Microtremor-based analysis of the dynamic response characteristics of earth-fissured sites in the Datong basin,China

This study conducted microtremor testing along six survey lines that cross three typical earth fissures in the Datong basin to determine the dynamic response characteristics of earth fissure sites with regard to the Fourier amplitude spectrum, response spectrum, and Arias intensity. The results show the following.(1) The predominant frequency of an earth fissure site is mainly affected by the thickness and the shear wave velocity of the soil layer and is minimally effected by the presence of an earth fissure.(2) Earth fissures have a pronounced amplification effect on dynamic response. Fourier amplitude, response acceleration, and Arias intensity are high near an earth fissure and decrease with an increase in distance from the earth fissure, tending toward stability at a distance of 20 m.(3) The area that is seriously affected by this amplification is within 6–8 m of an earth fissure, and the general affected area is farther out than this, to a distance of 25 m.(4) New construction should be avoided in an area affected by the amplification, and existing buildings in general and seriously affected areas need to be reinforced to increase their seismic fortification intensity.     

Basin patterns of upper ocean warming for 1993–2009

A previous study (Lyman et al., Nature 465:334–337, 2010) showed a robust warming signal of the global upper ocean (0–700 m). They examined several sources of uncertainty that contribute to differences among heat content estimations. However, their focus was limited to globally averaged estimation. This study presents the spatial pattern of the global heat content change based on observed gridded datasets (Levitus et al., Geophys Res Lett 36:L07608, 2009). The western Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans showed significant warming trends, whereas eastern Pacific and some areas of the Gulf Stream experienced negative trends during 1993–2009. Steady warming trend was obtained from the first EOF mode when El Nino and Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-related signals were removed. This result implies that the rapid increase in heat content of the upper ocean around 2000–2005 is not related to a sampling transition from XBT to Argo observations but is associated with a natural variability dominated by strong ENSO-related signals.     

Ekman motion in shallow open sea in the presence of time-harmonic variation of water depth

The time variation of the wind-induced flow in a homogeneous unbounded sea region has been analytically investigated. The time-dependent Ekman solution in a homogeneous, shallow open sea has been further extended by taking into account the time variation in water depth which might be caused by either tidal motion or change in the mixed layer thickness. The solution approach taken in this study is based on the Galerkin-eigenfunction method originally developed by Heaps [1972. On the numerical solution of three-dimensional hydrodynamical equations for tides and storm surges. Memoires de la Societe Royale des Sciences de Liege Serie 6(2), 143–180]. A series of calculations have been made with emphasis on the influence of the time variation in water depth upon the build-up of Ekman spirals in the presence of oscillatory variations in water depth. It has been found that two oscillations contribute to the wind drift current, the inertial oscillation and the depth-variation-induced oscillation; the inertial oscillation decays with time, but the depth-variation-induced oscillation remains undamped despite the presence of bottom friction. The presence of time-harmonic variation produces peculiar forms of hodograph with a curled or circular pattern according to the angular frequency of the water depth variation.     

Analytical investigations of seismic responses for reinforced concrete bridge columns subjected to strong near-fault ground motion

Strong near-fault ground motion, usually caused by the fault-rupture and characterized by a pulse-like velocity- wave form, often causes dramatic instantaneous seismic energy (Jadhav and Jangid 2006). Some reinforced concrete (RC) bridge columns, even those built according to ductile design principles, were damaged in the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. Thus, it is very important to evaluate the seismic response of a RC bridge column to improve its seismic design and prevent future damage. Nonlinear time history analysis using step-by-step integration is capable of tracing the dynamic response of a structure during the entire vibration period and is able to accommodate the pulsing wave form. However, the accuracy of the numerical results is very sensitive to the modeling of the nonlinear load-deformation relationship of the structural member. FEMA 273 and ATC-40 provide the modeling parameters for structural nonlinear analyses of RC beams and RC columns. They use three parameters to define the plastic rotation angles and a residual strength ratio to describe the nonlinear load- deformation relationship of an RC member. Structural nonlinear analyses are performed based on these parameters. This method provides a convenient way to obtain the nonlinear seismic responses of RC structures. However, the accuracy of the numerical solutions might be further improved. For this purpose, results from a previous study on modeling of the static pushover analyses for RC bridge columns (Sung et al. 2005) is adopted for the nonlinear time history analysis presented herein to evaluate the structural responses excited by a near-fault ground motion. To ensure the reliability of this approach, the numerical results were compared to experimental results. The results confirm that the proposed approach is valid.     

含气介质临界点、流体和骨架弹性参数的数值计算方法

目前临界孔隙度及孔隙介质的研究主要为测试分析的实验方法,如何运用数值计算方法求取孔隙流体介质临界点和组分弹性参数一直是备受关注的课题.本文提出了求取孔隙介质临界点、孔隙内流体和骨架弹性参数的数值计算公式及方法,并结合含气样品测试数据实现了这种数值计算.文章首先给出了3个包含孔隙度的线性方程,通过有机组合每个线性方程中的两个系数得到求取有关弹性参数的数值计算公式.然后,详细阐述了计算的方法和步骤以及需要注意的问题,把室内含气砂岩样品实测的综合介质密度、纵波速度和横波速度作为数值计算的输入数据,求得了临界点和流体及骨架等相关弹性参数的具体数值.通过比较分析本文数学方法求得的计算数据与实验方法测得的实测数据,表明了该数值计算公式的正确性和数值实现方法的有效性.     

Application of bivariate frequency analysis to the derivation of rainfall–frequency curves

Bivariate distributions have been recently employed in hydrologic frequency analysis to analyze the joint probabilistic characteristics of multivariate storm events. This study aims to derive practical solutions of application for the bivariate distribution to estimate design rainfalls corresponding to the desired return periods. Using the Gumbel mixed model, this study constructed rainfall–frequency curves at sample stations in Korea which provide joint relationships between amount, duration, and frequency of storm events. Based on comparisons and analyses of the rainfall–frequency curves derived from univariate and bivariate storm frequency analyses, this study found that conditional frequency analysis provides more appropriate estimates of design rainfalls as it more accurately represents the natural relationship between storm properties than the conventional univariate storm frequency analysis.     

三峡水库枯水期补水调度对洞庭湖越冬白鹤(Grus leucogeranus)摄食栖息地的影响

摄食栖息地面积是反映越冬水鸟生存空间的直接指标,三峡水库运行后洞庭湖枯水期水文节律出现新的变化,给越冬水鸟摄食栖息地造成的影响尚不明确.为定量描述三峡水库枯水期不同出库流量对洞庭湖越冬水鸟摄食栖息地的影响,以洞庭湖典型的珍稀越冬水鸟——白鹤(Grus leucogeranus)为指示性候鸟,以白鹤摄食对栖息地水深需求作为关键生态因子,建立白鹤摄食对水深需求的栖息地适宜度模型.构建涵盖长江干流、三口河系、洞庭湖及其四水尾闾河段的江湖一体化耦合水动力模型,实现栖息地水动力分布特征的精确模拟.在此基础上耦合栖息地适宜度模型和水动力模型,建立了面向白鹤摄食对三峡水库出库流量需求的物理栖息地模型,量化不同出库流量对应的白鹤摄食栖息地加权可利用面积,定量分析水库运行对白鹤摄食栖息地面积的影响.结果表明:1月中旬三峡水库不同出库流量下洞庭湖白鹤潜在摄食栖息地面积保持稳定并随出库流量的增加呈增大趋势,维持在101.40~121.84 km²之间,其中东洞庭湖摄食栖息地面积在7.49~9.86 km²之间,南洞庭湖(含横岭湖)摄食栖息地面积在47.37~60.34 km²之间,西洞庭湖摄食栖息地面积在46.54~51.64 km²之间.不同湖区摄食栖息地面积随着三峡水库出库流量的增加均呈增大的趋势,说明三峡水库枯水期补水调度对于维持栖息地面积具有重要作用.较三峡水库运行前相比,白鹤摄食栖息地面积最大增加20.44 km²,对应的增幅为20.16%.成果明晰了三峡水库运行对洞庭湖白鹤摄食栖息地面积的影响规律,可为通过三峡水库补水调度改善洞庭湖越冬水鸟摄食栖息地生境提供理论基础.     

地裂缝场地建筑结构动力响应特征及抗震设防研究

为研究地震作用下地裂缝场地建筑结构的动力响应特征,以西安地裂缝场地为研究背景,分别考虑独立基础、片筏基础、桩基础和桩筏基础上的框架结构,对结构峰值加速度、层间位移等动力响应特征及其影响因素和影响规律进行系统研究。研究结果表明：(1)地裂缝附近场地上的结构加速度响应和层间位移响应具有明显的放大效应,动力响应峰值随着距地裂缝距离的增大逐渐减小,最终趋于稳定,放大效应的影响范围约为24 m,此范围内的结构需提高抗震设防水平;(2)结构的峰值加速度随层高的增大而增大,整体呈现出“S”形,层间位移角随层高的增大先增大后减小,二者均表现出明显的“上盘效应”,即上盘结构响应强于下盘,且随着输入地震动强度的增大,上、下盘结构动力响应差异进一步扩大,上盘效应愈发显著;(3)片筏基础、桩基础和桩筏基础结构的加速度响应接近,而独立基础结构的加速度与前三者差异明显,但随着楼层的增大,基础形式对结构层间位移角的影响逐渐减弱;(4)上、下盘结构的峰值加速度、峰值位移大小及峰值出现的时间等存在一定差异,这是由于地震波经过地裂缝时发生复杂的反射和折射,结构受到非一致性激励造成的。