Geotechnical Hazards Associated with Desert Environment

The aridity of the Arabian Peninsula's deserts ranges between arid to hyperarid with hot dry climate, scarce precipitation and sparse vegetation. These harsh environmental conditions enhance some geomorphologic processes more than others, cause specific geotechnical problems, and increase desertification.From west to east, the general physiography of Saudi Arabia shows the Red Sea coastal plains and the escarpment foothills called Tihama followed by the Arabian Shield mountains, the Arabian Shelf plateau and finally the Arabian Gulf coastal plains. Sand moves by wind either as drifting sand or migrating dunes in four major sand seas, over the Arabian Shelf, and in the inter-mountain valleys, in the Arabian Shield causing problems of erosion and deposition. Human activities in the deserts may cause more instability to the sand bodies, enlarging the magnitude of the problem. Fine silty soil particles also move by wind, depositing loess mainly in selected areas downwind in the Tihama. These loess deposits subside and may form earth fissures by the process of hydrocompaction upon wetting. The addition of water can be either natural through storms or man-made through human agricultural or civil activities. Extensive sabkhas exist along the coastal plains of both the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf. The sabkha soil may also heave by salt re-crystallization or collapse by wetting. The shallow groundwater brines present in sabkhas also attack and corrode civil structures. Urbanization and excessive groundwater pumping may also deplete the fresh groundwater resources and may cause subsidence, ground fissuring and surface faulting as observed in some locations in the Arabian Shield. Although the average annual precipitation is very low, rain usually falls in the form of torrential storms, collected by dry valley basins and causing floods to unprotected downstream areas on the coastal plains of the Red Sea.The desert environment, being a fragile echo system, needs to be treated with care. Intercommunications between different national and international agencies and education of the layman should help to keep the system balanced and reduce the resulting environmental hazards. In addition, any suggested remedial measures should be planned with nature and engineered with natural materials.     

鄂东黄石地区三叠纪岩层中发育的重力滑动构造——重力不稳定性在控制构造变形和地质灾害过程中的作用

位于湖北省东部黄石地区制图尺度的近东西向黄荆山向斜和桐梓堡背斜是在印支期造山作用时形成的,主要由古生代及三叠纪沉积岩层序列组成。其中的下、中三叠统包括页岩、泥灰岩、石灰岩、白云质灰岩和白云岩等层状岩系。从构造地质学的观点出发,由下而上可划分为3个力学分层单位或组合,相互间存在有不同的黏度比或相对强度。在大型褶皱翼部,发育一系列中小型褶皱(其振幅从几米至上百米),如屋顶和墙壁状构造、膝状褶皱、平卧褶皱、翻转及叠褶构造等,覆于层理面及低缓角度正断层面之上。详细的三维空间构造解析指出,这些复杂的中小型构造产状和组合样式,与通常的寄生牵引褶皱和大的褶皱关系是相反的,即上层的相对运动或流动指向向斜的槽部,显示重力导致的滑动构造特征。这种滑动构造只是一类继发性的独立构造现象,可以解释为是在重力不稳定性影响下,部分沉积岩层沿着先存的倾斜层理面或拆离剪切带向下坡有限滑动的结果。所发育的特征性构造取决于涉及的岩层及力学分层单位的能干性或相对强度。在大型褶皱翼部岩层向下滑动的尺度、速度及可行性,与层理面的倾斜度及拆离带的厚度、黏度等因素相关。类似的重力滑动构造在中上扬子地区的沉积岩层中常可观察到,同时,地表的滑坡、岩崩及山体垮塌...     

Tropical cyclone activity and western North Atlantic stratification over the last millennium: a comparative review with viable connections

Tropical cyclones (TC) are recognized to modify the thermal structure of the upper ocean through the process of vertical mixing. Assessing the role this mixing plays in the overall stratification of the upper ocean is difficult, due to the relatively short and incomplete instrumental record. Proxy records for both TC landfalls and oceanographic stratification are preserved within the geological record and provide insight for how past changes in TC‐induced mixing have potentially affected water column structure prior to the instrumental record. Here we provide the first comparison between previously published paleo‐reconstructions of vertical ocean density and tropical cyclone activity from the western North Atlantic. A prominent lull in TC activity has been observed prior to approximately 1700 CE that extends back several centuries. This interval of low TC activity is shown to be concurrent with the timing of increased ocean stratification near Great Bahama Bank, potentially due in part to reduced TC‐induced mixing. To test whether this relationship is feasible, we present numerical results from a coarse‐resolution ocean general circulation model experiment isolating the effect of TC surface wind forcing on the upper ocean. An anomaly of roughly 0.12 kg m^?3 in vertical stratification occurs above and below the mixed layer for model runs with and without TC mixing. This anomaly is roughly 25% of the entire paleo‐density signal observed just prior to 1700 CE. These results suggest that TC mixing alone cannot completely explain the density anomaly observed prior to 1700 CE, but support TC variability as an important contributor to enhancing oceanic stratification during this interval. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

探地雷达(GPR)在海南岛东北部海岸带调查中的应用 *

对海南岛东北部海岸带调查采用了探地雷达(GPR)研究海岸带沙体的结构、展布和沉积序列,取得了很好的效果。文章通过和有限的露头资料对比以及对反射波形态、结构的研究,确定了海滩脊、海岸沙丘的反射特征以及潜水面的位置。雷达图像显示五龙港古海滩脊由亚水平、不连续、高振幅和透镜状反射波组成;木兰头海岸沙丘已受到人类活动的扰动,短的、陡倾斜反射可能代表未受扰动的海岸风成沙的前积层。研究表明探地雷达是一种可靠、快速和经济的地球物理方法,在砂砾质海岸可产生高质量、高分辨率和连续的反射剖面,值得加以推广。     

Permeability of stratified sands

Summary The permeability of graded sands was studied in the laboratory to determine the influence, if any, of stratification order on permeability (i.e. the position in which finer or coarser layers occur in the flow path). The evidence suggests that the order of stratification does not influence the order of magnitude of permeability of a sand. This order of magnitude is determined by the fine fraction of the sand. However, the order of stratification does have an influence on the finer details (i.e. variation within the same order of magnitude) of permeability. In this regard, an unsorted sand (all fractions mixed together) has the lowest permeability while a sorted one that has the fine fraction at the end of the sequence has the highest vertical permeability. It is also concluded that empirical formulae that use only the effective size, D ₁₀, to estimate permeability yield results that are comparable with those that incorporate sorting in their formulae. However, experimental results show that these formulae do not yield reliable results when used for more denser sands.     

北京周口店雾迷山组碳酸盐岩风暴沉积序列研究*

北京周口店地区中元古界雾迷山组以含硅质条带的白云岩为主,发育不规则硅质砾屑。这些硅质砾屑形态各异,具有强烈扰动的迹象,目前对其成因解释一直存在争议,如泄水构造、冲刷构造、震积岩、风暴岩等。文中选择北京周口店地区黄山店村恒顺厂剖面为研究对象,通过野外精细的沉积学分析,系统描述了岩性及沉积构造特征,确定了该套沉积地层发育典型的碳酸盐岩风暴沉积序列。该风暴沉积序列自下往上可分为5段: A段,为风暴前正常沉积的中厚层状泥晶白云岩;B段,具口袋构造的侵蚀冲刷面及硅质砾屑,为风暴高潮期产物;C段,灰色硅质条带白云岩,普遍发育平行层理和波状、丘状、洼状交错层理,是风暴衰减期产物;D段,灰白色薄层状泥晶白云岩,代表了风暴间歇期的正常沉积;E段,含硅质团块白云岩,为正常天气下海水局部扰动形成。该剖面上递变层理几乎不发育,结合侵蚀冲刷面特征、砾屑高含量以及杂乱堆积方式,认为该套沉积为典型的近原地风暴沉积。结合古地理资料,推测研究区在雾迷山组沉积时期可能处于热带海洋环境,热带气旋引发的频繁风暴潮导致了近原地碳酸盐岩风暴沉积的形成。上述研究成果不仅补充了燕山地区雾迷山组的风暴沉积记录,而且为该时期华北板块的古地理、古纬度和古气候研究提供了重要的沉积学证据。     

利用探地雷达观测分析早春融雪前后沙丘表层土壤含水量的时空分布

积雪融水是古尔班通古特沙漠春季植物发育的重要水源, 快速获取早春沙丘的土壤水分变化具有十分重要的生态学意义. 2010年3、 4月分别使用探地雷达进行了多次测量实验, 结果显示: 1)融雪初期, 沙丘顶部土壤的自由水含量最大, 阳坡次之, 且融雪水在重力作用下沿坡面侧向缓慢流动, 在坡底汇集, 主导了融雪初期乃至整个春季沙丘表层土壤水分的分布格局; 2)融雪后期, 由于阴坡积雪和冻土消融相对滞后, 表层土壤含水量略高于阳坡, 而沙丘顶部由于融雪最早且融雪期间水分转移最多而表面最为干燥; 3)通过与时域反射仪的同步测量结果对比, 探地雷达的测量精度被有效控制在0.03范围内, 且探地雷达提供的连续数据更有利于从细节上把握土壤含水量的变化趋势, 为中小尺度土壤水分的动态研究提供了一种科学、 有效的技术手段.     

库姆塔格沙漠的“羽毛状沙丘”形态的观测

参照卫星照片和地形图,实地观测了库姆塔格沙漠“羽毛状沙丘”分布区域的地貌。新月型“沙垄”是该区域的主导性地貌类型,垄间地形波状起伏。如果将“沙垄”喻为“羽轴”,垄间的波状起伏地形为“羽枝”,则可构成卫星照片所显示的“羽毛状沙丘”。新月型“沙垄”的走向为NE-SW,由新月形沙丘前一沙丘的迎风坡与后一沙丘的东翼相连而成,高3~19m,宽约50m,长15~22km。“垄”间起伏地形的波长为100~300m,振幅为40~100cm,与“沙垄”成60~105°夹角。在波状起伏地形的波峰与波谷过渡区堆积颜色较浅的细沙,厚2~7cm,构成了“大沙波”。实地观测的“羽毛状沙丘”的形态与卫星照片显示的形态有一定差异。     

Influence of vegetation on aeolian sand transport rate from a backshore to a foredune at Hasaki, Japan

The influence of vegetation on aeolian sediment transport rate in the region from a backshore to a foredune was investigated at the Hasaki Coast in Japan, where an onshore wind was predominant and the creeping beach grasses Carex kobomugi and Calystegia soldanella were major species. The comparison of cross-shore distributions of the cross-shore component of aeolian sand transport rate with and without vegetation, which were estimated on the basis of the beach profile changes and a mass conservation equation, showed that the creeping grasses influenced the aeolian sand transport rate. The landward aeolian sand transport rate rapidly decreased landward from the seaward limit of vegetation when the grasses grew. The aeolian sand transport rate reduced by 95% with a vegetation cover of 28%. On the other hand, when the grasses were absent, the landward aeolian sand transport rate did not decrease near the seaward vegetation limit, but near the foot of the foredune.     

A LIMITED-LENGTH-SCALE k-ε MODEL FOR THE NEUTRAL AND STABLY-STRATIFIED ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER

Analytical and numerical models of the neutral and stably-stratifiedatmospheric boundary layer are reviewed. Theoretical arguments andcomputational models suggest that a quasi-steady state is attainable in aboundary layer cooled from below and it is shown how this may be incorporatedwithin a time-steady, one-dimensional model. A new length-scale-limitedk- model is proposed for flows where a global maximum mixing length isimposed by the finite boundary-layer depth or, in stably-stratifiedconditions, by the Obukhov length, whilst still reducing to a form consistentwith the logarithmic law in the surface layer. Simulations compare favourablywith data from the Leipzig experiment and from Cardington airfield inEngland.