Shakedown in layered pavements under moving surface loads

Elastic–plastic deformations in pavements consisting of layers of different frictional materials are investigated. The upper bound, kinematic shakedown theorem is used to obtain estimates of the critical shakedown loads. Fully general three-dimensional deformations are considered. The influence of the loading distribution, interactions between loads, and the effect of varying the thickness, stiffness and strength of the layers are explored. Consequences of this investigation for particular existing designs of flexible pavements are investigated. In particular, it is found that the strength of the subgrade has no effect on the magnitude of the critical shakedown load.     

Preliminary organic petrography of Palaeozoic rocks from the Grand Banks,Newfoundland

Samples of lower Palaeozoic bedrock from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland were examined using reflected light microscopy and Rock-Eval pyrolysis. These samples contained organic material which included bitumen (structureless organic material), acritarchs, chitinozoa, scolecodonts and graptolites. The reflectance of the organic material increased from acritarchs towards graptolites with bitumen showing a wide range of reflectance. Multiple phases of oil migration through one sample were inferred by examination of the bitumens: the lowest reflecting being more recent than the highest reflecting bitumen. Combined reflectance and Rock-Eval analysis indicate that these samples are mature to overmature. The two oldest samples (Arenig-Llanvirn, Ordovician) are assessed as mature and as having potential for generation of liquid hydrocarbons, but must be considered as mainly gas prone.     

Hydrodynamic control of phytoplankton in low salinity waters of the James River estuary,Virginia, U.S.A.

Autotrophic biomass and productivity as well as nutrient distributions and phytoplankton cell populations in the James River estuary, Virginia, were quantified both spatially and temporally over a 17-month period. Emphasis was placed on the very low salinity region of the estuary in order to gain information on the fate of freshwater phytoplankters. Differing amounts of freshwater plant biomass are advected into the estuary as living material, DOC or POC and the demonstrated variability of this input must play an important role in marine biogeochemical cycling.Late summer and fall maxima in both chlorophyll a and the photosynthetic production of particulate organic carbon in very low salinity regions were inversely correlated with river discharge.During periods of low river discharge greater than 50% of the chlorophyll a biomass measured at 0‰ disappeared within a narrow range of salinity (0–2‰). Cell enumeration data suggest that species introduced from the freshwater end-member tend to comprise the bulk of the biomass removed. Confounding factors, which may contribute to the regulation of both the abundance and species of phytoplankters mid-river, include the flocculation of colloidal material with phytoplankton cells, the presence of the turbidity maximum and the growth of endemic phytoplankton populations.An inverse relationship exists between the phytoplankton abundance in very low salinity waters and the abundance of biomass measured in the lower portion of the river (estuary). Thus, autotrophic production in the fresh and very low salinity areas may indirectly regulate the onset on the spring bloom in the estuary by controlling the amount of nutrients available.     

A dated cave sediment record of Pleistocene transgressions on Berry Head,Southwest England

Berry Head, a limestone headland in Torbay, southwest England, exhibits a series of subaerial marine erosion platforms and raised beaches spanning an altitude range of 97 m. Solution caves on the headland show preferred horizontal development at elevations that are correlated with the marine erosion platforms, and developed in a marine/freshwater mixing zone whose position was controlled by high sea-level still-stands. Corbridge Cave in Berry Head Quarry lies below the raised beaches in Torbay, and contains evidence of three marine transgressions in the form of fine-grained marine ponding deposits with a marine microfauna. Uranium-series dating of intercalated speleothems indicates that a transgression during oxygen isotope stage 5e reached an elevation of 5.8 m OD, while an earlier transgression (probably during stage 7) reached at least 7.2 m OD. These findings are used to constrain possible interpretations of the aminostratigraphy of raised beaches in Southwest Britain, and a correlation of the Unnamed Stage of Bowen, Sykes, Reeves, Miller, Andrews, Brew and Hare with oxygen isotope stage 5e is proposed.     

Cokriging nonstationary data

Universal cokriging is used to obtain predictions when dealing with multivariate random functions. An important type of nonstationarity is defined in terms of multivariate random functions with increments which are stationary of orderk. The covariance between increments of different variables is modeled by means of the pseudo-cross-covariance function. Criteria are formulated to which the parameters of pseudo-cross-covariance functions must comply so as to ensure positive-definiteness. Cokriging equations and the induced cokriging equations are given. The study is illustrated by an example from soil science.     

H II regions and radio visibility of quasar nuclei

The core (injector) and the jet (relativistic plasma outflow) of AGN objects are surrounded by an ionized medium, an H II region observed in emission lines. The synchrotron radiation from the core and the jet is observed through a thin screen that cocoons the structure under consideration. The screen transparency depends on wavelength and distance from the injector. We consider the objects 3C 345 and 1803+784 whose core emission at decimeter wavelengths is absorption by more than 25 dB. The visible bright compact component is the bright nearby portion of the jet that extends outside the dense part of the screen. We explore the possibility of measuring the screen transparency from absorption in Hα recombination lines with different quantum numbers at centimeter wavelengths.     

Optimization of grid-drilling using computer simulation

A computer simulation method has been developed to find efficient drilling grids for mineral deposits. A well-known ore deposit is used as a model to develop an efficient pattern for undiscovered ore bodies in the same area or in other prospects where similar geometry is suspected. The model for this study is the Austinville, Virginia deposit, a Mississippi Valley-type deposit composed of 17 ore bodies totaling 34 million short tons (30 million metric tons). The method employs a computer program that simulates drilling the model deposit with different patterns, including various levels of follow-up drilling. Follow-up holes are drilled in fences at one half the original spacing around holes in the grid that show ore-grade mineralization. Each pattern is drilled 100 times from random starting locations to provide a range of outcomes of drilling, including the best, worst, and most likely. For this study, patterns of 100 drill holes were composed of 10 fences spaced 1000–5000 feet (305–1524 m) apart, each with 10 holes spaced 200–1000 feet (61–305 m) apart. In all, 25 grids were used with zero to three levels of follow-up drilling. The 600/2000 grid, with drill holes spaced 600 feet (183 m) apart in fences spaced 2000 feet (610 m) apart, was compared with the 200/5000 grid because they represented contrasting outcomes. The 600/2000 grid penetrated many ore bodies consistently but with few multiple hits to individual ore bodies; whereas the 200/5000 grid inconsistently penetrated few ore bodies with many multiple hits. The 600/2000 grid was more efficient than the 200/5000 grid at hitting large ore bodies of 1,000,000 short tons or greater (900,000 metric tons or greater) and was made more effective by adding one cycle of follow-up drilling. The 600/2000 grid had a 97% chance of hitting one or more large ore bodies with at least one drill hole per ore body, and the 200/5000 grid had a 64% chance. Once hit, there was an 82% chance that the largest ore body would be penetrated by three or more holes when using the 600/2000 grid and an 88% chance using the 200/5000 grid.     

The middle pleistocene deposits of Waverley Wood Pit,Warwickshire, England

A complex of channels underlying the Baginton-Lillington Gravel (Baginton Formation) at Waverley Wood Quarry, Warwickshire is described. Fossil pollen and plant macrofossils, Coleoptera, Ostracoda, Mollusca and Mammalia are described from the channel-fill deposits. Consideration of all the evidence allows the identification of four separate stages of channel fill which largely occurred under a cool temperate climate. At the top of Channel 2 evidence for a cold, continental climatic episode can be recognised, suggesting that the whole complex was deposited under a fluctuating climate at the end of a temperate stage. At two levels in the channels human artefacts were recovered confirming the presence of Palaeolithic people in Warwickshire during the deposition of the sediments. Amino-acid geochronology suggests an age within the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage for the channels. The small vertebrate and molluscan faunas indicate that the deposits are no older than the latter part of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage of East Anglia. The regional stratigraphic significance of the Waverley Wood succession is outlined.     

Prognosis of pool phase state and hydrocarbon fluid composition for the Pre-Caspian OGP

The results of detailed studies and interpretations are presented for composition variations, structural properties and the phase state of hydrocarbon fluids from subsalt pools of the Pre-Caspian depression. These data serve as a basis for substantiating the existence of several types of condensate, and identifying the locations of the main centres of fluid generation. The basic geological-geochemical conditions controlling the composition of condensate and free gases have been determined as well as their present phase state. A set of basic criteria is proposed as well as prognostic maps for the condensate and free gas composition, and the pool phase states.