Influence of acid mine drainage on microbial communities in stream and groundwater samples at Guryong Mine,South Korea

The effects of acid mine drainage (AMD) in a stream and groundwater near an abandoned copper mine were characterized by physicochemical properties, bacterial community structure using denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis (DGGE), and microbial activity/diversity using Ecoplate technique. Based on DGGE fingerprints, the eubacterial community structures grouped into the stream water (GRS1, GRS2 and GRS3) and groundwater samples (GW1 and GW2), apparently based on differences in water temperature and the concentrations of dissolved oxygen, nitrate and sulfate. The most highly AMD-contaminated sample (GRS1) had additional α-Proteobacteria whereas the groundwater samples included additional β-Proteobacteria, suggesting the development of populations resistant to AMD toxicity under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, respectively. Community level physiological activities on the 31 Ecoplate substrates suggested that the activities decreased with increasing concentrations of sulfate and heavy metals derived from AMD. The Shannon index showed that microbial diversity was greatest in GRS2, and lowest in GRS1, and was probably related to the level of AMD.     

Shear wave velocity measurements and soil–pile system identifications in dynamic centrifuge tests

This paper presents a pre-shaking technique for measuring the $V_{s}$ profile of sand deposits and determining the natural frequencies of the sand bed and soil-structure system in a centrifuge model at an acceleration of 80 g. The pre-shaking technique is a non-destructive test. It uses a shaker as a wave generation source and a vertical array of accelerometers embedded in the sand bed and the accelerometers attached to the pile head as receivers. The pre-shaking method can be easily used for in-flight subsurface exploration ( $V_{s}$ profile measurements) and in-flight system identification of soil-structure systems (natural frequency measurements). A soil–pile centrifuge model is used to demonstrate the versatility of pre-shaking during a routine centrifuge shaking table test. This paper discusses the testing setup, testing procedures, related SI techniques, and signal processing for the soil–pile system. The natural frequencies measured by the pre-shaking tests are consistent with theory-based results. This technique can be conducted at any time before and after major earthquake events occur in a test.     

Hydrochemistry of urban groundwater in Seoul, South Korea: effects of land-use and pollutant recharge

The ionic and isotopic compositions (δD, δ¹⁸O, and ³H) of urban groundwaters have been monitored in Seoul to examine the water quality in relation to land-use. High tritium contents (6.1–12.0 TU) and the absence of spatial/seasonal change of O–H isotope data indicate that groundwaters are well mixed within aquifers with recently recharged waters of high contamination susceptibility. Statistical analyses show a spatial variation of major ions in relation to land-use type. The major ion concentrations tend to increase with anthropogenic contamination, due to the local pollutants recharge. The TDS concentration appears to be a useful contamination indicator, as it generally increases by the order of forested green zone (average 151 mg/l), agricultural area, residential area, traffic area, and industrialized area (average 585 mg/l). With the increased anthropogenic contamination, the groundwater chemistry changes from a Ca–HCO₃ type toward a Ca–Cl(+NO₃) type. The source and behavior of major ions are discussed and the hydrochemical backgrounds are proposed as the basis of a groundwater management plan.     

利用面波波形模拟探测中国大陆地壳和上地幔波速结构的分区特征

对穿过中国大陆东部、中部、北部和西部4个不同地区的8条地震射线路径的波形进行拟合分析,反演得到了各路径下方的一维平均波速结构.反演得到的地壳和上地幔波速结构表现出明显的分区特征,该特征与已知的大地构造单元和已有的研究成果吻合较好. 表明面波波形拟合方法是一种可靠的探测地壳和上地幔波速结构的方法,且比单纯利用基阶面波频散对上地幔结构探测更具优势.      

Integrating the geographic information system and predictive data mining techniques to model effects of compound disasters in Taipei

Located in the circum-Pacific seismic zone, Taiwan is continually threatened by such natural disasters as typhoons, floods, landslides, and earthquakes, which increase risk of property loss and severely endanger public safety. Taipei City, the political and economic capital of Taiwan, must address disaster prevention and relief operations for compound disasters and extreme climatic events in addition to existing metropolitan disaster prevention operations. This study formulates 48 compound-disaster scenarios based on threats to Taipei City due to heavy rainfall and surrounding faults. Hydrology and flood analysis results and the Taiwan earthquake loss estimation system are utilized to assess the potential for compound disasters and the number of people they would displace in Taipei’s administrative districts. Analytical results can be used to create a pre-disaster static potential diagram and a refuge or shelter capacity assessment table. The disaster potential diagram is adopted to conduct geographic information system spatial and data analysis, and temporary refuges or shelters planned by the city government are integrated for shelter capacity comparison. Furthermore, a dynamic assessment curve for the number of displaced people during a disaster is plotted using data mining and attribute filtering. Subsequently, a cross table is obtained and employed to predict the number of refugees in the various administrative districts. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are provided for making disaster prevention and relief decisions simultaneously concerning earthquakes and flooding.     

Ionospheric delay gradient model for GBAS in the Asia-Pacific region

GPS Solutions - We investigated characteristics of anomalous spatial gradients in ionospheric delay on GNSS signals in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) low-magnetic latitude region in the context of the...     

An Annular Gap Acceleration Model for γ-ray Emission of Pulsars

If the binding energy of the pulsar's surface is not so high (the case of a neutron star), both negative and positive charges will flow out freely from the surface of the star. An annular free flow model for γ-ray emission of pulsars is suggested. It is emphasized that: (1) Two kinds of acceleration regions (annular and core) need to be taken into account. The annular acceleration region is defined by the magnetic field lines that cross the null charge surface within the light cylinder. (2) If the potential drop in the annular region of a pulsar is high enough (normally the case for young pulsars), charges in both the annular and the core regions could be accelerated and produce primary gamma-rays. Secondary pairs are generated in both regions and stream outwards to power the broadband radiations. (3) The potential drop grows more rapidly in the annular region than in the core region. The annular acceleration process is a key process for producing the observed wide emission beams. (4) The advantages of both the polar cap and outer gap models are retained in this model. The geometric properties of the γ-ray emission from the annular flow are analogous to that pre-sented in a previous work by Qiao et al., which match the observations well. (5) Since charges with different signs leave the pulsar through the annular and the core regions respectively, the current closure problem can be partially solved.     

Evolution of droplets in subsea oil and gas blowouts: Development and validation of the numerical model VDROP-J

The droplet size distribution of dispersed phase (oil and/or gas) in submerged buoyant jets was addressed in this work using a numerical model, VDROP-J. A brief literature review on jets and plumes allows the development of average equations for the change of jet velocity, dilution, and mixing energy as function of distance from the orifice. The model VDROP-J was then calibrated to jets emanating from orifices ranging in diameter, D, from 0.5 mm to 0.12 m, and in cross-section average jet velocity at the orifice ranging from 1.5 m/s to 27 m/s. The d₅₀/D obtained from the model (where d₅₀ is the volume median diameter of droplets) correlated very well with data, with an R² = 0.99. Finally, the VDROP-J model was used to predict the droplet size distribution from Deepwater Horizon blowouts. The droplet size distribution from the blowout is of great importance to the fate and transport of the spilled oil in marine environment.     

Seismic design and testing of the bottom vertical boundary elements in steel plate shear walls. Part 2: experimental studies

This paper describes an experiment to investigate the seismic design and responses of the bottom column, also called the bottom vertical boundary element (VBE), in steel plate shear walls (SPSWs). The main objectives of this experiment include validating the effectiveness of the design method developed in the companion paper, investigating the experimental performance of VBEs under large interstory drifts, and calibrating analytical models for earthquake engineering of SPSWs. Three full‐scale two‐story SPSWs were cyclically tested at the Taiwan National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering in 2011. Test results and numerical simulations confirm that the proposed design procedures are effective in predicting the plastic zone forming elevation in the lower half of the bottom VBE and the occurrence of yielding at the VBE's top end. Test results show that the premature yielding occurring at the top end of a bottom VBE would result in a deformation concentration at the bottom of SPSWs. In addition, lateral torsional buckling could take place on the bottom VBE after significant plastic rotations have developed at the top end. Test results suggest that preventing the VBE's top end from yielding is the key issue in the seismic design of SPSWs, and the proposed method can be effectively adopted to achieve this objective. Furthermore, the inelastic responses of the SPSW specimens were satisfactorily simulated by using detailed finite shell elements or simplified frame response analysis models. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytical solution on the surge motion of tension-leg twin platform structural systems

In this study the wave induced surge motion of a twin platform of a pretension leg structural system is investigated. A set of equations along with boundary conditions are derived, and solutions are obtained analytically. The tension-legged twin platform structural system might better represent a platform system in the practical application in either idealized two-dimensional analysis or actual three-dimensional practice than a single platform system. In the analysis the coupling problem of a two-dimensional tension leg twin platform interacting with a monochromatic linear wave train in an inviscid and incompressible fluid is considered. The problem is considered as a combination of the scattering and radiation. These two boundary-value problems are first solved independently and then combined together to resolve for all unknowns. The analysis is focused on the wave induced surge motion of the twin platform and the reflection coefficient. Other than the wave-related parameters, the dimensional effect of the twin platform structure is examined and presented in numerical examples. From the analytical results, it is found that the behavior of the tension-leg twin platform is significantly influenced by dimensional factors of the platform system such as the dimension of each single platform and the spacing between two platforms. It is also realized that to simplify the analysis of a twin platform system into a single platform, it tends to underestimate the wave-induced response and then reduces the safety of the platform system.