Rainfall thresholds for shallow landsliding derived from pressure‐head monitoring: cases with permeable and impermeable bedrocks in Boso Peninsula,Japan

Rainfall thresholds for shallow landslide initiation were determined for hillslopes with two types of bedrock, permeable sandstone and impermeable mudstone, in the Boso Peninsula, Japan. The pressure‐head response to rainfall was monitored above a slip scarp due to earlier landslides. Multiple regression analysis estimated the rainfall thresholds for landsliding from the relation between the magnitude of the rainfall event and slope instability caused by the increased pressure heads. The thresholds were expressed as critical combinations of rainfall intensity and duration, incorporating the geotechnical properties of the hillslope materials and also the slope hydrological processes. The permeable sandstone hillslope has a greater critical rainfall and hence a longer recurrence interval than the impermeable mudstone hillslope. This implies a lower potential for landsliding in sandstone hillslopes, corresponding to lower landslide activity. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Macro-and Micro-Structures of Heavy Fogs and Visibility in the Dayaoshan Expressway

Belonging to the southern subtropical moist type of monsoon climate,the Nanling mountainous area experiences heavy fogs whenever quasi-stationary fronts appear there from September to May.There can be as many as 15-18 days of heavy fogs per month.Fogs have more serious consequences in the Lechang-Ruyuan section of the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway(the longest expressway in China)that passes through the main part of the Nanling Mts.,where the road rises from 200m to more than 800m above sea level(ASL).For a major motorway in the mountainous areas of Nanling Mts.,two multidisciplinary integrated field observations were carried out,which measured visibility by the naked eyes,visibility by instrument,spectrum of fog- drops,liquid water content(LWC)of fog,tethered sounding,dual-parameter low-level sounding,turbulence diffusion within fog layers,aerosol spectra of size and composition,sampled fog water compositions,and sampled rainwater compositions.Typical cases were probed for their analyses of synoptics,micro- and macro-structures and microphysics.It is understood that heavy fogs take place with high frequency in the area and bring about serious consequences.Being typical advection and upslope fogs,they are in essence low-lying clouds appearing at high altitudes,which are closely related with the activity of South China frontal processes,especially the South China quasi-stationary fronts,and reflect on the role of local terrain as well.The heavy fogs are characteristic of long duration,extremely low visibility,well-organized lump- shaped structure,large-size fog-drops,moderate concentration,high LWC,and stronger turbulent diffusion within the fog layers than in fine sky.They differ much from radiation fogs,which are better documented in previous study in China.It is found that fog LWC is in significant anti-correlation with visibility so that large LWC is associated with small visual range.It is also noted that one of the reasons for the fluctuation of characteristic quantities of micro-structure such as the LWC of fog in the area is,in addition to the inhomogeneous structure of the fog itself,the effect of advection and inhomogeneous underlying surface; during the translation of fog with the ambient wind,irregular upslope and cross-over movement is another reason for the inhomogeneous structure and fluctuation of fog.The spectrum of the aerosol size displays itself as the power function of monotonous descent.The concentration of submicrometer particles is even higher.The high-concentration sulfate particles found in the aerosols of Nanling Mts.are actually good nuclei for condensation,which are favorable for the formation of fog.The presence of fog can help cleanse the trace compositions in the atmosphere so that fog droplets contain high levels of polluting elements.In the meantime,compared to cloud droplets,fog droplets are easier to be captured by the vertical surfaces of objects on the land surface,such as vegetation and buildings to constitute another kird of cleansing process. In vast stretches of forest like the Nanling Mts.,this kind of cleansing may be quite important.Studying the characteristic variation of fogs in the area realistically assists in setting up a forecast and warning system for local fogs and provides basic information for fog dispersal experiments.     

Variations of the Nutrients Loads to the Mainland U.K. Estuaries: Correlation with Catchment Areas, Urbanization and Coastal Eutrophication

The annual loads of nutrients (TO_xN equal to nitrate+nitrite; ammonium, phosphate, silicate) to all the estuaries on the mainland of the United Kingdom were estimated from data on water flow through gauging stations at the tidal limits of estuaries, and from concentration measurements under the Harmonised Monitoring Scheme of nutrient concentrations in water samples from these stations. The annual loads of nutrients showed distinct regional variations, with estuaries along the west coast of Wales and northern Scotland having much smaller loads than those along the east coast of England. The largest nitrogen loads were of TO_xN, and ammonium loads were usually small in comparison. The Severn, Mersey, Humber and Thames had the highest loads, although these were small in relation to the larger continental European estuaries. Loads of TO_xN per unit of catchment area were surprisingly constant (about 10⁵ moles N km⁻² y⁻¹). The nutrient loads showed that most U.K. catchments were influenced by human activity, the majority being in the ‘ moderately influenced ’ category. Nutrient loads were also normalized for the area of each estuary, as a measure of the relative influence of nutrients on the receiving estuaries. The ratios of N:P, N:Si and P:Si in the annual loads suggested that most estuaries were likely to be, if anything, P limited rather than N or Si limited. However, crude annual loads may conceal significant seasonal variations.The spring maximum chlorophylla concentrations in coastal waters adjacent to each estuary were significantly correlated with the log total annual loads of TO_xN, ammonium and phosphate (but not silicate) for each estuary, providing a direct link between a measure of the degree of biological response in coastal waters and the nutrient load through the estuaries. There were no significant correlations between spring maximum chlorophyll a concentrations and either catchment-normalized or estuary-normalized nutrient loads. There was significant correlation between catchment area-normalized loads of phosphate and an urbanization index for the catchments, but not with the catchment area-normalized loads of the other nutrients.     

Some Probability Applications to Oil Exploration

In the first part of this paper, a portion of a sedimentary basin is subdivided conceptually into hexagons of equal area. The area of each hexagon is equal to the minimum area an oil field should have to be commercial. Hexagons can be full of oil, or empty. A field size 1 consists of a cell with oil surrounded by six empty cells; a field size 2 consists of two adjacent cells with oil surrounded by eight empty cells, etc. Principles of Percolation Theory are used to determine the probabilility distribution of the areas of the oil fields existing in this portion of the basin. The only piece of information necessary to determine this probability distribution is the Success Ratio (number of successful exploration wells/total number of exploration wells drilled in this portion of the basin). This approach has several practical applications.In the second part of this paper, a probabilistic model is introduced to predict to which extent potential oil traps are filled with oil. The model assumes that the probability that an oil unit will end up in a particular trap, is proportional to the surface area of the trap. The model predicts that independently of the distribution of the trap volumes, there will be a critical trap volume. All the traps having a volume less than this critical volume, will be filled to spill point. An equation is deduced to predict, for all traps having a volume greater than the critical, the volume of oil that can be encountered in the trap, provided the volume of the trap is known.     

"腾深99工程"的设计思路与方案

介绍了1999年4月在腾冲火山地区进行人工地震测深工程( 简称"腾深99工程")的目的意义与测线布设的设计思路,并考虑到腾冲地区的地形情况和交通条件提出了一套合理的设计方案.在现场的实际施工中收到了良好的效果.     

我国沿海地区可持续发展能力的定量研究

区域可持续发展能力是一个综合性指标。文章选取48个变量作为我国东部沿海地区可持续发展能力的原始评价指标,并运用因子分析法对原始评价指标进行降维处理,从而得到能充分反映原始指标信息的5个综合指标。文章根据综合指标的得分值对沿海12个省市区可持续发展能力进行了排序,结合各省市区的地域分布划分出5种可持续发展类型区,并对各类型区可持续发展能力的主要构成因素及其相互关系进行了分析。     

A study on sustainable development capacity of China''s coastal areas using indices dimension reduction method

1 IntroductionThe construction of sustainable development capacity (SDC) is a key element in "China's Agenda 21". In recent years, there are different comprehensions about the concept of SDC. The current paper takes the broad sense of the concept and applies it in regional study of the coastal areas of China. The so-called regional SDC means the overall strength and power of a regional socioeconomic and natural system in its way to sustainable development. The coastal areas of China cons…     

海温对辽宁省主汛期降水异常影响的统计分析

在对辽宁省主汛期降水异常的时变特征进行分析的基础上，研究了前期海温场对辽宁主汛期(7—8月)降水影响的统计特征。结果表明：1)辽宁省汛期降水异常有明显的年际、年代际变化特征，近44a降水呈减少趋势。小波分析表明存在3～5a的年际周期和10～12a的年代际周期。2)存在2个影响辽宁汛期降水异常的海温关键区及相应的关键时段，它们分别是南大西洋(1—5月)和西太平洋(3—4月)，综合考虑2个关键区可更好地预示辽宁汛期降水的异常。     

内蒙古二连盆地岩性圈闭早期形成和多期形成特征分析

根据盆地内部储层和盖层的临界条件,利用盖层排替压力曲线和储层物性曲线联合确定了岩性圈闭的发育层段,发现多个层位可发育岩性圈闭。如果盖层排替压力和储层物性随埋深的变化是按现今各曲线有规律地演化,则可以推测在盆地的埋藏早期就可以形成岩性圈闭,并且在演化过程中存在多个圈闭形成时期。二连盆地若干凹陷的实际资料也证实了岩性圈闭存在早期形成和多期形成的基本特征。岩性圈闭形成期与油气运聚史相结合对研究岩性圈闭成藏过程十分重要。