Effects of water and fines contents on the resilient modulus of the interlayer soil of railway substructure

This paper deals with the resilient behavior of the interlayer soil which is created mainly by the interpenetration of ballast and subgrade soils. The interlayer soil studied was taken from a site in the southeast of France. Large-scale cyclic triaxial tests were carried out at three water contents (w = 4, 6 and 12 %) and three fines contents corresponding to 5, 10 % subgrade added to the natural interlayer soil and 10 % fine particles (<80 μm) removed from the natural interlayer soil. Soil specimens underwent various deviator stresses, and for each deviator stress, a large number of cycles was applied. The effects of deviator stress, number of cycles, water content and fines content on the resilient modulus (M _r) were analyzed. It appears that the effects of water content and fines content must be analyzed together because the two effects are closely linked. Under unsaturated conditions, the soil containing high fines content has higher resilient modulus due to the contribution of suction. When the soil approaches the saturated state, it loses its mechanical enhancement with a sharp decrease in resilient modulus.     

Extension et sédimentation au paléozoïque terminal et au Mésozoïque dans le bassin de Majunga (Nord-Ouest de Madagascar)

The Majunga Basin is located in the northwestern part of Madagascar with a N45–60°E trending axis. It was filled by almost exclusively continental Karoo Supergroup sediments, which are Permian to Early Jurassic in age, and by younger sequences, mainly marine, that were deposited from the Middle Jurassic to the present.The Karoo Basin geometry is deduced from the analysis of seismic sections. A central northeast trending horst is flanked by two sub-basins. Deposition of the Karoo sequences was controlled by these northeast trending faults. On the contrary, the Middle Jurassic to present sequences witness only a slight tilting of the basement towards the northwest.The development of the Majunga Basin includes, therefore, two successive stages. In the synrift episode, from Permian to Early Jurassic times, the sedimentation was syntectonic, controlled by synsedimentary faulting and the creation of a horst and graben extensive pattern. The postrift episode started during the Middle Jurassic.These two stages of the Majunga Basin development correspond to the geodynamic evolution recorded elsewhere in this part of the Gondwana.     

Field evidence of hydraulic connections between bedrock aquifers and overlying granular aquifers: examples from the Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield

Field evidence of hydraulic connections between a bedrock aquifer and an overlying granular aquifer in the Canadian Shield (Grenville Province) is presented. This issue is rarely considered and investigated despite its important hydraulic and chemical consequences and its widespread occurrence worldwide. The methodology employed is based on complementary field tests conducted at specific experimental sites instrumented both in the rock and in the overlying deposits. One of the bedrock sites revealed a natural hydraulic connection with the overlying granular aquifer caused by the weathered surface of the uppermost bedrock. Another site revealed an artificial hydraulic connection between the bedrock and the granular aquifer created by an improperly sealed casing. A regional study showed that hydraulic connections yield an erroneous interpretation of the true hydraulic properties of the tested aquifer. The detection of hydraulic connections is therefore essential to properly define well-capture areas and contamination conditions. It is recommended to practitioners that pumping tests be performed as well as hydrochemical comparisons of each existing aquifer unit. Falling-head permeability tests are also helpful in verifying the quality of the seal at the bedrock–casing contact. More effective procedural controls and better well-construction practices are necessary to reduce the risks of cross-contamination induced by defective seals.     

The Paleoenvironment and Lithic Taphonomy of Shi’Bat Dihya 1, a Middle Paleolithic Site in Wadi Surdud,Yemen

The Shi'bat Dihya 1 site in western Yemen, dated by optically stimulated luminescence to 55 ka, provides insight into the Middle Paleolithic peopling of the Arabian Peninsula. The archaeological layer is interstratified within thick, sandy silt floodplain deposits filling a piedmont basin. Luminescence dates, lack of soil development, and gypsum precipitation indicate a high accretion rate of the floodplain during Marine Isotope Stage 3, in connection with a (semi)‐arid environment. Rapid overbank sedimentation was likely a result of the remobilization of loess material deposited on the Yemeni Great Escarpment at the periphery of the adjacent Tihama coastal sand desert or of other sources. Fabric and size analyses of the lithic artifacts, together with spatial projections, indicate site modifications by floods. Primary modifications include (1) selective accumulation of medium‐sized lithic pieces as a result of hydraulic sorting, (2) bimodal orientation of artifacts, and (3) ripple‐like arrangement of lithics and bone/tooth fragments. The overrepresentation of teeth may also be a consequence of sorting. Although floods have distorted the original site patterning, long‐distance transport of artifacts by water can be excluded, as indicated by relatively high refitting rate, close proximity of artifacts derived from the same block of raw material, and lack of abrasion of the pieces. Therefore, the site is considered “geologically” in situ because its remobilization by water occurred shortly after human abandonment. This study also stresses that the effective preservation of a site cannot be assessed without careful taphonomic study, even in a potentially favorable depositional context such as silty alluvium.     

Weathering of a Quaternary glass-rich basalt in Bakrit,Middle Atlas Mountains,Morocco. Comparison with a glass-poor basalt

Abstract

We compared the disintegration processes and mineralogic and chemical evolution pathways of two Quaternary basalts at Bakrit and Ifrane, weathered in the same physiographic and hydrologic conditions, but differing in texture according to the quantity of glass present. At Bakrit, quite abundant glass favoured the formation of a microfissure network throughout the rock and its disintegration without any distinct weathering front. As a result, basaltic sand with polymineral grains and a clayey-silty matrix were produced. At Ifrane, weathering of a glass-poor basalt produced only a clayey-silty saprolite. In glass-rich basalts, secondary minerals formed in microfissures and were 2/1 clay-mineral rich. In glass-poor basalts, secondary minerals formed mainly within primary minerals and were 1/1 clay-mineral rich. Because glass could be easily dissolved, it protected the minerals of close chemical composition, especially the plagioclases. The order of basalt-mineral weathering (olivine, labrador, augite, Fe-Ti oxides) was modified when glass was abundant (glass, olivine, augite, labrador, Fe-Ti oxides). © Elsevier, Paris     

Liquefied vs stratified sediment mobilization processes: Insight from the South of the Barbados accretionary prism

This paper discusses the nature and origin of subsurface sediment mobilization processes in deep marine clay-rich environments. In the studied area of the southern Barbados accretionary prism, new geophysical acquisitions have emphasized the spectacular widespread development of mud volcanoes that are well-developed along ramp anticlines and along sigmoidal rises with trends that are oblique to the axes of the main folds of the accretionary wedge. On some active mud volcanoes, heat-flow measurements show high positive anomalies related to high fluxes of mud transfer. The mobilized solid fraction expelled by the mud volcanoes does not originate from a unique source bed but from various formations pierced by the mud conduits and is driven by the water phase. The area studied also exhibits trends of structures corresponding to sub-circular massive local uplifts of deformed but well-preserved stratified sediments (turbidites and hemipelagics). No piercing shale diapirs have been encountered in this area. Some of these local uplift structures are complicated by the development of collapses, calderas, and superimposed mud volcanoes. Mud volcanism corresponds fundamentally to fluid displacement (water and gas), whereas massive sedimentary uplift corresponds to large vertical displacements of stratified solid levels but for which the deep cause could be partly the intrusion of mud plugs. Both are dynamic phenomena controlled by the development of overpressure at depth, contributing to sedimentary mobilizations.     

Structure of heavy metal sorbed birnessite. Part III: Results from powder and polarized extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy

The local structures of divalent Zn, Cu, and Pb sorbed on the phyllomanganate birnessite (Bi) have been studied by powder and polarized extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. Metal-sorbed birnessites (MeBi) were prepared at different surface coverages by equilibrating at pH 4 a Na-exchanged buserite (NaBu) suspension with the desired aqueous metal. Me/Mn atomic ratios were varied from 0.2% to 12.8% in ZnBi and 0.1 to 5.8% in PbBi. The ratio was equal to 15.6% in CuBi. All cations sorbed in interlayers on well-defined crystallographic sites, without evidence for sorption on layer edges or surface precipitation. Zn sorbed on the face of vacant layer octahedral sites (□), and shared three layer oxygens (O_layer) with three-layer Mn atoms (Mn_layer), thereby forming a tridentate corner-sharing (TC) interlayer complex (Zn-3O_layer-□-3Mn_layer). ^TCZn complexes replace interlayer Mn²⁺ (Mn_inter²⁺) and protons. ^TCZn and ^TCMn_inter³⁺ together balance the layer charge deficit originating from Mn_layer⁴⁺ vacancies, which amounts to 0.67 charge per total Mn according to the structural formula of hexagonal birnessite (HBi) at pH 4. At low surface coverage, zinc is tetrahedrally coordinated to three O_layer and one water molecule (^[IV]TC complex: (H₂O)-^[IV]Zn-3O_layer). At high loading, zinc is predominantly octahedrally coordinated to three O_layer and to three interlayer water molecules (^[VI]TC complex: 3(H₂O)-^[VI]Zn-3O_layer), as in chalcophanite (^[VI]ZnMn₃⁴⁺O₇·3H₂O). Sorbed Zn induces the translation of octahedral layers from −a/3 to +a/3, and this new stacking mode allows strong H bonds to form between the ^[IV]Zn complex on one side of the interlayer and oxygen atoms of the next Mn layer (O_next): O_next…(H₂O)-^[IV]Zn-3O_layer. Empirical bond valence calculations show that O_layer and O_next are strongly undersaturated, and that ^[IV]Zn provides better local charge compensation than ^[VI]Zn. The strong undersaturation of O_layer and O_next results not only from Mn_layer⁴⁺ vacancies, but also from Mn³⁺ for Mn⁴⁺ layer substitutions amounting to 0.11 charge per total Mn in HBi. As a consequence, ^[IV]Zn,Mn_layer³⁺, and Mn_next³⁺ form three-dimensional (3D) domains, which coexist with chalcophanite-like particles detected by electron diffraction. Cu²⁺ forms a Jahn-Teller distorted ^[VI]TC interlayer complex formed of two oxygen atoms and two water molecules in the equatorial plane, and one oxygen and one water molecule in the axial direction. Sorbed Pb²⁺ is not oxidized to Pb⁴⁺ and forms predominantly ^[VI]TC interlayer complexes. EXAFS spectroscopy is also consistent with the formation of tridentate edge-sharing (^[VI]TE) interlayer complexes (Pb-3O_layer-3Mn), as in quenselite (Pb²⁺Mn³⁺O₂OH). Although metal cations mainly sorb to vacant sites in birnessite, similar to Zn in chalcophanite, EXAFS spectra of MeBi systematically have a noticeably reduced amplitude. This higher short-range structural disorder of interlayer Me species primarily originates from the presence of Mn_layer³⁺, which is responsible for the formation of less abundant interlayer complexes, such as ^[IV]Zn TC in ZnBi and ^[VI]Pb TE in PbBi.     

Estimation of Hydraulic Conductivity and Its Uncertainty from Grain-Size Data Using GLUE and Artificial Neural Networks

Various approaches exist to relate saturated hydraulic conductivity (K _s) to grain-size data. Most methods use a single grain-size parameter and hence omit the information encompassed by the entire grain-size distribution. This study compares two data-driven modelling methods??multiple linear regression and artificial neural networks??that use the entire grain-size distribution data as input for K _s prediction. Besides the predictive capacity of the methods, the uncertainty associated with the model predictions is also evaluated, since such information is important for stochastic groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are combined with a generalised likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) approach to predict K _s from grain-size data. The resulting GLUE-ANN hydraulic conductivity predictions and associated uncertainty estimates are compared with those obtained from the multiple linear regression models by a leave-one-out cross-validation. The GLUE-ANN ensemble prediction proved to be slightly better than multiple linear regression. The prediction uncertainty, however, was reduced by half an order of magnitude on average, and decreased at most by an order of magnitude. This demonstrates that the proposed method outperforms classical data-driven modelling techniques. Moreover, a comparison with methods from the literature demonstrates the importance of site-specific calibration. The data set used for this purpose originates mainly from unconsolidated sandy sediments of the Neogene aquifer, northern Belgium. The proposed predictive models are developed for 173 grain-size K _s-pairs. Finally, an application with the optimised models is presented for a borehole lacking K _s data.     

Factors influencing the abundance of deep pelagic bioluminescent zooplankton in the Mediterranean Sea

Measurements of the density of deep pelagic bioluminescent zooplankton (BL) were made with the Intensified Silicon Intensifier Target (ISIT) profiler in the Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, Ionian Seas and the Strait of Sicily from ～300 m to near seafloor. Mean BL densities ranged from 2.61 m^?3 at 500–1000 m depth in the Adriatic Sea to 0.01 m^?3 at 4000–5000 m depth in the E Ionian Sea. We investigated drivers of spatial variation of deep pelagic BL density. Linear regression was applied between surface chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration and underlying BL density. Chl a values were determined from satellite derived 100 km radius composites (six 10-day means per ISIT deployment, over preceding 60 days). At 500–1000 m depth we found a significant positive relationship between mean BL density and mean Chl a in the period prior to 0–10 days (at 1% level) and prior to 10–40 days (at 5% level). Beyond 40 days no relationship between BL density and Chl a was found at this depth. At depths 1000–1500 m BL density values were low and no significant relationship with Chl a was detected. Generalised additive modelling (GAM) was used to assess the influence of benthic hotspots (seamount; cold water coral mound; mud volcano) on overlying BL density. A reduction in BL density was found downstream of the Palinuro seamount from 300 to 600 m. No effect on BL density in the overlying water column was detected from the presence of cold water corals. Higher BL densities were detected over the W Madonna dello Ionio mud volcano than at other sites sampled in the NW Ionian Sea. We find surface Chl a to be a good predictor of BL density in the mesopelagic zone; below this depth we hypothesise that processes affecting the efficiency of particle export to deep water may exert greater influence on BL density.