A micro–macro investigation of the capillary strengthening effect in wet granular materials

Wet granular materials are three-dimensionally simulated by the discrete element method with water bridges incorporated between particles. The water bridges are simplified as toroidal shapes, and the matric suction is constantly maintained in the material. A comparison with experimental tests in the literature indicates that the toroidal shape approximation may be one of the best choices with high practicability and decent accuracy. Mechanical behaviours of wet granular materials are studied by triaxial tests. Effects of particle size distributions and void ratios are investigated systematically in this study. The hydraulic limit of the pendular state is also discussed. It gives the capillary cohesion function which is not only determined by the degree of saturation but also positively correlated to relative density and particle size polydispersity and inversely proportional to mean particle size. Furthermore, the capillary strengthening effect is also analysed microscopically in aid of the Stress–Force–Fabric relationship, mainly in fabric anisotropy, coordination number and stress transmission pattern, which revealed the micro-mechanisms of the additional effective stress induced by capillary effect.     

Hydraulic Conductivity Tests for Evaluating Compatibility of Lateritic Soil—Fly Ash Mixtures with Municipal Waste Leachate

Long term competent performance of liner systems is a critical issue in the design and construction of waste repositories due to adverse interactions associated with leachate generated by wastes. This study was conducted to verify the efficacy of fly ash stabilization in enhancing compatibility between lateritic soil and municipal waste leachate. Applications investigated include soil mixtures containing 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% fly ash compacted at approximately 2% wet of optimum moisture content with modified proctor energy. Baseline hydraulic conductivity was first established at every level of fly ash content by permeating soil mixtures with tap water before permeation with leachate in a compaction mould permeameter using the falling head test method. Results show that the trend in hydraulic conductivity of specimen containing 0% fly ash was characterized by a gradual but erratic decrease which may suggests partial entry of the leachate cations into the double layer. Conversely, specimens containing fly ash showed a general trend consisting of an initial drop in k (up to an order of magnitude) that was followed by slight decrease sustained until k stabilized and later terminated. Above 10% fly ash content, the relatively high values of k observed was not connected with the reactivity of the soil mixtures with leachate, rather it may be attributed to excessive fly ash content that altered their textural and hydraulic properties. The result of this study is potentially significant in the assessment of fly ash as a compatibility enhancing agent which can be admixed in barrier materials that are susceptible to adverse reactions with the liquid to be contained.     

Long-Term Changes in the Extreme Significant Wave Heights on the Western North Pacific: Impacts of Tropical Cyclone Activity and ENSO

Seasonal extreme wave statistics were reproduced by using the 25-km-grid global wave model of WAVEWATCH-III. The results showed that the simulated wave dataset for the present climate (1979-2009) was similar to Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) wave data. Statistics such as the root mean squared error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (CC) over the western North Pacific (WNP) basin were 0.5 m and 0.69 over the analysis domain. The largest trends and standard deviation were around the southern coast of Japan and western edge of the WNP. Linear regression analysis was employed to identify the relationship between the leading principal components (PCs) of significant wave heights (SWHs) in the peak season of July to September and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the equatorial Pacific. The results indicated that the inter-annual variability of SWH can be associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the peak season. The CC between the first PC of the SWH and anomalies in the Nino 3.4 SST index was also significant at a 99% confidence level. Significant variations in the SWH are affected by tropical cyclones (TCs) caused by increased SST anomalies. The genesis and development of simulated TCs can be important to the variation in SWHs for the WNP in the peak season. Therefore, we can project the variability of SWHs through TC activity based on changes in SST conditions for the equatorial Pacific in the future.     

乌鲁木齐霾天气PM10单颗粒物理化学特征

为了解乌鲁木齐冬季污染天气形成过程中大气颗粒物化学组分的变化,探讨霾天气快速形成的主要原因,应用扫描电镜/X射线能谱仪(SEM/EDX)对2013年2月乌鲁木齐东南郊一次典型霾天和正常天气所采集的大气颗粒物(PM₁₀)样品进行了微观形貌和化学组成的对比分析。结果表明:伴随着霾形成过程细粒子浓度呈现急剧上升趋势,PM_1.0/PM₁₀比值高达0.77。SEM/EDX观测显示,霾天形成前后,PM₁₀的形态结构和元素组成存在较明显的差异,霾天规则的石膏颗粒占规则颗粒的71.1%,明显高于正常天气,表明大气颗粒物的硫化现象比较普遍,大量硅铝酸盐飞灰说明采样点周边有较明显的燃煤源输送;二次无机颗粒组成主要为硫酸盐颗粒,由正常天气的16.1%增加到24.6%,高浓度硫酸盐与乌鲁木齐东南郊此次霾形成有密切的联系。     

湘江中下游农田土壤和蔬菜的重金属污染

A total of 219 agricultural soil and 48 vegetable samples were collected from the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River（the Hengyang-Changsha section）in Hunan Province.The accumulation characteristics,spatial distribution and potential risk of heavy metals in the agricultural soils and vegetables were depicted.There are higher accumulations of heavy metals such as As,Cd,Cu,Ni,Pb and Zn in agricultural soils,and the contents of Cd（2.44 mg kg^-1 ）,Pb（65.00 mg kg^-1 ）and Zn（144.13 mg kg^-1 ）are 7.97,3.69 and 1.63 times the corresponding background contents in soils of Hunan Province,respectively. 13.2%of As,68.5%of Cd,2.7%of Cu,2.7%of Ni,8.7%of Pb and 15.1%of Zn in soil samples from the investigated sites exceeded the maximum allowable heavy metal contents in the China Environmental Quality Standard for Soils（GB15618-1995,Grade Ⅱ）.The pollution characteristics of multi-metals in soils are mainly due to Cd.The contents of As,Cd,Cu,Pb and Zn in vegetable soils are significantly higher than the contents in paddy soils.95.8%, 68.8%,10.4%and 95.8%of vegetable samples exceeded the Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods（GB2762-2005）for As,Cd,Ni and Pb concentrations,respectively.There are significantly positive correlations between the concentrations of Cd,Pb and Zn in vegetables and the concentrations in the corresponding vegetable soils（p〈0.01）.It is very necessary to focus on the potential risk of heavy metals for food safety and human health in agricultural soils and vegetables in the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River,Hunan Province of China.     

俄罗斯科学院N.S.库尔纳可夫普通和无机化学研究所(IGIC RAS)简介

俄罗斯科学院Ｎ．Ｓ．库尔纳可夫普通和无机化学研究所,是由铂和其它贵金属研究所的普通化学研究室与物理化学分析研究所及物理化学部的高压实验室在１９３４年合并而成。由于上述两个研究所均创建于１９１８年,所以,该研究所的创建日定为１９１８年５月１１日。由于科学院士Ｎ．Ｓ．Ｋｕｒｎａｋｖ,Ｌ．Ａ．Ｃｈｕｇａｅｖ教授,Ｉ．Ｉ．Ｃｈｅｒｎｙａｅｖ院士,Ｎ．Ｍ．Ｚｈａ－ｖｏｒｏｎｋｏｖ,Ａ．Ａ．Ｇｒｉｎｂｅｒｇ,Ｉ．Ｖ．Ｏｂｒｅｉｍｏｖ,Ｙａ．Ｋ．Ｓｙｒｋｉｎ,Ｇ．Ｇ．Ｕｒａｚｏｖ和Ｉ．Ｖ．Ｔａｎａｎａｅｖ等人…     

The effect of biological soil crusts of different successional stages and conditions on the germination of seeds of three desert plants

Biological soil crusts greatly affect soil surface properties, which, in turn, may alter seed germination of vascular plants. We investigated the effects of two types of biological soil crusts (moss crust and algal crust) at different ages on the seed germination of Bassia dasyphylla and Artemisia ordosica. We also investigated the effects of crust conditions (living crust and dead crust) on seed germination of B. dasyphylla, A. ordosica and Eragrostis poaeoides. The presence of both algal and moss crusts significantly enhanced the germination of B. dasyphylla and A. ordosica compared with uncrusted soil. Crust age had no significant effect on the germination of either B. dasyphylla or A. ordosica for both moss and algal crusts. Germination of B. dasyphylla differed significantly between moss and algal crusts, but germination of both A. ordosica and E. poaeoides did not. Germination of A. ordosica, E. poaeoides and B. dasyphylla was significantly higher on living algal crust than on dead crust and uncrusted soil, while living moss crust enhanced the germination of both A. ordosica and B. dasyphylla but had no significant effect on E. poaeoides.     

Predictable climate dynamics of abnormal East Asian winter monsoon: once-in-a-century snowstorms in 2007/2008 winter

In 2008 (January–February), East Asia (EA) experiences the most severe and long-persisting snowstorm in the past 100 years. Results in this study show that 2007/2008 winter is dominant by the third principal mode of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) which explains 8.7% of the total surface air temperature variance over EA. Significantly distinguished from the first two leading modes, the third mode positive phase features an increased surface pressure over the northwestern EA, an enhanced central Siberian high (CSH), a strengthened and northwestward extended western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) and anomalously strong moisture transport from western Pacific, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal to EA. It also exhibits an intimate linkage with the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the Arctic Ocean areas adjacent to northern Eurasian continent, central North Pacific and northeastern Pacific. Such SSTAs emerge in prior autumn and persist through ensuing winter, signifying precursory conditions for the anomalous third EAWM mode. Numerical experiments with a simple general circulation model demonstrate that the Arctic SSTAs excite geo-potential height anomalies over northern Eurasian continent and impacts on the CSH, while the extra-tropical Pacific SSTAs deform the WPSH. Co-effects of them play crucial roles on origins of the third EAWM mode. Based on these results, an empirical model is established to predict the third mode of the EAWM. Hindcast is performed for the 1957–2008 period, which shows a quite realistic prediction skill in general and good prediction ability in the extreme phase of the third mode of the EAWM such as 2007/2008 winter. Since all these predictors can be readily monitored in real time, this empirical model provides a real time forecast tool and may facilitate the seasonal prediction of high-impact weather associated with the abnormal EAWM.     

The assessment of landslide susceptibility mapping using random forest and decision tree methods in the Three Gorges Reservoir area,China

Landslide susceptibility mapping is an indispensable prerequisite for landslide prevention and reduction. At present, research into landslide susceptibility mapping has begun to combine machine learning with remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. The random forest model is a new integrated classification method, but its application to landslide susceptibility mapping remains limited. Landslides represent a serious threat to the lives and property of people living in the Zigui–Badong area in the Three Gorges region of China, as well as to the operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir. However, the geological structure of this region is complex, involving steep mountains and deep valleys. The purpose of the current study is to produce a landslide susceptibility map of the Zigui–Badong area using a random forest model, multisource data, GIS, and remote sensing data. In total, 300 pre-existing landslide locations were obtained from a landslide inventory map. These landslides were identified using visual interpretation of high-resolution remote sensing images, topographic and geologic data, and extensive field surveys. The occurrence of landslides is closely related to a series of environmental parameters. Topographic, geologic, Landsat-8 image, raining data, and seismic data were used as the primary data sources to extract the geo-environmental factors influencing landslides. Thirty-four layers of causative factors were prepared as predictor variables, which can mainly be categorized as topographic, geological, hydrological, land cover, and environmental trigger parameters. The random forest method is an ensemble classification technique that extends diversity among the classification trees by resampling the data with replacement and randomly changing the predictive variable sets during the different tree induction processes. A random forest model was adopted to calculate the quantitative relationships between the landslide-conditioning factors and the landslide inventory map and then generate a landslide susceptibility map. The analytical results were compared with known landslide locations in terms of area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The random forest model has an area ratio of 86.10%. In contrast to the random forest (whole factors, WF), random forest (12 major factors, 12F), decision tree (WF), decision tree (12F), the final result shows that random forest (12F) has a higher prediction accuracy. Meanwhile, the random forest models have higher prediction accuracy than the decision tree model. Subsequently, the landslide susceptibility map was classified into five classes (very low, low, moderate, high, and very high). The results demonstrate that the random forest model achieved a reasonable accuracy in landslide susceptibility mapping. The landslide hazard zone information will be useful for general development planning and landslide risk management.     

江西贵溪盆地罗塘群沉积体系特征及其地质意义

早白垩世晚期江西贵溪盆地的控盆断裂活动加强,在盆地边缘的不同地带及盆地中心发育有不同的沉积体系,野外露头岩相特征和剖面的研究表明,贵溪盆地罗塘群主要发育有冲积扇体系、扇三角洲体系、辫状河三角洲体系、湖泊沉积体系及辫状河沉积体系,沉积体系特征主要受控于盆缘断裂活动,不同的沉积体系出现在盆地演化的不同阶段,并由不同的岩相组成.沉积体系的特征、分布及组合型式反映了陆相断陷红盆沉积相带窄、横向及纵向上相变快的特点.