One-dimensional consolidation of soil under multistage load based on continuous drainage boundary

In engineering practice, a rapid loading rate can result in ground failure when the strength of soft soils is relatively low, and a multistage loading scheme is always utilized to deal with this situation. Firstly, under a multistage load and the continuous drainage boundary, an analytical solution of excess pore-water pressure and consolidation degree is obtained by virtue of the superposition formula of excess pore-water pressure, and a more general continuous drainage boundary under arbitrary time-dependent load is developed. Then, a comparison with existing analytical solutions is conducted to verify the present solution. A preliminary attempt on applying the continuous drainage boundary into the finite element model is made, and the feasibility of the numerical model for the one-dimensional consolidation under the continuous drainage boundary is verified by comparing the results calculated by FEM with that from present analytical solution. Finally, the consolidation behavior of soil is investigated in detail for different int erface parameters or loading scheme. The results show that, in land reclamation projects, a horizontal drain should be placed close to the boundary with a smaller interface parameter to improve the consolidation efficiency. The degree of consolidation is also related to the applied time-dependent load and interface parameters.     

Frequency analysis of nonstationary annual maximum flood series using the time‐varying two‐component mixture distributions

The most popular practice for analysing nonstationarity of flood series is to use a fixed single‐type probability distribution incorporated with the time‐varying moments. However, the type of probability distribution could be both complex because of distinct flood populations and time‐varying under changing environments. To allow the investigation of this complex nature, the time‐varying two‐component mixture distributions (TTMD) method is proposed in this study by considering the time variations of not only the moments of its component distributions but also the weighting coefficients. Having identified the existence of mixed flood populations based on circular statistics, the proposed TTMD was applied to model the annual maximum flood series of two stations in the Weihe River basin, with the model parameters calibrated by the meta‐heuristic maximum likelihood method. The performance of TTMD was evaluated by different diagnostic plots and indexes and compared with stationary single‐type distributions, stationary mixture distributions and time‐varying single‐type distributions. The results highlighted the advantages of TTMD with physically‐based covariates for both stations. Besides, the optimal TTMD models were considered to be capable of settling the issue of nonstationarity and capturing the mixed flood populations satisfactorily. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrological cycle and water balance estimates for the megadune–lake region of the Badain Jaran Desert,China

The hydrology and water balance of megadunes and lakes have been investigated in the Badain Jaran Desert of China. Field observations and analyses of sand layer water content, field capacity, secondary salt content, and grain size reveal 3 types of important natural phenomenon: (a) vegetation bands on the leeward slope of the megadunes reflect the hydrological regime within the sandy vadose zone; (b) seepage, wet sand deposits, and secondary salt deposits indicate the pattern of water movement within the sandy vadose zone; (c) zones of groundwater seeps and descending springs around the lakes reflect the influence of the local topography on the hydrological regime of the megadunes. The seepage exposed on the sloping surface of the megadunes and gravity water contained within the sand layer confirm the occurrence of preferential flow within the vadose zone of the megadunes. Alternating layers of coarse and fine sand create the conditions for the formation of preferential flows. The preferential flows promote movement of water within the sand layer water that leads to deep penetration of water within the megadunes and ultimately to the recharging of groundwater and lake water. Our results indicate that a positive water balance promotes recharge of the megadunes, which depends on the high permeability of the megadune material, the shallow depth of the surface sand layer affected by evaporation, the occurrence of rainfall events exceeding 15 mm, and the sparse vegetation cover. Water balance estimates indicate that the annual water storage of the megadunes is about 7.5 mm, accounting for only 8% of annual precipitation; however, the shallow groundwater per unit area under the megadunes receives only 3.6% of annual precipitation, but it is still able to maintain a dynamic balance of the lake water. From a water budget perspective, the annual water storage in the megadunes is sufficient to serve as a recharge source for lake water, thereby enabling the long‐term persistence of the lakes. Overall, our findings demonstrate that precipitation is a significant component of the hydrological cycle in arid deserts.     

In‐situ analysis of trace elements and Sr–Pb isotopes of K‐feldspars from Tongshankou Cu–Mo deposit,SE Hubei Province,China: Insights into early potassic alteration of the porphyry mineralization system

In the Tongshankou porphyry deposit (SE Hubei Province, South China), three types of K‐feldspars are recognized: (I) the phenocryst type in the porphyry that crystalized during the magmatic stage, (II) the megacryst type and (III) the vein type in the altered porphyry and orebody that was produced by hydrothermal fluids. A detailed in‐situ analysis of trace elements and Sr–Pb isotopes was carried out on K‐feldspars in an attempt to unravel their formation processes and to trace the element sources during potassic alteration. The Type III K‐feldspars show lower Sr contents and Sr‐isotope ratios but higher Pb contents and Pb‐isotope ratios than the Type I and II K‐feldspars, possibly reflecting a contribution from the country carbonate rocks with less radiogenic Sr but more radiogenic Pb sources, and indicate that the ore‐forming fluids and materials may have been partially derived from external sources such as the host sedimentary rocks during the early potassic alteration stage.     

Meteorological disaster frequency at prefecture-level city scale and induced losses in mainland China during 2011–2019

Natural Hazards - Meteorological disasters (MDs), including drought, flood, hail, low temperature and frost (LTF), are causing severe damage to human life and economic development in China. Mapping...     

An analytical study on three‐dimensional versus two‐dimensional water table‐induced flow patterns in a Tóthian basin

Although it has been increasingly acknowledged that groundwater flow pattern is complicated in the three‐dimensional (3‐D) domain, two‐dimensional (2‐D) water table‐induced flow models are still widely used to delineate basin‐scale groundwater circulation. However, the validity of 2‐D cross‐sectional flow field induced by water table has been seldom examined. Here, we derive the analytical solution of 3‐D water table‐induced hydraulic head in a Tóthian basin and then examine the validity of 2‐D cross‐sectional models by comparing the flow fields of selected cross sections calculated by the 2‐D cross‐sectional model with those by the 3‐D model, which represents the “true” cases. For cross sections in the recharge or discharge area of the 3‐D basin, even if head difference is not significant, the 2‐D cross‐sectional models result in flow patterns absolutely different from the true ones. For the cross section following the principal direction of groundwater flow, although 2‐D cross‐sectional models would overestimate the penetrating depth of local flow systems and underestimate the recharge/discharge flux, the flow pattern from the cross‐sectional model is similar to the true one and could be close enough to the true one by adjusting the decay exponent and anisotropy ratio of permeability. Consequently, to determine whether a 2‐D cross‐sectional model is applicable, a comparison of hydraulic head difference between 2‐D and 3‐D solutions is not enough. Instead, the similarity of flow pattern should be considered to determine whether a cross‐sectional model is applicable. This study improves understanding of groundwater flow induced by more natural water table undulations in the 3‐D domain and the limitations of 2‐D models accounting for cross‐sectional water table undulation only.     

Geophysical constraints on mesozoic disruption of North China Craton by underplating‐triggered lower‐crust flow of the Archaean lithosphere

The mechanism of the disruption, both lithospheric thinning and oceanization of the commonly accepted long‐term‐stable Archaean craton, is still an open question. The available models, all imply a bottom to top process. With the construction of a 1660‐km‐long transect across the eastern North China Craton (NCC), we demonstrate that both the P‐wave velocity and density in the lowermost crust beneath the central section are significantly higher than in the corresponding parts of the south and north sections on the transect. These features are interpreted as geophysical signature of lower crustal underplating, which supplies sufficiently high gravitational potential energy to trigger lateral flow of the lower crust. This magma underplating‐triggered bilateral lower crust flow may facilitate the lithospheric thinning by means of asthenosphere upwelling and decompression melting, which infill the gap produced by the lower crust flow. The underplating‐triggered lower crustal flow can provide an alternative mechanism to explain the NCC lithosphere disruption, which highlights the crustal feedback to Archaean lithosphere disruption, from top to bottom.     

大跨度三塔斜拉桥主塔施工测量技术研究

蒙华铁路洞庭湖大桥是世界最大跨度的三塔铁路斜拉桥,对大桥主塔的测量精度要求极高。本文主要介绍了蒙华铁路洞庭湖三塔斜拉桥主塔的施工测量控制技术,针对斜拉桥塔座、塔柱、索导管等关键结构的控制测量,结合洞庭湖大桥的工程施工特点进行研究,并对三维极坐标放样及全站仪天顶测距法进行精度分析。     

An asynchronous Geoprocessing Workflow and its application to an Antarctic ozone monitoring and mapping service

The integration of Sensor Web Enablement services with other Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Services as Geospatial Processing Workflows (GPW) is essential for future Sensor Web application scenarios. With the help of GPW technology, distributed and heterogeneous OGC Web Services can be organized and integrated as compound Web Service applications that can direct complicated earth observation tasks. Under the Sensor Web environment, asynchronous communications between Sensor Web Services are common. We have proposed an asynchronous GPW architecture for the integration of Sensor Web Services into a Web Service Business Process Execution Language workflow technology. We designed a Sensor Information Accessing and Processing workflow, an asynchronous GPW instance, to take an experiment of observing and mapping ozone over Antarctica. Based on our results, our proposed asynchronous workflow method shows the advantages of taking environmental monitoring and mapping tasks.