New basis for the constitutive modelling of aggregated soils

Natural and compacted soils are usually characterized by aggregation of particles. The mechanical behaviour of these materials depends on soil structure. The oedometric compression tests performed on aggregated samples presented here showed that these materials exhibit a yield limit depending not only on stress history and stress state but also on soil structure. Evidence is provided using the neutron tomography technique. These results revealed that soil structure modification occurs together with plastic deformations. The experimental results are used to propose a new state parameter to quantify the soil structure. Based on pore-scale experimental observations, an evolution law for this parameter is proposed as a function of associated plastic strains. Considering both soil fabric and inter-particle bonding effects, a new yield limit depending on stress state, stress history and soil structure is introduced for the aggregated soils. Accordingly, a new constitutive framework consistent with strain hardening plasticity is proposed to consider soil structure effects in the modelling of aggregated soils.     

Effect of polypropylene fibre and lime admixture on engineering properties of clayey soil

In order to reduce the brittleness of soil stabilized by lime only, a recent study of a newly proposed mixture of polypropylene fibre and lime for ground improvement is described and reported in the paper. To investigate and understand the influence of the mixture of polypropylene fibre and lime on the engineering properties of a clayey soil, nine groups of treated soil specimens were prepared and tested at three different percentages of fibre content (i.e. 0.05%, 0.15%, 0.25% by weight of the parent soil) and three different percentages of lime (i.e. 2%, 5%, 8% by weight of the parent soil). These treated specimens were subjected to unconfined compression, direct shear, swelling and shrinkage tests. Through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the specimens after shearing, the improving mechanisms of polypropylene fibre and lime in the soil were discussed and the observed test results were explained. It was found that fibre content, lime content and curing duration had significant influence on the engineering properties of the fibre–lime treated soil. An increase in lime content resulted in an initial increase followed by a slight decrease in unconfined compressive strength, cohesion and angle of internal friction of the clayey soil. On the other hand, an increase in lime content led to a reduction of swelling and shrinkage potential. However, an increase in fibre content caused an increase in strength and shrinkage potential but brought on the reduction of swelling potential. An increase in curing duration improved the unconfined compressive strength and shear strength parameters of the stabilized soil significantly. Based on the SEM analysis, it was found that the presence of fibre contributed to physical interaction between fibre and soil whereas the use of lime produced chemical reaction between lime and soil and changed soil fabric significantly.     

Soil quality changes in land degradation as indicated by soil chemical, biochemical and microbiological properties in a karst area of southwest Guizhou, China

Not only the nutritional status and biological activity but also the soil ecological functioning or soil health has been impacted profoundly by land degradation in the karst area of southwest China where the karst ecosystems are generally considered as extremely vulnerable to land degradation under intensified land-use changes. The objectives of this study are to elucidate the changes in overall soil quality by a holistic approach of soil nutritional, biological activity, and soil health indicators in the karst area as impacted by intense cultivation and vegetation degradation. Topsoil samples were collected on selected eco-tesserae in a sequence of land degradation in a karst area of southwest Guizhou in 2004. The soil nutrient pools of organic carbon (C_org), extractable extracellular carbon (C_ext), total soil nitrogen (N_t), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (N_ah), total phosphorus (P_t), available phosphorus (P_a) were analyzed by wet soil chemistry. The soil biological properties were studied by means of measurements of microbial biomass carbon (both by fumigation–extraction, FE-C_mic, and by calculation from substrate-incubation respiration, SIR-C_mic) of respiration [respiration without addition of substrates, basal respiration (BR), and potential respiration (PR) with substrate-incubation] and of soil enzyme activities (invertase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase). Soil health status was assessed by simple indices of C_mic/C_org and BR/C_mic in conjunction with bacterial community structures determined by polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. While the nutritional pool parameters, such as C_org and C_ext, described basically the changes in soil life-supporting capacity with cultivation interference and vegetation declined, those parameters of biological activity such as FE-C_mic, SIR, and SIR-C_mic as well as bacterial community structures measured by molecular method evidenced well the changes in soil functioning for ecosystem health with the land degradation.     

Quaternary bedrock erosion and landscape evolution in the Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica: Reevaluating rates and processes

Rates and processes of rock weathering, soil formation, and mountain erosion during the Quaternary were evaluated in an inland Antarctic cold desert. The fieldwork involved investigations of weathering features and soil profiles for different stages after deglaciation. Laboratory analyses addressed chemistry of rock coatings and soils, as well as ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al exposure ages of the bedrock. Less resistant gneiss bedrock exposed over 1 Ma shows stone pavements underlain by in situ produced silty soils thinner than 40 cm and rich in sulfates, which reflect the active layer thickness, the absence of cryoturbation, and the predominance of salt weathering. During the same exposure period, more resistant granite bedrock has undergone long-lasting cavernous weathering that produces rootless mushroom-like boulders with a strongly Fe-oxidized coating. The red coating protects the upper surface from weathering while very slow microcracking progresses by the growth of sulfates. Geomorphological evidence and cosmogenic exposure ages combine to provide contrasting average erosion rates. No erosion during the Quaternary is suggested by a striated roche moutonnée exposed more than 2 Ma ago. Differential erosion between granite and gneiss suggests a significant lowering rate of desert pavements in excess of 10 m Ma^− 1. The landscape has been (on the whole) stable, but the erosion rate varies spatially according to microclimate, geology, and surface composition.     

土壤天然热释光测量在寻找滑坡体边界中的应用研究

土壤天然热释光测量方法是一种累积型测氡方法。由于累积测氡时间长,其灵敏度和异常的重现性远比一般累积测氡及其子体方法好,因此,在地质领域得到了广泛的应用。在寻找滑坡体边界的应用中,取得的测量效果明显,表明该方法经济有效。     

基于土质边坡塑性极限分析条分法的可靠度计算方法研究

从土塑性极限分析上限定理出发,以土质边坡塑性极限分析条分法为基础,在引入可靠性分析方法(JC法)后,建立了土质边坡塑性极限分析条分法可靠度极限状态方程,并推导得到了塑性极限分析条分法可靠度计算公式。这种方法实现了定值计算向不确定性计算的转变,同时可靠度指标的计算结果具有概率的意义。     

Mercury speciation and mobilization in contaminated soils of the Valle del Azogue Hg mine (SE,Spain)

Hg mobilization from contaminated soils and mine wastes was the source of environmental contamination in the Valle del Azogue mining area. We researched solid-phase speciation and aqueous mobility of Hg through Scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis analysis, solid-phase-Hg-thermo-desorption (SPTD) and laboratory column experiments. We found that in contaminated soils and mine wastes, the predominant Hg species was cinnabar (HgS), mainly formed from the weathering of Hg-rich pyrite, and metallic Hg (0) in the matrix, whereas in calcines and tailings the dominant species was metallic Hg (0). The mobilization of Hg in the aqueous phase seems to have originated from the dissolution of elemental Hg (0) present in soils and wastes, reaching concentrations of up to 67 μg l⁻¹, and showing a higher long-term environmental potential risk, in addition to atmospheric emissions.     

淮河流域土壤湿度异常的时空分布特征及其与气候异常关系的初步研究

利用中国东部1990~2000年旬平均土壤湿度、降水和气温观测资料，通过对0~50 cm层次土壤湿度进行旋转主分量分析 (REOF)，重点分析了淮河流域土壤湿度的时空分布特征, 并初步研究了土壤湿度与前期、同期和后期不同时段降水与气温的关系。发现春季以30 cm为界，30 cm以上各层土壤湿度异常的第一旋转空间模态十分相似, 其大值中心主要位于淮河流域，而30 cm以下 (30~50 cm) 各层的第二旋转空间模态与之亦十分类似, 因此称该模态为“淮河型”，而夏季和秋季虽然该模态也很显著, 但特征不如春季突出。该模态在各层次土壤中具有明显的持续性特征，均存在40旬左右的显著周期；并与前期和同期降水（气温）呈显著正 (负) 相关关系，与约半年后的降水 (气温) 呈负 (正) 相关关系。     

土壤热异常对地表能量平衡影响初探

将来自土壤深部的热通量引入off line的陆面过程模式 (NCAR—LSM ) ,通过长达 2a的数值试验对比分析了它对各层次土壤温度和地表能量平衡的影响。　　在土壤底部引入 5W /m2 的热通量使底层土壤显著升温 ,但升温随着接近表层而迅速衰减。积分 3个月后 ,由地下进入地表的热流量增幅可达 1W/m2 以上 ,并持续增大到 5W /m2 ,地表最大升温约 0 .5K ,同时地表感热、蒸发潜热及长波辐射通量均有 1W /m2 左右的正异常 ;若将土壤热传导系数放大一个量级以加速热量交换 ,则地表升温提高到 1K以上 ,长波辐射增加 3W /m2 以上 ,超过了气溶胶全球平均的辐射效应。结果表明 :一定量值的土壤热异常对地表能量平衡和短期气候变化 (10 -1～ 10 1a)有着不可忽略的影响。同时 ,深入的资料分析、完善的陆面过程模式以及它与大气模式的耦合试验也是亟待进行的相关工作。