Discrete element modelling of material non‐coaxiality in simple shear flows

We investigate the quasi‐static simple shear flow of a two‐dimensional assembly of cohesionless particles using discrete element method (DEM) simulations. We focus on the unsteady flow regime where the solid would experience significant evolution of stresses, mobilised shear strength and dilation. We construct the DEM model using a discretised‐wall confined granular cell where the apparent boundary is allowed to dilate or contract synchronously with the confined solid. A rather uniform simple shear field is achieved across the whole assembly, which benefits rheological studies in generalising constitutive laws for continuum methods. We examine two aspects of the simple shear behaviour: macroscopic stress and strain rate evolution, particularly the non‐coaxiality between the principal directions of the two; and micromechanics such as evolution of fabric. For an initially anisotropic specimen sheared under constant normal pressure, the direction of principal stress rotates towards that of the principal strain rate, gradually reducing the degree of non‐coaxiality from about 45° to fluctuating around 0°. The rate in approaching coaxiality is slower in samples with larger initial porosity, stress ratio and mean stress. Generally, a faster rate in approaching coaxiality in simple shear is observed in a more dilatant sample, which often shows a larger degree of mobilised fabric anisotropy, suggesting the possible important role of instantaneous internal friction angle. The evolution of principal fabric direction resembles that of the principal stress direction. © 2013 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青海西部尕斯库勒盐湖沉积物中铀和钍地球化学特征探讨

文章以柴达木盆地西部尕斯库勒盐湖沉积物为研究对象,通过对钻孔沉积物和地表沉积物中铀和钍含量的研究,探讨了盐湖沉积物中铀和钍的地球化学特征。分析表明,钻孔沉积物中铀和钍之间存在明显的正相关关系。在横向上,随地表取样点逐渐远离湖表卤水,沉积物中铀和钍的含量先增高后又急剧降低,且受补给水铀含量影响大;在纵向上,同一个晶间卤水层或者碎屑物沉积层内铀含量垂直分异明显,铀含量随深度增加而递增。就沉积物中铀和钍的赋存形式而言,2/3的铀被黏土质点吸附,1/3的铀夹杂在盐类矿物中;而90%以上的钍被黏土质点吸附,10%以下的钍夹杂在盐类矿物中。干盐滩中毛细蒸发和淋滤等化学沉积分异作用造成盐湖沉积中心的沉积物铀含量相对较高。     

贵州晴隆中二叠统大厂层砾岩成因研究

贵州晴隆中二叠统大厂层中—上部产出一套呈囊状、透镜状分布的砾岩层。对大厂层砾岩沉积序列、结构、构造特征和矿物组合进行研究,结果表明:沉积序列为"反粒序",砾岩成分单一,基本为玄武质,是由峨眉山玄武岩直接改造而成,未发育河道相沉积特征;大厂层砾石具特殊的"泥化边"构造,是玄武岩在海水中大量水解的直接证据,填隙物中的青磐岩化矿物组合表明砾岩遭受了低温热液的改造。填隙物具有接近凝灰岩的Zr/Hf(30.7~43.4,均值38.0),揭示玄武岩在改造形成砾石的过程中有火山碎屑(火山灰)参与成岩;砾石和填隙物相对玄武岩贫Na(Na2O)富K(K2O),三者具有相似的稀土配分模式,其中∑REE呈规律性变化(玄武岩最高,砾石次之,填隙物中最低)。沉积背景分析认为,峨眉地幔柱作用使地壳发生了差异抬升,抬升一侧暴露遭受剥蚀形成不整合面,相对沉降一侧继续接受沉积,大厂层正是峨眉山玄武岩前锋带在局限海盆边缘(沉降侧),于茅口灰岩之上继续沉积的产物。大厂层砾岩形成机制是:炽热玄武岩流在海水中急剧爆裂,同时火山碎屑参与沉积,形成的玄武岩前积层(淬碎熔岩角砾)及凝灰岩,沉积在茅口组灰岩之上;在后期的演化过程中,炽热玄武岩冷凝收缩,柱状节理发育,在潮汐流和沿岸流的相互作用下不断磨蚀形成大厂层砾岩。     

Regional frequency analysis of extreme precipitation and its spatio-temporal characteristics in the Huai River Basin, China

With the increasing exposure of populations and economy to natural hazards, the spatio-temporal characteristics of extreme rainfall remain a key subject of study. Based on annual maximum rainfall (AM) and peaks over threshold rainfall series at 30 meteorological stations during 1960–2011 in the Huai River Basin (HRB), spatio-temporal characteristics of extreme rainfall are analyzed through regional frequency analysis method using L-moments. The accuracy and uncertainty analysis of quantile estimations are also carried out, and the regional and at-site frequency analyses are compared. Results indicate the following: (1) During 1960–2011, AM precipitation at 20 stations in the HRB shows an increasing trend, while at the other 10 stations, it shows a decreasing trend. And both the increased and decreased trends are not significant. (2) The HRB can be categorized into three homogeneous regions via cluster analysis. For both at-site and regional frequency analyses, the root mean square error values increase with the increase in return periods. The estimations are reliable enough for the return periods of less than 100 years. The quantile estimates of large return period from regional frequency analysis are more accurate and have smaller uncertainty than those from at-site frequency analysis. (3) Extreme precipitation in the HRB concentrates in the upstream of the Huai River and YiShuSi water system in the east of the HRB. Generally, the area with extreme precipitation, especially the upper reaches of the Huai River and Yimeng Mountain areas, also has large standard variations of extreme precipitation, which will increase the risk of natural hazards.     

Tsunami vulnerability evaluation in the Mentawai islands based on the field survey of the 2010 tsunami

On October 25, 2010, a large earthquake occurred off the coast of the Mentawai islands in Indonesia, generating a tsunami that caused damage to the coastal area of North Pagai, South Pagai, and Sipora islands. Field surveys were conducted soon after the event by several international survey teams, including the authors’. These surveys clarified the tsunami height distribution, the damage that took place, and residents’ awareness of tsunamis in the affected islands. Heights of over 5 m were recorded on the coastal area of the Indian Ocean side of North and South Pagai islands and the south part of Sipora island. In some villages, it was difficult to evacuate immediately after the earthquake because of the lack of routes to higher ground or the presence of rivers. Residents in some villages had taken part in tsunami drills or education; however, not all villages shared awareness of tsunami threats. In the present paper, based on the results of these field surveys, the vulnerability of these islands with regards to future tsunami threats was analyzed. Three important aspects of this tsunami disaster, namely the geographic disadvantage of the islands, the resilience of buildings and other infrastructure, and people’s awareness of tsunamis, are discussed in detail, and corresponding tsunami mitigation strategies are explained.     

The comparison analysis of Chinese public perception of earthquakes on different time scales

China has suffered from severe earthquake disasters in recent years. In order to explore the impact of severe earthquakes on public risk perception on different time scales, four surveys were conducted twice each after the severe Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes. t tests were performed between two consecutive surveys to explore the change of public risk attitudes. The results demonstrated that after the two severe earthquakes, the public seismic risk acceptance has increased over time, and the comparison between pre- and post-Yushu earthquake illustrated that the severe disaster had more impact on vulnerable population such as females, children and low-income people. Moreover, linear regression models were employed to find the determining factors of public acceptance towards earthquake risks. It was discovered that the public perceived earthquake effect had significant negative relationship with seismic risk acceptance, and public trust towards local government had positive relationship with the risk acceptance. This study could help government to gain better understanding of public mental status and take more effective disaster preparedness measures when preventing and responding to a severe earthquake.     

Hazardous geology zoning and influence factors in the near-shore shallow strata and seabed surface of the modern Yellow River Delta,China

In this study, on the basis of 3,200 km shallow stratigraphic section and side-scan sonar data of the coastal area of the Yellow River Delta, we delineated and interpreted a total of seven types of typical hazardous geologies, including the hazardous geology in the shallow strata (buried ancient channel and strata disturbance) and hazardous geology in the seabed surface strata (pit, erosive residual body, sand patch, sand wave and scour channel). We selected eight parameters representing the development scale of the hazardous geology as the zoning indexes, including the number of hazardous geology types, pit depth, height of erosive residual body, length of scour channel, area of sand patch, length of sand wave, width of the buried ancient channel and depth of strata disturbance, and implemented the grid processing of the research area to calculate the arithmetic sum of the zoning indexes of each unit grid one by one. We then adopted the clustering analysis method to divide the near-shore waters of the Yellow River Delta into five hazardous geology areas, namely the serious erosion disaster area controlled by Diaokou lobe waves, hazardous geology area of multi-disasters under the combined action of the Shenxiangou lobe river wave flow, accumulation type hazardous geology area controlled by the current estuary river, hazardous geology area of single disaster in the deep water area and potential hazardous geology area of the Chengdao Oilfield. All four of the main factors affecting the development of hazardous geology, namely the diffusion and movement of sediment flux of the Yellow River water entering the sea, seabed stability, bottom sediment type and distribution, as well as the marine hydrodynamic characteristics, show significant regional differentiation characteristics and laws. These characteristics and laws are consistent with the above-mentioned zoning results, in which the distribution, scale and genetic mechanism of hazardous geology are considered comprehensively. This indicates that the hazardous geology zoning based on the cluster analysis is a new attempt in research regarding the hazardous geology zoning of the near-shore waters of the modern Yellow River Delta and that this type of zoning has a high level of reasonability.     

广西苍梧社垌石英脉型钨钼多金属矿床流体演化及来源示踪

广西苍梧社垌矿床是大瑶山隆起南侧新发现的一个大型斑岩-矽卡岩-石英脉型钨钼多金属矿床。本文重点对其中的石英脉型矿床进行了研究,依据脉体穿插关系及矿物共生组合将成矿过程划分为I石英-黄铁矿阶段、II石英-白钨矿-辉钼矿阶段、III石英-多金属硫化物阶段以及IV石英-方解石-萤石阶段,其中II和III阶段为主成矿阶段。从早到晚,均一温度逐渐下降(第一阶段550℃→370℃,第二阶段370℃→330℃,第三阶段330℃→210℃,第四阶段190℃→150℃),流体密度逐渐上升(0.61g/cm3→0.72g/cm3→0.82g/cm3→0.94g/cm3),盐度先升后降(第一阶段5.86%～8.55%NaCleqv,第二阶段4.49%～43%NaCleqv,第三阶段0.53%～46.37%NaCleqv,第四阶段0%～12.85%NaCleqv)。激光拉曼成分分析显示,社垌石英脉型矿床的成矿流体属于H2O-NaCl体系,但是该体系的流体成分在成矿前后发生了较大的变化,反映第I阶段以氧化环境为主,(II、III、)IV阶段则为还原环境。氢氧同位素研究显示成矿流体来自于岩浆水,后期大气降水的加入导致矿质发生沉淀。此外金属硫化物的δ34S组成(-3.8‰～+1.7‰)平均为-0.46‰,接近于零值,也表明为岩浆来源。引起矿质沉淀的主要原因是流体混合导致的温度下降等环境条件的改变。总体而言,社垌石英脉型钨钼多金属矿床的成矿流体主要来自岩浆热液,为中高温、中低盐度、低密度的NaCl-H2O流体体系,钨钼等多金属成矿与区内加里东期岩浆作用密切相关。     

汶川地震断裂带科学钻探（WFSD）项目钻探和测井课题组织实施经验与体会

简要介绍了汶川地震断裂带科学钻探项目的组织管理机构及管理方式,重点介绍了其中的钻探与测井课题的组织实施方式。本课题在龙门山断裂带上实施了5口钻孔,历时6年。钻探施工经历了从承包制到日费制的变化,后来在日费制中引入了激励机制。总结了现场管理的有效做法,探讨了适合于复杂地层科学钻探的管理模式,其经验和体会对类似项目具有借鉴意义。     

汶川地震断裂带科学钻探项目钻探工程实施总结

介绍了汶川地震断裂带科学钻探项目的钻探工程实施情况,包括完成的钻孔情况、钻探施工中遇到的技术难题,以及为解决这些难题开展的钻探技术研发和钻探工程的组织管理等。