Monitoring of Over Cutting Area and Lubrication Distribution in a Large Slurry Pipe Jacking Operation

Slurry pipe jacking was firmly established as a special method for the non-disruptive construction of the underground pipelines of sewage systems. Pipe jacking, in its traditional form, has occasionally been used for short railways, roads, rivers, and other projects. Basically the system involves the pushing or thrusting of concrete pipes into the ground by a number of jacks. In slurry pipe jacking, during the pushing process, mud slurry and lubricant are injected into the face and the over cutting area that is between the concrete pipes and the surrounding soil. Next, the slurry fills voids and the soil stabilizes due to the created slurry cake around the pipes. Fillings also reduce the jacking force or thrust during operation. When the drivage and pushing processes are finished, a mortar injection into the over cutting area is carried out in order to maintain permanent stability of the surrounding soil and the over cutting area. Successful lubrication around the pipes is extremely important in a large diameter slurry pipe jacking operation. Control of lubrication and gaps between pipes and soil can prevent hazards such as surface settlement and increases in thrust. Also, to find voids around the pipes after the jacking process, in order to inject mortar for permanent stabilizing, an investigation around the pipes is necessary. To meet these aims, this paper is concerned with the utilization of known methods such as the GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) system and borehole camera to maintain control of the over cutting area and lubricant distribution around the pipes during a site investigation. From this point of view, experiments were carried out during a tunnel construction using one of the largest cases of slurry pipe jacking in Fujisawa city, Japan. The advantages and disadvantages of each system were clarified during the tests.     

Evapotranspiration from citrus trees growing in sandy soilunder drip irrigation with saline water

An experiment on evapotranspiration from citrus trees under irrigation with saline waterwas carried out for 4 months. Two lysimeters planted with a citrus tree in the green house wereused. One lysimeter was irrigated with saline water (NaCl and CaCl2 of 2000 mg/L equivalence,EC = 3.8 dS/m, SAR = 5.9) and the other was irrigated with freshwater using drip irrigation. Theapplied irrigation water was 1.2 times that of the evapotranspiration on the previous day.Evapotranspiration was calculated as the change in lysimeter weight recorded every 30 minutes.The lysimeters were filled with soil with 95.8% sand. The results of the experiment were as follows.(i) The evapotranspiration from citrus tree was reduced after irrigation with saline water. Theevapotranspiration returns to normal after leaching. However it takes months to exhaust the saltfrom the tree. ( ii ) To estimate the impact of irrigation with saline water on the evapotranspirationfrom citrus trees, the reduction coefficient due to salt stress (Ks) was used in this experiment.Evapotranspiration under irrigation with saline water (ETs) can be calculated from evapotranspira-tion under irrigation with freshwater (ET) by the equation ETs = Ks× ET. Ks can be expressed as afunction of ECsw. (iii) The critical soil-water electrical conductivity (ECsw) is 9.5 dS/m, beyondwhich adverse effects on evapotranspiration begin to appear. If ECsw can be controlled at below9.5 dS/m, saline water can be safely used for irrigation.     

Deep structure of the northeastern Japan arc and its implications for crustal deformation and shallow seismic activity

Seismic tomography studies in the northeastern Japan arc have revealed the existence of an inclined sheet-like seismic low-velocity and high-attenuation zone in the mantle wedge at depths shallower than about 150 km. This sheet-like low-velocity, high-attenuation zone is oriented sub-parallel to the subducted slab, and is considered to correspond to the upwelling flow portion of the subduction-induced convection. The low-velocity, high-attenuation zone reaches the Moho immediately beneath the volcanic front (or the Ou Backbone Range) running through the middle of the arc nearly parallel to the trench axis, which suggests that the volcanic front is formed by this hot upwelling flow. Aqueous fluids supplied by the subducted slab are probably transported upward through this upwelling flow to reach shallow levels beneath the Backbone Range where they are expelled from solidified magma and migrate further upward. The existence of aqueous fluids may weaken the surrounding crustal rocks, resulting in local contractive deformation and uplift along the Backbone Range under the compressional stress field of the volcanic arc. A strain-rate distribution map generated from GPS data reveals a notable concentration of east–west contraction along the Backbone Range, consistent with this interpretation. Shallow inland earthquakes are also concentrated in the upper crust of this locally large contraction deformation zone. Based on these observations, a simple model is proposed to explain the deformation pattern of the crust and the characteristic shallow seismic activity beneath the northeastern Japan arc.     

Environmental changes in Saginaw Bay,Lake Huron recorded by geolipid contents of sediments deposited since 1800

Changes in organic materials preserved within sediments of Saginaw Bay deposited over the past two centuries record corresponding periods in the environmental history of this part of Lake Huron and its watershed. Sediments deposited since 1940 show an increasingly greater input of aquatic organic matter in response to accelerating cultural eutrophication of Saginaw Bay. Concentrations of fatty acids, sterols, fatty alcohols, and aliphatic hydrocarbons are higher in these modern sediments than in deeper ones. Molecular distributions of these geolipids reflect less aquatic material deeper in the sediments. Prior to 1875, sediment organic matter appears to be diluted by mineral matter from enhanced erosion caused by clearing of the watershed for farming and settlement. During this period there is better preservation of carbonate minerals due to quicker burial. Since 1875, petroleum components comprise over 90% of the total aliphatic hydrocarbon content of these sediments, reflecting the advent and continued existence of chronic, low-level petroleum contamination of this part of the Great Lakes.     

冰尘结构特征及形成分析——以乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川为例

利用2007-2010年夏季在乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川采集的5个冰样, 对冰样中冰尘的特征、冰尘中蓝藻的种类及冰尘中无机矿物颗粒的粒度特征进行了分析研究. 研究表明: 冰尘为棕色球状聚合体, 粒径为0.27~3.5 mm, 分布在冰川消融区表面, 其组成成分为有机质、无机矿物颗粒和微生物. 冰尘有4种主要的内部结构: 类型Ⅰ, 具有同心层结构的冰尘;类型Ⅱ, 带有亚颗粒的冰尘;类型Ⅲ, 内部无明显结构的冰尘;类型Ⅳ, 中心位置处具有较大无机颗粒的冰尘. 冰尘中无机矿物颗粒的数量主要分布在d<3.5 μm的范围内, 且体积分布的粒径众数介于3~25 μm之间. 同时, 对冰尘中的蓝藻进行了16S rRNA基因序列的系统发育分析, 共从蓝藻16S rRNA基因文库中筛选了247个阳性克隆, RFLP分型得到10个不同的OTUs. BLAST比对, 系统发育分析将这10个OTUs归为颤藻目(Oscillatoriales)、色球藻目(Chroococcales)、未定种(Unclassified). 颤藻目为绝对优势类群, 占整个基因克隆文库的91%. 经估算, 冰尘中存在大量的有机物质和微生物, 无机矿物颗粒只占了很小的比例, 表明影响冰川消融区表面反照率的主要因素为冰尘中的有机部分, 包括有机物质和微生物.     

Climate disaster resilience of the education sector in Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam

Recognizing the importance of building disaster resilience for education sector, this study aims to develop a methodology to measure the level of educational resilience to cope with natural disasters and is then applied in Central Vietnam. The assessment tool in this paper is developed through a combination of climate disaster resilience indexes and the 16 tasks of Hyogo framework for action designed for education sector. It looks at five dimensions namely physical conditions, human resources, institutional issues, external relationships, and natural conditions, with each dimension characterized by three parameters and five variables. Findings from this study provide important insights into enhancing resilience of the education system in Thua Thien Hue at the provincial, local, and school levels. By giving the overall resilience situation, it can help policy-makers and practitioners in developing an effective plan to increase the level of educational resilience. In addition, it provides the School Management Board with a means to assess the school??s resilience level and set out priorities that need to be focused on with regard to the improvement of school safety and disaster risk reduction education.     

Application of a distributed erosion model for the assessment of spatial erosion patterns in the Lushi catchment,China

A grid-based erosion model is developed by integrating the distributed hydrological model, BTOPMC, with the modified USLE to estimate soil erosion and sediment outflow during single storms. The possible sheet, rill, channel erosion types, and sediment transport processes are considered within each grid under the model structure. Instead of representing the sheet erosion and rill erosion separately, the classic USLE method is modified to simulate the lumped sheet–rill erosion during storms. In the modification, the runoff ratio and a relevant correction coefficient are brought into the R-factor which improves the model’s applicability in predicting erosion during single storms. Instead of representing a grid with a unique erosion type, a channel component is assumed to exist in each grid, and its width varies with the upstream contributing area of the grid. This assumption avoids the problems that are caused by the difference between the channel widths in the upstream area and the downstream area if the grid is simply recognized as a channel grid. It also enables the model to be applicable in simulating soil erosion and sediment outflow from a large catchment. Through a case study in the Lushi catchment, China, the results show an overall satisfactory accuracy for the selected events. Moreover, by analyzing the spatial distribution of soil erosion or deposition, the erosion-prone areas are identified for the prioritization purpose.     

采用土工合成材料的新型护岸结构的动态数值模拟

固化土和土工格栅护岸工法（SG-WALL工法）是一种采用固化土和土工格栅加固港口护岸结构的新型工法。它的抗震性能已经通过一系列振动台试验得到了确认。为了能够数值再现SG-WALL结构在地震荷载作用下的动力反应,对SG-WALL结构的振动台试验进行了动态数值模拟研究。试验和模拟结果的对比表明,数值模拟方法能够再现SG-WALL结构在振动荷载作用下的主要动力特征。模拟结果还表明：固化土的长度对SG-WALL抗震性能起到重要的影响;土工格栅的最大拉应变发生在与排桩的连接处,并且沿着远离排桩的方向逐渐减小。     

Current Nature of the Kuroshio in the Vicinity of the Kii Peninsula

The Kuroshio flows very close to Cape Shionomisaki when it takes a straight path. The detailed observations of the Kuroshio were made both on board the R/V Seisui-maru of Mie University and on board the R/V Wakayama of the Wakayama Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station on June 11–14, 1996. It was confirmed that the current zone of the Kuroshio touches the coast and bottom slope just off Cape Shionomiaki, and that the coastal water to the east of the cape was completely separated from that to the west. The relatively high sea level difference between Kushimoto and Uragami could be caused by this separation of the coastal waters when the Kuroshio takes a straight path. This flow is rather curious, as the geostrophic flow, which has a barotropic nature and touches the bottom, would be constrained to follow bottom contours due to the vorticity conservation law. The reason why the Kuroshio leaves the bottom slope to the east of Cape Shionomisaki is attributed to the high curvature of the bottom contours there: if the current were to follow the contours, the centrifugal term in the equation of motion would become large and comparablee to the Coriolis (or pressure gradient) term, and the geostrophic balance would be destroyed. This creates a current-shadow zone just to the east of the cape. As the reason why the current zone of the Kuroshio intrudes into the coastal region to the west of the cape, it is suggested that the Kii Bifurcation Current off the southwest coast of the Kii Peninsula, which is usually found when the Kuroshio takes the straight path, has the effect of drawing the Kuroshio water into the coastal region. The sea level difference between Kushimoto and Uragami is often used to monitor the flow pattern of the Kuroshio near the Kii Peninsula. It should be noted that Uragami is located in the current shadow zone, while Kushimoto lies in the region where the offshore Kuroshio water intrudes into the coastal region. The resulting large sea level difference indicates that the Kuroshio is flowing along the straight path.