Reliability assessment of granular filters in embankment dams

Empirical criteria have been used successfully to design filters of most embankment large dam projects throughout the world. However, these empirical rules are only applicable to a particular range of soils tested in laboratory and do not take into account the variability of the base material and filter particle sizes. In addition, it is widely accepted that the safety of fill dams is mainly dependent on the reliability of their filter performance. The work herein presented consists in a new general method for assessing the probability of fulfilling any empirical filter design criteria accounting for base and filter heterogeneity by means of first‐order reliability methods (FORM), so that reliability indexes and probabilities of fulfilling any particular criteria are obtained. This method will allow engineers to estimate the safety of existing filters in terms of probability of fulfilling their design criteria and might also be used as a decision tool on sampling needs and material size tolerances during construction. In addition, sensitivity analysis makes possible to analyse how reliabilities are influenced by different sources of input data. Finally, in case of a portfolio risk assessment, this method will allow engineers to compare the safety of several existing dams in order to prioritize safety investments and it is expected to be a very useful tool to evaluate probabilities of failure due to internal erosion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some Aspects of Resource Uncertainty and Their Economic Consequences in Assessment of the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Natural Resources Research - Exploration ventures in frontier areas have high risks. Before committing to them, firms prepare regional resource assessments to evaluate the potential payoffs. With...     

Application of discovery process models in estimating petroleum resources at the play level in China

Discovery process modeling has gained wide acceptance in the Chinese exploration community. In recent years, a variety of discovery process models have been applied to the prediction of undiscovered petroleum resources at the play level in sedimentary basins in China. However, challenging problems have been encountered, particularly when one method alone has been applied to small plays in nonmarine sedimentary basins or in plays with an unusual order of discovery wells. This paper presents results gotten by using the lognormal discovery process model of the Geological Survey of Canada and the geoanchored method for three petroleum plays in basins with different geologic settings. Although the predicted shapes of the parentsize distributions which use these two models, were not always similar, the expected values of the total resources and the number of fields (pools) to be discovered are comparable. The combined use of two discovery process models in the same play compensates for the weaknesses in one method compared with the other and vice versa. Thus, more reliable estimates are the result.     

利用高分辨率卫星影像进行地震损失评价所需的城市特征识别

高分辨率卫星影像已经在一些国家的民用领域得到应用。利用高分辨率卫星影像来收集地震损失评价所需要的各类城市信息不仅高效和有较好的时间分辨率，而且它可以减少以往所必需的大量的代价高昂且费力的城市调查。基于在印度城市台拉登所做的研究，讨论了如何利用高分辨率卫星影像进行城市特征识别的一些问题，同时也简单论述了利用GIS／RS软件综合所得的数据以便用于地震损失评价的方法。     

新疆喀纳斯国家地质公园旅游资源及评价

新疆喀纳斯国家地质公园是以第四纪冰川遗迹为主要特色的综合性国家地质公园。本文对公园内的旅游资源进行了概要介绍，并对其作了定性评价，认为园区内旅游资源类型多样，功能齐全，极具科考、旅游观光和科普教育价值。     

金沙江流域(云南境内)山地灾害危险性评价

云南境内的金沙江流域是斜坡不稳定的敏感区,根据1988-2000年的区域调查和统计,区内发育山地灾害点1697处,其中流域面积大于1km2的泥石流沟808条,体积大于1×104m3的滑坡580处,体积大于1000m3的崩塌309处。用于山地灾害危险性评价的主要敏感因子包括岩土体类型、山坡坡度、降雨、土地利用、地震烈度和人类活动。在对这些因子进行了敏感性评价的基础上,应用GIS对敏感因子集成评价而产生了云南金沙江流域山地灾害危险性评价图。评价结果表明:高危险区面积占全区面积6464km2的8 77%,中危险区占全区总面积的41 51%,低危险区占41 12%,无危险区占8 60%。山地灾害危险性评价图可以帮助规划者或工程师在土地发展规划中选择最佳建设场所,以减轻灾害的影响。     

Representing and communicating deep uncertainty in climate-change assessments

IPCC reports provide a synthesis of the state of the science in order to inform the international policy process. This task is made difficult by the presence of deep uncertainty in the climate problem that results from long time scales and complexity. This paper focuses on how deep uncertainty can be effectively communicated. We argue that existing schemes do an inadequate job of communicating deep uncertainty and propose a simple approach that distinguishes between various levels of subjective understanding in a systematic manner. We illustrate our approach with two examples. To cite this article: M. Kandlikar et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

太湖表层沉积物多环芳烃的空间分布、来源及其风险

随着太湖流域社会与经济的发展,多环芳烃(PAHs)在各种环境介质中逐渐累积,污染日益严重,可能对太湖生态环境及周边人体健康构成威胁。为探究太湖沉积物PAHs的来源及生态风险,于2021年12月在太湖采集30个表层沉积物样品,利用气相色谱-质谱联用仪(GC-MS)检测样品中16种PAHs含量;利用受体模型和苯并[a]芘(BaP)毒性当量法进行来源解析及生态风险评估,并将各来源贡献与毒性当量浓度相结合,量化源风险。结果表明,太湖表层沉积物中16种PAHs总含量介于124~592 ng/g之间,平均值为294 ng/g,中值为279 ng/g;高环多环芳烃(HMW PAHs)为主要组分,占∑PAHs的67%。高含量区域位于竺山湾、梅梁湾、贡湖湾和西太湖,与国内外其他湖泊沉积物相比,太湖沉积物PAHs含量处于较低水平。源解析的结果表明,太湖表层沉积物中PAHs交通排放源贡献率为29.1%、煤炭燃烧源贡献率为26.7%、生物质燃烧源贡献率为28.7%、石油源贡献率为15.6%。生态风险评价结果表明,交通排放源、生物质燃烧源、煤炭燃烧源和石油源的BaP毒性当量含量(TEQ_BaP)均值分别为19.34、17.81、16.33和9.1 ng/g,均小于70 ng/g,几乎处于无风险水平。西太湖、贡湖湾和梅梁湾的部分区域ΣTEQ_BaP大于70 ng/g属于潜在风险区,具有一定潜在毒性。在后续的污染治理中应重点关注太湖西北部地区污染物的排放。本研究可为沉积物中PAHs污染的研究提供数据支撑,为地方政府精准、高效地管控PAHs污染提供理论依据。     

不同空间尺度的山洪灾害风险评价模型对比研究

以山洪灾害风险评价的多准则决策模型、最大熵模型、信息量模型三种常见模型为研究对象,选取河西走廊和张掖市为地理区划（大中）、市域（小）空间尺度研究区,构建山洪灾害风险评价指标体系,分别完成基于三种模型的两种空间尺度的山洪灾害风险评价制图,基于甘肃省地质灾害调查与区划报告数据从模型验证、空间自相关、精度对比和尺度效应等角度对比分析三个模型应用于不同空间尺度的适应性,并给出优选模型。结果表明：最大熵模型是河西走廊（地理区划）空间尺度上山洪灾害风险评价的优选模型;多准则决策模型不适用于张掖市（市域）空间尺度评价,且三个模型运行结果均没有河西走廊（地理区划）空间尺度上表现良好;三个模型的尺度效应明显,在地理区划空间尺度上应用较良好,缩小至市域空间尺度上模拟结果误差增大;不同空间尺度上,最大熵模型均优于多准则决策模型和信息量模型,适用于地理区划（大中）、市域（小）空间尺度的山洪灾害风险评价。     

区域河流水质的模糊聚类分析

水作为地表物质迁移的一种溶剂与媒介,尤如人体的“血液”一样,穿行于岩石、土壤与各种生物体之间。一个特定区域范围内的河流水质,不仅受自然因素的控制,而且也受人类社会经济活动的影响。因此,一个区域河流水质的变化过程,就是该区域自然环境特