Seismic constraints on rock damaging related to a failing mountain peak: the Hochvogel,Allgäu

Large rock slope failures play a pivotal role in long-term landscape evolution and are a major concern in land use planning and hazard aspects. While the failure phase and the time immediately prior to failure are increasingly well studied, the nature of the preparation phase remains enigmatic. This knowledge gap is due, to a large degree, to difficulties associated with instrumenting high mountain terrain and the local nature of classic monitoring methods, which does not allow integral observation of large rock volumes. Here, we analyse data from a small network of up to seven seismic sensors installed during July–October 2018 (with 43 days of data loss) at the summit of the Hochvogel, a 2592 m high Alpine peak. We develop proxy time series indicative of cyclic and progressive changes of the summit. Modal analysis, horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio data and end-member modelling analysis reveal diurnal cycles of increasing and decreasing coupling stiffness of a 260,000 m³ large, instable rock volume, due to thermal forcing. Relative seismic wave velocity changes also indicate diurnal accumulation and release of stress within the rock mass. At longer time scales, there is a systematic superimposed pattern of stress increased over multiple days and episodic stress release within a few days, expressed in an increased emission of short seismic pulses indicative of rock cracking. Our data provide essential first order information on the development of large-scale slope instabilities towards catastrophic failure. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Convergent development of experimental landforms with differing rainfall and substrate properties

Four runs of experimental landform development, with the same uplift rate, different rainfall intensity, and the same material of different permeability adjusted by the degree of compaction, showed complicated effects of rainfall and mound-forming material. In the run with more rainfall on less permeable material, low separated ridges developed in the uplifted area, because abundant overland flow promoted valley erosion and slope processes from early stages. In the run with less rainfall on less permeable material, valley incision proceeded mostly in major valleys where surface water converges. Canyons developed during early stages and later a high massive mountain emerged. The effect of rainfall difference, however, appeared completely opposite on more permeable material accompanied by lower shear strength. In the run with more rainfall on more permeable material, a massive mountain similar to that with less rainfall on less permeable material appeared, and low separated ridges appeared in the run with less rainfall on more permeable material as in the run with more rainfall on less permeable material. In the former case, similar amount of water available for Hortonian overland flow in early stages estimated from rainfall rate and permeability can explain the development of similar landforms. In the latter case, while abundant surface water with more rainfall on less permeable material made fluvial erosion active from early stages, the deficiency in surface water with less rainfall on more permeable material apparently attenuated fluvial erosion but possibly accentuated slope processes and slope failures by seepage water flow through more permeable material of low shear strength. The active erosion from early stages apparently resulted in the development of enduring similar low landforms later in the dynamic equilibrium stage. These experimental results indicate that similar landforms can emerge from different environmental and lithologic controls, and that process does not necessarily follow from form.     

Effects of sediment grain size and channel slope on the stability of river bifurcations

Channel bifurcations can be found in river network systems from high gradient gravel-bed rivers to fine-grained low gradient deltas. In these systems, bifurcations often evolve asymmetrically such that one downstream channel silts up and the other deepens and, in most cases, they eventually avulse. Past analytical and numerical studies showed that symmetric bifurcations are unstable in high and low Shields stress conditions resulting in asymmetric bifurcations and avulsion, while they can be stable in the mid-Shields range, but this range is smaller for larger width-to-depth ratio. Here, using a one-dimensional (1D) numerical model, we show that effects of sediment grain size and of channel slope are much larger than expected for low-gradient systems when a sediment transport relation is used that separates between bedload and suspended load transport. We found that the range of Shields stress conditions with unstable symmetric bifurcations expanded for lower channel slopes and for finer sediment. In high sediment mobility, suspended load increasingly dominates the sediment transport, which increases the sediment transport nonlinearity and lowers the relative influence of the stabilizing transverse bedslope-driven flux. Contrary to previous works, we found another stable symmetric solution in high Shields stress, but this only occurs in the systems with small width-to-depth ratio. This indicates that suspended load-dominated bifurcations of lowland rivers are more likely to develop into highly asymmetric channels than previously thought. This explains the tendency of channel avulsion observed in many systems.     

东营凹陷北部陡坡带稠油成藏机理与油气运聚特征

东营凹陷北部陡坡带的王庄—宁海地区发现了大量稠油 ,但原油的成因及其成藏机理仍不甚了解 .在以往原油成因与油源调查基础上 ,利用非烃含氮化合物及包裹体均一化温度对该区进行油气运移方向与相对距离、成藏时间与期次的分析 .结果表明 ,东营凹陷北部带原油具有由南而北的运移分馏效应 ,反映北部陡坡带原油来自南部的利津洼陷 ;王庄—宁海地区原油总体具有由东而西的运移分馏效应 ,其东、西两侧各有一主要油气注气点 .王庄—宁海原油烃类与非烃组成与分布特征揭示该区油气具有混合聚集特征 .包裹体测试反映王庄—宁海地区油藏主要为晚期成藏 ,距今小于 5Ma ;而靠近生油中心地带包裹体具有早期成藏的记录 (± 36Ma) .     

Chromothermal oscillations and collapse of strange stars to black holes: astrophysical implications

We study the effects of temperature on strange stars. It is found that the maximum mass of the star decreases with the increase of temperature, as at high temperatures the equations of state become softer. Moreover, if the temperature of a strange star increases, keeping its baryon number fixed, its gravitational mass increases and its radius decreases. This leads to a limiting temperature, where it turns into a black hole. These features are the result of a combined effect of the change of gluon mass and the quark distribution with temperature. We report on a new type of radial oscillation of strange stars, driven by what we call 'chromothermal' instability. We also discuss the relevance of our findings in the astrophysics of core collapse supernovae and gamma-ray bursts.     

松辽盆地西部斜坡带油气运移示踪分析

利用天然气有机地球化学、油田水化学、原油中的有机物质及原油含氮化合物等油气运移示踪标志对松辽盆地西部斜坡带的油气运移路径进行了示踪分析,结果显示油气运移的主输导通道沿齐家古龙凹陷—新店—白音诺勒方向展布,之后分为两支,其一继续向西部的平洋方向运移,其二穿过阿拉新向北部的富拉尔基方向运移,而油气从齐家古龙凹陷穿过敖古拉—他拉哈断层直接向西部斜坡带的运移是非常局限的。该主输导通道同该区已发现的油气资源的匹配较完美。重点讨论了原油含氮化合物分析结果与其它示踪标志分析结果的差异及其产生的可能原因,指出对油气运移路径的分析应综合利用多种有机地球化学指标,而不应该过分依赖某一种或某两种示踪方法。     

A Simple Monte Carlo Method for Locating the Three-dimensional Critical Slip Surface of a Slope

Based on the assumption of the plain-strain problem, various optimization or random search methods have been developed for locating the critical slip surfaces in slope-stability analysis, but none of such methods is applicable to the 3D case. In this paper, a simple Monte Carlo random simulation method is proposed to identify the 3D critical slip surface. Assuming the initial slip to be the lower part of a slip ellipsoid, the 3D critical slip surface is located by means of a minimized 3D safety factor. A column-based 3D slope stability analysis model is used to calculate this factor. In this study, some practical cases of known minimum safety factors and critical slip surfaces in 2D analysis are extended to 3D slope problems to locate the critical slip surfaces. Compared with the 2D result, the resulting 3D critical slip surface has no apparent difference in terms of only cross section, but the associated 3D safety factor is definitely higher.     

渤海海域黄河口南斜坡火山岩地层划分及意义

渤海海域黄河口南斜坡新生代火山岩规模大,喷发期次多,非均质性强,地震反射杂乱,地层划分对比难度大。为了厘定渤海海域黄河口南斜坡火山岩系地层层位,对研究区火山岩的岩石学特征及火山岩系夹层中的化石展开系统研究。薄片分析结果表明,渤海海域黄河口南斜坡火山岩主要分为火山熔岩和火山碎屑岩两大类,其中火山熔岩主要有杏仁状玄武岩、气孔玄武岩、致密玄武岩、辉绿岩以及角砾熔岩四种,火山碎屑岩以凝灰岩为主。结合渤海海域黄河口南斜坡火山岩中常见铁方解石、沸石、绿泥石等热水沉积矿物、部分玄武岩保存有淬碎结构、氧化系数(Fe2O3/FeO)低以及火山岩与黑色泥岩互层等四方面,证据证实研究区部分火山岩具有水下喷发特征。渤海海域黄河口南斜坡火山岩系夹层中发现了丰富的介形虫、藻类和孢粉化石,指示火山岩系上段为东营组二段沉积,火山岩系下段主体为东营组三段。根据化石的层位指示意义,明确黄河口南斜坡东营组三段沉积时期物源主要来自莱北低凸起的中生界和沙河街组一段地层。通过化石的古环境指示意义,对这套地层的形成过程进行恢复。这套地层层位的落实对明确黄河口南斜坡新生代油气成藏规律具有重要意义。     

准饱和多孔介质中圈闭气体对渗透系数的影响

含圈闭气体的地下水流称为准饱和流,准饱和流中的圈闭气体对含水层渗透系数有重大影响。通过柱试验开展了粉砂、细砂、中砂和粗砂4种介质圈闭气体饱和度与准饱和渗透系数关系的研究。结果表明:圈闭气体饱和度明显受介质的粒径影响,在细粒介质中圈闭气体饱和度明显较大;4种介质圈闭气体饱和度在0~15%范围内,准饱和渗透系数与完全饱和相比减少了32.82%~56.38%,且准饱和渗透系数与圈闭气体饱和度之间可表达为一个负线性相关的经验公式;该公式与Faybishenko公式等效,但形式简单,参数较少,使用方便;准饱和渗透系数的变化规律可概化为圈闭气体占据了原有的有效孔隙,造成原有效孔隙度减少,从而使渗透系数减小。利用该理论,Kozeny-Carman方程能较准确地描述准饱和渗透系数的变化规律,而基于哈根-泊肃叶方程的渗透系数公式则存在较大误差,不适用于描述准饱和渗透系数;试验结果证明了室内测定饱和渗透系数时排除圈闭气体的必要性。     

川藏公路藏东段边坡稳定性研究与治理评价

川藏公路是一带一路南亚通道的主要干线,其藏东段地质灾害频发,如何有效治理、保障安全畅通意义重大。文章在详细调查的基础上,对取得的藏东段沿线所有边坡数据进行统计及特征分析,利用随机森林理论建立了边坡稳定性评判模型,根据计算出的影响因素重要性大小对边坡的稳定性进行判别,模型检验表明其准确率超过94.44%,同时结合实地验证,对边坡的治理提出了可行性建议,为川藏公路藏东段的有效治理提供实用参考资料。