Development of the cyclic p–y curve for a single pile in sandy soil

Pile foundations that support transmission towers or offshore structures are dominantly subjected to cyclic lateral load induced by wind and waves. For a successful design, it is crucial to investigate the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the pile behavior that is loaded laterally. Although the p–y curve method is generally utilized to design the cyclic laterally loaded pile foundations, the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the pile has not been properly implemented with the p–y curve. This reflects a lack of consideration of the overall stiffness change in soil–pile interaction. To address this, a series of model pile tests were conducted in this study on a preinstalled aluminum flexible pile under various sandy soil conditions. The test results were used to investigate the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the p–y behavior. The cyclic p–y curve, which properly takes into account this effect, was developed as a hyperbolic function. Pseudo-static analysis was also conducted with the proposed cyclic p–y curve, which showed that it was able to properly simulate cyclic laterally loaded pile behavior in sandy soil.     

Fine-scale Microbial Communities Associated with Manganese Nodules in Deep-sea Sediment of the Korea Deep Ocean Study Area in the Northeast Equatorial Pacific

Despite its potential significance for industrial utilization, any activities associated with the mining of manganese (Mn) nodules might have substantial impacts on benthic ecosystems. Because microorganisms respond quickly to changing environmental conditions, a study of microbial communities provides a relevant proxy to assess possible changes in benthic ecosystems associated with mining activities. We investigated fine-scale microbial community composition and diversity inside and on the surface of Mn nodules and in nearby deep-sea sediments in the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS) area located in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ) of the northeast equatorial Pacific. Although microbial cell density was lower within nodules (3.21 × 10⁶ cells g^-1) than in sediment (2.14 × 10⁸ cells g^-1), nodules provided a unique habitat for microorganisms. Manganese-oxidizing bacteria including Hyphomicrobium and Aurantimonas in Alphaproteobacteria and Marinobacter in Gammaproteobacteria were abundant in nodules, which implied that these bacteria play a significant role in nodule formation. In contrast, Idiomarina in Gammaproteobacteria and Erythrobacter and Sulfitobacter in Alphaproteobacteria were abundant in sediments. Meanwhile, Thaumarchaeota, a phylum that consists of ammonia-oxidizing chemolithoautotrophs, were the predominant archaeal group both in nodules and sediment. Overall, microbial communities in Mn nodules were unique compared to those observed in sediments. Furthermore, the phylogenetic composition of microorganisms in the KODOS area was distinguishable from that in the nodule provinces claimed by China and Germany in the CCFZ and nodule fields in the central South Pacific Gyre, respectively.     

Workspace control system of underwater tele-operated manipulators on an ROV

This paper presents a control technique for structured undersea tasks that require a high degree of precision. The overall efficiency of tele-operated underwater manipulation is improved by reducing the burden on the human operator. A new workspace-control system composed of a computer and input devices in workspace was developed to support the operator. The computer transforms the desired velocity of end-effector in workspaces to desired joint angles by solving the inverse kinematics of the slave manipulators. The desired joint angles are transferred to the slave controller through RS-485 serial communication, and be followed by the slave manipulator. The developed master system provides advantages in conducting structured tasks(coring, drilling, underwater connector mating, etc.) that require precise control of the end-effector’s motion and attitude. The existing master system, however, is more useful for unstructured tasks than newly developed master system. By combining the two master systems, the work efficiency of the underwater tele-operated manipulator system was improved. This paper presents the development of the workspace-control system and a working strategy to alleviate operator’s burden in underwater works. Experimental results are presented to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method using underwater manipulators mounted on the KORDI deep-sea ROV Hemire.     

Holocene and Eemian climatic optima in the Korean Peninsula based on textural and carbon isotopic records from the stalagmite of the Daeya Cave,South Korea

Textural and stable isotopic records from the absolute-dated stalagmite of the Daeya Cave (DY-1) provide new insights into the climatic evolution of the Korean Peninsula during the Holocene and Eemian climatic optima. The stalagmite yielded ages of 8572 ± 227 to 5907 ± 158 and 1,23,456 ± 535 to 1,19,837 ± 1089 years, which coincide with the Holocene and Eemian climatic optima, respectively. The stalagmite’s δ¹³C record closely resembles previously reported Chinese speleothem δ¹⁸O data. Thus it can be suggested that textural and geochemical results of the DY-1 reflect East Asian monsoon intensity, which is forced by summer insolation patterns in the northern hemisphere. Lighter carbon isotopic compositions, well-developed fibrous calcite crystals, and their relatively faster growth rate in the stalagmite sample are interpreted to reflect the warmest and wettest climate conditions of the Holocene and Eemian interglacials. Both climatic optima took place when insolation was decreasing from its maximum level, temperature in Greenland was highest, and sea level approached its maximum level. These climatic optima also coincide with decreasing Antarctic temperatures. Compared the DY-1 data to other proxies, it is suggested that the Holocene and Eemian climatic optima developed through a balance among boreal insolation, monsoon intensity, and sea level (also continental ice volume), which are the main climatic forcing factors in the northern hemisphere. These trends also follow the bi-polar seesaw mechanism as previously described.     

The role of eddies in solute transport and recovery in rock fractures: Implication for groundwater remediation

A better understanding of solute transport and retention mechanism in rock fractures has been challenging due to difficulty in their direct observations in microscale rough‐walled fractures. Six representative troughs in a rough‐walled fracture were selected for microscale observations of eddy formation with increasing flow velocity and its effect on spatiotemporal changes of solute concentration. This experimental study was enabled by a microscale visualization technique of micro particle image velocimetry. With increasing flow velocity (Re ≤ 2.86), no eddies were generated, and solutes along the main streamlines transported rapidly, whereas those near the wall moved slowly. A larger amount of solutes remained trapped at all troughs at Re = 2.86 than Re < 1. For Re = 8.57, weak eddies started to be developed at the troughs on the lee side, which little contributed to overall solute flushing in the fracture. Accordingly, a large of amount of water was needed for solute flushing. The flow condition of 1 < Re < 10, before a full development of eddies, was least favourable in terms of time and amount of remediation fluid required to reach a target concentration. After large eddies were fully developed at troughs on the lee side for Re = 17.13, solutes were substantially reduced by eddies with less amount of water. Fully developed eddies were found to enhance solute transport and recovery, as opposed to a general consensus that eddies trap and delay solutes. Direct inflow into troughs on the stoss side also made a great contribution to solute flushing out of the troughs. This study indicates that fully developed eddies or strong inflows at troughs are highly possible to form for Re > 10 and this flow range could be favourable for efficient remediation.     

A synthesis of the geologic evolution of Taiwan

The island arc of Taiwan is composed of Cenozoic geosynclinal sediments more than 10,000 m thick, lying on a pre-Tertiary metamorphic basement. Pleistocene to Miocene andesitic islands surround the main island and are related mostly to arc magmatism. The Penghu Island Group in the Taiwan Strait is covered with Pleistocene flood basalt. Neogene shallow marine clastic sediments are exposed mainly in the western foothills with Pleistocene andesitic extrusives at the northern tip and the northeastern offshore islands. A thick sequence of Paleogene to Miocene argillitic to slaty metaclastic rocks underlies the western Central Range and forms the immediate sedimentary cover on the pre-Tertiary metamorphic complex to the east, which represents an older Mesozoic arc-trench system. The Coastal Range in eastern Taiwan is a Neogene andesitic magmatic arc, including also a large variety of volcaniclastic and turbiditic sediments. Cenozoic Taiwan is the site of arc-continent collision where the Luzon arc on the Philippine Sea plate overrides the Chinese continental margin on the Eurasian plate. East and northeast of Taiwan, the polarity of subduction changes whereby the oceanic Philippine Sea plate is subducting beneath the Ryukyu arc system on the Eurasian plate. Continent-arc collision in Taiwan island is anomalous and may occur in a broad belt of deformation rather than along a well-defined plate boundary or subduction zone.     

Field survey of the 1994 Mindoro Island,Philippines tsunami

This is a report of the field survey of the November 15, 1994 Mindoro Island, Philippines, tsunami generated by an earthquake (M=7.0) with a strike-slip motion. We will report runup heights from 54 locations on Luzon, Mindoro and other smaller islands in the Cape Verde passage between Mindoro and Luzon. Most of the damage was concentrated along the northern coast of Mindoro. Runup height distribution ranged 3–4 m at the most severely damaged areas and 2–4 in neighboring areas. The tsunami-affected area was limited to within 10 km of the epicenter. The largest recorded runup value of 7.3 m was measured on the southwestern coast of Baco Island while a runup of 6.1 m was detected on its northern coastline. The earthquake and tsunami killed 62 people, injured 248 and destroyed 800 houses. As observed in other recent tsunami disasters, most of the casualties were children. Nearly all eyewitnesses interviewed described the first wave as a leading-depression wave. Eyewitnesses reported that the main direction of tsunami propagation was SW in Subaang Bay, SE in Wawa and Calapan, NE on Baco Island and N on Verde Island, suggesting that the tsunami source area was in the southern Pass of Verde Island and that the wave propagated rapidly in all directions. The fault plane extended offshore to the N of Mindoro Island, with its rupture originating S of Verde Island and propagating almost directly south to the inland of Mindoro, thereby accounting for the relatively limited damage area observed on the N of Mindoro.     

Ekman motion in shallow open sea in the presence of time-harmonic variation of water depth

The time variation of the wind-induced flow in a homogeneous unbounded sea region has been analytically investigated. The time-dependent Ekman solution in a homogeneous, shallow open sea has been further extended by taking into account the time variation in water depth which might be caused by either tidal motion or change in the mixed layer thickness. The solution approach taken in this study is based on the Galerkin-eigenfunction method originally developed by Heaps [1972. On the numerical solution of three-dimensional hydrodynamical equations for tides and storm surges. Memoires de la Societe Royale des Sciences de Liege Serie 6(2), 143–180]. A series of calculations have been made with emphasis on the influence of the time variation in water depth upon the build-up of Ekman spirals in the presence of oscillatory variations in water depth. It has been found that two oscillations contribute to the wind drift current, the inertial oscillation and the depth-variation-induced oscillation; the inertial oscillation decays with time, but the depth-variation-induced oscillation remains undamped despite the presence of bottom friction. The presence of time-harmonic variation produces peculiar forms of hodograph with a curled or circular pattern according to the angular frequency of the water depth variation.     

Risk assessment for the Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository site: Estimation of volcanic disruption

In this article, we model the volcanism near the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, U.S.A. by estimating the instantaneous recurrence rate using a nonhomogeneous Poisson process with Weibull intensity and by using a homogeneous Poisson process to predict future eruptions. We then quantify the probability that any single eruption is disruptive in terms of a (prior) probability distribution, since not every eruption would result in disruption of the repository. Bayesian analysis is performed to evaluate the volcanic risk. Based on the Quaternary data, a 90% confidence interval for the instantaneous recurrence rate near the Yucca Mountain site is (1.85×10^–6/yr, 1.26×10^–5/yr). Also, using-these confidence bounds, the corresponding 90% confidence interval for the risk (probability of at least one disruptive eruption) for an isolation time of 10⁴ years is (1.0×10^–3, 6.7×10^–3), if it is assumed that the intensity remains constant during the projected time frame.