江苏岸外辐射沙洲区沙岛形成过程的初步研究

江苏岸外辐射沙洲曾经历了由暗沙到明沙的发育过程，进入20世纪90年代后，近岸的沙洲由于持续淤高并高出大潮平均高潮位而成为沙岛。通过卫片判读和实地观测对沙岛自然属性和形成机制进行了初步研究，认为条子泥西部多年来的持续淤积和潮沟的稳定是沙岛形成的关键，而潮汐和风暴潮是沙岛形成的动力因素。沙岛的形成说明辐射沙洲的发育进入一个新阶段即成岛阶段，并标志着沙洲并陆过程的开始。     

Effects of Coal Gangue Content on Water Movement and Solute Transport in a China Loess Plateau Soil

The mining industry has grown strongly in China in recent decades, resulting in large amounts of coal gangues, which cause water and soil pollution, soil erosion, and various other environmental problems. They are often used in reclamation projects in attempts to restore land damaged by mining, hence they are frequently present (in widely varying proportions) in the topsoil in areas around mines. Their presence can strongly affect key soil variables, including its bulk density, structure, water retention, water movement, and solute transport rates. In the study presented here, the effects of gangue contents on infiltration, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and solute transport parameters of a Chinese Loess plateau soil were examined. The results show that infiltration rates and saturated hydraulic conductivity decreased with increasing gangue content. The Peck–Watson equation modeled these relationships well, but Bouwer–Rice equations provided poorer matches with the acquired data. Cumulative infiltration over time was described well by both the Philip equation and Kostiakov equation. Both the simplified convection–dispersion equation and a two‐region model described the solute transport processes well. In addition, the dispersion increased, while both the Peclet number and mobile water fraction decreased, with increases in gangue contents.     

Formation waters discharge to rivers near oil sands projects

Groundwater discharges in the western Canadian oil sands region impact river water quality. Mapping groundwater discharges to rivers in the oil sands region is important to target water quality monitoring efforts and to ensure injected wastewater and steam remain sequestered rather than eventually resurfacing. Saline springs composed of Pleistocene‐aged glacial meltwater exist in the region, but their spatial distribution has not been mapped comprehensively. Here we show that formation waters discharge into 3 major rivers as they flow through the Athabasca Oil Sands Region adjacent to many active oil sands projects. These discharges increase river chloride concentrations from river headwaters to downstream reaches by factors of ~23 in the Christina River, ~4 in the Clearwater River, and ~5 in the Athabasca River. Our survey provides further evidence for the substantial impact of formation water discharges on river water quality, even though they comprise less than ~2% of total streamflow. Geochemical evidence supporting formation water discharges as the leading control on river salinity include increases in river chloride concentrations, Na/(Na + Ca) ratios, Cl/(Cl + SO₄) ratios and decreases in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios; each mixing trend is consistent with saline groundwater discharges sourced from Cretaceous or Devonian aquifers. These regional subsurface‐to‐surface connections signify that injected wastewater or steam may potentially resurface in the future, emphasizing the critical importance of mapping groundwater flow paths to understand present‐day streamflow quality and to predict the potential for injected fluids to resurface.     

Recolonization and recovery dynamics of the macrozoobenthos after sand extraction in relict sand bottoms of the Northern Adriatic Sea

The long-term effects of sand extraction on macrozoobenthic communities were investigated in an offshore area in the Northern Adriatic Sea characterised by relict sands formed during the last Adriatic post-glacial transgression. Surveys were carried out before, during and 1, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 months after extraction at three impacted and seven reference stations. The operations did not influence the physical characteristics of the sediment, but they caused almost complete defaunation at dredged sites. Univariate and multivariate analyses highlighted that the macrozoobenthic community responses to the dredging operations were (1) a rapid initial recolonisation phase by the dominant taxa present before dredging, which took place 6-12 months after sand extraction; (2) a slower recovery phase, that ended 30 months after the operations, when the composition and structure of the communities were similar in the dredged and reference areas. This pattern of recolonisation-recovery fits well with the commonly encountered scenario where the substratum merely remains unchanged after marine aggregate extraction.     

钙质砂中模型桩的试验研究

根据钙质砂中桩基工程的现状,针对取自南沙群岛永暑礁的钙质砂,设计一个室内模型试验装置来研究钙质砂中钢管桩的承载和变形性能以及影响因素,并进行了石英砂中的对比试验。试验结果表明,钢管桩在钙质砂和石英砂中的表现有着显著差异。钙质砂中钢管桩承载能力很低,仅为石英砂的66%～70%,钙质砂中桩身轴力衰减速率缓慢,桩侧摩阻力远远小于石英砂的,仅为石英砂的20%～27%,并具有深度效应,开口钢管桩和闭口钢管桩的桩侧摩阻力相差不大。同时表明,钙质砂中桩侧摩阻力对相对密度的变化没有石英砂敏感,受相对密度影响很小。由颗粒破碎引起的桩周水平有效应力的大幅降低是造成钙质砂中钢管桩桩侧摩阻力低的主要原因。     

Incompressible or nearly incompressible soil dynamic behaviour—a new staggered algorithm to circumvent restrictions of mixed formulation

The restriction of the Babuska–Brezzi stability criteria for the mixed formulation requires non-uniform interpolation of displacement and pore-pressure variables, which complicates the coding in the finite element analysis. This will certainly preclude the use of many otherwise useful elements. A possible solution to overcome this problem introduced earlier by the authors requires a semi-explicit form. However, the effectiveness of the semi-explicit procedure is dependent on the time step length used, which presents difficulties for transient analysis. In this paper, an unconditionally stable staggered implicit-implicit algorithm is developed, which is generalised from the semi-explicit form. For non-uniform mesh configurations, the results indicate a significant improvement compared with those obtained by using the semi-explicit procedure.     

Establishing the role of pedogenesis in changing soil hydraulic properties

Chronosequences provide suitable sources for the study of changes in soil hydraulic behaviour as a result of long-term pedogenesis. For a podsol chronosequence in the Scottish Highlands, data are presented to indicate the changes that have occurred over 13000 years in the saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_sat) in each horizon. As the soil profile has evolved into a differentiated sequence of three horizons, the resulting hydrological changes can be both measured and quantified by relating K_sat to textural properties and bulk density. The results are significant for interpretation of changing runoff processes and slope stability.     

Découverte de structures périglaciaires (sand-wedges et composite-wedges) sur le site de stockage de déchets radioactifs de l'Aube (France)

Since 1990, a dense network of subvertical cracks has been observed at the upper part of the Albian sands of the site of radioactive waste storage operated by ANDRA. New studies carried out in 1999 during enlargement of the site of Soulaines and in 2003 on the nearby TFA site highlighted an especially well-developed network of periglacial features that are mainly of the sand-wedge type (subvertical stratified infill). These observations demonstrate the periglacial origin of these cracks, which are mainly superimposed on a dense network of former tectonic extension joints, and that rapidly disappear at the top of the underlying clays. In addition, these observations currently represent the only example of a large sand-wedge network developed during the Last Glacial in northern France. To cite this article: P. Antoine et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).