Digging into Google Earth: An analysis of “Crisis in Darfur”

Google publicists have suggested the Crisis in Darfur is an example of the Google Earth software’s “success at tangibly impacting what is happening on the ground.” Yet whether or not Google Earth’s interface, along with a medley of other media representations of the conflict, have impacted events on the ground or led to coherent policies of humanitarian intervention remains open to debate. This article draws upon critical approaches from media studies—namely discourse analysis—to analyze several aspects of the Google Earth/USHMM Crisis in Darfur project. While this project was no doubt developed with the noble intention of generating international awareness about widespread violence that has recently occurred in the Darfur region, it is important to evaluate how representations of global conflicts are changing with uses of new information technologies and whether such representations can actually achieve their desired impacts or effects. The article begins with a discussion of the Crisis in Darfur project’s history, proceeds to analyze some of the press coverage of the project and then moves to a critique of the layer using four categories of analysis: (1) the shifting role of satellite image; (2) the temporality of the interface; (3) the practice of conflict branding; and (4) the practice of “information intervention.” Throughout the article, I explore how the presentation of Darfur-related materials through Google Earth reproduces problematic Western tropes of African tragedy and misses an opportunity to generate public literacy around satellite images. I also consider how humanitarianism is intertwined with digital and disaster capitalism, and suggest that this instance of “information intervention” makes patently clear that high visual capital alone cannot resolve global conflicts.     

Deformation during exhumation of medium‐ and high‐grade metamorphic rocks in the Variscan chain in northern Sardinia (Italy)

The Anglona and SW Gallura regions represent key places to investigate the tectonic evolution of medium‐ and high‐grade metamorphic rocks cropping out in northern Sardinia (Italy). From south to north we distinguish two different metamorphic complexes recording similar deformation histories but different metamorphic evolution: the Medium Grade Metamorphic Complex (MGMC) and the High Grade Metamorphic Complex (HGMC). After the initial collisional stage (D1 deformation phase), both complexes were affected by three contractional deformational phases (D2, D3 and D4) followed by later extensional tectonics. The D2 deformation phase was the most significant event producing an important deformation partitioning that produced localized shearing and folding domains at the boundary between the two metamorphic complexes. We highlight the presence of two previously undocumented systems of shear belts with different kinematics but analogous orientation in the axial zone of Sardinia. They became active at the boundary between the MGMC and HGMC from the beginning of D2. They formed a transpressive regime responsible for the exhumation of the medium‐ and high‐grade metamorphic rocks, and overall represent a change from orthogonal to orogen‐parallel tectonic transport. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

桂北地区剪切带型金矿成矿机理研究

桂北地区金矿划分为石英脉型、石英细脉带型和构造蚀变岩型金矿.不同级别剪切带构造控制矿化集中区、矿床、矿体分布以及矿脉形态、产状和矿化类型,具有上部石英脉型、中部石英细脉带型、下部构造蚀变岩型金矿的矿化分带模式.金质矿源主要来源于上地壳围岩,硫源主要来自深部,金矿成矿溶液主要来源于大气降水,热源来自变质和构造运动,成矿时代主要为燕山期.矿床成因属是产于前寒武纪浅变质碎屑岩系的与脆一韧性剪切带有关的中低温热液脉状金矿.     

Brittle Rock Failure in the Steg Lateral Adit of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel

Summary  During the crossing of brittle rock formations at the L?tschberg base tunnel, failure phenomena have been observed both at the tunnel face and at the walls. A detailed analysis has been undertaken to explain these behaviours, based on the recent developments of Canadian research on brittle failure mechanisms. At the tunnel walls, a very good agreement is found between the calculated and observed damage and between two prediction methods, i.e. a semi-empirical failure criterion and elastic calculations with the “brittle Hoek-Brown parameters.” Near the face, due to the 3D nature of the stress conditions, some limitations of these approaches have been highlighted, and the growth of wall failure has been analysed. This research allowed a better understanding of the brittle rock mass behaviour at the L?tschberg base tunnel and showed that brittle failure processes dominate the behaviour of deep, highly stressed excavations in massive to moderately jointed rock. It also illustrates where improvements to the adopted approaches are required.     

Rock Stress,Rock Stress Measurements,and the Integrated Stress Determination Method (ISDM)

The primary objectives of this work are to (1) improve the understanding of the prevailing stress distribution at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (HRL) in SE Sweden by employing an integrated stress determination approach, and in order to accomplish this (2) extend the existing stress integration methodology denominated integrated stress determination method (ISDM; Cornet in Comprehensive Rock Engineering vol 3, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 413–432, 1993a). The new developments of the ISDM involve a 12-parameter representation of the regional stress field in the rock mass (i.e., the full stress tensor and its variation with depth) that is applicable to hydraulic stress data (sleeve fracturing, hydraulic fracturing, and hydraulic tests on pre-existing fractures), overcoring data (CSIR- and CSIRO-type of devices), and to combinations of hydraulic and overcoring stress data. For the latter case, the elastic parameters of the overcoring technique may be solved in situ by allowing the hydraulic stress data to constrain them. As a result, the problem then involves 14 model parameters. Results from the study show that the ISDM effectively improves the precision of the prevailing stress field determination and that it is especially powerful for identification of consistencies/inconsistencies in an existing data set. Indeed, this is the very basic premise and goal of stress integration; combine all available data to achieve as complete a characterization of the mechanical stress model as possible, and not to identify a solution that fits only loosely the maximum amount of stress data.     

2019年四川长宁MS6.0地震前破裂区内视应力和b值的变化

视应力和b值都可以反映地壳应力变化。当应力增加时,视应力会增加,而b值降低。因此,应力变化将导致视应力和b值之间呈负相关关系,即,根据视应力和b值之间的负相关关系可以研究地壳构造应力的变化。本文利用2000年1月—2019年12月长宁M_S6.0地震破裂区内3.0≤M_L≤3.6地震的视应力和2.0≤M_L≤4.3地震目录,研究了视应力和b值随时间的变化,发现:2013年2月—2017年3月间,视应力呈趋势上升变化,历时约4年,在震前两年时间内,视应力仍维持在较高水平。在视应力呈趋势上升变化期间,b值则呈趋势下降变化。当视应力维持在较高水平时,b值则维持在较低水平。即,长宁M_S6.0地震发生前,破裂区内视应力增加,同时b值下降。这表明,2019年长宁M_S6.0地震发生前破裂区内存在明显的构造应力增加过程,对地震孕育过程的认识和地震预测研究都具有启示意义。      

Estimating economic losses of midrise reinforced concrete shear wall buildings in sedimentary basins by combining empirical and simulated seismic hazard characterizations

Studies of recorded ground motions and simulations have shown that deep sedimentary basins can greatly increase the intensity of earthquake ground motions within a period range of approximately 1–4 s, but the economic impacts of basin effects are uncertain. This paper estimates key economic indicators of seismic performance, expressed in terms of earthquake‐induced repair costs, using empirical and simulated seismic hazard characterizations that account for the effects of basins. The methodology used is general, but the estimates are made for a series of eight‐ to 24‐story residential reinforced concrete shear wall archetype buildings in Seattle, WA, whose design neglects basin effects. All buildings are designed to comply with code‐minimum requirements (i.e., reference archetypes), as well as a series of design enhancements, which include (a) increasing design forces, (b) decreasing drift limits, and (c) a combination of these strategies. As an additional reference point, a performance‐based design is also assessed. The performance of the archetype buildings is evaluated for the seismic hazard level in Seattle according to the 2018 National Seismic Hazard Model (2018 NSHM), which explicitly considers basin effects. Inclusion of basin effects results in an average threefold increase in annualized losses for all archetypes. Incorporating physics‐based ground motion simulations to represent the large‐magnitude Cascadia subduction interface earthquake contribution to the hazard results in a further increase of 22% relative to the 2018 NSHM. The most effective of the design strategies considered combines a 25% increase in strength with a reduction in drift limits to 1.5%.     

Splash detachment of sand particles under varying contact stress field of wind-driven raindrop impact

The effects of wind-driven rain (WDR) on sand detachment were studied under various raindrop obliquities. Results suggested a significant reduction in compressive stress on sand surfaces for a two-dimensional experimental set-up in a wind tunnel. During experiments, sand particles in splash cups were exposed to both wind-free rain (WFR) and WDR driven by horizontal winds of 6.4, 8.9 and 12.8 m s⁻¹ and rainfall intensities of 50, 60, 75 and 90-mm h⁻¹ to assess the sand detachment rate (D, in g m⁻² s⁻¹). The effects of sand moisture state (dry and wet) on the detachment of different-sized particles (0.20–0.50 and 0.50–2.00 mm, respectively) were also tested. Factorial analysis of variance showed that shear and compressive stress components evaluated by horizontal and vertical kinetic energy flux terms (KE_x and KE_y, respectively, in J m⁻² s⁻¹) along with their vector sum (KE_r, in J m⁻² s⁻¹) explained the variation in D. Neither sand size nor sand moisture was statistically significant alone although binary interactions of KE_r, KE_x and KE_y with the sand size and three-way interaction of KE_x, sand size and moisture were statistically significant. These results can be explained by size-dependent variation in sand compressibility and surface friction related to the total stress field developed by a given partition of shear and compressive stresses of wind-driven oblique raindrops (KE_x/KE_y). Further analysis of the variation of the unit sand detachment rate (D_u = D/KE_r = g J⁻¹) with rain inclination (α, in degrees) better revealed the effect of WDR obliquity on D_u that further changed with sand size class and moisture state. Finally, the difference in the resulting stress field differentiable by the oblique raindrop trajectories of the experiment over sand surface significantly affected the non-cohesive particle detachment rates, to some extent interacted with size-dependent compressibility and interface shear strength of sand grains.     

二维梯形沉积盆地放大效应的数值模拟研究

盆地效应作为场地效应的一种特殊类型,其对地震动的影响仍在持续研究当中。建立二维梯形沉积盆地模型,模型边界采用透射人工边界,利用显式有限元法作为求解方法。根据Buckingham提出的π定理定义了多个影响盆地效应的无量纲参数,包括盆地深宽比、介质波速比、盆地深度与入射波长之比、盆地开口宽度与入射波长之比。以Ricker子波作为输入波,研究SH波垂直入射盆地模型时,以上无量纲参数对盆地放大效应的影响。研究发现盆地深宽比越大盆地诱发的聚焦效应越明显,盆地深宽比越小盆地边缘效应越明显。在盆地的深宽比和入射波确定时,随着盆地开口宽度与入射波长之比不断增大盆地的最值放大系数逐渐从盆地中心移向盆地边缘,表现出越来越明显的边缘放大效应。其中波速比差异对放大系数的影响最大,波速比差异越大介质的波阻抗比越大,放大效应越显著。通过将影响盆地放大效应的参数无量纲化,使梯形盆地对地震动放大效应的研究的结论更具有普遍意义。     

A new portable in situ flume for measuring critical shear stress on river beds

A new portable in situ flume(PISF)for measuring critical bed shear stress(CBSS)was developed in this study.The PISF consists of an open bottom sediment erosion chamber and an electrically-driven pump.Unlike most existing in situ flumes with similar designs,the new PISF does not rely on monitoring the flow conditions or particle density in the sediment erosion chamber;instead,it is a pre-calibrated flume.The calibration was performed by first determining CBSS of various selected sediment samples of known particle size and density(using the law of the wall),based on flow velocity-depth profiles measured in a 6 m straight open-channel flume using a Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV)system.These same particles of known CBSS were then used in the new in-situ flume under controlled lab conditions to obtain a series of calibration curves of CBSS vs.pump electrical power.A wide variety of particle types and sizes(simulated sediments)were used in this two-step calibration procedure to widen CBSS measurement range and simulate cohesive force effects.The size of the PISF is much smaller and more practical than other similar devices as lamellar flow conditions are not required and it can be applied to a wide range of sediment types including cohesive sediments.