Cloud Forest Conservation in the Central Highlands of Guatemala Hinges on Soil Conservation and Intensifying Food Production

Soil erosion threatens long-term soil fertility and food production in Q’eqchi’ communities native to the Sierra Yalijux and Sierra Sacranix mountain ranges in the central highlands of Guatemala. Environmental factors such as steep topography, erodible soils, and intense precipitation events, combined with land subdivision and reduced fallow periods as a consequence of population growth, contribute to severe erosion and strain soil resources. The preservation of the region's cloud forests hinges on enhancing production of staple crops through agricultural intensification while maintaining soil fertility through implementation of soil conservation measures.     

Modeling reactive transport in non-ideal aqueous–solid solution system

The numerical simulation of reactive mass transport processes in complex geochemical environments is an important tool for the performance assessment of future waste repositories. A new combination of the multi-component mass transport code GeoSys/RockFlow and the Gibbs Energy Minimization (GEM) equilibrium solver GEM-Selektor is used to calculate the accurate equilibrium of multiple non-ideal solid solutions which are important for the immobilization of radionuclides such as Ra. The coupled code is verified by a widely used benchmark of dissolution–precipitation in a calcite–dolomite system. A more complex application shown in this paper is the transport of Ra in the near-field of a nuclear waste repository. Depending on the initial inventories of Sr, Ba and sulfate, non-ideal sulfate and carbonate solid solutions can fix mobile Ra cations. Due to the complex geochemical interactions, the reactive transport simulations can describe the migration of Ra in a much more realistic way than using the traditional linear K_D approach only.     

Homogenization‐based analysis of anisotropic damage in brittle materials with unilateral effect and interactions between microcracks

This paper is devoted to micromechanical modeling of induced anisotropic damage in brittle geomaterials. The formulation of the model is based on a proper homogenization procedure by taking into account unilateral effects and interactions between microcracks. The homogenization procedure is developed in the framework of Eshelby's inclusion solution and Ponte‐Castaneda and Willis (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 1995; 43 :1919–1951) estimate. The homogenization technique is combined with the thermodynamics framework at microscopic level for the determination of damage evolution law. A rigorous crack opening–closure transition condition is established and an energy‐release‐rate‐based damage criterion is proposed. Computational aspects on the implementation of micromechanical model are also discussed. The proposed model is evaluated by comparing numerical predictions with experimental data for various laboratory tests on concrete. Parametric studies on unilateral effects and influences of microcracks interactions are finally performed and analyzed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of sea spray on upper ocean temperature during typhoon passage: simulation with a 1-D turbulent model

At the interface between the lower atmosphere and sea surface, sea spray might significantly influence air-sea heat fluxes and subsequently, modulate upper ocean temperature during a typhoon passage. The effects of sea spray were introduced into the parameterization of sea surface roughness in a 1-D turbulent model, to investigate the effects of sea spray on upper ocean temperature in the Kuroshio Extension area, for the cases of two real typhoons from 2006, Yagi and Soulik. Model output was compared with data from the Kuroshio Extension Observatory (KEO), and Reynolds and AMSRE satellite remote sensing sea surface temperatures. The results indicate drag coefficients that include the spray effect are closer to observations than those without, and that sea spray can enhance the heat fluxes (especially latent heat flux) considerably during a typhoon passage. Consequently, the model results with heat fluxes enhanced by sea spray simulate better the cooling process of the SST and upper-layer temperature profiles. Additionally, results from the simulation of the passage of typhoon Soulik (that passed KEO quickly), which included the sea spray effect, were better than for the simulated passage of typhoon Yagi (that crossed KEO slowly). These promising 1-D results could provide insight into the application of sea spray in general circulation models for typhoon studies.     

A trophic model for the Danshuei River Estuary, a hypoxic estuary in northern Taiwan

The estuary of the Danshuei River, a hypoxic subtropical estuary, receives a high rate of untreated sewage effluent. The Ecopath with Ecosim software system was used to construct a mass-balanced trophic model for the estuary, and network analysis was used to characterize the structure and matter flow in the food web. The estuary model was comprised of 16 compartments, and the trophic levels varied from 1.0 for primary producers and detritus to 3.0 for carnivorous and piscivorous fishes. The large organic nutrient loading from the upper reaches has resulted in detritivory being more important than herbivory in the food web. The food-chain length of the estuary was relatively short when compared with other tropical/subtropical coastal systems. The shortness of food-chain length in the estuary could be attributed to the low biomass of the top predators. Consequently, the trophic efficiencies declined sharply for higher trophic levels due to low fractions of flows to the top predators and then high fractions to detritus. The low biomass of the top predators in the estuary was likely subject to over-exploitation and/or hypoxic water. Summation of individual rate measurements for primary production and respiration yielded an estimate of −1791 g WW m⁻² year⁻¹, or −95 g C m⁻² year⁻¹, suggesting a heterotrophic ecosystem, which implies that more organic matter was consumed than was produced in the estuary.     

中国硼矿主要矿集区及其资源潜力探讨

在分析中国硼矿床成因类型的基础上,将中国硼矿床划分沉积变质、现代盐湖沉积、矽卡岩和地下卤水4个矿床类型8个矿床式,最为重要的矿床类型为沉积变质型硼矿和现代盐湖型沉积硼矿床。在硼矿成矿区带划分方案的基础上,综合成矿规律、地质构造背景等因素划分出辽-吉沉积变质型、川-鄂地下卤水型、湘-桂矽卡岩型、西藏现代盐湖型和青海柴达木现代盐湖型5个硼矿矿集区。其中辽-吉老矿区深部和外围、川鄂区的地下卤水及盐湖硼矿的综合利用等方向尚有较大潜力。     

Experimental study of poromechanical behavior of saturated claystone under triaxial compression

This paper presents experimental results of drained and undrained triaxial compression tests of saturated Meuse–Haute/Marne claystone. The emphasis is to study the evolution of pore pressure with growth of microcracks and the effect of pore pressure on mechanical behavior. Basic mechanical responses are first investigated through drained triaxial compression tests, showing nonlinear stress strain relations, volumetric dilatancy and pressure sensitivity. In undrained triaxial compression tests, the pore pressure exhibits a transition from increase to decrease due to the transition from volumetric compressibility to dilatancy caused by the growth of microcracks. The failure surfaces, determined by total stress and Terzaghi’s effective stress under undrained condition, are compared with the one under drained condition.     

Experimental Researches on Hydro-Mechanical Properties of Altered Rock Under Confining Pressures

Altered rock, as the abutment materials of Xiaowan Hydropower Station in China, is a kind of geological defective rock mass. It is loosely structured and its strength is low, with some development of pores and cavities. Research on the hydro-mechanical coupling of the altered rock are of important significance to hydropower projects. In this study, the advanced fully automatic triaxial fluid flow-rheological test servo system is employed to study the hydro-mechanical coupling characteristics of the altered rock, and the water pressures and confining pressures in the laboratory tests are set to simulate the conditions of excavation and impoundment of Xiaowan Hydropower Station. Based on the test results, the stress–strain laws of the rock specimens under the effect of complete hydro-mechanical coupling, as well as the lateral strain and volumetric strain characteristics, are studied. The fluid flow laws of the rock specimens and the effects of the confining pressures on the fluid flow are analyzed. The fluid flow failure characteristic under the effect of the complete hydro-mechanical coupling is discussed. The research achievements show that with the change of the stress states, the permeability of the rock also changes, and the permeability evolution shows the phase characteristic during the process of stress and strain. The impacts of the confining pressures on the strength and deformation and permeability of the altered rock are obvious. The failure behaviours of the rock specimens under the effect of coupling relates to the confining pressures, including two kinds of splitting failure and shear failure. The fluid flow failure characteristic of the rock specimens depend upon the initiation, growth and coalesce of micro-cracks, heterogeneity, confining pressures and properties of the rock.     

黑龙江省内部中长期城镇人口迁移行为分析与建模

人口迁移的时空分异与影响机制一直是人口学研究关注的焦点。本文基于社保关系转移视角,从时间和空间两个维度探究黑龙江省城镇工作人口省内的中长期迁移规律与时空分异特征,并且结合人口推拉理论与OD模型,综合考虑经济和就业政策因素,建立了能够反映以社保劳动关系转移为基础的中长期人口迁移动力学模型。研究结果表明：基于社保关系的城镇工作人口迁移符合截断指数幂律分布,呈现列维飞行特点;该省省内人口迁出呈现多层级跨区域分布格局,人口迁入呈现“四核心-环东南”格局,人口迁入与迁出空间格局具有一定程度的类似性;黑龙江省边境城市人口流失情况较为严重;城镇职工迁移行为的无序性不断加大,迁移的频率较高;但是经过通过模拟,该省城镇职工的迁移系统趋向于平衡发展。