Modelling the effect of changing precipitation inputs on deep soil water utilization

Forests in the Southeastern United States are predicted to experience future changes in seasonal patterns of precipitation inputs as well as more variable precipitation events. These climate change‐induced alterations could increase drought and lower soil water availability. Drought could alter rooting patterns and increase the importance of deep roots that access subsurface water resources. To address plant response to drought in both deep rooting and soil water utilization as well as soil drainage, we utilize a throughfall reduction experiment in a loblolly pine plantation of the Southeastern United States to calibrate and validate a hydrological model. The model was accurately calibrated against field measured soil moisture data under ambient rainfall and validated using 30% throughfall reduction data. Using this model, we then tested these scenarios: (a) evenly reduced precipitation; (b) less precipitation in summer, more in winter; (c) same total amount of precipitation with less frequent but heavier storms; and (d) shallower rooting depth under the above 3 scenarios. When less precipitation was received, drainage decreased proportionally much faster than evapotranspiration implying plants will acquire water first to the detriment of drainage. When precipitation was reduced by more than 30%, plants relied on stored soil water to satisfy evapotranspiration suggesting 30% may be a threshold that if sustained over the long term would deplete plant available soil water. Under the third scenario, evapotranspiration and drainage decreased, whereas surface run‐off increased. Changes in root biomass measured before and 4 years after the throughfall reduction experiment were not detected among treatments. Model simulations, however, indicated gains in evapotranspiration with deeper roots under evenly reduced precipitation and seasonal precipitation redistribution scenarios but not when precipitation frequency was adjusted. Deep soil and deep rooting can provide an important buffer capacity when precipitation alone cannot satisfy the evapotranspirational demand of forests. How this buffering capacity will persist in the face of changing precipitation inputs, however, will depend less on seasonal redistribution than on the magnitude of reductions and changes in rainfall frequency.     

Three-dimensional finite element simulation of fracture propagation in rock specimens with pre-existing fissure(s) under compression and their strength analysis

A FORTRAN program, consistent with the commercially available finite element (FE) code ABAQUS, is developed based on a three-dimensional (3D) linear elastic brittle damage constitutive model with two damage criteria. To consider the heterogeneity of rock, the developed FORTRAN program is used to set the stiffness and strength properties of each element of the FE model following a Weibull distribution function. The reliability of the program is assessed against available experimental results for granite cylindrical specimens with a throughgoing, flat and inclined fissure. The calibration procedure of the material parameters is explained in detail, and it is shown that the compressive to tensile strength ratio can have a substantial influence on the failure response of the specimens. Numerical simulations are conducted for models with different levels of heterogeneity. The results show a smaller load bearing capacity for models with less homogeneity, representing gradual coalescence of fully damaged elements forming throughout the models during loading. The maximum load bearing capacity is studied for various combinations of inclination angles of two centrally aligned, throughgoing and flat fissures of equal length embedded in cylindrical models under uniaxial and multiaxial loading conditions. The key role of the compressive to tensile strength ratio is highlighted by repeating certain simulations with a lower compressive to tensile strength ratio. It is proven that the peak loads of the rock models with sufficiently small compressive to tensile strength ratios containing two throughgoing fissures of equal length are similar, provided that the minimum inclination angles of the models are the same. The results are presented and discussed with respect to the existing experimental findings in the literature, suggesting that the numerical model applied in this study can provide useful insight into the failure behaviour of rock-like materials.     

Effects of the geometry of two‐dimensional fractures on their hydraulic aperture and on the validity of the local cubic law

Flow through rough fractures is investigated numerically in order to assess the validity of the local cubic law for different fracture geometries. Two‐dimensional channels with sinusoidal walls having different geometrical properties defined by the aperture, the amplitude, and the wavelength of the walls' corrugations, the corrugations asymmetry, and the phase shift between the two walls are considered to represent different fracture geometries. First, it is analytically shown that the hydraulic aperture clearly deviates from the mean aperture when the walls' roughness, the phase shift, and/or the asymmetry between the fracture walls are relatively high. The continuity and the Navier–Stokes equations are then solved by means of the finite element method and the numerical solutions compared to the theoretical predictions of the local cubic law. Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.066 to 66.66 are investigated so as to focus more particularly on the effect of flow inertial effects on the validity of the local cubic law. For low Reynolds number, typically less than 15, the local cubic law properly describes the fracture flow, especially when the fracture walls have small corrugation amplitudes. For Reynolds numbers higher than 15, the local cubic law is valid under the conditions that the fracture presents a low aspect ratio, small corrugation amplitudes, and a moderate phase lag between its walls.     

Implementation of a coupled plastic damage distinct lattice spring model for dynamic crack propagation in geomaterials

This paper studies dynamic crack propagation by employing the distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) and 3‐dimensional (3D) printing technique. A damage‐plasticity model was developed and implemented in a 2D DLSM. Applicability of the damage‐plasticity DLSM was verified against analytical elastic solutions and experimental results for crack propagation. As a physical analogy, dynamic fracturing tests were conducted on 3D printed specimens using the split Hopkinson pressure bar. The dynamic stress intensity factors were recorded, and crack paths were captured by a high‐speed camera. A parametric study was conducted to find the influences of the parameters on cracking behaviors, including initial and peak fracture toughness, crack speed, and crack patterns. Finally, selection of parameters for the damage‐plasticity model was determined through the comparison of numerical predictions and the experimentally observed cracking features.     

Analytical study of ground motion caused by seismic wave propagation across faulted rock masses

Studying seismic wave propagation across rock masses and the induced ground motion is an important topic, which receives considerable attention in design and construction of underground cavern/tunnel constructions and mining activities. The current study investigates wave propagation across a rock mass with one fault and the induced ground motion using a recursive approach. The rocks beside the fault are assumed as viscoelastic media with seismic quality factors, Q_p and Q_s. Two kinds of interactions between stress waves and a discontinuity and between stress waves and a free surface are analyzed, respectively. As the result of the wave superposition, the mathematical expressions for induced ground vibration are deduced. The proposed approach is then compared with the existing analysis for special cases. Finally, parametric studies are carried out, which includes the influences of fault stiffness, incident angle, and frequency of incident waves on the peak particle velocities of the ground motions.     

RECENT TECTONIC DEFORMATION ANOMALY AND EARTHQUAKES IN GANSU-NINGXIA-QINGHAI AREA

1　IntroductionAccordingtogeologicalstructure ,theGansu Ningxia Qinghaiareabelongstothenortheastmar ginofQinghai Tibetblock .Thisareahasbeenpaidmuchattentionby geo specialistsinChinaandabroadbecauseofitssignificanttectonicmovement,itsintensiveseismicity ,anditsimportanceinearth quakehazardmitigation .IntheDevelopmentPro gramonNationalKeyBasicResearchesundertheProject“MechanismandPredictionofContinentalStrongEarthquakes”,themechanismsofcontinen talstrongearthquakesarestudied ,usinghypo…     

低轨道人造卫星(CHAMP、GRACE、GOCE)与高精度地球重力场——卫星重力大地测量的最新发展及其对地球科学的重大影响

评述了卫星重力大地测量的最新发展及其对地球科学的重大影响。为了更好地理解地球内部物理构造与海洋动力学，以及大陆，冰川和海洋的相互作用，改善现有地球重力场模型（包括精度和空间解析度）是非常重要的。IUGG等国际组织对此已经强调了很多年。最近，由德国的GFZ（GeoForschungsZentrum)，美国的NASA（National Aeronautics and Space Adminitration)以及欧洲宇航局ESA（European Space Agency)开发研制了最先进的地球监测技术－SST（Satellite-to-Sateilite Tracking)。其主要特点是利用现有的GPS连续追踪新发射低轨道卫星，并由低轨道卫星对地球重力场作精密观测。已经发射和即将发射的卫星有3颗：GHAMP（Challenging Mini-Satellite Payload for Geophysical Research an Application)已经于2000年发射；GRACE（Gravity Recovery and Climate Experimert)定于2002年发射；GOCE（Gravity Field and Steady-state Ocean Cirulation Explorer)计划2004年发射，它们可以统称为重力卫星。载有SST技术的人造卫星的主要目的是获得具有前所未有的高精度和高空间解析度的全球重力场和大地水准面模型，加强人们对地球内部构造的理解并为海洋和气象研究提供更好地参考。上述3个重力卫星工作在有明显区别的不同波谱内，它们有不同的科学应用，仅有一小部分重合。所以，就应用而言它们是完全互补的。它们在地球科学中的应用将是广泛的，特别对于固体地球物理学，海洋学以及大地测量学等领域，它们将会带来革命性的变化，其意义不亚于GPS。     

轴对称稳恒磁场的一种解法

本文依据稳恒磁场中的高斯定理和安培环路定理，用迭代法推导出对称轴上的磁感应强度与空间任意一点磁感应强度的关系式，从而可得出轴对称稳恒磁场的无电流分布空间的解式。     

红阳煤田石炭-二叠纪含煤地层的沉积特征

红阳煤田含煤地层太原组与山西组,是一套典型的“海陆交互相”沉积。依据剖面上沉积相序列变化特点,可划分为14个沉积旋回,每个沉积旋回均含有一层煤。有二种聚煤环境:一是海水退出潮坪后形成的泥炭沼泽聚积的煤层;二是扇三角洲平原形成的泥炭沼泽聚积的煤层。     

Palaeointensity In the Pelagic Realm: Marine Sediment Data Compared With Archaeomagnetic and Lake Sediment Records

Summary. Four box cores collected from the Ontong—Java plateau during the Eurydice expedition have been used to make relative geomagnetic palaeo-intensity measurements. Rock magnetic measurements on the sediments show that they are characterized by a uniform magnetic mineralogy, and that they are suitable for relative intensity estimates. These are obtained by normalizing the NRM by an ARM imparted in a low DC bias field. the palaeoceanographic event known as the preservation spike is used to establish a crude time-scale for the record so that it may be compared with other data from the same region, and also with global palaeointensity estimates. the marine sediment data are quite similar to Australian intensity data from lake sediments and archaeomagnetic sources, but as might be expected exhibit some obvious differences from the global record.