Analysis of drought determinants for the Colorado River Basin

Ongoing drought in the Colorado River Basin, unprecedented urban growth in the watershed, and numerical model simulations showing higher temperatures and lower precipitation totals in the future have all combined to heighten interest in drought in this region. In this investigation, we use principal components analysis (PCA) to independently assess the influence of various teleconnections on Basin-wide and sub-regional winter season Palmer Hydrological Drought Index (PHDI) and precipitation variations in the Basin. We find that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) explains more variance in PHDI than El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), and the planetary temperature combined for the Basin as a whole. When rotated PCA is used to separate the Basin into two regions, the lower portion of the Basin is similar to the Basin as a whole while the upper portion, which contains the high-elevation locations important to hydrologic yield for the watershed, demonstrates poorly defined relationships with the teleconnections. The PHDI for the two portions of the Basin are shown to have been out of synch for much of the twentieth century. In general, teleconnection indices account for 19% of the variance in PHDI leaving large uncertainties in drought forecasting.     

Collapse and fragmentation of rotating, prolate clouds

We present the results of collapse calculations for uniformly rotating, prolate clouds performed using the numerical method: smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). The clouds considered are isothermal, prolate spheroids with different axial ratios ( a/b ), and with different values of β, the ratio of the rotational to gravitational energy. Small density perturbations are added to the clouds, and different initial perturbation spectra are studied. All of the clouds considered are strongly unstable to gravitational contraction, and so collapse to form a spindle configuration. Such a linear structure is unstable to fragmentation, so that the clouds break up into a number of subcondensations. The long-term evolution of the system is then determined by the angular momentum possessed by these fragments.
It is found that a number of the calculations performed result in the formation of orbitally stable binary systems, composed of two rotationally supported discs in orbit about their common centre of mass. Tidal interactions during closest approach, close three-body interactions and the continued accretion of material with high specific angular momentum are all found to increase the orbital separation during these calculations, ensuring that the systems do not merge at later times. The calculations are therefore relevant to the problem of binary star formation, though the systems produced tend to have large orbital separations and periods. One of the strong points of the models presented, however, is their ability to produce systems with a range of mass ratios and orbital eccentricities, without the explicit inclusion of biases in the initial conditions.     

State-of-the-art report — engineering practice in artificial ground freezing

In the present paper an attempt has been made to summarize the current state-of-theart of engineering practice in artifical ground freezing. The paper shows the tremendous increase in knowledge and diversified applications in ground freezing over the past ten years and, together with other papers ih the Symposium, provides a useful background against which practicing engineers may. gain an understanding of ground freezing. As discussed in this paper, there are gain an understanding of ground freezing. As discussed in this paper, there are However, it is the author's assessment that the current state of knowledge is sufficient for safe designs and that future refinements in the area of structural analysis will only lead to more accurate deformation predictions and to possibly thinnerdesign frozen sections. Since the sizes of frozen sections are often more a function of construction practicality rather than design requirements, it is questionable whether potentially thinner sections will have a significant impact on actual construction.

An area that promises to have tremendous impact on the competitive nature of freezing for soft-ground tunneling is in improved horizontal drilling techniques. Several contractors are currently developing drilling equipment for horizontal drilling over large distances, whereas today the maximum economical distance is in the range of 30–40 m.     

Metal binding capacity of selected maine surface waters

Concentrations of Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, and Pb and binding capacities for Cd, Cu, and Pb were determined for water samples collected from 12 lakes in southwestern Maine using atomic absorption and ion-selective electrodes, respectively. Surface waters in this area are soft and characterized by low pH. Some lakes were highly colored with refractory organics, whereas others had very low organic carbon concentrations. Both Cu and Pb concentrations were positively correlated with organic carbon content. Copper and Pb binding capacities were significantly correlated with organic carbon content, whereas Cd binding capacity was positively correlated with pH, but not with organic carbon. Surface water binding capacity for Pb was greater than that for Cu or Cd. More than 99% of the Ca from all waters studied was removed onto cationic exchange resins. Less than 1% of the total Cu existed as cationic species in highly humic waters, whereas as much as 65% existed as cationic species in less huic waters. Conversely, more than 99% of the Cd present in humic waters existed as cationic species, whereas as little as 50% existed as cationic species in less humic, more alkaline waters. These correlative studies indicate that binding by organic carbon is important for both Cu and Pb in this area and must be considered in models of trace metal speciation. However, Cd binding in the same waters is not correlated with organic carbon, which does not need to be considered in speciation models for Cd.     

Variability and anisotropy of mechanical properties of the pittsburgh coal seam

SummaryVariability and Anisotropy of Mechanical Properties of the Pittsburgh Coal Seam Results of an experimental program to determine the vertical variation of material stiffness and strength of an important coal seam are presented, with the aim of providing information for realistic modeling for purposes of analysis. The seam is divided into four zones, and data from each are evaluated statistically. It is concluded that this seam contains two zones with measurably different properties, which, however, are small compared to the observed scatter of data.

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ZusammenfassungStreubereich und Anisotropie der mechanischen Eigenschaften des Pittsburgher Kohleflözes Es werden Ergebnisse eines Versuchsprogramms zur Bestimmung der senkrechten Veränderung der Steifheit und Festigkeit des Materials in einem wichtigen amerikanischen Kohlenflöz präsentiert, um Unterlagen für realistische Modellbildung zum Zwecke der Spannungsberechnung zu liefern. Der Flöz ist in vier Zonen unterteilt, deren Daten statistisch untersucht wurden. Es ergab sich, daß dieser Flöz zwei Zonen mit meßbar unterschiedlichen Eigenschaften enthält; diese Unterschiede sind aber klein im Vergleich zur Streuung der einzelnen Daten.

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RésuméVariabilité et anisotropie des propriétés mécaniques du banc de charbon de Pittsburgh On a analysé, par échantillons, la variabilité de la résistance et du module d'un banc de charbon épais, avec la profondeur. Le but de l'étude est d'obtenir des valeurs réalistes qui puissent être utilisées dans une analyse par méthodes numériques. Le banc est divisé en quatre zones, et les résultats sont analysés de façon statistique, séparément pour chaque zone. On a conclut que ce banc contient deux zones dont les propriétés mécaniques diffèrent. Cependant ces différences ne dépassent pas l'ordre de grandeur des écarts dans les observations sur chaque zone.

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With 10 Figures     

57Fe NCR of Fe phases in “magnetic cassiterites”

A pyralspite garnet from an anomalously magnetic concentrate of a pegmatitic cassiterite ore has been investigated using ⁵⁷Fe nuclear gamma-ray resonance spectroscopy. The quadrupole splitting and isomer shift values of 3.6 mm/s and 1.4 mm/s, respectively, are among the largest observed for Fe²⁺ ions and indicate a very low covalency of the dodecahedral Fe²⁺ — O²-bonds. These data support the more recent and lower value (10.2–10.1 kcal/ mole) of White and Moore (1972) for the CFSE of the dodecahedral Fe²⁺ ion and suggest that the CFSE should be a useful approximation to the site preference energy of Fe²⁺ for this site.     

Drag coefficient and roughness length determinations on an Alaskan Arctic Coast during summer

Field data collected over land and water near Point Lay, Alaska, yielded determinations of the aerodynamic roughness lengths and drag coefficients over three locations on an arctic barrier island and over the Chukchi Sea. The agreement between the results over the sea and previous published results from data taken at approximately the same latitude in the Beaufort Sea is excellent.