Laboratory Study for Influence of Clay Content (CC) on Wave-Induced Liquefaction in Marine Sediments

In this artice, the influence of clay content on the wave-induced liquefaction in marine sediments was reported. The one-dimensional (1-D) equipment was setup with a vertical cylinder and 1.8–m–thick clayey sandy deposit and 0.2–m–thick water above the deposit. Unlike the previous experimental study for a single soil layer, this study used sand-kaolin mixtures, sand-illite mixtures, and sand-bentonite mixtures as the experimental samples. A series of experiments with 3,000 wave cycles in each test were conducted under numerous wave and soil conditions, which allowed us to examine the influence of clay content (CC) on wave-induced liquefaction in marine sediments. The experimental results showed that the clayey sandy deposit will become prone to liquefaction with the increase of CC when CC is less than a critical value, which depends on the type of clay. However, when CC is greater than the critical value, liquefaction depth will decrease as CC increases. Furthermore, when the CC value reaches a certain level, liquefaction will not occur. For example, no liquefaction occurs when CC ≥ 33% for both kaolin-sand and illite-sand mixtures and CC ≥ 16.36% for bentonite-sand mixtures.     

Study on Longitudinal Deformation Profile of Rock Mass in a Subsea Tunnel

During tunnel excavation, the deformation of surrounding rock due to the unloading of rock mass will vary with time. However, the measured displacement of surrounding rock is only a part of the actual longitudinal deformation profile. There is a need to analyze the longitudinal deformation profile to identify the deformation state and evaluate the stability of surrounding rock mass. In the present article, the variation of pre-deformation of surrounding rock due to excavation was analyzed, and the release coefficient was obtained from the measured results. For the Qingdao subsea tunnel, the measured crown settlement of surrounding rock was analyzed using the regression analysis method, and the longitudinal deformation profile of rock mass was simulated using the numerical calculation method. Moreover, based on the conditions of the subsea tunnel, a solid-fluid coupling model test was carried out to check the reliability of the numerical calculation results. The results of the model test were consistent with the numerical calculation results.     

Nonparametric Estimation of Undrained Shear Strength for Normally Consolidated Clays

For decades, various well-known empirical correlations have been established and commonly used to estimate the undrained shear strength of normally consolidated clays in geotechnical practice. However, there are still many contradictory cases regarding the validity of these correlations, so their applicability and reliability are questionable. In this study, an extensive geotechnical database for normally consolidated clays has been compiled. Next, a Bayesian nonparametric method is exploited to identify the most critical soil index properties in inferring the undrained shear strength and a new predictive model is proposed. Finally, the performance of the proposed predictive model is assessed and compared with two well-known correlations using an independent testing database. It confirms that the proposed model not only possesses high predictability, but also provides superior performance over other existing empirical correlations.     

基于无机成因的油气勘查概念模型(BRCF)

基于超基性岩蛇纹石化成油理论,根据构造条件和沉积条件,提出了石油勘查概念模型——"BRCF"模型:B代表侵入地壳超基性岩;R代表储油层;C代表盖层;F代表深大断裂。运用该模型分析了波斯湾地区油气田和中国典型油气田油气成藏规律,并预测了中国大陆油气勘查靶区。     

Electrical analogy for modelling thermal regime and moisture distribution in sandy soils

The soil mass is subjected to temperature variation due to several human activities (viz. tanks storing heated fluids, buried cables and pipelines, air-conditioning ducts, disposal of nuclear and thermal power plant wastes etc.), which result in heat-induced migration of the moisture in it. Though several studies have been conducted in the past to investigate the mechanism of heat migration through the soil mass, a methodology for ‘real-time measurement of the variations in temperature, flux and moving moisture front, in tandem, with respect to space' has rarely been attempted. In this context, extensive laboratory investigations were conducted to measure real-time flux and temperature variations in the sandy soils, and the validation of results has been done by employing an equivalent electrical circuit programme, LTspice. Subsequently, a mathematical model PHITMDS (i.e. Prediction of Heat-Induced Temperature and Moisture Distribution in Soil) has been developed and its utility and efficacy, for predicting the depth-wise temperature and heat-induced moisture migration, due to evaporation, in terms of position of moving moisture front in the sandy soil has been critically discussed and demonstrated.     

RS & GIS-based landslide susceptibility mapping of the Balason River basin,Darjeeling Himalaya,using logistic regression (LR) model

The present study deals with the preparation of a landslide susceptibility map of the Balason River basin, Darjeeling Himalaya, using a logistic regression model based on Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing. The landslide inventory map was prepared with a total of 295 landslide locations extracted from various satellite images and intensive field survey. Topographical maps, satellite images, geological, geomorphological, soil, rainfall and seismic data were collected, processed and constructed into a spatial database in a GIS environment. The chosen landslide-conditioning factors were altitude, slope aspect, slope angle, slope curvature, geology, geomorphology, soil, land use/land cover, normalised differential vegetation index, drainage density, lineament number density, distance from lineament, distance to drainage, stream power index, topographic wetted index, rainfall and peak ground acceleration. The produced landslide susceptibility map satisfied the decision rules and ?2 Log likelihood, Cox &; Snell R-Square and Nagelkerke R-Square values proved that all the independent variables were statistically significant. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the prediction accuracy of the landslide probability map was 96.10%. The proposed LR method can be used in other hazard/disaster studies and decision-making.     

Calibration of cyclic constitutive models by oscillating functions

Most structures are subjected to more cyclic loads during their life time than static loads. These cyclic action could be a result of either natural or man-made activities and may lead to soil failure. In order to understand the response of the foundation and its interaction with these complex cyclic loadings, various researchers have over the years developed different constitutive models. Although a lot of research is being carried out on these relatively new models, little or no details exist in literature about the model-based identification of the cyclic constitutive parameters which to a large extent govern the quality of the model output. This could be attributed to the difficulties and complexities of the inverse modeling of such complex phenomena. A variety of optimisation strategies are available for the solution of the sum of least-squares problems as usually done in the field of model calibration. However, for the back analysis (calibration) of the soil response to oscillatory load functions, this article gives insight into the model calibration challenges and also puts forward a method for the inverse modeling of cyclic loaded foundation response such that high-quality solutions are obtained with minimum computational effort.     

Probabilistic calibration of a coupled hydro-mechanical slope stability model with integration of multiple observations

Multiple types of responses, such as displacements, ground water level, pore water pressures, water contents, etc., are usually measured in comprehensive monitoring programmes for rainfall-induced landslide prevention. In this study, a probabilistic calibration method for coupled hydro-mechanical modelling of slope stability is presented with integration of multiple types of measurements. A numerical example of a soil slope under rainfall infiltration is illustrated to compare the effects of single and multiple types of responses on parameter estimation and model calibration. The results show that the soil parameters can be estimated with less uncertainty and total uncertainty bounds are narrower with multiple types of responses than with a single type of response. Model calibration based on multiple types of responses can compromise different responses and hence the means and standard deviations of model error are the smallest. A feasible correlation coefficient between soil modulus and permeability can be obtained from model calibration with multiple types of responses and single type of response as long as the responses include displacement data.     

扬子地台东南缘下寒武统清虚洞组风暴沉积特征及其重要意义

在扬子地台东南缘,下寒武统龙王庙阶清虚洞组主要由浅水碳酸盐岩组成。在野外露头剖面实测和室内镜下薄片观察的基础上,大量风暴沉积被发现于不同剖面清虚洞组的不同层位中,同时大量风暴诱发形成的沉积构造被识别出来,包括侵蚀基底、粗粒滞留沉积、粒序层理、平行层理、丘状交错层理(少见并且值得怀疑)以及沙纹层理,组成了多种类型的风暴沉积序列。结合更靠扬子东南缘的深水剖面中重力流沉积的缺乏,可以推断早寒武世龙王庙期扬子地台的沉积模式为碳酸盐缓坡。结合风暴的形成机制以及清虚洞组风暴沉积的发育特征(尤其是粗粒滞留砾屑的定向排列和典型丘状交错层理的缺乏),可以推断研究区风暴沉积形成于强烈的冬季风暴作用,并且早寒武世龙王庙期华南的古地理位置应当位于中纬度地区,这一结论对一些著名的全球古地理重建方案提出了质疑。同时中纬度地区大规模发育蒸发岩和碳酸盐岩还佐证了寒武纪地球处于热室(Hothouse)时期。     

碳酸盐台地的类型、特征和沉积模式--兼论华北地台寒武纪陆表海-淹没台地的沉积样式

随着对现代碳酸盐沉积环境的系统调查和解释、以及对碳酸盐沉积原理认识的深化,自20世纪60年代,一系列碳酸盐沉积相模式得以建立,其中最引人注目的是Wilson和Tucker的工作。但在镶边陆棚及缓坡模式得到了广泛认可和使用的同时,对陆表海和淹没台地型沉积未能予以足够的重视。与过去相比,现今的海平面是相对较低的,因而没有出现陆表海广泛发育的情况。但在漫长的地质历史时期,陆表海曾经覆盖了广泛的克拉通区域,是碳酸盐沉积最重要的场所之一。本文在系统总结前人成果的基础上,将用于描述大尺度碳酸盐岩沉积环境的碳酸盐台地分为镶边陆棚、缓坡、陆表海、孤立台地和淹没台地5种类型分别描述,并重点强调了陆表海和淹没台地的沉积模式。华北地台寒武系大面积分布的潮坪沉积、鲕粒滩相灰岩和竹叶状风暴砾屑灰岩,以及频繁出现的台地淹没事件,为阐明陆表海和淹没台地的沉积提供了绝佳实例。这些实例和研究表明了碳酸盐沉积环境的多样性和沉积过程的复杂性,以及将今论古的困难性,从而为碳酸盐沉积原理的认识和沉积环境的解释提供新认识和新思路。