Deep-seated toppling deformations of rock slopes in western China

Toppling is the foremost failure pattern of anaclinal rock slopes, and deep-seated toppling deformations (DSTDs) are common on high anaclinal slopes on the sides of gorges in western China. The DSTDs can develop to depths of more than 200 m, and may show distinct signs of zonal failure. Many DSTDs undergo transformation to large landslides involving rock volumes of more than 10⁶ m³. However, the conditions for the formation and the basic evolving processes of DSTDs remain unclear. This study seeks to develop an inventory to classify the distribution, and the conditioning factors which govern the formation and deformation modes of DSTDs in western China and to analyze the effect of the geological and geomorphological variables on the toppling intensities. To this end, forty-nine DSTDs were analyzed. The results indicate that DSTDs in western China are commonly distributed along large deeply incised rivers in the southeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The steep-dip anaclinal metamorphic soft or soft-hard-interbedded strata with near parallel strikes in the river channel, V-shaped deeply incised river channels, and convex slopes are favorable conditions for the formation of DSTDs in these settings. The dip angle, the gradient, and the height of most slopes which develop DSTDs are 60–90°, 30–50°, and 200–800 m, respectively. There is a highly positive relationship between the depth of toppling and the height of the slope. The toppled rock masses can be classed as extremely intense, intense, moderate, and weak toppling zones characterized by complete block detachment, tensile-shear fracture, tensile fracture, and reverse slip along foliations, respectively. Each zone corresponds to a specific range of the dip angle of the toppled strata, the aperture of the tensile cracks, the P-wave velocity, the state of rock weathering, and the degree of unloading. The extremely intense and the intense toppling zones tend to evolve into sliding failures. Overall, 94% of the DSTDs were derived from flexural toppling and 33% have developed into large landslides.

     

Uncertainty quantification of landslide runout motion considering soil interdependent anisotropy and fabric orientation

Landslides - Natural soils often exhibit an anisotropic fabric pattern as a result of soil deposition, weathering, or filling. This paper aims to investigate the effect of soil interdependent...     

Movement process,geomorphological changes,and influencing factors of a reactivated loess landslide on the right bank of the middle of the Yellow River,China

Landslides - According to local villagers, the main Beiguo landslide on the Heyang Loess Tableland in China occurred several decades ago (the specific time is unknown). After the initial occurrence...     

梧州市巨厚层花岗岩风化壳垂直分带标准及工程地质特征研究

本文选择华南地区巨厚层花岗岩风化壳分布区的梧州市为研究区,旨在建立系统的、科学的、可操作性强的花岗岩风化壳垂直分带划分标准。在野外区域调查、钻探、原位试验、室内试验、综合研究的基础之上,建立了定性与定量复合判定的指标体系,对梧州市花岗岩风化壳进行了垂直分带以及工程地质特征研究。研究结果表明:(1)粒度分析法可以作为花岗岩风化壳垂直分带划分的方法之一,划分结果与原位试验划分结果具有很好的一致性;(2)残积土带、全风化带、强风化带中含量占比最大的土体分别是黏粒土、粉粒土、砂粒土。随着钻孔深度的增加,粒径相对较大的砾粒和砂粒含量占比逐渐增大,粒径相对较小的粉粒和黏粒含量占比逐渐减小。粒径0.05 mm为残积土带、全风化带、强风化带曲线交叉的分界处,该处土体含量百分比近似相等,揭示粒径0.05 mm值是花岗岩风化壳垂直分带划分的重要指标之一;(3)随着钻进深度的增加,圆锥动力触探试验击数与标准贯入试验击数同时增加,修正后的标准贯入击数N和圆锥动力触探击数N_63.5呈多项式相关性。本文建立了花岗岩风化壳垂直分带划分标准,给出了花岗岩风化壳土体地基承载力建议值,对花岗岩分布区的重大工程建设与工程地质特征参数的选取具有一定的指导与参照意义。     

基于机器学习的锆石成因分类研究

锆石是在自然界中多种温压条件下能够稳定保存,并记录原岩年龄信息的副矿物。锆石微量元素能完整记录地质演化过程信息。通过微量元素分析锆石成因的研究已久,通常利用Th-U图解和La_N-(Sm/La)_N图解等二元图解对锆石进行分类研究。然而,随着锆石研究的深入,以及二元图解无法呈现数据高维度信息的局限性,传统图解已经不能满足对锆石类型进行准确判别,且对已知类型的锆石出现判定偏差。因此,本文将地质大数据与机器学习相结合,训练出高维度锆石成因分类器。文中收集了3 498条不同成因类型的锆石微量元素数据,并通过测试和运用随机森林、支持向量机、人工神经网络和k近邻等4种机器学习算法,最终得出准确率为86.8%的线性支持向量机锆石成因分类器,用于锆石类型的判定与预测。这项工作为锆石分类研究提供了更高维度的判别手段,极大提高了微量元素分析成因结果的精度。将锆石微量元素数据与机器学习方法相结合,是大数据分析与机器学习技术在地球化学研究中的积极探索。     

Characteristics and generation mechanisms of key infrared radiation signals during damage evolution in sandstone

Acta Geotechnica - Infrared radiation count (IRC) is considered as an indicator for damage evolution of rocks. This new indicator links damage intensity and corresponding infrared radiation...     

Kaolin-nucleation-based biotreated calcareous sand through unsaturated percolation method

Acta Geotechnica - Ocean development is an effective and practical way to address resource issues, such as food, fuel, and land shortage. The current work proposed using kaolin-based biocement to...     

Transformation of ammonium nitrogen and response characteristics of nitrifying functional genes in tannery sludge contaminated soil

High concentrations of ammonium nitrogen released from tannery sludge during storage in open air may cause nitrogen pollution to soil and groundwater. To study the transformation mechanism of NH₄⁺-N by nitrifying functional bacteria in tannery sludge contaminated soils, a series of contaminated soil culture experiments were conducted in this study. The contents of ammonium nitrogen (as NH₄⁺-N), nitrite nitrogen (as NO₂^?-N) and nitrate nitrogen (as NO₃^?-N) were analyzed during the culture period under different conditions of pollution load, soil particle and redox environment. Sigmodial equation was used to interpret the change of NO₃^?-N with time in contaminated soils. The abundance variations of nitrifying functional genes (amoA and nxrA) were also detected using the real-time quantitative fluorescence PCR method. The results show that the nitrification of NH₄⁺-N was aggravated in the contaminated silt soil and fine sand under the condition of lower pollution load, finer particle size and more oxidizing environment. The sigmodial equation well fitted the dynamic accumulation curve of the NO₃^?-N content in the tannery sludge contaminated soils. The Cr(III) content increased with increasing pollution load, which inhibited the reproduction and activity of nitrifying bacteria in the soils, especially in coarse-grained soil. The accumulation of NO₂^?-N contents became more obvious with the increase of pollution load in the fine sand, and only 41.5% of the NH₄⁺-N was transformed to NO₃^?-N. The redox environment was the main factor affecting nitrification process in the soil. Compared to the aerobic soil environment, the transformation of NH₄⁺-N was significantly inhibited under anaerobic incubation condition, and the NO₃^?-N contents decreased by 37.2%, 61.9% and 91.9% under low, medium and high pollution loads, respectively. Nitrification was stronger in the silt soil since its copy number of amoA and nxrA genes was two times larger than that of fine sand. Moreover, the copy numbers of amoA and nxrA genes in the silt soil under the aerobic environment were 2.7 times and 2.2 times larger than those in the anaerobic environment. The abundance changes of the amoA and nxrA functional genes have a positive correlation with the nitrification intensity in the tannery sludge-contaminated soil.     

Indication of hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes on the characteristics and circulation patterns of medium-low temperature geothermal resources in the Guanzhong Basin,China

Guanzhong Basin is a typical medium-low temperature geothermal field mainly controlled by geo-pressure in the west of China.The characteristics of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes were used to analyze the flow and storage modes of geothermal resources in the basin.In this paper,the basin was divided into six geotectonic units,where a total of 121 samples were collected from geothermal wells and surface water bodies for the analysis of hydrogen-oxygen isotopes.Analytical results show that the isotopic signatures of hydrogen and oxygen throughout Guanzhong Basin reveal a trend of gradual increase from the basin edge areas to the basin center.In terms of recharge systems,the area in the south edge belongs to the geothermal system of Qinling Mountain piedmont,while to the north of Weihe fault is the geothermal system of North mountain piedmont,where the atmospheric temperature is about 0.2℃-1.8℃in the recharge areas.The main factors that affect the geothermal waterδ18O drifting include the depth of geothermal reservoir and temperature of geothermal reservoir,lithological characteristics,water-rock interaction,geothermal reservoir environment and residence time.Theδ18O-δD relation shows that the main source is the meteoric water,together with some sedimentary water,but there are no deep magmatic water and mantle water which recharge the geothermal water in the basin.Through examining the distribution pattern of hydrogen-oxygen isotopic signatures,the groundwater circulation model of this basin can be divided into open circulation type,semi-open type,closed type and sedimentary type.This provides some important information for rational exploitation of the geothermal resources.