Earthquake simulation test of circular reinforced concrete bridge column under multidirectional seismic excitation

1 Introduction Since the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, a signi?cant amount of research has been conducted on the ductility capacity of reinforced concrete bridge columns, resulting in signi?cant advances in the seismic design of bridges. Since most tests have been done in static or quasistatic conditions and unidirectional loading conditions, however, no method that properly evaluates the effect of multidirectional dynamic loading has been developed, and design recommendations on this effect a…     

Bifurcation current along the southwest coast of the Kii Peninsula

Along the southwest coast of the Kii Peninsula, a bifurcation current is regularly observed. By using ADCP data taken on board the R/V Wakayama of the Wakayama Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, characteristics of this bifurcation current are analyzed. The occurrence frequency of the bifurcation current reaches about 70% in the period from 1988 to 1996. The bifurcation point appears to be changeable and occurs almost evenly between Cape Ichie and Cape Shionomisaki. The current divergence in the alongshore direction was also investigated. Positive divergence values dominated in the whole analyzed area, and an onshore current appears to be dominant along the southwest coast of the Kii Peninsula, except in 1990 when the Kuroshio flowed in a large meandering path.     

Field measurements of absolute gravity in East Antarctica

Abstract This paper reports the results of field-based absolute gravity measurements aimed at detecting gravity change and crustal displacement caused by glacial isostatic adjustment. The project was initiated within the framework of the 53rd Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition （JARE53）. Absolute gravity measurements, together with GPS measurements, were planned at several outcrops along the Prince Olav Coast and S6ya Coast of East Antarctica, including at Syowa Station. Since the icebreaker Shirase （AGB 5003） was unable to moor alongside Syowa Station, operations were somewhat restricted during JARE53. However, despite this setback, we were able to complete measurements at two sites： Syowa Station and Langhovde. The absolute gravity value at the Syowa Station IAGBN （A） site, observed using an FG-5 absolute gravimeter （serial number 210; FG-5 #210）, was 982 524 322.7＋0.1 ktGal, and the gravity change rate at the beginning of 2012 was -0.26 gGal.a-1. An absolute gravity value of 982 535 584.2~0.7 ktGal was obtained using a portable A-10 absolute gravimeter （serial number 017; A-10 #017） at the newly located site AGS01 in Langhovde.     

Formation age of the lunar crater Giordano Bruno

Abstract— Using the Terrain Camera onboard the Japanese lunar explorer, SELENE (Kaguya), we obtained new high‐resolution images of the 22‐kilometer‐diameter lunar crater Giordano Bruno. Based on crater size‐frequency measurements of small craters (<200 m in diameter) superposed on its continuous ejecta, the formation age of Giordano Bruno is estimated to be 1 to 10 Ma. This is constructive evidence against the crater's medieval age formation hypothesis.     

Olivine-rich exposures in the South Pole-Aitken Basin

The distribution and the geological context of the olivine-rich exposures in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on the Moon were investigated based on the spectral data obtained from the Spectral Profiler (SP) and Multiband Imager (MI) onboard the Japanese lunar explorer Kaguya/SELENE. The olivine-rich exposures are found only in the peak rings or central peaks of the Schrödinger basin and Zeeman crater, which are located in the outer region of the SPA Basin and not in the center region. On a localized scale, the olivine-rich materials are exposed on landslide features on the crater walls or sloped wall of the central peaks or the peak rings. Another observational finding is the co-existence of olivine-rich and plagioclase-rich materials on a kilometer scale spanning most of the olivine-rich sites in the Schrödinger basin. Pyroxene-rich materials are found in fresh craters outside the peak rings or the central peaks with olivine-rich materials. Based on these results, the following scenario are proposed: (1) the impact to form the SPA Basin melted a large amount of the lunar upper mantle and crust, and distributed the melted materials to the outer region; (2) local differentiation of melted materials hid the olivine-rich materials in the center region of the SPA Basin; (3) later impacts that formed the Schrödinger and Zeeman craters excavated and exposed the olivine-rich materials to the surface again; and (4) space weathering and regolith gardening obscured the olivine-rich spectra at the exposure sites, but recent, small scale impacts or landslides on the sloped wall exposed fresh olivine-rich materials, allowing the identification of the olivine-rich exposures by spectral remote-sensing. This suggests that several, different scale events play an important role in forming the surface distributions of originally deep-seated materials on the Moon, as well as on other planetary bodies.     

Free-surface implementation in a mesh-free finite-difference method for elastic wave propagation in the frequency domain

We present an original implementation of the free-surface boundary condition in a mesh-free finite-difference method for simulating elastic wave propagation in the frequency domain. For elastic wave modelling in the frequency domain, the treatment of free surfaces is a key issue which requires special consideration. In the present study, the free-surface boundary condition is directly implemented at node positions located on the free-surface. Flexible nature of the mesh-free method for nodal distribution enables us to introduce topography into numerical models in an efficient manner. We investigate the accuracy of the proposed implementation by comparing numerical results with an analytical solution. The results show that the proposed method can calculate surface wave propagation even for an inclined free surface with substantial accuracy. Next, we calculate surface wave propagation in a model with a topographic surface using our method, and compare the numerical result with that using the finite-element method. The comparison shows the excellent agreement with each other. Finally, we apply our method to the SEG foothill model to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Since the mesh-free method has high flexibility of nodal distribution, the proposed implementation would deal with models of topographic surface with sufficient accuracy and efficiency.     

准噶尔板块东北缘富铌玄武岩的发现及其地质意义

富铌玄武岩是硅过饱和,富Ｎａ2Ｏ,ＴｉＯ2,Ｐ2Ｏ5,同时富集高场强元素的一类岛弧玄武岩,这类玄武岩的ｗ(Ｎｂ)>7×10-6,(ｗ(Ｌａ)/ｗ(Ｎｂ))ＭＮ<2。它是由来源于70100ｋｍ深处、受ａｄａｋｉｔｅ熔体交代过的地幔楔橄榄岩部分熔融形成的,是大洋板块俯冲作用的产物。目前发现的富铌玄武岩大多分布在环太平洋新生代岛弧环境,与洋壳俯冲作用密切相关[1 5]。本研究在准噶尔板块东北缘富蕴县的索尔库都克附近首次发现了富铌玄武岩。它产于下泥盆统托让格库都克组中、上部。该地层自下而上的岩石组合为:玄武岩 火山凝灰角砾岩 火山集块岩 含…     

Recolonization of the Krakataus by Hymenoptera and Isoptera (Insecta)

The aculeate and isopteran fauna was surveyed in 1982 on the Krakatau islands, all the biota of which had been exterminated by the great eruption in 1883.The pattern of colonization of these insects (wasps, bees and termites) and the present state of their faunas are discussed based upon our 1982 survey and those made earlier. Species numbers varied only slightly between the four islands in spite of their differing sizes. This may be because the islands are situated close to each other and most of the aculeates prefer open sites rather than forests.The species/time curve for the Aculeata as a whole was still rising in 1982. However, in some groups flattening of the curve had occurred, and a comparison of species number in social wasps and bees, for example, between Java, Krakatau and Sumatra suggested the occurrence of supersaturation. Cumulative species numbers was distinctly larger than actual number in the three most recent surveys showing that several species must have become extinct in each intersurvey period. Species turnover associated with habitat changes may have occurred for the whole island group and on particular islands.Analysis of the colour pattern of the Krakatau populations of certain species with different geographical races on Java and Sumatra showed that the Javan elements have a slight preponderance over the Sumatran ones on the Krakataus.Some examples of faunal disharmony were found; the most remarkable was the almost complete lack of species of swarm-founding social wasps and bees, and of ground-nesting termites probably reflecting their poor dispersal ability across the sea barrier.