Geotechnical and geoenvironmental characteristics of man-made underground structures in Cappadocia, Turkey

Underground cities and semi-underground settlements, most of which are 1500 years at least, exist in the Cappadocia Region of Turkey. These man-made rock structures are carved in soft tuffs and the best examples of long-term performance of man-made structures in the field of rock engineering. The tuffs also have good thermal isolation properties to be used as housing and storage of foods. In this article, the authors are only concerned with physical and short-term mechanical characteristics due to the wide-spectrum of the theme and the in situ characterization of the Cappadocia tuffs, and the results of investigations are presented. In addition, a critical overview on possible engineering geological problems at Cappadocia with mechanical aspects of historical and modern rock structures and their implications in rock engineering is made. From the experimental results in the field, it is evident that the engineering characteristics of these rocks do not show significant changes in vertical and horizontal directions. However, they are prone to atmospheric conditions. In addition, temperature and humidity measurements at different floors of the underground cities and various parts of semi-underground settlements indicated that variations in climatic conditions of the openings are very small when compared to those outside the ground surface.     

Laser microprobe for the study of noble gases and nitrogen in single grains: A case study of individual chondrules from the Dhajala meteorite

A laser microprobe capable of analysing nitrogen and noble gases in individual grains with masses less than a milligram is described. It can be used in both continuous wave (CW) mode, useful for stepwise heating of an individual grain, as well as in pulsed mode, useful for ablating material from a small selected area of a sample, for gas extraction. We could achieve low blanks (in ccSTP units) for 4He(4.8 x 10{-12}),²²Ne(1.0 x 10{-12}),³⁶Ar(1.0 x10 ^-13),⁸⁴Kr(2.9 x 10{-14}),¹³² Xe(2.6 x 10{-14}), and N (87 pg), using this system. Preliminary data for individual chondrules from the Dhajala meteorite show that noble gases and nitrogen from grains as small as 170 microgram can be analysed using the present laser microprobe setup. The amount of trapped neon in Dhajala chondrules is very small, and nitrogen in the chondrules is isotopically heavier as compared to the bulk meteorite.     

Geomechanical Properties of Shear Zones in the Eastern Aar Massif,Switzerland and their Implication on Tunnelling

Summary ¶Rock zones containing a high fracture density and/or soft, low cohesion materials can be highly problematic when encountered during tunnel excavation. For example in the eastern Aar massif of central Switzerland, experiences during the construction of the Gotthard highway tunnel showed that heavily fractured areas within shear zones were responsible for overbreaks in the form of chimneys several metres in height. To understand and estimate the impact of the shear zones on rock mass behaviour, knowledge concerning the rock mass strength and deformation characteristics is fundamental. A series of laboratory triaxial tests, performed on samples from granite- and gneiss-hosted shear zones revealed that with increasing degree of tectonic overprint, sample strength decreases and rock behaviour shows a transition from brittle to ductile deformation. These trends may be explained by increasing fracture densities, increasing foliation intensity, increasing thickness of fine-grained, low cohesion fracture infill, and increasing mica content associated with the increasing degree of tectonic overprint. As fracture density increases and the influence of discrete, persistent discontinuities on rock mass strength decreases, behaviour of the test samples becomes more and more representative of rock mass behaviour, i.e. that of a densely fractured continuum. For the purpose of numerical modeling calculations, the shear zones may be subdivided with respect to an increasing fracture density, foliation intensity and mica content into a strongly foliated zone, a fractured zone and a cohesionless zone, which in turn exhibit brittle, brittle-ductile and ductile rock mass constitutive behaviour, respectively.Received December 17, 2001; accepted January 9, 2003 Published online April 29, 2003     

Compositional Geometry and Mass Conservation

A geometrical structure is imposed on compositional data by physical and chemical laws, principally mass conservation. Therefore, statistical or mathematical investigation of possible relations between data values and such laws must be consistent with this structure. This demands that geometrical concepts, such as points that specify both mass and composition in linear space, and lines in projective space that specify composition only, be clearly defined and consistent with mass conservation. Mass thus becomes the norm in composition space in place of the Euclidean norm of ordinary space. Coordinate transformations inconsistent with this geometry are accordingly unnatural and misleading. They are also unnecessary because correlation arising from the constant mass presents no unusual difficulty in the analysis of the underlying quadratic form.     

岩体变形模量的尺寸效应

岩土工程中,现场岩体的承压板试验和变形试验可看作是不同尺寸岩体的变形试验。在某工程的现场岩石力学试验中,对同一组试点的岩体先后进行了承压板变形试验和承载力试验,研究了岩体变形模量的尺寸效应,结果表明,岩体变形模量主要受岩体中的裂隙发育状况控制,当岩体质量较好时,可以由承载力试验曲线来确定岩体的变形特性,这一做法具有一举两得的效果。     

宜兴抽水蓄能电站试验洞的反分析研究

结合江苏宜兴抽水蓄能电站地下厂房试验洞量测资料的分析,研究了成层各向异性岩体中洞室工程问题的反分析方法。采用分层均质模型进行反分析计算。计算区域的各层岩层均被分别视为均质各向同性体,初始地应力假设呈线性分布。有限元分析中,对倾斜成层的岩层、软弱夹层及断层节理等分别划分了单元,据以模拟成层岩体的各向异性特征。为使计算过程简化,对离洞室较远的岩层拟按地质资料对材料特性参数赋值,反分析计算的目标未知数为初始地应力和试验洞相邻围岩的弹性模量。结果表明,与工程实践符合较好。     

柯树背岩体的副矿物特征及地质意义

本文详细研究了柯树背岩体的岩石学及副矿物学特征，研究发现F9大断裂以西部分(西体)与F9大断裂以东部分(东体)在岩性、矿物组成、副矿物特征、锆石群型特征上存在很大差别，副矿物特征、锆石群型特征指示东体与寨背岩体类似，为同熔系列花岗岩；西体为重熔再生岩浆成因的改造型花岗岩。这一认识对于该区的铀金找矿具有一定的指导意义。     

MTMD对建筑结构多模态控制的减震分析

本文研究了MTMD对建筑结构多模态减震控制。将主结构简化为多自由度模型，MTMD对结构的反力与地震荷载共同作为结构的荷载输入进行分析；基于主结构多模态耦合进行推导分析，阐述了MTMD与结构之间的相互作用关系，提出MTMD的复惯性质量。提出MTMD的控制类型是加速度相关型的无源被动控制。从频域传递函数，白噪声、宽带和窄带地震激励下的结构相对位移和绝对加速度谱密度，以及El-centro地震波作用下结构的地震响应三个方面，分析了MTMD对顶部带有结构附属物的结构的控制效果。并且给出TMD的控制效果加以比较验证。算例说明MTMD多模态控制对结构的相对位移和绝对加速度均有较好的控制效果，并且优于TMD控制效果。     

数字遥测地震台网数据管理与服务系统(MASS系统)的系统方案

介绍了基于Internet／Intranet标准的数字遥测地震台网数据管理与服务系统(MASS系统)通过互联网信息发布实现的方案。该方案采用Windows2000server和ⅡS5．0平台，利用ASP技术和脚本语言JavaScript，VbScript及HTML技术，响应浏览器端的动态请求，实现诸如数据管理、数据服务和在线评比等功能，并根据用户请求完成波形数据和相应处理软件的下载。     

辽东地区连山关岩体锆石U-Pb一致线年龄特征及其意义

本文以连山关花岗岩体为例，指出该区古老花岗岩体2种锆石可以作出3组U-Pb一致线交点年龄，分析了这3组年龄间的相互关系及其所代表的意义，并提出一种可能求出岩体上限年龄的方法。