Optimum design of nailed soil slopes

In this paper, a generalized method of computer based optimum design of soil-nailed slopes is reported. A limit equilibrium formulation satisfying overall and internal equilibrium and considering the effect of tensile resistance of the reinforcement has been used in computing the stability of nailed slopes. The quantity of steel requirement for raising the factor of safety to a desired value is estimated. The location, size (length and diameter) and orientation of the nails and the location and shape of the critical shear surface have been treated as variables. The solutions have been isolated by formulating the problem as one of non-linear programming. The applicability of the developed method has been verified by comparing the predicted failure surfaces with those observed in model tests as well as in the field and also reported theoretical results.     

Scale factor calibration of a superconducting gravimeter at Esashi Station, Japan, using absolute gravity measurements

The scale factor of a superconducting gravimeter (SG) at the Esashi Earth Tides Station, Japan, was revised by repeating co-located absolute gravity measurements with an FG5 gravimeter. Although the calibration results from the absolute gravimeter (AG) show an apparent secular change in the scale factor of the SG (0.4% for the period 1993–2002), the relative scale factors, which are determined by tidal analysis with the response method, indicate that it has changed by no more than 0.01% during the above period. If the mean scale factor over the 10 years is adopted, a value of –56.082±0.029 Gal/V (1 Gal =10^–8 m s^–2) is obtained, which is about 0.4% smaller than that used in the global geodynamics project (GGP) database. Based on this newly determined scale factor, the tidal gravity factors at Esashi have been re-estimated. The observed tidal factors, corrected for the ocean tide effects with recent models, indicate that the theoretical gravity factors for an inelastic Earth model are more consistent with the observations than are those for an elastic model.     

Structure and seasonality in a Malaysian mudflat community

An assessment of community composition and the functional roles of the dominant species has been carried out in two intertidal areas of Malaysian mudflat dominated by natural populations of the arcid bivalve mollusc Anadara granosa.In addition to A. granosa, organisms of numerical importance are the venerid bivalve Pelecyora trigona, the neogastropod Plicarcularia leptospira, the mesogastropods Stenothyra glabrata and Cerithidea cingulata and the hermit crab Diogenes sp. The mesogastropod Natica maculosa and the neogastropod Thais carinifera may be of some importance to community organization but they are not numerically dominant. Annelids are conspicuous by their absence.The following trophic roles are ascribed to specific members of the community: A. granosa—facultative surface deposit feeder; P. trigona—suspension feeder; P. leptospira—scavenger; C. cingulata—deposit feeder/grazer; S. glabrata—deposit feeder/grazer; N. maculosa—predator; T. carinifera—predator; Diogenes sp.—scavenger/predator. S. glabrata is of particular interest because it appears to fill the niche occupied by mud snails of the genus Hydrobia in temperate mudflat systems.There is evidence of seasonality on the mudflats which points to a spawning of certain forms triggered by the major annual salinity depression at the time of the onset of the north-east monsoon in October/November. Concentrations of benthic chlorophyll a show no obvious signs of a seasonal fluctuation and the seasonality of the primary consumers is not thought to be related to food abundance. However there is some evidence of seasonality of reproduction in N. maculosa which preys on the seasonally reproducing bivalves.     

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE EASTERN CHINA DURING THE LATE PLEISTOCENE

The environmental changes during the Late Pleistocene were more obvious in the eastern China than in other areas at the same latitude, which either between northern and southern, or between land and sea of the eastern China were mostly non-synchronous. The transitional period prior to the last glaciation came about in the northern part of the eastern China about 115,000 yr. ago. The desert environments of the inland of the north China were developed both in the glacial maximum and in the warm interglacial period, but the loess accumulation mostly took place during the glacial period. The sand dunes and the periglacial solifluctions in the lower Changjiang (Yangtze) River region were formed during the last glacial period. The event of lowest surface temperature occurred at 98,000 yr. B.P. and 59,000 yr. B.P. in the northern part of the South China Sea but not during the full-glacial stage. The phenomena mentioned . above were the result of the following reasons that the paleo-environmental changes in the     

Analysis of Wedge Stability Using Different Methods

Summary The stability problem of a rock slope containing a wedge resting on two intersecting discontinuities is of great interest in rock slope engineering. It is a statistically indeterminate problem with two extra unknowns according to the force (stress) equilibrium analysis. The widely used limit equilibrium methods in practice assume that the directions of the shear forces acting on the two discontinuities are parallel to their line of intersection. The validity of this assumption, however, has not been verified theoretically. This paper presents a general limit equilibrium method that determines the directions of the shear forces by using Pans Maximum principle and an upper bound method that applies the classic upper bound theorem of limit analysis to avoid making extra assumptions. The formulations of the two methods are derived. A non-symmetric wedge and a symmetric wedge are analyzed using the two derived methods. To further explore the influence on stability due to the direction of the shear force acting on the two discontinuities, three-dimensional finite-element analyses are also conducted. The results are compared and discussed.     

Selection of environmental conditions for nearshore structure design

1　Introduction　InChina ,coastalcitiesaremostlyregionaleconomicdevelopmentcenters.Becauseoftheirspecialgeogra phiclocations ,typhoonsandassociatedstormsurgescauseheavylossesoflivesandproperties.In 1 992 Qing daowasfloodedduetothecoincidenceoftheastrono m…     

淮海经济区城市竞争力定量评析

文章首先构建用来测度淮海经济区城市竞争力的指标体系,接着运用因子分析方法,对淮海经济区17个样本城市的竞争力进行计算,求出各城市的竞争力综合得分;然后通过聚类分析将17个样本城市的竞争力划分为强、较强、较弱、弱4类并相应地做出评价。其主要结论为：(1)大多数城市的竞争力得分值偏低;(2)各城市之间的竞争力得分有较大差距,徐州城市竞争力得分最高,排名前5位的徐州、临沂、枣庄、济宁、泰安与其后诸城市差距甚大。     

Bias and uncertainty in regression-calibrated models of groundwater flow in heterogeneous media

Groundwater models need to account for detailed but generally unknown spatial variability (heterogeneity) of the hydrogeologic model inputs. To address this problem we replace the large, m-dimensional stochastic vector β that reflects both small and large scales of heterogeneity in the inputs by a lumped or smoothed m-dimensional approximation γθ_∗, where γ is an interpolation matrix and θ_∗ is a stochastic vector of parameters. Vector θ_∗ has small enough dimension to allow its estimation with the available data. The consequence of the replacement is that model function f(γθ_∗) written in terms of the approximate inputs is in error with respect to the same model function written in terms of β, f(β), which is assumed to be nearly exact. The difference f(β) − f(γθ_∗), termed model error, is spatially correlated, generates prediction biases, and causes standard confidence and prediction intervals to be too small. Model error is accounted for in the weighted nonlinear regression methodology developed to estimate θ_∗ and assess model uncertainties by incorporating the second-moment matrix of the model errors into the weight matrix. Techniques developed by statisticians to analyze classical nonlinear regression methods are extended to analyze the revised method. The analysis develops analytical expressions for bias terms reflecting the interaction of model nonlinearity and model error, for correction factors needed to adjust the sizes of confidence and prediction intervals for this interaction, and for correction factors needed to adjust the sizes of confidence and prediction intervals for possible use of a diagonal weight matrix in place of the correct one. If terms expressing the degree of intrinsic nonlinearity for f(β) and f(γθ_∗) are small, then most of the biases are small and the correction factors are reduced in magnitude. Biases, correction factors, and confidence and prediction intervals were obtained for a test problem for which model error is large to test robustness of the methodology. Numerical results conform with the theoretical analysis.     

Using Information Technologies for Interactive Learning

Abstract

Experiences in designing, offering, and evaluating joint senior undergraduate course assignments in resource and environmental management on two different occasions, which connected students in two universities in British Columbia and Ontario, are documented. The shared assignments provided students with experience in group work and consensual decision making, and allowed them to use a mix of information technologies (e-mail, chat rooms, the Web, video conferencing). The undergraduate students rated very highly the experience with information technology but found some aspects of a collaborative learning approach to be challenging. The course was less successful than had been anticipated in highlighting different regional perceptions and perspectives regarding resource and environmental problems and solutions. Clarification of objectives and expectations, more attention to allocation of time, and consideration of computer access and assistance would improve the effectiveness of the courses.     

天津七里海古泻湖湿地环境演变研究

七里海古泻湖湿地位于天津市宁河县西南部,是全新世以来海退过程在天津平原留下的众多古泻湖湿地之一。分析了七里海古泻湖湿地形成、演变的区域地质背景,指出七里海古泻湖至少经历了3次大规模萎缩,其西南部萎缩较快,东北部萎缩相对较慢。利用历史资料研究了近5000a七里海古泻湖湿地的形成、演变过程,并以1950年航空照片和1976年、1981年、1987年、2000年、2005年的MSS、TM和ETM+影像数据为主要数据源,用遥感和地理信息系统技术研究了近百年七里海古泻湖湿地的环境变化。结果表明,距今5000a,七里海地区为海相沉积环境,海岸线穿越宁河的潘庄镇、大海北、小海北一带;距今3800～3000a,海岸线退至造甲城、七里海镇一带;到清朝乾隆年间,七里海湿地逐渐被分割成前海、后海、曲里海3部分,湖底不断淤积,水面不断萎缩,逐渐演变为湖泊、沼泽湿地;1926～2005年间,七里海湿地大致经历了3个变化阶段:1926～1950年为自然变化阶段,七里海湿地的变化主要受自然因素的影响,该阶段七里海湿地仍由前海、后海、曲里海3部分组成;1951～1981年为改造治理阶段,七里海被潮白河拦腰截断,分为东、西七里海,后海被改造为农田;1982～2005年为围垦和水产养殖阶段,东、西七里海的大面积水域以及湿地周围的大片农田都被改建为养殖池,自然湿地在减少,人工湿地在不断增加,导致七里海湿地景观类型日趋单一,生物多样性明显减少。