Geomechanics of hazardous landslides

A catalogue of possible landslide initial failure mechanisms, taking into account the geological setting and the geometry of the slope, the joint structure, the habitus of the rock blocks, as well as the mechanical behaviour of the rocks and of the rock mass （deformation and strength parameters）, is presented. Its aim is to give geologists as well as engineers the opportunity to compare phenomena in the field and phenomena belonging to particular mechanisms and to find the mechanism occurring. The presented catalogue of initial landslide mechanisms only comprises the mechanisms having a clearly defined mechanical model that can be divided into empirical relations and into mechanical models, as well as an overview of run out models, which can be divided into empirical relations and into mechanical models.     

The Maribo CM2 meteorite fall—Survival of weak material at high entry speed

High entry speed (>25 km s^?1) and low density (<2500 kg m^?3) are the two factors that lower the chance of a meteoroid to drop meteorites. The 26 g carbonaceous (CM2) meteorite Maribo recovered in Denmark in 2009 was delivered by a bright bolide observed by several instruments across northern and central Europe. By reanalyzing the available data, we confirmed the previously reported high entry speed of (28.3 ± 0.3) km s^?1 and trajectory with slope of 31° to the horizontal. In order to understand how such a fragile material survived, we applied three different models of meteoroid atmospheric fragmentation to the detailed bolide light curve obtained by radiometers located in Czech Republic. The Maribo meteoroid was found to be quite inhomogeneous with different parts fragmenting at different dynamic pressures. While 30–40% of the (2000 ± 1000) kg entry mass was destroyed already at 0.02 MPa, another 25–40%, according to different models, survived without fragmentation up to the relatively large dynamic pressures of 3–5 MPa. These pressures are only slightly lower than the measured tensile strengths of hydrated carbonaceous chondrite (CC) meteorites and are comparable with usual atmospheric fragmentation pressures of ordinary chondritic (OC) meteoroids. While internal cracks weaken OC meteoroids in comparison with meteorites, this effect seems to be absent in CC, enabling meteorite delivery even at high speeds, though in the form of only small fragments.     

EN photographic Perseids

Many Perseid meteors were photographed in the Czech part of the European Fireball Network during the activity of the new strong and sharp maximum on August 12, 1993. Basic data on many of them were evaluated and radiants, atmospheric trajectories and some orbital elements are presented here and compared with atmospheric and orbital data of regular Perseids, which were photographed outside the new activity in 1993 and preceding years. No substantial difference between these two groups of Perseid meteors was found.     

Exceptional Fireball Activity of Orionids in 2006

We report exceptional fireball activity of the Orionid meteor shower in 2006. During four nights in October 2006 the autonomous fireball observatories of the Czech part of the European Fireball Network (EN) recorded 48 fireballs belonging to the Orionids. This is significantly more than the total number of Orionids recorded during about five decades long continuous operation of the EN. Based on precise multi-station photographic and radiometric data we present accurate atmospheric trajectories, heliocentric orbits, light curves and basic physical properties of 10 Orionid fireballs with atmospheric trajectories that were long enough and, with one exception, were observed from at least three stations. Seven were recorded in within a 2-h interval in the night of 20/21 October. Their basic parameters such as radiant positions and heliocentric orbits are very similar. This high fireball activity originated from a very compact geocentric radiant defined by α = 95.10° ± 0.10° and δ = 15.50° ± 0.06°. These fireballs most likely belonged to a distinct filament of larger meteoroids trapped in 1:5 resonance with Jupiter. From detailed light curves and basic fireball classification we found that these meteoroids appertain to the weakest component of interplanetary matter.     

Problems connected with the tangential metric coefficient in the Schwarzschild metric: A possible solution

Four situations are shown where the Schwarzschild metric cannot be used or is subject to unsurmountable problems. The first is the question of a metric useful for PPN-formalism checking different gravitational theories. The second problem occurs in connection with Mach's principle, when the flatness of the spacetime inside a massive hollow sphere is a generally accepted solution. The metrical discontinuity on the same spherical shell is a third problem. The fourth one is the anisotropy of the mass-energy of a test particle in the gravitational field. Three principles for solution are proposed:

1. The space is not dilated, but rather contracted, in the gravitational field; then the measurement-rods are shorter and measured distances have greater magnitudes.
2. The potential energy is to be related to a potential level where a stationary observer is placed and the general relativistic potential must be used.
3. A new metric must be introduced which is distinct from the Schwarzschild metric, so that the space in the gravitational field is warped isotropically.

Then the problems stated are shown to be easily solvable.     

Ground motion simulations for seismic stations in southern and eastern Romania and seismic hazard assessment

This research focuses on the evaluation of soil conditions for seismic stations in southern and eastern Romania, their influence on stochastic finite-fault simulations, and the impact of using them on the seismic hazard assessment. First, the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) are evaluated using ground motions recorded in 32 seismic stations during small magnitude (M _W  ≤ 6.0) Vrancea seismic events. Most of the seismic stations situated in the southern part of Romania exhibit multiple HVSR peaks over a broad period range. However, only the seismic stations in the eastern-most part of Romania have clear short-period predominant periods. Subsequently, stochastic finite-fault simulations are performed in order to evaluate the influence of the soil conditions on the ground motion amplitudes. The analyses show that the earthquake magnitude has a larger influence on the computed ground motion amplitudes for the short- and medium-period range, while the longer-period spectral ordinates tend to be influenced more by the soil conditions. Next, the impact of the previously evaluated soil conditions on the seismic hazard results for Romania is also investigated. The results reveal a significant impact of the soil conditions on the seismic hazard levels, especially for the sites characterized by long-period amplifications (sites situated mostly in southern Romania), and a less significant influence in the case of sites which have clear short predominant periods.     

2006年国家自然科学基金批准项目一览表(地球科学部分)

~~2006年国家自然科学基金批准项目一览表(地球科学部分)~~