A numerical study of the influence from pre‐existing cracks on granite rock fragmentation at percussive drilling

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of pre‐existing, or structural, cracks on dynamic fragmentation of granite. Because of the complex behavior of rock materials, a continuum approach is employed relying upon a plasticity model with yield surface locus as a quadratic function of the mean pressure in the principal stress space coupled with an anisotropic damage model. In particular, Bohus granite rock is investigated, and the material parameters are chosen based on previous experiments. The equation of motion is discretized using a finite element approach, and the explicit time integration method is employed. The pre‐existing cracks are introduced in the model by considering sets of elements with negligible tensile strength that leads to their immediate failure when loaded in tension even though they still carry compressive loads as crack closure occurs because of compressive stresses. Previously performed edge‐on impact tests are reconsidered here to validate the numerical model. Percussive drilling is simulated, and the influence of the presence of pre‐existing cracks is studied. The results from the analysis with different crack lengths and orientations are compared in terms of penetration stiffness and fracture pattern. It is shown that pre‐existing cracks in all investigated cases facilitate the drilling process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aeolian dust in the Talos Dome ice core (East Antarctica,Pacific/Ross Sea sector): Victoria Land versus remote sources over the last two climate cycles

A new ice core (TALDICE) drilled at Talos Dome (East Antarctica, Ross Sea sector) preserves a ca. 250 ka long record of palaeoclimate and atmospheric history. We investigate dust variability and provenance at the site during glacial periods and the Holocene through the Sr–Nd isotopic composition of ice core dust and potential source areas (PSA). We provide new isotopic data on dust sources from Victoria Land such as regoliths, glacial drifts, aeolian sands and beach deposits. Some of these sources are located at high altitude and are known to have been ice free throughout the Pleistocene. The major features of the TALDICE dust record are very similar to those from central East Antarctica. During glacial times, South America was the dominant dust supplier for Talos Dome as well as for the entire East Antarctic plateau. Conversely, during the Holocene the principal input of mineral dust at Talos Dome probably derives from proximal sources which are the ice‐free areas of northern Victoria Land, located at similar altitude with respect to the drilling site. Atmospheric mobilisation of dust from these neighbouring areas and transport inland to Talos Dome can be ultimately associated with advection of maritime air masses from the Pacific/Ross Sea region. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weichselian history of the Fennoscandian ice sheet in southern Sweden and the southwestern Baltic Basin

This study presents the Weichselian stratigraphy on Kriegers Flak in the southwestern Baltic Sea, and correlates it to new sections in southernmost Sweden and to previously published stratigraphic sequences from SW Skåne. A total of four Weichselian advances are identified based on our correlations. The oldest till, observed only on Kriegers Flak, is dated to the Early or Middle Weichselian and tentatively correlated to the Ristinge advance, previously identified in Denmark. It is overlain by three interstadial sediment units, starting with brackish clay and followed by terrestrial and lacustrine deposits, which have been dated to 42–36 ka, and finally by glaciolacustrine clay dated to 28.5–26 ka. After 30 ka, the Fennoscandian ice sheet advanced through the Baltic Basin and into the coastal areas of southernmost Sweden where the Allarp Till was deposited, followed by a deglaciation sequence. The uppermost tills, the Dalby Till and the Lund till, were deposited during the LGM advance and the subsequent re‐advances through the Baltic Basin. Based on the new evidence it has been possible to identify and date a Middle and Late Weichselian till succession in southern Sweden and provide a strong correlation to the established glacial stratigraphies in Sweden and Denmark.     

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Benthic Respiration in a Scottish Sea Loch Impacted by Fish Farming: A Combination of In Situ Techniques

The effects of fish farm activities on sediment biogeochemistry were investigated in Loch Creran (Western Scotland) from March to October 2006. Sediment oxygen uptake rates (SOU) were estimated along an organic matter gradient generated from an Atlantic salmon farm using a combination of in situ techniques: microelectrodes, planar optode and benthic chamber incubations. Sulphide (H₂S) and pH distributions in sediment porewater were also measured using in situ microelectrodes, and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes were measured in situ using benthic chambers. Relationships between benthic fluxes, vertical distribution of oxidants and reduced compounds in the sediment were examined as well as bacterial abundance and biomass. Seasonal variations in SOU were relatively low and mainly driven by seasonal temperature variations. The effect of the fish farm on sediment oxygen uptake rate was clearly identified by higher total and diffusive oxygen uptake rates (TOU and DOU, respectively) on impacted stations (TOU: 70 ± 25 mmol O₂ m^?2 day^?1; DOU: 70 ± 32 mmol O₂ m^?2 day^?1 recalculated at the summer temperature), compared with the reference station (TOU: 28.3 ± 5.5 mmol O₂ m^?2 day^?1; DOU: 21.5 ± 4.5 mmol O₂ m^?2 day^?1). At the impacted stations, planar optode images displayed high centimetre scale heterogeneity in oxygen distribution underlining the control of oxygen dynamics by small-scale processes. The organic carbon enrichment led to enhanced sulphate reduction as demonstrated by large vertical H₂S concentration gradients in the porewater (from 0 to 1,000 μM in the top 3 cm) at the most impacted site. The impact on ecosystem functions such as bioirrigation was evidenced by a decreasing TOU/DOU ratio, from 1.7 in the non-impacted sediments to 1 in the impacted zone. This trend was related to a shift in the macrofaunal assemblage and an increase in sediment bacterial population. The turnover time of the organic load of the sediment was estimated to be over 6 years.     

Chlorine isotope evidence for the anthropogenic origin of tris-(4-chlorophenyl)methane

Compound-specific Cl-isotope analysis was performed on the persistent and bioaccumulating compound tris-(4-chlorophenyl)methane (4,4′,4″-TCPMe, referred to as TCPMe in this study) to elucidate whether its main source is natural or anthropogenic. Blubber from the Baltic grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) was extracted by continuous acetonitrile partitioning, and the TCPMe was isolated from the extract by preparative-capillary gas chromatography. Chlorine isotope analysis was subsequently performed by sealed-tube combustion in conjunction with thermal-ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). The δ³⁷Cl of TCPMe was −3.5 ± 0.5‰, similar to the previously reported δ³⁷Cl of technical grade p,p′-DDT (referred to as DDT in this study). The data is not consistent with a putative marine natural source of TCPMe, as enzymatic (biotic) production is reported to give values of δ³⁷Cl < −10‰. The δ³⁷Cl–TCPMe data thus supports the hypothesis that TCPMe is produced as a byproduct during DDT synthesis and is released to the environment through the same pathways as DDT. It is also consistent with tris-(4-chlorophenyl)methanol as the primary biotransformation product of TCPMe.     

'Green' enclosure of ocean space--déjà vu?

The first wave of unilaterally declared environmental protection zones (starting with Canada's Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act of 1970) may have been halted by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Yet, a second wave now seems to be gaining momentum: the French 'ecological protection zone in the Mediterranean' of April 2003 (promptly emulated by Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy), the British 'environment (protection and preservation) zone' around the Chagos Archipelago of September 2003, and the US 'marine national monument' around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands of June 2006, all claiming new environmental regulatory powers in sea areas way beyond territorial waters. This viewpoint article questions the unilateral legitimation of those claims, and postulates a trusteeship ethos and fiduciary accountability for ocean governance in these areas.     

Radio-quiet quasar environments at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 0.8

We quantify the galaxy environments around a sample of 0.5≤ z ≤0.8 radio-quiet quasars using the amplitude of the spatial galaxy–quasar correlation function, B _gq. The quasars exist in a wide variety of environments; some sources are located in clusters as rich as Abell class 1–2 clusters, whereas others exist in environments comparable to the field. We find that, on average, the quasars prefer poorer clusters of ≈Abell class 0, which suggests that quasars are biased tracers of mass compared with galaxies. The mean B _gq for the sample is found to be indistinguishable from the mean amplitude for a sample of radio-loud quasars matched in redshift and optical luminosity. These observations are consistent with recent studies of the hosts of radio-quiet quasars at low to intermediate redshifts, and suggest that the mechanism for the production of powerful radio jets in radio-loud quasars is controlled by processes deep within the active galactic nucleus itself, and is unrelated to the nature of the hosts or their environments.     

DME/TACAN interference mitigation for GNSS: algorithms and flight test results

The Galileo E5a/E5b signals and the Global Positioning System (GPS) L5 signal lie within the aeronautical radionavigation services (ARNS) band. They suffer interference from the services in this frequency band, in particular, pulsed signals from distance measuring equipment (DME) and tactical air navigation (TACAN) systems. To maintain system accuracy and integrity, interference mitigation is beneficial and necessary. We first present the real DME/TACAN environment at Stanford, CA as an example to illustrate the need for mitigating DME/TACAN interference. We then propose a time and frequency joint mitigation algorithm—Hybrid Blanking and its simplified version, frequency domain adaptive filtering (FDAF) for hardware implementation. Finally, a flight measurements campaign was performed over a European DME/TACAN hotspot near Frankfurt, Germany, to record a worst-case DME interference environment. Recorded data from the flight tests mixed with injected GNSS signals verify the effectiveness of the proposed mitigation algorithm.