Comparison between iterative solution of symmetric and non‐symmetric forms of Biot's FEM equations using the generalized Jacobi preconditioner

Finite element discretization of Biot's consolidation equations can produce a symmetric indefinite system (commonly used in geomechanics) or a non‐symmetric system. While this difference appears to be minor, however, it will require the selection of entirely different Krylov subspace solvers with potentially significant impact on solution efficiency. The former is solved using the symmetric quasi‐minimal residual whereas the latter is solved using the popular bi‐conjugate gradient stabilized. This paper presents an extensive comparison of the symmetric and non‐symmetric forms by varying the time step, size of the spatial domain, choice of physical units, and left versus left–right preconditioning. The generalized Jacobi (GJ) preconditioner is able to handle the non‐symmetric version of Biot's finite element method equation, although there are no practical incentives to do so. The convergence behaviour of GJ‐preconditioned systems and its relation to the spectral condition number or the complete spectrum are studied to clarify the concept of ill‐conditioning within the context of iteration solvers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling passive dispersal through a large estuarine system to evaluate marine reserve network connections

The importance of larval dispersal to the performance of marine reserve networks is widely recognized. We characterized patterns of passive dispersal in the eastern basin of the Strait of Juan, de Fuca, Washington, and interpreted the results in the context of marine reserve network connectivity. We used a surface current model to describe the dispersal of passive particles released from 16 sites over periods of 4 and 30 d in the spring of three consecutive years. We then used this approximation to infer the extent to which existing marine reseves and protected areas established on an ad hoc basis are likely to function as a network connected via larval exchange. Dispersal patterns varied substantially between release sites. Release site location accounted for the greatest amount of variation in dispersal distance, exceeding variation due to year, month, or tidal phase. After 30 d, dispersal distance and variance combined to describe three groups of release sites: those characterized by short distance, low variance dispersal; those characterized by long distance, low variance dispersal; and those characterized by intermediate to long distance, high variance dispersal. We suggest that sites within this third group are likely to make the strongest contributions to network connectivity in this system. Our findings underscore the importance of using both dispersal distance and variance estimates to model connectivity between sites and suggest that the performance of ad hoc collections of protected sites can be enhanced through the establishment of additional protected sites chosen to fill critical gaps in existing networks.     

B NMR investigation of boron interaction with mineral surfaces: Results for boehmite, silica gel and illite

Boron is an important micronutrient for plants but is toxic at high pore solution concentrations. Its mobility and migration in many geochemical environments is often controlled by reactions with mineral surfaces, and thus its speciation on mineral surfaces has been extensively investigated. Most previous studies have used IR spectroscopy to characterize the surface B-environments. We present here the first ¹¹B MAS NMR study of surface sorbed boron on minerals. The results demonstrate the capability of this method to effectively probe the local structure of the sorption sites at total B-concentrations in the samples as small as 0.03 wt% and to provide insight into the mechanisms of sorption. Signal is readily resolved for both trigonal (B(3)) and tetrahedral (B(4)) boron exchanged onto boehmite, silica gel and illite, and the resonances are readily assigned on the basis of chemical shift and quadrupole coupling constant. Boron surface densities on illite are approximately order of magnitude greater than on silica gel or boehmite. For boehmite, both B(3) and B(4) occur dominantly as inner-sphere complexes formed by ligand exchange reaction with surface aluminol sites. The B(3)/[B(3) + B(4)] ratio of approximately 0.87 does not vary significantly with pH from 3 to 11, with solution B-concentration, or with washing. The occurrence of B(3) and B(4) as inner-sphere complexes is in agreement with previous suggestions from IR studies of B-sorption on iron hydroxide, allophone, kaolinite, and hydrous ferric oxide. For silica gel, B(3) and B(4) occur principally as outer-sphere complexes or as residual precipitate from un-removed solution. The B(3)/B(4) ratio decreases with increasing pH paralleling the speciation in solution, but the relative abundance of B(4) is greater than in solution. A small fraction of the B(4) occurs as inner-sphere complexes with B(4)-O-Si linkages formed by ligand exchange reaction with silanol sites. For illite, surface boron occurs as outer-sphere B(3) and B(4), as for silica gel, and as inner-sphere B(3) and B(4), as for boehmite. Outer-sphere B(3) and B(4) are dominant at pH 3 and 5, whereas inner-sphere B(3) and B(4) are dominant at pH 9 and 11. The inner-sphere complexes probably form dominantly by ligand exchange reactions involving sites on the broken edges of illite layers.     

Application of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) technique to detect underground cavities in a karst area of South Korea

Recently, the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) technique has been increasingly applied to underground cavity detection filled with groundwater and/or clay. In this study, an ERT survey was conducted to examine the spatial distribution and shape of underground cavities in a karst area in Korea. Numerical ERT modeling and inversion were carried out to select appropriate field survey parameters. Two geological structures, similar to those that exist in the field survey area, were modeled: a sinkhole model and a vein-type structure. Electrode configurations using pole–pole, pole–dipole, dipole–pole, and dipole–dipole arrays were tested with the two geologic models and compared. The numerical modeling showed that the resistivity distribution of the ERT tomogram using the pole–dipole array produced the best representation of the two models. The pole–dipole and pole–pole array configurations were applied in an ERT field survey using six boreholes. The field ERT results show that cavity areas filled with clay or groundwater appeared as low-resistivity anomalies in the limestone formation. This was particularly evident in the inclined vein-type structures attributed to fracture zones, where the field data were similar to the modeling results. Therefore, the ERT technique could be effectively used for detecting underground limestone cavities under similar geological conditions as those at our study area.     

Current Structure and Volume Transport in the Jeju Strait Observed for a Year with Multiple ADCP Moorings

Ocean Science Journal - The seasonal and spatial variation of the current structure and volume transport across the Jeju Strait (JS) is described based on an analysis of the data from five bottom...     

Future trend of extreme value distributions of wintertime surface air temperatures over Korea and the associated physical changes

Daily winter temperatures in Korea have been analyzed via CSEOF analysis. Then, each PC time series was detrended and was fitted to an AR (autoregressive) model. Based on the identified AR model, an artificial time series of arbitrary length can be generated by using an arbitrary white-noise time series. In this way, one hundred new sets of PC time series were generated over the period of 1973–2058. Then, the trend for each PC time series was added back to the artificial PC time series extending the trend until 2058. Ultimately, artificial daily winter temperatures in Korea have been constructed by using the artificial PC time series and the original loading vectors derived from the observational data. The 100 new data sets have been investigated in order to understand the winter temperature variability 50 years into the future. Regression analysis in CSEOF space shows that temperature increase in Korea is associated with increased 850-hPa air temperature over most of the Asian domain (97°-153°E × 22°-73°N) and increased 850-hPa geopotential height in the southern part of the domain. As a result, southerly and southeasterly wind anomalies develop carrying positive temperature anomalies northward and northwestward. Both the 200-hPa air temperature and geopotential height changes indicate that there will be fairly significant northward shift of the jet stream in future. The standard deviation of the 200-hPa potential vorticity increases implying that shortwave trough and henceforth baroclinic instability will increase in future. Finally, GEV (Generalized Extreme Value) distribution and GPD (Generalized Pareto distribution) distribution have been compared between the observational records and the future records of the same length. The extreme value distributions based on the synthetic datasets show that warm extreme events will be more extreme in future and cold extreme events, on the other hand, will be less extreme. This study provides an estimate of future temperatures based on the observational data and serves as an independent baseline solution for comparisons with numerical model solutions.     

Studies of crosslinked biopolymer structure for environmental tools in terms of the rate of weight swelling ratio, viscosity, and biodegradability: part A

The crosslinking reaction caused by blending different biopolymers and/or adding a crosslinking agent to biopolymers was studied. The rate of crosslinking reaction was estimated with weight swelling ratio (WSR), viscosity, and biodegradability. The crosslinked material from blending two biopolymers or mixing a crosslinking agent with a mixture of two biopolymers showed a polymeric volume change, a high microbial resistance even after 80 days, and a viscosity increased because of chemical functional groups to form extensive intra- and interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs). The organized IPN is a base block in building a three-dimensional (3-D) crosslinked biopolymer structure. This 3-D structure can be utilized in the environmental and geotechnical applications such as an environmental barrier or containment to encapsulate and treat hazardous materials against toxic flow in a subsurface engineering system.     

Generation of a Near Infra-Red Guide Star Catalog for Thirty-Meter Telescope Observations

The requirements for the production of a near Infra-Red Guide Star Catalog (IRGSC) for Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) observations are identified and presented. A methodology to compute the expected J band magnitude of stellar sources from their optical (g, r, i) magnitudes is developed. The computed and observed J magnitudes of sources in three test fields are compared and the methodology developed is found to be satisfactory for the magnitude range, J_Vega = 16–22 mag. From this analysis, we found that for the production of final TMT IRGSC (with a limiting magnitude of J_Vega = 22 mag), we need g, r, i bands optical data which go up to i _AB ~ 23 mag. Fine tuning of the methodology developed, such as using Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) template fitting for optimal classification of stars in the fainter end, incorporating spectral libraries in the model, to reduce the scatter, and modification of the existing colour–temperature relation to increase the source density are planned for the subsequent phase of this work.