Simple formulas for the dynamic stiffness of pile groups

Simple formulas are derived for the dynamic stiffness of pile group foundations subjected to horizontal and rocking dynamic loads. The formulations are based on the construction of a general model of impedance matrices as the condensation of matrices of mass, damping, and stiffness, and on the identification of the values of these matrices on an extensive database of numerical experiments computed using coupled finite element–boundary element models. The formulations obtained can be readily used for the design of both floating piles on homogeneous half‐space and end‐bearing piles and are applicable for a wide range of mechanical and geometrical parameters of the soil and piles, in particular for large pile groups. For the seismic design of a building, the use of the simple formulas rather than a full computational model is shown to induce little error on the evaluation of the response spectra and time histories. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combination Scattering by Anisotropic Langmuir Turbulence with Application to Solar Radar Experiments

We develop a theory for radar signal scattering by anisotropic Langmuir turbulence in the solar corona due to a t+l ⇄ t process. Langmuir turbulence is assumed to be generated within a cone by a narrow type III burst electron beam. Using wave-kinetic theory we obtain expressions for the frequency shift, scattering cross-section of the turbulence, coefficient of absorption (due to scattering) and optical depth. On the basis of those expressions we give some estimates for an echo spectrum. We show that the minimum radar echo frequency shift is determined by the minimal phase velocity of the Langmuir waves, the maximum shift is determined by the electron beam velocity, but in any case it can not exceed −wt/2 (decay) and wt (coalescence), where wt is the frequency of a radar signal. The angular characteristics of the scattered signal differ dramatically for the cases of coalescence and decay. The signal is scattered into a narrow cone high above the specular reflection point (wp ≪ wt), but in the vicinity of wp ∼ wt/2 the red-shifted echo is scattered isotropically, while the blue-shifted echo is scattered into a even narrower cone. We show that absorption (due to scattering) increases with increasing radar frequency. The dependence of the absorption on the local plasma frequency is strongly determined by the Langmuir turbulence spectrum. Our theory shows that the role of the nonlinear scattering process t+l ⇄ t is essential and that such process can be used for radar studies of the spectral energy density of anisotropic Langmuir turbulence.     

Review: The Yucat��n Peninsula karst aquifer, Mexico

The Yucatán Peninsula karst aquifer is one of the most extensive and spectacular karst aquifer systems on the planet. This transboundary aquifer system extends over an area of approximately 165,000? km² in México, Guatemala and Belize. The Triassic to Holocene Yucatán limestone platform is located in the vicinity of the North American/Caribbean plate boundary and has been reshaped by a series of tectonic events over its long geologic history. At the end of the Cretaceous period, the Yucatán Peninsula was hit by a large asteroid, which formed the Chicxulub impact crater. The Yucatán Peninsula karst aquifer hosts large amounts of groundwater resources which maintain highly diverse groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Large parts of the aquifer are affected by seawater intrusion. Anthropogenic pollution of the aquifer has been increasing over the past few decades, owing to relentless economic development and population growth on the Peninsula. This review summarizes the state of knowledge on the Yucatán Peninsula karst aquifer and outlines the main challenges for hydrologic research and practical groundwater-resources management on the Peninsula.     

Temporal and spatial variation of soil erosion in wooded rangelands of southwest Spain

Changes in land use are common in Mediterranean areas and are reported as having produced changes in the intensity of soil erosion. Dehesas are rangelands with a disperse tree cover, widespread in the south-western part of the Iberian Peninsula and similar ecosystems are also common in other areas with a Mediterranean climate. The aim of the present study is to analyse temporal and spatial variations of soil erosion rates estimated along three hillsides, located in two farms (Buitrera and Parapuños) in southwest Spain. To understand the temporal variation, soil erosion rates were studied in light of land use-management changes that took place during the last few centuries. Results indicate very low erosion rates prior to the 18^th century in both farms. In Buitrera, a first increase of soil loss rates was identified during the period 1831-1897, amounting to 7.4 t ha^-1 y^-1. A further increase took place during the 20^th century, reaching a mean erosion rate of 29.1 t ha^-1 y^-1. In Parapuños, data points to a significant increase from 1881 onwards, with an estimated mean erosion rate of 18.5 t ha^-1 y^-1. Those increases were presumably connected with an intensification of land use, such as cultivation and excessive livestock populations. Regarding spatial variation, the bare surface and the erosive power of run-off along the hillsides accounts for 76% of the soil erosion rates dispersion. At a local scale, the variability of erosion rates could not be explained, because of (i) uncertainty related to the micromorphology of the past soil surface and (ii) the role of tillage erosion in the past. However, the results obtained offer valuable data on the temporal and spatial variation of erosion rates in dehesas at the hillslope scale and a similar approach could be used for other rangelands with a disperse tree cover. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Indirect unstructured hex-dominant mesh generation using tetrahedra recombination

Corner-point gridding is widely used in reservoir and basin modeling but generally yields approximations in the representation of geological interfaces. This paper introduces an indirect method to generate a hex-dominant mesh conformal to 3D geological surfaces and well paths suitable for finite-element and control-volume finite-element simulations. By indirect, we mean that the method first generates an unstructured tetrahedral mesh whose tetrahedra are then merged into primitives (hexahedra, prisms, and pyramids). More specifically, we focus on determining the optimal set of primitives that can be recombined from a given tetrahedral mesh. First, we detect in the tetrahedral mesh all the feasible volumetric primitives using a pattern-matching algorithm (Meshkat and Talmor Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. 49(1-2), 17–30 2000) that we re-visit and extend with configurations that account for degenerated tetrahedra (slivers). Then, we observe that selecting the optimal set of primitives among the feasible ones can be formalized as a maximum weighted independent set problem (Bomze et al. 1999), known to be \(\mathcal {N}\mathcal {P}\)-Complete. We propose several heuristic optimizations to find a reasonable set of primitives in a practical time. All the tetrahedra of each selected primitive are then merged to build the final unstructured hex-dominant mesh. This method is demonstrated on 3D geological models including a faulted and folded model and a discrete fracture network.     

European floods during the winter 1783/1784: scenarios of an extreme event during the ‘Little Ice Age’

The Lakagígar eruption in Iceland during 1783 was followed by the severe winter of 1783/1784, which was characterised by low temperatures, frozen soils, ice-bound watercourses and high rates of snow accumulation across much of Europe. Sudden warming coupled with rainfall led to rapid snowmelt, resulting in a series of flooding phases across much of Europe. The first phase of flooding occurred in late December 1783–early January 1784 in England, France, the Low Countries and historical Hungary. The second phase at the turn of February–March 1784 was of greater extent, generated by the melting of an unusually large accumulation of snow and river ice, affecting catchments across France and Central Europe (where it is still considered as one of the most disastrous known floods), throughout the Danube catchment and in southeast Central Europe. The third and final phase of flooding occurred mainly in historical Hungary during late March and early April 1784. The different impacts and consequences of the above floods on both local and regional scales were reflected in the economic and societal responses, material damage and human losses. The winter of 1783/1784 can be considered as typical, if severe, for the Little Ice Age period across much of Europe.     

Ground motion characterization and seismic hazard assessment in Spain: context,problems and recent developments

This article points out some particular features conditioning seismic hazard assessments (SHA) in Spain, a region with low–moderate seismicity. Although sized earthquakes occurred in the past, as evidenced by historical documents and neotectonic studies, no large events occurred during the last decades. The absence of strong motion records corresponding to earthquakes with magnitude larger than 5.5 is an important obstacle for the development of ground motion models constrained by local data, with the consequent difficulty in SHA studies. In this paper, some recent developments aiming at providing solutions to these difficulties are presented. Specifically, a strong motion databank containing a massive collection of accelerograms and response spectra from different configurations source-path-site corresponding to earthquakes all over the world is introduced, together with software utilities for its management. A first application of this databank is the development of specific ground motion models for Spain and for the Mediterranean region that predict peak ground accelerations as a function of several definitions of magnitude, distance and soil class. The predictive power of these ground motion models is tested by contrasting their estimates with recently recorded ground motions. The comparison between our ground-motion models with others proposed in the literature for other areas reveals a regular overestimation of the expected ground motions at Spanish sites by the non-local models. Consequently, SHA studies based in external models may overestimate the predicted hazard at the Iberian sites. In the last part of the paper a method for checking whether the response spectra proposed in the Spanish Building Code (NCSE-02) are consistent with actual accelerometric data from recent low magnitude earthquakes is applied. The spectral shapes of the Spanish Building Code NCSE-02 are compared with the response spectral shapes deduced from the available accelerograms by normalising the response spectra with the recorded PGA. It is appreciated that the NCSE-02 spectral shapes are exceeded by a large number of actual spectral shapes for short periods (around 0.2 s), a result to be taken into account in further revisions of the NCSE-02 code. The issues tackled in this work constitute not only an improvement for ground-motion characterisation in Spain, but also provide guidelines of general interest for potential applications in other regions with similar seismicity.     

The sedimentary rocks of macaronesia

In all the archipelagos forming Macaronesia, volcanis predominate, but pre-Quaternary sediments are also present, though playing a humble role.Calcareous deposits have by far the greatest significance throughout the known stratigraphic record. Tertiary occurrences tend to be thin, show more gentle dips, whereas the Mesozoics attain thicknesses of 400 m (certain), attitudes steeper, often vertical.To date, Mesozoics are recognized only in Maio (Cape Verde), are possible in S. Nicolau (Cape Verde) and Fuerteventura (Canary Islands). Whether strata as old as Jurassic is present in these three islands is a moot point. Ample arguments, pro and con, have been presented for Maio; there is meagre evidence in S. Nicolau; pure conjecture in Fuerteventura.Beginning with the Neogene, the stratigraphic record for Macaronesia is more substantial, the Vindobonian being present or then strongly suspected in all archipelagos.The sedimentary rocks in these islands have not aroused the same interests as the volcanics, and undeniably they are of far less importance as regards rock constitution. The status of investigations varies widely within the different islands, and as of the present, we must frankly recognize that our knowledge of the sedimentaries is only of reconnaissance standard.

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Zusammenfassung Auf allen Inselgruppen, die man als Makaronesen zusammenfaßt, überwiegen vulkanische Gesteine; prä-quartäre Sedimente gibt es — in geringem Umfang — ebenfalls.Kalkablagerungen haben, nach den bekannten stratigraphischen Zeugnissen zu urteilen, die größte Bedeutung. Tertiär ist in geringer Mächtigkeit und schwach geneigt vertreten, während das Mesozoikum bis zu 400 m nachgewiesene Mächtigkeit erreicht und verstellt, oft vertikal auftritt.Bisher ist Mesozoikum nur in Maio (Kapverden) bekannt, möglicherweise auch in S. Nicolau (Kapverden) und Fuerteventura (Kanarische Inseln). Ob Schichten jurassischen Alters und den drei Inseln vorkommen, ist umstritten. Argumente dafür und dagegen sind für Maio reichlich zusammengetragen worden; für S. Nicolau gibt es magere Hinweise, für Fuerteventura nur Vermutungen.Seit dem Neogen sind die stratigraphischen Zeugnisse auf den makaronesischen Inseln umfangreicher; so ist Vindobon auf allen Inselgruppen vorhanden oder sein Vorkommen mindestens sehr wahrscheinlich gemacht.Die sedimentären Gesteine haben auf den Inseln nicht das gleiche Interesse gefunden wie die vulkanischen, und sie sind auch ganz sicher von geringerer Bedeutung, soweit es sich um ihren Gesteinscharakter handelt. Der Forschungsstand ist innerhalb der Inseln sehr unterschiedlich, und wir müssen eingestehen, daß zur Zeit unser Wissen über die sedimentären Gesteine sieh noch im Anfangsstadium befindet.

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Résumé Le matériel volcanique domine dans les îles de l'archipel des Macaronesia. Les sédiments pré-quaternaires sont aussi présents, bien que jouant un rôle plus modeste.Les formations calcaires sont de loin les plus représentatives des dépôts reconnus de la colonne stratigraphique. Les dépôts cénozoiques sont généralement peu épais et présentent de faibles pendages, tandis que ceux du Mésozoique atteignent des épaisseurs de 400 m (démontrées), et des pendages importants, atteignant souvent la verticale.Jusqu'à présent, les dépôts mésozoiques ont été reconnus uniquement à Maio (Cap Vert), sont possibles à S. Nicolau (Cap Vert) et Fuerteventura (Iles des Canaries). La présence de Jurassique dans ces trois îles est encore un sujet de controverse. De nombreux arguments, positifs ou négatifs, ont été présentés concernant l'île de Maio; les arguments positifs sont légèrement dominants à S. Nicolau; le problème est à l'état de pure hypothèse à Fuerteventura.On peut faire débuter sans ambiguité la colonne stratigraphique des îles de l'archipel Macaronesia au Néogène, le Vindobonien étant présent ou fortement suspecté dans toutes les archipels.Les roches sédimentaires dans ces îles n'ont pas suscité le même intérêt que les roches volcaniques, et indéniablement leur importance est moindre. L'état d'avancement de ces travaux varie largement d'une île à l'autre, mais à l'heure actuelle, nous devons reconnaître qu'ils en sont seulement au stade de la reconnaissance.

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A Practical Procedure for the Measurement of Fragmentation by Blasting by Image Analysis

Summary. The operation of a digital image analysis system in a limestone quarry is described. The calibration of the system, required in order to obtain moderately reliable fragmentation values, is done from muckpile sieving data by tuning the image analysis software settings so that the fragmentation curve obtained matches as close as possible the sieving. The sieving data have also been used to extend the fragment size distribution curves measured to sizes below the system’s optical resolution and to process the results in terms of fragmented rock, discounting the material coming from a loose overburden (natural fines) that is cast together with the fragmented rock. Automatic and manual operation modes of the image analysis are compared. The total fragmentation of a blast is obtained from the analysis of twenty photographs; a criterion for the elimination of outlier photographs has been adopted using a robust statistic. The limitations of the measurement system due to sampling, image processing and fines corrections are discussed and the errors estimated whenever possible. An analysis of consistency of the results based on the known amount of natural fines is made. Blasts with large differences in the amount of fines require a differentiated treatment, as the fine sizes tend to be the more underestimated in the image analysis as they become more abundant; this has been accomplished by means of a variable fines adjustment factor. Despite of the unavoidable errors and the large dispersion always associated with large-scale rock blasting data, the system is sensitive to relative changes in fragmentation.