Characterization of pre-failure deformation and evolution of a large earthflow using InSAR monitoring and optical image interpretation

Landslides - At 6pm on July 19, 2019, the Yahuokou earthflow (Zhouqu County, Gansu Province, China) was reactivated following a period of intense rainfall. A volume of approximately...     

Application of the Engineering-Geological Conditions in Land-Use Plans in the Petrvald Region(Czech Republic)

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate necessity to inform relevant parties about engineering-geological conditions for various practical purposes,especially including appropriate land-use planning.However,the relationship between relevant geological information and the geological environment is vital for foundation engineering purposes,especially where demanding structures are involved.This information is most conveniently structured when accumulated information concerning engineering-geological zones is utilized.This necessarily includes knowledge of rock workability and also of the pre-Quaternary bedrock,and these characteristics were then related to the current built-up area and future development according to the land-use plans in a case study are from the Petrvald Region(Czech Republic).The geological environment of area has been severely influenced by anthropogenic effects of deep black coal mining.Results of this research showed that future development should be founded on spoil banks,dumps,and settling basins. According to the land-use plan,this zone occupies 44.9%of the area of interest,and its materials predominantly emanate from mining in the Ostrava-Karvina Coal District.For future foundation structures planned there,it is imperative to consult detailed engineering-geological study.However, attention to and reliance on this necessity is not reflected in the existing land-use plan.     

Evaluation of the climate prediction center (CPC) morphing technique (CMORPH) rainfall product on hourly time scales over the source of the Blue Nile River

Limited availability of surface‐based rainfall observations constrains the evaluation of satellite rainfall products over many regions. Observations are also often not available at time scales to allow evaluation of satellite products at their finest resolutions. In the present study, we utilized a 3‐month rainfall data set from an experimental network of eight automatic gauges in Gilgel Abbay watershed in Ethiopia to evaluate the 1‐hourly, 8 × 8‐km Climate Prediction Center morphing technique (CMORPH) rainfall product. The watershed is situated in the Lake Tana basin which is the source of the Blue Nile River. We applied a suite of statistical metrics that included mean difference, bias, standard deviation of differences and measures of association. Our results indicate that the accuracy of the CMORPH product shows a significant variation across the basin area. Its estimates are mostly within ±10 mm h^?1 of the gauge rainfall observations; however, the product does not satisfactorily capture the rainfall temporal variability and is poorly correlated (<0.27) to gauge observations. Its poor rain detection capability led to significant underestimation of the seasonal rainfall depth (total bias reaches up to ?52%) with large amounts of hit rain bias as well as missed rain and false rain biases. In the future refinement of CMORPH algorithm, more attention should be given to reducing missed rain bias over the mountains of Gilgel Abbay, whereas equal attention should be given to hit, missed rain and false rain biases over other parts of the watershed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling of fluid expulsion and deformation behaviour of dewatering sediments

A finite element model is developed for modelling coupled fluid expulsion/deformation behaviour of dewatering sediments subjected to external loadings under isothermal conditions. The non-linear deformation behaviour of the sediment (soil) skeleton is based on the force equilibrium equation in which the constitutive relationship of stress and strain is implemented by the modified Cam-Clay model in soil plasticity. The fluid flow behaviour in the model is described by the generalized porous media flow equation. The model allows temporal and spatial variations of porosity and permeability. The fluid viscosity and density are assumed to be temperature-dependent. The model also allows the development of single and multiple faults, depending upon the material (sediment and fluid) properties, loading and boundary conditions. Procedures are implemented for (1) updating the material properties such as porosity, permeability, fluid density and viscosity and (2) the development of faults which allow the formation of high-permeability conduits for fluid flow. The solution algorithm for displacements of the sediments and the excess pore (fluid) pressure is based on a residual load technique to handle the non-linear (elastic-plastic) deformation behaviour of the sediment skeleton. The model can be applied to one- and two-dimensional problems. Examples of a plane strain saturated sediment layer subjected to stepwise horizontal tractions versus time are given.     

Recent environmental changes in a naturally acidic rocky lake in southern Finland, as reflected in its sediment geochemistry and biostratigraphy

Paleolimnological methods are combined with statistical multivariate analyses (PCA and CCA) to study the effects of local environmental disturbances and changes in loading of atmospheric origin on water acidity and the physiochemical properties of the sediment in a small, naturally acidic rocky lake in southern Finland. The pH of the lake as calculated from the diatom flora increased by 0.9 pH units as a consequence of a forest fire in the catchment area at the turn of the last century, and the changes in the diatom assemblages point to an increase in dys(eu)trophy and turbulence. In terms of element influx (in µg cm^-2 yr^-1), the effects of the fire are seen in a slight increase in the accumulation of lithophilous elements. Diatom-inferred pH values decline upwards in the sediment, but do not regain the level recorded before the fire. This is attributed to reactions between Fe³⁺ and S, which has partly accumulated from the air as SO^2-, producing internal alkalinity. Accumulation rates of many elements increase markedly after the 1960s, an effect for Al, Mg, Na, P and Zn may be connected mainly with the enhanced accumulation of dry matter, whereas the accumulation of K, Ni, Pb, Ti and V in surface sediment are obviously related to atmospheric loading. Measured accumulation rates of Cd and Cu are lower than the calculated values especially in the surface sediment, possibly because of diagenetic changes. Accumulation of Ca and Mn decreases towards the surface on account of acidification of anthropogenic origin.     

Assessment of interpolated ERA-40 reanalysis temperature and precipitation against observations of the Balkan Peninsula

Due to their ready availability and temporal and spatial consistency, reanalysis data are widely used within the climate community. Nevertheless, higher spatial resolutions are often required and statistical interpolation techniques are applied to increase the data resolution. This work aims to derive a set of high spatial resolution data through three-dimensional interpolation of daily temperature and precipitation. Thin plate spline interpolation has been chosen and used to interpolate ERA-40 temperature and precipitation from a coarse grid (110 km) into a finer one of 1-km spatial resolution. The study evaluates the method by comparing the simulated variables with available in situ meteorological measurements. The chosen stations are distributed over the study region and, most importantly, contain information from a range of altitudes. The results indicate that accounting for the topography in the interpolation process improves the comparisons, with the biggest improvements being evident in the most mountainous areas. The method is found to be better in estimating temperature than precipitation fields. Moreover, the method performs better for maximum temperature in high altitudes and for minimum temperature in low altitudes.     

Carbonatite melt–CO2 fluid inclusions in mantle xenoliths from Tenerife, Canary Islands: a story of trapping, immiscibility and fluid–rock interaction in the upper mantle

Three types of fluid inclusions have been identified in olivine porphyroclasts in the spinel harzburgite and lherzolite xenoliths from Tenerife: pure CO₂ (Type A); carbonate-rich CO₂–SO₂ mixtures (Type B); and polyphase inclusions dominated by silicate glass±fluid±sp±silicate±sulfide±carbonate (Type C). Type A inclusions commonly exhibit a “coating” (a few microns thick) consisting of an aggregate of a platy, hydrous Mg–Fe–Si phase, most likely talc, together with very small amounts of halite, dolomite and other phases. Larger crystals (e.g. (Na,K)Cl, dolomite, spinel, sulfide and phlogopite) may be found on either side of the “coating”, towards the wall of the host mineral or towards the inclusion center. These different fluids were formed through the immiscible separations and fluid–wall-rock reactions from a common, volatile-rich, siliceous, alkaline carbonatite melt infiltrating the upper mantle beneath the Tenerife. First, the original siliceous carbonatite melt is separated from a mixed CO₂–H₂O–NaCl fluid and a silicate/silicocarbonatite melt (preserved in Type A inclusions). The reaction of the carbonaceous silicate melt with the wall-rock minerals gave rise to large poikilitic orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene grains, and smaller neoblasts. During the metasomatic processes, the consumption of the silicate part of the melt produced carbonate-enriched Type B CO₂–SO₂ fluids which were trapped in exsolved orthopyroxene porphyroclasts. At the later stages, the interstitial silicate/silicocarbonatite fluids were trapped as Type C inclusions. At a temperature above 650 °C, the mixed CO₂–H₂O–NaCl fluid inside the Type A inclusions were separated into CO₂-rich fluid and H₂O–NaCl brine. At T<650 °C, the residual silicate melt reacted with the host olivine, forming a reaction rim or “coating” along the inclusion walls consisting of talc (or possibly serpentine) together with minute crystals of NaCl, KCl, carbonates and sulfides, leaving a residual CO₂ fluid. The homogenization temperatures of +2 to +25 °C obtained from the Type A CO₂ inclusions reflect the densities of the residual CO₂ after its reactions with the olivine host, and are unrelated to the initial fluid density or the external pressure at the time of trapping. The latter are restricted by the estimated crystallization temperatures of 1000–1200 °C, and the spinel lherzolite phase assemblage of the xenolith, which is 0.7–1.7 GPa.     

Morphological characteristics, formation and glaciological significance of Rogen moraine in northern Scotland

Rogen moraine are enigmatic landforms whose exact origin is still debated. We use NEXTMap digital surface models and aerial photographs to map the distribution of previously unreported fields of Rogen moraine in the vicinity of Loch Shin, northern Scotland. Existing models of formation are tested against detailed morphological Rogen moraine characteristics obtained from the remote sensing data and field observations. Detailed morphometric analyses combined with their geographical setting lead us to postulate a likely mechanism of formation. Rogen moraine appear to have formed in areas where there were strong basal ice-flow velocity gradients. Thrusting by compression, or fracturing by extension of preexisting partially frozen sediment probably occurred in these areas, resulting in Rogen moraine formation. A general down-ice increase in ridge crest spacing suggests that the latter process may have been dominant, and is consistent with the location of Rogen moraine in the lee of topographic obstructions, in areas that experienced overall extensional ice flow. We also suggest that at least one field of Rogen moraine formed where lateral basal ice-flow velocity gradients were strongest — possibly in a subglacial shear margin setting. Given their location, the landforms may be consistent with formation during headward scavenging of the Moray Firth palaeo-ice stream into a shrinking core of cold-based ice.