A 2D finite volume model for bebris flow and its application to events occurred in the Eastern Pyrenees

FLATModel is a 2D finite volume code that contains several original approaches to improve debris-flow simulation. Firstly, FLATModel incorporates a ＂stop-and-go＂ technique in each cell to allow continuous collapses and remobilizations of the debris-flow mass. Secondly, flow velocity and consequently yield stress is directly associated with the type of rheology to improve boundary accuracy. Thirdly, a simple approach for entrainment is also included in the model to analyse the effect of basal erosion of debris flows. FLATMODEL was tested at several events that occurred in the Eastern Pyrenees and simulation results indicated that the model can represent rather well the different characteristics observed in the field.     

Soil bentonite wall protects foundation from thrust faulting: analyses and experiment

When seismic thrust faults emerge on the ground surface,they are particularly damaging to buildings,bridges and lifelines that lie on the rupture path.To protect a structure founded on a rigid raft,a thick diaphragm-type soil bentonite wall(SBW) is installed in front of and near the foundation,at sufficient depth to intercept the propagating fault rupture.Extensive numerical analyses,verified against reduced–scale(1 g) split box physical model tests,reveal that such a wall,thanks to its high deformability and low shear resistance,"absorbs" the compressive thrust of the fault and forces the rupture to deviate upwards along its length.As a consequence,the foundation is left essentially intact.The effectiveness of SBW is demonstrated to depend on the exact location of the emerging fault and the magnitude of the fault offset.When the latter is large,the unprotected foundation experiences intolerable rigid-body rotation even if the foundation structural distress is not substantial.     

Resolving mechanisms of toxicity while pursuing ecotoxicological relevance?

In this age of modern biology, aquatic toxicological research has pursued mechanisms of action of toxicants. This has provided potential tools for ecotoxicologic investigations. However, problems of biocomplexity and issues at higher levels of biological organization remain a challenge. In the 1980s and 1990s and continuing to a lesser extent today, organisms residing in highly contaminated field sites or exposed in the laboratory to calibrated concentrations of individual compounds were carefully analyzed for their responses to priority pollutants. Correlation of biochemical and structural analyses in cultured cells and tissues, as well as the in vivo exposures led to the production and application of biomarkers of exposure and effect and to our awareness of genotoxicity and its chronic manifestations, such as neoplasms, in wild fishes. To gain acceptance of these findings in the greater environmental toxicology community, “validation of the model” versus other, better-established often rodent models, was necessary and became a major focus. Resultant biomarkers were applied to heavily contaminated and reference field sites as part of effects assessment and with investigations following large-scale disasters such as oil spills or industrial accidents.

Over the past 15 years, in the laboratory, small aquarium fish models such as medaka (Oryzias latipes), zebrafish (Danio rerio), platyfish (Xiphophorus species), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), and sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus) were increasingly used establishing mechanisms of toxicants. Today, the same organisms provide reliable information at higher levels of biological organization relevant to ecotoxicology. We review studies resolving mechanisms of toxicity and discuss ways to address biocomplexity, mixtures of contaminants, and the need to relate individual level responses to populations and communities.     

Rare Earth Element Enrichments in the Elk Creek Carbonatite

Please refer to the attachment(s) for more details.     

冲断层、张性断层与花岗岩侵入作用关系的构造证据

本文提出了翁布里诺（Hombreiro）侵入体新的构造和岩石组构资料。翁布里诺侵入体是位于西班牙华力西构造带北部的一个同构造便位的花岗岩体。该岩体表现有两期塑性交形特征:早期变形与蒙多涅多（Mondonedo）推覆体的运动有关,此推覆体具有上盘向东的剪切指向;晚期变形则与比韦罗（Vivero）断层有关,此断层为一上盘向西运动的张性剪切带。这两期变形都始于高温近花岗岩固相线条件下,石英中保留有[c]-滑移组构可作证明。这一事实表明,在蒙多涅多推覆体上冲过程中,翁布里诺花岗岩发生侵位,在其定位过程中,张性断层不久即开始活动。本文提出,比韦罗断层的位置受地壳不稳定性所控制,而这种地壳不稳定性则由位于该断层下盘的许多侵入体的侵入作用所引起。     

Constraints of Mantle and Crustal Sources Interaction during Orogenesis of Pre- and Post-collision Granitoids from the Northern Arabian-Nubian Shield: A Case Study from Wadi El-Akhder Granitoids,Southern Sinai,Egypt

The Egyptian older and younger granitic rocks emplaced during pre- and post-collision stages of Neoproterozoic Pan-African orogeny, respectively, are widely distributed in the southern Sinai Peninsula, constituting 70% of the basement outcrops. The Wadi El-Akhder, southwestern Sinai, is a mountainous terrain exposing two granitoid suites, namely the Wadi El-Akhder Older Granites (AOG) and the Homra Younger Granites (HYG). The AOG (granodiorites with subordinate tonalite compositions) have geochemical characteristics of medium-K calc-alkaline, metaluminous to mildly peraluminous granitoids formed in an island-arc environment, which are conformable with well-known Egyptian older granitoids rocks, whereas the HYG display calc-alkaline to slightly alkaline nature, peraluminous syeno-, monzogranites and alkali feldspar granites matching well those of the Egyptian younger granites. With respect to the AOG granitoids, the HYG granites contain lower Al2O3, FeO*, MgO, MnO, CaO, TiO2, Sr, Ba, and V, but higher Na2O, K2O, Nb, Zr, Th, and Rb. The AOG are generally characterized by enrichment in LILE and LREE and depletion in HFSE relative to N-MORB values (e.g., negative Nb and Ta anomalies). The geochemical features of the AOG follow assimilation-fractional crystallization (AFC) trends indicative of extensive crustal contamination of magma derived from a mantle source. The chemical characteristics of the AOG are remarkably similar to those of subduction-related granitoids from the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS). The compositional variations from monzogranites through syenogranites to alkali feldspar granite within HYG could not be explained by fractional crystallization solely. Correlating the whole-rock composition of the HYG to melts generated by experimental dehydration melting of meta-sedimentary and magmatic rocks reveals that they appear to be derived by extended melting of psammitic and pelitic metasediments, which is similar to the most of younger granitic suites in the ANS.     

润滑剂摩擦特性及其对顶管推力和管-土相互作用的影响

润滑剂普遍应用于项管工程中,尤其是在复杂地质条件和长距离顶管中。使用润滑剂的主要目的是减小管土之间的摩擦力,但是定量地确定这两者之间的真实接触情况是十分困难的。测量管-土相互作用的新型技术目前仍然很少并有待进一步发展,所以只能利用间接手段测定管土之间的相互作用,并且这些测量方法的应用基于对工程的定性评价。本研究应用一种简单的试验方法来测定台湾地区最常用的润滑剂的摩擦特性,这些摩擦特性可以用于顶力的估算和直线与曲线顶管中管-土相互作用的数值分析。对顶力的分析结果表明顶力的减小与摩擦系数的减小密切相关,并且润滑剂在曲线顶管中的作用比在直线顶管中略大。此外,对台中科技园中400m长直线顶管工程的研究显示由经验公式得到的顶力估算值比实际要大,这表明由超挖造成的管土之间接触面积的减小对砂砾石地层中顶管施工的影响是非常显著的。     

砂岩中骨架颗粒溶解的理论

我们发现,长石和岩屑骨架颗粒的溶解作用(FGD)对于可溶颗粒大于10%的砂岩的储集性来说具有重要意义。据集些储集砂岩的研究,其骨架颗粒溶解孔隙度可高达70%左右,其平均孔隙度约为可见孔隙的30%。骨架颗粒溶解作用不能明显地增加储层的渗透率。但是,我们发现,骨架颗粒溶解孔隙度的发育数量是砂岩原始渗透率的函数。我们认为,页岩中的粘土及有机成熟作用为骨架颗粒溶解产生了必要的水、酸及络合剂。骨架颗粒溶解的溶剂被排驱至砂岩中,在那里长石和岩屑被溶解了,而且由此产生的溶解铝被络合,并搬运至砂岩之外。