Time dependent deformations during tunnelling and stability of tunnel faces in fine-grained soils under groundwater

The measures required for driving a tunnel below the groundwater table depend on the permeability of the soil. In coarse-grained, highly permeable soils additional measures, for example compressed-air support combined with a reduction of the permeability of the soil, e.g. induced by grouting, are necessary. Compared to this, it is possible to do without such measures in fine-grained, cohesive soils because of the increased short-term stability of the tunnel face under undrained conditions. In this publication the results of 3-dimensional finite-element calculations are presented to show the influence of the permeability of the soil and also the rate of the tunnel driving on the deformations around the tunnel as well as on the ground surface. The calculated deformations can furthermore be considered as an indicator for the time dependent stability of the tunnel face due to a higher redistribution of stresses and by that an enlargement of the plasticized zone. Usually the stability of the tunnel face is reduced by the presence of water because of the flow of water towards the tunnel. In low permeable soils undrained conditions prevail immediately after an excavation step. In this case relatively high stability-ratios may occur. The stability of the tunnel face will be reduced with increasing time until reaching the lower boundary of possible values, possibly leading to failure. If calculations are done under the assumption of drained conditions, the real stability of the tunnel face during construction may substantially exceed that of the calculated one. On the other hand, if calculations are done for undrained conditions, the effective stability may lie on the unsafe side [10]. There is therefore a big demand to optimize the method of investigating deformations around the tunnel, so as to ensure a safe tunnel excavation on the one hand and to guarantee a cost-effective process on the other. In this paper the tunnelling process is modelled by a step-by-step excavation under atmospheric conditions. The soil is described by a material model which distinguishes between primary and unload-reload stress paths and also accounts for stress-dependent stiffness parameters. The failure criterion is described by the Mohr-Coulomb criterion that considers cohesion, friction angle and angle of dilatancy.     

Environmental properties of metallic minerals and their applications in environmental protection in China

In terms of environmental mineralogy, the environmental properties of metallic minerals, including chemical activation, adsorption, pore effect and nanometer effect, have been analyzed. On the basis of the analysis of environmental properties of metallic minerals, the applications of iron-bearing sultides, iron and manganese oxides in the purification of wastewaters containing heavy metal ions （Cr^6＋ ,Hg^2＋ , Pb^2＋ , etc. ） have been summarized. Moreover, research on the application of metallic minerals in environmental protection has been anticipated. It should be a piece of dominating work for environmental mineralogie researchers in the future to lucubrate systematically the physical and chemical characteristics of the metallic mineral surfaces, further reveal the reciprocity process between metallic minerals and water surface, perfect the theory and model of the metallic minerals to remove contaminants, intensify study on the facilities and techniques of metallic minerals to remove contaminants, and entail well the extension and propagation of achievements.     

Preliminary evidence of a link between surface soil properties and the arsenic content of shallow groundwater in Bangladesh

The extremely heterogeneous distribution of As in Bangladesh groundwater has hampered efforts to identify with certainty the mechanisms that lead to extensive mobilization of this metalloid in reducing aquifers. We show here on the basis of a high-resolution transect of soil and aquifer properties collected in Araihazar, Bangladesh, that revealing tractable associations between As concentrations in shallow (< 20 m) groundwater with other geological, hydrological, and geochemical features requires a lateral sampling resolution of 10–100 m. Variations in the electromagnetic conductivity of surface soils (5–40 mS/m) within a 500 m × 200 m area are documented with 560 EM31 measurements. The results are compared with a detailed section of groundwater As concentrations (5–150 μg/L) and other aquifer properties obtained with a simple sampling device, “the needle-sampler”, that builds on the local drilling technology. By invoking complementary observations obtained in the same area and in other regions of Bangladesh, we postulate that local groundwater recharge throughout permeable sandy soils plays a major role in regulating the As content of shallow aquifers by diluting the flux of As released from reducing sediments.     

金属矿田地质勘探类型及其评价方案

地质勘探类型是科学地质调查和有效矿产资源评价的基础和前提。矿田是包含几个矿床的成矿空间,单个矿床的勘探类型不一定适用于矿田的地质勘探。文中遵循“成矿作用、地质工作程度和资源经济条件”的思路,探讨矿田勘探类型和分类问题。以地质勘查工作程度(地质调查或勘探报告所遵循的工作精度,即成果图件的比例尺为指标)和资源技术经济条件(各级资源储量的比例,并结合矿山生产规模为指标)为指标,作者建立“地质勘查程度资源经济条件”评价系统。经该系统的综合评价,研究预查矿田(Ⅲ)、普查矿田(Ⅱ)和详查矿田(Ⅰ)的基本地质勘探类型。矿田地质勘探类型的确定,为推动整装勘查区的找矿突破、制定勘查规划和勘探工作的投入提供了可参考的方法和思路。文中选择6个典型矿田,详细展示矿田勘探类型的评价过程和方法。     

Theoretical modelling of cis -vacant and trans -vacant configurations in the octahedral sheet of illites and smectites

 The cis-vacant configurations of smectites and illites have been studied theoretically by using transferable empirical interatomic potentials. A wide range of compositions of octahedral and tetrahedral cation and interlayer charge has been considered. All results have been compared with the trans-vacant configurations in each sample. The calculated values reproduce the differences in the lattice parameters between the cis- and trans-vacant configurations of experimental studies. Taking into account the cis-/trans-vacant proportion, the calculated structures agree with experiment for the main structural features of the crystal lattice. The effect of the cation substitution in the octahedral and tetrahedral sheets on the cell parameters has been also studied, finding good linear relationships. The calculated cation substitution effects are consistent with experimental results. Although the energy difference between the cis- and trans-vacant configurations is small, the cis-vacant is more stable when the composition of clays is more smectitic, like the experimental behaviour. Similar trends of the cation substitution effect on the cis-/trans-vacant proportion to the experimental results are found. The structure of the hydroxy groups has also been analysed. The OH bond length, the orientation of the O–H bond with respect to the (001) plane and the non-bonding H...O distances have been studied. Received: 4 September 2000 / Accepted: 29 January 2001     

The link between grain‐size components and depositional processes in a modern clastic lake

It is widely recognized that lake sediment grain‐size distributions tend to be polymodal and consist of two or more grain‐size components. However, for specific cases, the genesis of each component usually is poorly understood. In this study, the grain‐size components of the surface sediments of Hulun Lake, Inner Mongolia, were partitioned using the log‐normal distribution function method and the relationship between the identity of each grain‐size component and the hydraulic condition of the lake was investigated in order to relate the constituent components to specific depositional processes in the lake. The data indicate that the modern clastic sediments of Hulun Lake contain six distinct unimodal grain‐size distributions representing six grain‐size components. Each of the components retains its identity including modal size, manner of transportation and environment of deposition, although the relative percentage varies with the hydraulic conditions throughout the lake. These components are specified from fine to coarse modes as long‐term suspension clay, offshore‐suspension fine silt and medium to coarse silt, and nearshore‐suspension fine sand, saltation medium sand and traction coarse sand. The percentage contribution of several grain‐size components interpreted as being indicative of nearshore environments is shown to be correlated negatively with water depth across the modern lake bed; this suggests that the proportion of these components in core data might be useful as a proxy for water depth. This possibility was tested using a sediment core from Hulun Lake where high percentages of the nearshore grain‐size components were found to be correlated with low regional precipitation reconstructed from the pollen profile of the same core. The coincidence of two independent proxies does not only demonstrate the validity of log‐normal distribution function in partitioning polymodal sediments but reveals the potential of lake sediment grain‐size components for the research of lake‐level fluctuations during the geological past.     

The role of discrete heterogeneities and linear fabrics in the formation of crenulations

The fabric elements in pelitic rocks of Brioverian age in South Finistere (France) consist of three main components; planar, linear and discrete, corresponding to schistosity, elongate mineral alignment and porphyroblast distribution respectively. Each component plays a role in the initiation, propagation and evolution of crenulations which deform the planar anisotropy.Strain associated with the initiation of crenulation is heterogeneous on the thin section scale, producing spatially associated, contemporaneous microshears and kink-structures. The influence of porphyroblasts becomes increasingly evident as crenulation develops and microshearing becomes the dominant mode of deformation. Linear fabric appears to influence the orientation of crenulation structures and slip directions on microshear planes.     

The Sulham Gap and the Pangbourne flood of 2007 in their geological context,SE England

The Sulham Gap is a distinctive valley in the English county of Berkshire. Following a late Devensian drainage diversion, the Sulham Gap lowland was left as a poorly drained former floodplain. A major flood, with an unprecedented magnitude, occurred in July 2007 sourced primarily from the River Pang which enters the gap on the western side. Its physical impact was exacerbated by: 1, medieval extraction of postglacial peat; and 2, the building of leats for watermills. The flood water drained across the topographically lower drainage network of the diminutive Sulham Brook to the eastern side of the gap and backed-up behind culverts beneath both a road and a railway embankment resulting in some 140 homes being inundated.     

太行山燕山造山带与中生代花岗岩有关的金属矿床成矿系列特征

在把握成矿系列“三同”基本前提和“五多”基本特征的基础上 ,把太行山—燕山造山带与中生代花岗岩有关的矿床划分为 6个成矿系列 ,并探讨了各成矿系列主要地质特征、稳定同位素特征、成矿热液性质及其物理化学条件 ,指出各成矿系列具有不同的特征 ,岩浆岩、地层、断裂构造等对成矿系列形成都有控制作用 ,成矿物质既来源于围岩 ,也来源于花岗质岩浆 ,并且在造山作用过程中 ,壳幔演化对各成矿系列有不同的贡献。     

Determination of heterogeneities in the hydraulic properties of a phreatic aquifer from tidal level fluctuations: a case in Argentina

A well-known analytical solution of Jacob (1950) for groundwater flow due to tidal-wave propagation, together with field measurements along a complete tidal cycle and geological data, were used to evaluate the heterogeneities in the hydraulic properties of a phreatic aquifer located next to the River Ajo in the coastal plain environment of the southern sector of the Samborombon Bay wetland, Argentina. From the analysis of water-table fluctuations in a set of monitoring wells located along a riverbank-normal transect, it was possible to quantify the piecewise spatial variations of the hydraulic diffusivity of the phreatic aquifer. The results show the strong lateral variations of the sedimentary environment due to the influence of the different transport and deposition agents that characterize the coastal plain. The known thickness of the phreatic aquifer and the estimated range of the specific yield allowed the hydraulic conductivity to be identified as the most influential factor. [Jacob CE (1950) Flow of ground water. In: Rouse H (ed) Engineering Hydraulics. Wiley, New York]     

喜马拉雅山北坡冰碛湖坝温度特征及其对堤坝稳定的影响

堤坝稳定性是评价冰湖溃决危险性的重要指标, 而堤坝的温度特征与其稳定性密切相关. 基于2012年11月-2013年9月对西藏定结县龙巴萨巴湖冰碛坝的0~150 cm不同深度的温度观测数据, 分析冰碛坝地温变化特征及其影响. 结果显示: 冰碛坝表层(<20 cm)地温与气温变化一致, 温度日变化常出现白天为正温梯度而夜间为负温度梯度的特征, 全年日均梯度一般为负温梯度(上部温度高、下部温度低); 中层(20~100 cm)和深层(>100 cm)表现为冬季下层温度高于上层温度的正温梯度, 夏季下层温度低于上层的负温梯度逐渐加强, 但地温日变幅逐渐减弱; 中间层地温变化不到气温变化幅度的1/5~1/10; 深层地温无明显的日变化. 冰碛坝的消融率约为2.1 cm·d^-1, 夏季消融深度超过250 cm. 现有夏季消融深度对堤坝的稳定影响有限, 但是湖盆区如果持续升温, 冰碛坝冻土的年消融率和消融深度都将增大, 致使堤坝稳定性下降, 溃决风险增大.     

Sources of the predynastic grinding stones in the hu-semaineh region,upper Egypt,and their cultural context

Grinding stones excavated at the Predynastic site of HG in Upper Egypt were analyzed, and consist of igneous rocks (rhyolite porphyry, basalt, granite) and metamorphic rocks (marble, quartzite). These rocks were brought to the site in Predynastic times (ca. 4000–3000 B. C.) from the Dokkan Volcanics located in the Wadi Hammamat, possibly as far away as 150 km. This is further evidence for the widespread exchange network that existed in Predynastic Upper Egypt. Complex economic interaction, as evidenced by artifacts excavated at HG, was a prime force as the early state evolved in Egypt. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Dehydration melting of micas in the Chilka Lake Khondalites: The link between the metapelites and granitoids

Garnet-sillimanite gneisses, locally known as khondalites, occur abundantly in the Chilka Lake granulite terrane belonging to the Eastern Ghats Proterozoic belt of India. Though their chemistry has been modified by partial melting, it is evident that the majority of these rocks are metapelitic, with some tending to be metapsammitic. Five petrographically distinct groups are present within the khondalites of which the most abundant group is characteristically low in Mg:Fe ratios — the main chemical discriminant separating the five groups. The variations in Mg:Fe ratios of the garnets, biotites, cordierites, orthopyroxenes and spinels from the metapelites are compatible with those in the bulk rocks. A suite of granitoids containing garnet, K-feldspar, plagioclase and quartz, commonly referred to as leptynites in Indian granulite terranes, are interlayered with khondalites on the scale of exposures; in a few spots, the intercalated layers are thin. The peraluminous character of the leptynites and presence of sillimanite trails within garnets in some of them suggest derivation of leptynites by partial melting of khondalites. Here we examine this connection in the light of results derived from dehydration melting experiments of micas in pelitic and psammitic rocks. The plots of leptynites of different chemical compositions in a (MgO + FeO)-Na₂O-K₂O projection match the composition of liquids derived by biotite and muscovite dehydration melting, when corrected for co-products of melting reactions constrained by mass balance and modal considerations. The melt components of the leptynites describe four clusters in the M-N-K diagram. One of them matches melts produced dominantly by muscovite dehydration melting, while three clusters correspond to melting of biotite. The relative disposition of the clusters suggests two trends, which can be correlated with different paths that pelitic and psammitic protoliths are expected to generate during dehydration melting. Thus the leptynites evidently represent granitoids which were produced by dehydration melting in metapelites of different compositions. The contents of Ti, Y, Nb, Zr and Th in several leptynites indicate departures from equilibrium melt compositions, and entrainment of restites is considered to be the main causative factor. Disequilibrium in terms of major elements is illustrated by leucosomes within migmatites developed in a group of metapelites. But the discrete leptynites that have been compared with experimental melts approach equilibrium melt compositions closely.     

唐代治乱分期与气候变化的关系*

将唐代定量划分为治世与乱世5个时期,探讨了唐代治乱分期与气候变化的关系。治世、乱世的划分标准参考一套系统的战争数据集,并用单因素方差分析的方法验证各项数据指标在治世与乱世间的差异性,从而说明唐代治世、乱世分期的合理性。治世、乱世分期结果如下: 公元618—626年为乱世,公元627—742年为治世,公元743—784年为乱世,公元785—859年为治世,公元860—907年为乱世。方差分析的结果显示,除了总边境战争外,气候变化、总战争、反叛战争、进攻型边境战争、防御型边境战争、农业丰歉等级和人口增长率在治世与乱世之间均表现出显著差异。用战争定量体现唐代社会治世、乱世变化,探讨气候变化与社会治、乱的关系即是探讨气候变化与战争的关系,乱世的主要战争类型是反叛战争和防御型边境战争,治世的主要战争类型是进攻型边境战争。相关分析结果表明,唐代温度降低、降水减少的时期,农业收成减少导致资源供给不足,更容易发生反叛战争;温度暖期、降水充沛的时期,农业产量提高,刺激了快速增长的人口,在技术改善能力有限、土地资源一定的情况下,更易发生以对外扩张为目的的边境战争,因此气候变化是影响唐代社会治乱变化的重要原因之一。     

Relationship between social stability and climate change in the Tang Dynasty

This paper quantitatively divides the Tang Dynasty into five prosperous and chaotic social periods,and discusses the relationship between the social division and climate change. The criteria for determining prosperity and chaos is refered to a set of systematic war data. In order to verify the reasonableness of the division,we applied 1-way-ANOVA to test the differences of each variable index between prosperity and chaos periods. The results of social division are as follows: from AD 618 to AD 626,and from AD 743 to AD 784,as well as from AD 860 to AD 907 were the chaotic periods;while from AD 627 to A0 742,and from AD 785 to AD 859 were the prosperous periods. The results of 1-way-ANOVA show that,climate change,general wars,rebellions,offensive border wars,defensive border wars,agricultural harvests,and population growth rates are all significantly different between prosperity and chaos,except the general external wars. War data were used to quantitatively represent the social changes in the Tang Dynasty. In chaotic periods,the main types of wars are rebellions and defensive border wars,while the main type of wars in prosperous periods are offensive border wars. To explore the relationship between climate change and social division means to make clear the relationship between climate change and wars. The results of correlation analysis show the decrease of agricultural harvest due to lower temperature and less precipitation leads to the shortage of resources supply,so that the likelihood of rebellions increase;while during the warm periods with abundant rainfall,increasing agricultural harvest stimulates rapid population growth. Due to the limitations of technology and land resources,offensive border wars for expansion are more likely to occur.     

Random porosity fields and their influence on the stability of granular media

It is well established that the mechanical behavior of granular media is strongly influenced by the media's microstructure. In this work, the influence of the microstructure is studied by integrating advances in the areas of geostatistics and computational plasticity, by spatially varying the porosity on samples of sand. In particular, geostatistical tools are used to characterize and simulate random porosity fields that are then fed into a nonlinear finite element model. The underlying effective mechanical response of the granular medium is governed by a newly developed elastoplastic model for sands, which readily incorporates spatial variability in the porosity field at the meso‐scale. The objective of this study is to assess the influence of heterogeneities in the porosity field on the stability of sand samples. One hundred and fifty isotropic and anisotropic samples of dense sand are failed under plane‐strain compression tests using Monte Carlo techniques. Results from parametric studies indicate that the axial strength of a specimen is affected by both the degree and orientation of anisotropy in heterogeneous porosity values with anisotropy orientation having a dominant effect, especially when the bands of high porosity are aligned with the natural orientation of shear banding in the specimen. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A model for interpenetrating differential streams and the problem of their stability

The role of the stability of differential streams in a self-gravitating medium is studied. A simple model with two two-dimensional streams in a thin layer that interact only gravitationally is considered. Instability can develop if the stream-shear parameters have opposite signs; however this condition is not sufficient, and, for some combinations of parameters, the Jeans instability can disappear due to the drift of the perturbations when shear is introduced. The opposite situation is also possible: the system as a whole can be unstable even if both subsystems are stable. Under certain conditions, perturbations do not grow in time but waves are continuously emitted. Criteria are presented for the instability of the system as the whole, depending on the region where the parameters of the subsystem are localized. Common drawbacks of stability analyses in stellar dynamics are briefly discussed in this context.     

Hydrocarbon- and ore-bearing basinal fluids: a possible link between gold mineralization and hydrocarbon accumulation in the Youjiang basin,South China

The Youjiang basin, which flanks the southwest edge of the Yangtze craton in South China, contains many Carlin-type gold deposits and abundant paleo-oil reservoirs. The gold deposits and paleo-oil reservoirs are restricted to the same tectonic units, commonly at the basinal margins and within the intrabasinal isolated platforms and/or bioherms. The gold deposits are hosted by Permian to Triassic carbonate and siliciclastic rocks that typically contain high contents of organic carbon. Paragenetic relationships indicate that most of the deposits exhibit an early stage of barren quartz ± pyrite (stage I), a main stage of auriferous quartz + arsenian pyrite + arsenopyrite + marcasite (stage II), and a late stage of quartz + calcite + realgar ± orpiment ± native arsenic ± stibnite ± cinnabar ± dolomite (stage III). Bitumen in the gold deposits is commonly present as a migrated hydrocarbon product in mineralized host rocks, particularly close to high grade ores, but is absent in barren sedimentary rocks. Bitumen dispersed in the mineralized rocks is closely associated and/or intergrown with the main stage jasperoidal quartz, arsenian pyrite, and arsenopyrite. Bitumen occurring in hydrothermal veins and veinlets is paragenetically associated with stages II and III mineral assemblages. These observations suggest an intimate relationship between bitumen precipitation and gold mineralization. In the paleo-petroleum reservoirs that typically occur in Permian reef limestones, bitumen is most commonly observed in open spaces, either alone or associated with calcite. Where bitumen occurs with calcite, it is typically concentrated along pore/vein centers as well as along the wall of pores and fractures, indicating approximately coeval precipitation. In the gold deposits, aqueous fluid inclusions are dominant in the early stage barren quartz veins (stage I), with a homogenization temperature range typically of 230°C to 270°C and a salinity range of 2.6 to 7.2 wt% NaCl eq. Fluid inclusions in the main and late-stage quartz and calcite are dominated by aqueous inclusions as well as hydrocarbon- and CO₂-rich inclusions. The presence of abundant hydrocarbon fluid inclusions in the gold deposits provides evidence that at least during main periods of the hydrothermal activity responsible for gold mineralization, the ore fluids consisted of an aqueous solution and an immiscible hydrocarbon phase. Aqueous inclusions in the main stage quartz associated with gold mineralization (stage II) typically have a homogenization temperature range of 200–230°C and a modal salinity around 5.3 wt% NaCl eq. Homogenization temperatures and salinities of aqueous inclusions in the late-stage drusy quartz and calcite (stage III) typically range from 120°C to 160°C and from 2.0 to 5.6 wt% NaCl eq., respectively. In the paleo-oil reservoirs, aqueous fluid inclusions with an average homogenization temperature of 80°C are dominant in early diagenetic calcite. Fluid inclusions in late diagenetic pore- and fissure-filling calcite associated with bitumen are dominated by liquid C₂H₆, vapor CH₄, CH₄–H₂O, and aqueous inclusions, with a typical homogenization temperature range of 90°C to 180°C and a salinity range of 2–8 wt% NaCl eq. It is suggested that the hydrocarbons may have been trapped at relatively low temperatures, while the formation of gold deposits could have occurred under a wider and higher range of temperatures. The timing of gold mineralization in the Youjiang basin is still in dispute and a wide range of ages has been reported for individual deposits. Among the limited isotopic data, the Rb–Sr date of 206 ± 12 Ma for Au-bearing hydrothermal sericite at Jinya as well as the Re–Os date of 193 ± 13 Ma on auriferous arsenian pyrite and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar date of 194.6 ± 2 Ma on vein-filling sericite at Lannigou may provide the most reliable age constraints on gold mineralization. This age range is comparable with the estimated petroleum charging age range of 238–185 Ma and the Sm–Nd date of 182 ± 21 Ma for the pore- and fissure-filling calcite associated with bitumen at the Shitouzhai paleo-oil reservoir, corresponding to the late Indosinian to early Yanshanian orogenies in South China. The close association of Carlin-type gold deposits and paleo-oil reservoirs, the paragenetic coexistence of bitumens with ore-stage minerals, the presence of abundant hydrocarbons in the ore fluids, and the temporal coincidence of gold mineralization and hydrocarbon accumulation all support a coeval model in which the gold originated, migrated, and precipitated along with the hydrocarbons in an immiscible, gold- and hydrocarbon-bearing, basinal fluid system.     

Complexation and reduction as factors in the link between metal ion concentrations and organic matter in the Indian River

Complexation of metal ions by organic matter is frequently considered to play a part in metal ion dissolution in natural waters. A field study of a relatively unperturbed stream, high in organics, associates this with the fraction related to soil organic acids (humic acids). The association might have two origins. The first is complexation. However, well known sequences of complexing tendency do not predict the behaviour. A better theory uses the additional factor of the reducing capacity of dissolved organic matter toward Fe(III) and Mn(IV).