Ekman drift and vortical structures

In this article, the authors study the influence of a constant wind on the displacement of a vortex. The well known Ekman current develops in the surface layer and is responsible for a transport perpendicular to the wind: the Ekman drift.An additional process is, however, evidenced, whose importance is as strong as the Ekman drift. There indeed exists a curl of the wind-driven acceleration along isopycnic surfaces when they are spatially variable (they enter and leave the depth where the wind stress acts), which generates potential vorticity anomalies. This diabatic effect is shown to generate potential vorticity anomalies which acts on the propagation of vortical waves and non linear vortices.It is shown that this effect drastically reduces the effect of the Ekman drift for linear waves and surface intensified vortices, while extending its effect to subsurface vortices. It also generates along wind propagation, whose sign depends on the vortex characteristics.     

Selection of sand models and identification of parameters using an enhanced genetic algorithm

Numerous constitutive models of granular soils have been developed during the last few decades. As a consequence, how to select an appropriate model with the necessary features based on conventional tests and with an easy way of identifying parameters for geotechnical applications has become a major issue. This paper aims to discuss the selection of sand models and parameters identification by using genetic algorithm. A real‐coded genetic algorithm is enhanced for the optimization with high efficiency. Models with gradually varying features (elastic‐perfectly plastic modelling, nonlinear stress–strain hardening, critical state concept and two‐surface concept) are selected from numerous sand models as examples for optimization. Conventional triaxial tests on Hostun sand are selected as the objectives in the optimization. Four key points are then discussed in turn: (i) which features are necessary to be accounted for in constitutive modelling of sand; (ii) which type of tests (drained and/or undrained) should be selected for an optimal identification of parameters; (iii) what is the minimum number of tests that should be selected for parameter identification; and (iv) what is the suitable and least strain level of objective tests to obtain reliable and reasonable parameters. Finally, a useful guide, based on all comparisons, is provided at the end of the discussion. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The position of the lowest levels in the boundary layer of atmospheric circulation models

Abstract

The error associated with the position of the lowest wind level in atmospheric boundary‐layer modelling is studied in connection with vertical resolutions typical of parametrization schemes for atmospheric circulation models. The test case is the neutrally stratified steady‐state boundary layer. Finite‐difference and finite‐element schemes of two types are used: in one case the lowest wind level is centred with respect to the surface and the lowest internal level where the shear stress is calculated, in the other case the lowest wind level is set very close to the surface (5 m). It is found that schemes of the latter type underestimate the friction force at the lowest level and consequently overestimate the wind and the surface stress. This error is largest at low resolution since it is due to the uncentring of the lowest wind level with respect to the stress levels. The error in schemes of the former type is different, and is associated with the determination of the surface stress from a wind at a height that may exceed the extent of the surface layer. For all neutral cases, this error can be made small by adding a corrective term to the traditional logarithmic formulation. This paper shows that considerably more error is generated by uncentred differencing than by deepening the surface layer.     

Internal erosion of chemically reinforced granular materials: a mathematical modeling approach

Internal erosion (IE) affects the stability of natural and reinforced materials by causing instability within their granular structure. The dislodgement and transport of eroded particles affect both the particulate concentration of eroding fluid and the pore network of eroded material. In this study, we examined these modifications using a transport model with a finite element code. First, IE tests on chemically reinforced sand columns were performed to obtain information about eroded material loss of mass, particulate concentration of effluent, porosity and permeability modifications, and existing IE stages. Second, based on experimental results, a mathematical one‐dimensional model has been formulated to monitor the evolution and spatial distribution of erodible solids, fluidized particles, porosity, permeability, and seepage stresses. The model consists of a set of coupled nonlinear differential equations solved in sequence. It provides valuable information about the extent and the dynamics of structural changes, which can be used to estimate an IE time for the hydraulic work to reach failure. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distribution and abundance of ichthyoplankton in the Manicouagan River estuary,a tributary of the lower St. Lawrence estuary

The species composition and relative abundance of ichthyoplankton were investigated during summer 1986 at four stations along the salinity gradient in the Manicouagan River estuary, a tributary of the lower St. Lawrence estuary. Physical characteristics of water masses indicated the presence of a strong saline front (>10‰ per km) delineating the freshwater and marine section of the Manicouagan estuary. The estuary supports a depauperate ichthyoplankton community, including four species of pelagic fish eggs and eight species of fish larvae. Species richness increased with salinity. The ichthyoplankton fauna can be divided into two distinct groups: freshwater and marine. These two groups result initially from spawning preferences exhibited by the different species abundance of freshwater larvae was maximal at the head of the estuary and marine larvae were most abundant at the most saline station. The length frequency distribution suggests that marine larvae are not effectively retained within the estuary. The Manicouagan estuary cannot be considered as a major spawning site nor an important nursery zone for any fish found in this area.     

Detection of turbulent coherent motions in a forest canopy part I: Wavelet analysis

Turbulence measurements performed at high frequencies yield data revealing intermittent and multi-scale processes. Analysing time series of turbulent variables thus requires extensive numerical treatment capable, for instance, of performing pattern recognition. This is particularly important in the case of the atmospheric surface layer and specifically in the vicinity of plant canopies, where largescale coherent motions play a major role in the dynamics of turbulent transport processes. In this paper, we examine the ability of the recently developedwavelet transform to extract information on turbulence structure from time series of wind velocities and scalars. It is introduced as a local transform performing a time-frequency representation of a given signal by a specific wavelet function; unlike the Fourier transform, it is well adapted to studying non-stationary signals. After the principles and the most relevant mathematical properties of wavelet functions and transform are given, we present various applications of relevance for our purpose: determination of time-scales, data reconstruction and filtering, and jump detection. Several wavelet functions are inter-compared, using simple artificially generated data presenting large-scale features similar to those observed over plant canopies. Their respective behaviour in the time-frequency domain leads us to assign a specific range of applications for each.     

Epithermal environments and styles of mineralization: Variations and their causes, and guidelines for exploration

Epithermal precious- and base-metal deposits are diverse, reflecting the different tectonic, igneous and structural settings in which they occur, the complexities of their local setting, and the many processes involved in their formation. Most epithermal deposits form at shallow crustal levels where abrupt changes in physical and chemical conditions result in metal deposition and attendant hydrothermal alteration. The principal factors that influence the conditions prevailing in the epithermal environment, and which ultimately determine the sites and character of mineralization, include: geology (structure, stratigraphy, intrusions and rock type, which affect the style and degree of permeability and the reactivity of the host); pressure and temperature (which in the epithermal environment are related on the boiling point with depth curve); hydrology (the relationship between permeability and topography which governs fluid flow, and discharge/recharge characteristics, as well as access of steam-heated waters); chemistry of the mineralizing fluid (which determines the metal-carrying capacity, as well as the associated vein and alteration assemblage); and syn-hydrothermal development of permeability and/or changes in hydraulic gradients.Many attempts have been made to classify epithermal deposits based on mineralogy and alteration, the host rocks, deposit form, genetic models, and standard deposits. All have their strengths and weaknesses. We prefer a simple approach using the fundamental fluid chemistry (high or low sulfidation, reflecting relatively oxidized or reduced conditions, respectively) as readily inferred from vein and alteration mineralogy and zoning, together with the form of the deposit, and using comparative examples to clarify the character of the deposit.Guidelines for exploration vary according to the scale at which work is conducted, and are commonly constrained by a variety of local conditions. On a regional scale the tectonic, igneous and structural settings can be used, together with assessment of the depth of erosion, to select areas for project area scale exploration. At project area scale, direct (i.e. geochemical) or indirect guidelines may be used. Indirect methods involve locating and interpreting hydrothermal alteration as a guide to ore, with the topographic and hydrologic reconstruction of the system being of high priority. These pursuits may involve mineralogic, structural, geophysical or remote sensing methods. On a prospect scale, both direct and indirect methods may be used; however, they can only be effective in the framework of a sound conceptual understanding of the processes that occur in the epithermal environment, and the signatures they leave.     

Evidence of an early alteration process driven by magmatic fluid in Mururoa volcano

Evidence for a deuteric alteration process induced by a magmatic fluid has been found in the feeder zone of the Mururoa volcano (French Polynesia). Within the dikes, where basaltic glass does not show any evidence of pervasive alteration, vesicles are filled with dioctahedral smectites and calcite, while olivine phenocrysts are replaced by dioctahedral smectites, ankerite and calcite.The ¹³C signature of carbonates, the carbon and H₂O content of the whole rocks and their impoverishment in deuterium are compatible with the presence of magmatic CO₂ during the crystallization of intruding lavas and exclude contamination by seawater. Mass balance calculations on selected thin sections photographs of partly filled up vesicles and replaced olivine crystals, constrain, assuming a closed system interaction, the chemical composition of the initial fluid and the respective amounts of the initial solid phases involved in the alteration process. Thermodynamic modelings using the EQ3/6 software package correctly predict the mineralogic, chemical and isotopic exchanges accompanying alteration, thus validating the closed system assumption. The model which allows prediction of the influence of CO₂ on the alteration products, shows that, above a 0.25 CO₂ mole fraction in the initial fluid, the alteration is entirely controlled by the chemical composition of the initial solid phases. The presence of CO₂ implies the precipitation of dioctahedral smectites and carbonates instead of the magnesian smectites commonly observed in CO₂-free systems.The Mururoa feeder zone shows alteration features typical of a closed system interaction between the basaltic rock and a magmatic fluid in which seawater did not take part.     

Fitting variogram models by weighted least squares

The method of weighted least squares is shown to be an appropriate way of fitting variogram models. The weighting scheme automatically gives most weight to early lags and down-weights those lags with a small number of pairs. Although weights are derived assuming the data are Gaussian (normal), they are shown to be still appropriate in the setting where data are a (smooth) transform of the Gaussian case. The method of (iterated) generalized least squares, which takes into account correlation between variogram estimators at different lags, offer more statistical efficiency at the price of more complexity. Weighted least squares for the robust estimator, based on square root differences, is less of a compromise.     

Robust kriging—A proposal

Geological data frequently have a heavy-tailed normal-in-the-middle distribution, which gives rise to grade distributions that appear to be normal except for the occurrence of a few outliers. This same situation also applies to log-transformed data to which lognormal kriging is to be applied. For such data, linear kriging is nonrobust in that (1)kriged estimates tend to infinity as the outliers do, and (2)it is also not minimum mean squared error. The more general nonlinear method of disjunctive kriging is even more nonrobust, computationally more laborious, and in the end need not produce better practical answers. We propose a robust kriging method for such nearly normal data based on linear kriging of an editing of the data. It is little more laborious than conventional linear kriging and, used in conjunction with a robust estimator of the variogram, provides good protection against the effects of data outliers. The method is also applicable to time series analysis.