Evaluation of Curve Fitting Techniques in Deriving p–y Curves for Laterally Loaded Piles

The p–y method is one of the most popular methods for the analysis and design of laterally loaded piles. The mathematical relationship it provides between the bending moment, which can be easily measured at strain gauges along the pile, and the soil resistance and lateral pile displacement, facilitates the construction of p–y curves. Numerical techniques are required to fit smooth continuous curves to the discrete bending moment data in order to improve the accuracy of subsequent differentiation and integration operations. Due to the lack of guidance on the optimum positioning of strain gauges and the reliability and accuracy of curve fitting methods, a unifying study, inclusive of small (0.61 m) and large (3.8 and 7.5 m) diameter piles in clay, was carried out using 18 strain gauge layouts and cubic spline, cubic to quintic B-spline and 3rd to 10th degree global polynomial techniques. Bending moment data was obtained using 3D finite element analysis. Through a comprehensive evaluation, the cubic and cubic B-spline methods were found to be consistently accurate in deriving p–y curves for both the small and large diameter piles.     

Risk Prediction of Tunnel Water or Mud Inrush Based on Disaster Forewarning Grading

Water or mud inrush can not only hamper the normal construction of tunnel, but also cause severe casualties and property losses. Through the cause analysis and statistical theory, a total of 9 predictors based on 3 factors, the engineering geology, hydrogeology and construction, were put forward to control the happening of water or mud inrush. Based on the classification principles of forewarning, 3 alert levels, red, orange and yellow, were established. Using the AHP–TOPSIS evaluation theory, the risk prediction model of water or mud inrush was built based on the classification of disaster forewarning. The model was used in the diversion project of Fujian Long Jin–xi and achieved good effects.     

An optimized sequential extraction scheme for molybdenum association in environmental samples

By comparing three sequential extraction procedures, a new optimized extraction scheme for the molybdenum association in environmental samples was proposed. Five operational steps were described as exchangeable (KH₂PO₄ + K₂HPO₄: including water-soluble), associated with organic matter (NaOH), Fe–Mn oxides and/or carbonates (HCl), sulfides (H₂O₂) and residue (HNO₃ + HF + H₂O₂). An optimized extraction scheme was compared with Tessier’s procedure and the Commission of European Communities Bureau of Reference (BCR) was applied to black shales. Results showed Tessier’s procedure gave the lowest concentration values for exchangeable molybdenum and the highest values for the residual molybdenum, which could not present the efficiency of the extraction reagents. BCR’s procedure showed the highest values in oxidizable molybdenum and presented four fractions of molybdenum, which did not demonstrate the fractions of molybdenum in the black shales in detail. The optimized extraction scheme demonstrated a certain improvement on extraction efficiency over Tessier’s procedure for the lowest residual molybdenum, and revealed more featured fraction information of molybdenum in black shales than BCR’s. Therefore, after a comparison with other two extraction procedures, the optimized extraction scheme proved suitable for the molybdenum in black shales and it also showed an accurate determination of the molybdenum in the fractions and source of bioavailable Mo.     

Assessment on characteristics of LUCC process based on complex network in Modern Yellow River Delta,Shandong Province of China

Research on land use cover change (LUCC) has reached a mature stage and has formed a relatively complete scientific system. However, most studies analyzed the LUCC process from the view of land use types ignoring the integrality and systematicness of the land use system, which brought certain constraints to understanding the complexity and systematicness of land use process scientifically. Using the Modern Yellow River Delta (MYRD) of China as the study area, this research introduced the complex network analysis method to the study of the LUCC process by using 9 periods of land use data between 1976 and 2014 to build 8 stages of complex networks. The values of node degree, betweenness, changing proportions, and average shortest path in the networks were calculated to identify the key land use types, changing models of land use types, and the stability of land use system. Additionally, main parts of complex networks of the period from 1976 to 1995 and the period from 1995 to 2014 were selected to evaluate the changing characteristics of the LUCC process. The results indicated the area and proportion of natural wetland kept reducing, but the area and proportion of artificial wetland or non-wetland continued rising. The bare land, reed, bush, and cultivated land were the key land use types of the LUCC process. In the past 38 years, beach, bare land, reed and bush had been the output types, and the building land and salt pan had been the input types. The LUCC process has been a transfer process of natural wetland to artificial wetland and non-wetland in the past 38 years, which could be divided into land accretion process (1976 to 1995) and construction process (1995 to 2014). The land ecosystem was unstable for the period from 1990 to 2006.     

Tide-Induced Variations in the Fatty Acid Composition of Estuarine Particulate Organic Matter

The particulate organic matter (POM) in hydrodynamically variable habitats such as the lower reaches of estuaries can change in its content and quality on very short time scales (example, hourly), and these changes can potentially influence higher-level consumers in river-estuary-marine systems. Estuarine water samples were collected hourly for 12 h downstream in a small river to evaluate the fatty acid composition of POM over a tidal cycle. Fatty acid constituents of POM collected during the flood tide were dominated by the saturated, higher plant and bacterial fatty acids, whereas unsaturated, polyunsaturated, essential, and diatom-associated fatty acids dominated the POM collected during the ebb tide. Elevated algal biomass (as indicated by high chlorophyll a concentrations), diatom, and freshness indices in the POM indicated enhanced fresh autochthonous-origin materials that dominated the mixed organic pool during the ebb tide compared to more degraded detritus during the flood tide. Tidal retention of organic matter and algal primary production were the most influential factors that differentiated the fatty acid composition of estuarine POM over the short time scale. The results of this study have important implications on the quality of POM at the time of sampling, especially in estuaries where mixed organic pools have multiple inputs and are strongly influenced by tidal cycles.     

Sediment Suspension and Deposition Across Restored Oyster Reefs of Varying Orientation to Flow: Implications for Restoration

The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is a prominent ecosystem engineer, whose reefs exhibit strikingly consistent morphologies at multiple spatial scales throughout its North American range. These distinct morphologies are thought to form by interactions of nascent reef structures with hydrodynamics. We carried out two field studies to determine if historical reef configurations applied in a restoration context would improve reef persistence and restoration outcomes. We collected seabed and water column observations across constructed reefs of three orientations representative of those found historically throughout the oyster’s range: parallel or perpendicular to tidal currents or circular. Areas adjacent to reefs were sites of fine sediment trapping, with lower flow velocities, evidence of particle settling, and more fine sediments on the seabed relative to off-reef reference sites. The water column above the reef crest exhibited higher acoustic backscatter, higher flow velocities, and larger particles in suspension, consistent with local erosion of flocculated fine sediment from the reef crest. Perpendicular reefs produced conditions that were more conducive to reef persistence and improved oyster performance, including high flow velocities and enhanced resuspension of sediments from the reef, compared to parallel or circular reefs. Particle trapping in areas between reefs has the potential to inhibit reef growth between existing reef structures, providing support for hypotheses of landscape-scale reef pattern formation. Oyster reef restoration efforts can benefit from this improved understanding of biophysical interactions arising from reef orientation that contribute to sediment dynamics on constructed oyster reefs.     

Using inverse modeling and hierarchical cluster analysis for hydrochemical characterization of springs and Talkhab River in Tang-Bijar oilfield,Iran

Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and inverse modeling (PH REdox EQuilibrium (in C language) (PHREEQC)) were simultaneously useful approaches in interpreting surface water hydrochemistry within Talkhab River in the Tang-Bijar oilfield, Iran, where large uncertainties exist in the understanding of the water quality system. Q-mode HCA applied to the data revealed three major surface water associations distinguished on the basis of the major causes of variation in the hydrochemistry. The three water groups were classified as upstream waters (group 1: Ca–SO₄), intermediate waters (group 2: Ca–SO₄–Cl), and downstream waters (group 3: Na–Cl). Geochemical reaction models were constructed using PHREEQC to establish the reactions associated with the different mineral phases through inverse modeling. The hydrochemical compositions of the water groups and the mass balance calculations indicate that the dominant processes and reactions responsible for the hydrochemical evolution in the system are (1) dissolution of evaporites, (2) precipitation of carbonate minerals, (3) silicate weathering reactions, (4) limited mixing with saline water, and (5) ion exchange.     

Hydrogeological assessment of the Tabarteh fault zone by physicochemical analysis and multivariate statistical methods

Hydrogeologically, faults may impede, conduit, exert no influence, or may play a combination of these roles on groundwater flow. The object of this paper is to study the hydrogeological role of the Tabarteh fault, which is located on the border of Zagros and Central Iran tectonic zones in an alluvial aquifer. The recorded data of water table levels, chemical parameters, and discharge rate of wells, in addition to geological maps and geophysical results, were collected and evaluated. The outcrop of travertine in limited areas and the emergence of a few small springs within the alluvium show a barrier role of the fault in the groundwater flow. The spatial analysis of chemical components, head time series, and groundwater flow direction assessment demonstrated that the fault acts as both a barrier and a non-barrier in different sections. The multivariate statistical methods of cluster and discriminant analyses also confirm the dual role of the fault.     

Three-dimensional supervirtual seismic refraction interferometry

Improved supervirtual interferometry (SVI) method that enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of noisy seismic refraction data is presented. This 3D supervirtual algorithm is helpful in removal of side lobes caused by convolution in the conventional 3D SVI method. In this study, we extend the supervirtual seismic refraction interferometry method to 3D geometries commonly used in active seismic exploration. To achieve this objective, synthetic 3D seismic refraction data were created using single patch orthogonal geometry. Simple two-layers velocity model was used. A zero phase wavelet was convolved with the refraction travel time to create the seismic wiggle trace. The refraction arrival is computed using the equation for horizontal refractor case and is not adapted for dipping refractor. Noise of Gaussian distribution with zero mean and 0.25 standard deviation was added to simulate a case of moderate ambient noise. The supervirtual algorithm, consisting of crosscorrelation, alignment, summation, and first arrival calculation is performed. By aligning and summation of all the correlogram, the stationary position of source-receiver pairs as required in the 2D supervirtual method are eliminated in this case. Synthetic data presented in this study shows accurate first arrivals after the application of the 3D SVI and traces with much better SNR than the actual traces.