Constitutive modelling of state-dependent behaviour of unsaturated soils: an overview

An unsaturated soil is a three-phase material that is ubiquitous on the earth’s surface. The fully saturated and completely dry states are just two limiting conditions of an unsaturated soil. The state and properties of unsaturated soils can change significantly with external loads, weather conditions and groundwater level. Proper modelling of the state-dependent behaviour of unsaturated soils is crucial for analysing the performance of almost all civil engineering structures. So far, there are many unsaturated soil models and several relevant review papers in the literature. None of the existing review papers, however, focused on the state dependency of unsaturated soil behaviour. Moreover, some aspects of soil behaviour have not been reviewed, including small strain stiffness, dilatancy and stress-dependence of water retention curve. In the current review paper, the state dependency of unsaturated soil behaviour is reviewed, with a particular attention to the three missing parts. The review is carried out in a unified and relatively simple constitutive framework, which adopts a three-by-three compliance matrix to link incremental volumetric strain, deviator strain and degree of saturation to incremental mean net stress, deviator stress and suction. All of the nine variables in the proposed three-by-three compliance matrix have clear physical meanings and can be measured through compression, shearing and water retention tests. Theoretical models based on other constitutive stress variables can be also converted to this framework by matrix transformation.

     

A study of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the livestock waste compost of Hong Kong, PR China

Composting is one of the waste disposal methods adopted for disposal of livestock waste in Hong Kong. The composting livestock waste normally undergoes 6-8 weeks fermentation, followed by 16-20 weeks maturation. The matured compost is sold as soil conditioner in the local market. In 2006, feedstock material and a time-series of compost samples were collected throughout the fermentation and maturation process from the Sha Ling Composting Plant in the New Territories. The feedstock material and compost samples were analyzed for contents of three unintentional persistent organic pollutants (POPs), i.e. dioxins/furans, dioxin-like PCBs and total PCBs. These POPs are unintentionally produced by-products of chemical industrial processes and combustion processes. Selected heavy metals were also analyzed, which served as conservative tracers to determine potential mass loss during the composting process. Levels of contamination by these POPs were found to be low in the matured compost for sale. The mean concentrations (lower-upper bound) of total dioxins/furans, total dioxin-like PCBs and total PCBs were 2.01-2.05 ng I-TEQ/kg dw, 0.04-0.05 ng WHO-TEQ/kg dw and 1.55-1.55 microg/kg dw, respectively. Progressively elevated levels of these POPs were observed in the compost samples during the fermentation process. Analysis of the congener profiles revealed that the heptaCDD and octaCDD were the main contributors to the observed increase in dioxin/furan content. The possible sources of dioxins/furans in the compost were discussed. The study results established a local dioxins/furans emission factor specific to the trade and provided a better estimate of the annual dioxins/furans emission for the livestock waste composting activity in Hong Kong.     

Estuarine phytoplankton dynamics and shift of limiting factors: A study in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary and adjacent area

Environmental factors in estuaries are highly variable in terms of both spatial and temporal dimensions and hence phytoplankton biomass, as well as community structure, is dynamic. Two cruises were carried out in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary and adjacent area in spring and summer. The result of CHEMTAX calculation suggests that in spring diatoms and chlorophytes contribute equally to phytoplankton biomass, while phytoplankton community structure is mainly composed of diatoms in summer. We encountered blooms in summer with chlorophyll a (CHLa) over 10 μg l⁻¹ off the Changjiang Estuary and they were mainly caused by diatoms (>90%). Based on the HPLC analysis of samples collected, phytoplankton pigments mainly concentrated beyond the front between 122.5°E and 123°E where nutrients and turbidity were best balanced. Euphotic depth (Z_eu, calculated from Secchi disk depth) to surface mixed layer depth (Z_mix) ratio (i.e. Z_eu/Z_mix) were comparable in spring (average value 1.2) and the ratio increased to 5.2 in summer. Variation of the ratio indicates an apparent shift of light and physical conditions from spring to summer. Correspondingly, CHLa was positively related to Z_eu/Z_mix ratio (r² = 0.83) in spring, indicating the light limitation over the whole investigation area. On the other hand, the relationship of CHLa and Z_eu/Z_mix ratio became unclear when Z_eu/Z_mix ratio >3 in summer. This is probably due to the combination of both light limitation before the front and nutrient limitation beyond the front. In addition, evidence was found that light condition can impact the diagnostic pigments in the Changjiang Estuary.     

A hidden Markov model for earthquake prediction

Earthquake occurrence is well-known to be associated with structural changes in underground dynamics, such as stress level and strength of electromagnetic signals. While the causation between earthquake occurrence and underground dynamics remains elusive, the modeling of changes in underground dynamics can provide insights on earthquake occurrence. However, underground dynamics are usually difficult to measure accurately or even unobservable. In order to model and examine the effect of the changes in unobservable underground dynamics on earthquake occurrence, we propose a novel model for earthquake prediction by introducing a latent Markov process to describe the underground dynamics. In particular, the model is capable of predicting the change-in-state of the hidden Markov chain, and thus can predict the time and magnitude of future earthquake occurrences simultaneously. Simulation studies and applications on a real earthquake dataset indicate that the proposed model successfully predicts future earthquake occurrences. Theoretical results, including the stationarity and ergodicity of the proposed model, as well as consistency and asymptotic normality of model parameter estimation, are provided.     

华南花岗岩残积土红土化程度的地带性与香港该类土不发育的原因

从华南花岗岩残积土红土化程度的地域变化规律出发 ,通过香港与华南沿海各地花岗岩残积土的化学成分及红土化指标对比 ,作者发现香港花岗岩残积土无论厚度、类型 ,还是红土化程度都具有与所处气候环境不协调的特点。文章进一步讨论了香港花岗岩残积土不发育的原因和对工程性质的影响.     

Pesticides in Sediments From Queensland Irrigation Channels and Drains

Pesticide concentration in sediment from irrigation areas can provide information required to assess exposure and fate of these chemicals in freshwater ecosystems and their likely impacts to the marine environment. In this study, 103 sediment samples collected from irrigation channels and drains in 11 agricultural areas of Queensland were analysed for a series of past and presently used pesticides including various organochlorines, synthetic pyrethroids, benzoyl ureas, triazines and organophosphates. The most often detected compounds were endosulphans (, β and/or endosulphan sulphate) which were detectable in 78 of the 103 samples and levels ranged from below the limit of quantification (0.1 ng g⁻¹ dw) up to 840 ng g⁻¹ dw. DDT and its metabolites were the second most often detected pesticide investigated (74 of the 103 samples) with concentrations up to 240 ng g⁻¹ dw of ∑DDTs. Mean ∑endosulphan and ∑DDT concentrations were 1–2 orders of magnitude higher in sediments from the irrigation areas which are dominated by cotton cultivation compared to those which are dominated by sugarcane cultivation. In contrast to these insecticides, the herbicides diuron, atrazine and ametryn were the compounds which were most often detected in sediments from irrigation drains in sugarcane areas with maximum concentrations in areas of 120, 70 and 130 ng g⁻¹ dw, respectively. In particular during flood events, when light is limiting, transport of these photosynthesis inhibiting herbicides from the sugarcane cultivation areas to the marine environment may result in additional stress of marine plants.     

Monitoring ground deformation in Beijing, China with persistent scatterer SAR interferometry

This paper investigated the long term ground deformation in Beijing, China, using persistent/permanent scatterer interferometry (PSI) techniques. GEOS-PSI (Geodesy and Earth Observing Systems-PSI), an in-house software developed at UNSW for PSI, has been applied to 41 ENVISAT ASAR images acquired over the metropolitan area of Beijing City between June 2003 and March 2009 and 24 ALOS PALSAR images (two Paths: 10 acquisitions from January 2007 to October 2008 and 14 acquisitions from February 2007 to September 2009). The results generated using these datasets from the two satellites were cross-validated. Correlations between the results of ENVISAT ASAR and ALOS PALSAR agreed very well. The horizontal and vertical displacement rate maps over Beijing City were obtained from the results generated with data acquired by both satellites over the period from 1st February 2007 to 1st November 2008. The results indicate that the displacements in Beijing City were mainly in the vertical direction. The majority of the easting displacement rates were in the range of ?10 mm/year to 10?mm/year, while the vertical rates were in the range of ?115 mm/year to 6?mm/year. The possible cause for the ground deformation is groundwater extraction based on our research as well as earlier published studies.     

Consumption tradeoff vs. catastrophes avoidance: implications of some recent results in happiness studies on the economics of climate change

Recent discussion of climate change focuses on the trade-off between present and future consumption and hence correctly emphasizes the discount rate. Stern (2007) favours immediate and strong actions of environmental protection, but this has been questioned as the discount rate used is much lower than the market or commonly used rates. Focussed only on consumption trade-off, the use of these higher discount rates completely reverses the need for strong actions. However, an even more important problem has been largely neglected. This is the avoidance of catastrophes that may threaten the extinction of the human species. But ??we lack a usable economic framework for dealing with these kinds of ... extreme disasters?? (Weitzman, J Econ Lit 45(3):703?C724, 2007, p. 723). To analyse this, the comparison of marginal utility with total utility is needed. As happiness studies suggest a low ratio of marginal to total utility and as scientific and technological advances (especially in brain stimulation and genetic engineering) may dramatically increase future welfare, immediate and actions stronger than proposed by Stern may be justified despite high discount rates on future consumption, as discount rates on future utility/welfare should be much lower.     

香港国家地质公园粮船湾组火山岩岩石学研究

在香港国家地质公园西贡火山岩园区,核心地质景观是白垩纪粮船湾组(Kkh)火山岩优美的六方形石柱(柱状节理),它们的岩石类型长期存在熔岩和火山碎屑岩之争。笔者等经野外调查和薄片岩石学研究,确认粮船湾组火山岩实属一种特殊的熔岩——流纹质碎斑熔岩,以普遍的柱状节理、斑晶具有碎斑结构和珠边结构、基质发育霏细结构和流动构造为特征;它们不仅代表了香港地区中生代最晚期火山喷发的产物,而且构成了西贡破火山机构的中央侵出相岩穹。推断粮船湾组火山岩石柱是地球上已知面积最大的流纹质碎斑熔岩石柱群(～150 km2),目前所见的火山岩石柱仅是长期剥蚀后的残余部分。