Effects of Column Diameter on Setting Behavior of Dredged Slurry in Sedimentation Experiments

This article investigates the influence of dimensions of a settling column on the settling mode and the settling rate. End conditions of the settling stage in the hindered settling were also analyzed. It was found that the settling mode in a column with a smaller diameter tends to be consolidation settling. The effect of a settling column wall decreases with increasing column diameter, and it can be ignored provided the column diameter is larger than 14.5 centimeters. For the difference in initial water content, the settling behavior of the slurry develops a different sensitivity to the diameter effect. The influence of column diameter reduces as the initial water content of the slurry becomes higher. It is suggested that the internal diameter of the column used in a sedimentation experiment should be 14.5 centimeters.     

Distribution and feeding modes of macrobenthos within three oceanographic feature areas of the KwaZulu-Natal Bight,South Africa

The composition and distribution of macrobenthic communities was investigated in three areas in the KwaZulu- Natal Bight, a section of shelf off the east coast of South Africa. Areas were pre-selected on the basis of three known oceanographic features, posited to deliver land- or Agulhas Current-derived nutrients onto the shelf and to drive ecosystem functioning in this region. Replicate sediment samples were collected with a 0.2 m² van Veen grab, during two surveys (A, B) corresponding with normal periods of high and low rainfall, respectively. A subset of the full station array was selected across the shelf in an arrangement of increasing depths (inner-, mid- and outer shelf) through each feature area to investigate the spatial distribution and feeding modes of macrobenthic taxa. The two periods showed some differences in abundance and numbers of macrobenthic taxa, but were not statistically different. Total macrobenthic abundance from Survey A was 20 215 individuals from 642 taxa, decreasing to 18 000 individuals from 503 taxa during Survey B. Polychaeta and Crustacea were the dominant taxa sampled; abundance of the latter was attributed largely to a proliferation of Paguristes sp.1 at inner-shelf samples in the midbight (Thukela) region during Survey B. Similarity classification distinguished seven sample groups reflecting differences in feature areas and shelf positions under investigation. The Thukela River midshelf community supported the highest macrobenthic abundance, while the midshelf off the southern bight (Durban region) was most species rich. Findings were attributed to the habitat complexity of the midshelf which includes a palaeo-dune cordon at the 60 m isobath. Functionally, the community was dominated by interface- and deposit-feeding fauna, emphasising the importance of trophic plasticity in an environmentally variable and heterogeneous shelf environment.     

碘化氨除锡后封闭酸溶-电感耦合等离子体质谱测定锡矿石中的共生和伴生元素

锡矿石是难分解的矿物,主要存在形式是锡石(SnO_2),且共生和伴生元素多,常用的酸溶方法几乎不能溶解SnO_2,从而给锡矿石中的共生与伴生元素的准确测定带来困难。本文基于碘化氨在较低温度下熔融可产生无水状态的碘化氢,利用碘化氢的酸性和氨的还原性分解SnO_2,使Sn呈SnI_4升华分离的原理处理锡矿石。实验中以高纯铂丝作催化剂,加入碘化铵在450℃的马弗炉中分解锡矿石30 min,使得Sn以SnI_4形式挥发,除锡率达到98%以上,再用2 mL氢氟酸和1 mL硝酸封闭溶解残渣,电感耦合等离子体质谱测定钴镍铜铌钽钍铀等24个共生和伴生元素。元素检出限在0. 001～2. 9μg/g之间,90%以上元素的相对标准偏差(RSD)小于5%,相对误差小于10%。本方法解决了锡矿石难分解的问题,可测定共存金属元素,也适合测定Sn含量在1. 27%～62. 49%之间的锡矿石中的微量和痕量元素及锡精矿中的微量元素。     

基于MODIS数据的青藏高原冰川反照率时空分布及变化研究

冰川反照率对冰川融化具有重要影响,以2000-2013年MODIS的MOD10A1逐日积雪反照率数据资料为基础,分析了青藏高原冰川反照率的时空分布及变化。结果表明：冰川年平均反照率变化范围是0.42（枪勇冰川）~0.75（PT5冰川）,其中夏季平均反照率变化范围是0.45（来古冰川）~0.69（东绒布冰川和古里雅冰川）。冰川反照率空间分布并没有明显的规律性,而冰川反照率的变化速率空间分布规律明显——南部较大往北减小,北部反照率出现增大现象。研究区内大部分冰川反照率呈波动降低的趋势,年平均反照率和夏季平均反照率变化速率最大值都出现在枪勇冰川,分别是-0.015 a^-1和-0.019 a^-1。木吉和木孜塔格冰川年平均和夏季平均冰川反照率都增大,木吉冰川是由于2012年的高反照率引起的,而木孜塔格冰川主要与该地区气温降低、降水增多有关。     

岸滩侧蚀崩塌速率的试验量测方法

岸滩侧蚀崩塌现象普遍存在于冲积河流演变过程中,是河道治理需重点关注的问题之一,岸滩侧蚀崩塌速率的准确量测则是崩岸机理及其治理措施研究的关键基础。基于图像处理技术,建立了河岸侧蚀崩塌速率试验量测系统,通过图像追踪河岸模型上边缘示踪网格位置变迁,提出了一种河岸侧蚀崩塌速率测量方法。以试验水槽为例,对河岸侧蚀崩塌速率进行了量测,并与经验公式计算值进行了比对,两者基本吻合,可较好地反映流速、土体级配等岸滩侧蚀崩塌速率的影响因素及其变化规律。研究成果可为江河崩岸机理的深入研究提供技术支撑。     

Late Quaternary Slip Rate of the Xiugou Segment,Eastern Kunlun Fault Zone

The Eastern Kunlun fault zone (EKLF) is a large left-lateral strike-slip fault, whose slip rate is meaningful to seismic hazard assessment and geodynamics of the Tibetan Plateau. Previous studies suggested that the late Quaternary average slip rate was stable and uniform (10~13 mm/a) in the central and western segment of the EKLF. But there were a few researches of accurate slip rate in the central segment on the EKLF. Therefore, we focused on an offset and well preserved alluvial fan from Xiugou basin, located in the east of Xidatan-Dongdatan, to make it clear. Moreover, we used high-resolution satellite images and digital elevation model extracted from SPOT7 stereo image pairs to restore the offset alluvial fan, and combined terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides method, including 13 quartz-rich samples from this fan surface, 1 quartz-rich sample from the main active channel bed and 1 ¹⁰Be depth profile from this fan edge to eliminate the ¹⁰Be concentration of inheritance accurately, with 1 optically stimulated luminescence sample to obtain the reliable age of this alluvial fan together. Referring to field observations, this alluvial fan was offset left-laterally by (1 862±103) m, and its age is (76.55±3.20)~(106.37±3.38) ka which can be determined through the actual geologic setting and improving chi-square test. Thus, we used the Monte Carlo method to obtain a left-lateral slip rate of (20.3+3.5/-2.3) mm/a with 68% confidence envelopes since the late Pleistocene in the Xiugou basin. As a result, combining with the results of previous studies, the left-lateral slip rate indicated that the obviously decreasing activity transferred from late Pleistocene to Holocene on the central segment of the EKLF.     

Subsidence in the Kathmandu Basin,before and after the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake,Nepal Revealed from Small Baseline Subset-DInSAR Analysis

Land subsidence in densely urbanized areas is a global problem that is primarily caused by excessive groundwater withdrawal. The Kathmandu Basin is one such area where subsidence due to groundwater depletion has been a major problem in recent years. Moreover, on 25 April 2015, this basin experienced large crustal movements caused by the Gorkha earthquake (Mw 7.8). Consequently, the effects of earthquake-induced deformation could affect the temporal and spatial nature of anthropogenic subsidence in the basin. However, this effect has not yet been fully studied. In this paper, we applied the SBAS-DInSAR technique to estimate the spatiotemporal displacement of land subsidence in the Kathmandu Basin before and after the Gorkha earthquake, using 16 ALOS-1 Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) images during the pre-seismic period and 26 Sentinel-1 A/B SAR images during the pre- and post-seismic periods. The results showed that the mean subsidence rate in the central part of the basin was about ?8.2 cm/year before the earthquake. The spatial extents of the subsiding areas were well-correlated with the spatial distributions of the compressible clay layers in the basin. We infer from time-series InSAR analysis that subsidence in the Kathmandu basin could be associated with fluvio-lacustrine (clay) deposits and local hydrogeological conditions. However, after the mainshock, the subsidence rate significantly increased to ?15 and ?12 cm/year during early post-seismic (108 days) and post-seismic (2015–2016) period, respectively. Based on a spatial analysis of the subsidence rate map, the entire basin uplifted during the co-seismic period has started to subside and become stable during the early-post-seismic period. This is because of the elastic rebound of co-seismic deformation. However, interestingly, the localized areas show increased subsidence rates during both the early-post- and post-seismic periods. Therefore, we believe that the large co-seismic deformation experienced in this basin might induce the local subsidence to increase in rate, caused by oscillations of the water table level in the clay layer.     

土工试验规范变更对膨胀计算和判定的影响

对土工试验方法标准的新旧规范中无荷膨胀率和有荷膨胀率的变化内容进行对比分析,发现两者的计算公式发生显著变化,新规范的计算结果与旧规范相比,膨胀率明显变大,膨胀量随之增大,这将对工程勘察、设计、施工等产生明显影响。以某工程为例,新规范计算后地层总膨胀量由旧规范的16.7 mm变为51.8 mm,增加了2倍左右,地基土的胀缩等级由Ⅰ级变为Ⅱ级,地基基础设计等级由丙级变为乙级,地基处理措施和施工方案随之也发生改变。因此,工程技术人员对此应综合考虑,严谨对待。     

A novel index to evaluate discretization methods:A case study of flood susceptibility assessment based on random forest

The selection of a suitable discretization method(DM)to discretize spatially continuous variables(SCVs)is critical in ML-based natural hazard susceptibility assessment.However,few studies start to consider the influence due to the selected DMs and how to efficiently select a suitable DM for each SCV.These issues were well addressed in this study.The information loss rate(ILR),an index based on the informa-tion entropy,seems can be used to select optimal DM for each SCV.However,the ILR fails to show the actual influence of discretization because such index only considers the total amount of information of the discretized variables departing from the original SCV.Facing this issue,we propose an index,infor-mation change rate(ICR),that focuses on the changed amount of information due to the discretization based on each cell,enabling the identification of the optimal DM.We develop a case study with Random Forest(training/testing ratio of 7:3)to assess flood susceptibility in Wanan County,China.The area under the curve-based and susceptibility maps-based approaches were presented to compare the ILR and ICR.The results show the ICR-based optimal DMs are more rational than the ILR-based ones in both cases.Moreover,we observed the ILR values are unnaturally small(＜1％),whereas the ICR values are obviously more in line with general recognition(usually 10％-30％).The above results all demonstrate the superiority of the ICR.We consider this study fills up the existing research gaps,improving the ML-based natural hazard susceptibility assessments.     

2000年后中国北方东部地区夏季极端降水减少及水汽输送特征

本文研究了1961～2016年中国北方东部地区夏季极端降水日数和极端降水贡献率的年代际变化特征,并进一步分析了该地区极端降水和普通降水的大气环流和水汽输送的差异。主要的研究结果表明:1961～2016年中国北方东部地区夏季极端降水日数和极端降水贡献率在2000年前后发生显著年代际变化,2000年后夏季极端降水天数和极端降水贡献率显著减少。与1984～1999年相比,2000～2016年在对流层高层从欧洲大陆、中亚到东北—蒙古地区,位势高度异常呈现出“正—负—正”的大气波列,从而造成北方东部地区上空为正压的位势高度正异常控制,伴随着下沉运动,大气层结趋于稳定,这些环流条件不利于极端降水发生。2000年后负位相的太平洋年代际振荡（PDO）和正位相的北大西洋多年代际振荡（AMO）共同加强了北方东部地区上空的正位势高度异常。进一步研究表明,极端降水与普通降水的水汽输送和收支以及关键的局地大气系统存在着显著差异,较普通降水而言,极端降水在南北向水汽输送和收支上更强;北方东部地区低空为较强的闭合低压控制,并不断受到高层高位涡空气下传的影响。