Stable isotopic signatures of the modern land snail Eremina desertorum from a low-latitude (hot) dry desert—A study from the Petrified Forest,New Cairo,Egypt

This study was conducted on recent desert samples—including (1) soils, (2) plants, (3) the shell, and (4) organic matter from modern specimens of the land snail Eremina desertorum—which were collected at several altitudes (316–360 m above sea level) from a site in the New Cairo Petrified Forest. The soils and shell_{E. desertorum} were analyzed for carbonate composition and isotopic composition (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C). The plants and organic matter_{E. desertorum} were analyzed for organic carbon content and δ¹³C. The soil carbonate, consisting of calcite plus minor dolomite, has δ¹⁸O values from −3.19 to −1.78‰ and δ¹³C values −1.79 to −0.27‰; covariance between the two values accords with arid climatic conditions. The local plants include C3 and C4 types, with the latter being dominant. Each type has distinctive bulk organic carbon δ¹³C values: −26.51 to −25.36‰ for C3-type, and −13.74 to −12.43‰ for C4-type plants.The carbonate of the shell_{E. desertorum} is composed of aragonite plus minor calcite, with relatively homogenous isotopic compositions (δ¹⁸O_mean = −0.28 ± 0.22‰; δ¹³C_mean = −4.46 ± 0.58‰). Most of the δ¹⁸O values (based on a model for oxygen isotope fractionation in an aragonite-water system) are consistent with evaporated water signatures. The organic matter_{E. desertorum} varies only slightly in bulk organic carbon δ¹³C values (−21.78 ± 1.20‰) and these values suggest that the snail consumed more of C3-type than C4-type plants. The overall offset in δ¹³C values (−17.32‰) observed between shell_{E. desertorum} carbonate and organic matter_{E. desertorum} exceeds the value expected for vegetation input, and implies that 30% of carbon in the shell_{E. desertorum} carbonate comes from the consumption of limestone material.     

土工格栅加筋膨胀土拉拔试验研究

土工格栅加筋技术对膨胀土地质灾害的防治具有特殊效果,但目前对土工格栅与膨胀土界面特性的研究不足。采用南水北调中线工程新乡段的膨胀性泥灰岩风化土作填料,塑料单向拉伸土工格栅作为加筋体,在叠环式剪切试验机上通过施加不同的竖向荷载对其界面特性进行了拉拔试验研究。研究结果表明,土工格栅在膨胀土中的拔出过程主要经过3个阶段,分别是界面静摩擦力阶段、渐进剪切阶段和整体运动阶段,各阶段受力特性有明显差异;随着法向应力的增大,静摩擦力在界面抗剪强度比值呈对数级增大,从50 kPa时0.20增大至400 kPa时0.57,极限值可达到0.75;对挡土墙、高边坡等加筋设计中应考虑最大静摩擦力所占比重,在格栅的不同竖向高度处所受垂直应力不同,分段设计更加合理。     

Compressibility and shear strength of a residual soil

A detailed study was performed to investigate the compressibility and the shear strength of a residual soil in Omdurman, Sudan. The soil resulted from weathering of sandstone and mudstone. The soil is classified as sandy clayey silt (MH-CH) and is generally partially saturated. Consolidation tests were performed to study the compressibility of the soil and UU, CIU and insitu tests (CPT and SPT) were performed to study the shear strength characteristics of the soil. The characteristics of this residual soil can generally be predicted using correlations proposed in the literature for transported soils. The soil is of low to medium compressibility and exhibits slight apparent overconsolidation behavior. The soil dilates during shear and shows no long term effective cohesion. Problems associated with open cuts in this soil are attributed to loss of strength upon saturation.     

Use of variograms for field magnetometry analysis in Upper Silesia Industrial Region

Measurements of topsoil magnetic susceptibility are often used for quick assessment of soil contamination of anthropogenic origin, with heavy metals or other pollutants. However, because of complicated correlations between low-field magnetic susceptibility (shortened to magnetic susceptibility) of topsoil and soil pollution, the outcome of a field magnetometry survey can not be related directly to soil pollution. For each case study, the results should be interpreted on their own taking into account not only the type of pollution but also pedogenic, biogenic and environmental factors. In practice, it is very difficult to measure and consider all these factors. Here we illustrate the merit of geostatistical methods, which are focused on the spatial variability of a phenomenon, in the interpretation of soil magnetometry results. This article presents the analysis of spatial variability of top soil layers magnetic susceptibility-within the Upper Silesia Industrial Region (USIR)-using semivariance analysis. It also explains how to adjust the sampling density of field magnetometry measurements to spatial variability of the soil pollution as well as to the spatial scale of the investigated area. For this purpose, the values of magnetic susceptibility have been measured by using various sampling densities at areas of different size located within USIR. This enabled to determine the main scales of magnetic susceptibility spatial variability of soils within USIR using semivariance. A few distinct scales of variability were found from the site scale to a more regional scale. Variability ranges of 30 km, 12 km, and 5 km refer to the large regional scale, whereas smaller ranges of few hundreds down to a few tens of meters, can be attributed to the local (site) scale. In addition, the precision of the measuring campaigns, performed within USIR with different sampling densities, was compared through the analysis of the spatial variability of the soil magnetic susceptibility signal by using ordinary kriging. jarek97@yahoo.com, piotr.fabijanczyk@is.pw.edu.pl     

Fire severity and surface rock fragments cause patchy distribution of soil water repellency and infiltration rates after burning

Although fire‐induced soil water repellency (SWR) and its effects on soil hydrology and geomorphology have been studied in detail, very few studies have considered the effect of rock fragments resting on the soil surface or partly embedded in soil. In this research, we have studied the effect of rock fragments on the strength and spatial distribution of fire‐induced SWR at different fire severities. A fire‐affected area was selected for this experiment and classified into different zones according to fire severity (unburned, low, moderate and high) and rock fragment cover (low, <20% and high, >60%). During 7 days after fire, SWR and infiltration rates were assessed in the soil surface covered by individual rock fragments and in the midpoint between two adjacent rock fragments (with maximum spacing of 20 cm). SWR increased with fire severity. Rock fragments resting on the soil surface increased the heterogeneity of the spatial distribution of fire‐induced SWR. SWR increased significantly with rock fragment cover in bare areas under moderate and high fire severity, but quantitatively important changes were only observed under high fire severity. In areas with a low rock fragment cover, water repellency from soil surfaces covered by rock fragments increased relative to bare soil surfaces, with increasing SWR. In areas with a high rock fragment cover, SWR increased significantly from non‐covered to covered soil surfaces only after low‐severity burning. Rock fragment cover did not affect infiltration rates, although it decreased significantly in soil surfaces after high‐severity burning in areas under low and high rock fragment cover. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

K_0固结饱和粘土三轴压缩与拉伸循环强度之间的关系

针对有应力反向与无应力反向两种循环应力条件,进行了k0固结饱和粘土不排水循环三轴压缩与拉伸强度试验。为了分析三轴压缩与三轴拉伸循环强度之间关系,依据3个围压下三轴压缩循环强度试验结果,确定了与不同循环破坏次数对应的Mohr-Coulomb循环强度指标。据此预测k0固结土样三轴拉伸循环强度,预测结果小于实测结果,当循环破坏次数为2 000时,两者之间相对偏差为13%左右。因此,可以依据Mohr-Coulomb强度理论建立k0固结饱和粘土不排水三轴压缩与拉伸循环强度之间的关系。     

桩在饱和土中水平振动的辐射阻尼简化算法

将适用于单相土－桩系统的Novak的平面应变假设和Gazetas的分象限假设推广到饱和土－桩系统中。通过简化后的微分方程推导了饱和土－桩系统辐射阻尼系数的解析解答。最后用算例说明了饱和土中两个压缩波的特性，比较了饱和土和单相土的单位桩长辐射阻尼系数，比较了简化算法和三维有限元方法求得的桩头幅射阻尼比，结果证明简化算法在一定条件下适用于计算层饱和土－桩系统的辐射阻尼。     

新疆渭干河灌区水文地质条件变化及排水措施探讨

渭干河灌区的水土环境及水文地质条件在克孜尔水库建成后发生了一定的变化,本文结合灌区12年来的水盐监测资料,对灌区地下水的埋深变化规律、水质演变趋势、灌区的排水效果及目前存在的问题进行了分析与探讨,并为今后灌区排水措施和保持水土环境的良性发展提出了建议.     

Thin-section analysis as a tool to aid identification of palaeoearthquakes on the “slow”, active Geleen Fault, Roer Valley Graben

We analyzed thin sections from two palaeoseismic trenches across the low-slip-rate Geleen Fault in the Belgian Maas River valley to help identifying the most recent large palaeoearthquake on this fault segment. In the first trench we sampled silty sediment below and above a prehistoric stone pavement that was supposedly at or near the surface at the time of the event, and subsequently thrown down. The samples below show a well-developed in situ argillic Bt soil horizon in parent sediment containing remnants of stratification, whereas the sediment above is a structureless colluvium reworked at least partly from Bt-horizon material. Below the stone pavement, we also found evidence of contorted stratification, which is in agreement with macroscopic observations of both the sediment and the stone pavement itself, and which is attributed to co-seismic soft-sediment deformation. In the second trench, we sampled a sequence of vaguely discernible soil horizons in the hanging-wall, interpreted as a buried soil profile (Bt, E, and possibly A horizons), overlain by a featureless deposit. Thin-section analysis supports the colluvial nature of the latter, and also provides evidence that both the base of this layer and the top of the poorly developed A horizon below have occupied a shallow position in a soil profile. A sample from the same depth in the footwall is composed of very different material. Instead of colluvium, we find patches of Bt soil, most likely representing the same pedogenic level as the in situ Bt horizon at larger depth in the hanging-wall, but displaced and subsequently degraded. Furthermore, thin sections confirm that vertical structures cutting this Bt horizon are sand dykes. These dykes could be traced macroscopically upward to the base of the colluvium. In both trenches, we have thus identified a stratigraphic boundary in the hanging-wall, close to the surface, separating an in situ soil below from colluvium above. We interpret this limit and the overlying colluvium as the event horizon and the colluvial wedge, respectively, of a surface-rupturing palaeoearthquake. In addition, in both cases we found evidence of soft-sediment deformation (related to liquefaction) contemporaneous with the event within the stratigraphic resolution.     

紫色土典型三角形层状剖面入渗模拟

通过室内特制的土壤水分入渗试验装置,分别设置上粗下细和上细下粗两种典型不同质地紫色土三角形层状剖面,探讨典型不规则层次结构的土壤入渗特性。结果显示,同一三角形层状剖面入渗,粗质土半剖面的垂直湿润锋随时间推进速度快于细质土。对于粗质土,上细下粗剖面设置下其半剖面的垂直湿润锋随时间推进速度快于上粗下细,但对于细质土,两种层状剖面设置下其垂直湿润锋随时间推进速度差异不明显。无论上粗下细,还是上细下粗,两种层状剖面对斜面湿润锋变化曲线影响不大。两种层状剖面入渗,湿润锋、入渗速率与时间均呈极显著幂函数关系。建立的紫色土典型三角形层状剖面入渗模型,经验证,模拟值与实测值具有非常好的一致性,且可与经验模型相互转换,模型参数也具有一定的物理意义。