Engineering geology of loess and loess-like deposits: a commentary on the Russian literature

Loess and loess-like deposits were much studied in the Soviet Union, and are currently under investigation in Russia and surrounding countries. There is a vast literature in Russian, which touches on all aspects of loess science and technology. In particular, the studies of the origin of collapsibility are almost totally in Russian, and of course studies on the various regions of Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union FSU appear in Russian. This review looks at the literature in Russian and attempts to pick out key contributors, major topics and works and to identify the critical regions and zones of investigation. Because so many regions of the FSU had people living on loess ground, there is a vast literature on engineering geology and ground engineering topics, and this tends to dominate all the literature on loess in Russian. Following Russian practice, the fine-grained deposits under consideration are divided into loess and loess-like deposits. Three main topics are recognised across the whole spectrum of loess research: formation and distribution of loess deposits; stratigraphy, cyclicity and palaeoclimatology; and engineering topics, in particular hydrocollapse and subsidence, and we concentrate on the engineering geology topics. An attempt is made, based on the map of Abelev and Abelev [Abelev, Yu.M., Abelev, M.Yu., 1968. Fundamentals of design and construction on collapsible macroporous soils, 2nd ed. Stroiizdat, Moscow, 431 pp. (in Russian)] of collapsing loess deposits, to define seven loess regions within the geographical limits of the old USSR. The seven regions are those where geotechnical problems might be expected.     

Digital model of corrected accumulated flow for peak discharge data acquisition and drainage system design

The design of a drainage system for a roofing slate quarry was implemented by the enhancement of discharge peak estimation, and the uncertainty inevitably associated with the engineering model was reduced.

The development of a topographical, geological, and vegetation cover database developed from a Geographical Information System (GIS) allowed for the definition of the drainage network for a hydraulic system, along with the calculation of the runoff coefficient. This is applied to the digital model of accumulated flow (DMF) as a weight correction coefficient, using a matrix-based model at 5×5 m resolution. The new digital model of corrected accumulated flow (DMCF) is the result of combining the thematic maps with the map of slope <3%, which was previously created from the slope model. It is demonstrated that this new model allows to apply the “Rational Method” on cartographic units defined by the GIS.

The DMCF is compared with other traditional applications of the Rational Method based on the calculation of the discharge peak considering: (1) the drainage basin as a single watershed or (2) defining an average runoff coefficient in each sub-watershed. Both approaches have bigger discharge peaks than those obtained by the DMCF since the slope, lithology, and vegetation cover have average values, and the runoff coefficient is poorly defined, increasing the uncertainty in the discharge peak.     

Groundwater residence times and flow paths in fractured rock determined using environmental tracers in the Mission Tunnel; Santa Barbara County,California, USA

Multiple geochemical tracers [ion chemistry, stable isotopes of water, chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), tritium] and a 25-year-long record of discharge were used to understand residence times and flow paths of groundwater seeps in the fractured rock aquifer surrounding the Mission Tunnel, Santa Barbara, California. Tritium data from individual seeps indicate that seep waters are a mixture of >45-year-old (recharged prior to the nuclear bomb tests) and young groundwater. CFC data support this interpretation, however, a two-end member mixing model cannot completely explain the age tracer data. Microbial degradation and partial re-equilibration complicate the CFC signal. Spectral analysis of precipitation and groundwater seepage records shows that seepage lags precipitation by 3 months. This delay is related to the advancement of the wetting front and increasing the number of active flow paths. Additionally, the amount of seepage produced by precipitation is less during extended periods of drought than during normal or wet periods, suggesting antecedent conditions strongly affect flow through this fractured rock aquifer.     

Influence of accretion-disk models on the structure of the Iron Κ<Subscript>α</Subscript> line

Broad iron Κ_α emission with a characteristic two-peaked profile is observed in most Seyfert galaxies in the X-ray. We have calculated the profiles of such lines emitted by an accretion disk in a Schwartzschild metric. The dependence of the temperature distribution in the disk on the line shape is demonstrated. All the calculations include general relativistic effects. The disk material is assumed to move in circular geodesics in the equatorial plane. The line profile is extremely complex, even in a traditional model for the radial temperature distribution, complicating interpretation of the observational data.     

Environmental impact of heavy-metal dispersion in the Huerva River (Iberian Range,NE Spain)

In this study, the methodology of geochemical prospecting has been applied to the study of cadmium, lead, copper and zinc dispersion in the fine sediments of the upper course of the Huerva River (Iberian Range, NE Spain). The survey was organised in two stages: (1) general sampling along the river and its tributary channels, aimed at selecting the sections with the highest contents of the target elements, and (2) detailed study of those sections, aimed at an interpretation of possible positive geochemical anomalies and identification of their sources. The results of this study prove the existence of multiple and complex sources, with a significant influence of sources related to anthropogenic activity. However, the system shows a good ability to depurate itself under current conditions.     

Geomechanical Properties of Shear Zones in the Eastern Aar Massif,Switzerland and their Implication on Tunnelling

Summary ¶Rock zones containing a high fracture density and/or soft, low cohesion materials can be highly problematic when encountered during tunnel excavation. For example in the eastern Aar massif of central Switzerland, experiences during the construction of the Gotthard highway tunnel showed that heavily fractured areas within shear zones were responsible for overbreaks in the form of chimneys several metres in height. To understand and estimate the impact of the shear zones on rock mass behaviour, knowledge concerning the rock mass strength and deformation characteristics is fundamental. A series of laboratory triaxial tests, performed on samples from granite- and gneiss-hosted shear zones revealed that with increasing degree of tectonic overprint, sample strength decreases and rock behaviour shows a transition from brittle to ductile deformation. These trends may be explained by increasing fracture densities, increasing foliation intensity, increasing thickness of fine-grained, low cohesion fracture infill, and increasing mica content associated with the increasing degree of tectonic overprint. As fracture density increases and the influence of discrete, persistent discontinuities on rock mass strength decreases, behaviour of the test samples becomes more and more representative of rock mass behaviour, i.e. that of a densely fractured continuum. For the purpose of numerical modeling calculations, the shear zones may be subdivided with respect to an increasing fracture density, foliation intensity and mica content into a strongly foliated zone, a fractured zone and a cohesionless zone, which in turn exhibit brittle, brittle-ductile and ductile rock mass constitutive behaviour, respectively.Received December 17, 2001; accepted January 9, 2003 Published online April 29, 2003     

Is Prediction of Future Landslides Possible with a GIS?

This contribution explores a strategy for landslide hazard zonation inwhich layers of spatial data are used to represent typical settings inwhich given dynamic types of landslides are likely to occur. Theconcepts of assessment and prediction are defined to focus on therepresentation of future hazardous events and in particular on themyths that often provide obstacles in the application of quantitativemethods. The prediction rate curves for different applications describethe support provided by the different data layers in experiments inwhich the typical setting of hazardous events is approximated bystatistically integrating the spatial information.     

Compositional Geometry and Mass Conservation

A geometrical structure is imposed on compositional data by physical and chemical laws, principally mass conservation. Therefore, statistical or mathematical investigation of possible relations between data values and such laws must be consistent with this structure. This demands that geometrical concepts, such as points that specify both mass and composition in linear space, and lines in projective space that specify composition only, be clearly defined and consistent with mass conservation. Mass thus becomes the norm in composition space in place of the Euclidean norm of ordinary space. Coordinate transformations inconsistent with this geometry are accordingly unnatural and misleading. They are also unnecessary because correlation arising from the constant mass presents no unusual difficulty in the analysis of the underlying quadratic form.     

Hazard Zoning for Landslides Connected to Torrential Floods in the Jerte Valley (Spain) by using GIS Techniques

The Jerte Valley is anortheast-southwest tending graben located in the mountainous region of west central Spain (Spanish Central System). Mass movements have been a predominant shaping process on the Valley slopes during the Quaternary. Present day activity is characterized as either `first-time failure' (shallow debris slides and debris flows) or `reactivations' of pre-existing landslides deposits.A delineation of landslide hazard zoningwithin the Valley has been carried out by using the detailed documentation of a particular event (a debris slide and a sequel torrential flood, which occurred on the Jubaguerra stream gorge), and GIS techniques. The procedure has had four stages, which are: (1) the elaboration of a susceptibility map (spatial prediction) of landslides; (2) the elaboration of a map of `restricted susceptibility' in the particular case of slopes that are connected to streams and torrents (gorges); (3) the elaboration of a digital model which relates the altitude to the occurrence probability of those particular precipitation conditions which characterized the Jubaguerra event and (4) the combination of the probability model with the `restricted susceptibility map', to establish `critical zones' or areas which are more prone to the occurrence of phenomena that have same typology as this one.     

Preliminary Results from a New 157 nm Laser Ablation ICP-MS Instrument: New Opportunities in the Analysis of Solid Samples

Preliminary results are given from an excimer 157 nm laser ablation multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (LA-MC-ICP-MS), used for the isotopic measurements of solid materials. Elements of geological interest with different volatilities such as Pb and U (e.g. zircon geochronology) and Cu and Zn (as examples of geochemical/biochemical tracers) were analysed. The range of ablation rates of 20-150 nm s^-1 enabled us to ablate the sample down to a depth of 45 μm for a 50 μm diameter pit. The Cu and Zn isotopic measurements gave values that were very stable with, on average, a 0.01 % standard error, comparable with that achieved in liquid mode measurements.