Stresses in linings of bored tunnels

An analytical procedure is presented for evaluating the stresses in linings of bored tunnels caused by kinematic soil–lining interaction. Three cases of plane–strain interaction are treated as produced by (1) relaxation of in situ soil stresses near a lining following its installation, (2) overburden pressure at the soil surface, and (3) two-dimensional free-field soil response normal to the lining axis as produced by an earthquake. The procedure is applied separately to a steel lining and a concrete lining for a site located at the lower end of Market Street in San Francisco through which a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) tunnel passes. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving monthly streamflow prediction in alpine regions: integrating HBV model with Bayesian neural network

Statistical methods have been widely used to build different streamflow prediction models; however, lacking of physical mechanism prevents precise streamflow prediction in alpine regions dominated by rainfall, snow and glacier. To improve precision, a new hybrid model (HBNN) integrating HBV hydrological model, Bayesian neural network (BNN) and uncertainty analysis is proposed. In this approach, the HBV is mainly used to generate initial snow-melt and glacier-melt runoffs that are regarded as new inputs of BNN for precision improvement. To examine model reliability, a hybrid deterministic model called HLSSVM incorporating the HBV model and least-square support vector machine is also developed and compared with HBNN in a typical region, the Yarkant River basin in Central Asia. The findings suggest that the HBNN model is a robust streamflow prediction model for alpine regions and capable of combining strengths of both the BNN statistical model and the HBV hydrological model, providing not only more precise streamflow prediction but also more reasonable uncertainty intervals than competitors particularly at high flows. It can be used in predicting streamflow for similar regions worldwide.     

Extraction of agar from Eucheuma cottonii and Gelidium amansii seaweeds with sonication pretreatment using autoclaving method

The effect of sonication pretreatment condition on Eucheuma cottonii and Gelidium amansii seaweed towards agar extraction wae studied.Four parameters were changed during sonication to investigate the effects on agar yield and quality.These parameters include the time interval,concentration ratio,frequency,and intensity.The highest amount of agar extracted from Eucheuma cottonii species could be obtained from the time interval of 30min,seaweed weight to solvent volume ratio of 1:20,the frequency of 35Hz,and the sonication power intensity of 30%.For Gelidium amansii species,the best agar yield also could be obtained from the time interval of 30 min,1:20 of seaweed weight to water volume ratio,the frequency of 35Hz,and power intensity of 30%.From the experiment,sonication pretreatment signifi cantly influenced the yield and properties of extracted agar.The sonication with autoclaved seaweed produced agar containing less sulfate content,which is an excellent chemical property for gel electrophoresis applications.The gelstrength of sonication with autoclaving for both seaweeds,Eucheuma and Gelidium species was the highest among those by sonication with direct heating,which proved that sonication pretreatment with autoclaving could enhance the physical properties of the agar.     

Simulation of Meteorological Fields Within and Above Urban and Rural Canopies with a Mesoscale Model

Accurate simulation of air quality at neighbourhood scales (on order of 1-km horizontal grid spacing) requires detailed meteorological fields inside the roughness sub-layer (RSL). Since the assumptions of the roughness approach, used by most of the mesoscale models, are unsatisfactory at this scale, a detailed urban and rural canopy parameterisation, called DA-SM2-U, is developed inside the Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) to simulate the meteorological fields within and above the urban and rural canopies. DA-SM2-U uses the drag-force approach to represent the dynamic and turbulent effects of the buildings and vegetation, and a modified version of the soil model SM2-U, called SM2-U(3D), to represent the thermodynamic effects of the canopy elements. The turbulence length scale is also modified inside the canopies. SM2-U(3D) assesses the sensible and latent heat fluxes from rural and urban surfaces in each of the computational layers inside the canopies by considering the shadowing effect, the radiative trapping by the street canyons, and the storage heat flux by the artificial surfaces. DA-SM2-U is tested during one simulated day above the city of Philadelphia, U.S.A. It is shown that DA-SM2-U is capable of simulating the important features observed in the urban and rural RSL, as seen in the vertical profiles of the shear stress, turbulent kinetic energy budget components, eddy diffusivity, potential air temperature, and specific humidity. Within the canopies, DA-SM2-U simulates the decrease of the wind speed inside the dense canopies, the skirting of the flow around the canopy blocks, warmer air inside the vegetation canopy than above open areas during the night and conversely during the day, and constantly warmer air inside the urban canopy. The comparison with measurements shows that the surface air temperature above rural and urban areas is better simulated by DA-SM2-U than by the `standard version' of MM5.     

Use of slow-release fertilizer and biopolymers for stimulating hydrocarbon biodegradation in oil-contaminated beach sediments

Nutrient concentration and hydrocarbon bioavailability are key factors affecting biodegradation rates of oil in contaminated beach sediments. The effect of a slow-release fertilizer, Osmocote, as well as two biopolymers, chitin and chitosan, on the bioremediation of oil-spiked beach sediments was investigated using an open irrigation system over a 56-day period under laboratory conditions. Osmocote was effective in sustaining a high level of nutrients in leached sediments, as well as elevated levels of microbial activity and rates of hydrocarbon biodegradation. Chitin was more biodegradable than chitosan and gradually released nitrogen into the sediment. The addition of chitin or chitosan to the Osmocote amended sediments enhanced biodegradation rates of the alkanes relative to the presence of Osmocote alone, where chitosan was more effective than chitin due to its greater oil sorption capacity. Furthermore, chitosan significantly enhanced the biodegradation rates of all target polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

莒县整顿矿产资源开发秩序成效显著

莒县位于山东省东南部,总面积1 952.4 km2,辖1 260个行政村,总人口110万。因其地处沂沭断裂带,矿产资源较为丰富,现已发现和探明的矿产有36种,大部分矿种储量较小,只有石灰石、页岩粘土、花岗岩、白云岩、钛铁矿、河砂等矿种有一定储量规模并被开发利用。2006年以来,莒县开展了整顿和规范矿产开发秩序工作,圆满完成了整顿和规范第一阶段工作任务,全县矿产资源开发秩序全面好转,促进了经济的持续、快速、健康发展。1工作成绩(1)抓领导,形成合力。成立了整顿和规范矿产资源开发秩序工作领导小组,在县国土资源局下设办公室,抽调专业人员负责具…     

Inferred fault geometry and slip distribution of the 2010 Jiashian,Taiwan, earthquake is consistent with a thick-skinned deformation model

We invert measurements of coseismic displacements from 139 continuously recorded GPS sites from the 2010, Jiashian, Taiwan earthquake to solve for fault geometry and slip distribution using an elastic uniform stress drop inversion. The earthquake occurred at a depth of ~ 23 km in an area between the Western Foothills fold-and-thrust belt and the crystalline high mountains of the Central Range, providing an opportunity to examine the deep fault structure under Taiwan. The inferred rupture plane is oblique to the prominent orientation of thrust faults and parallel to several previously recognized NW-striking transfer zones that appear to connect stepping thrusts. We find that a fault striking 318°–344° with dip of 26°–41° fits the observations well with oblique reverse-sinistral slip under a low stress drop of about 0.5 MPa. The derived geodetic moment of 2.92 × 10¹⁸ N-m is equivalent to a M_w = 6.24 earthquake. Coseismic slip is largely concentrated within a circular patch with a 10-km radius at the depth between 10 and 24 km and maximum slip of 190 mm. We suggest this earthquake ruptured the NW-striking Chishan transfer fault zone, which we interpret as a listric NE-dipping lateral ramp with oblique slip connecting stepping thrust faults (ramps). The inferred slip on the lateral ramp is considerably deeper than the 7–15 km deep detachment identified in previous studies of western Taiwan. We infer an active basal detachment under western Taiwan at a depth of at least ~ 20–23 km based on these inversion results. The earthquake may have nucleated at the base of the lateral ramp near the intersection with the basal detachment. Coulomb stress change calculations suggest that this earthquake moved several NE-striking active thrust faults in western Taiwan nearer to failure.     

Time stability and variability of Electronically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer soil moisture during Southern Great Plains hydrology experiments

Variability and time‐stability analysis for field‐scale (800 m) Electronically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer soil moisture within a satellite scale footprint (∼ 50 km) were quantified using observations from the Southern Great Plains Hydrology Experiment 1997 and 1999 (SGP97 and SGP99). The pixels' time‐stability properties were examined with respect to soil, vegetation and topographic parameters in order to determine which physical parameters can be used to identify good candidate observation locations for validating soil moisture from satellite observations and global‐scale model output. The results show that the time‐stability concept remains valid at the satellite scale. The root mean square error values were 1·47, 1·51, 1·93 and 2·32% for the 1st, 2nd, 50th and 100th most stable fields, respectively. The most stable locations had sand and clay percentages consistent with sandy loam soils and moderate to high normalized difference vegetation index values. Neither land cover nor topography properties could be used to identify potentially stable fields in the study region. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Laser fusion argon‐40/argon‐39 ages of Darwin impact glass

Abstract— Three samples of Darwin Glass, an impact glass found in Tasmania, Australia at the edge of the Australasian tektite strewn field were dated using the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar single‐grain laser fusion technique, yielding isochron ages of 796–815 ka with an overall weighted mean of 816 ± 7 ka. These data are statistically indistinguishable from those recently reported for the Australasian tektites from Southeast Asia and Australia (761–816 ka; with a mean weighted age of 803 ± 3 ka). However, considering the compositional and textural differences and the disparity from the presumed impact crater area for Australasian tektites, Darwin Glass is more likely to have resulted from a distinct impact during the same period of time.     

Contaminant transport in one‐dimensional single fractured media: semi‐analytical solution for three‐member decay chain with pulse and Heaviside input sources

A semi‐analytical solution of the one‐dimensional transport for considering a three‐member decay chain in a single fracture with pulse and Heaviside input sources has been studied using the Laplace transform and its numerical inversion. The results reveal that breakthrough curves of dimensionless concentration for the decay chain of Np‐237, U‐233, and Th‐229 in the fracture can be well demonstrated in the temporal and spatial domains. The conditions with and without retardation effects are also compared. During the preliminary screening phase the solutions are suitable for performance assessment on radioactive waste disposal sites under a one‐dimensional single fracture condition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.