Stress distribution from railway track over geogrid reinforced ballast underlain by clay

Railway ballast forms a major component of a conventional rail track and is used to distribute the load to the subgrade, providing a smooth running surface for trains. It plays a significant role in providing support for the rail track base and distributing the load to the weaker layer underneath. Ballast also helps with drainage, which is an important factor for any type of transportation structure, including railroads. Over time, ballast progressively deforms and degrades under dynamic loading and loses its strength. In this study, extensive laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the effect of load amplitude, geogrid position, and number of geogrid layers, thickness of ballast layer and clay stiffness on the behavior of the reinforced ballast layer and induced strains in a geogrid. A half full-scale railway was constructed for carrying out the tests, which consisted of two rails 800 mm in length with three wooden sleepers(900 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm). Three ballast thicknesses of 200, 300 and 400 mm were used in the tests. The ballast was overlying 500 mm thickness clay in two states, soft and stiff. The tests were carried out with and without geogrid reinforcement; the tests were performed in a well-tied steel box of 1.5 m length ×1 m width ×1 m height. Laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the response of the ballast and the clay layers where the ballast was reinforced by a geogrid. Settlement in ballast and clay, soil pressure and pore water pressure induced in the clay were measured in reinforced and unreinforced ballast cases. It was concluded that the amount of settlement increased as the simulated train load amplitude increased, and there was a sharp increase in settlement up to cycle 500. After that, there was a gradual increase that leveled out between, 2500 to 4500 cycles depending on the frequency used. There was a slight increase in the induced settlement when the load amplitude increased from 0.5 to 1 ton but it was higher when the load amplitude increased to 2 tons. The increased amount in settlement depended on the existence of the geogrid and other parameters studied. The transmitted average vertical stress for ballast thicknesses of 30 cm and 40 cm increased as the load amplitude increased, regardless of the ballast reinforcement for both soft and stiff clay. The position of the geogrid had no significant effect on the transmitted stresses. The value of the soil pressure and pore water pressure on ballast thicknesses of 20 cm was higher than for 30 cm and 40 cm thicknesses. This meant that the ballast attenuated the induced waves. The soil pressure and pore water pressure for reinforced and unreinforced ballast was higher in stiff clay than in soft clay.     

Use of a watershed hydrologic model to estimate interbasin groundwater flow in a Costa Rican rainforest

The watershed hydrologic model TOPMODEL was used to estimate interbasin groundwater flow (IGF) into a small lowland rainforest watershed in Costa Rica. IGF is a common hydrological process but often difficult to quantify. Four‐year simulations (2006–2009) using three different model approaches gave estimates of IGF that were very similar to each other (10.1, 10.2, and 9.8 m/year) and to an earlier estimate (10.0 m/year) based on 1998–2002 data from a budget study that did not use a hydrologic simulation model, providing confidence in the new estimates and suggesting each of the three model approaches is viable. Results show no significant temporal variation in IGF during 2006–2009 (or between this period and the earlier study from 1998–2002). Simulations of the 16 consecutive 3‐month periods in 2006–2009 gave 16 values of IGF rate with a mean (10.1 m/year, standard deviation = 0.6 m/year) very similar to the estimates above from the 4‐year simulations. This suggests the modified version of TOPMODEL can be used to model stream discharge and estimate IGF for sub‐annual time periods during which change in water storage is not necessarily equal to zero. Thus, simple watershed models may be used to estimate IGF based on even relatively short calibration periods, making such models useful tools in the study of this widespread hydrological process that affects water and chemical fluxes and budgets but is often difficult and costly to quantify. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Groundwater discharge along a channelized Coastal Plain stream

In the Coastal Plain of the southeastern USA, streams have commonly been artificially channelized for flood control and agricultural drainage. However, groundwater discharge along such streams has received relatively little attention. Using a combination of stream- and spring-flow measurements, spring temperature measurements, temperature profiling along the stream-bed, and geologic mapping, we delineated zones of diffuse and focused discharge along Little Bayou Creek, a channelized, first-order perennial stream in western Kentucky. Seasonal variability in groundwater discharge mimics hydraulic-head fluctuations in a nearby monitoring well and spring-discharge fluctuations elsewhere in the region, and is likely to reflect seasonal variability in recharge. Diffuse discharge occurs where the stream is incised into the semi-confined regional gravel aquifer, which is comprised of the Mounds Gravel. Focused discharge occurs upstream where the channel appears to have intersected preferential pathways within the confining unit. Seasonal fluctuations in discharge from individual springs are repressed where piping results in bank collapse. Thereby, focused discharge can contribute to the morphological evolution of the stream channel.     

Midnight reversal of ionospheric plasma bubble eastward velocity to westward velocity during geomagnetically quiettime: Climatology and its model validation

In an effort to better understand the dynamics of westward velocities of the nocturnal F-region plasma, the climatology of the westward traveling plasma bubbles – WTB – occurring during quiettime is studied here. The climatology of the WTB is analyzed here based on airglow images obtained during 14 quiet days between 2001 and 2006 at the Brazilian station São João do Cariri (Geographic 7.45°S, 36.5°W, dip ～20°S). The frequency of occurrence of the WTB maximizes in the descending phase of the solar cycle. The WTB velocities ranged between ～20 and 40 ms^?1. The frequency of occurrence had a peak value of only 3.65% at 2345 LT. The maximum occurrence of the WTB was in July–September. No WTB have been observed from November until April in all years 2001–2006. We show for the first time theoretically that the WTB dominant forcing mechanisms during geomagnetically quiet days are westward thermospheric winds.     

A computational study of nonresonant cross-field diffusion of energetic particles due to their interaction with interplanetary magnetic decreases

We present a new method of calculating cross-field diffusion of charged particles due to their interactions with interplanetary magnetic decreases (MDs) in high heliospheric latitudes. We use a geometric model that evaluates perpendicular diffusion to the ambient magnetic field as a function of particle's gyroradius, MD radius, ratio between fields outside and inside the MD, and a random impact parameter. We use Ulysses magnetic field data of 1994 to identify the MDs and get the empirical size and magnetic field decrease distribution functions. We let protons with energies ranging from 100 keV to 2 MeV interact with MDs. The MD characteristics are taken from the observational distribution functions using the Monte Carlo method. Calculations show that the increase in diffusion tends to saturate when particles' gyroradius becomes as large as MD radii, and that particles' gyroradius increases faster than diffusion distance as the energy of the particles is increased.     

Post-caldera activity in the Alban Hills volcanic district (Italy): 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and insights into magma evolution

We present 24 ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages for the youngest volcanic products from the Alban Hills volcanic district (Rome). Combined with petrological data on these products, we have attempted to define the chronology of the most recent phase of activity and to investigate the magma evolution of this volcanic district. The early, mainly explosive activity of the Alban Hills spanned the interval from 561±1 to 351±3 ka. After approximately 50-kyr of dormancy, a mainly effusive phase of activity took place, accompanied by the strombolian activity of a small central edifice (Monte delle Faete). This second phase of activity spanned the interval 308±2 to 250±1 ka. After another dormancy period of approximately 50-kyr, a new, hydromagmatic phase of activity started at 200 ka at several centers located to the southwest of the Monte delle Faete edifice. After an initial recurrence period of approximately 50-kyr, which also characterized this new phase of activity, the longest dormancy period (approximately 80-kyr) in the history of the volcanic district preceded the start of the activity of the Albano and Giuturna centers at 70±1 ka. Results of our study suggest a quasi-continuous magmatic activity feeding hydromagmatic centers with a new acme of volcanism since around 70 ka. Based on data presented in this paper, we argue that the Alban Hills should not be considered an extinct volcanic district and a detailed re-assessment of the volcanic hazard for the area of Rome is in order. Published online: 4 April 2003 Editorial responsibility: J. Donnelly-Nolan     

OFFSET CONTINUATION OF SEISMIC SECTIONS*

Geometrical acoustic and wave theory lead to a second-order partial differential equation that links seismic sections with different offsets. In this equation a time-shift term appears that corresponds to normal moveout; a second term, dependent on offset and time only, corrects the moveout of dipping events. The zero-offset stacked section can thus be obtained by continuing the section with maximum offset towards zero, and stacking along the way the other common-offset sections. Without the correction for dip moveout, the spatial resolution of the section is noticeably impaired, thus limiting the advantages that could be obtained with expensive migration procedures. Trade-offs exist between multiplicity of coverage, spatial resolution, and signal-to-noise; in some cases the spatial resolution on the surface can be doubled and the aliasing noise averaged out. Velocity analyses carried out on data continued to zero offset show a better resolution and improved discrimination against multiples. For instance, sea-floor multiples always appear at water velocity, so that their removal is simplified. This offset continuation can be carried out either in the time-space domain or in the time-wave number domain. The methods are applied both to synthetic and real data.     

Effect of drainage area on hypsometry from an analysis of small-scale drainage basins in the Siwalik Hills (Central Nepal)

Hypsometry of drainage basins (area–elevation analysis) has generally been used to infer the stage of geomorphic development and to study the influence of varying forcing factors (i.e. tectonics, climate, lithology) on topography. However, the scale dependence of hypsometry has generally been neglected. In order to assess the scale dependence of hypsometry, this study focuses on the sensitivity of hypsometry to different Digital Elevation Model (DEM) resolutions and on the influence of drainage area. Hypsometry inferred from different DEMs is shown to be robust against variations of their resolution. However, hypsometry appears to be dependent on drainage area. We propose that this scale dependence may reflect the varying importance of river and hillslope processes with basin area. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pan-European ground-motion prediction equations for the average horizontal component of PGA,PGV, and 5 %-damped PSA at spectral periods up to 3.0 s using the RESORCE dataset

This article presents a set of Ground-Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs) for Europe and the Middle East, derived from the RESORCE strong motion data bank, following a standard regression approach. The parametric GMPEs are derived for the peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and 5 %-damped pseudo-absolute acceleration response spectra computed over 23 periods between 0.02 and 3 s, considering the average horizontal-component ground-motions. The GMPEs are valid for distances less than 300 km, hypocentral depth up to 35 km and over the magnitude range 4–7.6. Two metrics for the source-to-station distance (i.e. Joyner-Boore and hypocentral) are considered. The selected dataset is composed by 2,126 recordings (at a period of 0.1 s) related to 365 earthquakes, that includes strong-motion data from 697 stations.The EC8 soil classification (four classes from A to D) discriminates recording sites and four classes (normal, reverse, strike-slip, and unspecified) describe the style of faulting. A subset which contains only stations with measured Vs30 and earthquakes with specified focal mechanism (1,224 records from 345 stations and 255 earthquakes) is used to test of the accuracy of the median prediction and the variability associated to the broader data set. A random effect regression scheme is applied and bootstrap analyses are performed to estimate the 95 % confidence levels for the parameters. The total standard deviation sigma is decomposed into between-events and within-event components, and the site-to-site component is evaluated as well. The results show that the largest contribution to the total sigma is coming from the within-event component. When analyzing the residual distributions, no significant trends are observed that can be ascribed to the earthquake type (mainshock-aftershock classification) or to the non-linear site effects. The proposed GMPEs have lower median values than global models at short periods and large distances, while are consistent with global models at long periods $(\hbox {T} > 1)$  s. Consistency is found with two regional models developed for Turkey and Italy, as the considered dataset is dominated by waveforms recorded in these regions.