Temperature dependence of large-scale water-retention curves: a case study

A local-scale model for temperature-dependence of water-retention curves may be applicable to large scales. Consideration of this temperature dependence is important for modeling unsaturated flow and transport in the subsurface in numerous cases. Although significant progress has been made in understanding and modeling this temperature effect, almost all the previous studies have been limited to small scales (on the order of several centimeters). Numerical experiments were used to investigate the possibility of extending a local-scale model for the temperature-dependence of water retention curves to large scales (on the order of meters). Temperature effects on large-scale hydraulic properties are of interest in many practical applications. Numerical experiment results indicate that the local-scale model can indeed be applicable to large-scale problems for special porous media with high air entry values. A typical porous medium of this kind is the porous tuff matrix in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed geologic disposal site for national high-level nuclear wastes. Whether this finding can approximately hold for general cases needs to be investigated in future studies.     

Mallow Springs,County Cork,Ireland

Because of its copious and reliable rainfall, Ireland has an abundance of springs. Many of the larger ones issue from the Carboniferous limestone that occurs in over 40% of the country. The spring water is mainly a calcium bicarbonate type with a temperature of about 10°C. In the 18th century, warm and cold springs were developed as spas in various parts of Ireland. The popularity of these springs was short and most were in major decline by 1850. Today only one cold spa at Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare is still operating. Springs in Ireland were places of religious significance for the pre-Christian Druidic religion. In the Christian period they became holy wells, under the patronage of various saints. Cures for many different ailments were attributed to water from these wells.     

The impact of hydrological changes on travertine deposits related to thermal springs in the Pamukkale area (SW Turkey)

Pamukkale thermal waters (35 °C), exhibiting calcium-bicarbonate-sulfate composition and high carbon dioxide concentration, are of a predominantly meteoric origin. The meteoric fluid, circulating through faults and fractures, is heated by magmatic intrusions at great depth, and ascends from deep reservoirs to the surface. Mixing with relatively cold groundwater in the near surface zone promotes different saturation conditions with respect to calcium carbonate that later precipitates at depth and/or the surface. Dissolution-deposition processes of calcium carbonate both at surface and depth environments may help to reconstruct past climate direction in the field. During wet climate conditions a high-rate of calcium carbonate accumulation would be expected to occur at the surface because thermal fluid would be under-saturated with respect to calcium carbonate at depth because of a relatively higher mixing ratio with cold groundwater. During dry climate conditions the thermal fluid would be super-saturated at depth because of the highly acidic environment. Hydrometeorological studies reveal that the annual precipitation at the Pamukkale hydrothermal field tends to decrease with time. This climatic change in the area was also detected from geological records. While humid climate conditions prevailed during the late Quaternary, the area has recently been affected by arid/semi-arid climate conditions, followed by some episodic transitions. This study has shown how the system has possibly reacted to different climate conditions since antiquity.     

帷幕灌浆中三序变两序施工的工效及成果比较

在选定的试验区内同时分两序和三序进行施工,以确定帷幕灌浆两序施工的合理性,并与三序施工进行工效及成果对比。     

北方某废弃矿区地下水污染帷幕注浆应急处置研究

随着我国煤炭资源的枯竭,大量矿山关闭,遗留了广大的地下采空区场地。不少化工企业向废弃矿井内倾倒化学废液等导致了矿区地下水污染事故,威胁地下水水源地的水源安全。针对此类复杂场地条件下污染事故的应急处置案例和经验都非常少,本文以北方某废弃矿区地下水污染注浆帷幕应急处置为例,通过对矿区地质条件的分析、地下空间结构和地下水流场的刻画,构建三维地质模型,以模型为基础设计帷幕注浆工程并实施,研究复杂场地条件下开展帷幕注浆应急处置的重要内容和决定因素,并利用场地地下水样品监测结果,分析研究帷幕内外污染物浓度分布特征及差异,找出地下水运移规律,评价注浆帷幕效果。研究表明：在事故井周边100 m范围实施的帷幕注浆工程,对污染物运移的封堵效果显著,帷幕注浆内外污染物含量差距明显。一期检测结果显示帷幕注浆范围内地下水中二氯甲烷浓度最高1390 μg/L,帷幕范围外最高浓度仅为8. 07 μg/L;二期检测结果为污染物检出浓度大于5 μg/L的区域全部位于帷幕范围内,帷幕范围外均未检出。同时污染物的分布特征指示着地下水沿巷道运移成为最主要的形式,对地下空间结构的精准刻画是决定帷幕注浆工程成效的重要因素。     

海岸线熏烟扩散模式

该文导出一个无需作常涡扩散系数或“面源”假设的海岸线熏烟扩散模式。根据二维理论和观测资料对热力内边界层（TIBL）高度公式进行了简化。分析和预测结果表明:在海岸线附近,应尽可能将高污染源设置在远离海岸或靠近海岸线处,避免设置在有效源高度与当地TIBL高度相等的地点附近。     

Estimation of the Land Surface Emissivity in the Hinterland of Taklimakan Desert

An accurate accounting of land surface emissivity(ε) is important both for the retrieval of surface temperatures and the calculation of the longwave surface energy budgets.Since ε is one of the important parameterizations in land surface models(LSMs),accurate accounting also improves the accuracy of surface temperatures and sensible heat fluxes simulated by LSMs.In order to obtain an accurate emissivity,this paper focuses on estimating ε from data collected in the hinterland of Taklimakan Desert by two different methods.In the first method,ε was derived from the surface broadband emissivity in the 8–14 μm thermal infrared atmospheric window,which was determined from spectral radiances observed by field measurements using a portable Fourier transform infrared spectrometer,the mean ε being 0.9051.The second method compared the observed and calculated heat fluxes under nearneutral atmospheric stability and estimated ε indirectly by minimizing the root-mean-square difference between them.The result of the second method found a mean value of 0.9042,which is consistent with the result by the first method.Although the two methods recover ε from different field experiments and data,the difference of meanvalues is 0.0009.The first method is superior to the indirect method,and is also more convenient.     

The behavior of a multilayered porous thermo-elastic medium with anisotropic thermal diffusivity and permeability

With the aid of integral transform techniques, this paper presents an extended precise integration solution for thermal consolidation problems of a multilayered porous thermo-elastic medium with anisotropic thermal diffusivity and permeability due to a heat source. From the fundamental governing equations, ordinary differential equations are derived by employing Laplace–Hankel transforms. By applying the extended precise integration method, equations in the transformed domain can be solved, and the actual solutions are further obtained by adopting a numerical inverse transformation. The accuracy and feasibility of the proposed theory is demonstrated by contrastive analysis with existing studies. Finally, several examples are carried out to investigate the influence of heat source’s type, axial distance, burial depth of heat source, ratio of thermo-permeability, permeability anisotropy, thermal diffusivity anisotropy and stratification on the thermal consolidation process.     

Conventions on thermal expansion modelling of radio telescopes for geodetic and astrometric VLBI

Thermal expansion of radio telescopes has long been recognized as an effect which cannot be neglected in geodetic and astrometric VLBI data analysis if millimeter accuracy is desired. In this article, the author documents the conventions which are being set by the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) for a consistent modelling of this effect in its routine product generation. For the largest telescopes, the annual cycle of thermal expansion may change the height of the VLBI reference point by as much as 20 mm. However, for telescopes which are used in present-day IVS operations, the variations rather range from 4 to 6 mm.     

Climate and material controls on periglacial soil processes: Toward improving periglacial climate indicators

One of the distinguished efforts of A.L. Washburn was to reconstruct mean annual air temperature using periglacial features as climate indicators. This paper reviews existing periglacial indicators and proposes a strategy to improve their thermal resolution based on recent periglacial process studies, with a focus on solifluction and thermal contraction cracking and associated landforms/structures. Landforms resulting from solifluction reflect both the depth subjected to freeze-thaw and the thickness of frost-susceptible soils. The thickness of a solifluction structure can be used to infer the dominant freeze-thaw regime and minimum seasonal frost depth. Ice-wedge pseudomorphs have limited potential as a climate indicator because (1) they mainly reflect extreme winter temperatures, (2) their thermal thresholds depend on the host material, and (3) they need to be distinguished from frost wedges of other origin produced under different thermal and/or material conditions. Monitoring studies of currently active ice wedges suggest that ice-wedge cracking requires a combination of low temperature and large temperature gradients in the frozen active layer. Further field monitoring of periglacial processes and their controlling factors under various climate conditions and in various materials are needed, however, to improve the resolution of periglacial paleoclimate indicators.