Paradigms for planktonic assemblages: 50 years of contributions from the Leigh Marine Laboratory,Northland, New Zealand

Abstract

Plankton includes the primary producers and consumers that are critical for healthy ecosystem function in the marine realm. My objective was to identify the major contributions of the Leigh Marine Laboratory to our broader understanding of planktonic assemblages. Significant contributions were made prior to 1990 on the ecology of larval fishes. From the 1990s the focus changed to the sensory biology of larval invertebrates and fishes, with a strong emphasis given to the role of reef sound in attracting potential settlers. Both early and post 1980s research has been highly influential in a paradigm shift away from passively drifting larvae that have little control over their fate. Important contributions have also been made on the dynamics of nutrient–phytoplankton interactions, larval development and aquaculture. Opportunities abound for future research on the dynamics of planktonic assemblages in shelf waters and in changing seas.     

Effect of degree of saturation on mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils and its elastoplastic simulation

The two stress-state variable approach has been widely used in interpreting unsaturated soil behaviour. However this approach cannot take into account the effect of degree of saturation or water contents on the stress–strain behaviour and strength of unsaturated soils. The triaxial test results presented in this paper show that even if the same path of net stress and suction is followed, the stress–strain relation and strength are different due to different degrees of saturation. When other conditions are the same, the higher the degree of saturation for the soil sample is, the higher the stress ratio corresponding to a given axial strain will be. This effect can be modeled by using an elasto-plastic constitutive model coupling hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils. Comparisons between the predicted and measured results are presented, which demonstrate that the model can quantitatively simulate the influence of the degree of saturation on stress–strain behaviour and strength of unsaturated soils.     

Improvement of pseudo-static method for slope stability analysis

traditional In this paper, two drawbacks pseudo-static method （vertical of the slice method） in the slope stability evaluation have been studied. First, the sliding mass is divided into vertical slices according to this method, which is irrational to some extent in the seismic design of slope. Second, only peak ground acceleration （PGA） is considered, and the effects of shaking frequency and duration on slope stability are neglected. And then, based on the theory of elastic wave and the summarized geological model, this paper put forwards an improved method of pseudo-method by using the theory of elastic wave and Hilbert-Huang transform. The improved pseudostatic method gives reasonable considerations to the time-frequency effects of seismic wave and its rationality has been verified by the shaking table test. This method can evaluate the safety of a slope, the happening time and the scale of landslides. At the same time, this method also can improve the high accuracy of the evaluation of the safety of the slope.     

A virtual experiment technique on the elementary behaviour of granular materials with discrete element method

Multi‐scale investigations aided by the discrete element method (DEM) play a vital role for current state‐of‐the‐art research on the elementary behaviour of granular materials. Similar to laboratory tests, there are three important aspects to be considered carefully, which are the proper stress/strain definition and measurement, the application of target loading paths and the designed experiment setup, to be addressed in the present paper. Considering the volume sensitive characteristics of granular materials, in the proposed technique, the deformation of the tested specimen is controlled and measured by deformation gradient tensor involving both the undeformed configuration and the current configuration. Definitions of Biot strain and Cauchy stress are adopted. The expressions of them in terms of contact forces and particle displacements, respectively, are derived. The boundary of the tested specimen consists of rigid massless planar units. It is suggested that the representative element uses a convex polyhedral (polygonal) shape to minimize possible boundary arching effects. General loading paths are described by directly specifying the changes in the stress/strain invariants or directions. Loading can be applied in the strain‐controlled mode by specifying the translations and rotations of the boundary units, or in the stress‐controlled mode by using a servo‐control mechanism, or in the combination of the two methods to realize mixed boundary conditions. Taking the simulation results as the natural consequences originated from a complex system, virtual experiments provide particle‐scale information database to conduct multi‐scale investigations for better understanding in granular material behaviours and possible development of the constitutive theories provided the qualitative similarity between the simulation results from virtual experiments and observations on real material behaviour. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Explicit solutions for the instantaneous undrained contraction of hollow cylinders and spheres in porous elastoplastic medium

In this article we present closed‐form solutions for the undrained variations in stress, pore pressure, deformation and displacement inside hollow cylinders and hollow spheres subjected to uniform mechanical pressure instantaneously applied to their external and internal boundary surfaces. The material is assumed to be a saturated porous medium obeying a Mohr–Coulomb model failure criterion, exhibiting dilatant plastic deformation according to a non‐associated flow rule which accounts for isotropically strain hardening or softening. The instantaneous response of a porous medium submitted to an instantaneous loading is undrained, i.e. without any fluid mass exchange. The short‐term equilibrium problem to be solved is now formally identical to a problem of elastoplasticity where the constitutive equations involve the undrained elastic moduli and particular equivalent plastic parameters. The response of the model is presented (i) for extension and compression undrained triaxial tests, and (ii) for unloading problems of hollow cylinders and spheres through the use of appropriately developed closed‐form solutions. Numerical results are presented for a plastic clay stone with strain hardening and an argilite with strain softening. The effects of plastic dilation, of the strain softening law and also of geometry of the cavity on the behaviour of the porous medium have been underlined. Analytical solutions provide valuable benchmarks enabling various numerical methods in undrained conditions with a finite boundary to be verified. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

崩落法开采引起的岩层移动时效性研究

崩落法开采的金属矿山往往会伴随着一系列的地质灾害现象。为保证矿区安全生产,开展崩落法开采引起的岩层移动的时效性研究具有重要意义。以程潮铁矿西区下盘为研究对象,通过将地表10多年GPS监测数据的整理分析,并与现场破坏调查结果和工程地质条件相结合,进而探究不同分区下岩层移动的时效行为。研究结果表明：岩层移动的时效行为与其破坏过程有着密切的关系,不同分区下的岩层移动的时效行为是不同的,可分为初始变形、渐进变形、加速变形和残余变形共4个阶段,分别对应着稳定状态、临界状态、失稳状态以及采矿结束后的蠕变状态;初始变形阶段对应着岩体的初始蠕变过程,渐进变形阶段反映了岩体抵抗自身变形的过程,加速变形阶段与深部破坏面的形成和强烈的应力释放有关;崩落碎石在采矿作业停止后失去了流动空间,在岩体变形挤压下会对围岩提供支撑力进而限制了岩层移动的进一步发展;残余变形时间由岩体的蠕变特性和崩落碎石的压密过程所控制,倾倒滑移区因需要经历一个额外的碎石压密过程而导致残余变形时间更长。     

Seismic performance of two-story subway station structures with different isolating systems

When the sliding bearing is fixed only at the top of the middle column of the underground structure, the cracks at the side end of the middle plate should be aggravated while the seismic damage of the mid-column should be alleviated. To enhance the seismic performance of the mid-plate, a new isolation design method has been mentioned while the elastic sliding bearings are set at the top of the mid-columns and between the side end of the mid-plate and the side wall at the same time. By establishing a nonlinear finite element analysis model for the static-dynamic coupling interaction system, the seismic response characteristics of the cast-in-place station structure without a sliding bearing have been analyzed and compared with those of the station structure with the sliding bearing fixed only at the top of the middle columns, and those of the station structure with sliding bearing be fixed between the mid-plate and the sidewall at the same time. The results show that the new isolation station structures suffer fewer earthquake damages at the mid-plate and mid-columns at the same time, which can improve the overall seismic performance of the subway station structure.     

Studies on the behaviour of nutrients in the Mandovi Estuary during premonsoon

Behaviour of silicate, nitrate and phosphate in the Mandovi Estuary was studied during the premonsoon season. The study shows that silicate is removed from the water column while nitrate showed an internal source. This nitrate source has been identified as the wash water from an iron ore screening plant which discharges the muddy waste directly into the river. Applying mixing relations, the distribution of this nitrate both up- and downstream of the outfall has been studied. Phosphate showed very low concentrations in the low salinity region; however, its concentration increased slightly towards the higher salinity region.     

Flounders follow the tides to feed: Evidence from ultrasonic tracking in an estuary

Ultrasonically tagged flounders were tracked in the estuary of the River Bann, Northern Ireland, for periods of between 2 and 12 h (11 fish for a total of 92 h and 2·5 km), during their summer residence. Positions were determined by triangulation with two receivers.All fish remained within 400 m of the release point; on average flounders moved about 270 m during one tidal cycle, equivalent to 830 body lengths, or just over 1 body length per minute. Movements were most likely at dusk, but other parameters were not contingent upon time of day, although no data were gathered at dawn. Frequency, direction, distance, speed and duration of movement and turn rate were all significantly contingent upon state of the tide. The movement data are interpreted in terms of feeding behaviour, supported by results from other parts of the study. At high tide flounders made active but meandering searches for food on the inundated mudflats. Similar but faster searches heading downstream on falling tides reflected (a) completion of feeding while littoral invertebrates were still available and (b) avoidance of stranding. Flounders made infrequent but long and linear passages downstream at low tide, when they tended to bury themselves at the edge of the main channel where there was little food. Subsequently, the fish followed the rising tide upstream so that the cycle of movements kept most fish in the same area of the estuary in the short term. It is suggested that tolerance of changing salinities enables flounders, more than other flatfish species, to exploit dense populations of estuarine intertidal invertebrates as food.     

Quantitative prediction of discrete element models on complex loading paths

The ability of discrete element models to describe quantitatively (and not only qualitatively) the constitutive behaviour of a dense sand is assessed in this paper. Two kinds of 3D discrete models are considered. Both consider spheres as elementary particles. Nevertheless, the first model implements a contact law with rolling resistance whereas the second takes into account clumps made of two spheres. The discrete models are calibrated and validated from mechanical tests performed on a dense Hostun sand with a true triaxial apparatus. The calibration is carried out from axisymmetric drained compression tests, while the validation is discussed from monotonic and cyclic stress proportional loading paths and from a circular stress path in the deviatoric stress plane. The quality of the predictions of the discrete models are evaluated by comparison with the predictions given with advanced phenomenological constitutive relations, mainly an incrementally non-linear relation. Predictions given by the discrete models are remarkable, particularly when it is put in perspective with respect to the very few number of mechanical tests required for their calibration. However, these results and conclusions were reached in enabling conditions, and some limitations of such discrete models should be kept in mind.