Gradual downslope change in high-resolution acoustic characters and geometry of large-scale submarine debris lobes in Ulleung Basin, East Sea (Sea of Japan), Korea

A detailed analysis of high-resolution seismic data (Chirp, 2–7 kHz) in the Ulleung Basin reveals spatial variation in echo characteristics and geometry of large-scale debris lobes. In the proximal part, the debris lobes are dominated by hummocky surface echoes and gradually transitional downslope to seafloor-tangent hyperbolic and smooth prolonged bottom echoes, reflecting progressive decrease in size, spacing, and relief of surface forms. The strongly convex-upward upper surface with steep blunt margins in the proximal part is gradually transitional downslope to slightly convex- upward or nearly flat form with less blunt margins. The gradual downslope decrease in both scale and spacing of surface forms and convexity of upper surface within each debris lobe is suggestive of progressive dilution in flow concentration within a debris flow, probably due to mixing of ambient water and removal of suspended sediment by deposition during downslope movement. Received: 3 February 1999 / Revision received: 27 April 1999     

Drained and undrained pullout capacity of a stiff inclusion in a saturated poroelastic matrix

Shear‐lag analysis is used to obtain closed‐form solutions for the problem of a stiff inclusion embedded in a poroelastic soil matrix. The following assumptions are made: the soil matrix and the inclusion are elastic; plane strain conditions apply; and shear stresses at the soil‐inclusion interface follow Coulomb's friction law. Two solutions are obtained, the first one for drained conditions where no excess pore pressures are generated, and the second one for undrained conditions where excess pore pressures are produced and the soil does not change volume during pullout. The solutions are verified by comparing analytical predictions with numerical results obtained using a finite element method. Predictions from the analytical solutions are also compared with results from experiments conducted in a large‐scale pullout box. Both comparisons show good agreement. The analytical solution shows that the pullout capacity in drained and undrained conditions is overall independent of the relative stiffness of the soil and the inclusion. The most important factor controlling the pullout capacity is the coefficient of friction between the soil and the inclusion. Both drained and undrained pullout capacities increase with the coefficient of friction; although the drained capacity shows a proportional increase, it is not so for the undrained capacity. The ratio of undrained to drained pullout capacity is about 0.9 for friction coefficients smaller than 0.2, but can be as small as 0.6 for a coefficient of friction of 1.0. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of indigenous benthic amphipods as sediment toxicity testing organisms

A series of experiments were conducted to develop standard test organisms and test protocols for measuring sediment toxicity using candidate amphipods such asMandibulophoxus mai, Monocorophium acherusicum, Haustorioides indivisus, andHaustorioides koreanus, which are indigenous to Korea. The relevant association of test species with sediment substrates was one of the important factors in sediment bioassay. The indigenous amphipodsM. mai andM. acherusicum were well associated with test sediments when they were exposed to various sediment substrates from sand to mud. The tolerant limits to various physico-chemical factors affecting bioassay results such as temperature, salinity and ammonia, as well as sensitivities to reference toxicant and contaminated sediments, were investigated usingM. mai andM. acherusicum in the present study. These amphipods were tolerant to relatively wide ranges of salinity (10~30 psu) and ammonia (<50 ppm), and displayed relevant sensitivity to temperature as well. They are more sensitive to Cd, the reference toxicant, when compared to the standard test species used in other countries. Field-sediment toxicity tests revealed thatM. mai would be more sensitive to sediment-associated pollutants thanM. acherusicum, while the sensitivity ofM. acherusicum was comparable to that ofLeptocheirus plumulosus, which has been used as a standard test species in the United States of America. Overall results of this first attempt to develop an amphipod sediment toxicity test protocol in Korea indicated thatM. mai andM. acherusicum would be applicable in the toxicity assessment of contaminated sediments, following the further evaluation encompassing various ecological and toxicological studies in addition to test method standardization.     

Isolation and Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from a Traditional Jeotgal Product in Korea

Seventeen lactic acid bacterial strains (LAB) were isolated using MRS agar medium from Jeotgal, a Korean fermented food, purchased at the Jukdo market of Pohang. To identify the strains isolated, they were tested by examining their cell morphologies, gram-staining, catalase activity, arginine hydrolase activity, D-L lactate form and carbohydrate fermentation. According to the phenotypic characteristics, three strains were tent atively identified asLactobacillus spp., ten wereEnterococcus spp. (orStreptococcus spp., orPediococcus spp.) and the rest were Leuconostoc spp. (orWeissella spp.). Five strains among 17 were chosen by preliminary bacteriocin activity test. Four bacterial strains which inhibited both indicator microorganisms were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. The results are as follows; Leuconostoc mesenteroides (HK 4),Leuconostoc mesenteroides (HK 5),Leuconostoc mesenteroides(HK 11),Streptococcus salivarius(HK 8). In order to check LAB which are showing a high survival rate in gut, we investigated three strains inhibiting both indicator microorganisms in artificial gastric acid and bile juice -all except HK8. The three strains mentioned above grew in extreme low acid conditions.     

Three-Dimensional Numerical Model for Tsunami Propagation Passing Through An Obstacle

1 .Introduction In the present numerical analysis of a tsunami ,atwo-dimensional numerical model based on non-linear shallowwater theoryis mainly used (Aburaya and Imamura ,2002 ;Imamura ,1995 ; Goto andOgawa ,1992) .Thoughthis model representstsunami hei…     

Kinetics of the olivine→spinel transition: Implications to deep-focus earthquake genesis

The rate of the olivine→spinel transition at high overpressure increases with diminishing grain size, or increasing shear stress, temperature, and possibly pressure. The transition rate is higher in Fe-rich compositions than in Mg-rich compositions, and it can be greatly increased by adding water or other mineralizers. Of all variables controlling the kinetics of the olivine→spinel transition in the mantle, temperature is the most critical. The olivine→spinel transition can be suppressed below 500°C in Mg-rich compositions, even in geological period of time. Since the temperature within a downgoing slab varies greatly according to different models of calculation, it is not clear at this stage whether the temperature is low enough to suppress the olivine→spinel transition. If the olvine→spinel transition cannot be suppressed, it may not be responsible for the genesis of deep-focus earthquakes. However, the rise of the olivine-spinel boundary in the cold interior of downgoing slabs provides an additional driving force for the plunging of these slabs. The distortion of the olivine-spinel boundary may also control the stress distribution in downgoing slabs and may be responsible for the observed alignment of principal stress axes of deep-focus earthquakes.     

Propagation characteristics of historical tsunamis that attacked the east coast of Korea

In this study, a numerical modeling system based on the dispersion–correction finite difference scheme equipped with a grid-nesting scheme is constructed. The model is applied to simulate the propagation of three historical tsunami events that attacked the east coast of Korea. The calculated free-surface displacements for the cases of the 1983 Akita and the 1993 Okushiri tsunamis are compared with the observations at four tidal stations along the east coast of Korea. The comparison shows that the results agree well with the observations. The analyses of the simulated results show that underwater topography, such as submerged rises and ridges, plays an important role in the propagation of tsunamis in this region.     

Numerical models of RC elements and their impacts on seismic performance assessment

This paper aims to provide a guideline for numerical modeling of reinforced concrete (RC) frame elements for the seismic performance assessment of a structure. Several types of numerical models of RC frame elements are available in nonlinear structural analysis packages. Because the numerical models are formulated based on different assumptions and theories, the models' accuracy, computing time, and applicability vary, which poses a great difficulty to practicing engineers and limits their confidence in the analysis results. In this study, the applicability of five representative numerical models of RC frame elements is evaluated through comparison with 320 experimental results available from the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research column database. The accuracy of a numerical model is evaluated according to its initial stiffness, peak strength, and energy dissipation capacity of the global responses. In addition, a parametric study of a cantilever RC column subjected to earthquake excitation is carried out to systematically evaluate the consequence of the adopted numerical models on the maximum inelastic structural responses. It is found from this study that the accuracy of the numerical models is sensitive to shear force demand–capacity ratio. If a structural period is short and the structure is shear critical, the use of numerical models that can explicitly capture the shear deformation and failure is suggested. If the structural period is long, the selection of a numerical model does not greatly influence the global response of the structure. The paper also presents statistical parameters of each numerical model, which can be used for probabilistic seismic performance assessment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effective periods and seismic performance of steel moment resisting frames designed for risk categories I and IV according to IBC2009

In current seismic design, structures that are essential for post‐disaster recovery, and hazardous facilities are classified as risk category IV and are designed with higher importance factors and stringent drift limits. These structures are expected to perform better in an earthquake event because a larger base shear and more stringent drift limit are used. Although this provision has been in the seismic design code over the last three decades, few studies have investigated the performance of essential structures. The aim of this study is to quantify the impact of higher importance factors and stringent drift limits on the seismic performance of steel moment resisting frames. A total of 16 steel structures are designed for Los Angeles and Seattle. Different risk categories are used for the design. The effects of the risk categories on the structural periods, and thus on the seismic force demand, are investigated. A suite of inelastic time history analyses are carried out to understand the probability of exceeding a specified limit state when the structures are subjected to different levels of earthquake events. The results show that the periods of the structures in risk category IV decrease by a factor of 0.5 to 0.8, and the strengths increase by a factor of 1.5 to 3.2. Seismic fragility analysis shows that the structures in risk category IV generally satisfy the probabilistic performance objectives. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.