Seismic response of an urban bridge-support system in soft clay

The numerical simulation of an instrumented urban bridge support and its foundation system was conducted. The bridge works as a deck in a surface subway station and was built 12 yr ago in the so-called Lake Zone in Mexico City, where very soft clays, exhibiting low shear strength and high compressibility prevail. Since the beginning of its construction, pile loads, soil–raft contact pressures and the overall response of the foundation system have been monitored. Within this period, several earthquakes have occurred. Thus, an extensive database of accelerations, pore pressures and load histories have been recorded. In particular, this paper focuses on the bridge response observed during two moderated intensity events, the 2004, 6.3 M_w, Guerrero Coast and the 1999, 7.0 M_w, Tehuacan earthquakes. Finite element models were developed to reproduce the measured responses and to assess the soil–foundation-support performance for long-term conditions, including the effects of potential changes in the dynamic soil properties due to regional subsidence. The computed dynamic responses obtained with the simulation for the free field and structure compares fairly well with the recordings.     

Functioning of intertidal flats inferred from temporal and spatial dynamics of O<Subscript>2</Subscript>, H<Subscript>2</Subscript>S and pH in their surface sediment

In this article, we describe the dynamics of pH, O₂ and H₂S in the top 5–10 cm of an intertidal flat consisting of permeable sand. These dynamics were measured at the low water line and higher up the flat and during several seasons. Together with pore water nutrient data, the dynamics confirm that two types of transport act as driving forces for the cycling of elements (Billerbeck et al. 2006b): Fast surface dynamics of pore water chemistry occur only during inundation. Thus, they must be driven by hydraulics (tidal and wave action) and are highly dependent on weather conditions. This was demonstrated clearly by quick variation in oxygen penetration depth: Seeps are active at low tide only, indicating that the pore water flow in them is driven by a pressure head developing at low tide. The seeps are fed by slow transport of pore water over long distances in the deeper sediment. In the seeps, high concentrations of degradation products such as nutrients and sulphide were found, showing them to be the outlets of deep-seated degradation processes. The degradation products appear toxic for bioturbating/bioirrigating organisms, as a consequence of which, these were absent in the wider seep areas. These two mechanisms driving advection determine oxygen dynamics in these flats, whereas bioirrigation plays a minor role. The deep circulation causes a characteristic distribution of strongly reduced pore water near the low water line and rather more oxidised sediments in the centre of the flats. The two combined transport phenomena determine the fluxes of solutes and gases from the sediment to the surface water and in this way create specific niches for various types of microorganisms.     

Wavelet analyses of neural networks based river discharge decomposition

The problem of discharge forecasting using precipitation as input is still very active in Hydrology, and has a plethora of approaches to its solution. But, when the objective is to simulate discharge values without considering the phenomenology behind the processes involved, Artificial Neural Networks, ANN give good results. However, the question of how the black box internally solve this problem remains open. In this research, the classical rainfall-runoff problem is approached considering that the total discharge is a sum of components of the hydrological system, which from the ANN perspective is translated to the sum of three signals related to the fast, middle and slow flow. Thus, the present study has two aims (a) to study the time-frequency representation of discharge by an ANN hydrologic model and (b) to study the capabilities of ANN to additively decompose total river discharge. This study adds knowledge to the open problem of the physical interpretability of black-box models, which remains very limited. The results show that total discharge is adequately simulated in the time frequency domain, although less power spectrum is evident during the rainy seasons in the ANN model, due to fast flow underestimation. The wavelet spectrum of discharge represents well the slow, middle and fast flow components of the system with transit times of 256, 12–64 and 2–12 days, respectively. Interestingly, these transit times are remarkably similar to those of the soil water reservoirs of the studied system, a small headwater catchment in the tropical Andes. This result needs further research because it opens the possibility of determining MMT on a fraction of the cost of isotopic based methods. The cross-power spectrum indicates that the error in the simulated discharge is more related to the misrepresentation of the fast and the middle flow components, despite limitations in the recharge period of the slow flow component. With respect to the representation of individual signals of the slow, middle and fast flows components, the three neurons were uncapable to individually represent such flows. However, the combination of pairs of these signals resemble the dynamics and the spectral content of the aforementioned flows signals. These results show some evidence that signal processing techniques may be used to infer information about the hydrological functioning of a basin.     

Parallelisierung des norddeutschen oberen Muschelkalks mit dem süddeutschen Hauptmuschelkalk anhand von Sedimentationszyklen

The interpretation of microfacial and geochemical sediment features resulted in a detailed sequence analysis of Upper Muschelkalk strata in the northern and middle parts of West-Germany. It is now possible to correlate columnar sections at far distances. The method allows to make a synthesis of basin evolution. In this way it also succeed to reconstruct the dynamic activities in an epicontinental sedimentation area. The Upper Muschelkalk strata shows a hierarchically nested development of stratification cycles. There are minor cycles of probably paleotectonic origin, which are only locally significant. The major cycles are basing probably on sea level changes and allow supraregional parallelizations of sections. Indicators of the sea level maximums are clay horizons. They are called »Tonhorizonte« in Southern Germany and could be proved also in the Upper Muschelkalk strata of Northern Germany. So the stratigraphic correlation of the two sedimentation areas, which were so different in paleotectonic views, is possible.     

Propagating of sound and thermal waves in a reacting fluid

The propagation of linear sound and thermal waves in a reacting fluid, in which the heating and cooling processes can be represented by a heat-loss functionL(, T, is studied. A complex dispersion relation is found, from which the phase velocity and the scale length for damping (or amplification), of the above two-wave mode are calculated Wave amplification may occur in reacting locally stable fluids. Results are applied to a hydrogen plasma model assumed to be heated at a non-specified constant rate and cooled by recombination, excitation, and ionization by collisions, and free-free transitions. The phase velocity , the scale-length for damping , and the relevant relaxation times are calculated as functions of the dimensionless frequency , for temperatures ranging from those at which the hydrogen plasma is neutral to those at which it becomes completely ionized.     

Potential influence of climate change on ecosystems within the Boreal Plains of Alberta

Ecosystems within the subhumid Boreal Plains of Northern Alberta host ecologically and commercially significant habitat and natural resources. However, these ecosystems exist under a delicate hydrologic balance that may be upset as the climate warms by 2 to 5 °C over the next century. In this study, numerical simulations were used to predict climate change impacts at a catchment composed of a mosaic of Boreal Plains ecosystems including a small pond, peatlands with sparse black spruce, and hillslopes with predominantly aspen forests. Simulations were conducted with a fully integrated groundwater–surface water code using a 2‐D model previously calibrated to a decade of hydrologic data that included a range in climatic conditions. Projections from 13 climate change scenarios were simulated from 2011 to 2090 and compared to a base case scenario that assumed no climate change. Results indicate peatland water levels may decline by up to 1 m; however, sensitivity simulations indicate that the decline in water levels may be moderated by several feedback mechanisms that restrict evaporative losses and moderate water level changes. In contrast, higher evapotranspiration losses from the aspen hillslopes are predicted to result in near‐surface soils becoming increasingly drier. Thus, the aspen may frequently be water stressed and increasingly susceptible to secondary maladies such as pests and disease. Reduced pond water levels are also predicted with the development of frequent ephemeral conditions in warmer and drier scenarios. Concurrent decreases in stream flow may further impact downstream ecosystems. Further research into the regional health and sustainability of Boreal Plains ecosystems is warranted and could benefit from the development of improved numerical tools capable of extending the processes considered.     

Taxonomy and palaeoecology of brachiopods from the South-Helvetic zone of the Fäneren region (Lutetian, Eocene, NE Switzerland)

Terebratuloid and cancellothyridoid brachiopods from the South-Helvetic Lutetian (Eocene) of the Fäneren region (NE Switzerland) are described: Carneithyris subregularis (Quenstedt) and two forms of Terebratulina s.l. under open nomenclature. Several species of Alpine and non-Alpine origin, related to Carneithyris subregularis, like Terebratula kickxi Galeotti, Terebratula aequivalvis Schafhäutl and Terebratula hilarionis Davidson show characters, which compare well with Carneithyris subregularis. Two of them, T. aequivalvis and T. hilarionis, are assigned to the genus Carneithyris. The stratigraphy and lithology of the sediments in the study area are reassessed. Life habits and palaeoecology of the brachiopods are discussed. C. subregularis apparently was a free living brachiopod without attachment to the substrate, as indicated by massive accumulations of callosities in the posterior parts of the shell. The variability of the cardinal process, as seen in the studied Carneithyris group can be interpreted as a morphological element to enlarge the surface of attachment of strong diductor muscles in relation to the internal thickening of the individual.     

Remote sensing and GIS-based regional geomorphological mapping—a tool for land use planning in developing countries

Land use planning and necessary supporting data are crucial to developing countries that are usually under severe environmental and demographic strains. Approaches and methods to map the variability of natural resources are important tools to properly guide spatial planning. In this paper, we describe a method to quickly map terrain at reconnaissance (1:250,000) and semi-detailed (1:50,000) levels. This method can be utilized as a basis for further land evaluation and land use planning in large territories. The approach was tested in the state of Michoacan, central-western Mexico, currently undergoing rapid deforestation and subsequent land degradation.Results at the reconnaissance level describe the geographic distribution of major landforms and dominant land cover, and provide a synoptic inventory of natural resources. Results at the semi-detailed level indicate how to nest individual landforms to major units and how they can be used to run procedures for land evaluation. If combined with appropriate socioeconomic data, governmental guidelines for land use planning can be formulated on the basis of reconnaissance and semi-detailed terrain analysis.