Study on effects of damping in laminated rubber bearings on seismic responses for a ⅛ scale isolated test structure

The effects of damping in various laminated rubber bearings (LRB) on the seismic response of a ?‐scale isolated test structure are investigated by shaking table tests and seismic response analyses. A series of shaking table tests of the structure were performed for a fixed base design and for a base isolation design. Two different types of LRB were used: natural rubber bearings (NRB) and lead rubber bearings (LLRB). Three different designs for the LLRB were tested; each design had a different diameter of lead plug, and thus, different damping values. Artificial time histories of peak ground acceleration 0.4g were used in both the tests and the analyses. In both shaking table tests and analyses, as expected, the acceleration responses of the seismically isolated test structure were considerably reduced. However, the shear displacement at the isolators was increased. To reduce the shear displacement in the isolators, the diameter of the lead plug in the LLRB had to be enlarged to increase isolator damping by more than 24%. This caused the isolator stiffness to increase, and resulted in amplifying the floor acceleration response spectra of the isolated test structure in the higher frequency ranges with a monotonic reduction of isolator shear displacement. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An empirical model of subcritical bedform migration

The ability to predict bedform migration in rivers is critical for estimating bed material load, yet there is no relation for predicting bedform migration (downstream translation) that covers the full range of conditions under which subcritical bedforms develop. Here, the relation between bedform migration rates and transport stage is explored using a field and several flume data sets. Transport stage is defined as the non‐dimensional Shields stress divided by its value at the threshold for sediment entrainment. Statistically significant positive correlations between both ripple and dune migration rates and transport stage are found. Stratification of the data by the flow depth to grain‐size ratio improved the amount of variability in migration rates that was explained by transport stage to ca 70%. As transport stage increases for a given depth to grain‐size ratio, migration rates increase. For a given transport stage, the migration rate increases as the flow depth to grain‐size ratio gets smaller. In coarser sediment, bedforms move faster than in finer sediment at the same transport stage. Normalization of dune migration rates by the settling velocity of bed sediment partially collapses the data. Given the large amount of variability that arises from combining data sets from different sources, using different equipment, the partial collapse is remarkable and warrants further testing in the laboratory and field.     

Coleopteran evidence for a mosaic of environments at high altitude in the eastern Pyrénées,France, during the climatic transition between the Allerød and Younger Dryas

Late‐glacial environmental and climatic implications are inferred from an insect fauna from organic sediments infilling a palaeochannel on the banks of the River Têt, eastern Pyrénées, France. A pine cone in association with the insect fauna has been radiocarbon dated to 10 920 ± 60 yr BP, namely close to the Allerød – Younger Dryas boundary. Two distinct insect associations appear to be recognisable here. One is an assemblage typical of the high altitude forest and a second is characteristic of an alpine grassland. The close coexistence of these two assemblages is attributed to the climatic cooling towards the start of the Younger Dryas Stadial, when the forest cover broke up into remnant patches interspersed by alpine grassland. It is suggested that in a region of such high relief a mosaic of habitats may have been caused by patchy differences in insolation aspect, especially during a period of climatic deterioration. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Garnet crystal plasticity in the continental crust,new example from south Madagascar

Garnet (10 vol.%; pyrope contents 34–44 mol.%) hosted in quartzofeldspathic rocks within a large vertical shear zone of south Madagascar shows a strong grain‐size reduction (from a few cm to ～300 μm). Electron back‐scattered diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscope imaging coupled with quantitative analysis of digitized images (PolyLX software) have been used in order to understand the deformation mechanisms associated with this grain‐size evolution. The garnet grain‐size reduction trend has been summarized in a typological evolution (from Type I to Type IV). Type I, the original porphyroblasts, form cm‐sized elongated grains that crystallized upon multiple nucleation and coalescence following biotite breakdown: biotite + sillimanite + quartz = garnet + alkali feldspar + rutile + melt. These large garnet grains contain quartz ribbons and sillimanite inclusions. Type I garnet is sheared along preferential planes (sillimanite layers, quartz ribbons and/or suitably oriented garnet crystallographic planes) producing highly elongated Type II garnet grains marked by a single crystallographic orientation. Further deformation leads to the development of a crystallographic misorientation, subgrains and new grains resulting in Type III garnet. Associated grain‐size reduction occurs via subgrain rotation recrystallization accompanied by fast diffusion‐assisted dislocation glide. This plastic deformation of garnet is associated with efficient recovery as shown by the very low dislocation densities (10¹⁰ m^?3 or lower). The rounded Type III garnet experiences rigid body rotation in fine‐grained matrix. In the highly deformed samples, the deformation mechanisms in garnet are grain‐size‐ and shape‐dependent: dislocation creep is dominant for the few large grains left (>1 mm; Type II garnet), rigid body rotation is typical for the smaller rounded grains (300 μm or less; Type III garnet) whereas diffusion creep may affect more elliptic garnet (Type IV garnet). The P–T conditions of garnet plasticity in the continental crust (≥950 °C; 11 kbar) have been identified using two‐feldspar thermometry and GASP conventional barometry. The garnet microstructural and deformation mechanisms evolution, coupled with grain‐size decrease in a fine‐grained steady‐state microstructure of quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase, suggests a separate mechanical evolution of garnet with respect to felsic minerals within the shear zone.     

Freshwater geographies: Experimenting with knowing and doing geography differently

The fair and effective governance of freshwater is an increasingly prominent issue in New Zealand. Emerging from a complex of cultural, economic and biophysical narratives, freshwater geographies are multiple, varied and increasingly acknowledged as worthy of interdisciplinary scrutiny. In this commentary, we reflect on a series of generative spaces that we – as group of postgraduate geographers (plus supporting staff) – created to engage with the multiplicity of freshwater meanings both within and beyond the academy. Through this evolving epistemic‐political project, we significantly reframed our own understandings about what freshwater ‘is’ and how it ought to be governed. By pursuing a deeper understanding of how the world gets made, we expand our ability to know and make it differently.     

Deciphering the depositional environment of the laminated Crato fossil beds (Early Cretaceous,Araripe Basin,North‐eastern Brazil)

The laminated limestones of the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of the Araripe Basin (North‐eastern Brazil) are world‐famous for their exceptionally well‐preserved and taxonomically diverse fossil fauna and flora. Whereas the fossil biota has received considerable attention, only a few studies have focused on the sedimentary characteristics and palaeoenvironmental conditions which prevailed during formation of the Crato Fossil Lagerstätte. The Nova Olinda Member represents the lowermost and thickest unit (up to 10 m) of the Crato Formation and is characterized by a pronounced rhythmically bedded, pale to dark lamination. To obtain information on palaeoenvironmental conditions, sample slabs derived from three local stratigraphic sections within the Araripe Basin were studied using high‐resolution multiproxy techniques including detailed logging, petrography, μ‐XRF scanning and stable isotope geochemistry. Integration of lithological and petrographic evidence indicates that the bulk of the Nova Olinda limestone formed via authigenic precipitation of calcite from within the upper water column, most probably induced and/or mediated by phytoplankton and picoplankton activity. A significant contribution from a benthonic, carbonate‐secreting microbial mat community is not supported by these results. Deposition took place under anoxic and, at least during certain episodes, hypersaline bottom water conditions, as evidenced by the virtually undisturbed lamination pattern, the absence of a benthonic fauna and by the occurrence of halite pseudomorphs. Input of allochthonous, catchment‐derived siliciclastics to the basin during times of laminite formation was strongly reduced. The δ¹⁸O values of authigenic carbonate precipitates (between ?7·1 and ?5·1‰) point to a ¹⁸O‐poor meteoric water source and support a continental freshwater setting for the Nova Olinda Member. The δ¹³C values, which are comparatively rich in ¹³C (between ?0·1 and +1·9‰), are interpreted to reflect reduced throughflow of water in a restricted basin, promoting equilibration with atmospheric CO₂, probably in concert with stagnant conditions and low input of soil‐derived carbon. Integration of lithological and isotopic evidence indicates a shift from closed to semi‐closed conditions towards a more open lake system during the onset of laminite deposition in the Crato Formation.     

Methane‐related microbial gypsum calcitization in stromatolites of a marine evaporative setting (Münder Formation,Upper Jurassic,Hils Syncline,north Germany)

Fossil stromatolites may reveal information about their hydrochemical palaeoenvironment, provided that assignment to a specific microbial community and a corresponding biogeochemical mechanism of formation can be made. Tithonian stromatolites of the Münder Formation at Thüste, north Germany, have traditionally been considered as formed by intertidal cyanobacterial communities. However, thin sections of the stromatolites show elongated angular traces of former gypsum crystals in a dense arrangement, but no algal or cyanobacterial filament traces. Moreover, high Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ contents, oxygen‐isotope and sulphur‐isotope ratios of carbonate‐bound sulphates, and sulphurized hydrocarbon biomarkers of the stromatolitic carbonate indicate that CaCO₃ precipitation occurred near the oxic–anoxic interface as a result of intensive bacterial sulphur cycling rather than photosynthetic activity. Furthermore, anaerobic oxidation of methane by Archaea may have driven CaCO₃ precipitation in deeper parts of the biofilm community, as reflected by high concentrations of squalane with a strongly negative δ¹³C in conjunction with evaporite pseudomorphs showing extremely low δ¹³C_Carb ratios. Consequently, the Thüste stromatolites are now interpreted as having initially formed by gypsum impregnation of biofilms. Subsequently, early Mg‐calcitic calcitization within the biofilms occurred because of combined bacterial iron, manganese and sulphate reduction, with an increasing contribution of anaerobic oxidation of methane with depth. This model plausibly explains the prominent preservation of signals derived from oxygen‐independent metabolic pathways, whereas virtually no geochemical record exists for an aerobic community that may, nevertheless, have prevailed at the stromatolite surface. Photic‐zone stromatolites with a prominent signal of anaerobic oxidation of methane may be common in, and indicative of, oxygen‐depleted sulphate‐bearing environments with high rates of methane production, conditions that possibly were fulfilled at the Archaean to Proterozoic transition.     

Late Bronze Age paleogeography along the ancient Ways of Horus in Northwest Sinai,Egypt

The northwest Sinai contained the eastern frontier of New Kingdom Egypt during the Late Bronze Age. The ancient Pelusaic branch of the Nile Delta influenced the environmental setting of this region at that time. Fortresses were built along the coastal byway through the study area known as the Ways of Horus to protect Egyptian‐held territory from immigrants and intruders from Canaan and the Mediterranean Sea. Building on previous geomorphic studies in the region, this paper presents the results of field investigations of Holocene sedimentary deposits, aided by satellite photography, used to create a paleogeographic map that places archaeological sites in their proper environmental context. CORONA satellite photographs from the late 1960s reveal surface features that have been obscured by more recent agricultural development in the region. Canals dug for an agricultural project provided easy access to the shallow subsurface for mapping the extent of Holocene sediments representing barrier coast, lagoon, estuarine, fluvial, and marsh depositional environments. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.