A NON-LINEAR SEISMIC RESPONSE ANALYSIS METHOD FOR SATURATED SOIL–STRUCTURE SYSTEM WITH ABSORBING BOUNDARY

A non-linear seismic response analysis method for 2-D saturated soil–structure system with an absorbing boundary is presented. According to the 3-D strain space multimechanism model for the cyclic mobility of sandy soil, a constitutive expression for the plane strain condition is first given. Next, based on Biot's two-phase mixture theory, the finite element equations of motion for a saturated soil–structure system with an absorbing boundary during earthquake loadings are derived. A simulation of the shaking table test is performed by applying the proposed constitutive model. The effectiveness of the absorbing boundary is examined for the 2-D non-linear finite element models subjected to random inputs. Finally, a numerical seismic response analysis for a typical saturated soil–structure system is performed as an application of the proposed method.     

越南红河三角洲近五千年来的几个降温事件

根据对越南红河三角洲的2个钻孔的孢粉分析结果，结合沉积特征和高精度的AMS^14C测年数据，恢复了近五千年来百年一千年尺度的气候变化，发现了3个分别开始于4530cal．aBP，2100cal．aBP和620cal．aBP的明显降温事件，其中4530cal．aBP和620cal．aBP降温事件可与全球全新世气候变冷事件中的“新冰期(Neoglacial)”和“小冰期(Little Ice Age)”相对应，可能与由北大西洋地区几个短期变冷事件的全球气候响应机制有关。3340cal．aBP以来，人类干扰性植物成分的增加，表明人类活动对自然植被的影响改造作用增强，因此，本研究中气候的降温事件不排除人类影响的因素，仍需要进一步深入研究。     

Noble gases in Muong Nong‐type tektites and their implications

Abstract— We have the elemental abundances and isotopic compositions of noble gases in Muong Nong‐type tektites from the Australasian strewn field by crushing and by total fusion of the samples. We found that the abundances of the heavy noble gases are significantly enriched in Muong Nong‐type tektites compared to those in normal splash‐form tektites from the same strewn field. Neon enrichments were also observed in the Muong Nong‐type tektites, but the Ne/Ar ratios were lower than those in splash‐form tektites because of the higher Ar contents in the former. The absolute concentrations of the heavy noble gases in Muong Nong‐type tektites are similar to those in impact glasses. The isotopic ratios of the noble gases in Muong Nong‐type tektites are mostly identical to those in air, except for the presence of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar. The obtained K‐Ar ages for Muong Nong‐type tektites were about 0.7 Myr, similar to ages of other Australasian tektites. The crushing experiments suggest that the noble gases in the Muong Nong‐type tektites reside mostly in vesicles, although Xe was largely affected by adsorbed atmosphere after crushing. We used the partial pressure of the heavy noble gases in vesicles to estimate the barometric pressure in the vesicles of the Muong Nong‐type tektites. Likely, Muong Nong‐type tektites solidified at the altitude (between the surface and a maximum height of 8–30 km) lower than that for splash‐form tektites.     

Distribution of noble gases in Chinese tektites: Implication for neon solubility in natural glasses

Abstract— Five indochinites from Hainan Island and the Leizhou Peninsula, China were analyzed for noble gas abundances and isotopic ratios. These splash‐form tektites show vesiculation ranging from 0.4 vol% to 8 vol%, as determined by digital image analysis (software SXM®) on thin section photographs. To study the distribution of noble gases in vesicles and in glass, the gases were extracted by heating and by crushing, respectively, on 2 aliquots of the same sample. The results show that 5 to 53% of the total measured ²⁰Ne resides in vesicles. The calculated concentration of neon dissolved in the glass is higher (0.7‐1 times 10^?7 cm³STP/g) than that expected from solubility equilibrium (1 times 10^?8 cm³STP/g), assuming solubility data from MORB glasses. The neon concentration of splash‐form tektites, those analyzed in this work and those from other strewn‐fields worldwide, is correlated with the SiO₂ content of glass and with the nonbridging oxygen per tetrahedral cation in the melt (hereafter NBO/T ratio), the latter being an index of the free‐volume in the silica network where neon could be dissolved. These correlations suggest that the glass structure of tektite has a larger free‐volume available for dissolving noble gases than MORB glasses.     

Evolution of a provenance as revealed by petrographic analyses of Cretaceous formations in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada

Two contrasting marine sedimentary facies, the Haida Formation of sandy and argillaceous sediments and the conformably overlying Honna Formation of gravelly sediments were formed within different types of tectonic basins during mid- to Late Cretaceous time. The sediments of both formations were derived from the east. Sandstones from the two formations show characteristics of mature magmatic arc provenance and are classified as lithic and feldspathic arenites. However, the Honna sandstones are more feldspathic and less quartzose than the Haida sandstones. The Honna sandstones have many volcanic rock fragments (VRF) but the Haida sandstones do not. Feldspars of the VRF-rich Honna sandstones, however, do not seem to have been derived from the breakdown of volcanic rocks. The observed petrographic differences between the two formations can be ascribed to a process in which the volcanic cover and the basement rock denudation took place simultaneously in the source area during deposition of the Honna Formation.     

Grain fabric of a laboratory antidune

The grain fabric of a laboratory antidune composed of coarse- to medium-grained sand shows a high-angle upcurrent imbrication both on the upstream and downstream sides. Such a grain fabric differs from a normal dune or a megaripple, where grain alignment displays an upcurrent imbrication relative to the depositional slope in the foreset lamina and/or near parallelism with the slope surface in the toe-set lamina. Recognition of antidunes in ancient rocks is difficult, but detailed examination of grain fabric of cross-stratification makes it possible to distinguish antidunes or ‘backset’ bedding from normal dunes or megaripples.     

Mixed-water and hydrothermal dolomitization of the Pliocene Shirahama Limestone, Izu Peninsula, central Japan

The early Pliocene Shirahama Limestone is a grainstone-packstone principally composed of fragments of algae, bryozoa, and echinoderm and subordinate volcanic rocks. The limestone was variously dolomitized and the regional distribution of dolomite is patchy. Dolomite occurs as isolated crystals filling pores, moulds, and solution vugs, and mosaic aggregates replacing bioclasts. Calcite occurs as rim and pore-filling sparry cements, and as calcareous skeletons. Isotopically, the dolomites are classified into a heavy oxygen group (?2 to ? 3.5%₀ PDB) and a light oxygen group (?5.5 to ? 7.5%₀ PDB). Calcite associated with heavy oxygen dolomite has δ¹⁸O of ? 6.5 to ?8.5%₀ PDB, whereas those associated with light oxygen dolomite have a wide range from ?7.5 to ?14%₀ PDB. Calcite in dolomite-free limestone has an oxygen isotopic composition of ?2 to ?8.5%₀ PDB. Textures, chemistry, and isotopic evidence indicate that heavy oxygen calcite formed in freshwater, and heavy oxygen dolomite in a meteoric-marine mixture of 10–30% seawater. Light oxygen calcite and dolomite precipitated from modified hydrothermal fluids at approximately 30–65°C. Petrographic features, and both isotopic and chemical evidence suggest that the Shirahama Limestone was exposed to freshwater soon after deposition. Subsequently blocky calcite precipitated (Stage I). The limestone was locally submerged in the meteoric-marine mixture due to gradual subsidence or eustatic movement. This led to the precipitation of heavy oxygen, zoned dolomite and dolospar (Stage II). Hydrothermal alterations occurred in the area a few Myr ago, and related hydrothermal fluids and mixed meteoric-hydrothermal waters caused dedolomitization of some zoned dolomite, partial dissolution of vuggy dolomite, precipitation of limpid dolomite and recrystallization of some earlier dolomites (Stage III). Zeolites were also precipitated from these fluids. Finally, the Shirahama Limestone was exposed again to freshwater and sparry calcite precipitated to plug some of the remaining pores (Stage IV).