Response mechanism of post-earthquake slopes under heavy rainfall

This paper uses the catastrophic landslide that occurred in Zhongxing Town, Dujiangyan City, as an example to study the formation mechanism of landslides induced by heavy rainfall in the post-Wenchuan earthquake area. The deformation characteristics of a slope under seismic loading were investigated via a shaking table test. The results show that a large number of cracks formed in the slope due to the tensile and shear forces of the vibrations, and most of the cracks had angles of approximately 45° with respect to the horizontal. A series of flume tests were performed to show how the duration and intensity of rainfall influence the responses of the shaken and non-shaken slopes. Wetting fronts were recorded under different rainfall intensities, and the depth of rainfall infiltration was greater in the shaken slope than in the non-shaken slope because the former experienced a greater extreme rainfall intensity under the same early rainfall and rainfall duration conditions. At the beginning of the rainfall infiltration experiment, the pore water pressure in the slope was negative, and settling occurred at the top of the slope. With increasing rainfall, the pore water pressure changed from negative to positive, and cracks were observed on the back surface of the slope and the shear outlet of the landslide on the front of the slope. The shaken slope was more susceptible to crack formation than the non-shaken slope under the same rainfall conditions. A comparison of the responses of the shaken and non-shaken slopes under heavy rainfall revealed that cracks formed by earthquakes provided channels for infiltration. Soil particles in the cracks of slopes were washed away, and the pore water pressure increased rapidly, especially the transient pore water pressure in the slope caused by short-term concentrated rainfall which decreased rock strength and slope stability.     

Spatial correlation for horizontal and vertical components of acceleration from northern Iran seismic events

The evaluation of seismic risk of spatially distributed systems requires the spatial correlation model for ground motion intensity measures. This study investigates the spatial correlation of four earthquakes recorded in northern Iran. The intra-event spatial correlation for both horizontal and vertical components of spectral acceleration at eight periods in the range of 0.0–3.0 s is estimated using geostatistical tools. An exponential form is chosen to fit experimental semivariograms, and the correlation ranges of spectral accelerations as a function of period are derived. The results show similar trend of correlation ranges for both components. It should be mentioned that the ranges for the vertical component, in general, are higher than those observed for the horizontal one. For both components, the correlation ranges as a function of period are divided into three segments. The first and the third one are increasing while the second one is decreasing with increasing period.     

Mutual replacement reactions in alkali feldspars I: microtextures and mechanisms

Intracrystal microtextures formed by a process of mutual replacement in alkali feldspars record fluid–rock reactions that have affected large volumes of the Earth’s crust. Regular, ≤1 μm-scale ‘strain-controlled’ perthitic microtextures coarsen, by up to 10³, by a dissolution–reprecipitation process, producing microporous patch or vein perthites on scales >100 μm. We have developed earlier studies of such reactions in alkali feldspar cm-scale primocrysts in layered syenites from the Klokken intrusion, South Greenland. We present new hyperspectral CL, SEM images, and laser ICPMS analytical data, and discuss the mechanism of such replacement reactions. The feldspars grew as homogeneous sodic sanidines which unmixed and ordered by volume diffusion during cooling into the microcline field at ~450°C, giving regular, fully coherent ‘braid’ cryptoperthite. At ≤450°C the crystals reacted with a circulating post-magmatic aqueous fluid. The braid perthite behaved as a single reactant ‘phase’ which was replaced by two product phases, incoherent subgrains of low albite and microcline, with micropores at their boundaries. The driving force for the reactions was coherency strain energy, which was greater than the surface energy in the subgrain mosaic. The external euhedral crystal shapes and bulk major element composition of the primocrysts were unchanged but they became largely pseudomorphs composed of subgrains usually with the ‘pericline’ and ‘adularia’ habits (dominant {110} and subordinate {010} morphology) characteristic of low T growth. The subgrains have an epitactic relationship with parent braid perthite. Individual subgrains show oscillatory zoning in CL intensity, mainly at blue wavelengths, which correlates with tetrahedral Ti. Regular zoning is sometimes truncated by irregular, discordant surfaces suggesting dissolution, followed by resumption of growth giving regular zoning. Zones can be traced through touching subgrains, of both albite and microcline, for distances up to ~500 μm. At ≤340°C, the microcline subgrains underwent a third stage of unmixing to give straight lamellar film perthites with periodicities of ~1 μm, which with further cooling became semicoherent by the development of spaced misfit dislocations. Sub-grain growth occurred in fluid films that advanced through the elastically strained braid perthite crystals, which dissolved irreversibly. Braid perthite was more soluble than the strain-free subgrain mosaics which precipitated from the supersaturated solution. Some volumes of braid texture have sharp surfaces that suggest rapid dissolution along planes with low surface energies. Others have complex, diffuse boundaries that indicate a phase of coherent lamellar straightening by volume diffusion in response to strain relief close to a slowly advancing interface. Nucleation of strain-free subgrains was the overall rate-limiting step. To minimise surface energy subgrains grew with low energy morphologies and coarsened by grain growth, in fluid films whose trace element load (reflected in the oscillatory zoning) was dictated by the competitive advance of subgrains over a range of a few tens of mm. The cross-cutting dissolution surfaces suggest influxes of fresh fluid. Removal of feldspar to give 2 vol% porosity would require a feldspar:fluid ratio of ~1:26 (by wt). The late reversion to strain-controlled exsolution in microcline subgrains is consistent with loss of fluid above 340°C following depressurization of the intrusion. A second paper (Part II) describes trace element partitioning between the albite and microcline subgrains, and discusses the potential of trace elements as a low-T geothermometer. This paper and the Part II are dedicated in memory of J.V. Smith and W.L. Brown, both of whom died in 2007, in acknowledgement of their unrivalled contributions to the study of the feldspar minerals over more than half a century.     

河口湾相模式研究

河口湾由一套变化亚环境组成,对其相变模式研究表明,河口湾沉积特征及岩相分布受波浪 和河流三种水动力所控制、塔里木盆地塔中４井区上泥舅统工河塘组下部发育潮控口湾沉积,由潮控河道复合体、潮坪和潮汐砂坝组成,代表海进体系域沉积、发育下切谷充填型储层。     

“岩浆热场”说及其成矿意义(下)

上篇(张旗等[1])初步讨论了岩浆热场说的概念,本文为下篇,主要谈应用,探讨它与成矿作用的关系。研究表明,岩浆热场说对热液成矿作用有重要的意义,可能解决了岩浆热液成矿作用中许多很难解释和争议很大的问题:如钨锡与金铜为什么相伴的问题,矿床为什么大多是多金属成矿的问题,远离侵入体的夕卡岩成因问题,成矿为什么滞后于花岗岩的问题,为什么有些岩体成矿,有些岩体不成矿的问题,为什么大规模岩浆活动与大规模成矿作用息息相关的问题等。岩浆热场与煤和油气成藏有关是一个重要的发现。岩浆热场对煤和油气生成、运移、聚集的影响主要表现在加速烃源岩的热演化,使生油门限变浅,使烃源岩进入高成熟或过成熟,使烃源岩中残余有机质丰度降低。令人感兴趣的是,岩浆热场说还导出了一个"成矿组合"的概念,所谓成矿组合是指在一个或大或小的区域内,在岩浆活动集中的时间段范围内,在热场的统一作用下所形成和影响的所有矿床,不论成因和矿种,均属于一个成矿组合。它包括下述4种类型的矿床:岩浆热液矿床、热泉型矿床、层状热液矿床及生物有机质矿床等。岩浆热场说对于找矿也有启示:首先,我们可以从3个不同的级别上(大规模岩浆活动级别;成矿带、成矿区、矿集区级别;单个矿床级别)规划找矿布局;其次,在岩浆热场的统一影响下将金属矿床和非金属矿床、热液矿床和沉积矿床、无机质矿床和有机质矿床联系起来;第三,推进不同类型矿床研究的互补和交流。看来,岩浆热场对于成矿的作用是最值得学术界关注的,它也许可以改变我们目前对成矿作用的某些根深蒂固的认识,开拓出一个新的领域,推进矿床学研究进入新的时代。     

群孔抽水试验与同位素分析在煤矿水文地质勘查中的应用

田庄煤矿主采煤层为石炭系太原组16上及17煤层,威胁煤层开采的地下水水源主要为十下灰、十三、十四灰和奥灰含水层。其中十三、十四灰含水层水力联系密切,可按同一含水层看待。十下灰岩水为16上煤的直接充水水源,十三、十四灰灰岩水和奥灰灰岩水为16上及17煤层的底板间接充水水源,在构造地段有可能转化为直接充水水源。在研究煤矿群孔放水试验的基础上,全面分析了氢氧同位素资料,结果表明井田内十下灰和奥灰含水层有各自的补、径、排系统,正常情况下水力联系较弱;十三、十四灰含水层与十下灰和奥灰含水层均发生着水力联系,在采掘及导水断层的影响下,其含水层间地下水联系变得更加密切。两种研究的结论基本一致,增加了成果的科学性和可信性。     

藏北羌塘盆地中央隆起带下二叠统展金组沉积岩稀土元素地球化学特征及其地质意义

对于青藏高原北部羌塘盆地中央隆起带晚古生代的构造演化历史,学术界目前仍存在不同观点。位于盆地中央隆起带角木日地区的羌资5井揭示出的下二叠统展金组细碎屑岩,对于该地区古地理研究和构造背景约束具有重要意义。通过对该井中17个展金组粉砂质泥岩和泥质粉砂岩样品的稀土元素地球化学研究表明:样品 ω(ΣREE) 整体较高,ω(ΣLREE)/ω(ΣHREE)及(La/Yb)_N等比值显示其具有较弱的轻、重稀土元素分异;Ce_anom,Ce/Ce^*,Eu/Eu^*等参数反映样品主要形成于具有一定深度的浅海还原环境;(La/Yb)_N值自下而上呈降低趋势,表明下部的沉积速率低于上部。稀土元素组合及其比值特征指示展金组物源以玄武岩和沉积岩混合为主。根据La-Th-Sc构造背景判别图解分析,并与不同构造背景下的杂砂岩稀土元素特征比较,认为展金组沉积岩的物源可能来自于具有类似岛弧构造特征的环境。     

大断面厚顶煤巷道顶板冒落破坏的上限分析

根据大断面厚顶煤巷道顶板的破坏特性,考虑了顶板围岩应力水平与支护荷载的影响,利用Hoek-Brown强度准则及其相关联的流动法则,构造出厚顶煤巷道顶板的冒落破坏机构。基于塑性力学中的上限分析方法,结合变分原理,推导得到了大跨度厚顶煤巷道顶板的冒落破坏机制,并以赵楼煤矿某巷道现场实践为例,分析了不同计算参数对顶板冒落破坏机制的影响。计算研究表明：随着岩体经验参数A、抗拉强度、抗压强度及支护荷载的增加,冒落体尺寸随之增大,而当岩体经验参数B、围岩应力及岩体重度增加时,冒落体尺寸则随之减小;冒落体尺寸代表了巷道顶板安全性能的大小,其尺寸越大,表明使巷道顶板发生冒落破坏所需外力功越多,顶板安全性能也越高;岩体经验参数B、围岩应力水平与支护荷载对顶板围岩破裂机制影响较为显著,参数B决定了冒落体的破裂形状,随着参数B的增加,冒落破裂迹线的曲率不断减小;增大支护阻力是提高顶板稳定性的有效途径,其研究结果可为大断面厚顶煤巷道支护设计提供一定的理论依据。     

Assimilation of Indian Doppler Weather Radar observations for simulation of mesoscale features of a land-falling cyclone

In this paper, impact of Indian Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) data, i.e., reflectivity (Z), radial velocity (Vr) data individually and in combination has been examined for simulation of mesoscale features of a land-falling cyclone with Advance Regional Prediction System (ARPS) Model at 9-km horizontal resolution. The radial velocity and reflectivity observations from DWR station, Chennai (lat. 13.0°N and long. 80.0°E), are assimilated using the ARPS Data Assimilation System (ADAS) and cloud analysis scheme of the model. The case selected for this study is the Bay of Bengal tropical cyclone NISHA of 27–28 November 2008. The study shows that the ARPS model with the assimilation of radial wind and reflectivity observations of DWR, Chennai, could simulate mesoscale characteristics, such as number of cells, spiral rain band structure, location of the center and strengthening of the lower tropospheric winds associated with the land-falling cyclone NISHA. The evolution of 850 hPa wind field super-imposed vorticity reveals that the forecast is improved in terms of the magnitude and direction of lower tropospheric wind, time, and location of cyclone in the experiment when both radial wind and reflectivity observations are used. With the assimilation of both radial wind and reflectivity observations, model could reproduce the rainfall pattern in a more realistic way. The results of this study are found to be very promising toward improving the short-range mesoscale forecasts.     

Three dimensional analysis of large strain thaw consolidation in permafrost

Thaw consolidation of ice-rich permafrost is a typical problem in cold regions engineering. This paper proposes a three dimensional analysis of large strain thaw consolidation for post-thawed zone of permafrost, which is defined by a moving thawing boundary problem with phase changes. The theory is implemented in a numerical code and the numerical results are compared with thaw consolidation tests. For problems with low water contents, the small and large strain methods provide virtually the same results. For problems with high water contents, however, the large strain theory shows a much better performance.