On numerical computation of impedance functions for rigid soil-structure interfaces embedded in heterogeneous half-spaces

We present fully-discrete procedures for computing the impedance functions of rigid massless soil-structure interfaces that are embedded in arbitrarily heterogeneous half-spaces. The finite element method (FEM) is used for obtaining the wave responses of (visco-)elastic half-spaces truncated by Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs), which provide the wave absorbing boundary conditions. The devised FEM-PML approach is verified in both time and frequency domains by using various benchmark solutions. Requirements on the prescribed input excitations for obtaining accurate impedances in the time domain as well as the relative computational cost of time- and frequency domain solutions are investigated. Accuracy of the implemented PMLs in extracting the impedance functions is also examined in comparison to Lysmer–Kuhlemeyer dashpots; and it was found that this simplified boundary treatment is generally inadequate. The utility of the proposed method is demonstrated by extracting the impedance matrix of rectangular and circular voids embedded in a linearly stiffening half-space. Impedance functions for such complex soil-structure systems are shown to be highly coupled and frequency-dependent due to wave reflections and interference caused by the soil heterogeneity and interface geometry. Fully discrete approaches, such as those proposed herein, are necessary to adequately capture these effects.     

Transition stages from a traditional city to an industrial city (Social and cultural environment of Tehran)

Some of Iran’s cities, specially Tehran that is the capital city of Iran have faced sudden changes of industrialization due to political, economic and ecological considerations. There is no doubt that it is not possible to conduct a thorough investigation of the cultural structures of these cities by theoretical models and they shall be evaluated in comparative and combinational terms. Because of the consideration mentioned above, different ethnicities and groups from different cultural backgrounds have been attracted to these cities and subcultures are highly influential in socialization, acculturation, solidarity, and integration of the individuals in the society. Although, one of the problems of the industrial cities all over the world, including Tehran is migration (from towns and villages), inflexible solutions and approaches to the migration problem are not logical. In addition, recourse to the weakness of the villages and attractions of the capital can not solve the problem (as shown by the author’s experience). Therefore, it seems that creating occupational opportunities in villages and towns is one of the practical and useful ways for the survival of small towns and reduction of the migration to big cities, including Tehran.     

Geodynamic evolution of the northern Molucca Sea area (Eastern Indonesia) constrained by 3-D gravity field inversion

In order to better understand the tectonic framework of the Northern Molucca Sea area, we inverted satellite and sea-surface gravity data into an iterative scheme including a priori seismological and geological data. The resulting 3-D density model images the various tectonic units from the surface down to 40 km. We proceed to various tests to assess the stability and robustness of our inversion. In particular, we performed an offset and average smoothing method to properly refine our results. The resulting model shows a striking vertical regularity of the structures through the different layers, whereas the density contrasts appear strongly uneven in the horizontal direction.The density model emphasizes the complexity of the upper lithospheric structure in the northern Molucca Sea, which is clearly dominated by the interaction between ophiolitic ridges, sedimentary wedges and rigid blocks of the Philippine Sea Plate. It also provides new, hard information that can be used in discussion of the evolution of the region.Large density variations are concentrated in the central part of northern Molucca Sea and dominate the upper lithospheric. North–south trending density structures along the Central Ridge and west dipping thrust faults on the western side of the region are clearly imaged. In the eastern part of the region, we distinguish several blocks, especially the Snellius Plateau which seems to be split into two parts. We interpret this as an oceanic plateau associated with thicker crust that previously belonged to the Philippine Sea Plate. This crust is now trapped between the Molucca Sea complex collision zone and the Philippine Trench, due to the development of a new subduction zone in its eastern side.     

Inversion of multiple thermal indicators: Quantitative methods of determining paleoheat flux and geological parameters. II. Theoretical development for chemical, physical, and geological parameters

Using the logic for quantitative inversion of present-day downhole thermal indicators, the inversion procedure can be used to determine unknown, or poorly known, chemical and physical parameters as well as other geological quantities of interest which impact on burial history and thermal history of an evolving sedimentary basin. Some such quantities are: amount of erosion and timing of unconformities, paleo-overpressuring, stratigraphic age, timing of igneous intrusion and insertion temperature, overthrust timing and frictional heating, fault and slump timing, effects due to emplacement of a radiocative layer, and salt emplacement and dissolution timing. Combining a priori unknown values of these chemical/physical and geological parameters with unknown (a priori) paleoheat flux variations, a theoretical scheme, called thermal indicator tomography, is developed for the systematic determination of all parameters at the same time and on the same footing. Case histories will be discussed in subsequent papers in this series.     

无限大三层越流油气藏井底压力的精确解及典型曲线

在考虑表皮效应和井筒储存的影响的条件下，采用最大有效井径的概念，建立无限三层越流油藏井底压力的动态模型。通过拉氏变换得到拉氏空间下以Bessel函数表示的井底压力和分层流量的精确解。运用Crump数值反演方法，得到实空间的解；分析了压力动态特征。该模型不但适合于表皮系数为正的情况，也适合于表皮系数为负的情形。用新模型绘制的典型曲线进行拟合，得到更加准确的结果。     

Surface displacements due to batter piles driven in cross‐anisotropic media

This article derives the closed‐form solutions for estimating the vertical surface displacements of cross‐anisotropic media due to various loading types of batter piles. The loading types include an embedded point load for an end‐bearing pile, uniform skin friction, and linear variation of skin friction for a friction pile. The planes of cross‐anisotropy are assumed to be parallel to the horizontal ground surface. The proposed solutions are never mentioned in literature and can be developed from Wang and Liao's solutions for a horizontal and vertical point load embedded in the cross‐anisotropic half‐space. The present solutions are identical with Wang's solutions when batter angle equals to 0^°. In addition, the solutions indicate that the surface displacements in cross‐anisotropic media are influenced by the type and degree of material anisotropy, angle of inclination, and loading types. An illustrative example is given at the end of this article to investigate the effect of the type and degree of soil anisotropy (E/E′, G′/E′, and ν/ν′), pile inclination (α), and different loading types (a point load, a uniform skin friction, and a linear variation of skin friction) on vertical surface displacements. Results show that the displacements accounted for pile batter are quite different from those estimated from plumb piles, both driven in cross‐anisotropic media. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of the crust and mantle using magnetic surveys by Magsat and other satellites

Among the first measurements made from near-Earth orbiting satellites were measurements of the magnetic field. The sources of that field lie both within the Earth, in its core and crust, and in the surrounding ionosphere and magnetosphere. This article summarizes some of the methodology and results for studies of the Earth’s mantle and crust. Mantle conductivity studies can be made either by studying signals impressed on the Earth from outside, e.g., the ionosphere or magnetosphere, or by studying signals originating in the core and transmitted through the mantle. Crustal field studies begin with a careful selection of the data and subsequent removal of core and external fields by some sort of filtering. Average maps from different local times sometimes differ, presumably due to the remaining presence of fields of external origin. Several techniques for further filtering are discussed. Where large-area aeromagnetic maps are available, crustal maps derived from satellite data can be compared with upward continued data. In general, the comparisons show agreement, with some differences, particularly in and near the auroral belts. The satellite data are further reduced by various methods of inverse and forward modelling, sometimes including reduction to the pole (RTP). These techniques are generally unstable at the equator. Common methods of stabilizing the inversions include principle components analysis and ridge regression. Because of the presence of the core field, the entire crustal contribution from the field is not known. Also, there is a basic nonuniqueness to the inverse solutions. Nevertheless, magnetizations that are interpretable can be derived.     

Numerically obtained vortices in granular media

With our meshfree numerical code SPARC (Soft PARticle Code), which is based on strong solutions of the equations of equilibrium, we were able to derive vortex patterns ("turbulence") in deformations hitherto believed to be homogeneous. The formation of such vortices demonstrates the nonuniqueness of the corresponding boundary value problem. We present some evidence that such vortices can be related with ptygmatic folds, which are observed in rock.     

Bayesian updating revisited

Bayesian updating methods provide an alternate philosophy to the characterization of the input variables of a stochastic mathematical model. Here, a priori values of statistical parameters are assumed on subjective grounds or by analysis of a data base from a geologically similar area. As measurements become available during site investigations, updated estimates of parameters characterizing spatial variability are generated. However, in solving the traditional updating equations, an updated covariance matrix may be generated that is not positive-definite, particularly when observed data errors are small. In addition, measurements may indicate that initial estimates of the statistical parameters are poor. The traditional procedure does not have a facility to revise the parameter estimates before the update is carried out. alternatively, Bayesian updating can be viewed as a linear inverse problem that minimizes a weighted combination of solution simplicity and data misfit. Depending on the weight given to the a priori information, a different solution is generated. A Bayesian updating procedure for log-conductivity interpolation that uses a singular value decomposition (SVD) is presented. An efficient and stable algorithm is outlined that computes the updated log-conductivity field and the a posteriori covariance of the estimated values (estimation errors). In addition, an information density matrix is constructed that indicates how well predicted data match observations. Analysis of this matrix indicates the relative importance of the observed data. The SVD updating procedure is used to interpolate the log-conductivity fields of a series of hypothetical aquifers to demonstrate pitfalls and possibilities of the method.     

The abundance and distribution of uranium in some oceanic,continental ultramafic inclusions and host basalts

The abundance and distribution of uranium in various continental and oceanic ultramafic inclusions and host basalts are reported. Uranium was determined by neutron activation (fission products, fission tracks and delayed-neutron methods) and alpha-particle autoradiography; data is also reported for the uranium content of various USGS standard rock powders. The concentration of uranium in both oceanic and continental samples is similar, levels are controlled by mineral compositions, and their relative abundance in different rock types. Highest levels are found in feldspathic and lowest in olivine rich inclusions. Uranium is enriched in mylonitised samples and along some inter-crystal boundaries. With the exception of some apatites, highest levels of uranium are in clinopyroxenes (chrome) and lowest in olivines; no enrichment of uranium in orthopyroxenes was observed. Attention is drawn to the problem of obtaining representative samples from the sea floor which have not been altered by saline solutions and the identification of uranium and daughter products present along inter-crystal boundaries. Differences in observed heat flow between continental and oceanic areas may reflect inadequate sampling of representative rock types present below the sea floor and lack of information for the true abundance and distribution of uranium in such rocks.     

Occurrence of hypogenic caves in a karst region: Examples from central Italy

The caves of the Umbria and Marche regions in central Italy are made up of three-dimensional maze systems that display different general morphologies due to the various geological and structural contexts. At the same time, the internal morphologies of the passages, galleries, and shafts present some similarity, with solutional galleries characterized by cupolas and blind pits, anastamotic passages, roof pendants, and phreatic passages situated at different levels. Some of these caves are still active, as is the case for Frassassi Gorge, Parrano Gorge, and Acquasanta Terme, with galleries that reach the phreatic zone, where there is a rising of highly mineralized water, rich in hydrosulfydric acid, and with erosion of limestone walls and the formation of gypsum. Elsewhere there are fossil caves, such as Monte Cucco and Pozzi della Piana, where large speleothems of gypsum are present 500 m or more above the regional water table. In all of these important karst systems it is possible to recognize basal input points through fracture and intergranular porosity networks at the base of the oxidizing zone in the core of the anticline, where mineralized water rises up from the Triassic evaporitic layers in small hydrogeological circuits. Different underground morphologies can derive from the presence of a water table related to an external stream or from the confined setting of the carbonate rocks, underlying low permeable sedimentary cover, where artesian conditions can occur.     

Stratification and convection over Arabian Sea during monsoon 1979 from satellite data

From the temperature and moisture retrievals from satellites, two types of indices were derived: one indicating suppression of convection and the other indicating organized deep convection. Sea surface skin temperature and equivalent potential temperatures up to 500 mbar level of the atmosphere, derived from TIROS-N satellite products, are the basis of the two indices. The maps of these indices for various phases of 1979 monsoon are compared with percentage cloudiness, a product also available from TIROS-N satellite observations. Despite the various limitations of satellite soundings, it is shown that these satellite-derived indices can be used to indicate the strengths of atmospheric convection and inversion over the oceans.     

Performance studies on six heuristic global optimization methods in the location of critical slip surface

Recently, many heuristic global optimization algorithms have evolved with success for treating various types of problems. Majority of these algorithms have not been applied to slope stability problem for which the presence of soft band and convergence problem (discontinuity of the objective function) may create difficulties in the minimization process. In this paper, six heuristic optimization algorithms are applied to some simple and complicated slopes. The effectiveness and efficiency of these algorithms under different cases are evaluated, and it is found that no single method can outperform all the other methods under all cases, as different method has different behavior in different types of problems. For normal cases, the particle swarm method appears to be effective and efficient over various conditions, and this method is recommended to be used. For special cases where the objective function is highly discontinuous, the simulated annealing method appears to be a more stable solution.     

Elastic solutions for a transversely isotropic half-space subjected to buried asymmetric-loads

Elastic closed-form solutions for the displacements and stresses in a transversely isotropic half-space subjected to various buried loading types are presented. The loading types include finite line loads and asymmetric loads (such as uniform and linearly varying rectangular loads, or trapezoidal loads). The planes of transverse isotropy are assumed to be parallel to its horizontal surface. These solutions are directly obtained from integrating the point load solutions in a transversely isotropic half-space, which were derived using the principle of superposition, Fourier and Hankel transformation techniques. The solutions for the displacements and stresses in transversely isotropic half-spaces subjected to linearly variable loads on a rectangular region are never mentioned in literature. These exact solutions indicate that the displacements and stresses are influenced by several factors, such as the buried depth, the loading types, and the degree and type of rock anisotropy. Two illustrative examples, a vertical uniform and a vertical linearly varying rectangular load acting on the surface of transversely isotropic rock masses, are presented to show the effect of various parameters on the vertical surface displacement and vertical stress. The results indicate that the displacement and stress distributions accounted for rock anisotropy are quite different for those calculated from isotropic solutions. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The petrology of chondrules in the sharps meteorite

Correlated petrographic and microprobe studies of 96 chondrules in the Sharps (H-3) chondrite indicate that chondritic material had a highly varied pre-accumulation history. Some chondrules, chiefly excentroradial and barred types, appear to be quenched droplets. Others, including most of the metal poor microporphyritic type, appear to have crystallized more slowly and are thought to be fragments of pre-existing rock. Although chondrules of all types show various effects similar to those produced by shock, such effects are most conspicuous in metal-rich chondrules and least conspicuous in spherical chondrules. It is concluded that shock was involved in the origin of chondrules and not simply a secondary effect.It is proposed that chondrules were formed by shock processes during the accumulation of nebular dust into asteroid-sized bodies. Olivine-rich microporphyritic chondrules are thought to be due to complete melting of large masses of target material; metal-rich chondrules represent shock melting and partial vaporization; and spherical, pyroxene-rich chondrules are interpreted as condensates from shock-generated vapor.     

Vertical stress distributions around batter piles driven in cross‐anisotropic media

This work presents analytical solutions to compute the vertical stresses for a cross‐anisotropic half‐space due to various loading types by batter piles. The loading types are an embedded point load for an end‐bearing pile, uniform skin friction, and linear variation of skin friction for a friction pile. The cross‐anisotropic planes are parallel to the horizontal ground surface. The proposed solutions can be obtained by utilizing Wang and Liao's solutions for a horizontal and vertical point load acting in the interior of a cross‐anisotropic medium. The derived cross‐anisotropic solutions using a limiting approach are in perfect agreement with the isotropic solutions of Ramiah and Chickanagappa with the consideration of pile inclination. Additionally, the present solutions are identical to the cross‐anisotropic solutions by Wang for the batter angle equals to 0. The influential factors in yielded solutions include the type and degree of geomaterial anisotropy, pile inclination, and distinct loading types. An example is illustrated to clarify the effect of aforementioned factors on the vertical stresses. The parametric results reveal that the stresses considering the geomaterial anisotropy and pile batter differ from those of previous isotropic and cross‐anisotropic solutions. Hence, it is imperative to take the pile inclination into account when piles are required to transmit both the axial and lateral loads in the cross‐anisotropic media. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Capillary hysteresis and gravity segregation in two phase flow through porous media

We study the gravity driven flow of two fluid phases in a one dimensional homogeneous porous column when history dependence of the pressure difference between the phases (capillary pressure) is taken into account. In the hyperbolic limit, solutions of such systems satisfy the Buckley-Leverett equation with a non-monotone flux function. However, solutions for the hysteretic case do not converge to the classical solutions in the hyperbolic limit in a wide range of situations. In particular, with Riemann data as initial condition, stationary shocks become possible in addition to classical components such as shocks, rarefaction waves and constant states. We derive an admissibility criterion for the stationary shocks and outline all admissible shocks. Depending on the capillary pressure functions, flux function and the Riemann data, two cases are identified a priori for which the solution consists of a stationary shock. In the first case, the shock remains at the point where the initial condition is discontinuous. In the second case, the solution is frozen in time in at least one semi-infinite half. The predictions are verified using numerical results.

     

Incorporation of incomplete fault-slip data into stress tensor inversion

A fault-slip datum used in the stress tensor inversion techniques is composed of fault orientation, slip orientation and the sense of slip. Sometimes the latter two items are not available. This paper proposes a method to deal with such incomplete fault-slip data. Firstly, the constraints on stress state from full and incomplete data are theoretically specified. The admissible stresses are expressed by the probability distributions in the parameter space. The objective function of inversion is given by superposing the probability distributions for all data including full and incomplete ones. Finally, the peaks of the objective function are detected to enumerate possible solutions. The validity of the present method is tested by simulated data. The incorporation of incomplete data can enhance the detectability of stress states and expands the applicability of stress tensor inversion.     

Concealed porphyry delineation based on nonlinear three-dimensional density-difference inversion: An example in the Beiya mine area,Western Yunnan,China

Intermediate acid-complex rock masses with low-density characteristics are the most important prospecting sign in the Beiya area, of western Yunnan province, and provide a physical basis for good gravity exploration. It is usually difficult to obtaining solutions in connection with actual geological situations due to the ambiguity of the conventional gravity-processing results and lack of deep constraints. Thus, the three-dimensional (3D) inversion technology is considered as the main channel for reducing the number of solutions and improving the vertical resolution at the current stage. The current study starts from a model test and performs nonlinear 3D density-difference inversion called “model likelihood exploration”, which performs 3D inversion imaging and inversion of the known model while considering the topographic effects. The inversion results are highly consistent with those of the known models. Simultaneously, we consider the Beiya gold mine in Yunnan as an example. The nonlinear 3D density-difference inversion technology, which is restricted by geological information, is explored to obtain the 3D density body structure below 5 km in the mine area, and the 3D structure of the deep and concealed rock masses are obtained using the density constraints of the intermediate-acid-complex rock masses. The results are well consistent with the surface geological masses and drilling-controlled deep geological masses. The model test and examples both show that the 3D density-difference nonlinear inversion technology can reduce inversion ambiguity, improve resolution, optimize the inversion results, and realize “transparency” in deeply concealed rock masses in ore-concentrated areas,which is useful in guiding the deep ore prospecting.     

从松辽盆地的构造反转看中国东部盆地构造圈闭的形成

通过对松辽盆地构造反转的分析，把该盆地构造反划分为３种类型：平面上分为４个反转向构造带，结合中国东部含油气盆地构造样式和演化机制，认为松辽盆地的构造反转不同局部现象，它代表了中国东部裂谷盆地演化的普遍模式，并与构造圈闭，油气藏的形成密切相关，中国东部盆地重要的构造反转４期；盆地内众多构造圈闭类型是多种地质应力联合作用和多期构造作用叠加的结果，而后期的挤压反转到了加剧和定型作用，中国东部燕山－喜山期