Generalized thin sheet analysis in magnetotellurics: an extension of Price's analysis

Summary. Price's thin sheet analysis for electromagnetic fields has been extended in order to model the effects of crustal resistivity and conductivity variations on magnetotelluric fields. These extensions allow for a general layered medium below the crust and also account for the vertical resistance of the crust as well as its horizontal conductance. An important parameter emerges from the analysis which determines the distance it takes for the crustal current levels to readjust to changes in the crustal conductance. This adjustment distance is given by the square root of the conductivity thickness product multiplied by the resistivity thickness product. Approximate analytical solutions were developed for two-dimensional geometries in order to demonstrate these effects as well as the modifications produced by finite source wavelengths.     

Diffuse interstellar band formation in dense clouds

Measurements of the strengths of the diffuse interstellar bands at 4430, 5780 and 5797 Å show that the bands tend to be week with respect to extinction in dense interstellar clouds. Data on 10 stars in the ? Ophiuchi cloud complex show further that the diffuse band-producing efficiency of the grains decreases systematically with increasing grain size. It is concluded that the diffuse bands are not formed in the mantles which accrete on the grains in interstellar clouds, but that they could be produced in the cores of grains or in some molecular species.     

Survival and Behavioral Effects of Exposure to a Hydrokinetic Turbine on Juvenile Atlantic Salmon and Adult American Shad

This paper describes a series of experiments designed to measure the effect of exposure to a full-scale, vertical axis hydrokinetic turbine on downstream migrating juvenile Atlantic salmon (N?=?175) and upstream migrating adult American shad (N?=?208). Controlled studies were performed in a large-scale, open-channel flume, and all individuals approached the turbine under volitional control. No injuries were observed, and there was no measurable increase in mortality associated with turbine passage. Exposure to the turbine elicited behavioral responses from both species, however, with salmon passing primarily over the downrunning blades. Shad movement was impeded by the device, as indicated by fewer attempts of shorter duration and reduced distance of ascent up the flume. More work should be performed in both laboratory and field conditions to determine to what extent these effects are likely to influence free-swimming fish.     

Rocking damage‐free steel column base with friction devices: design procedure and numerical evaluation

Earthquake‐resilient steel frames, such as self‐centering frames or frames with passive energy dissipation devices, have been extensively studied during the past decade, but little attention has been paid to their column bases. The paper presents a rocking damage‐free steel column base, which uses post‐tensioned high‐strength steel bars to control rocking behavior and friction devices to dissipate seismic energy. Contrary to conventional steel column bases, the rocking column base exhibits monotonic and cyclic moment–rotation behaviors that are easily described using simple analytical equations. Analytical equations are provided for different cases including structural limit states that involve yielding or loss of post‐tensioning in the post‐tensioned bars. A step‐by‐step design procedure is presented, which ensures damage‐free behavior, self‐centering capability, and adequate energy dissipation capacity for a predefined target rotation. A 3D nonlinear finite element (FE) model of the column base is developed in abaqus . The results of the FE simulations validate the accuracy of the moment–rotation analytical equations and demonstrate the efficiency of the design procedure. Moreover, a simplified model for the column base is developed in OpenSees . Comparisons among the OpenSees and abaqus models demonstrate the efficiency of the former and its adequacy to be used in nonlinear dynamic analysis. A prototype steel building is designed as a self‐centering moment‐resisting frame with conventional or rocking column bases. Nonlinear dynamic analyses show that the rocking column base fully protects the first story columns from yielding and eliminates the first story residual drift without any detrimental effect on peak interstory drifts. The study focuses on the 2D rocking motion and, thus, ignores 3D rocking effects such as biaxial bending deformations in the friction devices. The FE models, the analytical equations, and the design procedure will be updated and validated to cover 3D rocking motion effects after forthcoming experimental tests on the column base. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recent advances in seismic monitoring technology at Canadian mines

We provide an overview of the current status of seismic monitoring instrumentation employed in Canadian underground mines. Based on several case studies, we outline how passive seismic monitoring techniques are being used to evaluate fractures and stress conditions associated with ore extraction at depth. It is shown that induced microseismicity allows for the remote monitoring of active fractures, delineating modes of failure with advancing excavation fronts, and identifying variations in principal stress orientations during sequential stages of mining. Advances into the characterization of excavation zone of influence through deformation state analysis and the use of seismic hazard analysis to evaluate the potential for ground instability are also discussed.     

Petrochemistry of the Fish Cove rhyolite,Keweenaw peninsula,Michigan, U.S.A.

A small (360 × 180 m) rhyolitic intrusive body in the lower portion of the Portage Lake Lava Series of Michigan's Keweenaw peninsula was mapped and sampled in detail. The rhyolite is one of a number of similar bodies which make up less than 1% of the total volume of this thick Late-Precambrian plateau basalt pile. The rock is a low-calcium rhyolite with fine-grained homogeneous texture and sparse phenocrysts of plagioclase and quartz. Analyses of selected trace and major elements for 21 samples taken from the body reveal a chemical zonation consisting of a core zone enriched in K, Rb and Ba, and a border zone relatively poor in these elements. Little areal difference is found with respect to other elements tested (Mn, Sr, Zr, Ca, Ti, and Fe). This apparently primary zonation seems to result from the migration of K, Rb and Ba during crystallization of the shallow intrusive. Though zoned, the trace-element chemistry of the Fish Cove body is distinct from that of eight other rhyolites in the Portage Lake Lava Series, and suggests that fingerprinting by trace elements might be a fruitful method for identifying and correlating the sources of numerous rhyolitic pebbles in conglomerates interbedded with the basaltlava flows of the Portage Lake Series.     

The middle atmosphere

The last 50 years have seen enormous advances in our knowledge and understanding of the stratosphere and mesosphere, which together comprise the middle atmosphere. Beginning from a phase of basic discovery, we have now reached the stage where most observed phenomena can be modelled from first principles with a reasonable degree of fidelity, and where there is an overall theoretical framework which can be tested against measurements and models. This review surveys a number of major surprises in middle atmosphere science over the past 50 years. A phenomenological and historical approach is adopted in each case, leading up to the current literature. Along the way, a common thread emerges: the central role of waves, of various types, in redistributing angular momentum within the atmosphere, and the global nature of the atmospheric response to such redistribution.     

Large prandtl number finite-amplitude thermal convection with maxwell viscoelasticity

Abstract

Nonlinear interactions of deviatoric stress components and the velocity field occur in all dynamic flows where convected elasticity is accounted for. By incorporating a linear Maxwellian constitutive relation (Oldroyd ‘B’ type) into a finite-amplitude convection model we quantify the magnitude of some of the effects of these nonlinear interactions. For viscoelastic flows the relevant nondimensional parameter is the ratio of viscoelastic constitutive relaxation time constant, λ₁, to the basic flow process time. The Rayleigh number, Ra, and the nondimensional ratio of λ₁ to thermal conduction time, τ_c, are part of the parameter space investigated. However, shorter basic flow time scales than that for thermal equilibration are of interest since most viscoelastic fluids have relatively small values of λ₁ The ratio of λ₁ to buoyant time [bcirc], or λ₁/[bcirc], is, therefore, a pertinent parameter. Using both lithospheric and aesthenospheric values for λ₁, the ratio appropriate to mantle convection is roughly bounded by O(1)[bcirc]>λ₁/[bcirc]>O(10^?6). Employing these bounds and computing low Rayleigh number time-dependent convective flows in a two-dimensional box, it is demonstrated that viscoelasticity has a negligible influence on quasi-steady heat transport even for λ₁/[bcirc]～O(1) For any time-dependent behavior with time scales as short, or shorter than, the buoyant time, [bcirc], viscoelasticity might be important to the local exchange of mechanical energy. The recoverable strain energy in the descending portion of the lithosphere is comparable to the local viscous dissipation. The magnitude of this recoverable component of shear is proportional to λ₁/[bcirc].