Coastal waters off the southwest coast of India draw special attention because of the occurrence of mud banks at certain locations during southwest monsoon period. The present study puts forward a hypothesis of a subterranean flow, which could be a plausible mechanism to initiate the mud banks. The subterranean flow is believed to be coupled with activated trending faults and originate from the adjacent watershed (Vembanad Lake) separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land where submerged porous lime shell beds are present. When the lake water injection occurs through the fault, the mud/clay gets excited by its thixotrophic properties (as the overlying water looses its electrolyte) and transforms into a flowing fluid. The lowering of salinity due to the introduction of fresh water keeps the mud suspension in the water column for longer duration, leading to the formation of mud banks. The idea of subterranean flow through lime shell beds initiating formation of mud banks may apply globally to any coastal regions hugged by wetlands and of similar geological conditions. 相似文献
Investigation of deposits for traditional extraction activities (metals and coal) has generally been based on determining grade, or content, of the required material. In order to apply the grade concept to an ornamental rock such as slate, it is first necessary to define the variables that determine both the geotechnical recovery rate for the rock mass — which conditions the size of the extracted blocks – and the aesthetic features of the slate — which define the quality of the slabs as potential roofing material.
For this research, geotechnical and aesthetic data for a slate deposit were collected from 16 continuous core borehole samples. A fuzzy expert system was then developed using this data, defining the rock mass recovery rate and slab quality in accordance with the criteria of a slate expert, producing as a final output a zonation of the deposit in terms of top quality slate, medium quality slate or waste.
A mathematical model based on fuzzy logic was chosen due to the fact that the boundaries between different quality groups in a deposit are not clearly distinguished. Moreover, quality also depends on a company's infrastructures for transformation of the blocks, and also on its commercial strategies. 相似文献