Study of the initiation and propagation of excavation damaged zones around openings in argillaceous rock

The study of the creation and evolution of the excavation disturbed zone (EDZ) in argillaceous rocks is a major issue for the safety of nuclear wastes underground repositories. In this context, the argillaceous Tournemire site has provided a unique opportunity to study the evolution of the EDZ with time thanks to the existence of three openings of different ages. A thorough characterization of the EDZ has been conducted by different means such as visual observation, analysis of samples extracted from drilled boreholes, EDZ permeability measurements, etc. On the basis of these measurements, a conceptual model of the EDZ initiation and propagation at the Tournemire site has been proposed. In order to validate this model, numerical simulations of increasing complexity have been carried out. In a first attempt, the response of the rock mass to the excavation phase, followed by seasonal cyclic variations of temperature and relative humidity inside the opening, has been simulated by means of a purely mechanical analysis, using a simple elastic material model. The EDZ has been estimated by post-processing the calculated stress states, using a Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion. The results obtained show that no EDZ could be predicted unless adopting a low cohesion value for the rock mass. Moreover, the deferred nature of the EDZ formation in Tournemire could not be reproduced. These limitations have then been suppressed by using a coupled viscoplastic-damaging mechanical model, the parameters of which have been identified from different laboratory experiments. With this model, a time evolution of the EDZ could be predicted, but the EDZ pattern could not match the one observed in situ. Finally, in view of the importance of the hydraulic couplings, unsaturated hydro-mechanical calculations have been carried out to investigate the effect of the numerous seasonal variations cycles and the resulting shrinkage.     

利用单频双程波动方程计算初至走时及其振幅

通过在频率域双程波动方程模拟算法中加入一个复数频率（实部表示频率,虚部表示衰减因子）压制地震波初至走时之后的能量,从而把初至走时及其振幅的计算问题转换为单一频率波场中最大能量走时和振幅的拾取问题,然后利用单一频率域波场的相位项和振幅项分别计算初至走时及其振幅.本文还提出利用参数分析方法求取最优的复数频率,并给出数值计算例子,将本方法的计算结果与有限差分程函方程初至走时和最大能量走时振幅进行比较,结果表明,该方法具有适应于任意复杂介质和多炮多接收点走时和振幅的计算.     

Intercomparison of Planetary Boundary-Layer Parametrizations in the WRF Model for a Single Day from CASES-99

This study compares five planetary boundary-layer (PBL) parametrizations in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) numerical model for a single day from the Cooperative Atmosphere-Surface Exchange Study (CASES-99) field program. The five schemes include two first-order closure schemes—the Yonsei University (YSU) PBL and Asymmetric Convective Model version 2 (ACM2), and three turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) closure schemes—the Mellor–Yamada–Janjić (MYJ), quasi-normal scale elimination (QNSE), and Bougeault–Lacarrére (BouLac) PBL. The comparison results reveal that discrepancies among thermodynamic surface variables from different schemes are large at daytime, while the variables converge at nighttime with large deviations from those observed. On the other hand, wind components are more divergent at nighttime with significant biases. Regarding PBL structures, a non-local scheme with the entrainment flux proportional to the surface flux is favourable in unstable conditions. In stable conditions, the local TKE closure schemes show better performance. The sensitivity of simulated variables to surface-layer parametrizations is also investigated to assess relative contributions of the surface-layer parametrizations to typical features of each PBL scheme. In the surface layer, temperature and moisture are more strongly influenced by surface-layer formulations than by PBL mixing algorithms in both convective and stable regimes, while wind speed depends on vertical diffusion formulations in the convective regime. Regarding PBL structures, surface-layer formulations only contribute to near-surface variability and then PBL mean properties, whereas shapes of the profiles are determined by PBL mixing algorithms.     

Critical influence of the pattern of Tropical Ocean warming on remote climate trends

Evidence is presented that the recent trend patterns of surface air temperature and precipitation over the land masses surrounding the North Atlantic Ocean (North America, Greenland, Europe, and North Africa) have been strongly influenced by the warming pattern of the tropical oceans. The current generation of atmosphere–ocean coupled climate models with prescribed radiative forcing changes generally do not capture these regional trend patterns. On the other hand, even uncoupled atmospheric models without the prescribed radiative forcing changes, but with the observed oceanic warming specified only in the tropics, are more successful in this regard. The tropical oceanic warming pattern is poorly represented in the coupled simulations. Our analysis points to model error rather than unpredictable climate noise as a major cause of this discrepancy with respect to the observed trends. This tropical error needs to be reduced to increase confidence in regional climate change projections around the globe, and to formulate better societal responses to projected changes in high-impact phenomena such as droughts and wet spells.     

Reducing hillslope size in digital elevation models at various scales and the effects on slope gradient estimation

Several models simulate watershed areas by delineating hillslopes. Hillslope size depends on the length of stream tributaries, which are affected by the drainage area threshold (DAT). There is no universal approach to identify the appropriate DAT. Therefore, a method to derive the DAT and a series of steps to delineate a watershed into smaller sizes were proposed in this study, and the impact of hillslope size on slope gradient estimation was investigated. The DAT obtained in this study was smaller than that obtained using other methods, resulting in a shorter length of the tributaries. Dividing these tributaries into equal short segments and using them to delineate the study area reduced the size of the hillslope. The results revealed that the shorter the length of the tributaries, the smaller the hillslope size. The accuracy of gradient estimation increased when the size of the hillslope was reduced.     

Genetic connectivity of the coral‐eating sea star Acanthaster planci during the severe outbreak of 2006–2009 in the Society Islands,French Polynesia

Occasional population outbreaks of the crown‐of‐thorns sea star, Acanthaster planci, are a major threat to coral reefs across the Indo‐Pacific. The presumed association between the serial nature of these outbreaks and the long larval dispersal phase makes it important to estimate larval dispersal; many studies have examined the population genetic structure of A. planci for this purpose using different genetic markers. However, only a few have focused on reef‐scale as well as archipelago‐scale genetic structure and none has used a combination of different genetic markers with different effective population sizes. In our study, we used both mtDNA and microsatellite loci to examine A. planci population genetic structure at multiple spatial scales (from <2 km to almost 300 km) within and among four islands of the Society Archipelago, French Polynesia. Our analysis detected no significant genetic structure based on mtDNA (global F_ST = ?0.007, P = 0.997) and low levels of genetic structure using microsatellite loci (global F_ST = 0.006, P = 0.005). We found no significant isolation by distance patterns within the study area for either genetic marker. The overall genetically homogenized pattern found in both the mitochondrial and nuclear loci of A. planci in the Society Archipelago underscores the significant role of larval dispersal that may cause secondary outbreaks, as well as possible recent colonization in this area.     

Respiration rate and swimming activity of larvae of two sub-tidal nassariid gastropods under reduced oxygen levels: implications for their distributions in Hong Kong waters

The effects of hypoxia on the larvae of two sub-tidal nassariid gastropods, Nassarius siquijorensis and N. conoidalis were compared so as to understand how the species-specific tolerance to hypoxia might have resulted in changes in the abundance and distribution of these two species in the hypoxic Tolo Harbour, Hong Kong, since the 1980s. Respiration rates of N. siquijorensis and N. conoidalis larvae were reduced at 4.5 mg O2 l(-1), or below, as compared with the normoxic control. Significant reduction in swimming velocity was also observed for 10-day old larvae which were exposed to <2.0 mg O2 l(-1) for N. siquijorensis and <1.0 mg O2 l(-1) for N. conoidalis. The 48 h LC50 values of N. siquijorensis and N. conoidalis larvae were 0.7 and 1.7 mg O2 l(-1), respectively. The results suggested that N. siquijorensis are more tolerant to hypoxia than N. conoidalis.     

用1999年集集地震序列建立台湾地区地震形变的三维模型及其特殊意义

编纂了台湾地区包括震源位置和震源参数的地震目录。选择的数据库用于建立与菲律宾海板块与欧亚板块俯冲和碰撞等各种构造运动有关的台湾地区三维地震形变模型。我们将整个台湾地区划分为10km间隔的三维网格,计算每个网格的地震矩释放量,即该网格内所有地震释放的地震矩总和。当一次地震的物理尺度超过网格尺寸10km时,相应的地震矩就分布在多个网格上。这种定量方法较好地描述了该地区地震矩释放的一级特征。值得注意的是,集集地震的发生,填充了震源区附近地震矩释放量在震前存在的明显不足。本文推测某个区域内地震矩分布的不足—填充模式可以应用于预测未来大地震的发生地点。根据这一观点,我们认为,集集地震可能会引起另外2次地震(北部的苗栗—新竹区和南部的嘉义区),这2次地震的破坏性及震级与集集地震类似,且靠近集集地震震源区。     

Response of meiofaunal and nematode communities to sewage pollution abatement: a field transplantation experiment

To assess the recovery rate of meiofaunal and nematode communities upon abatement of sewage pollution, a field transplantation experiment was conducted in Tai Tam, which is a non-polluted, shallow subtidal habitat on the southern portion of Hong Kong Island. The sediments used were from one site located in Victoria Harbour that was heavily influenced by sewage pollution, and one site in the outside-harbor area, which was relatively clean. In addition, sediments from Tai Tam were used as a control. Fresh sediments with meiofauna were collected from the aforementioned sites, placed in plastic trays and transplanted to Tai Tam. Sediments were retrieved at the beginning of the experiment and at 1-, 3-, and 8-weeks after transplantation for analysis of the meiofaunal and nematode communities as well as the sediment characteristics. The results showed that the meiofaunal and nematode communities in the control sediments were consistent at the four sampling periods, while it took three and eight weeks, respectively, for the nematode communities from the outside-harbor and inside-harbor sites to become similar to the control. These findings indicated that the relatively poor habitat quality and the nematode community composition in the sewage polluted inside-harbor sediments required a longer time for recovery than samples from the better habitat quality and the nematode community composition in the outside-harbor sediments.     

Basin effects analysis from a dense strong motion observation network

The strong ground motion observation network began to operate in the Taipei Basin area as part of the Taiwan Strong Motion Instrumentation Program (TSMIP). It is operated by the Seismological Observation Centre of the Central Weather Bureau. Forty-three free-field accelerometers have been installed in the Taipei Basin, and several earthquakes have been recorded by this network since its installation. Three events with magnitudes of 5–7, 5–4 and 6–2 that triggered more than ten stations are used here to study the characteristics of the basin effects on ground motions both in the time and frequency domains. From this study, it is clear that vibrations of different frequencies have different amplifications in the Taipei Basin. In fact, the frequency responses show the variation can even be up to about 7 times. The horizontal peak ground acceleration (PGA) and spectral ratio contours in the low-frequency band are closely correlated with the geological structure in the Taipei Basin. The analysis of the response spectra also shows this correlation phenomenon and the relation between the damage from an earthquake and the basin effects.