Effects of Column Diameter on Setting Behavior of Dredged Slurry in Sedimentation Experiments

This article investigates the influence of dimensions of a settling column on the settling mode and the settling rate. End conditions of the settling stage in the hindered settling were also analyzed. It was found that the settling mode in a column with a smaller diameter tends to be consolidation settling. The effect of a settling column wall decreases with increasing column diameter, and it can be ignored provided the column diameter is larger than 14.5 centimeters. For the difference in initial water content, the settling behavior of the slurry develops a different sensitivity to the diameter effect. The influence of column diameter reduces as the initial water content of the slurry becomes higher. It is suggested that the internal diameter of the column used in a sedimentation experiment should be 14.5 centimeters.     

Modelling of mantle postglacial relaxation in axisymmetric geometry with a composite rheology and a glacial load interpolated by adjusted spherical harmonics analysis

Although studies on glacial isostatic adjustment usually assume a purely linear rheology, we have previously shown that mantle relaxation after the melting of Laurentide ice sheet is better described by a composite rheology including a non-linear term. This modelling is, however, based on axially symmetric geometry and glacial forcing derived from ICE-3G and suffers from a certain amount of arbitrariness in the definition of the ice load. In this work we apply adjusted spherical harmonics analysis to interpolate the ice thicknesses of ICE-3G and ICE-1 glaciological models. This filters out the non-axisymmetric components of the ice load by considering only the zonal terms in the spherical harmonics expansion. The resulting load function is used in finite-element simulation of postglacial rebound to compare composite versus purely linear rheology. Our results confirm that composite rheology can explain relative sea level (RSL) data in North America significantly better than a purely linear rheology. The performance of composite rheology suggests that in future investigations, it may be better to use this more physically realistic creep law for modelling mantle deformation induced by glacial forcing.     

岩石的流变性质与断层模型

本文以断层带的为形机制为主题，简要总结了与此相关的岩石流变性质的研究结果，讨论了已有的几个断层带模型，并就进一步应开展的研究课题提出了一些建议。     

3-D rheologic model of earthquake preparation (II): Strain field and its applications

Introduction Based on the elastic theory of the hard inclusion (Dobrovolskii, 1991), we developed an inclusion theory of rheologic medium, and applied the results of bulk-strain field of a rheologic inclusion model to explain the spatial-temporal evolution process of earthquake precursors (SONG, et al, 2000). In the former paper (SONG, et al, 2003), we derived the viscoelastic displacement field of the rheologic inclusion model on the basis of the analytic expression of displacement field o…     

The Role of History-Dependent Rheology in Plate Boundary Lubrication for Generating One-Sided Subduction

We have developed a two-dimensional dynamical model of asymmetric subduction integrated into the mantle convection without imposed plate velocities. In this model we consider that weak oceanic crust behaves as a lubricator on the thrust fault at the plate boundary. We introduce a rheological layer that depends on the history of the past fracture to simulate the effect of the oceanic crust. The thickness of this layer is set to be as thin as the Earth's oceanic crust. To treat 1-kilometer scale structure at the plate boundary in the 1000-kilometer scale mantle convection calculation, we introduce a new numerical method to solve the hydrodynamic equations using a couple of uniform and nonuniform grids of control volumes. Using our developed models, we have systematically investigated effects of basic rheological parameters that determine the deformation strength of the lithosphere and the oceanic crust on the development of the subducted slab, with a focus on the plate motion controlling mechanism. In our model the plate subduction is produced when the friction coefficient (0.004–0.008) of the modeled oceanic crust and the maximum strength (400 MPa) of the lithosphere are in plausible range inferred from the observations on the plate driving forces and the plate deformation, and the rheology experiments. In this range of the plate strength, yielding induces the plate bending. In this case the speed of plate motion is controlled more by viscosity layering of the underlying mantle than by the plate strength. To examine the setting of the overriding plate, we also consider the two end-member cases in which the overriding plate is fixed or freely-movable. In the case of the freely-movable overriding plate, the trench motion considerably changes the dip angle of the deep slab. Especially in the case with a shallow-angle plate boundary, retrograde slab motion occurs to generate a shallow-angle deep slab.     

High-harmonic geoid signatures related to glacial isostatic adjustment and their detectability by GOCE

The Earth’s asthenosphere and lower continental crust can regionally have viscosities that are one to several orders of magnitude smaller than typical mantle viscosities. As a consequence, such shallow low-viscosity layers could induce high-harmonic (spherical harmonics 50–200) gravity and geoid anomalies due to remaining isostasy deviations following Late-Pleistocene glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Such high-harmonic geoid and gravity signatures would depend also on the detailed ice and meltwater loading distribution and history.ESA’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite mission, planned for launch in Summer 2008, is designed to map the quasi-static geoid with centimeter accuracy and gravity anomalies with milligal accuracy at a resolution of 100 km or better. This might offer the possibility of detecting gravity and geoid effects of low-viscosity shallow earth layers and differences of the effects of various Pleistocene ice decay scenarios. For example, our predictions show that for a typical low-viscosity crustal zone GOCE should be able to discern differences between ice-load histories down to length scales of about 150 km.One of the major challenges in interpreting such high-harmonic, regional-scale, geoid signatures in GOCE solutions will be to discriminate GIA-signatures from various other solid-earth contributions. It might be of help here that the high-harmonic geoid and gravity signatures form quite characteristic 2D patterns, depending on both ice load and low-viscosity zone model parameters.     

长英质岩石的流变学特征及其影响因素

在总结岩石变形机制与岩石流变学实验进展的基础上,讨论了岩石流变学数据的重复性。虽然高温高压流变学实验积累了大量的数据,但中、上地壳长英质岩石和早期获得的石英集合体的流变实验数据重复性比较差,而近年来发表的石英、长石的流变学实验数据重复性相对较好。虽然利用经验理论模型,根据端元组分可以拟合两相矿物集合体的流变律,但并不能满足定量确定复杂组分和特殊流变性的长英质岩石流变参数的需要。因此,利用长英质岩石流变参数估计大陆地壳流变强度剖面时,即使在相同地温和应变速率条件下,给出的流变曲线、脆-塑性转化带深度也有一定差别,还需要通过大量实验给出更精细的长英质岩石流变学实验数据。根据近年来流变学实验研究的新进展,讨论了在实验室条件下影响长英质岩石流变的各种因素,重点分析了流体、岩石成分、样品粒度和组构对流变的影响。微量结构水对岩石流变有显著的弱化作用,而熔体对流变的影响与熔体含量和分布相关,只有熔体呈薄膜状湿润颗粒边界时,熔体的弱化作用才显著。成分对岩石流变的影响不仅体现在样品的应力指数等流变参数的变化方面,还体现在样品从半脆性变形向塑性变形的转化温度方面。粒度主要影响岩石的变形机制,其中,细粒样品在扩散蠕变域具有应力与粒度线性负相关特性,是理想的应力计,可以用来定量确定韧性剪切带的流变强度;而在位错蠕变域,应力与粒度没有依存关系,这为将实验室条件得出的流变数据外推估计地壳流变提供了重要依据。组构和各向异性是地壳中岩石存在的普遍现象,但关于层状组构对多相矿物组成的岩石流变影响的研究非常少,需要通过新的实验来深入研究。     

Textural evidence for dilatant (shear thickening) rheology of magma at high crystal concentrations

Investigation of the rheology of magmas at high crystal concentrations by experimental means has proved problematic. An alternative approach is to study textures of igneous rocks that not only preserve evidence of the kinematics of magma flow, such as flow direction, but can also preserve evidence of rheology. Flow textures in multiply intruded trachyte dykes on Fraser Island, eastern Australia record evidence of dilatant flow during solidification. This conclusion is reached by interpretation of microscopic ductile shear zones that disrupt the groundmass of aligned feldspar laths. Detailed three-dimensional investigation demonstrates that the dihedral angle between conjugate micro-shear zones is approximately 65°. This conjugate angle is equivalent to that observed in dilatant granular materials such as sand. Dilatant behaviour is synonymous with shear thickening rheology indicating that the magma flow is time-dependent and resists high flow rates. Some of the dykes contain autobrecciation fragments that may represent localities where the ductile flow rate threshold was exceeded. Newtonian or pseudoplastic (shear thinning) rheology of crystal-poor magmas must progressively give way to shear thickening rheology during cooling and increasing crystal concentration.