Modeling soil desiccation cracking by analytical and numerical approaches

An energy approach is proposed as a complement to the stress approach commonly considered for investigating soil desiccation cracking. The elastic strain energies before and after crack initiation are estimated by both numerical and analytical solutions. The energy released by cracking is then compared with the fracture energy to discuss crack initiation conditions. This leads to combined energy and stress conditions for crack initiation following Leguillon's theory. An approximate analytical solution is derived from a variational formulation of the porous elastic body equations. A cohesive zone model and finite element code are used to simulate crack propagation in an unsaturated porous body. This analysis shows that the energy criterion is reached before the stress criterion, and this can explain unstable crack propagation at the beginning. The approximate analytical solution allows predicting correctly the crack depth and opening in its initiation stage.     

Study of role of basin shape in the site–city interaction effects on the ground motion characteristics

Natural Hazards - In this paper, the role of basin shape in the site–city interaction (SCI) effects on the ground motion characteristics is documented. The effects of city type and city...     

Environmental changes in the wetlands of Southern Iraq based on palynological studies

Palynological techniques are useful in reconstructing past environments, especially when other sources of information are lacking. We have embarked on a palynological study of the wetlands in Southern Iraq in an attempt to determine the nature and extent of past plant communities and other conditions prior to the drying of the wetland in the 1990s. Ten 1-m depth cores were collected from selected locations in marshes and shallow open water wetlands in Mesopotamian wetlands of Southern Iraq. Pollen diagrams from three short cores from the Hawizeh wetlands serve as a reference because this site has not been drained. The palynomorphs in these cores were Gramineae, Chenopodiaceae, Typha, Isonandra lanceolata, Bursarea, Artocarpus, Ireantea, Arenga, Crinum, Palmae, Navia, Tofieldia, Ipomorea, Xyris, and Morus. Fungal spores including Polyporisporites, Pluricellaesporites palyadosporites, Fusiformisporites, Spegazzinites indicus, Diporisporites, Plochmopellinites, Lycoperdon, Miliolinites, Dryadosporites constrictus, and Trichothyrites padapakarensis were noteworthy. Charcoal was scattered through the cores and indicate activities associated with human settlements. Many other forms of cuticles, filaments, insects, algae, and foraminifera test linings were also recorded. A second set of pollen samples were analyzed from 160 soil samples from eight cores collected from the wetland area which was dried during the 1990s. These data show a mixture of pollen and spores that could be used to evaluate past vegetation, climatic, and ecological changes. Preliminary results indicated that chenopodiaceous have increased while germinate types have declined which probably reflected desertification and a trend towards a more aeolian landscape during the 1990s. It is hoped that these studies will be useful in establishing conditions of the wetlands prior to destruction and will assist in setting restoration goals in the future. Case studies of one deep borehole (153 m) near Amara city for evaluating late Quaternary history and dig of 3 m depth to evaluate ancient desertification by wetland dryness were taken for correlation and connection with this recent sediment.     

The Big Circles in Jordan: First absolute ages using rock luminescence surface dating

In this study, we provide the first absolute ages for a Big Circle megalithic structure in Jordan, using rock surface luminescence dating of the buried surface of rocks collected from circle J4 in southern Jordan. Five rocks were used for this study. All rocks showed evidence of previous daylight exposure before being used in the construction of the circle. The exposure was sufficient to bleach the latent luminescence signal to a negligible level compared to the subsequent burial dose. Three rocks gave indistinguishable ages, and were last exposed to daylight in 1500 ± 100 BCE; this is very likely to be the date of circle construction. Two others gave younger ages, indicating later disturbance or reworking. These new results provide very strong evidence for construction during the Late Bronze Age, and refute the earlier hypothesis of construction during Umayyad period (661–750 CE) as a hunting trap.