A Versatile Nonlinear Inversion to Interpret Gravity Anomaly Caused by a Simple Geometrical Structure

A geophysical interpretative method is proposed to depth, amplitude coefficient and geometrical shape factor determination of a buried structure from an observed gravity anomaly related to a cylinder or a sphere-like structure.The method is based on nonlinearly constrained mathematical modelling and also on stochastic optimization approaches. The proposed interpretative method first has been tested on theoretical synthetic models with different random errors at a certain depth, where a very close agreement has been observed between assumed and evaluated parameters. Subsequent field data have been considered for which the interpreted results by other methods are available for comparison. The agreement between the obtained results by the proposed technique and by other geophysical methods is good. A statistical analysis has been also carried out to demonstrate the accuracy and the precision of the suggested interpretative method.     

Mechanism of cadmium resistance and adsorption of a yeast strain Rhodotorula sp. Y11

The mechanism of cadmium resistance of a yeast strain Rhodotorula sp. Y11 isolated from mine soil was investigated. We found that the yeast cells treated with different methods showed different cadmium-adsorption models. Grown in medium supplied with 100 mg/L of cadmium, 3.29% of the cell-absorbed cadmium was accounted in the cytoplasm. However, only 1% was taken into the cytoplasm and 99% was bound to the cell wall using the lyophilized biomass to adsorb cadmium in double distilled water. Treatments with alkali, ethanol-chloroform and proteinase showed different influences on the biosorption of whole cells and isolated cell walls. FT-IR analysis showed that acetyl of chitin was the active compound in the cells to absorb cadmium. The production of Metallothioneins, proteins related to the resistance to heavy metal in yeast, was evidently induced by cadmium, achieving 638.8 μg/g wet weight, which was about 85 folds higher than that in the uninduced biomass and was also much higher than that reported previously. The molecular weight of Metallothioneins was 6500 Da estimated by SDS-PAGE.     

Volcanic geomorphology and tectonics of the Aeolian archipelago (Southern Italy) based on integrated DEM data

The geomorphological and morphometric analysis of the sea floor topography surrounding the Aeolian Islands, South Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy, provides insights into the relationships between the volcanological evolution of the islands and their tectonic features. We constructed geomorphological maps of the submarine portions of the seven large edifices constituting the islands on the basis of a DEM with a 5 m resolution step. These maps include constructional and destructional landforms such as submarine volcanic vents located west of Lipari and north of Alicudi, and hummocky surfaces recognised north of Lipari and Salina. The latter landforms, together with the occurrence of large scars affecting the main edifices on land, suggest that sector collapses affected some islands. Geomorphological data indicate that the location of subaerial and submarine vents is strongly controlled by local tectonic structures striking WNW-ESE (Alicudi-Filicudi sector), NNW-SSE (Salina-Lipari-Vulcano sector) and NE-SW (Panarea-Stromboli sector). The islands can be divided into two groups on the basis of some morphometric parameters: a first group with a pancake-like shape, Dp/D (abrasion platform diameter/basal diameter) higher than 0.40 and H/D (total height/basal diameter) lower than 0.13, and a second group with a conical shape, characterised by Dp/D lower than 0.34 and H/D higher than 0.14. These ratios and other morphometric parameters reflect the different volcanological and structural evolution of the Aeolian Islands. The pancake-like shaped complexes have been created, in addition to their submarine stage, by extrusive and highly explosive activity, whereas the cone-shaped edifices have been characterised by effusive or moderate explosive activity.Editorial responsibility: C Kilburn     

衡重式挡土墙土压力的非线性分析

通过对挡土墙土压力非线性分析方法的研究 ,推导出了衡重式挡土墙土压力计算的数解公式 ,并编制了相应的计算程序 ,一般的直线型墙背挡土墙和折线型墙背挡土墙土压力计算均可作为本文计算公式的特例。通过对一折线型墙背重力式挡土墙的土压力计算与实测结果的比较表明 ,由本文公式所得的解与实测结果很接近。     

岩土锚固技术在边坡工程中的应用

通过对一个实际边坡工程的分析，拟定以预应力锚索、土钉墙、喷锚支护等岩土锚固技术为主的加固方素。采用极限平衡原理进行稳定分析和剩余下滑力的计算，参考相关技术规范进行锚索和土钉墙的设计验算，结合现场试验验证锚索的可靠性并确定施工工艺，成功实现了该边坡的加固。实践表明，岩土锚固技术在边坡工程中具有方便快捷、经济可靠的突出优势。     

A new laboratory set-up for measurements of electrical, hydraulic, and osmotic fluxes in clays

If clays are subjected to flows of fluid, electrical charge, chemicals, or heat, in most cases, flows of different types occur simultaneously, even if only one driving force is acting. These are so-called coupled flows. Examples of coupling phenomena are streaming potential and electroosmosis, induced by the flows of fluid and electrical charge, respectively.

Since the 1960s, laboratory devices have been constructed to measure streaming potentials and/or electroosmosis in clays or clayey soils. Due to their mechanical and hydraulic properties, clays are not easy to work with. Consequently, laboratory devices have to deal with various complications. A new design for an experimental set-up is proposed. Contrary to earlier devices, the clay sample is mounted in a flexible wall permeameter, which avoids sidewall leakage caused by the possible swell or shrink of the clay. Gold-coated gauze electrodes completely cover the surfaces of the sample, which are in contact with the solution reservoirs that ensure one-dimensional flow. In addition, the thickness of the sample is monitored during the experiment. The chemical composition of the reservoir fluids is controlled during the experiment. The device is flexible with respect to changing the solutions of both reservoirs independently, applying different hydraulic gradients, and measuring or applying electrical potentials. Finally, it is possible to mount undisturbed clay samples in the set-up, keeping them in situ during the whole experiment.

With this set-up, an extensive program of measurements of coupling phenomena like streaming potentials, electroosmosis, and membrane potentials in a sodium montmorillonite is started. Preliminary results of streaming potential measurements are presented and demonstrate that the build-up of a streaming potential due to a hydraulic gradient is a reproducible process that influences the water flow through the clay, and that the extent of the streaming potential depends on the salt concentration of the permeating solution.     

天柱地区岩土工程地质特征及地面塌陷成因浅析

天柱某在建工地发生的地面塌陷，本文根据本工程建设及其塌陷和同地区大量工程勘察资料，分析阐述了天柱地区的岩土工程地质特征，对塌陷成因进行了初步分析。这对在厚覆盖的岩溶地区进行工程建设尤其是岩土工程勘察具有重要意义。     

Limnology of Two Antarctic Epishelf Lakes and their Potential to Record Periods of Ice Shelf Loss

George VI Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and its northern margin marks the southern most latitudinal limit of recent ice shelf retreat. As part of a project to reconstruct the long-term (Holocene) history of George VI Ice Shelf we studied two epishelf lakes impounded by the ice shelf at Ablation Point, on the east coast of Alexander Island. These lakes, Moutonnée and Ablation, are stratified water bodies with a lower marine layer and an upper freshwater layer. To determine if their sediment records could be used to detect past changes in the presence or absence of the ice shelf it was necessary to describe their present-day limnology and sedimentology. We measured water column chemistry and sampled the water column and sediments of the lakes along vertical and horizontal transects. We analysed these samples for diatoms, stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O, δ²H, δ¹³C_DIC, δ¹³C_org), geochemistry (TOC, TN, C/N ratios) and physical sedimentology (grain-size). This was supplemented by chemical and biological reference data from the catchments. Results showed that the water columns of both lakes are nutrient limited and deficient in phytoplankton. Benthic productivity is low and decreases with depth. Comparison of water column chemistry with an earlier survey shows a net increase in the thickness of the freshwater layer in Moutonnée Lake between 1973 and 2001, which could indicate that George VI Ice Shelf has thinned during this period. However, a similar trend was not observed in Ablation Lake (5 km to the north) and an alternative explanation is that the changes are a seasonal phenomena. Data from the surface sediment transects identified a number of proxies that respond to the present day stratification of the water column including diatom species composition, stable isotopes and geochemistry, particularly in Moutonnée Lake. Collectively these data have been used to develop a conceptual model for determining past ice shelf configuration in epishelf lakes. Specifically, periods of past ice shelf loss, and the removal of the ice dam, would see the present stratified epishelf lake replaced by a marine embayment. It is suggested that this change would leave a clear signature in the lake sediment record, notably the deposition of an exclusively marine biological assemblage, increased ice rafted debris and δ¹³C_org values that are indicative of marine derived organic matter. These authors contributed equally to this work     

Volcaniclastic deposits from the North Arch volcanic field, Hawaii: explosive fragmentation of alkalic lava at abyssal depths

Submarine explosive eruptions are generally considered to become less likely with increasing depth due to the increasing hydrostatic pressure of the overlying water column. Volcaniclastic deposits from the North Arch volcanic field, north of Oahu, have textural characteristics of explosive fragmentation yet were erupted in water depths greater than 4,200 m. The most abundant volcaniclastic samples from North Arch are clast-supported with highly vesicular, angular pyroclasts. They are most likely near-vent pyroclastic fall deposits formed in eruption columns of limited height. Interbedded with highly vesicular pillow lava, they form low (50 to 200 m), steep-sided cones around the vents. Less common are stratified samples with graded bedding; one such sample includes a layer of roughly aligned, platy, bubble-wall glass fragments (resembling littoral limu o Pele) that may have been deposited by density currents. In addition to bubble-wall glass shards, numerous glass fragments with spherical, delicate spindle and ribbon shapes, and Pele's hair-like glass strands occur in the finer size fraction (<0.5 mm) of some samples. They are probably more distal fallout. Another sample, consisting of glass fragments dispersed in a marine clay matrix, was apparently reworked and deposited farther from the vents by bottom currents. Glass compositions include low-(∼0.4-0.6 wt%) and medium-K₂O (>0.6 wt%) alkalic basalt, basanite, and nephelinite. Sulfur and chlorine abundances are high, reaching a maximum of 1,800 and 1,300 ppm, respectively. The ubiquitous presence of limu o Pele fragments, regardless of glass composition, suggests that bursts of Strombolian-like activity accompanied most eruptions. Coalescing vesicles observed in larger pyroclasts and some pillow lava suggests accumulation of volatiles. Since the great hydrostatic pressure makes steam expansion impossible, a volatile-rich, supercritical magmatic fluid probably drove the eruptions. If these volatile-rich magmas had erupted in shallow water or subaerially, tall fountains would most likely have resulted. The great hydrostatic pressure (>40 MPa) limited fountain and eruption column heights.     

淮南寒武纪岩溶陷落柱发育特征及导水性分析

1996年任楼煤矿发生的陷落柱特大突水事故，使“淮南不存在岩溶陷落柱”的认识得到了质疑。通过初步调研，在孔集矿南部的孙家大山一带发现出露于地表的岩溶陷落柱，而谢桥矿煤经三维地震勘探也探测出了发育于寒武纪灰岩中的两个岩溶陷落柱。因其岩溶陷落柱的发育层位、充填物质与华北煤田奥陶纪岩溶陷落柱构成明显的对比。导致了其水文、工程地质特征的特殊性。