Deep‐water dunes on drowned isolated carbonate terraces (Mozambique Channel,south‐west Indian Ocean)

Subaqueous sand dunes are common bedforms on continental shelves dominated by tidal and geostrophic currents. However, much less is known about sand dunes in deep‐marine settings that are affected by strong bottom currents. In this study, dune fields were identified on drowned isolated carbonate platforms in the Mozambique Channel (south‐west Indian Ocean). The acquired data include multibeam bathymetry, multi‐channel high‐resolution seismic reflection data, sea floor imagery, a sediment sample and current measurements from a moored current meter and hull‐mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. The dunes are located at water depths ranging from 200 to 600 m on the slope terraces of a modern atoll (Bassas da India Atoll) and within small depressions formed during tectonic deformation of drowned carbonate platforms (Sakalaves Seamount and Jaguar Bank). Dunes are composed of bioclastic medium size sand, and are large to very large, with wavelengths of 40 to 350 m and heights of 0·9 to 9·0 m. Dune migration seems to be unidirectional in each dune field, suggesting a continuous import and export of bioclastic sand, with little sand being recycled. Oceanic currents are very intense in the Mozambique Channel and may be able to erode submerged carbonates, generating carbonate sand at great depths. A mooring located at 463 m water depth on the Hall Bank (30 km west of the Jaguar Bank) showed vigorous bottom currents, with mean speeds of 14 cm sec^?1 and maximum speeds of 57 cm sec^?1, compatible with sand dune formation. The intensity of currents is highly variable and is related to tidal processes (high‐frequency variability) and to anticyclonic eddies near the seamounts (low‐frequency variability). This study contributes to a better understanding of the formation of dunes in deep‐marine settings and provides valuable information about carbonate preservation after drowning, and the impact of bottom currents on sediment distribution and sea floor morphology.     

Effect of NOAA satellite orbital drift on AVHRR-derived phenological metrics

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center routinely produces and distributes a remote sensing phenology (RSP) dataset derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) 1-km data compiled from a series of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites (NOAA-11, −14, −16, −17, −18, and −19). Each NOAA satellite experienced orbital drift during its duty period, which influenced the AVHRR reflectance measurements. To understand the effect of the orbital drift on the AVHRR-derived RSP dataset, we analyzed the impact of solar zenith angle (SZA) on the RSP metrics in the conterminous United States (CONUS). The AVHRR weekly composites were used to calculate the growing-season median SZA at the pixel level for each year from 1989 to 2014. The results showed that the SZA increased towards the end of each NOAA satellite mission with the highest increasing rate occurring during NOAA-11 (1989–1994) and NOAA-14 (1995–2000) missions. The growing-season median SZA values (44°–60°) in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, and 2000 were substantially higher than those in other years (28°–40°). The high SZA in those years caused negative trends in the SZA time series, that were statistically significant (at α = 0.05 level) in 76.9% of the CONUS area. A pixel-based temporal correlation analysis showed that the phenological metrics and SZA were significantly correlated (at α = 0.05 level) in 4.1–20.4% of the CONUS area. After excluding the 5 years with high SZA (>40°) from the analysis, the temporal SZA trend was largely reduced, significantly affecting less than 2% of the study area. Additionally, significant correlation between the phenological metrics and SZA was observed in less than 7% of the study area. Our study concluded that the NOAA satellite orbital drift increased SZA, and in turn, influenced the phenological metrics. Elimination of the years with high median SZA reduced the influence of orbital drift on the RSP time series.     

1957-2014年库布齐沙漠地面风场特征

风对沙漠化过程具有重要影响,起沙风是塑造沙漠地貌格局的主要动力。根据1957-2014年库布齐沙漠周边4个基准气象站的地面风资料,从风速、风向和输沙势等方面分析库布齐沙漠的地面风场特征。结果显示：（1）库布齐沙漠的起沙风频率与平均风速有很高的相关性;（2）年平均风速为2.7 m·s^-1,全年盛行风向为WNW-NW,为中等变率锐双峰风况,合成输沙风向约为310°。4月风速最大,为中等变率环境;8月风速较小,为高变率环境;1月风速最小,为低变率环境。3-6月风速最大,风向集中度一般;11月至翌年2月风速较大,风向集中度高;7-10月风速最小,风向集中度差;（3）20世纪80年代中后期和2007年前后风速、起沙风频率和输沙势发生了较大变化,尤其是2007年前后由减小向增大发展;（4）大气环流和地表粗糙度的改变是库布齐沙漠地面风场变化的重要原因。     

An analysis of horizontal dispersion due to the drift current with an Ekman layer

An analytical method for describing horizontal matter dispersion in shear currents is presented using a tensor expression from the point of view that matter dispersion due to the shear effect should be one of the principal mixing dilution processes. Although the behavior of horizontal dispersion is considerably more complicated than common longitudinal dispersion, the present study elucidates the vertical structure of dispersion and the dispersing process from the initial to the stationary stage, besides the usual depth-averaged dispersion coefficient at the stationary stage. As one of the typical applications of horizontal dispersion, dispersion due to the pure drift current with an Ekman layer is examined theoretically using the present method. This examination reveals that the displacement of the centroid and the major axis of dispersion are twisted in the vertical direction more than the direction of the current vector forming the Ekman spiral; that the variance increases in proportion to the third power of the elapsed time; and that the dispersion coefficient at the stationary stage remains constant, independent of the depth normalized by an Ekman layer thickness. Such dependence of the dispersion coefficient in the steady current is shown to be different from that in the oscillatory current, which is inversely proportional to the depth normalized by a Stokes layer thickness. This is considered to be induced by the difference of the vertical profiles of the first order moment in both currents, that is, the shear region of the first order moment is restricted around the floor by the alternation of the current shear in the oscillatory current while it is diffused in the whole depth in the steady current.     

顺应式海洋平台慢漂运动物理模型试验研究

为研究顺应式海洋平台慢漂运动的影响因素,以截断圆柱和漂浮方箱为例进行了不规则波作用下的慢漂运动模型试验。测量了不同系泊刚度条件下的漂浮方箱以及相同系泊刚度条件下的截断圆柱和漂浮方箱在静水中自由衰减运动和在不规则波中的运动响应,并将运动响应分解成一阶波频运动响应和二阶低频运动响应,分析了系泊刚度和浮体形状对浮体运动的影响。通过物理模型试验发现了系泊刚度及浮体形状对顺应式系泊浮体一阶运动标准差和二阶低频运动平均漂移值和标准差的关系。结果表明由于顺应式浮体的固有周期远离波浪谱峰周期时,系泊刚度以及浮体形状对慢漂运动的一阶运动响应影响不大;二阶低频运动相对偏离平衡位置的平均值和标准差均随系泊刚度增大而减小,浮体形状同样对慢漂运动的二阶低频纵荡运动响应影响较大。试验结果为实际海洋工程的外形选择和系泊刚度选择提供数据支持。     

基于FEA的填充墙与隔震器协同抗震系统性能分析

隔震器与填充墙对建筑抗震性能有很大作用。为了探究填充墙布置形式及填充材料和隔震器协同作用对钢筋混凝土框架结构动力特性及抗震性能的影响,采用等效斜撑理论,对3种不同填充墙布置形式与隔震器协同作用的抗震系统方案进行对比分析,研究发现顶层不布置填充墙与隔震器协同抗震系统钢筋混凝土框架结构的抗震性能最佳。在此系统上分析了不同填充材料对钢筋混凝土框架结构抗震性能的影响,结果表明,加气混凝土砌块填充墙的钢筋混凝土框架结构抗震性能最好。     

Analytical and empirical models for predicting the drift capacity of modern unreinforced masonry walls

Displacement‐based seismic assessment of buildings containing unreinforced masonry (URM) walls requires as input, among others, estimates of the in‐plane drift capacity at the considered limit states. Current codes assess the drift capacity of URM walls by means of empirical models with most codes relating the drift capacity to the failure mode and wall slenderness. Comparisons with experimental results show that such relationships result in large scatter and usually do not provide satisfactory predictions. The objective of this paper is to determine trends in drift capacities of modern URM walls from 61 experimental tests and to investigate whether analytical models could lead to more reliable estimates of the displacement capacity than the currently used empirical models. A recently developed analytical model for the prediction of the ultimate drift capacity for both shear and flexure controlled URM walls is introduced and simplified into an equation that is suitable for code implementation. The approach follows the idea of plastic hinge models for reinforced concrete or steel structures. It explicitly considers the influence of crushing due to flexural or shear failure in URM walls and takes into account the effect of kinematic and static boundary conditions on the drift capacity. Finally, the performance of the analytical model is benchmarked against the test data and other empirical formulations. It shows that it yields significantly better estimates than empirical models in current codes. The paper concludes with an investigation of the sensitivity of the ultimate drift capacity to the wall geometry, static, and kinematic boundary conditions.     

A probabilistic framework for estimating the residual drift of idealized SDOF systems of non‐degrading conventional and damped structures

This paper presents a general framework for predicting the residual drift of idealized SDOF systems that can be used to represent non‐degrading structures, including those with supplemental dampers. The framework first uses post‐peak oscillation analysis to predict the maximum ratio of residual displacement to the peak transient displacement in a random sample. Then, residual displacement ratios obtained from nonlinear time‐history analyses using both farfield and near‐fault‐pulse records were examined to identify trends, which were explained using the oscillation mechanics of SDOF systems. It is shown that large errors can result in existing probability models that do not capture the influence of key parameters on the residual displacement. Building on the observations that were made, a general probability distribution for the ratio of residual displacement to the peak transient displacement that more accurately reflects the physical bounds obtained from post‐peak oscillation analysis is proposed for capturing the probabilistic residual displacement response of these systems. The proposed distribution is shown to be more accurate when compared with previously proposed distributions in the literature due to its explicit account of dynamic and damping properties, which have a significant impact on the residual displacement. This study provides a rational basis for further development of a residual drift prediction tool for the performance‐based design and analysis of more complex multi‐degree‐of‐freedom systems.     

基于LAIC电场渗透和SAMI2模拟的地震-电离层扰动现象研究

地震会造成电离层电子密度扰动。 基于三维电场渗透模型和SAMI2模型, 模拟地震发生前产生的异常电场对电离层电子密度的影响。 模拟结果表明, 地震前形成的附加电流会引起电离层产生异常电场, 且异常电场值与地震震级和地震发生时间有着明显的相关。 同时异常电场会使电子产生E×B漂移, 造成电子密度扰动。 随着时间的推移, 电子密度扰动逐渐减小且扰动区域会向着靠近磁赤道方向或远离磁赤道方向漂移。     

A METHOD TO CORRECT YIELD SURFACE DRIFT IN SOIL PLASTICITY UNDER MIXED CONTROL AND EXPLICIT INTEGRATION

When applying an explicit integration algorithm in e.g. soil plasticity, the predicted stress point at the end of an elastoplastic increment of loading might not be situated on the updated current yield surface. This so-called yield surface drift could generally be held under control by using small integration steps. Another possibility, when circumstances might demand larger steps, is to adopt a drift correction method. In this paper, a drift correction method for mixed control in soil plasticity, under drained as well as undrained conditions, is proposed. By simulating triaxial tests in a Constitutive Driver, the capability and efficiency of this correction method, under different choices of implementation, have been analysed. It was concluded that the proposed drift correction method, for quite marginal additional computational cost, was able to correct successfully for yield surface drift giving results in close agreement to those obtained with a very large number of integration steps. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.