Impact of road‐generated storm runoff on a small catchment response

The impact of road‐generated runoff on the hydrological response of a zero‐order basin was monitored for a sequence of 24 storm events. The study was conducted in a zero‐order basin (C1; 0·5ha) with an unpaved mountain road; an adjacent unroaded zero‐order basin (C2; 0·2 ha) with similar topography and lithology was used to evaluate the hydrological behaviour of the affected zero‐order basin prior to construction of the road. The impact of the road at the zero‐order basin scale was highly dependent on the antecedent soil‐moisture conditions, total storm precipitation, and to some extent rainfall intensity. At the beginning of the monitoring period, during dry antecedent conditions, road runoff contributed 50% of the total runoff and 70% of the peak flow from the affected catchment (C1). The response from the unroaded catchment was almost insignificant during dry antecedent conditions. As soil moisture increased, the road exerted less influence on the total runoff from the roaded catchment. For very wet conditions, the influence of road‐generated runoff on total outflow from the roaded catchment diminished to only 5·4%. Both catchments, roaded and unroaded, produced equivalent amount of outflow during very wet antecedent conditions on a unit area basis. The lag time between the rainfall and runoff peaks observed in the unroaded catchment during the monitoring period ranged from 0 to 4 h depending on the amount of precipitation and antecedent conditions, owing mainly to much slower subsurface flow pathways in the unroaded zero‐order basin. In contrast, the lag time in the roaded zero‐order basin was virtually nil during all storms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of heterogeneous stress and strain on metamorphic fluid flow,Mary Kathleen,Australia, and a model for large-scale fluid circulation *

In the Proterozoic Mary Kathleen Fold Belt, northern Australia, infiltration of large volumes of externally derived fluid occurred synchronously with regional amphibolite-facies metamorphism and deformation. This paper develops a model of structurally controlled fluid migration by comparing the distribution of fossil fluid pathways with the inferred stress and strain patterns during the deformation. Intense fluid flow was localized within strong, relatively brittle meta-intrusive bodies, and in discrete, veined, brecciated and altered zones around their margins. In metasediments folded in a ductile manner outside these areas, fluid infiltration was negligible. The direct correlation between structural styles and the magnitude of veining and metasomatism suggests control of permeability enhancement, and hence fluid flow, by deformation. Finite difference modelling of a strong body in a weaker matrix has been used to evaluate the variation of stresses during the deformation, from which it is clear that stress and strain heterogeneities have systematically influenced the development and maintenance of metamorphic fluid pathways. Particular regions in which mean stress may be significantly lower than the average lithostatic pressures include the ‘strain shadow’zones adjacent to the strong bodies, other dilatant zones around the bodies, and the bodies themselves. This geometry is favourable not only for localized brittle deformation under amphilobite facies conditions, but also for focused fluid flow in the low mean stress regions, as evidenced by the abundance of veins. Fluid access through these metamorphic aquifers occurred during tensile failure episodes, with particularly large dilations and decimetre-scale veining in areas of strain incompatibility. It appears likely that fluid circulated many times through the Fold Belt, with flow concentrated in the metamorphic aquifers. A model is developed that explains both the structurally focused fluid flow and the postulated multi-pass recirculation by dilatancy pumping, the ‘pump engines’comprising the low mean stress zones.     

Positive effect of porphyrans on the lifespan and vitality of Drosophila melanogaster

The effects of degraded porphyran (P1) and natural porphyran (P) on the lifespan and vitality of Drosophila melanogaster are studied. The porphyrans, added daily to the food medium at 0.2% and 1% concentrations, can significantly increase the lifespan in average of 55.79 and 58.23 d in 0.2% P1 diet females and 1% P1 diet males, extending by 12.29% and 8.60% over the corresponding controls, respectively. The effects of porphyrans on D. melanogaster in heat-stress condition were also examined, and found a remarkable increase in survival time. The results which are consistently associated with the use of porphyrans are related to their free radical scavenger action. Considerable increase in vitality demonstrated that vitalities of middle-aged fly (assessed by measuring their mating capacity) was observed after porphyrans addition. Therefore, porphyrans are effective in reducing the rate of aging, and P1 in low molecular weight is better than natural P.     

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.     

Velocity Distance of the Open Cluster M11

On the reasonable hypothesis that the internal motions of member stars of a cluster are random and isotropic, a method which can be used to estimate the velocity distance of the cluster and its uncertainty is developed. The velocity distance so determined is an absolute distance estimate, and is completely independent of the (widely used) luminosity distance, which is a relative distance estimate. Using the published high-accuracy observational data of radial velocities and proper motions of the stars in the open cluster M11 region, we have determined the distance of M11 to be 1.89 ± 0.52kpc. This is in quite good agreement with the published luminosity distances of the cluster. We briefly discuss the problems concerned, including the sources of errors in the method and its applicable range.     

Response of saturated and nearly saturated porous media: Different formulations and their applicability

The response of saturated porous medium is of significant interest in many fields ranging from geomechanics to biomechanics. Biot was the first to formulate the basic equations governing the process of coupled flow and deformation in porous media. Depending on the nature of loading vis‐à‐vis the characteristics of the media, different formulations (fully dynamic, partly dynamic, quasi‐static) are possible. In this study, analytical solutions are developed for the response of saturated and nearly saturated porous media under plane strain condition. The solutions for different formulations are developed in terms of non‐dimensional parameters. The response is studied for various conditions and the regions of validity for various formulations are identified in a parametric space. An assessment of the needed formulation for few important problems is also presented. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

颗粒流沉积边程中的同沉积冲刷变形构造

济阳拗陷坨147井沙三段岩心的颗粒流沉积中．存在一系列特殊的同沉积期变形构造。包括：颗粒流向下侵蚀。并沿纹层面挤入到下伏油页岩层中．形成伸长状的小砂体；砂楔上部的泥页岩薄层在后续流体的冲刷下向后翻卷变形；翻卷片被撕裂、断开混入到颗粒流中。并被流体拖曳变形；变形体被继续拖曳形成脉状分叉的拖曳痕。上述几种现象可以构成一个连续的变化序列，与油页岩的薄互层和颗粒流的流体是形成上述连续变形构造的重要条件。对这种现象的研究．有助于进一步了解重力流的冲刷、沉积过程。     

The effects of rock fragments on hydrologic and hydraulic responses along a slope

A model describing the three‐dimensional matrix flow along a slope with rock fragments or impermeable blocks was developed. The model was combined with modified Picard's iteration to ensure mass conservation in the unsaturated flow. We found that rock fragments obstruct water flow along the slope. The groundwater table must be raised to provide a sufficient pore water pressure gradient to facilitate water flow, but higher pore water pressure may induce slope failure. We also conducted a bench‐scale laboratory flume experiment to examine the effects of impermeable blocks on downstream seepage flow. In addition, a numerical experiment was conducted to examine how different arrangements of impermeable blocks affect downstream seepage flow and pore water pressure. This research demonstrated that the hydraulic phenomena were affected when impermeable blocks were present, and pore water pressure increased as the position of impermeable blocks was lowered. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Close encounters in young stellar clusters: implications for planetary systems in the solar neighbourhood

The stars that populate the solar neighbourhood were formed in stellar clusters. Through N -body simulations of these clusters, we measure the rate of close encounters between stars. By monitoring the interaction histories of each star, we investigate the singleton fraction in the solar neighbourhood. A singleton is a star which formed as a single star, has never experienced any close encounters with other stars or binaries, or undergone an exchange encounter with a binary. We find that, of the stars which formed as single stars, a significant fraction is not singletons once the clusters have dispersed. If some of these stars had planetary systems, with properties similar to those of the Solar System, the planets' orbits may have been perturbed by the effects of close encounters with other stars or the effects of a companion star within a binary. Such perturbations can lead to strong planet–planet interactions which eject several planets, leaving the remaining planets on eccentric orbits. Some of the single stars exchange into binaries. Most of these binaries are broken up via subsequent interactions within the cluster, but some remain intact beyond the lifetime of the cluster. The properties of these binaries are similar to those of the observed binary systems containing extrasolar planets. Thus, dynamical processes in young stellar clusters will alter significantly any population of Solar System-like planetary systems. In addition, beginning with a population of planetary systems exactly resembling the Solar System around single stars, dynamical encounters in young stellar clusters may produce at least some of the extrasolar planetary systems observed in the solar neighbourhood.