Influence of a permeable sand layer on the mechanism of backward erosion piping using 3D pipe depth measurements

Backward erosion piping (BEP) poses a threat to the stability of water-retaining structures. This can lead to severe erosion and collapse of embankments. A novel economically appealing measure against BEP is the coarse sand barrier (CSB). The CSB is a trench filled with coarse sand that is placed below the blanket layer on the landward side of the embankment, which prevents the pipe from developing upstream when it encounters the CSB. Inclusion of a CSB creates a vertically layered sand, which is the situation that can also exist in practice but is different from traditional BEP tests with one homogeneous sand. This paper presents new observations and measurements in medium-scale laboratory tests. 3D measurements of the pipe depth and dimensions are presented and analysed. This analysis indicates how the pipe dimensions evolve during the piping process and shows the erosion mechanism for BEP in vertically layered sands. The findings demonstrate the significance of three-dimensional study of the pipe rather than two dimensions. The pipe depth, width and depth-to-width ratios at the pipe tip in critical erosion stages are measured and presented. In the presented tests, two different erosion behaviours (stepwise pipe progression until failure and straight failure) are found and analysed with respect to possible influential parameters. Higher head drops and flow rates are found in tests with straight failure at the stage before progression. A linear relationship between the hydraulic conductivity contrast (k_c) and the critical head drops (h_c) is found and observations are used to investigate deviations from the line.

     

8000-year history of palaeoproductivity in a large boreal lake

An 8000-year record of palaeoproductivity, based on the chemical and chironomid stratigraphies from Lake Päijänne, S. Finland, was assessed with respect to known morphometric, climatic and anthropogenic events. A gradual trend of dystrophication and an associated decrease in aquatic production was detected during the Holocene, with the following exceptions: (1) high diatom and chironomid production around 8000-6000 cal yr BP, (2) eutrophication around 2000 cal yr BP, and (3) an anthropogenic signal during the last few decades.The changes in chironomid assemblages, before the past few decades, have mainly been shifts in concentration, but not in species composition. Variation in chironomid production was mainly explained by the accumulations of biogenic silicon, carbon and organic matter. Nutrient availability seems to be important in controlling biogenic silicon, which we use to infer past diatom production. The high production ca. 8000-6000 cal yr BP and the fluctuation in chironomid influx after ca. 2000 cal yr BP, however, were probably caused by the proposed warm/dry and cold/wet conditions during these times, respectively. These results highlight the sensitivity of boreal shield lake ecosystems to climatic forcing. In contrast, the pronounced change in the morphometry of the basin around 7000 cal yr BP had little effect on the trophic state of the lake. The human-induced trophic change during the past few decades has affected the Lake Päijänne ecosystem to an extent never experienced before during the last 8000-years.     

Analysis of development and depth of backward erosion pipes in the presence of a coarse sand barrier

Backward erosion piping (BEP) is a failure mechanism that can affect the safety of water-retaining structures. It can occur when a local anomaly on the downstream side of an embankment causes a concentration of seepage flow at that location. Shallow pipes may then form, progressing in the upstream direction and leading to a collapse of the water-retaining structure. A novel and economically appealing measure against BEP is the coarse sand barrier (CSB), which is now being developed in a multiscale experimental programme in the Netherlands. The method involves placing a trench filled with coarse sand below the blanket layer on the downstream side of the embankment. The CSB prevents the upstream progression of the pipe and significantly enhances resistance to BEP. This paper presents medium-scale laboratory tests involving a range of sands, barrier depths and relative densities. The piping process and the observations of pipe progression in the presence of a CSB are presented, followed by a conceptual model. The presence of a CSB changed the erosion pattern. It resulted in pipe formation perpendicular to the flow direction over the entire width of the barrier before the barrier was damaged. The findings also demonstrate the effect of material properties on pipe initiation, progression and pipe depth. Measurements of the pipe depth are presented and analysed, revealing the significance of pipe depth for understanding the piping process. This analysis shows considerable erosion in the downstream background sand and demonstrates that erosion profiles and measured pipe depths are significantly larger than in BEP tests without a CSB.

     

High-Energy 3He-Rich Solar Particle Events

Energetic particle observations of the ERNE instrument on board SOHO enable measurements of ³He and ⁴He fluxes beyond 15 MeV nucleon^–1 with good statistical resolution. We report results of a survey of the ERNE observations covering the period from 8 February 1999 to 6 December 2000. We find 10 and 5 days during which the ³He-to-⁴He ratio exceeds the levels of 20% and 50%, respectively. Those periods include, in particular, four ³He-rich events that are sufficiently strong for a reasonably accurate estimate of the time-intensity profiles. We analyze the history of solar and interplanetary phenomena associated with these high-energy ³He-rich events. Basic properties of such events and significant solar and interplanetary factors are formulated. The significant factors comprise, in particular, a strong, impulsive flare, typically observed about day before the ³He onset, and an interplanetary shock wave or magnetic field enhancement arriving at 1 AU about frac43 day after the ³He onset. The high-energy ³He-rich events make up a new kind of hybrid events, possessing the impulsive-type composition and the gradual-type time-profiles. We emphasize a dependence of the resultant particle event on the history of the particular solar eruption comprising coronal mass ejection (CME) and the flare associated with the CME.     

The effect of relative density on the response of sand to internal fluidization

Acta Geotechnica - Fluidization, in the geotechnical engineering context, is a failure mechanism that can occur during piping, leakage in distribution pipes or leakage through the sheet pile walls...