Role of debris flow on the change of <Superscript>10</Superscript>Be concentration in rapidly eroding watersheds: a case study on the Seti River,central Nepal

The concentration of cosmogenic ¹⁰Be in riverine sediments has been widely used as a proxy for catchment-wide denudation rate (CWDR). One of the key assumptions of this approach is that sediments originating from sub-basins with different erosional histories are well mixed. A tragic debris flow occurred in the Seti River watershed, central Nepal, on May 5, 2012. This catastrophic debris flow was triggered by slope failure on the peak of Annapurna IV and resulted in many casualties in the lower Seti Khola. However, it provided an opportunity to test the assumption of equal mixing of sediments in an understudied rapidly eroding watershed. This study documents the CWDR of ¹⁰Be to evaluate the extent of the influence of episodic erosional processes such as debris flow on the spatio-temporal redistribution of 10Be concentrations. Our data show that the debris flow caused little change in CWDR across the debris flow event. In addition to isotopic measurement, we calculated denudation rates by using the modeled concentrations in pre- and post-landslide sediments based on the local 10Be production rate. The modeled result showed little change across the event, indicating that the debris flow in May 2012 played a minor role in sediment evacuation, despite the rapid erosion in the catchment. Our study concludes that although the 2012 event caused many casualties and severe damage, it was a low-magnitude, high frequency event.     

Adaptive second-order Volterra filtering and its application tosecond-order drift phenomena

This paper presents an adaptive second-order Volterra filter and its application to model-test data of a prototype tension leg platform (TLP). The least-squares approach of a second-order Volterra model and its adaptive filtering algorithm based on recursive least-squares are introduced. The second-order Volterra filter is applied to identify the linear and quadratically nonlinear relationship between irregular sea wave excitation and the surge response of a tension leg platform. Next, a deconvolution technique, based on the impulse invariance standard Z-transform, is utilized to recover the linear and quadratic forces exerted on the TLP     

A method of calculating the non‐linear seismic response of a building braced with viscoelastic dampers

Buildings are continually subject to dynamic loads, such as wind load, seismic ground motion, and even the load from internal utility machines. The recent trend of constructing more flexible high‐rise buildings underscores the importance of including viscoelastic dampers in building designs. Viscoelastic dampers are used to control the dynamic response of a building. If the seismic design is based only on the linear response spectrum, considerable error may occur when calculating the seismic response of a building; rubber viscoelastic dampers show non‐linear hysteretic damping that is quite different from viscous damping. This study generated a non‐linear response spectrum using a non‐linear oscillator model to simulate a building with viscoelastic dampers installed. The parameters used in the non‐linear damper model were obtained experimentally from dynamic loading tests. The results show that viscoelastic dampers effectively reduce the seismic displacement response of a structure, but transmit more seismic force to the structure, which essentially increases its seismic acceleration response. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of efficiency in public research activities in terms of knowledge spillover: focusing on earthquake R&D accomplishments

Natural Hazards - Many countries aim to efficiently allocate limited national research and development resources to produce optimal research. A proportion of limited national research and...     

Bouldery deposits along the Kherlen fault,Central Khentey,Mongolia: implications for paleoseismology

Natural Hazards - The assumed Jargalant rockslide is located in Khentey Upland of Mongolia, an area undergoing active tectonic deformation and seismogenic activity but where geomorphic research...     

Evaluation of multiple regression models using spatial variables to predict nitrate concentrations in volcanic aquifers

Multiple linear regression of spatial variables including land use, soil type, and topography was applied to predict nitrate concentration and evaluate major factors affecting nitrate occurrence in springs and wells in the southern and northern areas of Jeju volcanic island, Korea. Three types of contributing area surrogates (CAS), namely circle, semicircle, and wedge, were employed to calculate the spatial variables. The regression results showed R² of 0.81–0.84 for springs and 0.74–0.77 for wells; R² values for wedge and semicircular CAS were more than 10% higher than those for circular CAS. The R² of spring models was significantly affected by both the shape and size of CAS, with optimal radii of 150–250 m and 300–400 m in the southern and northern areas, respectively, corresponding to thinner upper basaltic aquifers, and implying shorter flow paths in the southern area. The most influential variables in springs were orchards and soil types related to agriculture including silty loam and silty clay loam, indicating that nitrate levels are strongly affected by N fertilization in cultivated areas. In contrast, wells showed much less sensitivity to both shapes and sizes of CAS, with less contribution of land use and soil type to the regression, which could be attributed to a mix of multiple aquifer zones and widely different factors in the installation and operation of wells. Field parameters of electrical conductivity (EC) and pH increased the R² up to 10%, suggesting that these can be useful when regression with spatial variables yields a lower R². The optimal spatial scales for prediction of nitrate concentration and spatial variables that significantly contribute to nitrate contamination can provide relevant criteria for establishing groundwater management policies, considering the increasing anthropogenic land‐use trends on the island, where groundwater is highly sensitive to changes in spatial variables. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Approximated solution on the properties of the scavenging gap during precipitation using harmonic mean method

Wet deposition refers to both natural and artificial processes where particles are scavenged by atmospheric hydrometeors. Below-cloud atmospheric particles are removed by raindrops via Brownian diffusion, interception, and impaction. The overall scavenging coefficient has a broad and distinctive minimum for aerosol penetration between 0.1 and several micrometers in diameter. In this study, the approximated analytical solution for most penetrating particle size during precipitation was obtained. Brownian diffusion and interception were considered under the assumption of the inertial impaction can be neglected in this study conditions. Both the minimum collection efficiency and minimum scavenging coefficient particle size were estimated using the harmonic mean type approximation, with the solution compared to the numerically calculated results. The approximated results were comparable with the numerical solutions. The results showed that collection efficiency diameter is a function of terminal velocity and the collection mechanisms included. When considering Brownian diffusion and interception, most penetrating particle size increases as drop diameter increases, which shows a contrary to the study of Wang (1978) and this shows that most penetrating particle size depends on collection efficiency mechanism, flow velocity and collector diameter. Consequently, this study analytically approximated general type-solutions for scavenging gap particle size and minimum collection efficiency during precipitation.     

Determinants of CO2 emission for post-Soviet Union independent countries

This article analyses the determinants of CO₂ emission for 15 post-Soviet Union independent (PSI) countries given their recent transition to market-based economies and their relatively high levels of corruption. The direct and indirect effects of economic growth on CO₂ emission for the PSI countries are derived using a multiple-equation generalized method of moment (GMM) approach to account for simultaneity among corruption, growth and CO₂ emission. A linear relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and CO₂ emission was observed from the analysis. Furthermore, GDP influences CO₂ emission directly, but also indirectly through its impact on corruption. Similarly, corruption affects CO₂ emission directly, as well as indirectly through its impact on GDP. Political democracy and economic freedom increase CO₂ emission indirectly through their impact on economic growth. Improved energy efficiency and the EU climate policy reduce CO₂ emission, while inflows of foreign direct investment tend to increase CO₂ emission.

Policy relevance

First, PSI countries need to invest more in efficient energy technologies to mitigate CO₂ emission levels significantly. Second, PSI policies aimed at reducing deforestation (thereby increasing population density) may help mitigate carbon emission. Third, PSI countries would be well served to recognize the detrimental effects of foreign direct investment before embarking on a misguided policy path that attracts such inflows at any cost.     

Irreversible sorption of benzene in sandy aquifer materials

Hydrocarbon compounds in aquifers are generally known to show a retardation effect due to sorption onto the surfaces of solid particles. In this study, we investigated the effect of sorption on the transport of benzene in sandy aquifer materials by conducting batch and column tests for both sandy aquifer materials and sandy materials to which had been added 0·5% powdered activated carbon. The batch test was conducted by equilibrating dry materials with benzene solutions of various initial concentrations, and by analysing the concentrations of benzene in the initial and equilibrated solutions using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The column test was performed to monitor the concentrations of effluent versus time, known as a breakthrough curve (BTC). We injected KCl and benzene solutions as tracers into the inlet boundary as two different types of square pulse and step, and monitored the effluent concentrations at the exit boundary under a steady‐state condition using an electrical conductivity meter and HPLC. Simulation of benzene transport was performed using the convective–dispersive equation model with the distribution coefficients obtained from the batch test and the transport parameters of the conservative solute KCl from the column test. The observed BTCs of KCl and benzene for pulse injection showed that the arrival times of the peaks of both tracers coincided well, but the relative peak concentration of benzene was much lower than that of KCl. Comparison of the simulated and observed BTCs showed a great discrepancy for all cases of injection mode and material texture, indicating the absence of retardation effect. These results reveal that the predominant process affecting the benzene transport in the sandy aquifer materials is an irreversible sorption rather than retardation. This tentative conclusion was verified by simulation of benzene transport using an irreversible sorption parameter that led to a good agreement between the simulated and observed BTCs. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.