A novel coupled FDM-DEM modelling method for flexible membrane boundary in laboratory tests

Difficulties are involved in discrete element method (DEM) modelling of the flexible boundary, that is, the membranes covering the soil sample, which can be commonly found in contemporary laboratory soil tests. In this paper, a novel method is proposed wherein the finite difference method (FDM) and DEM are coupled to simulate the rubber membrane and soil body, respectively. Numerical plane strain and triaxial tests, served by the flexible membrane, are implemented and analysed later. The effect of the membrane modulus on the measurement accuracy is considered, with analytical formulae derived to judge the significance of this effect. Based on an analysis of stress-strain responses and the grain rotation field, the mechanical performances produced by the flexible and rigid lateral boundaries are compared for the plane strain test. The results show that (1) the effect of the membrane on the test result becomes more significant at larger strain level because the membrane applies additional lateral confining pressure to the soil body; (2) the tested models reproduce typical stress and volumetric paths for specimens with shear bands; (3) for the plane strain test, the rigid lateral boundary derives a much higher peak strength and larger bulk dilatation, but a similar residual strength, compared with the flexible boundary. The latter produces a more uniform (or ‘diffuse') rotation field and more mobilised local kinematics than does the former. All simulations show that the proposed FDM-DEM coupling method is able to simulate laboratory tests with a flexible boundary membrane.     

The Upper Devonian Kellwasser event recorded in a regressive sequence from inner shelf to lagoonal pond,Catalan Coastal Ranges,Spain

This study, conducted in the Catalan Coastal Ranges, north‐east Spain, describes the Upper Devonian Kellwasser event in a shallowing‐upward sequence of black shales, siltstones and quartz arenites. This sequence was deposited in a progradational and regressive coastal system where the sedimentary environment evolved from the inner shelf to a lagoonal pond located landward of the shoreline. Three anomalous succeeding steps have been identified by geochemical analysis. The first one, detected on the inner shelf, was characterized by oxygen depletion and high organic productivity. The second, detected in the nearshore, was caused by hydrothermal activity occurring under normal oxic conditions. The third and most intense step was identified in the muds of the lagoonal pond and has been linked to strong anoxic conditions, elevated clastic input derived from changes in the weathering regime at the source area and moderate hydrothermal activity. The Kellwasser event is thus defined in the study area as stepwise and multi‐causal. This is the first time that the Kellwasser event has been identified in a sedimentary environment behind the shoreline. It is also the first time that it has been reported in the Catalan Coastal Ranges.     

The effects of topographically-controlled thermal tides in the martian upper atmosphere as seen by the MGS accelerometer

Mars Global Surveyor accelerometer observations of the martian upper atmosphere revealed large variations in density with longitude during northern hemisphere spring at altitudes of 130-160 km, all latitudes, and mid-afternoon local solar times (LSTs). This zonal structure is due to tides from the surface. The zonal structure is stable on timescales of weeks, decays with increasing altitude above 130 km, and is dominated by wave-3 (average amplitude 22% of mean density) and wave-2 (18%) harmonics. The phases of these harmonics are constant with both altitude and latitude, though their amplitudes change significantly with latitude. Near the South Pole, the phase of the wave-2 harmonic changes by 90° with a change of half a martian solar day while the wave-3 phase stays constant, suggesting diurnal and semidiurnal behaviour, respectively. We use a simple application of classical tidal theory to identify the dominant tidal modes and obtain results consistent with those of General Circulation Models. Our method is less rigorous, but simpler, than the General Circulation Models and hence complements them. Topography has a strong influence on the zonal structure.     

Thick and thin models of the evolution of carbon dioxide on Mars

We present results from a new simulation code that accounts for the evolution of the reservoirs of carbon dioxide on Mars, from its early years to the present. We establish a baseline model parameter set that produces results compatible with the present (i.e., Patm?6.5 mbar with permanent CO₂ ice cap) for a wide range of initial inventories. We find that the initial inventory of CO₂ broadly determines the evolutionary course of the reservoirs of CO₂. The reservoirs include the atmosphere, ice cap, adsorbed CO₂ in the regolith, and carbonate rocks. We track the evolution of the free inventory: the atmosphere, ice cap and regolith. Simulations begin at 4.53 Gyr before present with a rapid loss of free inventory to space in the early Noachian. Models that assume a relatively small initial inventory (?5 bar) have pronounced minima in the free inventory of CO₂ toward the end of the Noachian. Under baseline parameters, initial inventories below ∼4.5 bar result in a catastrophic loss of the free inventory to space. The current free inventory would be then determined by the balance between outgassing, sputtering losses and chemical weathering following the end of the late bombardment. We call these “thin” models. They generically predict small current free inventories in line with expectations of a small present CO₂ ice cap. For “thick” models, with initial inventories ?5 bar, a surplus of 300-700 mbar of free CO₂ remains during the late-Noachian. The histories of free inventory in time for thick models tend to converge within the last 3.5 Gyr toward a present with an ice cap plus atmospheric inventory of about 100 mbar. For thick models, the convergence is largely due to the effects of chemical weathering, which draws down higher free inventories more rapidly than the low. Thus, thick models have ?450 mbar carbonate reservoirs, while thin models have ?200 mbar. Though both thick and thin scenarios can reproduce the current atmospheric pressure, the thick models imply a relatively large current CO₂ ice cap and thin models, little or none. While the sublimation of a massive cap at a high obliquity would create a climate swing of greenhouse warming for thick models, under the thin model, mean temperatures and pressures would be essentially unaffected by increases in obliquity.     

有关边界层问题中一类奇异积分方程新的存在性结果

对边界层理论新结果中出现的一类奇异积分方程w（t）=∫1 t（1-s）（λ＋λs＋s）/w（s）ds＋（1-t）∫t 0s/w（s）ds,t∈（0,1）进行讨论，并得出了上述方程在λ∈（-1/2,0）上正解存在性的新结果。     

Dynamical implications of Jupiter's tropospheric ammonia abundance

Groundbased radio observations indicate that Jupiter's ammonia is globally depleted from 0.6 bars to at least 4-6 bars relative to the deep abundance of ∼3 times solar, a fact that has so far defied explanation. The observations also indicate that (i) the depletion is greater in belts than zones, and (ii) the greatest depletion occurs within Jupiter's local 5-μm hot spots, which have recently been detected at radio wavelengths. Here, we first show that both the global depletion and its belt-zone variation can be explained by a simple model for the interaction of moist convection with Jupiter's cloud-layer circulation. If the global depletion is dynamical in origin, then important endmember models for the belt-zone circulation can be ruled out. Next, we show that the radio observations of Jupiter's 5-μm hot spots imply that the equatorial wave inferred to cause hot spots induces vertical parcel oscillation of a factor of ∼2 in pressure near the 2-bar level, which places important constraints on hot-spot dynamics. Finally, using spatially resolved radio maps, we demonstrate that low-latitude features exceeding ∼4000 km diameter, such as the equatorial plumes and large vortices, are also depleted in ammonia from 0.6 bars to at least 2 bars relative to the deep abundance of 3 times solar. If any low-latitude features exist that contain 3-times-solar ammonia up to the 0.6-bar ammonia condensation level, they must have diameters less than ∼4000 km.     

On the Line Formation in Stellar Magnetized Atmospheres

1 INTRODUCTIONIn the previous paper (on et al. 1999, hereafter Paper I), we investigated the wavelength-dependence of four colltribution functions (CFs) derived from dmerent formal solutions andreferring to different emergellt quantities in the unpolarized case. Because one cannot generallyassign a single formation region to the whole line band in a real stellar atmosphere, e.g., the solaratmosphere, instead, the line formation region can be defined as the layers deviating farthestfrom t…     

Boundary curves for families of planar orbits

For monoparametric familiesf(x,y)=c of planar orbits, created by a planar potentialV(x,y), we introduce the notion of the family boundary curves (FBC). All members of the familyf(x,y)=c are traced in an allowable region of thexy plane, defined by the corresponding FBC, with total energyE=E(c) varying along the family. Family boundary curves are also found for two-parametric familiesf(x,y,b)=c. The relation of equilibrium points and asymptotic orbits, possibly possessed by the potentialV(x,y), to be FBC is studied.     

山西省石炭系与二叠系界线

１８８２年李希霍芬在太原西山建立石炭系的太原系含煤建造以来，石炭系与二叠系的分界意见，归纳起来有三：①以Ｐｓｅｕｄｏｓｃｈｗａｇｅｒｉｎａ（ｓ．１）带之底为界，下面为石炭系，上面为二叠系；②以晋东南的灰白色“佳祥砂岩”与太原西山黄绿色“骆驼脖子砂岩”对比，砂岩底面为石炭系与二叠系的分界线，下面是石炭系山西组，上面是二叠系石盒子组，山西组的地层时代定为晚石炭世；③以晋东南灰白色第三砂岩（陵川砂岩）与太原西山“北岔沟砂岩”对比，砂岩底面为石炭系与二叠系的分界线，下面是石炭系太原组，上面是二叠系山西组，山西组的地层时代为早二叠世。笔者认为石炭系与二叠系的划分，以第③方案较适宜。