An overview of the surface and near-surface geology, geomorphology and natural resources of Kuwait

The surface and near-surface geology, geomorphology and natural resources of Kuwait have been reviewed based on the published work. The stratigraphy and structure of the near-surface sediments of Kuwait have been mainly controlled by the Tertiary tectonic activity of the Arabian Shield. The shield started separating from the African mainland by the close of the Eocene and drifted northeastward towards the Asian plate, giving rise to the folding and thrusting of the Zagros Mountains of Iran. The tectonic activity superimposed a northwest–southeast trend over an earlier north–south structural trend, and gave rise to parallel ridges and valleys trending northwest–southeast through differential erosion. It has been possible to identify 15 geomorphic zones and 11 morphostructures from analysis of the surface features of Kuwait. Seven of these morphostructures can be attributed to tectonic processes and two to fluvial processes. It has not been possible, however, to explain satisfactorily the origin of the Jal Az-Zor escarpment or the Ad-Dalmaniyah cliff. The whole of Kuwait can be divided into seven drainage zones. Of these, the internal drainage systems of the Ar-Raudhatain-Umm Al-Aish drainage system and the Ad-Dibdibba drainage system are hydrogeologically most important. The clastic deposits of Kuwait Group sediments, often affected by low-temperature carbonate (calcite and dolomite) and sulfate (gypsum) precipitation, form the surface rock of Kuwait. These are covered by recent aeolian and residual deposits; playa deposits in the enclosed basins; and near the coast, oolitic sediments, beach sands and sabkha deposits. The surface and near-surface deposits of Kuwait contain important reserves of construction sand and gravel as well as the only naturally occurring freshwater reserves of the country. An understanding of the nature of these surface deposits is required for the management of environmental issues like sand encroachment, land-use planning, and soil and groundwater pollution.     

What factors control mechanical erosion rates?

Mechanical erosion rates are important factors in understanding how continents evolve. Mechanical erosion is much faster than chemical erosion, especially for highly elevated regions of the Earth's surface. It is a principal way in which mountain ranges are removed, exposing deep metamorphic roots, which comprise much of the older portions of the continental masses. In addition, there has to be a long-term balance between erosion and mountain building. A new data set allows us to explore in greater detail some of the many factors which control mechanical erosion rates. The most important factors are some expression of the average slope of a drainage basin, some measurement of the amount of water available for erosion, some environmental measurements, and also a measurement of basin length, for which we have no good explanation. The estimate of global mechanical erosion rate obtained here is considerably lower than those obtained by some other workers, some of whom have concentrated on the fact that smaller river basins tend to get eroded faster than larger basins, and it is mainly smaller basins which have not been measured and which are therefore not allowed for by simple arithmetic averaging of observed erosion rates. It is shown here that although smaller basins are eroded faster, this is mainly because they are steeper than larger basins. We also show that extrapolation of current data to smaller basins does not work because the observed continental area which is draining to the ocean cannot be attained by the simplest extrapolation scheme. Received: 23 October 1998 / Accepted: 29 June 1999     

Simulation of groundwater drainage into a tunnel in fractured rock and numerical analysis of leakage remediation, Romeriksporten tunnel, Norway

Standard geostatistical methods for simulation of heterogeneity were applied to the Romeriksporten tunnel in Norway, where water was leaking through high-permeable fracture zones into the tunnel while it was under construction, causing drainage problems on the surface. After the tunnel was completed, artificial infiltration of water into wells drilled from the tunnel was implemented to control the leakage. Synthetic heterogeneity was generated at a scale sufficiently small to simulate the effects of remedial actions that were proposed to control the leakage. The flow field depends on the variance of permeabilities and the covariance model used to generate the heterogeneity. Flow channeling is the most important flow mechanism if the variance of the permeability field is large compared to the expected value. This condition makes the tunnel leakage difficult to control. The main effects of permeability changes due to sealing injection are simulated by a simple perturbation of the log-normal probability density function of the permeability. If flow channeling is the major transport mechanism of water into the tunnel, implementation of artificial infiltration of water to control the leakage requires previous chemical-sealing injection to be successful. Electronic Publication     

西北干旱区全新世气候变化的湖泊有机质碳同位素记录--以石羊河流域三角城为例

对我国河西走廊东端西北内陆干旱区与东部季风区交汇带的石羊河流域三角城古湖泊剖面进行了有机质碳同位素组成、有机碳和碳酸盐含量, 重建了西北干旱区全新世古气候高分辨变化模式。分析结果表明有机质碳同位素组成能灵敏地反映该区湖相地层记录的古气候特征,是一个较好的古气候替代指标。在湿湿期,湖泊水体扩大,生产力高,沉积物中有机物主要是沉水植物供给,δ^13Corg偏重;在干冷期,湖泊水体减小,沉积物中有机质以挺水植物为主,植被不发育,沉积物中有机质含量低,δ^13Corg偏轻。全新世气候演化主要分为4个主要阶段;暖湿期（约10000－5000aB.P.)、温湿期（约5000－3800aB.P.)、凉湿期（约3800－2600aB.P.)、干旱期（约2600aB.P.至今）,各阶段中气候快速变化明显。该区的古气候演化与同处于我国东部季风西北边缘的相邻地区有一定的可比,也具有自身的区域特色。     

边坡水平排水孔幕的渗流计算

为了简化边坡水平排水孔幕的渗流计算,根据排水孔两侧水位曲线对称的特征,选取隔离体来模拟研究边坡中地下水的运动规律。将排水孔视作强透水的管状渗透介质,建立隔离体的渗流模型,采用数值法模拟分析水平排水孔幕工作时渗流场的分布特征。实例表明,该方法合理有效,可用于边坡水平排水孔幕系统的排水效果评价及边坡水平排水孔幕系统的合理设计。      

变化环境下珠江流域洪水频率变化特征、成因及影响(1951-2010年)

气候变化和人类活动导致珠江流域水文变化,变化前后洪水频率分布显著不同.运用滑动秩和(Mann-Whitney U test)结合Brown-Forsythe、滑动T、有序聚类和Mann-Kendall检验法,并用累积距平曲线法获取年最大流量序列详细信息,综合确定样本最佳变化节点,并对水文变化成因做了系统分析.在此基础上,对整体序列、变化前后序列用线性矩法推求广义极值分布参数以及不同重现期设计流量.结果表明:(1)西江大部以及北江流域最佳变化节点在1991年左右;东江流域最佳变化节点与该流域内3大控制性水库建成时间基本吻合;(2)变化后,西江、北江年最大流量持续增加,洪峰强度增大,尤其是西江干流年最大流量显著增加;东江流域年最大流量显著减小,洪峰强度降低;(3)变化后,西江与北江洪水风险增加,尤其是下游珠三角地区本身受人类活动显著影响,加之西江与北江持续增加的洪水强度,珠三角地区发生洪水的强度及频次加剧,而东江洪水风险减小.此研究对于珠江流域在变化环境下的洪水风险评估与防洪抗灾具有重要意义.     

长江流域水库"过滤器效应"对入海溶解硅通量的影响

根据1960-2000年间长江大通水文站记录的水、沙以及硅、氮、磷等数据,结合1954-2006年间长江流域库容大于10⁸ m³的162座水库的库容、上游径流量、总磷等数据,利用Vollenweider模型分析了水库"过滤器效应"对入海溶解硅(DSi)通量的影响.结果表明:1)1990s相比1960s,长江入海DSi通量下降了约1.85×10⁶ t/a,减少了大约25.3%;入海DSi通量的下降与流域径流波动、入海悬沙通量下降以及溶解无机氮通量的增加紧密相关.2)流域水库明显改变径流的自然过程,增加径流的滞留时间,流域90%以上的水库对上游径流的滞留时间超过0.05年,水库产生显著的DSi"生物过滤器"效应.模型计算显示流域大型水库对DSi的累计滞留量可达0.85×10⁶ t/a,占年均入海DSi通量(1990-2000年)5.4×10⁶ t的15.7%,是入海DSi通量减少量(1.85×10⁶ t/a)的45.9%.3)根据保守估计,流域162座大型水库内泥沙累计淤积量达6.75×10⁸ t/a,不仅使悬沙入海通量显著下降,而且造成大量颗粒吸附的外源和内源DSi颗粒沉淀,这对入海DSi通量减少也起到重要贡献.但目前对水库"泥沙过滤器"的滞留机理并不清楚,需要展开进一步的研究.     

Debris-flow volumes in northeastern Italy: Relationship with drainage area and size probability

A dataset of 809 debris flows that occurred in 537 basins in mountainous areas of northeastern Italy between the mid-19th century and 2015 is collected and analyzed. A remarkable increase in the number of events is observed in the last four decades and is mainly ascribed to more systematic data collection. The correlation between debris-flow volume and drainage basin area is obtained assuming a power-law relationship. The exponent of the power-law curve at the 50th percentile (0.67 ± 0.02) indicates negative allometry, which means that basin area grows out of proportion to debris-flow volume. In contrast, the exponents at the 98th and 99th percentiles are close to one, implying that debris-flow volumes grow linearly with basin areas. The isometric relationship between the largest debris flows and the corresponding basin areas is due to the enhanced debris supply provided by the activation of widespread sediment sources, the extent of which is proportional to the basin size. The probability density function of debris-flow volume for a subset of the collected dataset is calculated using the kernel density estimation function, which permits estimating the probability of the occurrence of debris flows that exceed a given threshold volume. The comparison with debris flows in other hydroclimatic regions shows that, although debris-flow volumes in northeastern Italy may attain high values, they are often exceeded by debris flows that occur in seismically active regions and/or are triggered by more intense rainstorms. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

盐度对芦苇(Phragmites australis)表流湿地除氮效果的影响

利用芦苇湿地去除农业污水中的氮是博斯腾湖流域控制富营养化的重要手段.但是,污水中的盐分往往会抑制芦苇(Phragmites australis)湿地的除氮效果.为了探索不同盐度对芦苇湿地脱氮效果的影响和机制,研究4个不同的盐度梯度(淡水、2‰、5‰和10‰)对芦苇表流湿地中氮去除的影响,测定不同盐度下湿地表层(0~10.0 cm)和下层土壤(10.0~20.0 cm)中硝化、反硝化作用强度的变化.结果表明,盐度上升显著降低了湿地氮的去除率,但是不同离子形态的氮变化趋势并不一致.5‰和10‰盐度下的芦苇湿地中总氮、铵态氮去除率分别下降了9.03%、31.80%和23.10%、39.20%,亚硝态氮累积率分别上升了190%、690%,而硝态氮并未发生明显变化.相对于参与反硝化作用的菌群,盐度对参与硝化作用菌群的抑制作用更强是产生此现象的主要原因.除此之外,盐度升高导致植物根系泌氧减少也是土壤中的硝化作用强度降低的重要原因之一.     

湖北牛山湖小型鱼类的群落结构及多样性

流域数据模型是流域特征的语义、行为和规则的表达,是进行集成流域模拟和管理的空间数据组织的重要内容．本文以长江三角洲太湖流域上游的西苕溪流域为例,将汇流单元分为自然流域、“大包围”、圩区三种形式,分别建立了各自内部的河湖网络关系,即山区由自然流域单元,内包含水库(或湖泊)、河流、水工点的树状河湖网络关系;平原区由人工汇流单元,内包含大包围、圩区、湖泊、湿地、河道、水工点的网状河湖网络关系,为建立适合我国的流域数据模型做了有益的探索．