研究了固结比对土最大动剪切模量的影响并给出了土最大动剪切模量的建议公式。通过对砂土、粉质黏土和粉土的系统试验,提出了不同固结比下土最大动剪切模量与固结比kc-1呈指数形式的增长模式,不同于Hard in公式最大动剪切模量与固结比kc呈直线形式的增长模式。同时给出了计算不同固结比下砂土、粉质黏土和粉土最大动剪切模量的建议公式,并与Hard in公式进行了对比,结果表明,固结比对土最大动剪切模量影响程度明显比Hard in公式要大,固结比对粉质黏土和粉土最大动剪切模量的影响程度要比对砂土的影响程度更大。