Geodynamics of the Early Precambrian,Part 1: Volcanism and associated mantle processes

The work is dedicated to most important abiotic processes of the Early Precambrian, effect of which is recorded in continental crust, and to complementary processes in subcontinental mantle. We intend to figure out when a certain process was triggered first in the past and what indications suggest its further activity, evolution and possible cessation in subsequent geological history. Considerations are based on described natural objects characterizing particular geological events and enabling the cause-and-effect interpretation in order to understand different viewpoints known from publications. Considered in the work are the early Precambrian greenstone belts and ophiolites, island-arc systems and ecologites, magmatism unconnected with subduction zones (rifting-related, plateau basalts, dykes, kimberlites) and anorthosites representing a group of heterochronous intrusions of complicated genesis. Main considerations are premised with a brief review of the earliest geodynamic phenomena associated with meteorite impacts by termination of the planetary accretion.     

Dissipative systems: Implications for geomorphology

A recent revolution in the study of nonlinear dynamical systems in the physical sciences has shown the worth of regarding systems as dissipative. The nature of dissipative systems in equations, bifurcations, and fluctuations. Some speculations are then made concerning the implications of dissipative system theory for geomorphology. It is suggested that geomorphological systems containing bifurcations will have both deterministic (universal and necessary) and probabilistic (historical happenstance) elements; they will have more than one solution (configuration) and this fact calls into question notions of process domains leading to the development of characteristic forms; they will possess varying degrees of susceptibility to change induced by fluctuations; and they will respond differently to local, regional, and global fluctuations.     

Model prediction capacity of ephemeral gully evolution in conservation tillage systems

Ephemeral gully (EG) erosion has an important impact on agricultural soil losses and increases field surface hydrology connectivity and transport of pollutants to nearby water bodies. Watershed models including an EG component are scarce and not yet properly evaluated. The objective of this study is to evaluate the capacity of one such tool, AnnAGNPS, to simulate the evolution of two EG formed in a conservation tillage system. The dataset for model testing included runoff measurements and EG morphological characteristics during 3 years. Model evaluation focused on EG evolution of volume, width, and length model outputs, and included calibration and testing phases and a global sensitivity analysis (GSA). While the model did not fully reproduce width and length, the model efficiency to simulate EG volume was satisfactory for both calibration and testing phases, supporting the watershed management objectives of the model. GSA revealed that the most sensitive factors were EG depth, critical shear stress, headcut detachment exponent coefficient b, and headcut detachment leading coefficient a. For EG outputs the model was additive, showing low sensitivity to interactions between the inputs. Prediction of EG spatial evolution on conservation tillage systems requires improved development of gully erosion components, since many of the processes were developed originally for traditional tillage practices or larger channel systems. Our results identify the need for future research when EG form within conservation tillage systems, in particular to study gully headcut, soil erodibility, and width functions specific to these practices.     

Multi-scale modeling of three-phase–three-component processes in heterogeneous porous media

Flow and transport processes in porous media occur on different spatial and temporal scales and may also be locally different. Additionally, the structure of the porous medium itself generally shows a high dependence on the spatial scale.     

A contribution to seismic shear design of R/C walls in dual structures

The paper focuses on the seismic response of walls in dual (frame + wall) structures, with particular emphasis on shear behaviour. Although dual structures are widely used in earthquake-resistant medium-rise and high-rise buildings, the provisions of modern seismic codes regarding design of walls for shear are not fully satisfactory, particularly in the (common) case that walls of substantially different length form part of the same structure. Relevant provisions of the leading seismic codes are first summarised and their limitations discussed. Then an extensive parametric study is presented, involving two multistorey dual systems, one with identical walls, and one with walls with unequal length, designed to the provisions of Eurocode 8 for two different ductility classes (H and M). The walls of the same structures are also designed to other methods such as those used in New Zealand and Greece. The resulting different designs are then assessed by subjecting the structures to a suite of strong ground motions, carrying out inelastic time history analysis, and comparing the results against design action effects. It is found that although modern code procedures generally lead to satisfactory performance (differences among them do exist), the design of walls seems to be less appropriate in the case of unequal length walls. For this case a modified procedure is proposed, consisting of an additional factor to account for the relative contribution of walls of the same length to the total base and an improved envelope of wall shears along the height; this improved method seems to work better than the other procedures evaluated herein, but further calibration is clearly required.     

A recursive decomposition algorithm for network seismic reliability evaluation

A new probabilistic analytical approach to evaluate seismic system reliability of large lifeline systems is presented in this paper. The algorithm takes the shortest path from the source to the terminal of a node weight or edge weight network as decomposition policy, using the Boolean laws of set operation and probabilistic operation principal, a recursive decomposition process then could be constructed. For a general weight network, the modified Torrieri method (NTR/T method) is introduced to combine with the suggested algorithm. Therefore, the recursive decomposition algorithm may be applied to evaluate the seismic reliability of general lifeline systems. A series of case studies, including a practical district electric power network system and a large urban water supply system, show that the suggested algorithm supplies a useful probabilistic analysis means for the seismic reliability evaluation of large lifeline systems. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of perfectly matched layers in the transient analysis of dam–reservoir systems

The transient analysis of dam–reservoir systems by employing perfectly matched layers has been investigated. In previous studies, boundary conditions of the PML region in the reservoir have been neglected. In this paper, they are incorporated completely in the formulation. Moreover, a technique is introduced to involve the effect of incident waves caused by vertical ground motions at the reservoir bottom in the analysis. Performing several numerical experiments indicates that applying boundary conditions of the PML domain and utilizing the proposed method for vertical excitation cases reduce the computational cost significantly and make the PML method a very efficient approach for the transient analysis of dam–reservoir systems.     

Effect of common point selection on coordinate transformation parameter determination

The use of satellite positioning techniques commonly requires a transformation from a Conventional Terrestrial coordinate system to a Geodetic coordinate system, or vice versa. For such a transformation, the main problem is the determination of transformation parameters between these coordinate systems. The transformation parameters are estimated by a least-squares process using “common” points, i.e., those points whose coordinates are known in both systems. Therefore, the precision of so estimated transformation parameters is closely related to certain characteristics of the common points. In this contribution, we have formulated some theoretical relations between the transformation parameters and the number and the distribution of common points, and corroborated the theoretical results numerically, using a simulated geodetic network.     

1998年5月磁暴磁层电流体系的地磁效应分析

低纬度地区地磁场的短时变化主要由以下电流体系产生:电离层发电机电流(IDC)、对称环电流(SRC)以及由部分环电流和Ⅱ区场向电流及其电离层回路组成的内磁层三维电流体系(PRFI).此外,由Ⅰ区场向电流及其电离层回路组成的电流体系(FACI)所产生的低纬地磁场也是不可忽略的.本文针对1998年5月1-6日的大磁暴,首先利用多个同子午线台站对的数据分离并消去由IDC电流产生的Sq场.然后,通过线性建模分离其他电流体系产生的磁场成分.结果表明:(1)发生在5月1-6日的磁暴可以分为两个过程,PRFI和FACI电流体系在1-3日不明显,在4-5日伴随着亚暴强烈发生.(2)SRC的变化情况在第一阶段同Dst指数相似,在第二阶段明显滞后于Dst指数.(3)在5月4-5日,PRFI在SRC之前增强,随着PRFI和FACI的恢复,SRC开始增强.这一结果为我们了解环电流和场向电流的形成以及它们的关系提供线索.     

非保守弹性动力系统两类变量的广义拟变分原理及其应用

按照广义力和广义位移之间的对应关系,将弹性动力学的各基本方程分别乘上相应的虚量,然后在相应的体积域和面积域上积分,将积分式代数相加,再将代数和在时间域上积分,代入本构关系,并考虑到体积力和面积力均为伴生力,进而建立了非保守弹性动力系统的第1类两类变量的广义拟变分原理;再应用类似的方法,通过代入另一类本构关系,建立了非保守弹性动力系统的第2类两类变量广义拟变分原理.应用第1类两类变量广义拟余能原理给出同时求解1个典型的非保守弹性动力系统的固有频率、变形和内力的计算方法.最后,讨论了有关问题.