Influence of drainage and root biomass on soil mechanical behavior in triaxial tests

Acta Geotechnica - This paper presents a study in which triaxial tests were performed on loess soil reinforced with natural roots. Triaxial compression tests were performed on soil specimens with...     

Economic drivers of contemporary smallholder agriculture in a transitional economy: A case study of Hu Village from southwest China

Based on an in‐depth case study of a rural community, this paper documents the contemporary state of Chinese smallholder agriculture and the changes that it has been experiencing in the context of dramatic socio‐economic transition through the lens of three main economic drivers: livelihood diversification, market conditions and government interventions. Results reveal that the change in Chinese smallholder agriculture has been complex and multidimensional. All three factors exert profound influence and shape the current state of Chinese agriculture. Massive rural‐urban migration has resulted in labour shortages, which in turn have led to a reduction in agricultural diversity and land use intensity and a shift from traditional labour‐intensive technologies to modern capital‐intensive technologies. However, because of well‐developed agricultural markets, input use levels are similar across farmer categories (such as income diversification), helping to maintain productivity. Furthermore, reduced profits from farming due to increasing input prices and decreasing output prices have exerted pressure on smallholders to increasingly turn to nonfarm activities and have also triggered a thriving informal land transfer market, which was previously non‐existent. Policy implications include the need to strengthen local economies, improve market conditions, invest in rural infrastructures and facilitate smallholders' mobility.     

Cylindrical and spherical positron-acoustic Gardner solitons in electron-positron-ion plasmas with nonthermal electrons and positrons

A theoretical investigation has been performed on the nonlinear propagation of nonplanar (cylindrical and spherical) Gardner solitons (GSs) associated with the positron-acoustic (PA) waves in a four component plasma system consisting of nonthermal distributed electrons and hot positrons, mobile cold positrons, and immobile positive ions. The well-known reductive perturbation method has been employed to derive the modified Gardner (MG) equation. The basic features (viz. amplitude, polarity, speed, etc.) of nonplanar PA Gardner solitons (GSs) have been examined by the numerical analysis of the MG equation. It has been observed that the properties of the PA GSs in a nonplanar geometry differ from those in a planar geometry. It has been also investigated that the presence of nonthermal (Cairns distributed) electrons and hot positrons significantly modify the amplitude, polarity, speed, and thickness of such PA GSs. The results of our investigation should play an important role in understanding various interstellar space plasma environments as well as laboratory plasmas.     

Numerical modelling of multiphase immiscible flow in double‐porosity featured groundwater systems

A numerical model describing the flow of multiphase, immiscible fluids in a deformable, double‐porosity featured soil has been developed. The model is focused on the modelling of the secondary porosity features in soil, which is more relevant to groundwater contamination problems. The non‐linear saturation and relative permeabilities were expressed as functions of the capillary pressures. The governing partial differential equations in terms of soil displacement and fluid pressures were solved numerically. Galerkin's weighted‐residual finite element method was employed to obtain the spatial discretization whereas temporal discretization was achieved using a fully implicit scheme. The model was verified against established, peer‐reviewed works, and the assumption that the immiscible fluids (non‐aqueous phase liquids) will flow preferentially through the secondary porosity features in soil was validated. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of heavy metal contamination in the surficial sediments from the lower Meghna River estuary,Noakhali coast,Bangladesh

Sediment samples were collected from ten selected sites of the lower Meghna River estuary,and six heavy metals were analyzed with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry(AAS)to assess the contamination level and the metals’association with sediment grain size.The current results revealed that the mean concentrations of the studied metals were ranked in descending order of iron(Fe)(1.29×103 mg/kg)>zinc(Zn)(42.41 mg/kg)>lead(Pb)(12.48 mg/kg)>chromium(Cr)(10.59 mg/kg)>copper(Cu)(6.22 mg/kg)>cadmium(Cd)(0.28 mg/kg).The geo-accumulation,contamination,and pollution load indexes suggested that the lower Meghna river estuary was not contaminated by Fe,Zn,Pb,Cr,and Cu.The mean size of the sediment ranged from 28.92 to 126.2 mm,and the Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant association between Fe and Pb(coefficient of determination,r2=0.836;p<0.05),and no significant correlation was found between individual metals and grain size,indicating no or low influence on the metals distribution.     

Hydro-geochemical evaluation of groundwater with studies on water quality index and suitability for drinking in Sagardari,Jashore

Sagardari union is facing groundwater crisis because of contaminations from agriculture and urban sewage, which bring a considerable change in water quality. In view of this, hydro-chemical analyses were undertaken on 35 groundwater samples and the following hydro-geochemical parameters, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH), electrical conductivity (EC), cations and anions, were analyzed. From the analytical results, it is found that pH value was lower than WHO drinking water standard and the middle-downstream portions of the investigation region show higher EC. The piper plot indicates that the groundwater in Sagardari falls in the categories of NaClHCO₃ hydro-chemical facies. Higher TH in groundwater was detected, but still in an acceptable range. In addition, salinity and arsenic ratio are higher and moderately higher, respectively. The spatial distribution of Groundwater Quality Index (GWQI) was determined by geo-statistical modelling of Sagardari union. The study provides information and supports the administration which to make better groundwater utilization and quality control in the Sagardari union.     

Dynamic Dark Energy Equation of State (EoS) and Hubble Constant Analysis Using Type Ia Supernovae from Union 2.1 Dataset

This paper constraints dynamic dark energy equation of state (EoS) parameters using the type Ia supernovae from Union 2.1 dataset. The paper also discusses the dependency of dynamic dark energy EoS parameters on the chosen or assumed value of the Hubble Constant. To understand the correlation between the Hubble Constant values and measured dynamic dark energy EoS parameters, we used recent surveys being done through various techniques such as cosmic microwave background studies, gravitational waves, baryonic acoustic oscillations and standard candles to set values for different Hubble Constant values as fixed parameters with CPL and WCDM models. Then we applied trust region reflective (TRF) and dog leg (dogbox) algorithms to fit dark energy density parameter and dynamic dark energy EoS parameters. We found a significant negative correlation between the fixed Hubble Constant parameter and measured EoS parameter, $${{w}_{0}}$$. Then we used two best fit Hubble Constant values (70 and 69.18474) km s–1 Mpc–1 based on Chi-square test to test more dark energy EoS parameters like: JBP, BA, PADE-I, PADE-II, and LH4 models and compared the results with $$\Lambda $$-CDM with constant $${{w}_{{{\text{de}}}}} = - 1$$, WCDM and CPL models. We conclude that flat $$\Lambda $$‑CDM and WCDM models clearly provide best results while using the BIC criteria as it severely penalizes the use of extra parameters. However, the dependency of EoS parameters on Hubble Constant value and the increasing tension in the measurement of Hubble Constant values using different techniques warrants further investigation into looking for optimal dynamic dark energy EoS models to optimally model the relation between the expansion rate and evolution of dark energy in our universe.     

Geochemistry of subsurface Late Quaternary ironstones in Rajshahi and Bogra Districts,Bangladesh: implications for genetic and depositional conditions

The present study deals with the geochemistry of Late Quaternary ironstones in the subsurface in Rajshahi and Bogra districts, Bangladesh with the lithological study of the boreholes sediments. Major lithofacies of the studied boreholes are clay, silty clay, sandy clay, fine to coarse grained sand, gravels and sands with(fragmentary) ironstones. The ironstones contain major oxides, Fe_2 O_3*(*total Fe)(avg. 66.6 wt%), SiO_2(avg. 15.3 wt%), Al_2 O_3(avg. 4.0 wt%), MnO(avg. 7.7 wt%), and CaO(avg. 3.4 wt%). These geochemical data imply that the higher percentage of Fe_2 O_3* along with Al_2 O_3 and MnO indicate the ironstone as goethite and siderite, which is also validated by XRD data. A comparatively higher percentage of SiO_2 indicates the presence of relative amounts of clastic quartz and manganese-rich silicate or clay in these rocks. These ironstones also have significant amounts of MnO(avg. 7.7 wt%) suggesting their depositional environments under oxygenated condition. Chemical data of these ironstones suggest that the source rock suffered deep chemical weathering and iron was mostly carried in association with the clay fraction and organic matter. Iron concretion was mostly formed by bacterial build up in swamps and marshes, and was subsequently embedded in clayey mud.Within the coastal environments, the water table fluctuates and goethite and siderite with mud and quartz became dry and compacted to form ironstone.     

Recent Sea Level and Sea Surface Temperature Trends Along the Bangladesh Coast in Relation to the Frequency of Intense Cyclones

Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, is a victim of frequent natural calamities like tropical cyclones, tornadoes, floods, storm surges and droughts. Now the sea level rise (SLR) has also been included in these natural calamities. The SLR is likely to have greater impact on that part of Bangladesh having low topography and a wide flood plain. Since 21% of the population lives in the low coastal belt, any increase in sea level will be a problem of ominous proportion for Bangladesh. Since the cyclogenesis enhances over the Bay of Bengal during May and November, the sea level and sea surface temperature (SST) trends of these two months have been analyzed and calculated. The results of the selected stations one in the eastern coast and another in the western coast of Bangladesh show that Bangladesh coastal sea level is rising in the same way as the global sea level, but the magnitude is quite different. The difference in the behavior of sea level rise along the Bangladesh coast and the global trend may be due to the tectonic activity such as subsidence of the land. The mean tide level at Hiron Point (in Sunderbans) has shown an increasing trend of about 2.5 mm/year in May and 8.5 mm/year in November. Similarly near Cox?s Bazar (in the eastern coast of Bangladesh) it has registered a positive trend of about 4.3 mm/year in May and 10.9 mm/year in November. Thus the increment in the sea level along the Bangladesh coast during cyclone months is much more pronounced. In coastal waters near Hiron Point the SST has registered an increasing trend of about 1°C in May and 0.5°C in November during the 14-year period from 1985?1998. Near Cox?s Bazar, SST has shown a rising trend of about 0.8°C in May and about 0.4°C in November during the same 14-year period. The magnitude of SST trend is slightly more along the west coast. Any change in the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones will have far reaching implications in the South Asian region. The rise in SST in the cyclone months seems to be correlated with the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones. During these months, an increasing trend in the frequency and intensity of severe cyclones has been observed.