Multiple time-scale modelling of the circulation in Torres Strait—Australia

Ocean circulation influences nearly all aspects of the marine ecosystem. This study describes the water circulation patterns on time scales from hours to years across Torres Strait and adjacent gulfs and seas, including the north of the Great Barrier Reef. The tridimensional circulation model incorporated realistic atmospheric and oceanographic forcing, including winds, waves, tides, and large-scale regional circulation taken from global model outputs. Simulations covered a hindcast period of 8 years (i.e. 01/03/1997–31/12/2004), allowing the tidal, seasonal, and interannual flow characteristics to be investigated. Results indicated that the most energetic current patterns in Torres Strait were strongly dominated by the barotropic tide and its spring-neap cycle. However, longer-term flow through the strait was mainly controlled by prevailing winds. A dominant westward drift developed in summer over the southeasterly trade winds season, which then weakened and reversed in winter over the northwesterly monsoon winds season. The seasonal flow through Torres Strait was strongly connected to the circulation in the north of the Great Barrier Reef, but showed little connectivity with the coastal circulation in the Gulf of Papua. Interannual variability in Torres Strait was highest during the monsoon period, reflecting variability in wind forcing including the timing of the monsoon. The characteristics of the circulation were also discussed in relation to fine sediment transport. Turbidity level in Torres Strait is expected to peak at the end of the monsoon, while it is likely to be at a low at the end of the trade season, eventually leading to a critically low bottom light level which constitutes a severe risk of seagrass dieback.     

From the pore scale to the lab scale: 3-D lab experiment and numerical simulation of drainage in heterogeneous porous media

A well-controlled 3-D experiment with pre-defined block heterogeneities is conducted, where neutron tomography is used to map 3-D water distribution after two successive drainage steps. The material and hydraulic properties of the two sands are first measured in the laboratory with multistep outflow experiments. Additionally, the pore structure of the sands is acquired by means of image analysis of synchrotron tomography data and the structure is used for pore-scale simulation of one- and two-phase flow with Lattice-Boltzmann methods. This gives us another set of material and hydraulic parameters of the sands. The two sets of hydraulic properties (from the lab scale and from the pore scale) are then used in numerical simulations of the 3-D experiment.     

On the fractal dimension of the fallout deposits: A case study of the 79 A.D. Plinian eruption at Mt. Vesuvius

We investigated the existence of a fractal law (power law) distribution of size pyroclastic fragments erupted during the fallout phase of the 79 A.D. Plinian eruption at Mt. Vesuvius. In particular, we performed a particle size distribution analysis on 18 white and grey pumice samples collected in six sites distributed in the SW sector of Mt. Vesuvius. Our measurements show that the fragmentation of samples in the investigated range (from 32 mm to 850 μm) follows a power law, guaranteeing the scale invariance of the process. The relationship frequency-size distribution of the fragments is verified independently from the nature (i.e., pumices and lithics) and stratigraphic height of the considered samples in the pyroclastic deposit. Therefore, the fractal fragmentation theory can be indicated for evaluating the relationship between the intensity of fragmentation (fractal dimension D) and eruption energy. In this way the apparent chaotic distribution of the particles in the fallout deposits hides a self-organized complexity revealed by the retrieved power law distribution. We further remark that a key aspect of our analysis is the founded evidence that the fractal dimension of the lithics is systematically greater than that of the pumices.     

中国大陆地区中强地震前加卸载响应比异常时间尺度的统计研究

加卸载响应比理论是近年来提出的地震预测方法。本文进行了加卸载响应比异常时间尺度的统计研究，其中包括中国大陆地区5．0～8．1级的部分中强地震共30个震例，并得出加卸载响应比异常的时间尺度与未来地震震级之间的拟合函数。结果表明，地震前加卸载响应比异常的时间尺度与未来地震的震级具有正变关系，即震级越高，地震前加卸载响应比异常的时间尺度越长。根据加卸载响应比异常的时间尺度与震级之间的关系可以估计未来地震的发震时间，同时，可以确定加卸载响应比时空扫描过程中时问长度的大小。     

Streamflow scaling properties: investigating characteristic scales from different statistical approaches

This paper studies the links between scaling properties of river flow time series by comparing the results of three techniques applied to an extended data set of 34 French discharge gauging stations. The three approaches used are based on different mathematical tools and hypotheses: (1) shape analysis of flood hydrographs; (2) a multifractal framework through spectral and moment analyses, and (3) flood frequency analysis through the fitting of flood duration frequency curves (QdF). The general aim is to test the hypothesis of scaling invariance of river flow and the shape invariance of the hydrographs, in order to investigate the link between scaling properties and flow dynamics. In particular, the coherence between different approaches widely used in the literature to describe these characteristics is evaluated through the estimation of parameters defining the range of time‐scales on which the scaling properties are valid. The results show that most of these timescale parameters are linked to the flow dynamics and suggest that the approaches applied are interrelated. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative hydrogeology – reference analysis of groundwater dynamics from neighbouring observation wells

ABSTRACT

Groundwater level fluctuations are caused by spatial and temporal superposition of processes within and outside the aquifer system. Most of the subsurface processes are usually observed on a small scale. Upscaling to the regional scale, as required for future climate change scenarios, is difficult due to data scarcity and increasing complexity. In contrast to the limited availability of system characteristics, high-resolution data records of groundwater hydrographs are more generally available. Exploiting the information contained in these records should thus be a priority for analysis of the chronical lack of data describing groundwater system characteristics. This study analyses the applicability of 63 indices derived from daily hydrographs to quantify different dynamics of groundwater levels in unconfined gravel aquifers from three groundwater regions (Bavaria, Germany). Based on the results of two different skill tests, the study aids index selection for different dynamic components of groundwater hydrographs.     

How persistent are hysteresis patterns between suspended sediment concentration and discharge at different timescales?

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to characterize the hysteresis of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) at different timescales for the Educational and Research Forest Watershed of Tarbiat Modares University, Iran. Hysteresis loops were developed between flow discharge and SSC using data for (i) the whole period, (ii) seasonal, (iii) monthly and (iv) storm-event timescales. The data were collected on an hourly basis at daily and storm-event scales from October 2007 to July 2008. The SSC hysteresis for all the events in the whole study period showed a clockwise pattern, with a flushing behaviour pointing to sudden changes in sediment sources. The results further reveal that the study watershed behaves differently from the viewpoint of hysteresis patterns, with different conditions of dilution and flushing between SSC and flow discharge at different timescales. These result from the complex varying effect of governing conditions on the watershed.     

Dynamic FE simulation of four‐story steel frame modeled by solid elements and its validation using results of full‐scale shake‐table test

Dynamic finite element analyses of a four‐story steel building frame modeled as a fine mesh of solid elements are performed using E‐Simulator, which is a parallel finite element analysis software package for precisely simulating collapse behaviors of civil and building structures. E‐Simulator is under development at the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED), Japan. A full‐scale shake‐table test for a four‐story frame was conducted using E‐Defense at NIED, which is the largest shaking table in the world. A mesh of the entire structure of a four‐story frame with approximately 19 million degrees of freedom is constructed using solid elements. The density of the mesh is determined by referring to the results of elastic–plastic buckling analyses of a column of the frame using meshes of different densities. Therefore, the analysis model of the frame is well verified. Seismic response analyses under 60, 100, and 115% excitations of the JR Takatori record of the 1995 Hyogoken‐Nanbu earthquake are performed. Note that the simulation does not reproduce the collapse under the 100% excitation of the Takatori record in the E‐Defense test. Therefore, simulations for the 115% case are also performed. The results obtained by E‐Simulator are compared with those obtained by the E‐Defense full‐scale test in order to validate the results obtained by E‐Simulator. The shear forces and interstory drift angles of the first story obtained by the simulation and the test are in good agreement. Both the response of the entire frame and the local deformation as a result of elastic–plastic buckling are simulated simultaneously using E‐Simulator. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimum design and application of non‐traditional tuned mass damper toward seismic response control with experimental test verification

A variant type of tuned mass damper (TMD) termed as ‘non‐traditional TMD (NTTMD)’ is recently proposed. Mainly focusing on the employment of TMD for seismic response control, especially for base‐isolated or high‐rise structures, this paper aims to derive design formulae of NTTMDs based on two methodologies with different targets. One is the fixed points theory with the performance index set as the maximum magnitude of the frequency response function of the relative displacement of the primary structure with respect to the ground acceleration, and the other is the stability maximization criterion (SMC) to make the free vibration of the primary structure decay in the minimum duration. Such optimally designed NTTMDs are compared with traditional TMDs by conducting both numerical simulations and experiments. The optimum‐designed NTTMDs are demonstrated to be more effective than the optimum‐designed traditional TMDs, with smaller stroke length required. In particular, the effectiveness of the TMDs combined with a base‐isolated structure is investigated by small‐scale model experimental tests subjected to a time scaled long period impulsive excitation, and it is demonstrated that the SMC‐based NTTMD can suppress structural free vibration responses in the minimum duration and requires much smaller accommodation space. Additionally, a small‐scale shaking table experiment on a high‐rise bending model attached with a SMC‐based NTTMD is conducted. This study indicates that NTTMD has a high potential to apply to seismic response control or retrofit of structures such as base‐isolated or central column‐integrated high‐rise structures even if only a limited space is available for accommodating TMDs. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Considering river structure and stability in the light of evolution: feedbacks between riparian vegetation and hydrogeomorphology

River ecological functioning can be conceptualized according to a four‐dimensional framework, based on the responses of aquatic and riparian communities to hydrogeomorphic constraints along the longitudinal, transverse, vertical and temporal dimensions of rivers. Contemporary riparian vegetation responds to river dynamics at ecological timescales, but riparian vegetation, in one form or another, has existed on Earth since at least the Middle Ordovician (c. 450 Ma) and has been a significant controlling factor on river geomorphology since the Late Silurian (c. 420 Ma). On such evolutionary timescales, plant adaptations to the fluvial environment and the subsequent effects of these adaptations on fluvial sediment and landform dynamics resulted in the emergence, from the Silurian to the Carboniferous, of a variety of contrasted fluvial biogeomorphic types where water flow, morphodynamics and vegetation interacted to different degrees. Here we identify several of these types and describe the consequences for biogeomorphic structure and stability (i.e. resistance and resilience), along the four river dimensions, of feedbacks between riparian plants and hydrogeomorphic processes on contrasting ecological and evolutionary timescales. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.