Modelling the pre-failure instabilities of sand

A simple incremental model describing the pre-failure behaviour of granular soils is presented. The model describes both the dry/fully drained and undrained response. It takes into account an initial anisotropy of soil and an initial state defined as either contractive or dilative. A physically sound definition of loading/unloading is assumed, which differs from elasto-plastic approaches. The model is based on extensive empirical data and gives predictions conformable with experimental results. It also describes pre-failure instabilities of granular soils, both dry/fully drained and undrained. The Hill’s criterion was used to examine stability. It was shown that this condition can be formulated either in terms of the effective stresses or by the total stresses. In the extreme cases of either dry/fully drained or undrained conditions, these alternative formulations are equivalent. This is not so in the case of partial drainage of pore water and associated volumetric deformations as well as pore pressure changes. The model describes the pre-failure instabilities well, and additionally allows for analytical derivation of the instability line. It was shown that the second order work, appearing in the Hill’s condition, is equivalent to the entropy source.     

Early Triassic (Late Griesbachian) gastropods from South China (Shanggan, Guangxi)

An Early Triassic (Griesbachian) gastropod fauna is reported from South China (Shanggan, Guangxi) and consists of four species: Bellerophon abrekensis, Wannerispira shangganensis Kaim & Nützel sp. nov., Naticopsis sp., and Palaeonarica guangxinensis Kaim & Nützel sp. nov. The taxon Wannerispira Kaim & Nützel nom. nov. replaces Pagodina Wanner non Van Beneden. This is the first report of Bellerophon abrekensis from China. Previously, it was only known from its type locality in Far East Russia. Wannerispira shangganensis sp. is the first certain Triassic report of the Permian subfamily Neilsoniinae and represents a holdover taxon. The neritimorph Palaeonarica is reported for the first time from the Early Triassic and this is the oldest occurrence of this genus. Compared with other Griesbachian gastropods, the present material is relatively well preserved so that the taxonomy rests on rather firm ground. Very few nominal taxa have been reported from the Griesbachian and therefore the present report presents substantial additional information about gastropods from the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction event. The gastropod association from Shanggan shares one species with Primorye, Far East Russia (B. abrekensis). Two species, W. shangganensis and P. guangxinensis, closely resemble specimens reported from the Griesbachian of Oman. This could suggest that Griesbachian gastropod faunas of the Tethys were rather homogenous although the data are still scarce.     

Tournaisian age of granitoids from the Odra Fault Zone (southwestern Poland): equivalent of the Mid-German Crystalline High?

The Odra Fault Zone of southwestern Poland is a NW-trending horst marked by gravimetric and magnetic anomalies and composed of high- to low-grade metamorphic and igneous rocks which are only known from boreholes. This zone embraces a concealed border between Variscan internides and externides. It also contains an array of several I-type, metaluminous to peraluminous, high potassic granitoid bodies which intruded earlier metamorphosed rocks. Except for one case, they remain unfoliated and undeformed, and presumably play a role of stitching plutons at the suture between two obliquely colliding terranes. U–Pb TIMS dating of single zircons from one foliated and one unfoliated granitoid samples yielded identical concordant ages of 344±1 Ma (Tournaisian). They resemble a Pb–Pb age of 350±5 Ma obtained for S-type granitoids from the Luckau area further west in Germany, which is generally regarded as an eastern segment of the Mid-German Crystalline High. Carboniferous granitic intrusions in the high are generally younger (340–290 Ma). Correlations of the the Odra Fault Zone with the Mid-German Crystalline High appear plausible, but by no means certain and require further confirmation.     

Correlation of cyclic preloading with the liquefaction resistance

The compactivity of sand due to cyclic loading with a high number (N>10³) of small cycles (ε^ampl≤10⁻³) cannot be described by void ratio and stress alone. It depends strongly on the soil fabric usually described as ‘cyclic preloading’. The cyclic preloading cannot be measured directly in situ but correlates well with the liquefaction resistance. This paper demonstrates this correlation on the basis of laboratory tests. Practical applications can be derived from this work.     

Darss Sill as a biological border in the fossil record of the Baltic Sea: evidence from diatoms

Biostratigraphical and palaeoecological analyses of cores along a transect from Femer Belt to the Arkona Basin reveal that North Sea waters began to enter the western Baltic Sea between 8600 and 8400 calibrated years BP. Studies of diatoms indicate that Mecklenburg Bay was characterised by slightly brackish-water conditions between 8400 and 8000 cal. years BP. At around 8000 cal. years BP increasing salinity is indicated by a strong dominance of the diatoms Paralia sulcata and Dimeregramma minor. Some centuries later another diatom assemblage appeared and became dominant in Mecklenburg Bay. This assemblage includes Hyalinella lateripunctata and Pravifusus hyalinus species typical of shallow water areas along the Atlantic coast today. At this time the first marine molluscs made their appearance. The oldest shell of a marine mollusc found in our material is dated to 7600 cal. years BP. The associated assemblage that includes adult specimens of the gastropod Aporrhais pespelicani indicates higher salinities than today.During the Littorina Sea stage a marine diatom flora with P. sulcata, Catenula adhaerens and D. minor crossed the Darss Sill and became widely distributed in the Arkona Basin, Pomeranian Bay and the Baltic Sea proper. In contrast, taxa indicative of the Hyalinella lateripunctata/P. hyalinus assemblage are only found west of the Darss Sill in Femer Belt and Mecklenburg Bay. Apparently, the Darss Sill threshold has been acting as an important salinity border from around 7800 cal. years BP until today.     

Holocene environmental history in northwest Finnish Lapland reflected in the multi-proxy record of a small subarctic lake

A 2.5-m-long sediment core was retrieved from Lake Somaslampi, a small lake located in a kame field on the north slope of the Scandes Mountains in Finnish Lapland. Holocene environmental changes were inferred from the lithological, geochemical, pollen, diatom and Cladocera records stored in the lake sediment. The chronology was based on six radiocarbon AMS dates supported by a palynological control chronology. The sediment profile consists of a glacial sedimentary sequence truncated by a lacustrine one. A hiatus, tentatively correlated with climate cooling and advances of glaciers during the 8.2 ka yrs BP “Finse cooling Event”, occurs between these sequences. The glacial sequence was composed of fluvioglacial clastics, smoothly changing into glacio-lacustrine diatomaceous ooze deposited in a meromictic proglacial lake that covered the kame field. The meromixis was probably caused by the greater depth of the lake, the extended ice-cover, and the microbial mats covering large areas of the lake bottom. A distinct change in the biota of the glacio-lacustrine sediments indicates higher trophic conditions than during deposition of the fluvioglacial clastics. The late-Pleistocene vegetation was characterised by subarctic birch tundra vegetation (Betula–Salix–Ericaceae) with low biodiversity gradually changing to Betula–Pinus dominance in the early Holocene. The lake was deep and had a diatom inferred pH ~ 7 indicated also by the dominance of planktonic Cladocera. The base of the lacustrine sediment sequence (6,650–6,300 cal. BP) consisted of loess-rich sediment indicating an increase in eolian activity. This is also supported by the pollen record, which is dominated by more long-distant taxa such as Alnus and Pinus, and by the increased C/N ratio of the sediment. After the initial meromictic phase of the lake, an abrupt lowering of the water level occurred. Lake Somaslampi was isolated from the larger Pre-Lake Somas basin and became holomictic, shallow, much warmer and more productive, until the deterioration of climate around 3,000 yr BP and the increased input of clastics from the tundra soils. The vegetation followed the general climatic trend by gradually changing from the dominance of Betula and Pinus to the dominance of more tundra-related vegetation like Poaceae and Cyperaceae. However, the higher frequencies of planktonic Cladocera and centric diatoms in the most recent sediments indicates higher trophic conditions, increased turbulence and a prolonged ice-free period, which can possibly be linked to the recent climate warming especially in areas of higher altitude and latitude.     

On the influence of the polarization and the shape of the strain loop on strain accumulation in sand under high-cyclic loading

This paper presents results of cyclic triaxial (CT) tests on sand with a simultaneous variation of the axial and the lateral stresses. Furthermore, a cyclic multidimensional simple shear (CMDSS) device and corresponding test results are discussed. For in-phase cycles with a constant strain amplitude it is demonstrated that the accumulation rate is independent of the polarization of the cycles in the strain space. Polarization changes lead to a temporary increase of the accumulation rate: they increase the effectiveness of compaction. For out-of-phase (e.g. elliptical) cycles the shape of the strain loop significantly influences the residual strain. A circular strain loop generates twice larger accumulation rates than a one-dimensional strain loop with identical span. The accumulation rate is not influenced by the circulation of the strain loop. It is shown that the direction of accumulation (so-called “cyclic flow rule”) is only moderately affected by the polarization and the shape of the cycles.     

The strength and width of Fe Kα lines in Seyferts and their correlations with the X-ray slope

We study properties of Fe K lines of a large sample of Seyfert 1s observed by ASCA . Fits with power laws and Gaussian lines yield the average linewidth and equivalent width of 0.22±0.03 keV and 0.13±0.01 keV, respectively. Thus, the typical lines are weak and narrow. We then obtain the average line profile of all our spectra, and find it to consist of a narrow core and blue and red wings, with the red wing being much weaker than that of e.g. MCG −6-30-15. We obtain three average spectra of Seyferts grouped according to the hardness, and find the equivalent width of the core (originating in a remote medium) to be ≃50 eV in all three cases. The wings are well fitted by a broad line from a disc with strong relativistic effects. Its equivalent width correlates with the slope, increasing from ∼70 eV for the hardest spectrum to ∼120 eV for the softest one. The inner disc radius decreases correspondingly from ∼40 to ∼10 gravitational radii, and the fitted disc inclination is ∼45°. The obtained correlation between the slope and the strength of the broad Fe K line is found to be consistent with the previously found correlation of the slope and Compton reflection.     

Radon-222 in medicinal groundwaters of Szczawno Zdrój (Sudety Mountains, SW Poland)

 Radon is a significant component of the groundwaters that discharge in the springs of Szczawno Zdrój and are recognized as medicinal. However, among the five exploited springs adjoining each other, it is only in Marta Spring that radon occurs in large concentrations (up to 325.6 Bq/dm³). Therefore, the authors have made an attempt to describe and clarify this fact. They found out from their own research and archival data that ²²²Rn dissolves in the waters of Marta Spring after acidulous waters of deep circulation have mixed with poorly mineralized shallow waters in their outflow zone. The genesis of the gas is determined by the content of its parent nuclide, ²²⁶Ra, in the sandstones in the vicinity of the intake. The volume of the rocks providing radon to the waters of this intake has been estimated at several hundred cubic metres. No seasonal fluctuations in radon concentration have been observed and ²²²Rn concentration changes do not seem to be influenced by changes in the concentration of other chemical components of the waters or by the discharge of the intake. The process of dissolving ²²²Rn in the medicinal groundwaters of Marta Spring is the last, the shortest, and the most local of the processes that form the chemical composition and the physical properties of these waters. Received: 7 January 2000 · Accepted: 12 August 2000     

Estimation of earthquake hazard parameters for incomplete and uncertain data files

The maximum likelihood estimation of earthquake hazard parameters (maximum regional magnitudem _max, activity rate , and theb parameter in the Gutenberg-Richter distribution) is extended to the cases of incomplete and uncertain data. The method accepts mixed data containing only large (extreme) events and a variable quality of complete data with different threshold magnitude values. Uncertainty of earthquake magnitude is specified by two values, the lower and upper magnitude limits. It is assumed that such an interval contains the real unknown magnitude. The proposed approach allows the combination of different quality catalog parts, e.g. those where the assignment of magnitude is questionable and those with magnitudes precisely determined.As an illustration of the method, the seismic hazard analysis for western Norway and adjacent sea area (4–8°E, 58–64°N) is presented on the basis of the strongest earthquakes felt during the period 1831–1889 and three complete catalog parts, covering the period 1890–1987.Paper presented at the 21st General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission held in Sofia, 1988.On leave from Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.