An examination of the validation of a model of the hydro/thermo/mechanical behaviour of engineered clay barriers

This paper focuses attention on the development of a numerical model of the hydro/thermo/mechanical behaviour of unsaturated clay and its consequent verification and validation. The work presented describes on-going collaboration between the Cardiff School of Engineering and Atomic Energy of Canada. The model development, which was carried out at Cardiff, can be described as being based on a mechanistic approach to coupled heat, moisture and air flow. This is then linked to a deformation analysis of the material within a ‘consolidation’ type of model. The whole is solved via the finite element method to yield a computer software code named COMPASS (COde for Modelling PArtly Saturated Soil). Some aspects of verification and validation of the model have been addressed in-house. However, the purpose of current AECL work is to provide an independent, rigorous, structured programme of validation and the paper will also explore the further validation of COMPASS within this context. © 1998 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

北京大气中主要温室气体近10年变化趋势

对1993～2002年10年间北京市大气中三种主要温室气体的监测数据进行分析,研究二氧化碳、甲烷和氧化亚氮这三种温室气体浓度的变化趋势,并初步探讨了造成这种变化的原因.分析结果表明:北京市大气二氧化碳浓度总体是上升趋势,且后5年增长较快;大气甲烷浓度前5年缓慢上升,后5年转为下降,总体已是下降趋势;与大气二氧化碳变化趋势相似,大气氧化亚氮总体也是上升趋势,后5年增长较快.     

水对土质边坡的稳定性影响分析

首先论述了地下水对边坡稳定性的影响因素,水对土质边坡的影响作用,接着推导出了考虑水作用影响的边坡安全系数计算公式,最后指出应用动态的观点来研究边坡体内的地下水作用.     

Carbon and Noble Gas Isotopes in the Tengchong Volcanic Geothermal Area, Yunnan, Southwestern China

Carbon and noble gas isotope analyses are reported for bubbling gas samples from the Tengchong volcanic geothermal area near the Indo-Eurasian suture zone. All samples contain a resolvable component of mantle-derived 3He. Occurrence of mantle-derived 3He coincides with surface volcanism. However, 3He occurs over a larger geographic areathan do surface volcanics. δ13C values for CO2 and CH4 vary from -33.4‰ to 1.6 ‰ and from -52.8‰ to -2.8‰, respectively. He and C isotope systematics indicate that CO2 and CH4 in the CO2-rich gases originated predominantly from magmatic component mixed with crustal CO2 produced from carbonate. However, breakdown of organic matter and near-surface processes accounts for the CH4 and CO2 in N2-rich gases. 3He/4He ratio distribution pattern suggests that mantle-derived He and heat sources of high-temperature system in central Tengchong originate from a hidden magma reservoir at subsurface. CO2-rich gases with the highest 3He/4He ratio (5.2 Ra) may be representative of the     

Is the soil moisture precipitation feedback enhanced by heterogeneity and dry soils? A comparative study

The interaction between the land surface and the atmosphere is a crucial driver of atmospheric processes. Soil moisture and precipitation are key components in this feedback. Both variables are intertwined in a cycle, that is, the soil moisture – precipitation feedback for which involved processes and interactions are still discussed. In this study the soil moisture – precipitation feedback is compared for the sempiternal humid Ammer catchment in Southern Germany and for the semiarid to subhumid Sissili catchment in West Africa during the warm season, using precipitation datasets from the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS), from the German Weather Service (REGNIE) and simulation datasets from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and the hydrologically enhanced WRF-Hydro model. WRF and WRF-Hydro differ by their representation of terrestrial water flow. With this setup we want to investigate the strength, sign and variables involved in the soil moisture – precipitation feedback for these two regions. The normalized model spread between the two simulation results shows linkages between precipitation variability and diagnostic variables surface fluxes, moisture flux convergence above the surface and convective available potential energy in both study regions. The soil moisture – precipitation feedback is evaluated with a classification of soil moisture spatial heterogeneity based on the strength of the soil moisture gradients. This allows us to assess the impact of soil moisture anomalies on surface fluxes, moisture flux convergence, convective available potential energy and precipitation. In both regions the amount of precipitation generally increases with soil moisture spatial heterogeneity. For the Ammer region the soil moisture – precipitation feedback has a weak negative sign with more rain near drier patches while it has a positive signal for the Sissili region with more rain over wetter patches. At least for the observed moderate soil moisture values and the spatial scale of the Ammer region, the spatial variability of soil moisture is more important for surface-atmosphere interactions than the actual soil moisture content. Overall, we found that soil moisture heterogeneity can greatly affect the soil moisture – precipitation feedback.     

桑沟湾沉积碳库年汇入速率的长期变化及其区域性差异

对取自桑沟湾北西南三根柱样近200 a碳来源及埋藏通量的解析,分析了湾内不同站位各形态碳的差异性,进而对全湾碳埋藏进行了估算。湾内环流、贝藻养殖等造成湾内不同区域碳埋藏的差异;桑沟湾总碳（TC）平均量1.79%,有机碳（TOC）平均量0.54%,无机碳（TIC）平均量1.25%,TOC含量相对较小,为海陆混合来源,以陆源有机碳（C_t）为主,大规模人工养殖后,海源有机碳（C_a）有明显增加的趋势。桑沟湾碳埋藏通量平均为228.9 g/（m2·a）,以无机碳为主要埋藏形式（约占70%）,高的沉积速率及生物残骸沉降使桑沟湾养殖区碳的来源及埋藏区别于其他陆架海域。     

利用GRACE卫星Level-1B数据反演陆地水储量变化的方法研究

卫星重力探测技术为监测陆地水储量变化提供了新的技术手段。对利用GRACE卫星Level-1B数据反演地球陆地水储量变化的重力位差法和Mascon方法的数学模型作了详细推导分析,总结两种方法的特点和解算处理步骤。推导过程表明:重力位差法和Mascon方法在反演时只采用卫星飞临研究区域上空时的观测数据,能够提高反演结果的空间分辨率,比传统的球谐系数法更具优势;Mascon方法在解算时还引入了时空约束方程,进一步提高了反演结果的时空分辨率。     

Organic carbon deposition and phosphorus accumulation during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 in Tarfaya, Morocco

With a multi-proxy approach, an attempt was made to constrain productivity and bottom-water redox conditions and their effects on the phosphorus accumulation rate at the Mohammed Plage section on the Tarfaya coast, Morocco, during the Cenomanian-Turonian Anoxic Event (OAE 2). A distinct δ¹³C_org isotope excursion of +2.5‰ occurs close to the top of the section. The unusually abrupt shift of the isotope excursion and disappearance of several planktonic foraminiferal species (e.g. Rotalipora cushmani and Rotalipora greenhornensis) in this level suggests a hiatus of between 40–60 kyrs at the excursion onset. Nevertheless, it was possible to determine both the long-term environmental history as well as the processes that took place immediately prior to and during OAE 2. TOC% values increase gradually from the base of the section to the top (from 2.5% to 10%). This is interpreted as the consequence of a long-term eustatic sea-level rise and subsidence causing the encroachment of less oxic waters into the Tarfaya Basin. Similarly a reduction in the mineralogically constructed ‘detrital index’ can be explained by the decrease in the continental flux of terrigenous material due to a relative sea-level rise. A speciation of phosphorus in the upper part of the section, which spans the start and mid-stages of OAE 2, shows overall higher abundances of P_reactive mass accumulation rates before the isotope excursion onset and lower values during the plateau. Due to the probable short hiatus, the onset of the decrease in phosphorus content relative to the isotope excursion is uncertain, although the excursion plateau already contains lower concentrations. The C_org/P_total and V/Al ratios suggest that this reduction was mostly likely caused by a decrease in the available bottom oxygen content (probably as a result of higher productivity) and a corresponding fall in the phosphorus retention ability of the sediment. Productivity appears to have remained high during the isotope plateau possibly due to a combination of ocean-surface fertilisation via increased aridity (increased K/Al and Ti/Al ratios) and/or higher dissolved inorganic phosphorus content in the water column as a result of the decrease in sediment P retention. The evidence for decreased P-burial has been observed in many other palaeoenvironments during OAE 2. Tarfaya's unique upwelling paleosituation provides strong evidence that the nutrient recycling was a global phenomenon and therefore a critical factor in starting and sustaining OAE 2.     

Controls on sediment evacuation from glacially modified and unmodified catchments in the eastern Sierra Nevada,California

The degree of glacial modification in small catchments along the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, controls the timing and pattern of sediment flux to the adjacent fans. There is a close relationship between the depth of fan‐head incision and the pattern and degree of Late Pleistocene catchment erosion by valley glaciers; catchments with significant glacial activity are associated with deeply incised fan heads, whereas fans emerging from glacially unmodified catchments are unincised. We suggest that the depth of fan‐head incision is controlled by the potential for sediment storage during relatively dry ice‐free periods, which in turn is related to the downstream length of the glacially modified valley and creation of accommodation through valley floor slope lowering and glacial valley overdeepening and widening. Significant storage in glacially modified basins during ice‐free periods leads to sediment supply‐limited conditions at the fan head and causes deep incision. In contrast, a lack of sediment trapping allows quasi‐continuous sediment supply to the fan and prevents incision of the fan head. Sediment evacuation rates should thus show large variations in glacially modified basins, with major peaks during glacial and lows during interglacial or ice‐free periods, respectively. In contrast, sediment removal from glacially unmodified catchments in this type of setting should be free of this effect, and will be dominated instead by short‐term variations, modulated for example by changes in vegetation cover or storm frequency. This distinction may help improve our understanding of long‐term sediment yields as a measure of erosional efficiency. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship between magnetic parameters and heavy element contents of arable soil around a steel company, Nanjing

Magnetic parameters and element contents were determined in core NJ008 collected from the uppermost ca. 40 cm in a steel company in southwest Nanjing. The results showed that magnetic susceptibility (χ), saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) and anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) were enhanced in the uppermost 20 cm, with a mean magnetic susceptibility value of 112.5×10-8 m3 kg-1. Below 20 cm, χ decreased sharply with a mean value of 27.8×10-8m3 kg-1. Low-coercivity minerals such as magnetite dominate in arable soils, while the relative content of antiferromagnetic minerals increases below 20 cm. Heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Fe, Pb, V, and Zn) have similar vertical trends as χ. Principal component analysis reveals common high loadings of the same factor for magnetic concentration parameters (χ, ARM, and SIRM) and elements (Ni, Cu, Fe, Pb, V, and Zn) with an excellent linear correlation (0.69≤R≤0.98) between them. Magnetic susceptibility of paddy soil core NJ013, which had the same parent material as NJ008 but was far from pollution sources, showed stable values of magnetic concentration parameters along the whole core. Absolute values correspond to the so-called magnetic background value (below 20 cm) of NJ008. This indicates that pesticide and fertilizer had little effect on magnetic signals of the upper part of core NJ008 and the extremely enhanced magnetic concentration parameters originate from the steel company emission. Although, the arable soil does not reveal the pollution history and transportation due to annual ploughing, the significant linear relationship between magnetic concentration parameters and heavy metal contents suggests that magnetic parameters can serve as a proxy for quickly detecting soil metallic pollution and estimating the extent of contamination.