The June 2013 Alberta catastrophic flooding event – part 2: fine‐scale precipitation and associated features

Data obtained from a variety of sources including the Canadian Lightning Detection Network, weather radars, weather stations and operational numerical weather model analyses were used to address the evolution of precipitation during the June 2013 southern Alberta flood. The event was linked to a mid‐level closed low pressure system to the west of the region and a surface low pressure region initially to its south. This configuration brought warm, moist unstable air into the region that led to dramatic, organized convection with an abundance of lightning and some hail. Such conditions occurred in the southern parts of the region whereas the northern parts were devoid of lightning. Initially, precipitation rates were high (extreme 15‐min rainfall rates up to 102 mm h^?1 were measured) but decreased to lower values as the precipitation shifted to long‐lived stratiform conditions. Both the convective and stratiform precipitation components were affected by the topography. Similar flooding events, such as June 2002, have occurred over this region although the 2002 event was colder and precipitation was not associated with substantial convection over southwest Alberta. Copyright © 2016 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Hydrological Processes. © John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ISA model: A constitutive model for soils with yield surface in the intergranular strain space

In this article, a new constitutive model for soils is proposed. It is formulated by means of plasticity, but in contrast to the precedent works, it presents a yield function describing a surface within the intergranular strain space. This latter is a state variable providing information of the recent strain history. An expression for the plastic strain rate has been proposed to guarantee the stress rate continuity. Under the application of medium or large strain amplitudes, the constitutive equation becomes independent of the intergranular strain and delivers a mathematical structure similar to some Karlsruhe hypoplastic models. Some simulations of monotonic and cyclic triaxial test are provided to evaluate and analyze the model performance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shoreline variability of an urban beach fronted by a beachrock reef from video imagery

This contribution presents the results of a study on the shoreline variability of a natural perched urban beach (Ammoudara, N. Crete, Greece). Shoreline variability was monitored in high spatio-temporal resolution using time series of coastal video images and a novel, fully automated 2-D shoreline detection algorithm. Ten-month video monitoring showed that cross-shore shoreline change was, in some areas, up to 8 m with adjacent sections of the shoreline showing contrasting patterns of beach loss or gain. Variability increased in spring/early summer and stabilized until the end of the summer when partial beach recovery commenced. Correlation of the patterns of beach change with wave forcing (as recorded at an offshore wave buoy) is not straightforward; the only discernible association was that particularly energetic waves from the northern sector can trigger changes in the patterns of shoreline variability and that increased variability might be sustained by increases in offshore wave steepness. It was also found that the fronting beachrock reef exerts significant geological control on beach hydrodynamics. Hydrodynamic modelling and observations during an energetic event showed that the reef can filter wave energy in a highly differential manner, depending on its local architecture. In some areas, the reef allows only low-energy waves to impinge on the shoreline, whereas elsewhere penetration of higher waves is facilitated by the low elevation and limited width of the reef or by the presence of an inlet. Wave/reef interaction can also generate complex circulation patterns, including rip currents that appeared to be also constrained by the reef architecture.     

On the simulation of multidimensional cyclic loading with intergranular strain

A sample of soil is subjected to multidimensional cyclic loading when two or three principal components of the stress or strain tensor are simultaneously controlled to perform a repetitive path. These paths are very useful to evaluate the performance of models simulating cyclic loading. In this article, an extension of an existing constitutive model is proposed to capture the behavior of the soil under this type of loading. The reference model is based on the intergranular strain anisotropy concept and therefore incorporates an elastic locus in terms of a strain amplitude. In order to evaluate the model performance, a modified triaxial apparatus able to perform multidimensional cyclic loading has been used to conduct some experiments with a fine sand. Simulations of the extended model with multidimensional loading paths are carefully analyzed. Considering that many cycles are simulated (\(N>30\)), some additional simulations have been performed to quantify and analyze the artificial accumulation generated by the (hypo-)elastic component of the model. At the end, a simple boundary value problem with a cyclic loading as boundary condition is simulated to analyze the model response.     

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of wind-induced barotropic circulation in the Gulf of Patras

The barotropic, wind-induced circulation, which develops in the Gulf of Patras in Western Greece during the winter, is studied using three-dimensional numerical simulations. The simulations are performed using the numerical code MIKE 3 FM (HD). The Gulf's basin is bracketed between two sills, one on the west at the opening with the Ionian Sea and the other on the east at the Straits of Rio-Antirio at the opening with the Gulf of Corinth. The simulations show that the wind-induced flow creates strong currents near the coasts, which determine the sense of rotation of the gyres that develop in the Gulf. Strong currents are also created at the Rio-Antirio Straits. The wind-induced, barotropic currents do not seem to contribute to the direct replenishment of bottom waters, which recirculate between the two sills. Depending on the wind-speed forcing of the flow, the residence time of the waters in the Gulf of Patras is estimated to range from one week to one month.     

»Late Jurassic« petroleum geology of the Dutch Central North Sea Graben

The Callovian to Ryazanian (late Middle Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous; here referred to as »Late Jurassic«) sediments of the Dutch Central North Sea Graben, comprising the Central Graben and Scruff Groups, form several potential reservoirs. Source rocks are present within both these groups and the Carboniferous and Late Triassic-Early Jurassic.The structural development of the area is illustrated by a number of cross-sections. A structural subdivision has been made into platform, intermediate platform, outer graben, and inner graben. The complex history of rifting, wrench-faulting, halokinesis, and structural inversion strongly influenced the palaeogeography and ensuing sandstone developments. A few selected burial-history plots are presented as examples of the relationship between the structural subdivision and the hydrocarbon potential of the area.

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Zusammenfassung Die Sedimente des Callov bis zum Ryazan (oberer Mitteljura bis unterste Kreide, hier als »Oberjura« bezeichnet) des zentralen niederländischen Nordsee-Grabens, der den Zentralgraben und die Scruff-Gruppe umfaßt, stellen mehrere potentielle Erdölspeichergesteine dar. In jeder dieser beiden Gruppen sowie im Karbon und von der Obertrias bis zur Unterkreide existieren Speichergesteine.Die strukturelle Entwicklung des Gebietes wird anhand mehrere Profile veranschaulicht. Außerdem schien eine Untergliederuntg in Plattform, Zwischenplattform, äußerer sowie innerer Graben sinnvoll. Die komplexe Entwicklungsgeschichte, die durch Riftingphasen, Wrench-Tektonik, Halokinese und Strukturinversion bestimmt wurde, hat die Paläogeographie und die resultierende Sandsteinbildung intensiv beeinflußt. Eine Anzahl ausgewählter Darstellungen der Geschichte der Sedimentüberlagerung dienen als Beispiele für den Zusammenhang zwischen den strukturell bestimmten Untergruppen und dem Kohlenwasserstoffpotential des Untersuchungsgebietes.

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Résumé Dans le secteur néerlandais du Graben Central de la Mer du Nord, plusieurs réservoirs potentiels sont constitués par les sédiments calloviens à ryazaniens (ensemble allant du sommet du Jurassique moyen au Crétacé inférieur et désigné ici par «Late Jurassic»). Ces sédiments comprennent le groupe du Graben central et le groupe de Scruff. Des rochesmères existent dans chacun de ces deux groupes ainsi que dans le Carbonifère et dans la série Trias terminal-Eojurassique.La constitution structurale de cette région est illustrée par une série de coupes. On distingue, au point de vue structural: une plate-forme, une plate-forme intermédiaire, un graben externe et un graben interne. L'histoire géologique complexe, avec ses processus de rifting, de décrochement, d'halokinèse et d'inversion structurale, s'est répercutèe de manière significative sur la paléogéographie et, par voie de conséquence, sur l'extension des faciès arénacés. Quelques reconstitutions de l'histoire sédimentaire sont présentées à titre d'exemple de manière à illustrer la relation entre les unités structurales et le potentiel en hydrocarbure de la région.

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