The effects of fire on rock weathering: some further considerations of laboratory experimental simulation

Fire in the natural environment is a widespread agent of geomorphological and biological change. Temperatures can exceed 1000°C. There is often a rapid rise from ambient conditions through a steep thermal gradient, promoting rock disintegration. Laboratory simulation studies have established that temperature changes which are representative of natural fires affect rock material properties, which can then be related to weathering susceptibility. This study extends previous work by more closely replicating the natural environment, (a) through the simulation of rainfall and (b) by encasing samples to reflect the exposure of a single rock face to a passing fire event. Rock samples collected on Cyprus were prepared and tested following previously reported procedures. Change in modulus of elasticity was monitored using a non-destructive ultrasonic method. The data corroborate previous work but with somewhat different degrees of change. The new results are more likely to be representative of natural conditions and real-world change. The rate of rock disintegration and effects such as case-hardening appear to be a function of rock thermal characteristics, material properties and environmental constraints such as diurnal temperature range. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Holocene record of climate,vegetation change and peat bog development,east Otago,South Island,New Zealand

A Holocene record of pollen, macrofossils, testate amoebae and peat humification is presented from a small montane bog. Sediment accumulation began before 9000 yr BP, but peat growth not until ca. 7000 BP. From 12 000 to 7000 yr BP, a shrub–grassland dominated under a dry climate, with increasing conifer forest and tall scrub from ca. 9600 yr BP. At 7000 yr BP a dense montane–subalpine low conifer forest established under a moist, cool climatic regime. Between 7000 and 700 yr BP the bog surface was shrubby, tending to be dry but with highly variable surface wetness. The catchment was affected by major fire at least four times between 4000 and 1000 yr BP. Both fire and bog surface wetness may have been linked to ENSO-caused variations in rainfall. Cooler, cloudier winters and disturbance by fire promoted the expansion of the broadleaf tree Nothofagus menziesii between 4000 yr BP and 1300 yr BP at the expense of the previous conifer forest–scrub vegetation. Polynesian fires (ca. 700 yr BP) reduced the vegetation to tussock grassland and bracken. Deforestation did not markedly affect the hydrology of the site. European pastoralism since ad 1860 has increased run-off and rising water tables in the bog have led to a Sphagnum-dominated cover. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

火灾作用下海洋平台结构响应分析

结合BZ28-1南井口平台导管架,建立了海洋平台结构有限元计算模型。采用弹塑性分析方法,并应用温度升高时钢材的非线性应力/应变关系,采用火灾的标准温度-时间曲线建立平台结构温度随时间的变化模型,基于能量守恒原理建立热传导微分方程,计算热传导和对流对结构温度的影响,分析得到受火区域构件的温度场。依据钢材性能随温度升高的变化,分析火灾荷载下平台结构的响应。火灾发生时,平台结构中的构件在火温的作用下,温度逐渐升高,虽然作用在结构上的荷载不变,但由于钢材的弹性模量和屈服强度都急剧下降,使平台结构的承载能力下降;当温度上升到600℃以上时,平台结构就形成足够数目的塑性铰,使结构达到极限破坏状态。通过计算分析表明,当火灾作用6 min后,着火房间构件发生严重屈曲,但平台结构整体性能保持良好;当火灾作用22 min后,受火区域构件都发生了较大的变形,引起平台结构的毁损和倾覆。     

关于纽约世界贸易中心双子塔倒塌的分析和教训

本文不仅从纽约世界贸易中心双子塔的结构体系、施工技术、防火工程的角度以及火灾中结构所处的状态对倒塌的原因进行深入的分析,并且在建筑必将倒塌的前提下提出一些关于如何提高在高层建筑火警中的救援效率的建议。     

Quantifying relations between surface runoff and aridity after wildfire

Post‐wildfire runoff and erosion are major concerns in fire‐prone landscapes around the world, but these hydro‐geomorphic responses have been found to be highly variable and difficult to predict. Some variations have been observed to be associated with landscape aridity, which in turn can influence soil hydraulic properties. However, to date there has been no attempt to systematically evaluate the apparent relations between aridity and post‐wildfire runoff. In this study, five sites in a wildfire burnt area were instrumented with rainfall‐runoff plots across an aridity index (AI) gradient. Surface runoff and effective rainfall were measured over 10 months to allow investigation of short‐ (peak runoff) and longer‐term (runoff ratio) runoff characteristics over the recovery period. The results show a systematic and strong relation between aridity and post‐wildfire runoff. The average runoff ratio at the driest AI site (33.6%) was two orders of magnitude higher than at the wettest AI site (0.3%). Peak runoff also increased with AI, with up to a thousand‐fold difference observed during one event between the driest and wettest sites. The relation between AI, peak 15‐min runoff (Q₁₅) and peak 15‐min rainfall intensity (I₁₅) (both in mm h^‐1) could be quantified by the equation: Q₁₅ = 0.1086I₁₅ × AI ^2.691 (0.65<AI<1.80, 0<I₁₅<45) (adjusted r² = 0.84). The runoff ratios remained higher at drier AI sites (AI 1.24 and 1.80) throughout the monitoring period, suggesting higher AI also lengthens the window of disturbance after wildfire. The strong quantifiable link which this study has determined between AI and post‐wildfire surface runoff could greatly improve our capacity to predict the magnitude and location of hydro‐geomorphic processes such as flash floods and debris flows following wildfire, and may help explain aridity‐related patterns of soil properties in complex upland landscapes. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1500 years of lake sedimentation due to fire,earthquakes, floods and land clearance in the Oregon Coast Range: geomorphic sensitivity to floods during timber harvest period

Sediment cores retrieved from landslide‐dammed Loon Lake recorded events back to the 5th century AD in a forested, mountainous catchment, thereby providing an opportunity to compare the impacts of known recent perturbations, including floods and timber harvesting with those of an early period in the cores, floods, fires, and earthquakes. High‐resolution multi‐parameter (grain size, %TC, %TN, and magnetic susceptibility) data allowed the core stratigraphy to be classified as background sedimentation and events. ¹³⁷Cs and radiocarbon dating, as well as a varved record in the last 75 years provided age control. Mean mass accumulation rate from 1939 to 1978 AD, the time of peak timber harvest and a cool wet phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, was 0.79 (0.74–0.92, 95% C.L.) g cm^‐2 y^‐1, significantly higher than mean rates of both the more recent contemporary period (coincident with the passing of the legislation that regulated harvesting practices in the region), 1979–2012 AD, at 0.58 (0.48‐0.70) and the entire early period, 0.44 (0.41–0.46). Several event deposits are coeval with independently estimated ages of eight Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes in the early period, including the 1700 AD Mw 9.0 event. These deposits are predominantly formed by hyperpycnal flows, as are the known event deposits in the contemporary period. The high mass accumulation rate and greater frequency of thick event deposits during the early contemporary period point to the extraordinary role of timber harvesting in priming the landscape for subsequent sedimentary delivery during floods. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高分辨地电阻率探测与互联网络远程监测煤田火烧区

为发现、治理、监控煤田火烧区,将互联网的创新成果深度融合于传统地勘技术领域之中,开发了具有探测火烧区范围和中心温度、连续采集、高温传感、远程遥控等主要功能的永久性的无线传感器网络远程监测系统.研发出新型传感器节点,能够与单极-偶极装置互联储存并发送探测数据,同时将高温探头直接放置于地下火烧区巷道进行监测;通过带保护电路的太阳能供电装置,为现场数据采集网络提供了持续充足的能源;由移动通信网和互联网将信号传送到监测中心,实现远程控制监测;在新疆地区的12个火烧区同时部署了所研发的监测系统,至今已工作45个月,表明采取的技术措施可以保障监测系统的免维护长期稳定运行.乌鲁木齐监测中心收到110多万条现场信息,授权后可任意查询、永久保存,为新疆大面积煤田自燃火区的治理和保卫治理成果,提供基础数据.研究结果表明,充分发挥互联网在地球物理探测监测中的优化和集成作用,对提升煤田地质基勘查的创新和生产能力,具有重要的意义.     

利用NOAA/AVHRR资料监测南方林区森林火灾的研究

本文论述了南方林区森林火灾时间分布集中、发生率高、面积小,并以地表火为主的特征;总结了气象卫星资料的林火信息特征和非林火干扰信息规律;研究了建造林火监测专家系统的理论方法,进而提出了林火宏观实时监测系统的总体设计,并建立了以计算机图像处理为基础的、以林火背景数据库支持的、以专家系统为核心的林火监测系统。并利用南方林火模拟实验和历史林火资料对该监测系统进行了改进。最后讨论了林火监测系统改进方向和研究体会。     

强震后既有建筑火灾危险性的模糊数学评估模型研究

在强烈地震发生后,会引发建筑火灾等次生灾害,涉及因素较多,传统火灾危险性数学模型忽略了强震后既有建筑发生火灾时不同因素的随机性与模糊性特性,难于建立健全的评估数学模型,导致评估精度低。为解决该问题,通过分析强震后既有建筑火灾影响,用因素模糊数学方法建立强震后既有建筑火灾危险性评估数学模型及评估体系。具体方法是对评估指标体系中各层因素针对上层因素影响进行评分,建立判断矩阵,获取权重。确定隶属度矩阵,获取强震后既有建筑火灾危险性评估的因素集与评语集,构造单因素评判,给评估集中的因素赋予权重,进行一级模糊评估。把一级评估结果当成二级评估的单因素评估,通过模糊数学理论完成对强震后既有建筑火灾危险性的评估,得到综合评估结果。实验结果表明,采用所提模型进行危险性评估,得到结果符合实际情况,与其他模型相比,所提模型评估精度高。     

Interaction of wind and cold-season hydrologic processes on erosion from complex topography following wildfire in sagebrush steppe

Wildfire is a natural component of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe rangelands that induces temporal shifts in plant community physiognomy, ground surface conditions, and erosion rates. Fire alteration of the vegetation structure and ground cover in these ecosystems commonly amplifies soil losses by wind- and water-driven erosion. Much of the fire-related erosion research for sagebrush steppe has focused on either erosion by wind over gentle terrain or water-driven erosion under high-intensity rainfall on complex topography. However, many sagebrush rangelands are geographically positioned in snow-dominated uplands with complex terrain in which runoff and sediment delivery occur primarily in winter months associated with cold-season hydrology. Current understanding is limited regarding fire effects on the interaction of wind- and cold-season hydrologic-driven erosion processes for these ecosystems. In this study, we evaluated fire impacts on vegetation, ground cover, soils, and erosion across spatial scales at a snow-dominated mountainous sagebrush site over a 2-year period post-fire. Vegetation, ground cover, and soil conditions were assessed at various plot scales (8 m² to 3.42 ha) through standard field measures. Erosion was quantified through a network of silt fences (n = 24) spanning hillslope and side channel or swale areas, ranging from 0.003 to 3.42 ha in size. Sediment delivery at the watershed scale (129 ha) was assessed by suspended sediment samples of streamflow through a drop-box v-notch weir. Wildfire consumed nearly all above-ground live vegetation at the site and resulted in more than 60% bare ground (bare soil, ash, and rock) in the immediate post-fire period. Widespread wind-driven sediment loading of swales was observed over the first month post-fire and extensive snow drifts were formed in these swales each winter season during the study. In the first year, sediment yields from north- and south-facing aspects averaged 0.99–8.62 t ha⁻¹ at the short-hillslope scale (~0.004 ha), 0.02–1.65 t ha⁻¹ at the long-hillslope scale (0.02–0.46 ha), and 0.24–0.71 t ha⁻¹ at the swale scale (0.65–3.42 ha), and watershed scale sediment yield was 2.47 t ha⁻¹. By the second year post fire, foliar cover exceeded 120% across the site, but bare ground remained more than 60%. Sediment yield in the second year was greatly reduced across short- to long-hillslope scales (0.02–0.04 t ha⁻¹), but was similar to first-year measures for swale plots (0.24–0.61 t ha⁻¹) and at the watershed scale (3.05 t ha⁻¹). Nearly all the sediment collected across all spatial scales was delivered during runoff events associated with cold-season hydrologic processes, including rain-on-snow, rain-on-frozen soils, and snowmelt runoff. Approximately 85–99% of annual sediment collected across all silt fence plots each year was from swales. The high levels of sediment delivered across hillslope to watershed scales in this study are attributed to observed preferential loading of fine sediments into swale channels by aeolian processes in the immediate post-fire period and subsequent flushing of these sediments by runoff from cold-season hydrologic processes. Our results suggest that the interaction of aeolian and cold-season hydrologic-driven erosion processes is an important component for consideration in post-fire erosion assessment and prediction and can have profound implications for soil loss from these ecosystems. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.