Topographically moderated soil water seasons impact vegetation dynamics in semiarid mountain catchments: Illustrations from the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed,Idaho, USA

Water stored in soils, in part, controls vegetation productivity and the duration of growing seasons in wildland ecosystems. Soil water is the dynamic product of precipitation, evapotranspiration and soil properties, all of which vary across complex terrain making it challenging to decipher the specific controls that soil water has on growing season dynamics. We assess how soil water use by plants varies across elevations and aspects in the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed in southwest Idaho, USA, a mountainous, semiarid catchment that spans low elevation rain to high elevation snow regimes. We compare trends in soil water and soil temperature with corresponding trends in insolation, precipitation and vegetation productivity, and we observe trends in the timing, rate and duration of soil water extraction by plants across ranges in elevation and aspect. The initiation of growth-supporting conditions, indicated by soil warming, occurs 58 days earlier at lower, compared with higher, elevations. However, growth-supporting conditions also end earlier at lower elevations due to the onset of soil water depletion 29 days earlier than at higher elevations. A corresponding shift in peak NDVI timing occurs 61 days earlier at lower elevations. Differences in timing also occur with aspect, with most threshold timings varying by 14–30 days for paired north- and south-facing sites at similar elevations. While net primary productivity nearly doubles at higher elevations, the duration of the warm-wet period of active water use does not vary systematically with elevation. Instead, the greater ecosystem productivity is related to increased soil water storage capacity, which supports faster soil water use and growth rates near the summer solstice and peak insolation. Larger soil water storage does not appear to extend the duration of the growing season, but rather supports higher growing season intensity when wet-warm soil conditions align with high insolation. These observations highlight the influence of soil water storage capacity in dictating ecological function in these semiarid steppe climatic regimes.     

Limiting equilibrium method for slope/drilled shaft system

The use of drilled shafts to stabilize an unstable slope has been a widely accepted practice. There are two basic design and analysis issues involved: one is to determine the global factor of safety of the drilled shafts stabilized slope and the other one is to determine the design earth thrust on the drilled shafts for structural design of the shafts. In this paper, a limiting equilibrium method of slices based solution for calculating global factor of safety (FS) of a slope with the presence of a row of drilled shafts is developed. The arching mechanisms due to the presence of the drilled shafts on slope were taken into account by a load transfer factor. The method for calculating the net force applied to the drilled shaft from the soil mass was also developed. The interrelationships among the drilled shaft location on the slope, the load transfer factor, and the global FS of the slope/shaft system were derived utilizing the developed numerical closed‐form solution. An illustrative example is presented to elucidate the use of the solution in optimizing the location of the drilled shafts on slope to achieve the desired global factor of safety of the slope/shaft system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Streambank dewatering for increased stability

Streambank erosion is often the dominant source of sediment leaving modified watersheds. Mass failure of high, steep banks is one of the most serious forms of streambank erosion. The risk of a given bank experiencing mass failure is a function of bank height, angle, and soil strength, which is governed by soil moisture. Two methods for bank dewatering were tested in adjacent sections of streambank bordering a deeply incised channel in northern Mississippi: a low‐cost pump system and subsurface horizontal drains. Pore water pressures (both positive and negative pressures, or matric suction) were continuously monitored for 2 years at the pumped site, at an adjacent untreated control section, and for 1 year at the site stabilized with horizontal drains. Resulting data were used to calculate a time series of the factor of safety using a computer model. Over the course of two wet seasons, average bank retreats for the control and pumped plots were 0·43 and 0·21 m, respectively. More limited monitoring revealed that the site with passive drains retreated about 0·23 m. At the pumped site pore water pressure was 3–4 kPa lower than at the control site during the most critical periods. Accordingly, computed factors of safety were above the failure threshold at the pumped site, but fell below unity at the control site on 11 occasions over the period of observation. Similarly, the drained site displayed generally lower pore water pressure and higher safety factors except for two events when drains were evidently overwhelmed with the volume of local surface and subsurface flows. These results suggest, but do not prove, that bank dewatering promoted lower rates of bank retreat and higher levels of stability since the three sites had slight differences in soils, geometry and boundary conditions. Initial cost of the dewatering treatments were significantly less than orthodox bank stabilization measures, but operation and maintenance requirements may be greater. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

斜坡破坏过程的断裂力学分析

本文运用断裂力学的原理和方法,分析了斜坡破坏过程中后缘开裂、滑动面的形成和结构面连通的机理,以及破坏中所遵循的轨迹。通过模拟实验、数值分析和应用,证明断裂力学方法是一种分析斜坡破坏机理的有效方法。     

一种自适应的坡度阈值地面点云分割方法

针对城市道路斜坡地形场景中地面欠分割或过分割的问题,提出了一种自适应的激光雷达地面分割算法。首先将激光点云按照水平角度分辨率进行有序组织,然后求取同一水平角度下前后扫描圈间激光点云的距离和局部坡度,最后采用自适应水平距离、局部高度和全局高度阈值区分地面点和非地面点。结合40线激光雷达进行多场景实例分析,结果表明本文算法分割的准确率更高,处理每帧数据均用时约1ms,满足无人驾驶汽车的实时性需求。提出了一种自适应的激光雷达地面分割算法,实现了对激光雷达地面点云的准确分割。     

特殊建筑物雷击截收面积计算

从计算雷击截收面积的逻辑关系出发,以斜坡类建筑和圆顶形建筑两类特殊建筑为例,通过建立相关模型和数学公式,分析计算应从何位置按照何扩大宽度往外偏移能准确地求出截收面积。对于单檐斜坡类建筑、重檐建筑或古塔,根据房檐到屋脊（塔尖）的水平距离和垂直距离的关系,判断出应该按房檐还是屋脊（塔尖）偏移。对于圆顶形或椭圆顶形建筑,利用建筑屋顶的数学公式,建立了到圆心中轴线距离的数学公式,并对其求导数,得到了导数为0时点的横、纵坐标,此点即为偏移点位置,同时得到了对应的扩大宽度。利用AutoCAD偏移及求面积命令得到截收面积,为防雷设计及雷电灾害风险评估中雷击截收面积的准确计算提供参考。     

Macrobenthic polychaete assemblages of the continental shelf and upper slope off the west coast of the South Island,New Zealand

Polychaete assemblages are described from replicate box‐core samples collected in summer 1983 at 18 stations on the continental shelf and upper slope (28–943 m) off the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand, south‐eastern Tasman Sea (c. 41–43°S, 169–172°E). Three main station groupings were identified by multivariate analysis: (1) inner shelf sandy stations characterised by Prionospio australiensis, Aricidea (Acesta) sp., Magelona cf. dakini, Paraprionospio aff. pinnata, Aglaophamus sp., Heteromastus filiformis, and Magelona sp.; (2) middle to outer shelf muddy stations characterised by Levinsenia cf. gracilis, Prionospio australiensis, Paraprionospio coora, Aglaophamus verrilli, and Auchenoplax mesos; and (3) upper slope sandy mud or mud stations characterised by Prionospio ehlersi. A combination of water depth and sediment clay content provided the best correlation with the biotic pattern. Spionidae was the most abundant family (49% of polychaete individuals), which may reflect the scope for opportunistic species in a shelf environment characterised by a high input of terrigenous sediment and episodic upwelling.     

贵阳某些表层岩溶基坑边坡局部失稳机理分析

随着建设活动的日益频繁以及建筑范围的扩大,局部表层岩溶被揭露,出现不同于基坑整体失稳的局部岩溶充填物的失稳现象,此失稳现象往往和地下岩溶水相联系,因为处于局部,不能引起设计人员的重视,在沟槽中岩溶水动力的作用下失稳,可能产生较大的工程问题。     

深厚覆盖层上高土石坝极限抗震能力分析

针对强震区深厚覆盖层上高土石坝的特点,在三维真非线性有效应力地震反应分析基础上,提出了一套深厚覆盖层上高土石坝极限抗震能力的研究方法。从稳定、变形、防渗体安全等方面,对建在深厚覆盖层上的长河坝高心墙堆石坝的极限抗震能力进行了研究和分析。根据坝坡稳定性、地震残余变形、液化可能性、单元抗震安全性、防渗心墙及坝基防渗墙安全等多角度的评价结果,初步认为,长河坝的极限抗震能力为0.50～0.55g。     

杨房沟坝址高边坡工程地质特征及稳定性评价

为掌握杨房沟坝址高边坡稳定性情况及治理措施,采用现场调查及室内分析计算方法对河谷高边坡岩体工程地质特征及稳定性展开了全面研究。得出以下结论:高边坡花岗闪长岩可划分为块状、次块状及镶嵌结构等类型;边坡岩体质量从坡面向内分别为Ⅲ2、Ⅲ1、Ⅱ类,Ⅳ类岩体很少;天然边坡存在松动张裂、楔形体滑动及崩塌等破坏形式,控制性结构面为顺河向卸荷裂隙;从河谷演化角度通过数值模拟方法分析现今边坡应力分布、塑性区范围、变形规律及总体稳定性,认为坝址区天然边坡整体稳定性较好,降雨或地震等不利条件边坡可能存在浅部块体滑移失稳。