Lake-ice collapse trenches in Wisconsin,U.S.A.

A series of trenches about a metre deep, 20 to 30 m wide, and as much as 2 km in length occurs in central Wisconsin, along the east shore of proglacial Lake Wisconsin. They are interpreted to be collapse trenches formed when shore ice melted after being buried beneath an expanding outwash plain.     

A TEM and EELS study of carbon in a melt fragment from the Gardnos impact structure

A carbon‐rich melt fragment from the Gardnos impact structure has been studied for a better understanding of the preservation and structural form(s) of carbon that have been processed by impact melting. The carbon was analyzed in situ in its original petrographic context within the melt fragment, using high‐resolution techniques including focused ion beam‐transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Results show that the carbon is largely uniform and has a nanocrystalline grain size. The Gardnos carbon has a graphitic structure but with a large c/a ratio indicating disorder. The disorder could be a result of rapid heating to high temperatures during impact, followed by rapid cooling, with not enough time to crystallize into highly ordered graphite. However, temperature distribution during impact is extremely heterogenous, and the disordered Gardnos carbon could also represent material that avoided extreme temperatures, and thus, it was preserved. Understanding the structure of carbon during terrestrial impacts is important to help determine if the history of carbon within extraterrestrial samples is impact related. Furthermore, the degree of preservation of carbon during impact is key for locating and detecting organic compounds in extraterrestrial samples. This example from Gardnos, together with previous studies, shows that not all carbon is lost to oxidation during impact but that impact melting can encapsulate and preserve carbon where it is available.     

A B-spline based higher order panel method for analysis of steady flow around marine propellers

A higher order panel method based on B-spline representation for both the geometry and the solution is developed for the analysis of steady flow around marine propellers. The self-influence functions due to the normal dipole and the source are desingularized through the quadratic transformation, and then shown to be evaluated using conventional numerical quadrature. By selecting a proper order for numerical quadrature, the accuracy of the present method can be increased to the machine limit. The far- and near-field influences are shown to be evaluated based on the same far-field approximation, but the near-field solution requires subdividing the panels into smaller subpanels continuously, which can be effectively implemented due to the B-spline representation of the geometry. A null pressure jump Kutta condition at the trailing edge is found to be effective in stabilizing the solution process and in predicting the correct solution. Numerical experiments indicate that the present method is robust and predicts the pressure distribution on the blade surface, including very close to the tip and trailing edge regions, with far fewer panels than existing low-order panel methods.     

A dynamic response analysis of tension leg platforms including hydrodynamic interaction in regular waves

A numerical procedure is described for predicting the motion and structural responses of tension leg platforms (TLPs) in waves. The developed numerical approach, in a TLP is assumed to be flexible instead of rigid, is based on a combination of the three dimensional source distribution method and the finite-element method. The hydrodynamic interactions among TLP members, such as columns and pontoons, are included in the motion and structural response analysis. Numerical results are compared with the experimental and numerical ones. The results of comparison confirmed the validity of the proposed approach.     

Hydrologic implications of the isotopic kinetic fractionation of open-water evaporation

The kinetic fractionation of open-water evaporation against the stable water isotope H_2 ~(18)O is an important mechanism underlying many hydrologic studies that use ~(18)O as an isotopic tracer. A recent in-situ measurement of the isotopic water vapor flux over a lake indicates that the kinetic effect is much weaker(kinetic factor 6.2‰) than assumed previously(kinetic factor14.2‰) by lake isotopic budget studies. This study investigates the implications of the weak kinetic effect for studies of deuterium excess-humidity relationships, regional moisture recycling, and global evapotranspiration partitioning. The results indicate that the low kinetic factor is consistent with the deuterium excess-humidity relationships observed over open oceans.The moisture recycling rate in the Great Lakes region derived from the isotopic tracer method with the low kinetic factor is a much better agreement with those from atmospheric modeling studies than if the default kinetic factor of 14.2‰ is used. The ratio of transpiration to evapotranspiration at global scale decreases from 84±9%(with the default kinetic factor) to 76±19%(with the low kinetic factor), the latter of which is in slightly better agreement with other non-isotopic partitioning results.     

任意圆弧形凸起地形中隧洞对入射平面SH波的影响

借助辅助函数的思想， 采用波函数展开法给出了圆弧形凸起地形中隧洞对入射平面SH波影响问题的一个解析解．数值结果表明，凸起地形中隧洞的存在以及隧洞大小，对凸起地形表面运动，以及凸起地形中的隧洞的动应力集中均具有显著影响．      

A drought outlook study in Korea

Abstract

Techniques are proposed for developing a monthly and weekly drought outlook and the drought outlook components are evaluated. A drought index, the surface water supply index (SWSI) was modified and used for the drought outlook. A water balance model (abcd) was successfully calibrated using a regional regression, including monthly and weekly factors, and was used to convert meteorology to hydrology. For the monthly drought outlook, an ensemble technique was applied, both with and without monthly industrial meteorology information (MIMI). For the weekly drought outlook, a deterministic forecasting technique was applied employing the Global Data Assimilation and Prediction System (GDAPS). The methodologies were applied to the Geum River basin in Korea. While only the weekly outlook using the GDAPS has sufficient forecasting capability to suggest it might be useful, the accuracy of the monthly drought outlook is expected to improve as the climate forecast accuracy increases.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor D. Hughes

Citation Kim, Y.-O., Lee, J.-K., and Palmer, R.N., 2012. A drought outlook study in Korea. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (6), 1141–1153.     

Impacts of Seasonal Pumping on Stream‐Aquifer Interactions in Miryang,Korea

Large agricultural fields in South Korea are located mostly on alluvial plains, where a significant amount of groundwater is used for heating of water‐curtain insulated greenhouses. Such greenhouses are commonly used for crop cultivation during the winter dry season from November to March. After use the groundwater is discharged directly into streams, causing groundwater depletion. A hydrogeological study was carried out in a typical agricultural area of this type, located on an alluvial aquifer near the Nakdong River. Groundwater levels, chemical characteristics, and temperatures from 68 observation wells were analyzed to determine the impacts of seasonal groundwater pumping on the groundwater system and stream‐aquifer interactions. Our results show that the groundwater system has not yet reached a state of dynamic equilibrium. Decades of excessive seasonal pumping have caused a gradual decline of groundwater levels, leading to groundwater depletion, especially in areas further from the river. Seasonal pumping has also significantly affected groundwater quality in the aquifer near the river. Groundwater temperature is decreasing (in this case a disadvantage), and saline groundwater is being diluted by induced recharge. The results of this study provide a basic outline for effective integrated water management that is widely applicable in South Korea.     

Further results on the heating of single and multi-core lead-rubber bearings and dampers

Single-core and to a certain extent multi-core lead-rubber bearings have been extensively used in seismic isolation. Yet their behavior is not well understood and experimentation is required to obtain their mechanical properties. A recently developed and validated theory contributed to the understanding of the effects of heating of the lead core on the characteristic strength and ability to dissipate energy of these bearings. Additional results on the theory of heating of lead-rubber bearings are presented in this paper, including readily useable data on the rise of temperature in the steel shim and end plates of these bearings. The results may be used in the assessment of the validity of the theory of lead core heating in single and multi-core lead-rubber bearings and in recently developed multi-core lead-rubber dampers. Examples are presented (including some experimental data) to illustrate the application of the theory. The utility of the presented theory is to reduce the requirements for physical testing of lead-rubber bearings and dampers.     

Analytic wave series solution of out-of-plane(SH) waves diffraction by an almost semi-circular shallow cylindrical hill

A closed-form wave equation analytic solution of two-dimensional scattering and diffraction of outof-plane(SH) waves by an almost semi-circular shallow cylindrical hill on a flat, elastic and homogeneous half space is proposed by applying the discrete Fourier series expansions of sine and cosine functions. The semi-circular hill problem is discussed as a special case for the new formulated equation.Compared with the previous semi-circular cases solutions, the present method can give surface displacement amplitudes which agrees well with previous results. Although the proposed equation can only solve the problem of SH-waves diffracted by almost semi-circular shallow hills, the stress and displacement residual amplitudes are numerical insignificantly everywhere. Moreover, the influences of the depth-towidth ratio(a parameter defined in this paper to evaluate the shallowness of the topography of hills) on ground motions are presented and summarized. The limitations and errors of truncation from Graf's addition theorem and Fourier series equations in the present paper are also discussed.