The Multiple Sources and Patterns of Methane inNorth Sea Waters

The methane concentration in the atmosphere andsurface water was surveyed along 58° N acrossthe North Sea. In addition, the vertical methanedistribution in the water column was determined at sixstations along the transect. The methane contents ofthe surface water as well as in the water column wereextremely inhomogeneous. Input by freshwater fromriver discharge and injection of methane from thesediment were both observed. The survey continued fromthe western side of the North Sea to the Elbe Riverestuary. The Elbe River appears to have low methaneconcentrations compared to other European rivers, itsaverage input into the North Sea is estimated to be70 nmol s-1 of methane. Near 58° N,1°40' E, an abandoned drill site releases about 25 % ofthe North Sea's emission of methane to the atmosphere.The advective methane transport induced by watercirculation was assessed for May 16, 1994, using a 3-DNorth Sea circulation model. For the period of thissurvey, the North Sea's source strength foratmospheric methane is estimated using in situwind velocities. In comparison to the advectivetransport by the water circulation, the gas flux tothe atmosphere appears to be the dominant sink ofNorth Sea methane. This flux is estimated to bebetween 1500 · 106 mol a-1 and 3100 ·106mol a-1, depending on the relationbetween wind speed and gas transfer velocity.     

Rainfall on the Sea: Surface Renewals and Wave Damping

Rainfall on the sea surface causes a variety of effects on the molecular boundary layers. Two such effects are the reduction of the surface renewal time period and the damping of short gravity waves being responsible for wave breaking at higher wave frequencies. The effects described recently by Schlüssel et al. are revaluated in order to fully include the varying raindrop velocity. New parameterizations are derived, which differ from the previous ones, and a substantially higher kinetic energy flux due to rain is found. The general conclusions about the impact on the thermal molecular boundary do not change, although we point to several minor errors in the calculations of Schlüssel et al. (1997).     

海温异常对热带内外环流相互作用影响的对比分析

运用ECMWF的风场和高度场及TBB资料,用相关方法对比分析了热带太平洋海温分布东冷西暖（1984～1985年冬季）和东暖西冷（1982～1983年冬季）两种不同背景下,热带西太平洋对流活动与中高纬环流在季内时间尺度下相互作用的特点。结果表明,不同的海温分布其对应的大尺度环流场包括Hadley和Walker环流的位置及强弱均有较大的差别。冬季热带西太平洋对流活动与热带外大气的季内相互作用过程也有明显差异。     

白云鄂博REE-Nb-Fe矿床成因的氧、碳和锶同位素及微量元素地球化学证据

根据白云鄂博赋矿白云石大理岩的岩石学特征及地质产状将其分为两类：粗粒和细粒白云石大理岩．它们的氧、碳和锶同位素及微量元素地球化学特征显然有别于分布在宽沟背斜以北典型的沉积石灰岩和白云岩,而和幢源火成碳酸岩十分相似．与矿床进行对比研究说明,成矿流体和矿质主要起源于碳酸岩浆的分异作用,其放射性成因同位素和微量元素保持了地但指纹,而氧和碳同位素组成却向壳源方向漂移,证实碳酸岩浆侵位过程中受大陆地壳的混染作用非常微弱,但是由碳酸岩浆活动所引起的成矿热液体系中却有一定的地表水混人认为白云鄂博REE-Nb-Fe超大型矿床的成因应归属于火成碳酸岩型矿床．     

Performance of seismically loaded shearwalls on nonlinear shallow foundations

If utilized, the energy dissipative capability of seismically loaded shallow foundations due to inelastic behavior can result in more economic design, provided the consequences, such as excessive deformations are accounted for. In this article, a Beam‐on‐Nonlinear‐Winkler‐Foundation (BNWF) model is used to assess the performance of shearwall‐foundation systems with different attributes, when subjected to ground motions of varied hazard levels. The numerical study indicates that the force and drift demands to the shearwall reduce significantly, when nonlinear foundation behavior is realized, while permanent settlement is well below the permissible limit. These results support the concept of shallow foundation capacity mobilization in future design. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The interaction between a manmade lake and groundwater: an example site in the Aurku area,Chiayi County,Taiwan

The objectives of this study are (1) to understand the subsurface hydrology in the Aurku area, Chiayi County, southern Taiwan, and (2) to determine the interaction between the manmade lake and groundwater level through the recharge produced by infiltration by on‐site investigation and laboratory sand tank simulation. The manmade lake was selected as the field site for groundwater recharge effect so as to assess the role of infiltration from the aquaculture ponds in this area. These results can be used as reference for future application of constructing a series of manmade lakes. The field experiment was performed to measure the infiltration rate of the manmade lake by using the water balance method and double‐ring infiltration test. The results demonstrated that the manmade lake had helped the recharge of the groundwater. Raising or maintaining a higher water level of the manmade lake can promote higher infiltration. When the groundwater level is equal to or higher than the bottom of the manmade lake, infiltration will slow or cease. The field experiment and laboratory sand tank simulation demonstrated that the infiltration rate increased with the higher storage depth of the manmade lake. The laboratory simulation also indicated that while the groundwater level was lower than the bottom of manmade lake (i.e. the reference level) and the initial water depth (3 cm) was equal to or greater than 50% of the full water storage depth, the infiltration depth increased with time. However, the infiltration depth would be very small or nearly zero when the groundwater level was higher than the bottom of the manmade lake. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiscale approach to geo‐composite cellular structures subjected to rock impacts

Geo‐composite cellular structures are an efficient technological solution for various applications in civil engineering. This type of structure is particularly well adapted to resisting rockfalls and can act as a defensive structure. However, the design of such structures is for the most part empirically based; this lack of research‐based design stagnates optimization and advanced development. In this paper, the mechanical behaviour of a geo‐composite cellular structure is investigated using a multi‐scale approach, from the individual cell made up of an assembly of rocky particles contained in a wire netting cage to the entire structure composed of a regular array of cells. Based on discrete modelling of both the cell and structure scales, a computational tool has been developed for design purposes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Importance of footing–soil separation on dynamic stiffness of piled embedded footings

Different phenomena such as soil consolidation, erosion, and scour beneath an embedded footing supported on piles may lead to loss of contact between soil and the pile cap underside. The importance of this separation on the dynamic stiffness and damping of the foundation is assessed in this work. To this end, a numerical parametric analysis in the frequency domain is performed using a rigorous three‐dimensional elastodynamic boundary element–finite element coupling scheme. Dimensionless plots relating dynamic stiffness functions computed with and without separation effects are presented for different pile–soil configurations. Vertical, horizontal and rocking modes of oscillation are analyzed for a wide range of dimensionless frequencies. It is shown that the importance of separation is negligible for frequencies below those for which dynamic pile group effects start to become apparent. Redistribution of stiffness contributions between piles and footing is also addressed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Salinograph trends as indicators of the recession characteristics of stream components

Compared to hydrograph recession analysis, which is widely applied in engineering hydrology, the quantitative assessment of stream salinity with time (i.e. the salinograph) has received significantly less attention. In particular, while in many previous hydrological studies an inverse relationship between hydrograph and salinograph responses is apparent, the concept of salinity accession (the inversely related salinity counterpart to hydrograph recession) has not been introduced nor quantitatively evaluated in previous literature. In this study, we conduct a mathematical analysis of salinograph accession, and determine new quantitative relationships between salinity accession and hydrograph recession parameters. An equation is formulated that reproduces the general trend in salinity accession. A salinity accession parameter k_c is then introduced and is shown to be the ratio of direct runoff to total stream flow recession parameters: k_r/k. The groundwater recession parameter k_g was estimated using a simple and rapid method that uses both salinograph and hydrograph data. Salinity accession type‐curves illustrate that under certain conditions, the relative steepness of individual salinographs is dependent upon the ratio of groundwater salinity to direct runoff salinity: C_g/C_r. The salinity accession algorithms are applied to two contrasting field settings: Scott Creek, South Australia and Sandy Creek, northern Queensland, Australia. It was found that k_g > k during periods of obvious stream flow recession, for the events analysed. Salinograph accession behaviour was fairly similar for both sites, despite contrasting environments. Using assumed end‐member salinities for groundwater and direct runoff based upon field observations, the behaviour of k_c from the Scott Creek site was approximately reproduced by varying the initial groundwater to runoff flow ratio: Q_g0/Q_r0, within reasonable parameter ranges. The use of salinograph information when used in addition to standard hydrograph analyses provided useful information on recession characteristics of stream components. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.