Seasonal-scale nearshore morphological evolution: Field observations and numerical modeling

A coupled waves–currents-bathymetric evolution model (DELFT-3D) is compared with field measurements to test hypotheses regarding the processes responsible for alongshore varying nearshore morphological changes at seasonal time scales. A 2001 field experiment, along the beaches adjacent to Grays Harbor, Washington, USA, captured the transition between the high-energy erosive conditions of winter and the low-energy beach-building conditions typical of summer. The experiment documented shoreline progradation on the order of 10–20 m and on average approximately 70 m of onshore sandbar migration during a four-month period. Significant alongshore variability was observed in the morphological response of the sandbar over a 4 km reach of coast with sandbar movement ranging from 20 m of offshore migration to over 175 m of onshore bar migration, the largest seasonal-scale onshore migration event observed in a natural setting. Both observations and model results suggest that, in the case investigated here, alongshore variations in initial bathymetry are primarily responsible for the observed alongshore variable morphological changes. Alongshore varying incident hydrodynamic forcing, occasionally significant in this region due to a tidal inlet and associated ebb-tidal delta, was relatively minor during the study period and appears to play an insignificant role in the observed alongshore variability in sandbar behavior at kilometer-scale. The role of fully three-dimensional cell circulation patterns in explaining the observed morphological variability also appears to be minor, at least in the case investigated here.     

Environmental geology: our professional public responsibility

 Conflicts between different interest groups for use of natural resources is one area where state geological surveys can provide assistance. A state geological survey working within the scientific constraints of specific issues can remain objective in its presentations and maintain the faith of both the conflicting interest groups and the public. One cannot vary from the objective view or you will quickly be criticized. Criticism can still occur from one side of a natural resource issue as your data might counter their views. However, the final decisions are almost always made in some legislators, or regulators, area of responsibility. The responsibility of the state geological survey is to provide the important data that will assist in making correct decisions. Should one party in the conflict become extreme in their demands, a potential compromise that is beneficial to both sides can be lost. In Kansas, the classical natural resource problem of resource/recreation in a populated area is presented as a case study. The state geological survey presented data on sand resources in the Kansas River and its valley in northeast Kansas. That information was important to both recreation and dredging interests where the political problem is a conflict of sand use as a construction material resource versus use of the alluvial river as an important recreation area, especially for canoeing. However, when a reasonable compromise was near completion in the Kansas Legislature one side, in a bold move to develop an advantage, ruined that potential for compromise. Received: 12 May 1998 · Accepted: 6 July 1998     

一典型工况模拟系统

利用以时钟中断驱动的后台定时任务群调度,选用成熟的标准RS-232C异步通讯设备,建立可靠的上／下位机通讯数据流向系统;利用SVGA显示系统中丰富的控制寄存器设计一套高效模块化图形程序,并用之于工况模拟系统,从而减少了前台作业的工作时间,确保计算机在指定周期内完成所有的任务。     

Crustal stress in Iceland

Hydrofracturing stress measurements have been carried out to about 0.4 km in two boreholes in Quaternary volcanic rocks in Reykjavik, Iceland, on the flank of the Reykjanes-Langjökull continuation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The measurements indicate a dominant orientation of _{H max} approximately perpendicular to the axial rift zone, in contrast to earthquake focal mechanism solutions from within the axial rift zone of the Reykjanes Peninsula. In one hole (H32) a depth-dependent change in stress orientation is indicated, with ₁ horizontal above a depth of about 0.25 km, and vertical below it; however the orientation of _{H max} remains unchanged. The data thus suggest reconciliation of an apparent conflict between the dominantly compressive indications of shallow overcoring stress measurements and dominant extension as required by focal mechanism solutions. The measured stresses are supported by the more reliable of overcoring measurements from southeast Iceland, and by recent focal mechanism solutions for the intraplate Borgarfjördur area. A fundamental change in crustal stresses appears therefore to occur as a function of distance from the axis of the axial rift zone. The data seem reasonably explicable in terms of a combination of thermoelastic mechanisms associated with accretion and cooling of spreading lithosphere plates. Stresses directly associated with the driving mechanisms of plate tectonics apparently do not dominate the observed stress pattern.     

Centralization and marginalization: The Chinese banking industry in reform

Based on the distribution patterns of the sub-branches and saving outlets of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of China in prefectural cities in China between 2001 and 2009, this paper examines how these two Chinese state-owned commercial banks may centralize their operations and thus lead to the possible marginalization of the provision of basic banking services to low value-added customers. The restructuring of SOCBs may not result in high levels of layoff due to the state’s objectives of minimizing both operational costs and political risks. When the politically sensitive issue of (un)employment is not taken into account, the more economically developed cities with larger populations and the more developed telecommunication facilities experience a higher level of centralization of their banking operations. The centralization of banking operations in China is, however, not always at the expense of savings outlets, despite the merging of savings outlets with sub-branches in various Chinese cities. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest the convergence thesis is not applicable to the banking industry in China, which is different from the conventional argument in financial geography that the centralization and marginalization of banking operations are two sides of the same coin as in the restructuring of the Anglo-American banking industries. This difference could be due to the hybrid ownership structures of state-owned commercial banks in China where the boundaries between public and private property rights are blurred.     

白云石的微化反应与有序度

试验证实白云石的微化反应特征明显受有序度的影响，白云石粉末在稀盐酸中的起泡程度随有序度的降低而加剧，在茜素红溶液中的染色程度和速度随有序度的降低而增强。低有序度白云石或完全无序的原白云石，其微化反应与方解石极为相似，反之，高有序度白云石与菱镁矿相似。另外还讨论白云石微化反应的机理。     

路基工程中的砂土液化判别与治理

通过现场标准贯入试验,对国道317线K205+700～K207+100段路基填方段中的淤泥质粉细砂层进行了液化判别.<公路工程抗震设计规范>(JTJ004-89)和<建筑抗震设计规范>(GB5001-2001)的计算结果均表明该砂层会产生液化.但前一规范的计算值偏大,在工程中建议使用后一规范,并以振冲密实法进行预防.     

Triassic synthems of southern South America (southwestern Gondwana) and the Western Caucasus (the northern Neotethys), and global tracing of their boundaries

Global tracing of the key surfaces of Triassic deposits may contribute significantly to the understanding of the common patterns in their accumulation. We attempt to define synthems – disconformity-bounded sedimentary complexes – in the Triassic successions of southern South America (southwestern Gondwana, Brazil and Argentina) and the Western Caucasus (the northern Neotethys, Russia), and then to trace their boundaries in the adjacent regions and globally. In southern South America, a number of synthems have been recognized – the Cuyo Basin: the Río Mendoza–Cerro de las Cabras Synthem (Olenekian–Ladinian) and the Potrerillos–Cacheuta–Río Blanco Synthem (Carnian–Rhaetian); the Ischigualasto Basin: the Ischichuca-Los Rastros Synthem (Anisian–Ladinian) and the Ischigualasto–Los Colorados Synthem (Carnian–Rhaetian); the Chaco–Paraná Basin: the Sanga do Cabral Synthem (Induan), the Santa Maria 1 Synthem (Ladinian), the Santa Maria 2 Synthem (Carnian), and the Caturrita Synthem (Norian); western Argentina: the Talampaya Synthem (Lower Triassic) and the Tarjados Synthem (Olenekian?). In the Western Caucasus, three common synthems have been distinguished: WC-1 (Induan–Anisian), WC-2 (uppermost Anisian–Carnian), and WC-3 (Norian–lower Rhaetian). The lower boundary of WC-1 corresponds to a hiatus whose duration seems to be shorter than that previously postulated. The synthem boundaries that are common to southwestern Gondwana and the Western Caucasus lie close to the base and top of the Triassic. The Lower Triassic, Ladinian, and Upper Triassic disconformities are traced within the studied basins of southern South America, and the first two are also established in South Africa. The Upper Triassic disconformity is only traced within the entire Caucasus, whereas all synthem boundaries established in the Western Caucasus are traced partly within Europe. In general, the synthem boundaries recognized in southern South America and the Western Caucasus are correlated to the global Triassic sequence boundaries and sea-level falls. Although regional peculiarities are superimposed on the appearance of global events in the Triassic synthem architecture, the successful global tracing suggests that planetary-scale mechanisms of synthem formation existed and that they were active in regions dominated by both marine and non-marine sedimentation.