A comparative study of concentrated plasticity models in dynamic analysis of building structures

Concentrated plasticity (CP) models are frequently used in static and dynamic building analysis and have been implemented in available commercial software. This investigation deals with three different CP‐models, a simplified macroelement model (SEM) for a complete building story, a frame element with elasto‐plastic interaction hinges (PH), and a frame element with fiber hinges (FB). The objectives of this work are to evaluate the quality of the earthquake responses predicted by these models and to identify important aspects of their implementation and limitations for their use in dynamic analysis. The three elements are tested in a single‐story asymmetric plan building and in a three‐story steel building. Results show that base shear and global response values are usually computed with better accuracy than interstory deformations and local responses. Besides, the main limitation of elasto‐plastic CP models is to control the displacement offsets that result from perfect elasto‐plastic behavior. On the other hand, calibration of the SEM‐model shows that global responses in steel structures may be computed within 20% error in the mean at a computational cost two orders of magnitude smaller than that of the other CP elements considered. However, the three element models considered lead to increasing levels of accuracy in the dynamic response and their use depends on the refinement of the analysis performed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interannual Variability in Pollen Dispersal and Deposition on the Tropical Quelccaya Ice Cap*

Pollen collected from snow samples on the Quelccaya Ice Cap in 2000 and 2001 reveals significant interannual variability in pollen assemblage, concentration, and provenance. Samples from 2000, a La Niña year, contain high pollen concentrations and resemble samples from the Andean forests (Yungas) to the east. Samples from 2001, an El Niño year, contain fewer pollen and resemble those from the Altiplano. We suggest that varying wind patterns under different El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions may affect the processes of pollen transport over the Altiplano and on the ice cap, although confounding variables such as flowering phenology and sublimation should also be considered     

An approach for quantifying geomorphological impacts for EIA of transportation infrastructures: a case study in northern Spain

A methodological proposal for the assessment of impacts due to linear infrastructures such as motorways, railways, etc. is presented. The approach proposed includes a series of specific issues to be addressed for each geomorphological feature analysed—both ‘static’ and ‘dynamic’—as well as a series of steps to be followed in the process.Geomorphic characteristics potentially affected were initially identified on the basis of a conceptual activities/impacts model that helps to single out geomorphic impacts related to environmental concerns for the area. The following issues were addressed for each individual impact: nature of potential effects; indicators that can be used to measure impacts; criteria of ‘geomorphologic performance’; procedure for measurement/prediction of changes; translation of geomorphologic impacts into significant terms from the viewpoint of human concerns; possible mitigation and/or compensation measures.The procedure has been applied to a case study corresponding to a new motorway in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Geomorphological impacts considered in this analysis included: (1) consumable resources; (2) sites of geomorphological interest; (3) land units with high potential for use, high productivity or value for conservation; (4) visual landscape; (5) slope instability processes. The procedure has been designed for implementation in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. Details are given on the application of the method to each individual impact analysed and results are presented in both numerical and map form.Impacts assessed were initially expressed by means of heterogeneous magnitudes, depending on the geomorphological feature considered. Those geomorphological impacts were then translated into significant terms and homogeneous magnitudes. Integration was carried out on the basis of impact values thus obtained. Final integrated results were also expressed in numerical and map form.The method proposed enables comparison of alternatives as well as ‘prediction’ and assessment of impacts in terms directly related to geomorphic characteristics. It also facilitates the expression of those impacts in terms that allow integration with other types of environmental impacts.     

Flexural and gravity modelling of the Mérida Andes and Barinas–Apure Basin, Western Venezuela

The kinematic evolution of the Barinas–Apure Basin and the southern Mérida Andes from Lower Miocene to the Present is numerically modelled using flexural isostatic theory and geophysical and geological data. Two published regional transects are used to build up a reference section, which is then used to constrain important parameters (e.g. shortenings and sedimentary thicknesses) for the flexural modelling. To control the location of the main fault system in the flexural model earthquake information is also used. The estimated flexural elastic thickness of the South American lithosphere beneath the Barinas–Apure Basin and the Mérida Andes Range is 25 km. The value for the final total shortening is 60 km. The flexural isostatic model shows that the Andean uplift has caused the South American lithosphere subsidence and the development of the Barinas–Apure Basin.In addition, gravity modelling was used to understand deep crustal features that could not be predicted by flexural theory. Consequently, the best-fit flexural model is used to build a gravity model across the Mérida Andes and the Barinas–Apure Basin preserving the best-controlled structural features from the flexural modelling (e.g. basin wavelength and depth) and slightly changing the main bodies density values and deep crustal structures. The final gravity model is intended to be representative of the major features affecting the gravity field in the study area. The predicted morphology in the lower crustal level of the final gravity model favours the hypothesis of a present delamination or megathrust of the Maracaibo crust over the South American Shield. This process would use the Conrad discontinuity as a main detachment surface within an incipient NW dipping continental subduction.     

Analysis of rock structure stability in coal mines

In this paper, the theory of limit point instability is used to analyse the stability of rock structures in coal mines. A general method of analysing stability of rock structures is put forward and a uniform instability condition of rock structures is set up. Some instability phenomena, such as rock bursts in circular roadways, pillars and long walls, and the outburst of coal and gas from circular roadways, are discussed analytically. At a later stage, the critical point of rock structure instability is determined. The influence of relative parameters (such as the mechanical properties of rock, coal, and the geometric sizes) on the stability of the rock structures is carefully analysed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

23,000 yr of vegetation history of the Upper Lerma, a tropical high-altitude basin in Central Mexico

Pollen analysis on a 9.54-m sediment core from lake Chignahuapan in the upper Lerma basin, the highest intermontane basin in Central Mexico (2570 m asl), documents vegetation and limnological changes over the past ∼23,000 ¹⁴C yr. The core was drilled near the archaeological site of Santa Cruz Atizapán, a site with a long history of human occupation, abandoned at the end of the Epiclassic period (ca. 900 AD). Six radiocarbon AMS dates and two well-dated volcanic events, the Upper Toluca Pumice with an age of 11,600 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and the Tres Cruces Tephra of 8500 ¹⁴C yr B.P., provide the chronological framework for the lacustrine sequence. From ca. 23,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. to ca. 11,600 ¹⁴C yr B.P. the plant communities were woodlands and grasslands based on the pollen data. The glacial advances MII-1 and MII-2 correlate with abundant non-arboreal pollen, mainly grasses, from ca. 21,000 to 16,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., and at ca. 12,600 ¹⁴C yr B.P. During the late Pleistocene, lake Chignahuapan was a shallow freshwater lake with a phase of lower level between 19,000 and 16,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. After 10,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., tree cover in the area increased, and a more variable lake level is documented. Late Holocene (ca. 3100 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) deforestation was concurrent with human population expansion at the beginning of the Formative period (1500 B.C.). Agriculture and manipulation of the lacustrine environment by human lakeshore populations appear at 1200 ¹⁴C yr B.P. (550 A.D.) with the appearance of Zea mays pollen and abundant charcoal particles.     

近邻景区的联动与溢出效应研究——以黄山、西递、宏村为例

空间邻近性是地理学第一定律,近邻旅游地相互作用定量化研究对丰富旅游地理学理论与实践意义重大.以近邻旅游地黄山、西递和宏村作为案例地,在格兰杰因果分析的基础上,运用当前经济研究中使用极为广泛的DY溢出指数(Diebold&Yilmaz spillover index)分析近邻旅游地的溢出效应.结果表明:宏村和黄山、西递和...     

西安咸阳地下热水氘过量参数研究

通过分析西安、咸阳地区地下热水的δ18O和δD同位素数据,研究了氘过量参数d的特征及水岩交换程度对d值分布的影响。结果表明:西安、咸阳地区浅层地下热水水岩作用不明显,深层地下热水水岩交换作用显著,发生氧漂移,咸阳部分水点发生较为明显的2H交换;含水层封闭性越好,地质环境越还原,水岩作用就越强,d值就越小;氧漂移愈偏离大气降水线,d值越小,埋深愈大,滞留时间愈长,矿化度愈大,地下热水温度越高。     

植被覆盖地表主动微波遥感反演土壤水分算法研究

主动微波遥感监测土壤水分具有全天时、全天候并对地物有一定的穿透能力等特点,突破了传统测量方法和光学遥感获取土壤水分的局限。文中在分析植被对微波信号影响的基础上,总结了当前国内外基于主动微波遥感监测植被覆盖地表土壤水分的原理和方法,指出利用,宋朝景“水-云模型”从总的极化雷达后向散射中去除植被影响后,能够改进后向散射系数和土壤含水量之间的关系。最后利用ENVISAT ASAR数据,结合实地采样获得的土壤含水量数据拟合两者之间的关系,结果表明农作物覆盖地表土壤水分变化的估算算法还需要进一步发展和改进以提高反演精度。