Analytical study of mine closure behaviour in a poro‐visco‐elastic medium

This paper is interested in the hydro‐mechanical behaviour of an underground cavity abandoned at the end of its service life. It is an extension of a previous study that accounted for a poro‐elastic behaviour of the rock mass (Int. J. Comput. Geomech. 2007; DOI: 10.1016/j.compgeo.2007.11.003 ). Deterioration of the lining support with time leads to the transfer of the loading from the exterior massif to the interior backfill. The in situ material has a poro‐visco‐elastic constitutive behaviour while the backfill is poro‐elastic, both saturated with water. This loading transfer is accompanied by an inward cavity convergence, thereby compressing the backfill, and induces an outward water flow. This leads to a complex space–time evolution of pore pressures, displacements and stresses, which is not always intuitive. In its general setting, a semi‐explicit solution to this problem is developed, using Laplace transform, the inversion being performed numerically. Analytical inversion leading to a quasi‐explicit solution in the time domain is possible by identifying the characteristic creep and relaxation times of volumetric strains with those of the deviatoric strains, on the basis of a parametric study. A few numerical examples are given to illustrate the hydro‐mechanical behaviour of the cavity and highlight the influence of key parameters (e.g. stiffness of backfill, lining deterioration rate, etc.). Further studies accounting for more general material behaviours for the backfill and external ground are ongoing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element formulation for poroelastic problem with zero effective stress boundary condition

Zero effective stress boundary condition along with constant fluid flux is commonly encountered in geotechnical applications such as uncased borehole stability, fluid injection and production at an uncased borehole, hydraulic fracturing and sand production. This complex boundary condition introduces high nonlinearity in the numerical simulation. Conventional iterative methods such as Newton–Raphson method are required to solve this nonlinear problem iteratively, which involve huge computing time and also pose numerical difficulties on the convergence. To overcome this numerical difficulty and hence reduce the computing time, a novel numerical technique is proposed in this paper. Its performance is evaluated using a numerical example simulating fluid injection around an uncased borehole. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How well do we understand cosmological recombination?

The major theoretical limitation for extracting cosmological parameters from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) sky lies in the precision with which we can calculate the cosmological recombination process. Uncertainty in the details of hydrogen and helium recombination could effectively increase the errors or bias the values of the cosmological parameters derived from the Planck satellite, for example. Here, we modify the cosmological recombination code recfast by introducing one more parameter to reproduce the recent numerical results for the speed-up of the helium recombination. Together with the existing hydrogen fudge factor, we vary these two parameters to account for the remaining dominant uncertainties in cosmological recombination. By using the C osmo MC code with Planck forecast data, we find that we need to determine the parameters to better than 10 per cent for He  i and 1 per cent for H, in order to obtain negligible effects on the cosmological parameters. For helium recombination, if the existing studies have calculated the ionization fraction to the 0.1 per cent level by properly including the relevant physical processes, then we already have numerical calculations which are accurate enough for Planck . For hydrogen, setting the fudge factor to speed up low-redshift recombination by 14 per cent appears to be sufficient for Planck . However, more work still needs to be done to carry out comprehensive numerical calculations of all the relevant effects for hydrogen, as well as to check for effects which couple hydrogen and helium recombination through the radiation field.     

李希霍芬与中国之地质工作

文章原稿系用英文写成,曾载《中国地质学会会志》1933年第3期,以纪念李希霍芬百年诞辰。原文由李海晨汉译刊登于《方志月刊》1933年第6卷第12期,37～38页。今年为李希霍芬逝世100周年,本刊重新刊发李海晨翻译的文章,介绍李希霍芬对中国地质所做出的贡献以及他的科学精神,以激励有志的年轻学者。     

A physical and numerical model-based research on the subsidence features of overlying strata caused by coal mining in Henan,China

The major environmental consequence of coal mining is anthropogenic land subsidence. In particular, mine subsidence can cause damage to public and private infrastructure such as railroads, roads, pipelines and buildings. What is more, it is an engineering problem which troubles engineering construction and safety. Ground surface deformation is related to the measure of mining and the deformation mechanism of overlying strata above the gob. In this paper, a physical and numerical model on the subsidence of longwall mining within a geotechnical setting is presented. The physical model is developed within the framework of physical similar law and geological model in Henan Province, China. The numerical solution is developed within continuum poromechanics and finite element setting. The law of overlying strata deformation is obtained according to physical model experiment and numerical simulation.     

Effects of climate change on groundwater resources at Shelter Island, New York State, USA

Rising sea levels due to climate change are expected to negatively impact the fresh-water resources of small islands. The effects of climate change on Shelter Island, New York State (USA), a small sandy island, were investigated using a variable-density transient groundwater flow model. Predictions for changes in precipitation and sea-level rise over the next century from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 report were used to create two future climate scenarios. In the scenario most favorable to fresh groundwater retention, consisting of a 15% precipitation increase and 0.18-m sea-level rise, the result was a 23-m seaward movement of the fresh-water/salt-water interface, a 0.27-m water-table rise, and a 3% increase in the fresh-water lens volume. In the scenario supposedly least favorable to groundwater retention, consisting of a 2% precipitation decrease and 0.61-m sea-level rise, the result was a 16-m landward movement of the fresh-water/salt-water interface, a 0.59-m water-table rise, and a 1% increase in lens volume. The unexpected groundwater-volume increase under unfavorable climate change conditions was best explained by a clay layer under the island that restricts the maximum depth of the aquifer and allows for an increase in fresh-water lens volume when the water table rises.     

Evaluation of drainage tunnel effectiveness in landslide control

Infiltration of rainfall into hillslopes is often an important factor in triggering landslides. Using underground water drainage works together with anti-slide piles has been an effective method of landslide control, yet their effectiveness is inadequately discussed in the literature. This paper studies the influence of rainfall on the change in the underground water level beneath a slope by real-time and synchronic monitoring of the rainfall, the underground water level in the boreholes, and the flow rate of the underground drainage tunnel. The effectiveness of the underground drainage tunnel in preventing the rise of the underground water level of the slope is discussed. The researchers also study the deformation behavior of the anti-slide piles by monitoring the lateral displacement of the piles and analyzing the thrust that the anti-slide piles bear by numerical inversion techniques. The results indicate that there is an apparent relationship between the lag in the rising of the underground water level caused by a rainfall and that caused by the immediately previous rainfall. When there is a rainfall accumulation before the occurrence of a heavy rain, this particular heavy rainfall will cause a rapid rise of the underground water level beneath the slope. The monitoring data analysis shows that the flow rate of the underground drainage tunnel increases first, and then the underground water level of the slope rises after a rainfall. In other words, the flow rate of the underground drainage tunnel increases at a rate faster than that of the rise of the underground water level. Hence, the underground drainage tunnel can effectively lower the rise of the underground water level induced by a rainfall. Besides, based on the monitoring data of the lateral displacement of the anti-slide piles and subsequent analysis, the working state of the anti-slide piles is justified. It thus indirectly validates the benefits of using underground drainage tunnel in landslide control.     

Impediments to community fisheries management: Some findings in Kompong Pou commune,Krakor District in Cambodia's Tonle Sap

This paper broadly assesses some reasons why co‐management of inland fisheries by resource users and state agencies in Cambodia remains difficult to realize. Our survey of the resources, human capacity and associated de facto mechanisms for achieving community fisheries (CFi) objectives among fishing communities of Krakor District, located along Tonle Sap Lake, found these mobilizations at a crossroads in terms of empowered institutional and legal frameworks. Although the commune is a local administrative authority in the context of Cambodia's evolving decentralization and deconcentration (D&D) reform process, decision making and accountability in natural resource management have yet to be transferred to, or opened to participation from, local and subcommune level stakeholders and agencies. Furthermore, the institutional links between the commune council and CFi are ambiguous. This lack of linkages between central government, state agencies and CFi has left fisherfolk struggling to survive against more powerful competing interests. The preliminary findings presented here suggest that the achievement of sustainable CFi management in the Tonle Sap Lake remains problematic without local level decision making powers, sustained funding of CFi and related local government, and partnership between key shareholders in rural development programmes that recognize and encompass women's roles in natural resource management.     

Gaussian plume modeling of contaminant transport

A technique for modeling contaminant transport based on Markov process theory is developed. Transport is quantified by summing the first two moments of independent random displacements and applying the central limit theorem (CLT) to obtain solute distributions of a Gaussian nature. For non-uniform flow fields the CLT is applied in a streamfunction/equi-travel time space and transforms are used to give concentrations in Cartesian coordinates. Simulations in uniform, radially converging and circular flow fields show the method to be two to three orders of magnitude faster than modeling with the advection-dispersion equation, using a control volume technique.     

Approximate pile-to-pile interaction factors between two dissimilar piles

This paper develops approximations for the settlement interaction factors between two dissimilar piles. Via an extensive parametric study using the computer program GEPAN, approximations are developed for interaction factors for piles having dissimilar diameters but equal lengths, piles having dissimilar lengths, and for piles having dissimilar ground conditions at the pile tips. Correction factors are then given to allow for the effects of piles stiffness and length-to-diameter ratio. The approximations may be employed in analyses for group settlements to allow for the case where not all piles in the group are identical.