Reliability assessment of granular filters in embankment dams

Empirical criteria have been used successfully to design filters of most embankment large dam projects throughout the world. However, these empirical rules are only applicable to a particular range of soils tested in laboratory and do not take into account the variability of the base material and filter particle sizes. In addition, it is widely accepted that the safety of fill dams is mainly dependent on the reliability of their filter performance. The work herein presented consists in a new general method for assessing the probability of fulfilling any empirical filter design criteria accounting for base and filter heterogeneity by means of first‐order reliability methods (FORM), so that reliability indexes and probabilities of fulfilling any particular criteria are obtained. This method will allow engineers to estimate the safety of existing filters in terms of probability of fulfilling their design criteria and might also be used as a decision tool on sampling needs and material size tolerances during construction. In addition, sensitivity analysis makes possible to analyse how reliabilities are influenced by different sources of input data. Finally, in case of a portfolio risk assessment, this method will allow engineers to compare the safety of several existing dams in order to prioritize safety investments and it is expected to be a very useful tool to evaluate probabilities of failure due to internal erosion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rodent paleofaunas as indicators of climatic change in Europe during the last 125,000 years

This paper presents a quantitative reconstruction of the European late Pleistocene paleoclimate based on 72 rodent assemblages of five sequences from France, Germany and Bulgaria, covering the last interglacial-glacial cycle. They show a pattern of severe changes in temperature, with reduced precipitation during the coldest periods. A tentative correlation between the isotopic and palynological records and the paleotemperature changes is shown. These changes are consistent with variations in atmospheric circulation patterns in response to an expanding-retracting Fennoscandian ice-sheet. They can be attributed to the enhancement-weakening of the Scandinavian-Polar anticyclone and its associated dry winds, the south-north shifting of the North Atlantic Polar Front, and the varying supply of moist air from the Atlantic. Qualitative paleoenvironmental analysis shows broadleaved-deciduous forests in France and Bulgaria during most of the studied period. Taiga and tundra appeared in eastern France during the lower Würm. The German sequence indicates the presence of coniferous forests. These results are broadly consistent with other paleobiological records (mammalian, avian and insect faunas, isotopic record in dental tissue, palynology). The main discrepancies with the paleoclimate inferred from the palynological record are found during the coldest periods and are probably due to the interaction between vegetation, climate, and atmospheric CO₂ levels.     

The impact of hydrological changes on travertine deposits related to thermal springs in the Pamukkale area (SW Turkey)

Pamukkale thermal waters (35 °C), exhibiting calcium-bicarbonate-sulfate composition and high carbon dioxide concentration, are of a predominantly meteoric origin. The meteoric fluid, circulating through faults and fractures, is heated by magmatic intrusions at great depth, and ascends from deep reservoirs to the surface. Mixing with relatively cold groundwater in the near surface zone promotes different saturation conditions with respect to calcium carbonate that later precipitates at depth and/or the surface. Dissolution-deposition processes of calcium carbonate both at surface and depth environments may help to reconstruct past climate direction in the field. During wet climate conditions a high-rate of calcium carbonate accumulation would be expected to occur at the surface because thermal fluid would be under-saturated with respect to calcium carbonate at depth because of a relatively higher mixing ratio with cold groundwater. During dry climate conditions the thermal fluid would be super-saturated at depth because of the highly acidic environment. Hydrometeorological studies reveal that the annual precipitation at the Pamukkale hydrothermal field tends to decrease with time. This climatic change in the area was also detected from geological records. While humid climate conditions prevailed during the late Quaternary, the area has recently been affected by arid/semi-arid climate conditions, followed by some episodic transitions. This study has shown how the system has possibly reacted to different climate conditions since antiquity.     

On Mid-Term Periodicities in Sunspot Groups and Flare Index

In this work we study the mid-term periodicities (MTPs), between 1 and 2 years, of the sunspot groups and the flare index (FI), by separating the data into hemispheres and spectral bands (SBs) according to the most significant periodicities presented by these phenomena. We found that the MTP of sunspot groups has a diminished power during the Modern Minimum and an increased power during the Modern Maximum, with the exception of cycle 20. For flares, the MTP has a diminished power during the low activity cycle 20, and an increased power during cycles 21 and 22. Therefore, for both sunspot groups and FI, cycle 20 shows a very diminished power followed by the active and higher-power cycles 21 and 22; cycle 23 shows a weaker power than cycles 21 and 22. It is uncertain whether MTP can be a precursor of a long-term minimum of solar activity or not, as has been previously suggested. Also, there is no one-to-one correlation between the cycle intensity and the importance of MTP. Concerning the quasi-biennial periodicities and the theory of two kinds of dynamos, we notice the tendency that higher-power cycles mean weaker coupling in the model. Concerning the hemispheric north-south asymmetry, for sunspot groups the southern hemisphere dominates in most of the SBs, while for FI the northern hemisphere dominates for all the SBs. Additionally, the time lag found between the two hemispheres indicates that the degrees of coupling in the photosphere for sunspot groups and in the corona for flares are between moderate and strong. Finally, the modulation shown by the MTP time series suggests that these periodicities are the product of chaotic quasi-periodic processes and not of stochastic processes.     

Diet of Phycis blennoides (Gadidae) in Relation to Fish Size and Season in the Western Mediterranean (Spain)

Abstract. Despite its commercial value, little is known about the feeding ecology of the greater forkbeard, Phycis blennoides (Brünnich 1768). The stomach contents of 2631 greater forkbeard were taken at monthly intervals off the coast of the Gulf of Valencia (western Mediterranean). They were examined in order to assess the diet and to determine the fish size- and season-related dietary variation of the species. Prey items were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. The basic food consisted of epibenthic species, mostly Decapoda, Mysidacea and Teleostei. A change in food composition based on fish size was observed and seasonal variation in diet was also recorded. The food overlap analysis indicated a high convergence in diet among similar size groups.     

Effect of galvanic distortions on the series and parallel magnetotelluric impedances and comparison with other responses

The series and parallel impedances of the magnetotelluric tensor are appraised in relation to their relative immunity to galvanic electric distortions. The distorted responses are modeled using the Groom-Bailey decomposition of the tensor in terms of twist, shear, statics and strike direction. These four parameters and the undistorted responses are normally considered as unknowns, and are obtained from field data through the solution of an inverse problem. In the present work we use the decomposition as a forward model to simulate distorted sounding curves. Starting with undistorted 2-d te and tm responses, the tensor is distorted by assuming arbitrary values of twist, shear, static and strike direction. By default, both series and parallel responses are immune to the strike direction because they are invariants under rotation. In addition, series responses are immune to twist and shear and parallel responses only to twist. The dependence of the latter on shear is in the form of a real factor that shifts downwards the amplitude curves. On the other hand, the effect of statics on both series and parallel responses is more complicated than that on the impedance tensor because it cannot be accounted for by a simple shift of the curves. On the whole, there is a positive balance on the part of the series and parallel impedances over the te and tm responses because some of the distortions are filtered out by the invariants. It is shown that invariance is not sufficient to be immune to any of the distortions. The example chosen is Eggers’ eigenvalues, which are immune only to the by-the-fault strike direction. Invariance is not necessary either, as evidenced by the phase tensor, whose elements depend on strike but are immune to all distortions. The derivations are illustrated using soundings from the synthetic coprod2s1 and field-recorded coprod2 and bc87 data sets.     

Influence of upwelling and river runoff interaction on phytoplankton assemblages in a Middle Galician Ria and Comparison with northern and southern rias (NW Iberian Peninsula)

The first oceanographic research (hydrography, nutrient salts, chlorophyll, primary production and phytoplankton assemblages) in a Middle Galician Ria was carried out in Corme-Laxe during 2001, just a year before the Prestige oil spill, being the only reference to evaluate eventual changes in the phytoplankton community. Due to the small size of this ria (6.5 km²), oceanographic processes were driven by the continental water supplied by Anllons River during the wet season (20–30 m³ s⁻¹ in winter), and the strong oceanic influence from the nearby shelf during the dry season. The annual cycle showed a spring bloom with high levels of chlorophyll (up to 14 μg Chl-a L⁻¹) and primary production (3 g C m⁻² d⁻¹) and a summer upwelling bloom (up to 8 μg Chl-a L⁻¹ and 10 g C m⁻² d⁻¹) where the proximity of the Galician upwelling core (<13.5 °C at sea surface) favors the input of upwelled seawater (up to 9 μM of nitrate and silicate) to the bottom ria layer, even during summer stratification events (primary production around 2 g C m⁻² d⁻¹). Thus, phytoplankton assemblages form a “continuum” from spring to autumn with a predominance of diatoms and overlapping species between consecutive periods; only in autumn dinoflagellates and flagellates characterized the phytoplankton community. In the Middle Rias as Corme-Laxe, the nutrient values, Chl-a, primary production and phytoplankton abundance for productive periods were higher than those reported for the Northern (Ria of A Coruña) and Southern Rias (Ria of Arousa) for year 2001; this suggests the importance of the hydrographic events occurring in the zone of maximum upwelling intensity of the Western Iberian Shelf, where a lack of annual cycles studies exists.     

Morphometric and molecular data on two mitochondrial genes of a newly discovered chimaeran fish (Hydrolagus melanophasma, Chondrichthyes)

Fresh and preserved (type material) specimens of the black ghost chimaera Hydrolagus melanophasma were compared for morphometric characteristics. A molecular comparison was also performed on two mitochondrial gene sequences (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA gene sequences). While significant differences in measurements were found, the differences were not attributable to sexual dimorphism or the quality of the specimens, but to the sample size and the type of statistical tests. The result of the genetic characterization showed that 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes represented robust molecular markers that characterized the species.