Computerized streamflow measurement using slug injection

Using current meters to estimate flows in fast mountain streams is difficult and inaccurate. The salt dilution method offers an easier and more accurate alternative. The method has been used for many years but is time consuming and messy because of the need to mix chemical solutions and measure chemical concentrations in the field. A computer program has been developed which uses a laptop computer to calculate the mixing length and the mass of salt needed. The program controls the conductivity measurements and calculates the streamflow directly in the field. The development of this program is described and examples are presented of the application of the method in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and British Columbia.     

Temperature dependence of large-scale water-retention curves: a case study

A local-scale model for temperature-dependence of water-retention curves may be applicable to large scales. Consideration of this temperature dependence is important for modeling unsaturated flow and transport in the subsurface in numerous cases. Although significant progress has been made in understanding and modeling this temperature effect, almost all the previous studies have been limited to small scales (on the order of several centimeters). Numerical experiments were used to investigate the possibility of extending a local-scale model for the temperature-dependence of water retention curves to large scales (on the order of meters). Temperature effects on large-scale hydraulic properties are of interest in many practical applications. Numerical experiment results indicate that the local-scale model can indeed be applicable to large-scale problems for special porous media with high air entry values. A typical porous medium of this kind is the porous tuff matrix in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed geologic disposal site for national high-level nuclear wastes. Whether this finding can approximately hold for general cases needs to be investigated in future studies.     

西安翠华山山崩地质遗迹资源保护

文论述了西安翠华山山崩地质遗迹资源保护的目的，进行了保护分区，将其分为核心保护区、缓冲区和视域保护区三个区，重点分析了核心保护区的保护现状，并在此基础上提出了相应的保护内容和对策，以实现山崩地质遗迹资源的可持续利用和发展。     

新疆天山地区地貌分形与多重分形特征研究

利用投影覆盖法和投影覆盖概率对新疆天山地区不同构造地貌类型进行了分形与多重分形特征的研究。结果表明：在所研究的标度范围内，不同地貌区均表现出明显的多度域分形，分维值总体上呈现出高山区＞中低山区＞盆地区特点，多重分形谱Dq的形态和值域范围也表现出不同特征。研究认为，地貌表面的分维值与地貌形成的内外力地质作用方式和强度密切相关，并提出5-6km的尺度可作为地貌学研究中宏观与微观作用的分界点。     

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NIUSHOU MOUNTAIN AND ITS GEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE IN CENTRAL NINGXIA

There are many thrust-related structures occurring in the Paleozoic strata of the Niushou Mountain in the central part of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The fault-related folds are the typical structures in this area. Based on the analysis about these structures and their relationships, the processes by which these structures of the Miboshan Formation were formed are reconstructed, and the strata underwent about three stages of deformation: (1) horizontal shortening, (2) folding, and (3) thrusting. And the fact that the Niushou Mountain is the leading edge of an old thrust sheet was proved, the Niushou Mountain, the Daluo Mountain and the Xiaoluo Mountain together constitute the front part of this old thrust zone, so the Niushou Mountain and the Ordovician strata in the central and southern parts of Ningxia now are likely allochthons. In the period from middle Ordovician to Devonian, the areas of the central and southern Ningxia belonged to the back-arc foreland basin of North Qilianshan orogen, which was adjacent to the continent in the north. In the later part of the early Paleozoic period, the Niushou Mountain was formed after the closure of the back-arc foreland basin.     

Geohydrological models and earthquake effects at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

 Yucca Mountain, the proposed site for the high-level nuclear waste repository, is located just south of where the present water table begins a sharp rise in elevation. This large hydraulic gradient is a regional feature that extends for over 100 km. Yucca Mountain and its vicinity are underlain by faulted and fractured tuffs with hydraulic conductivities controlled by flow through the fractures. Close to and parallel with the region of large hydraulic gradient, and surrounding the core of the Timber Mountain Caldera, there is a 10- to 20-km-wide zone containing few faults and thus, most likely, few open fractures. Consequently, this zone should have a relatively low hydraulic conductivity, and this inference is supported by the available conductivity measurements in wells near the large hydraulic gradient. Also, slug injection tests indicate significantly higher pressures for fracture opening in wells located near the large hydraulic gradient compared to the opening pressures in wells further to the south, hence implying that lower extensional stresses prevail to the north with consequently fewer open fractures there. Analytical and numerical modeling shows that such a boundary between media of high and low conductivity can produce the observed, large hydraulic gradient, with the high conductivity medium having a lower elevation than the water table. Further, as fractures can close due to tectonic activity, the conductivity of the Yucca Mountain tuffs can be reduced to a value near that for the hydraulic barrier due to strain release by a moderate earthquake. Under these conditions, simulations show that the elevation of the steady-state water table could rise between 150 and 250 m at the repository site. This elevation rise is due to the projected shift in the location of the large hydraulic gradient to the south in response to a moderate earthquake, near magnitude 6, along one of the major normal faults adjacent to Yucca Mountain. As the proposed repository would only be 200–400 m above the present water table, this predicted rise in the water table indicates a potential hazard involving water intrusion. Received: 7 June 1996 / Accepted: 19 November 1996     

GRADIENT DISTRIBUTION OF ACID RAIN IN THE SCENIC RESORT OF THE BAIYUN MOUNTAIN IN GUANGZHOU

1 INTRODUCTION Sitting in the central part of the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou is one of the cities in China that are most polluted by acid rain. Broad attention has been brought to the problem. Since the early 1980s, a series of observation and studies h…     

贵州喀斯特山区墓地利用管理与耕地保护

通过对贵州亮岩峰丛山地的墓地进行随机抽样调查和统计分析,显示出墓地在一定坡度上的特定地段有集中趋势;在对墓地选址与土层厚度进行显著性检验后表明:喀斯特地区土层厚度著性影响墓地分布。以至于绝大多数墓地集中分布在日照较好、排水畅通、土层较厚的阳坡山麓地带,以占用土层较厚的优质耕地为主。在现实的墓地利用管理实践中,实施统一规划、集中管理,建立有偿使用制度、严格用地指标,加强墓地绿化,实行墓地园林化建设等措施,以期综合性多元化开发利用墓地,有效保护耕地资源。     

太白山北坡花粉通量与表土花粉研究

太白山北坡各森林植被带乔木花粉百分比多高于45%,与植被组成类似。高山草甸带捕捉器样品乔木花粉百分比低于15%,与植被组成一致,但表土花粉组合中乔木花粉百分比高于50%,外来花粉数量较多,进行高山带古环境研究应予注意。太白红杉林花粉通量最低,高山灌丛草甸最高。落叶栎林带表土花粉浓度最低,红桦林带最高。表土中松、冷杉属花粉百分比远高于花粉捕捉器,表明其在表土中有较好的保存能力。落叶松属和杜鹃花科花粉在表土及捕捉器中百分比均较低,表明对植被指示性良好。栎属与桦属花粉通量类似,但桦属花粉浓度大于栎属,表明栎属较桦属易于保存。