开挖条件下含水平砂土夹层边坡破坏模式研究

工程中经常遇到边坡中含有夹层的情况,对含夹层边坡的稳定性研究很有意义。目前的研究多着重于含夹层岩质边坡的稳定性,对土质边坡涉及较少,尚无系统的试验分析。开挖条件下含夹层土质边坡更容易发生破坏,对其破坏模式的正确认知有助于对其稳定性进行合理的安全评价。进行了含水平砂土夹层边坡开挖的离心模型试验,夹层位于边坡中部。通过与边界和试验条件相同的素土边坡进行对比,分析了中部夹砂层边坡开挖后的破坏模式。试验结果表明,中部砂土夹层的存在降低了边坡在开挖后的稳定性,且其下边界是边坡破坏的薄弱控制面     

Multi-phase water-rhyolite interaction and ore fluid generation at Aljustrel, Portugal

Detailed study of the Aljustrel volcanic rocks, through petrography, mineral chemistry, whole-rock geochemistry, and previously published stable isotope data, show that the rocks experienced extreme metasomatism. The metasomatic phenomena presented are explained accurately by a sea-water convective model. The evolution of the sea-water-derived fluid as it progresses downwards through the rocks is evident, from cold, oxidising, Mg-bearing, to hot, reducing, Mg-free, and enriched in Si, Fe, Cu, Zn. Several lines of evidence (feldspar mineralogy, paragenetic relations between regional and ore-zone alteration, and stable isotope data) show that the temperature of the hydrothermal circulation increased through time, and that the water-to-rock ratio evolved from very high to low values. According to our data, about 30 ppm Cu and some 100 ppm Zn were removed from the Aljustrel Volcanics. This implies, for both metals, the same amount of leached rock to produce the 2 Mt Cu and 6 Mt Zn contained in the massive sulphide deposits of the Aljustrel area. With regard to Fe, about 1% was on average removed from the rocks, producing enough metal to account for all the Fe in the MS deposits and overlying chemical sediments. This study documents semi-quantitatively the provenance of the main metals in major massive sulphide deposits via sea water leaching of the immediate host rocks.

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Resumen (translated by E. Pascual) Un estudio detallado de las rocas volcánicas de Aljustrel, mediante petrografia, química mineral, geoquímica de roca total y datos de isótopos estables previamente publicados muestra que estas rocas han sufrido metasomatismo en grado extremo. Los fenómenos metasomáticos presentados se explican con precisión mediante un modelo convectivo con agua de mar. Es evidente la evolución del fluido derivado del agua de mar conforme progresa en profundidad a través de las rocas, desde un fluido frío, oxidante y con magnesio a otro reductor, sin magnesio y enriquecido en Si, Fe, Cu y Zn. Varias líneas de evidencia (mineralogía de los feldespatos, relaciones paragenéticas entre la alteración regional y de las zonas mineralizadas, isótopos estables) muestran que la temperatura y la circulación hidrotermal se incrementaron con el tiempo y que la relación agua-roca evolucionó de valores muy altos a bajos. De acuerdo con nuestros datos, de las rocas volcánicas de Aljustrel se han extraído unas 30 ppm de Cu y unas 100 ppm de Zn. Esto implica, para ambos metales, que la misma roca lixiviada ha producido los 2 Mt de Cu y los 6 Mt de Zn contenidos en los depósitos de sulfuros masivos del área de Aljustrel. En cuanto al Fe, una media de alrededor de 1% fue extraída de las rocas, produciendo metal suficiente para explicar todo el Fe de los depósitos de sulfuros masivos y de los sedimentos químicos suprayacentes. Este estudio documenta de forma semicuantitativa la procedencia de los principales metales en depósitos mayores de sulfuros masivos, mediante lixiviado por agua de mar de sus rocas huéspedes inmediatas.

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Received: 1 February 1997 / Accepted: 30 July 1997     

Tectonic implications of the earthquake swarm of 1997 in the Michoacan Triangle, Mexico

An earthquake swarm occurred during February and March 1997 in the vicinity of the Tancitaro Volcano, in the southern part of the tectonically complex Michoacan Triangle. A study of these events provides an opportunity to map the active faults in the area and to learn if the orientation and the sense of motion on these faults are consistent with the mapped faults and the alignment of cinder cones in the region. The foci of 230 earthquakes, which could be located, are distributed between 10 and 18 km depth, and show an alignment in, roughly, a NE direction. The focal mechanisms and seismic moments of the 27 best-recorded events were determined by waveform modeling of P and S waves. These mechanisms show two distinct patterns. More than 50% of the solutions are left-lateral strike–slip mechanisms with a normal component. The preferred fault plane strikes NE. Another group of events, probably caused by triggered seismicity on the Chapala–Oaxaca fault zone, shows left-lateral strike–slip mechanisms with a large-thrust component on NW-trending faults. S wave splitting shows 1–2.5% crustal-anisotropy. The direction of the anisotropy coincides with the NE alignment of events, and the preferred nodal plane. This is also the alignment of cinder cones, suggesting that preexisting fractures and cracks are responsible for the seismicity and anisotropic behavior of the crust. The resulting stress orientation, NE compression, is the one expected for the fore-arc region. We conclude that although Michoacan Triangle lies in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, it does not form part of this stress province where the stress orientation is NS extension.     

Factors useful for predicting future mineral-commodity supply trends

The analysis of various factors influencing mineral availability documents future short-and long-term mineral-commodity supply trends. The lifetime of reserves, the development of the relative importance of production centres and the forecasting of the depletion of a resource base are mainly geological factors, although the category “reserves”, in contrast to “resources”, is determined by technical and economical aspects. These three factors govern the short-and long-term supply of mineral commodities. The intensity-of-use factors and the growth rate of consumption are variables related to the demand of mineral commodities. They influence the decision of companies for certain commodities as targets for exploration and investment in production centres. Both factors control the short-to medium-term mineral supply. Finally, the lead time to production is a technical variable, although influenced by ore deposit type, and controls short-term mineral availability.     

Measured and modeled effects of benthic algae on eutrophication in Indian River-Rehoboth Bay, Delaware

A combination of field studies and mathematical modeling was used to examine the role of subtidal benthic algae in the eutrophication processes in two shallow estuarine systems. Field measurements indicated uptake by benthic algae retained ammonium and phosphate in the sediments when light at the sediment surface exceeded ≈150 μE m² s^?1. The measurements were used to calibrate a newly developed model of benthic algal activity. The benthic algal model was coupled with a hydrodynamic model, a eutrophication model, and a sediment diagenesis model. In the simulated ecosystem, benthic algae had a major influence in the intra-annual cycling of nitrogen and phosphorus. When nutrients were abundant in the water column (late winter and spring) they were transferred to the sediments through algal activity. Diagenesis released these nutrients to the water column in summer when nutrients were scarce. As a result of the nutrient transfer, annual primary production in the water column, in the presence of benthic algae, exceeded production in the absence of the algae.     

A particle conveyor belt process in the Columbia River estuary: Evidence from chlorophyll<Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> and particulate organic carbon

Using both the photosynthetically active chlorophylla (chla) content of the organic carbon fraction of suspended particulate matter (chla/POC) and the percentage of photosynthetically, active chla in fluorometrically measured chla plus pheophytina (% chla), we determined that under specified hydrodynamic conditions, neap-spring tidal differentiation in particle dynamics could be observed in the Columbia River estuary. During summer time neap tides, when river discharge was moderate, bottom chla/POC remained relatively unchanged from riverine chla/POC over the full 0–30 psu salinity range, suggesting a benign trapping environment. During summertime spring tides, bottom chla/POC decreased at mid range salinities indicating resuspension of chla-poor POC during flood-ebb transitions. Bottom % chla during neap tides tended to average higher than that during spring tides, suggesting that neap particles were more recently hydrodynamically trapped than those on the spring tides. Such differentiation supported the possibility of operation of a particle conveyor belt process, a process in which low-amplitude neap tides favor selective particle trapping in estuarine turbidity maxima (ETM)., while high-amplitude spring tides favor particle resuspension from the ETM. Untrapped river-derived particles at the surface would continue through the estuary to the coastal ocean on the neap tide; during spring tide some particles eroded from the ETM would combine with unsettled riverine particles in transit toward the ocean. Because in tensified biogeochemical activity is associated with ETM, these neap-spring differences may be critical to maintenance and renewal of populations and processes in the estuary. Very high river discharge (15, 000 m³ s⁻¹) tended to overwhelm neap-spring differences, and significant oceanic input during very low river discharge (5,000 m³ s⁻¹) tended to do the same in the estuarine channel most exposed to ocean input. During heavy springtime phytoplankton blooms, development of a thick bottom fluff layer rich in chla also appeared to negate neapspring differentiation because spring tides apparently acted to resuspend the same rich bottom material that was laid down during neap tides. When photosynthetic assimilation numbers [μgC (μgchl,a)⁻¹h⁻¹] were measured across, the full salinity range, no neap-spring differences and no river discharge effects occurred, indicating that within our suite of measurements the compositional distinction of suspended particulate material was mainly a function of chla/POC, and to a lesser extent % chla. Even though these measurements suggest the existence of a conveyor belt process, proof of actual operation of this phenomenon requires scalar flux measurements of chla properties in and out of the ETM on both neap and spring tides.     

Lu–Hf geochronology and trace element distribution in garnet: Implications for uplift and exhumation of ultra-high pressure granulites in the Sudetes, SW Poland

Combining Lu–Hf garnet geochronology with in situ trace element analyses in garnet allowed us to gain new insight into the metamorphic evolution of UHP–UHT rocks in the Stary Gierałtów region, in the Polish Sudetes. Prograde garnet growth recorded by Rayleigh-type heavy REE (HREE) zoning in the felsic granulites indicates that the obtained 386.6 ± 4.9 Ma Lu–Hf age represents the time of garnet crystallization on a prograde UHP metamorphic path. The surrounding rocks were metamorphosed at the same time as indicated by 381.2 ± 6.7 Ma Sm–Nd garnet age obtained for the mid-crustal metapelites. The second metamorphic episode, which affected most of the lower crust in the Orlica–Śnieżnik Massif (OSM) occurred at ca. 340 Ma as determined by U–Pb zircon and Sm–Nd garnet dating of granulites in this and previous studies is interpreted as a high temperature event, which took place on a retrograde path.

Trace element distribution in garnets from the layered granulites showed significant differences in distribution of medium and HREE in garnets from mafic and felsic protoliths over the course of the metamorphic evolution. This had strong impact on the isotopic dating results and led to “decoupling” of the Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf clocks, which recorded timing of the two different metamorphic episodes separated by as much as 40 Ma. Moreover, the preservation of the HREE growth zonation profile in garnets from the felsic granulites whose minimum metamorphic temperature was established at 900 °C implies that the Lu–Hf system under relatively dry conditions does not undergo significant diffusional re-equilibration even at such extreme temperatures and therefore it sill provides the age of prograde garnet growth. Under hydrous conditions, at least some resetting will take place, as documented by the partially relaxed HREE zonation profile in the amphibolitised mafic granulite, which yielded a 10 Ma younger age. The HREE distribution study appeared to be a particularly valuable and essential tool, which allowed us to distinguish garnet growth from post-growth complexities and hence, provide improved age interpretation. Medium REE, on the other hand, did not show any obvious correlation with the isotopic signature of garnet.

Two distinct metamorphic episodes recorded in the Stary Gierałtów region show that buoyancy-driven uplift of UHP rocks can be arrested at the base of a continental crust if not supported by any additional force. In our case study, the UHP rocks would have never reached the surface if their uplift had not been resumed after a long pause under a different tectonic regime. The multistage, discontinuous uplift revealed by the UHP rocks of the OSM provides a new scenario for the exhumation of continental crust from mantle depths distinct from the fast-track exhumation histories recognized in UHP terranes elsewhere.     

A numerically calibrated reference level (MP28) for the terrestrial mammal-based biozonation of the European Upper Oligocene

The fauna of the Enspel (Westerwald) and the neighbouring Kärlich (Neuwied basin) fossil deposits correspond to the Upper Oligocene Mammal Paleogene (MP) reference level 28 and 28–30, respectively. Basaltic flows and a trachyte tuff terminating and predating the fossil deposit sedimentation allow to numerically calibrate the MP reference levels by radioisotope dating. Laser fusion ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar step heating on volcanic feldspars yield a time interval of 24.9–24.5 Ma for reference level MP28 at Enspel and a maximum age of 25.5 Ma for the time interval MP28–MP30 at Kärlich. Interpolation between the time intervals determined for the Enspel reference level MP28 and the age of the global Oligocene/Miocene boundary of 24.0 ± 0.1 Ma taken from literature results in time intervals of 24.5–24.2 Ma and 24.2–23.9 Ma for the younger reference levels MP29 and MP30, respectively. These intervals of ≤ 0.4 m.y. for MP reference levels of the latest Oligocene are short relative to older Oligocene MP reference levels 21–27 between 34 and 25 Ma. Since subdivision into MP reference levels essentially is based on assemblages of mammal taxa and on evolutionary changes in tooth morphology of mammals short MP time intervals during the latest Oligocene indicate a rapid evolutionary change relative to the early Oligocene.     

Effects of climate change on the groundwater system in the Grote-Nete catchment,Belgium

The effects of climate change on the groundwater systems in the Grote-Nete catchment, Belgium, covering an area of 525 km², is modeled using wet (greenhouse), cold or NATCC (North Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation Change) and dry climate scenarios. Low, central and high estimates of temperature changes are adopted for wet scenarios. Seasonal and annual water balance components including groundwater recharge are simulated using the WetSpass model, while mean annual groundwater elevations and discharge are simulated with a steady-state MODFLOW groundwater model. WetSpass results for the wet scenarios show that wet winters and drier summers are expected relative to the present situation. MODFLOW results for wet high scenario show groundwater levels increase by as much as 79 cm, which could affect the distribution and species richness of meadows. Results obtained for cold scenarios depict drier winters and wetter summers relative to the present. The dry scenarios predict dry conditions for the whole year. There is no recharge during the summer, which is mainly attributed to high evapotranspiration rates by forests and low precipitation. Average annual groundwater levels drop by 0.5 m, with maximum of 3.1 m on the eastern part of the Campine Plateau. This could endanger aquatic ecosystem, shrubs, and crop production.