The southern Rhine graben: A new view of the initial phase

One of the puzzling features of the southern end of the Rhine graben is the Dinkelberg-Tabular Jura block on the eastern shoulder of the graben. It is dissected by a large number of faults, the most notable ones forming a field of narrow little grabens and half-grabens whose bordering faults converge at the level of the Middle Triassic evaporites, which points to décollement at that horizon. The little grabens were traditionally considered to be of Oligocene age, coeval with the main taphrogenesis of the Rhine graben. Two hypotheses were offered for their formation, one ascribing them to extension on the extrados of large basement folds, the other to gravity sliding on paleoslopes. Recent field work uncovered overwhelming evidence for an Eocene age of the little grabens, the time of the initial phase of Rhine graben formation. At that time there were neither large basement folds nor paleoslopes of any significance, and therefore the two hypotheses offered until now do not work. However, the map-view pattern of the field of faults offers a somewhat unusual way out of the dilemma. This pattern is most prominently displayed in the Dinkelberg area north of the Rhine. There a lane of narrow décollement grabens with a mean NNE strike is confined within the NW- striking Dinkelberg graben, which is much wider and rooted in the basement. It is also very shallow, with a subsidence on the order of 100 m. The lane of décollement grabens forms a dextral en-échelon pattern with respect to the Dinkelberg graben, suggesting stretching of the post-evaporite sequence above a basement essentially extended by strike slip. This model, though not as clearly expressed, is also compatible with the data in the rest of the Dinkelberg-Tabular Jura block. It also fits surprisingly well a theoretical model by Withjack and Scheiner (1982) that predicts a dominance of strike-slip in the marginal area of a system consisting of extension superimposed on doming.     

Regional variation of mechanical and chemical denudation,upper Colorado River Basin,U.S.A.

The variation of mechanical and chemical denudation is investigated using discharge and sediment yield data from the Upper Colorado River System. Annual precipitation ranges from approximately 150 mm to 1500 mm. Mean specific yield ranges from 0-2 1/s km² ( = 6 mm p a) to 151/s km² ( = 475 mm p a). The hydrological-geomorphological system adjusts itself to these varying climatic conditions; in some areas, however, the effects of lithology or land use seem to override the climatic controls. It is demonstrated that the increase in the absolute and particularly the relative amount of suspended sediment is closely related to a decrease in annual runoff and to an increase in the importance of high magnitude/low frequency events. This indicates that in areas of low annual runoff and high runoff variability, soluble rocks are more resistant than in more humid areas. During high magnitude/low frequency events, suspended sediment concentrations and loads are very high in semiarid areas due to sparse vegetation cover and dominance of direct runoff. Events of moderate magnitude and frequency, which in more humid areas transport most of the dissolved load, seldom occur. The trend towards increasing mechanical denudation is even observed in areas of very low runoff (0-221/s km² = 7 mm p a). The peak of sediment yield in dry areas seems to approximate the point of no runoff very closely. Mechanical and chemical denudation are of equal importance at a runoff of about 300 mm per year.     

Chalk–fluid interactions with glycol and brines

Mechanical properties of high porosity chalks are strongly dependent on the type of fluid in the pores. Dry chalk is considerably stronger than water-saturated chalk, and this phenomenon is often referred to as the water-weakening effect. To address the problem of chalk–fluid interactions, several series of tests have been performed with glycol and high concentration brines as saturating fluids. Glycol is a fluid that in many aspects resembles oil, except that glycol is miscible with water. Glycol-saturated chalk turns out to have properties very similar to oil-saturated chalk. Compared to dry chalk, both oil and glycol make the chalk somewhat weaker, but this weakening effect is much less than with water. Several series of tests with brines with high concentrations of calcium chloride or sodium chloride show that the water-weakening effect is considerably reduced in high ionic strength solutions. Most tests were performed as quasi-hydrostatic tests, with a constant stress ratio of 0.9. In such tests, the yield point marks the onset of accelerated pore collapse, and the yield value is close to the hydrostatic yield stress. In addition to these compressive tests, a series of Brazilian tests were performed, revealing the same trend. The variations in mechanical strength have been correlated with the activity of water in the brines. Within the experimental accuracy of the compressive tests, there is a linear trend between reduction of water activity and the corresponding increase in strength. This leads to the hypothesis that the water activity may be a key parameter in the water-weakening mechanism. But this conclusion also indicates that water weakening may be a special case of general chalk–fluid interactions where the degree of weakening depends on the strength of adsorption of the fluid molecules to the calcite surfaces.     

Significance of a combined approach for replacement stones in the heritage buildings’ conservation frame

Stone substitution is a conventional operation during heritage buildings’ restoration, but becomes problematic for architects and restorers when the quarry is mined out. The compatibility of the substitution stones with the original ones has been for long mainly based on the aesthetical aspect, this resulting too often in a patchwork of original and substitution stones with different patina after several years because of differences of properties. In this study, the objective is to show how substitution stones can be selected by combining aesthetic criteria and stones properties that are relevant for analyzing their compatibility. A couple of French limestones with their potential substitution stones were selected for the study. Our results showed that potential substitution stones selected on their aesthetic criteria require to be rejected because of their differences of physical properties. On the other hand, our results showed also the possibility to select substitution stones with satisfactory aesthetic aspect and properties that enable to expect a satisfactory compatibility with the original stone.     

深基坑围护结构力学变形监测技术

主要介绍了北京地铁五号线和平西桥车站施工期间的力学变形监测技术,阐述了力学变形监测工作在城市松散含水地层深基坑围护桩施工时的一些技术要求和措施,文章系统地总结了本工程中的力学变形监测技术,为今后类似工程变形监测工作积累了宝贵的经验。     

考虑非饱和粘性土含水量变化的地铁隧道围岩土体稳定性分析

含水量是非饱和土力学性质的重要控制因素,非饱和粘性土是北京地铁苏州街车站隧道的主要围岩土体类型,应用钻孔取样的方法取得隧道周边区域内的土体系统样本,通过三轴试验和含水量测试建立了非饱和粘性土围岩的变形和强度参数与含水量的相关性,进而明确了该工程场地非饱和粘性土的主要参数与含水量的关系,以此为基础确定了工程场地不同区域的土体力学参数,通过有限元数值分析方法研究了施工过程中的围岩土体稳定性与地表沉降量,明确了考虑土体含水量变化条件下的隧道开挖施工过程中的围岩土体稳定性状况。     

Microfabric and rock properties of experimentally compressed silt-clay mixtures

Oedometric mechanical compaction tests were performed on brine-saturated synthetic samples consisting of silt-clay mixtures to study changes in microfabric and rock properties as a function of effective stress. The silt consisted of crushed quartz (∼100%) with grain size range between 4 and 40 μm, whereas the clay consisted of 81% kaolinite, 14% mica/illite and 5% microcline of grain size between 0.4 and 30 μm. Five sample pairs ranging in composition from pure silt to pure clay were compacted to 5 and 50 MPa effective stress respectively. SEM studies were carried out to investigate microfabric changes in the mechanically compacted silt-clay mixtures. The degree of alignment of the different minerals present (quartz, mica/illite and kaolinite) were computed by using an image analysis software. Experimental compaction have measured the changes in the rock properties such as porosity and velocity as a function of effective stress for different mixtures of clay and silt. Clay-rich samples showed a higher degree of mineral orientation and lower porosity compared to silt-dominated samples as a function of effective stress. Pure clay sample had 11% porosity at 50 MPa effective stress whereas the pure silt sample retained about 29% porosity at the same effective stress. The experiments showed that low porosity down to 11% is possible by mechanical compaction only. A systematic increase in strain was observed in the silt-clay mixtures with increasing clay content but the porosity values found for the 50:50 silt-clay mixture were lower than that of 25:75 silt-clay mixture. No preferential mineral orientation is expected before compaction owing to the high initial porosity suggesting that the final fabric is a direct result of the effective stress. Both P- and S-wave velocities increased in all silt-clay mixtures with increasing effective stress. The maximum P- and S-wave velocities were observed in the 25:75 silt-clay mixture whereas the minimum Vp and Vs were recorded in the pure silt mixture. At 50 MPa effective stress P- wave velocities as high as 3 km/s resulted from experimental mechanical compaction alone. The results show that fine-grained sediment porosity and velocity are dependent on microfabric, which in turn is a function of grain size distribution, particle shape, sediment composition and stress. At 5 MPa effective stress, quartz orientation increased as a function of the amount of clay indicating that clay facilitate rotation of angular quartz grains. Adding clay from 25% to 75% in the silt-clay mixtures at 50 MPa effective stress decreased the quartz alignment. The clay mineral orientation increased by increasing both the amount of clay and the effective stress, the mica/illite fabric alignment being systematically higher than that of kaolinite. Even small amount of silt (25%) added to pure clay reduced the degree of clay alignment significantly. This study demonstrates that experimental compaction of well characterized synthetic mudstones can be a useful tool to understand microfabric and rock properties of shallow natural mudstones where mechanical compaction is the dominant process.     

石英道芬双晶对晶格优选取向及变形机制的贡献和意义

矿物是岩石圈最基本的物质组成,其变形行为、特性和物理/化学过程直接影响着大陆岩石圈的力学强度和流变学性质。石英是地壳主要的组成矿物之一,对其变形机理及制约因素的研究,是理解地壳流变学性质的关键。石英中的道芬双晶在晶体形态上表现出沿c轴方向的6次对称,早期研究认为其只能形成于α-和β-石英的相变过程中,越来越多的研究发现,机械应力诱发的道芬双晶对温度和应力具有一定的依赖性。通过对高黎贡剪切带内变形石英的EBSD组构分析并结合前人的研究,发现石英道芬双晶对晶内塑性应变的分布及其不同滑移系的激活起着重要作用。α-石英晶体中菱面方向比方向具有更高柔度,即更适应变形。在外力作用下,石英道芬双晶通过菱面和上的弹性性质差异,即相比方向,在压缩方向(σ₁)上代表晶面方向的极点更多地聚集在方向,形成一种较为少见的菱面晶格优选取向。由此可见,道芬双晶是石英塑性变形过程中的一种特殊的流变弱化机制,其不仅使得晶体发生可恢复的结构弱化,还通过动态重结晶作用和颗粒边界...     

石质构件风化层内力学性能变化规律研究

石质构件风化层内力学参数随深度变化的规律是石质古建筑稳定性、耐久性和保护方案研究中重要的内容。本文针对古建筑石质构件风化层不便取样,风化岩样加工易破坏和室内试验只能得出试件整体的力学参数,不能反映风化层内力学参数由表及里逐渐变化的不足,综合运用现场声波测试和室内试验对义乌宋代古月桥(建于1213年)风化条石的抗压强度、弹性模量与深度的关系进行了研究。研究表明,风化层内岩石弹性模量、抗压强度与未风化区域的比值随深度呈较好的负指数关系。