Combined refraction and diffraction of short waves using the finite element method

A two-dimensional finite element numerical model is presented that calculates combined refraction and diffraction of short waves. The wave equation solved governs the propagation of periodic, small amplitude surface gravity waves over a variable depth seabed of mild slope. An efficient computational scheme is employed that allows the solution of practical problems that typically require large computational grids. Comparisons are presented between the finite element model calculations and an analytical solution, a two-dimensional numerical solution, a three-dimensional numerical solution, and measurements from a hydraulic model.     

Residence times for protons bound to three oxygen sites in the AlO4Al12(OH)24(H2O)12 polyoxocation

Although, the kinetic reactivity of a mineral surface is determined, in part, by the rates of exchange of surface-bound oxygens and protons with bulk solution, there are no elementary rate data for minerals. However, such kinetic measurements can be made on dissolved polynuclear clusters, and here we report lifetimes for protons bound to three oxygen sites on the AlO₄Al₁₂(OH)₂₄(H₂O)₁₂⁷⁺ (Al₁₃) molecule, which is a model for aluminum-hydroxide solids in water. Proton lifetimes were measured using ¹H NMR at pH ∼ 5 in both aqueous and mixed solvents. The ¹H NMR peak for protons on bound waters (η-H₂O) lies near 8 ppm in a 2.5:1 mixture of H₂O/acetone-d₆ and broadens over the temperature range −20 to −5 °C. Extrapolated to 298 K, the lifetime of a proton on a η-H₂O is τ²⁹⁸ ∼ 0.0002 s, which is surprisingly close to the lifetime of an oxygen in the η-H₂O (∼0.0009 s), but in the same general range as lifetimes for protons on fully protonated monomer ions of trivalent metals (e.g., Al(H₂O)₆³⁺). The lifetime is reduced somewhat by acid addition, indicating that there is a contribution from the partly deprotonated Al₁₃ molecule in addition to the fully protonated Al₁₃ at self-buffered pH conditions. Proton lifetimes on the two distinct sets of hydroxyls bridging two Al(III) (μ₂-OH) differ substantially and are much shorter than the lifetime of an oxygen at these sites. The average lifetimes for hydroxyl protons were measured in a 2:1 mixture of H₂O/dmso-d₆ over the temperature range 3.7-95.2 °C. The lifetime of a hydrogen on one of the μ₂-OH was also measured in D₂O. The τ²⁹⁸ values are ∼0.013 and ∼0.2 s in the H₂O/dmso-d₆ solution and the τ²⁹⁸ value for the μ₂-OH detectable in D₂O is τ²⁹⁸ ∼ 0.013 s. The ¹H NMR peak for the more reactive μ₂-OH broadens slightly with acid addition, indicating a contribution from an exchange pathway that involves a proton or hydronium ion. These data indicate that surface protons on minerals will equilibrate with near-surface waters on the diffusional time scale.     

应力松弛作用对未固结砂岩等效弹性性质的影响

未固结碎屑砂岩储层是国内外重要的油气储层类型之一,其物理本质是由离散颗粒组成的软凝聚态物质.在地震勘探中通常使用Hertz-Mindlin等效介质模型来计算未固结砂岩的地震弹性特征,但该模型在使用中通常会得到明显偏高的剪切模量值.基于3D离散元技术,对颗粒介质在单轴压缩与纯剪两种过程中的力学响应进行离散元数值模拟,从微...     

Effects of macroalgal mats on the ecology of intertidal mudflats

The standing biomass and distribution of the invertebrate fauna of mudflats covered by macroalgal mats has been determined and compared with that of mudflats unaffected by algae. The faunal biomass of algal-covered mud was consistently higher than uncovered mud, mainly due to the presence of large populations of the snail Hydrobia ulvae. The structure of the faunal composition of algal-covered mud was altered and the numbers of at least one species of polychaete worm markedly reduced. The effect of these changes on the bird population exploiting the mudflats is discussed.     

中扬子地区晚震旦世-早寒武世沉积特征及岩相古地理

中扬子地区指青峰-湘广断裂带以南,湘黔桂海盆以北,鄂西恩施-龙山一线以东的湖北省和湖南省的大部分地区。根据中扬子地区上震旦统-下寒武统十余条代表性剖面的沉积特征及其横向展布规律,应用等时面优势相成图方法编制了晚震旦世的陡山沱期、灯影期,早寒武世的筇竹寺期、沧浪铺早期、沧浪铺晚期、龙王庙期共6幅岩相古地理图。中扬子地区上震旦统发育了从碳酸盐潮坪、开阔台地、浅滩、台地边缘、斜坡到台地前缘盆地等沉积,下寒武统下部主要为细碎屑岩和碳酸盐岩组成的混合型浅海陆棚沉积,上部变成碳酸盐潮坪、开阔台地、台缘斜坡和台缘盆地沉积。晚震旦世岩相古地理格局由碳酸盐台地(鄂中台地)和南边的台缘盆地组成。由于地壳差异性升降运动,晚震旦世陡山沱期岩相古地理格局发生了急剧变化。早寒武世早-中期岩相古地理格局由鄂中古陆、围绕古陆的碳酸盐潮坪、陆棚及南边的陆棚边缘盆地组成。早寒武世中-晚期岩相古地理格局由碳酸盐潮坪、开阔台地、台缘斜坡和台缘盆地组成,该地区主体进入碳酸盐台地演化阶段。     

Transformation of meta-stable calcium silicate hydrates to tobermorite: reaction kinetics and molecular structure from XRD and NMR spectroscopy

Understanding the integrity of well-bore systems that are lined with Portland-based cements is critical to the successful storage of sequestered CO₂ in gas and oil reservoirs. As a first step, we investigate reaction rates and mechanistic pathways for cement mineral growth in the absence of CO₂ by coupling water chemistry with XRD and NMR spectroscopic data. We find that semi-crystalline calcium (alumino-)silicate hydrate (Al-CSH) forms as a precursor solid to the cement mineral tobermorite. Rate constants for tobermorite growth were found to be k = 0.6 (± 0.1) × 10^-5 s^-1 for a solution:solid of 10:1 and 1.6 (± 0.8) × 10^-4 s^-1 for a solution:solid of 5:1 (batch mode; T = 150°C). This data indicates that reaction rates for tobermorite growth are faster when the solution volume is reduced by half, suggesting that rates are dependent on solution saturation and that the Gibbs free energy is the reaction driver. However, calculated solution saturation indexes for Al-CSH and tobermorite differ by less than one log unit, which is within the measured uncertainty. Based on this data, we consider both heterogeneous nucleation as the thermodynamic driver and internal restructuring as possible mechanistic pathways for growth. We also use NMR spectroscopy to characterize the site symmetry and bonding environment of Al and Si in a reacted tobermorite sample. We find two ^[4]Al coordination structures at δ _iso = 59.9 ppm and 66.3 ppm with quadrupolar product parameters (P_Q) of 0.21 MHz and 0.10 MHz (± 0.08) from ²⁷Al 3Q-MAS NMR and speculate on the Al occupancy of framework sites by probing the protonation environment of Al metal centers using ²⁷Al{¹H}CP-MAS NMR.     

The great Atacama flood of 2001 and its implications for Andean hydrology

In February 2001, widespread flooding occurred throughout the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and southern Peru. It was particularly severe in the Río Loa basin, where roads and bridges were disrupted and the town of Calama inundated. The instantaneous peak flow in the Río Salado, a tributary of the Río Loa, reached 310 m³ s^?1, an order of magnitude higher than any previously recorded event. The flood is estimated to have a return period of 100–200 years and is shown to have been caused by intense, long‐duration rainfall in the western Cordillera associated with La Niña. The surface water response is typical of arid areas and highly dependent on antecedent conditions, but is quite different in perennial and ephemeral catchments. Ephemeral flood flows suffer high transmission losses, recharging phreatic aquifers. Perennial rivers have lower runoff coefficients, but baseflow levels remained high after the event for several months due to bank storage rebound and interflow. Extremely high energies of ～3000 W m^?2 were generated by the floods in the Cordillera, becoming less in the Precordillera and downstream. Erosion and sediment transport were consequently highest in the upper and middle reaches of the rivers, with mixed erosion‐deposition in the lowest reach. The new insights gained from the interpretation and quantification of this event have important implications for palaeoenvironmental analysis, hazard management, water resource evaluation and the palaeohydrological evolution of the Andes. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Procedural vulnerability: Understanding environmental change in a remote indigenous community

The challenge of reaching common understanding of the processes and significance of environmental change amounts to a procedural vulnerability in climate change research that hinders successfully translating knowledge into equitable and effective adaptation policy. This article presents findings from research with Indigenous participants in West Arnhem, Australia, and identifies a procedural vulnerability to climate change research, where perceptions of change and their meaning have their context in Dreaming that supersedes and parallels Western scientific discourses of hazard and risk, but that are marginalised in studies and policies on climate change. This paper argues that moves to adapt remote Indigenous Australian communities to climate change risk missing the mark if they (a) assume that a strong reliance on particular ecosystem configurations makes Indigenous cultures universally vulnerable to environmental change, (b) do not recognise cosmologically embedded risks that are determined by Indigenous capacity to take care of country, and (c) do not recognise colonisation as an ongoing disaster in Indigenous Nations, and therefore treat secondary disasters such as poverty, ill health and welfare dependence as primary contributors to high climate change vulnerability. Procedural vulnerabilities contribute to policy failure, and in Australian contexts pose a risk of conceiving solutions to climate change vulnerability that involve moving people out of the way of environmental risks as they are conceived within colonial traditions, while moving them into the way of risks as conceived through the eyes of remote Indigenous communities. This research joins recent publications that encourage researchers and policy-makers to epistemologically ground proof risk assessments and to listen and engage in conversations that create ways of ‘seeing with both eyes’, while not being blind to the hazards of colonisation.     

TUNNEL TRANSFORMATION OF ANTIDUNES

Two series of experiments were run to ascertain the nature of the transformation of antidunes when suppressed by a tunnel roof. One series was performed in a recirculating flume 30cm in width and 6 meters in length using well sorted sand, 0.35 mm in mean diameter. The second series was conducted in a flume 76cm wide and 18 meters long using very well to very poorly sorted gravel and sandy gravel. In the first series, standing waves, antidunes, and breaking antidunes were generated in the open channel section of the flume; in the second series, standing waves and downstream-migrating antidunes were generated. In both series, these bedforms were replaced in the tunnel section by a plane bed, often with a rheological front. In the smaller flume, antidunes contained backset and foreset (lee-side) laminae, poorly sorted and less than about 10° in maximum dip. In the larger flume, although backsets formed, they were temporary only, and were soon eroded by the downstream migration of the antidunes. Sand was deposited on the downstream sides of bed waves, but although clearly visible in plan, it did not show up clearly as lamination in section: well sorted gravel was just as abundant as poorly sorted. The open channel data from the gravel experiments showed that in-phase waves form at about the same Froude numbers for both coarse sand and granule-pebble gravel.