Landsliding triggered by reservoir operation: a general conceptual model with a case study at Three Gorges Reservoir

The Three Gorge Reservoir, one of the largest civil engineering projects in human history, dams the Yangtze River to form a 660-km-long and 1.13-km-wide reservoir. Today, although the project has been completed and is in normal operation, the on-going landslide initiation and movement in response to the reservoir operating is one of the main geologic hazards. The Huangtupo (meaning “yellow soil slope” in Chinese) Slope typifies such on-going landslides along the reservoir. Observations from a multi-year monitoring program conducted on this slope indicate that there are multiple slides on the reservoir banks that move episodically into the reservoir and their movements appear to be highly correlated with the initial and seasonal changes in the reservoir pool level. A hydro-mechanical numerical model is constructed to investigate the quantitative links among the episodic movements and the variations in pore water pressure, suction stress, hydrostatic reservoir water loading, and slope self-weight induced by the fluctuating water levels. Modeling results identify regions within the variably saturated slope where significant changes in stress occur during the periods of the initial impoundment that raised water levels from 68 to 135 m and that occur in response to seasonal fluctuations of the reservoir pool level between 145 and 175 m. We find that the rise or decline of reservoir pool level can either increase or decrease the stability of landslide. In general, hydrostatic reservoir water loading has positive correlation with the stability; pore water pressure and suction stress have negative correlation with the stability; and the effects of slope self-weight depend on the dip angle and mechanical properties of sliding surface.     

The effect of desertification on carbon and nitrogen status in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Environmental degradation resulting from desertification often accelerates biodiversity loss and alters carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks within grassland ecosystem. In order to evaluate the effect of desertification on plant diversity and carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks, species compositions and C and N contents in plants and soil were investigated along five regions with different degrees of desertification in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (control, light, moderate, severe and very severe stages). The study showed: (1) species composition and richness changed significantly with the development of grassland desertification; (2) the aboveground biomass C and N contents in the control were 101.60 and 4.03 g m^?2, respectively. Compared to the control, the aboveground tissue C and N contents significantly decreased from light, moderate, severe to very severe stages. (3) The root C and N contents in the control in 0–40 cm depth are 1,372.83 and 31.49 g m^?2, respectively, while the root C and N contents in 0–40 cm were also declining from the control, light, moderate, severe to very severe stages. (4) Compared to the plant, the soil made a greater contribution for C and N distribution, in which the soil organic C and total N contents in 0–40 cm depth in the control are 20,386.70 and 3,587.89 g m^?2, respectively. At the same time, soil organic C and N contents also decreased significantly from the control to very severe stages. These results suggest that grassland desertification not only alters species compositions and leads to the loss of plant diversity, but also results in greater loss of organic C and N in alpine meadow, in which there is a negative effect on reducing greenhouse gas emission.     

Spatial and seasonal distributions of soil phosphorus in a typical seasonal flooding wetland of the Yellow River Delta,China

Soil samples from 0 to 100 cm depth were collected in four sampling sites (Sites A, B, C and D) along a 250-m length of sampling zone from the Yellow River channel to a tidal creek in a seasonal flooding wetland of the Yellow River Delta of China in fall of 2007 and spring of 2008 to investigate spatial and seasonal distribution patterns of total phosphorous (TP) and available phosphorus (AP) and their influencing factors. Our results showed that TP contents in spring and AP contents in both seasons in surface soils increased with increasing distances away from the Yellow River channel. TP contents in surface soils (0–10 cm) followed the order Site A (698.6 mg/kg) > Site B (688.0 mg/kg) > Site C (638.8 mg/kg) > Site D (599.2 mg/kg) in fall, while Site C (699.6 mg/kg) > Site D (651.7 mg/kg) > Site B (593.6 mg/kg) > Site A (577.5 mg/kg) in spring. Generally, lower TP content (630.6 mg/kg) and higher AP level (6.2 mg/kg) in surface soils were observed in spring compared to fall (656.2 mg/kg for TP and 5.2 mg/kg for AP). Both TP and AP exhibited similar profile distribution patterns and decreased with depth along soil profiles with one or two accumulation peaks at the depth of 40–80 cm. Although the mean TP content in soil profiles was slightly higher in spring (635.7 mg/kg) than that in fall (628.0 mg/kg), the mean TP stock was obviously lower in spring (959.9 g/m²) with an obvious accumulation at the 60–80 cm soil depth compared to fall (1124.6 g/m²). Topsoil concentration factors also indicated that TP and AP had shallower distribution in soil profiles. Correlation analysis showed that AP had significant and positive correlation with these soil properties such as soil organic matter, salinity, total nitrogen and Al (p < 0.01), but TP was just significantly correlated with TN and Al (p < 0.05).     

Site selection in municipal solid waste management with extended VIKOR method under fuzzy environment

Nowadays, selection of the suitable disposal site in municipal solid waste (MSW) management has become a challenge task for the municipal authorities, especially in fast-growing areas. Site selection can be viewed as a complicated multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem requiring consideration of multiple alternative solutions and conflicting quantitative and qualitative criteria. In this paper, linguistic variables, which can be expressed as trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, are used to assess the ratings and weights for the selection criteria. The ordered weighted averaging operator is utilized to transform the fuzzy decision matrix into crisp values considering the decision maker’s attitudinal character. For selecting the best site, the extended VIsekriterijumska optimizacija i KOmpromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method is applied to determine the priority ranking of alternatives. As a result, a hierarchy MCDM model based on fuzzy set theory and VIKOR method is proposed to deal with the site selection problems in the MSW management system. An empirical study in Shanghai, China, is provided and comparison with the existing approach is conducted to illustrate the applicability and benefits of the proposed method.     

Quantification of electrical resistance to estimate NaCl behavior in a column under controlled conditions

Accurate prediction of solute transport processes in surface water and its underlying bed is an important task not only for proper management of the surface water but also for pollution control in these water bodies. Key issue in this task is an estimation of parameters as diffusion coefficient and velocity for solute transport both in water body and in the underlying bed. This estimation would greatly help us to understand the deposition and release mechanism of solute across the water-bed interface. In this study, a column experiment was conducted in laboratory to estimate the velocity and diffusion coefficient of sodium chloride (NaCl) in water body and underlying sand layer (bed). The column used with a diameter of 30 cm and a height of 100 cm, was filled with sand at the lower half part and water at the upper half part. Total 64 stainless steel electrodes were installed on its surface around. The sodium chloride solution was injected from the top of the column, and electrical resistance between electrodes was monitored for 71 h. Then the dimensionless resistance breakthrough curve was fitted with one dimensional analytic solution for solute transport and the related diffusion coefficient and velocity parameters were estimated. The results show that the NaCl transport velocity was high in the water body but extremely low in the underlying sand layer (bed). The diffusion coefficient estimated in sand layer coincides with those reported well. This indicates that the electrical resistance based solute transport parameter estimation method is not only effective but also has an advantage of multipoints monitoring. This is useful both in mapping solute transport parameter for solute transport process analysis and in providing parameter input for solute transport numerical modeling.     

甘肃礼县中川地区金矿成岩和成矿年龄的SHRIMP厘定

甘肃省礼县中川地区属于礼（县）岷（县）金矿带的东段,成矿作用与中川花岗杂岩体有密切的关系。运用高分辨率和高灵敏度离子探针（SHRIMP）测试技术,获得了中川花岗杂岩体形成的精确年龄,主侵入时代为210～160 Ma（可信度95%,MSWD=1.4）,该花岗岩体属于燕山早期-印支期造山运动的产物;3颗锆石（4个测点）的SHRIMP测试结果表明,中川地区金成矿的年龄为197～162 Ma,证实礼县中川地区金成矿于中川花岗岩体形成及稍后的时间段。年龄测试和地质剖面测量资料都证实,中川花岗岩体南部地层应该划在中石炭统地层中。与中川花岗杂岩体地质情况类似的碌础坝、 柏家庄、 闾井、 教场坝、 温泉等岩体外接触带仍然有很大的找矿前景。     

安徽金寨三仙山地区梅山群碎屑岩成分及其对物源区构造属性和地层时代的意义

安徽金寨三仙山地区位于大别山北缘,该地梅山群主要为一套轻微变质的碎屑岩系。砂岩碎屑组分统计表明,砂岩类型主要为岩屑石英砂岩、岩屑石英杂砂岩,石英、长石、岩屑的平均含量为87.21%、1.67%、9.64%,杂基含量为15%,石英几乎全为单晶石英（95.79%）,长石以斜长石为主,岩屑主要为沉积岩屑（75.49%）,其次为变质岩屑（24.51%）。碎屑岩地球化学元素平均含量为：SiO₂（75.99%）,Al₂O₃（11.96%）,MgO（0.72%）,CaO（0.10%）,Fe₂O₃（4.02%）,K₂O（1.70%）,Na₂O（0.26%）。ΣREE=170.49×10^-6（74.49×10^-6～309.42×10^-6）,LREE/HREE=11.16（7.89～14.26）,轻稀土略有富集,δEu=0.72（0.59～0.90）,La/Yb=22.08（13.01～31.18）,（La/Yb）_N=14.89（8.77～21.02）,δCe=0.84（0.42～0.97）。碎屑岩地球化学特征指示三仙山地区梅山群母岩主要为古老沉积岩、长英质火山岩和古老变质基底,具有多重物源区。梅山群构造背景较复杂,主要为被动大陆边缘和活动大陆边缘,其次为大陆岛弧。三仙山地区梅山群碎屑岩的源岩成分、构造背景与商城-固始地区石炭系有很大差别,故其地层时代有待于进一步研究。     

Comparison of Blast-Induced Damage Between Presplit and Smooth Blasting of High Rock Slope

This paper focuses on the comparison of damage induced by smooth blasting and presplit blasting based on the excavation of high rock slope. The whole damage process of the smooth blasting and presplit blasting excavation method is studied by using a cumulative blasting damage numerical simulation technology based on the secondary development of the dynamic finite element code LS-DYNA. The results demonstrate that, in the case of contour blasting with the method of smooth blasting, the total damage of rock slope is a result of cumulated damage induced by the production hole, buffering hole, and smooth hole. Among the total damage, the blasting of the production hole is the main resource, followed by the smooth and buffering holes. For the presplit blasting, the final damage of rock slope is mainly induced by presplit blasting itself. The spatial distribution characteristics of the final damage zone of two methods are compared. Two classes of damage zone could be found in smooth blasting excavation; one of them is the columnar high-degree damage zone around the slope surface and the other is the low-degree damage zone located in the middle of the slope. But in the case of presplit blasting, there is only the columnar high-degree damage zone around the slope surface. Finally, a damage control suggestion for two blasting excavation methods is proposed and verified based on the excavation of the temporary shiplock slopes of the Three Gorges Project in China.     

Application of in-seam directional drilling technology for gas drainage with benefits to gas outburst control and greenhouse gas reductions in Daning coal mine,China

Gas outburst disasters are becoming more serious as the underground coal mines become deeper in China, and a thick zone of deformed coal provides conditions favorable to coal and gas outbursts. The Daning coal mine’s main mining seam is the No. 3 coal seam with coal and gas outburst hazard, which often contains two normal coal sub-layers and one deformed sub-layer. Considering both the geological conditions of the coal seam and applications of the in-seam directional longhole drilling technology, a new schematic diagram of in-seam directional longholes for gas drainage is developed. The two borehole layout models of longwall panel and main entries for gas outburst disasters control have been successfully applied. The gas drainage rates of both models are >70 %, and the residual gas contents are both <8 m³/t, which can be considered that the gas outburst disasters were effectively controlled. To better guide gas drainage, gas drainage normal and failure modes have been obtained. Although in-seam directional longhole technology has been successfully applied for regional gas drainage with benefits to gas outburst control, there are also some problems that are detrimental to greenhouse gas reductions in gas drainage and gas utilization. The three main problems are air leakage failure in gas drainage, decreasing gas concentration and a low gas utilization ratio. To address the problems mentioned above, five improvements are suggested.     

Natural Variability of Shear Strength in a Granite Residual Soil from Porto

The renewal imposed by the Eurocodes regarding the methodologies of safety evaluation requires a statistical analysis of the variability of ground geotechnical parameters. However, the studies published in the reviewed literature do not cover the typical materials from the northeast region of Portugal—residual soils from granite—to which a strong heterogeneity is associated. Hence, a statistical characterization of the natural variability of a granite residual soil from Porto has been made through a significant amount of experimental tests, focusing on its geomechanical properties. In order to provide a database for probabilistic analysis of problems involving this type of soils, an appropriate statistical law has been used to model its variability, which has been quantified by means of coefficients of variation and scales of fluctuation.