Applicability to Korean Marine Clay of the Mobilized Undrained Vane Shear Strength Using Correction Factors

The undrained shear strength normalized by the yield consolidation pressure, su/pc', is presented for four coastal sites: Busan/Gwangyang and Incheon/Gunsan, having the characteristics of high and low plasticity, respectively. The field vane shear strengths, su(FVT), were compared with unconfined compressive strength, qu/2 which has been used as a representative testing method in Korea. Many researchers have suggested that the undrained shear strength normalized by the yield consolidation pressure, su/pc', depends on Ip. However, the undrained shear strength normalized by the yield consolidation pressure, su/pc' is in the range of 0.25–0.35, independently of the plasticity index, Ip except for su/pc' using qu/2 values in the case of soils having a low plasticity, such as Incheon and Gunsan intermediate soils.

Bjerrum's correction factor has been commonly applied to evaluate mobilized undrained shear strength using the field vane test in Korea. However, the corrected undrained shear strengths using Bjerrum's correction factor, including Morris and Williams' method, were considerably underestimated for Korean marine clay when compared with the qu/2 values that have been used as the mobilized undrained shear strength for practical design in Korea.     

Distribution of small plastic debris in cross-section and high strandline on Heungnam beach, South Korea

The spatial distribution of small plastic debris on Heungnam beach in February 2011 was investigated. The abundances of small plastic debris over 2 mm in size along the high strandline and cross-sectional line of the beach were determined. The mean abundances of small plastics were 976 ± 405 particles/m² at the high strandline in the upper tidal zone along the shoreline and 473 ± 866 particles/m² at the cross-section perpendicular to the shoreline. Specifically, styrofoam (expanded polystyrene) spherules accounted for 90.7% of the total plastic abundance in the high strandline and 96.3% in the cross-section. The spatial distribution patterns of small plastic debris differed between the high strandline and cross-sectional line. The cross-sectional distribution of small plastic abundance differed among plastic types, indicating that representative sampling of small plastic debris on a beach is necessary.     

5种干旱指数在西藏高原地区的适用性评估

为了解不同干旱指标在西藏高原地区的适用性,本文通过利用Pa、MI、SPI、CI和FAO P-M干旱指数对西藏高原月尺度旱情等级进行评估,分析了各指标在描述旱情时的异同,并统计出各种指数的一致性及等级差异。结果表明:近20 a干旱过程中,MI、FAO P-M指数未监测出轻旱等级,而对于中旱、重旱等级,FAO P-M指数表现较好。从空间分布来看,FAO P-M指数在各个地区表现较好。从时间分布来看,FAO P-M指数在不同干旱过程期间,描述的干旱强度和中心位置与实际情况更接近;其次是Pa指数,其他指数综合表现相对较差。5种干旱指数在衡量西藏地区干旱程度上的一致性并不好;从两两指数之间反映干旱程度上出现一致性频次上看出,Pa-FAO P-M指数出现的次数最多,其次是Pa-SPI-CI指数的出现次数,MI-CI指数的出现次数最少。通过差异性分析得出,全区干旱指数不一致率平均大于20%,阿里地区和林芝地区的干旱指数整体不一致率最高,拉萨地区的干旱指数整体不一致率最低。