Deformability characteristics of brazilian laterites

This paper summarizes the resilient and permanent deformation characteristics of laterite gravels, determined by cyclic loading in triaxial tests of compacted specimens. A study of laterite pavements was carried out on eight paved road sections in the state of Mato Grosso. Also reported is the influence of fine sand admixture, specimen size and soaking in two laterite samples from Roraima and Rondônia in the North of Brazil. The experimental relationships of resilient moduli against applied stresses are interpreted empirically for models what may be incorporated in a structural analysis of full depth of laterite pavement.     

Role of Storm in Ramgarh and West Bokaro Coalfields and Its Implication in Adjacent Peninsular Gondwana Coalfields, India

The Permian Gondwana sediments in the Damodar-Koel Valley, Rajmahal and Deoghar basins were deposited on a northwest palaeoslope in broad valleys within uplands (e.g. Aravalli-Vindhyan, Chattisgarh, Chotanagpur and Santhal Parganas upland). The main winds during Permian Period were mostly the westerly winds coming from the northwest low pressure belt in the Tethys, which found no barrier between the Vindhyan and Santhal Parganas uplands and then changing its direction, moving towards east. Frequent storm activity also took place from the northwest Tethyan low pressure belt and followed the same path of wind. Possibly there was a barrier in the form of a dense rain forest or elevated land at the place of East Bokaro coalfield and its adjoining southern part, which acted as a deterrent and minimized the effect of storm towards further east of the Damodar Valley. Intense tropical hurricanes for the generation of storm generated bedforms, cannot be ruled out, which probably, in some cases, causes marine inundation/flooding deep into the landmass and also mass (?) uprooting of trees.     

Late‐glacial and Holocene history of the dry forest area in the south Colombian Cauca Valley

Two sedimentary cores with pollen, charcoal and radiocarbon data are presented. These records document the Late‐glacial and Holocene dry forest vegetation, fire and environmental history of the southern Cauca Valley in Colombia (1020 m). Core Quilichao‐1 (640 cm; 3° 6′N, 76° 31′W) represents the periods of 13 150–7720 ¹⁴C yr BP and, following a hiatus, from 2880 ¹⁴C yr BP to modern. Core La Teta‐2 (250 cm; 3° 5′N, 76° 32′W) provides a continuous record from 8700 ¹⁴C yr BP to modern. Around 13 150 ¹⁴C yr BP core Quilichao‐1 shows an active Late‐glacial drainage system and presence of dry forest. From 11 465 to 10 520 ¹⁴C yr BP dry forest consists mainly of Crotalaria, Moraceae/Urticaceae, Melastomataceae/Combretaceae, Piper and low stature trees, such as Acalypha, Alchornea, Cecropia and Celtis. At higher elevation Andean forest comprising Alnus, Hedyosmum, Quercus and Myrica was common. After 10 520 ¹⁴C yr BP the floral composition of dry forest changed, with extensive open grass vegetation indicative of dry climatic conditions. This event may coincide with the change to cool and dry conditions in the second part of the El Abra stadial, an equivalent to the Younger Dryas. From 8850 ¹⁴C yr BP the record from La Teta indicates dry climatic conditions relative to the present, these prevailing up to 2880 ¹⁴C yr BP at Quilichao and to 2720 ¹⁴C yr BP at La Teta. Severe dryness reached maxima at 7500 ¹⁴C yr BP and 4300 ¹⁴C yr BP, when dry forest reached maximum expansion. Dry forest was gradually replaced by grassy vegetation, reaching maximum expansion around 2300 ¹⁴C yr BP. After 2300 ¹⁴C yr BP grassy vegetation remains abundant. Presence of crop taxa (a.o. Zea mays), disturbance indicators (Cecropia) and an increase in charcoal point to the presence of pre‐Columbian people since 2300 ¹⁴C yr BP. After 950 ¹⁴C yr BP, expansion of secondary forest taxa may indicate depopulation and abandonment of previously cultivated land. After 400 ¹⁴C yr BP, possibly related to the Spanish conquest, secondary forest expanded and charcoal concentrations increased, possibly indicating further reduction of cultivated land. During the past century, Heliotropium and Didymopanax became abundant in an increasingly degraded landscape. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rates of Deglaciation during the Last Glaciation and Holocene in the Cordillera Vilcanota-Quelccaya Ice Cap Region, Southeastern Perú

Moraine chronology is combined with digital topography to model deglacial rates of paleoglacier volumes in both the Huancané Valley on the west side of the Quelccaya Ice Cap and the Upismayo Valley on the northwest side of the Cordillera Vilcanota. The fastest rates of deglaciation (39×10⁻⁵ to 114×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹ and 112×10⁻⁵ to 247×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹ for each valley, respectively) were calculated for the most recent paleoglaciers, corresponding to the last few centuries. These results are consistent with observations in the Venezuelan Andes showing high rates of deglaciation since the Little Ice Age. These rates also fall within the range of 20th century rates of deglaciation measured on the Quelccaya Ice Cap (29×10⁻⁵ to 220×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹, Brecher and Thompson, 1993; Thompson, 2000). These results imply that rates of deglaciation may fluctuate significantly over time and that high rates of deglaciation may not be exclusive to the late 20th century. Equilibrium line altitude (ELA) depressions for the ice volumes of the last glaciation modeled here were computed as 230 m for the Quelccaya Ice Cap and 170 m for the Cordillera Vilcanota. Maximum ELA depressions are lower than previously published: <500 m for the Cordillera Vilcanota and <400 m for the Quelccaya Ice Cap. These lower values could imply a topographic control over paleoglacier extent.     

Quantifying Storm Tide Risk in Cairns

The United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR)gave rise to an increasing level of attention to the risks posed by a range of naturalhazards and the development of strategies by which to reduce those risks. It waswidely recognised that in order to evaluate risk treatment strategies it was necessaryto `measure' the level of risk that already existed and the level of risk that would beencountered with the treatment strategy(s) in place.This paper outlines the methodology developed under the AGSO (now GeoscienceAustralia) Cities Project to quantify the risk associated with storm tide inundation. It includes the methodology for `measuring' the level of community exposure to storm tide hazards and the methodology for `measuring' community vulnerability. The Far North Queensland city of Cairns is used as the case study to demonstrate the application of these methods.     

Impact of horizontal resolution on prediction of tropical cyclones over Bay of Bengal using a regional weather prediction model

The present study is carried out to examine the performance of a regional atmospheric model in forecasting tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal and its sensitivity to horizontal resolution. Two cyclones, which formed over the Bay of Bengal during the years 1995 and 1997, are simulated using a regional weather prediction model with two horizontal resolutions of 165 km and 55 km. The model is found to perform reasonably well towards simulation of the storms. The structure, intensity and track of the cyclones are found to be better simulated by finer resolution of the model as compared to the coarse resolution. Rainfall amount and its distribution are also found to be sensitive to the model horizontal resolution. Other important fields, viz., vertical velocity, horizontal divergence and horizontal moisture flux are also found to be sensitive to model horizontal resolution and are better simulated by the model with finer horizontal grids.     

红外卫星云图和相关向量机的有眼热带气旋客观定强模型

热带气旋TC(Tropical Cyclone)是全球影响最严重的自然灾害之一。TC强度和路径的准确预报,对于减轻其带来的灾害影响至关重要。本文基于静止红外卫星云图和相关向量机RVM(Relevance Vector Machine)构建有眼TC客观定强模型。首先,利用高斯平滑对红外卫星云图进行去噪;然后,利用基于测地活动轮廓GAC(Geodesic Active Contour)模型的偏微分方程PDE(Partial Differential Equation)法对有眼TC的眼壁进行分割,提取眼壁的亮温梯度信息,计算眼壁亮温梯度的最大值及梯度数据不同概率时的均值,从而构造与TC强度密切相关的特征因子;最后,利用RVM构建单特征因子、多特征因子与近地面最大中心风速的客观定强模型,研究不同特征维度对TC客观定强误差的影响。实验结果表明,在单特征因子的模型定强中,95%概率眼壁亮温梯度均值的定强误差最小,相比利用单特征因子所构建的定强模型,多特征因子的模型定强误差更小,即多特征因子中包含更多与TC强度相关的特征信息。在多特征因子的模型定强中,二特征因子优于三特征因子模型,说明应当合理选择特征因子维数,并非越多越好。本文所用RVM模型具有良好的高维非线性处理能力,能对TC强度进行有效估计。     

Modelling tropical cyclone risks for present and future climate change scenarios using geospatial techniques

Tropical cyclones and their devastating impacts are of great concern to coastal communities globally. An appropriate approach integrating climate change scenarios at local scales is essential for producing detailed risk models to support cyclone mitigation measures. This study developed a simple cyclone risk-modelling approach under present and future climate change scenarios using geospatial techniques at local scales, and tested using a case study in Sarankhola Upazila from coastal Bangladesh. Linear storm-surge models were developed up to 100-year return periods. A local sea level rise scenario of 0.34?m for the year 2050 was integrated with surge models to assess the climate change impact. The resultant storm-surge models were used in the risk-modelling procedures. The developed risk models successfully identified the spatial extent and levels of risk that match with actual extent and levels within an acceptable limit of deviation. The result showed that cyclone risk areas increased with the increase of return period. The study also revealed that climate change scenario intensified the cyclone risk area by 5–10% in every return period. The findings indicate this approach has the potential to model cyclone risk in other similar coastal environments for developing mitigation plans and strategies.     

Production of N2O,CH4, and CO2 from soils in the tropical savanna during the dry season

Emissions of N₂O, CH₄, and CO₂ from soils at two sites in the tropical savanna of central Venezuela were determined during the dry season in February 1987. Measured arithmetic mean fluxes of N₂O, CH₄, and CO₂ from undisturbed soil plots to the atmosphere were 2.5×10⁹, 4.3×10¹⁰, and 3.0×10¹³ molecules cm^-2 s^-1, respectively. These fluxes were not significantly affected by burning the grass layer. Emissions of N₂O increased fourfold after simulated rainfall, suggesting that production of N₂O in savanna soils during the rainy season may be an important source for atmospheric N₂O. The CH₄ flux measurements indicate that these savanna soils were not a sink, but a small source, for atmospheric methane. Fluxes of CO₂ from savanna soils increased ninefold two hours after simulated rainfall, and remained three times higher than normal after 16 hours. More research is needed to clarify the significance of savannas in the global cycles of N₂O, CH₄, CO₂, and other trace gases, especially during the rainy season.     

热带气旋"凤凰"（2014）的结构演变及其引起的海洋响应分析

利用日本多功能运输卫星（Multi-functional Transport Satellite,简称为MTSAT-2）逐小时云顶亮温资料、Climate Prediction Center Morphing Technique（CMORPH）逐3小时降水资料及南海北部的现场观测资料,对2014年第16号热带气旋"凤凰"的结构演变和远距离洋面上的海洋响应特征进行了研究。结果表明:高空环流形势场的变化主导了"凤凰"的移动方向,调整其云系结构;"凤凰"过境期间测站处气压和气温明显下降,风速和相对湿度有所增加,并伴随有多次阵性降雨过程,最大降雨量可达174 mm/h;"凤凰"引起的强混合的热泵作用导致测站处海洋混合层冷却加深,三个站位观测到的最大海表面降温分别为0.53 ℃（站位2）、0.50 ℃（站位4）、1.18 ℃（站位5）;"凤凰"期间海表面盐度下降,且强降盐过程与降水时段具有较好的时间一致性,降水时段内,三个站位观测到的表层最大降盐量分别为0.557 psu（站位2）、0.407 psu（站位4）、0.773 psu（站位5）。