Exploring the interaction of surface roughness and slope gradient in controlling rates of soil loss from sloping farmland on the Loess Plateau of China

Surface roughness and slope gradient are two important factors influencing soil erosion. The objective of this study was to investigate the interaction of surface roughness and slope gradient in controlling soil loss from sloping farmland due to water erosion on the Loess Plateau, China. Following the surface features of sloping farmland in the plateau region, we manually prepared rough surfaces using four tillage practices (contour drilling, artificial digging, manual hoeing, and contour plowing), with a smooth surface as the control measure. Five slope gradients (3°, 5°, 10°, 15°, and 20°) and two rainfall intensities (60 and 90 mm/hr) were considered in the artificial rainfall simulation experiment. The results showed that the runoff volume and sediment yield increased with increasing slope gradient under the same tillage treatment. At gentle slope gradients (e.g., 3° and 5°), the increase in surface roughness prevented the runoff and sediment production, that is, the surface roughness reduced the positive effect of slope gradient on the runoff volume and sediment yield to a certain extent. At steep slope gradients, however, the enhancing effect of slope gradient on soil erosion gradually increased and surpassed the reduction effect of surface roughness. This study reveals the existence of a critical slope gradient that influences the interaction of surface roughness and slope gradient in controlling soil erosion on sloping farmland. If the slope gradient is equal to or less than the critical value, an increase in surface roughness would decrease soil erosion. Otherwise, the increase in surface roughness would be ineffective for preventing soil erosion. The critical slope gradient would be smaller under higher rainfall intensity. These findings are helpful for us to understand the process of soil erosion and relevant for supporting soil and water conservation in the Loess Plateau region of China.     

Effect of bed surface roughness on longitudinal dispersion in artificial open channels

In several empirical and modelling studies on river hydraulics, dispersion was negatively correlated to surface roughness. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the influence of surface roughness on longitudinal dispersion under controlled conditions. In artificial flow channels with a length of 104 m, tracer experiments with variations in channel bed material were performed. By use of measured tracer breakthrough curves, average flow velocity, mean longitudinal dispersion, and mean longitudinal dispersivity were calculated. Longitudinal dispersion coefficients ranged from 0·018 m² s^?1 in channels with smooth bed surface up to 0·209 m² s^?1 in channels with coarse gravel as bed material. Longitudinal dispersion was linearly related to mean flow velocity. Accordingly, longitudinal dispersivities ranged between 0·152 ± 0·017 m in channels with smooth bed surface and 0·584 ± 0·015 m in identical channels with a coarse gravel substrate. Grain size and surface roughness of the channel bed were found to correlate positively to longitudinal dispersion. This finding contradicts several existing relations between surface roughness and dispersion. Future studies should include further variation in surface roughness to derive a better‐founded empirical equation forecasting longitudinal dispersion from surface roughness. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow processes and sedimentation in unidirectionally migrating deep‐water channels: From a three‐dimensional seismic perspective

Three‐dimensional seismic data were used to infer how bottom currents control unidirectional channel migration. Bottom currents flowing towards the steep bank would deflect the upper part of sediment gravity flows at an orientation of 1° to 11° to the steep bank, yielding a helical flow circulation consisting of a faster near‐surface flow towards the steep bank and a slower basal return flow towards the gentle bank. This helical flow model is evidenced by the occurrence of bigger, muddier (suggested by low‐amplitude seismic reflections) lateral accretion deposits and gentle channel wall with downlap terminations on the gentle bank and by smaller, sandier (indicated by high‐amplitude seismic reflectors) channel fills and steep channel walls with truncation terminations on the steep bank. This helical flow circulation promotes asymmetrical depositional patterns with dipping accretion sets restricted to the gentle bank, which restricts the development of sinuosity and yields unidirectional channel migration. These results aid in obtaining a complete picture of flow processes and sedimentation in submarine channels.     

Smoothing and re-roughening processes: The geometric evolution of a single fault zone

The geometry of a fault zone exerts a major control on earthquake rupture processes and source parameters. Observations previously compiled from multiple faults suggest that fault surface shape evolves with displacement, but the specific processes driving the evolution of fault geometry within a single fault zone are not well understood. Here, we characterize the deformation history and geometry of an extraordinarily well-exposed fault using maps of cross-sectional exposures constructed with the Structure from Motion photogrammetric method. The La Quinta Fault, located in southern California, experienced at least three phases of deformation. Multiple layers of ultracataclasite formed during the most recent phase. Crosscutting relations between the layers define the evolution of the structures and demonstrate that new layers formed successively during the deformation history. Wear processes such as grain plucking from one layer into a younger layer and truncation of asperities at layer edges indicate that the layers were slip zones and the contacts between them slip surfaces. Slip surfaces that were not reactivated or modified after they were abandoned exhibit self-affine geometry, preserving the fault roughness from different stages of faulting. Roughness varies little between surfaces, except the last slip zone to form in the fault, which is the smoothest. This layer contains a distinct mineral assemblage, indicating that the composition of the fault rock exerts a control on roughness. In contrast, the similar roughness of the older slip zones, which have comparable mineralogy but clearly crosscut one another, suggests that as the fault matured the roughness of the active slip surface stayed approximately constant. Wear processes affected these layers, so for roughness to stay constant the roughening and smoothing effects of fault slip must have been approximately balanced. These observations suggest fault surface evolution occurs by nucleation of new surfaces and wear by competing smoothing and re-roughening processes.     

多普勒雷达观测在北京7.21暴雨数值模拟中的三维变分同化研究

基于背景误差的特征长度理论,研究调整背景误差水平分辨率对多普勒雷达资料三维变分同化的影响。首先利用NMC方法针对暴雨落区统计不同水平分辨率的背景误差协方差,分析两种不同分辨率的背景误差的结构特征,研究水平分辨率对背景误差特征长度的影响。将其应用于雷达资料同化中,研究背景误差水平分辨率变化对雷达资料同化的影响。结果表明:背景误差水平分辨率由27 km提高到3 km时,在大气低层体现出更细致的动力场信息,其动力场水平特征长度按水平分辨率的二次根递减,而温度场与水汽场水平特征长度变化不明显。在将不同分辨率的背景误差用于三维变分同化时,更高分辨率的背景误差可以在分析场增量中体现更细致的中小尺度信息,能够明显改善雷达径向速度资料同化效果,并在随后的暴雨数值模拟中雨量及其分布形态更接近实况。     

改进的距离约束最小二乘模糊度搜索算法

针对短基线最小二乘模糊度搜索算法搜索效率低的缺点,该文提出了一种改善模糊度搜索空间以提高模糊度搜索效率的方法。最小二乘搜索算法通过基线长度范围确定模糊度搜索空间,完成模糊度的搜索和确认。距离约束的短基线模糊度搜索空间是一个空心椭球,各模糊度之间具有相关性,影响模糊度搜索效率。该文通过最小二乘去相关调整方法降低模糊度之间的相关性,减少搜索次数。实验证明,该算法的搜索效率提高了25%以上,且随着基线长度的增加,搜索效率有更多的提升。     

广西凭祥盆地深水底流沉积类型及其研究意义

内波、内潮汐沉积和复合流沉积是二十余年来在古代深水环境中新发现的一种具牵引流性质的沉积相类型,由于地层沉积记录十分有限,制约了深水底流沉积的沉积学研究。大比例尺实测地质剖面和精细露头测量表明,底流沉积发育于凭祥盆地深水沉积之中,通过对其沉积构造精细剖析和古水流测量,识别出内波、内潮汐沉积和复合流沉积,其中内波、内潮汐沉积以双向交错层理、单向交错层理、透镜状层理为特征,复合流沉积以复合流层理、丘状交错层理和较陡的爬升波纹层理为特征,进一步表明存在浊流和底流的交互作用,为古代地层中的深水底流沉积提供了又一研究实例。     

冰盖下矩形河道的综合糙率

综合糙率是采用曼宁公式确定河道水位和流量关系的关键参数。在河道冰封期,冰盖的出现增加了流动的阻力,明流条件下确定的综合糙率不再适用,需要重新估算。基于Einstein阻力划分过流断面的原理,冰盖下矩形河道的过水断面可划分为冰盖区、河床区和边壁区。根据总流的连续性方程,在确定各分区糙率系数、水力半径和断面面积的基础上,提出了冰盖下矩形河道综合糙率的计算公式。采用已有的试验水槽测量数据和天然河道实测资料对公式进行了验证,结果表明:公式计算的综合糙率与实测值吻合较好,与Einstein公式和Sabaneev公式相比,计算精度更高;对于冰封水流,宽浅河道采用分区水深代替水力半径进行简化计算的条件有别于明渠水流,在宽深比大于20时,计算结果才满足精度要求。     

Analysis of interaction between ship bottom air cavity and boundary layer

The successful designs of hulls for ships employing drag reduction by air bottom cavitation have been based on solutions of inverse problems of the theory of ideal incompressible fluid. However, prediction of the drag reduction ratio, the air demand by ventilated cavities and the cavity impact on the hull–propeller interaction is impossible in the framework of this theory because all mentioned characteristics depend on interaction of air cavities with the ship boundary layers. Because the known CFD tools are not fitted to ventilated cavitation at low Froude numbers, an analysis of this interaction requires a novel flow model. This model includes the incompressible air flow in the ventilated cavity, the compressible flow of a water–air mixture in the boundary layer on cavities and downstream of them and the curl-free incompressible outer water flow. The provided 2D computations employing this model allows for explanations of the earlier observed effects and for prediction of the air demand by ventilated cavities. The computed velocity profiles downstream of cavities are in the accordance with the available experimental data.