The dynamics of natural pipe hydrological behaviour in blanket peat

Natural soil pipes are found in peatlands, but little is known about their hydrological role. This paper presents the most complete set of pipe discharge data to date from a deep blanket peatland in Northern England. In a 17.4‐ha catchment, we identified 24 perennially flowing and 60 ephemerally flowing pipe outlets. Eight pipe outlets along with the catchment outlet were continuously gauged over an 18‐month period. The pipes in the catchment were estimated to produce around 13.7% of annual streamflow, with individual pipes often producing large peak flows (maximum peak of 3.8 l s^?1). Almost all pipes, whether ephemerally or perennially flowing, shallow or deep (outlets > 1 m below the peat surface), showed increased discharge within a mean of 3 h after rainfall commencement and were dominated by stormflow, indicating good connectivity between the peatland surface and the pipes. However, almost all pipes had a longer period between the hydrograph peak and the return to base flow compared with the stream (mean of 23.9 h for pipes, 19.7 h for stream). As a result, the proportion of streamflow produced by the pipes at any given time increased at low flows and formed the most important component of stream discharge for the lowest 10% of flows. Thus, a small number of perennially flowing pipes became more important to the stream system under low‐flow conditions and probably received water via matrix flow during periods between storms. Given the importance of pipes to streamflow in blanket peatlands, further research is required into their wider role in influencing stream water chemistry, water temperature and fluvial carbon fluxes, as well as their role in altering local hydrochemical cycling within the peat mass itself. Enhanced piping within peatlands caused by environmental change may lead to changes in the streamflow regime with larger low flows and more prolonged drainage of the peat. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Permanent earthquake‐induced actions in buried pipelines: Numerical modeling and experimental verification

Buried pipelines are often constructed in seismic and other geohazard areas, where severe ground deformations may induce severe strains in the pipeline. Calculation of those strains is essential for assessing pipeline integrity, and therefore, the development of efficient models accounting for soil‐pipe interaction is required. The present paper is aiming at developing efficient tools for calculating ground‐induced deformation on buried pipelines, often triggered by earthquake action, in the form of fault rupture, liquefaction‐induced lateral spreading, soil subsidence, or landslide. Soil‐pipe interaction is investigated by using advanced numerical tools, which employ solid elements for the soil, shell elements for the pipe, and account for soil‐pipe interaction, supported by large‐scale experiments. Soil‐pipe interaction in axial and transverse directions is evaluated first, using results from special‐purpose experiments and finite element simulations. The comparison between experimental and numerical results offers valuable information on key material parameters, necessary for accurate simulation of soil‐pipe interaction. Furthermore, reference is made to relevant provisions of design recommendations. Using the finite element models, calibrated from these experiments, pipeline performance at seismic‐fault crossings is analyzed, emphasizing on soil‐pipe interaction effects in the axial direction. The second part refers to full‐scale experiments, performed on a unique testing device. These experiments are modeled with the finite element tools to verify their efficiency in simulating soil‐pipe response under landslide or strike‐slip fault movement. The large‐scale experimental results compare very well with the numerical predictions, verifying the capability of the finite element models for accurate prediction of pipeline response under permanent earthquake‐induced ground deformations.     

新型全封闭刀口联合式管口封的设计及应用

重力活塞取样器是海洋地质调查不可缺少的调查设备，而管口封又是重力活塞取样器的重要部件。管口封的好坏不但影响到取样器的贯入深度和取芯丰，还影响到所取岩芯的质量．介绍了一种最近研制成功的新型全封闭刀口联合式管口封。海上实验在特定海区成功的获取了17．11m的长岩芯，取样率达91．3％，创造了我国海洋地质调查用重力活塞取样器获取岩心的最长记录。该设计已通过国家知识产权局批准授予实用新型专利。     

Design and Strength Analysis of A Spherical Connector for Lifting Subsystem in Deep Sea Mining System

1 .IntroductionThe lifting systemis composed of pipes andtheir connectors .It is not onlythe lifting channel formanganese nodule betweenthe miningship andintermediate bin,but alsothe supporting massfor deepsea miningequipment and cables .Sothe reliability…     

Variability associated with α accretion disc theory for standard and advection-dominated discs

The α turbulent viscosity formalism for accretion discs must be interpreted as a mean field theory, modelling a steady state only on spatial or time-scales greater than those of the turbulence. The extent of the scale separation determines the relative precision error (RPE) of the predicted luminosity L _ν. Turbulence and the use of α implies that (1) field line stretching gives a magnetic pressure  α²/6 of the total pressure generally, and a one-to-one relation between α and the pressure ratio for thin discs, and (2) large turbulent scales in advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs) predict a lower L _ν precision than thin discs for a given observation duration and central mass. The allowed variability (or RPE) at frequency ν increases with the size of the contributing region. For X-ray binary ADAFs, the RPE ∼ 5 per cent at R  ≤ 1000 Schwarzchild radii ( R _s) for averages over  1000 s. However, current data for galaxies like NGC 4258 and M87 give RPEs in L _ν of 50–100 per cent even at R  ≤ 100  R _S. More data are required, but systematic deviations from ADAF predictions are more significant than random deviations, and may constrain properties of the turbulence, the accretion mode, the assumption of a steady state or the accretion rate.     

The destructive effects of binary encounters on red giants in the Galactic Centre

We consider the destructive effects of encounters between binaries and red giant stars in the Galactic Centre. Such encounters may explain the observed depletion of luminous red giants within the central 0.2 pc of the galaxy. We consider encounters involving 2- and 8-M⊙ red giants, and thus span the range of stellar masses contributing to the most luminous red giants observed in the Galactic Centre. To explore the phase space of encounters thoroughly, we simulate 18 × 10³ encounters using a modified four-body code in which the red giant core and components of the binary are treated as point masses, and where the envelope configuration is assumed to remain static throughout the encounter. We then rerun a small number of encounters with a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code to confirm the reliability of conclusions drawn from the four-body runs. We see two possible pathways to red giant destruction. A large fraction of encounters lead to the formation of common-envelope systems, where two compact objects (drawn from the red giant core and the components of the original binary) form a binary within a common gaseous envelope, whilst the third body is ejected. The destruction of the red giant will then follow when the envelope is ejected as the binary hardens. In a smaller number of encounters, the intruding binary passes through the star and ejects the red giant core from the envelope. The red giant envelope will then disperse on short time-scales. We compute the time-scales for both of these processes to occur in the Galactic Centre for a variety of binary populations.     

Contribution to the search for binaries among Am stars – VIII. New spectroscopic orbits of eight systems and statistical study of a sample of 91 Am stars

Red clump giant (RCG) stars can be used as distance indicators to trace the mass distribution of the Galactic bar. We use RCG stars from 44 bulge fields from the OGLE-II microlensing collaboration data base to constrain analytic triaxial models for the Galactic bar. We find the bar major-axis is oriented at an angle of 24°–27° to the Sun–Galactic Centre line-of-sight. The ratio of semimajor and semiminor bar axis scalelengths in the Galactic plane   x ₀, y ₀  , and vertical bar scalelength z ₀, is   x ₀ :  y ₀ :  z ₀= 10 : 3.5 : 2.6  , suggesting a slightly more prolate bar structure than the working model of Gerhard which gives the scalelength ratios as   x ₀ :  y ₀ :  z ₀= 10 : 4 : 3  .     

A Linear Programming Model for Seabed Oil-Gas Pipe Network

This paper analyzes the pipe network system of oil-gas collection and transportation foroffshore oilfield development.A"0-1"integer linear programming model is constructed to optimize theinvestment of seabed pipe network.The mathematical model is solved by the spanning tree method ofgraph theory and network analysis.All spanning trees of a network graph compose all the feasible solu-tions of the mathematical model.The optimal solution of the model is the spanning tree with the minimumcost among all spanning trees.This method can be used to optimize the seabed pipe network system andgive a minimum cost plan for the development of offshore marginal oilfield groups.     

On the origin of the 511-keV emission in the Galactic Centre

Diffuse 511-keV line emission, from the annihilation of cold positrons, has been observed in the direction of the Galactic Centre for more than 30 yr. The latest high-resolution maps of this emission produced by the SPI instrument on INTEGRAL suggest at least one component of the emission is spatially coincident with the distribution of ∼70 luminous, low-mass X-ray binaries detected in the soft gamma-ray band. The X-ray band, however, is generally a more sensitive probe of X-ray binary populations. Recent X-ray surveys of the Galactic Centre have discovered a much larger population (>4000) of faint, hard X-ray point sources. We investigate the possibility that the positrons observed in the direction of the Galactic Centre originate in pair-dominated jets generated by this population of fainter accretion-powered X-ray binaries. We also consider briefly whether such sources could account for unexplained diffuse emission associated with the Galactic Centre in the microwave (the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 'haze') and at other wavelengths. Finally, we point out several unresolved problems in associating Galactic Centre 511-keV emission with the brightest X-ray binaries.