Ophiomorpha irregulaire, rare trace fossil in shallow marine sandstones, Cretaceous Atane Formation, West Greenland

Ophiomorpha irregulaire is a large and extremely rare trace fossil. The type section is in the Book Cliffs, Utah, USA. A second on-shore locality is reported here, in the Nuussuaq Basin of West Greenland. Both occurrences date from the Late Cretaceous. Other reports of O. irregulaire are restricted to two-dimensional sections in well cores and are mostly Jurassic in age. The West Greenland occurrence is in the Atane Formation in shallow marine clean sandstone. The two on-shore localities lie in the same biogeographical region, in connection with the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America. O. irregulaire is characterized by a sinuous, branched meander maze lying mostly within a single horizontal plane, probably not far beneath the seafloor. The burrow lining has remarkably elongate pellets that probably were emplaced by the burrower. In some cases, diagenetic compression may have deformed the lining pellets to produce their elongated shape. The muddy sediment comprising the lining is almost unrepresented in the clean sands of the substrate, and it was probably trapped from suspension during suspension-feeding activity.     

Suspended sediment transport along an idealised tidal embayment: settling lag, residual transport and the interpretation of tidal signals

We present semi-analytical solutions for suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and residual sediment transport in a simple mathematical model of a short tidal embayment. These solutions allow us to investigate in some detail the characteristic tidal and semi-tidal variation of SSC and the processes leading to residual sediment transport, including settling and scour lags, the roles of ‘local’ and ‘advective’ contributions, and the presence of internally or externally generated overtides. By interpreting the transport mechanisms in terms of the classic conceptual models of settling lag we clarify how these models may be expressed in mathematical terms. Our results suggest that settling lag is usually a more important process than scour lag, and that a local model which neglects advection may predict the direction of net sediment transport incorrectly. Finally, we discuss our results in the context of other transport processes and morphodynamic feedback.     

Experimental investigation on a cabin-suspended catamaran in terms of motion reduction and wave energy harvesting by means of a semi-active motion control system

A novel concept catamaran equipped with a suspended cabin, named Wave Harmonizer Type 4 (WHzer-4), is proposed and evaluated. The mass-spring-mass system is constructed by mounting four sets of suspensions in-between the cabin and the twin-hull. Two sets of dual motor/generators (M/Gs) are attached on the center beam of the cabin's deck fore and aft. Each shaft-end of the dual M/Gs is connected to the twin-hull through a rack-pinion gear unit. In this way the vertical relative motion between the cabin and the twin-hull can be transferred into the rotational motion of the M/Gs, and vice versa. A semi-active motion control system, which contains a proportional-integral (PI) controller, is designed and applied to each of the dual M/Gs for the aim of absorbing wave energy under the condition of suppressing the local vertical velocity of the cabin as much as possible. A 1/5 scale model ship with a length of 1.6 m is built, and a forced-oscillation bench test is implemented to validate the performance of the control system. Then, a series of towing tank tests is carried out in regular head waves. The heave and pitch responses of the cabin, those of the twin-hull and the corresponding wave energy capture width ratio (CWR) at five control scenarios and two reference scenarios are investigated. Discussion on the results of the tank test shows that the motion reduction of the cabin and the wave energy harvesting can be achieved simultaneously at a few wave conditions. However, at other conditions, although noticeable amount of wave energy is harvested, motion reduction of the heave and pitch of the cabin could not be obtained at the same time. It is suggested that varying the gain settings of the PI controllers according to the location of the controllers may improve the effectiveness of the proposed control system.     

基于虚功原理的悬索桥隧道式锚碇边坡稳定性分析

本文基于虚功原理,结合工程地质勘察资料,在岩层层面和不利结构面组合切割下,由于锚碇工程荷载作用,研究坝陵河大桥西岸隧道式锚碇边坡的整体稳定性。本文的力学分析模型采用多个块体破坏机构的分析方法,假定块体的底面和侧面均达到了极限平衡状态,安全系数可通过功能平衡的虚功原理表达式来求解。功能平衡方程中仅有安全系数一个未知数,条块底部和界面上的法向压力和切向摩擦力并不出现,求解大为简化。     

SETTLING PROPERTIES OF COHESIVE AND NON-COHESIVE PARTICULATE MIXTURES IN WATER

1. INTRODUCTIONAs a wide range of size distirbution including usually a certain POrtion of cohesive material is thecommon feature of the sediment constituting hyperconcentrated flows. it is desirable to study the settling properties of mixtures of cohesive and non--cohesjve sediment particles at high concentrations.Past studies on the settling of discrete particles in a suspension of fine cohesjve sediment is scarcein the literature. The Sediment Research Laboratory of Tsinghua Universi…     

Textural analysis and modelling of a flood deposit: River severn,U.K.

Samples of sediment collected from the Severn floodplain between Worcester and Gloucester following the severe flooding in January and February 1990, were analysed for their grain size distribution. The results show that most sand was deposited within 20 m of the channel bank, but that fine sand may contribute to flood sediment across the width of the floodplain. James' (1985) numerical model of overbank sedimentation attempts to predict the transfer of sediment to the floodplain during flooding. Geometrical and hydraulic data relating to the Severn flood are used as input for a computer program of James' (1985) model. The pattern of sediment concentrations predicted by the model was compared with that obtained from statistical analysis of the flood sediment. The patterns were found to be similar, so James' (1985) model was considered to predict in a relative sense the distribution of flood sediment.     

Effects of engineering geological condition on response of suspension bridges

The geological condition may vary largely from one support to another for a long span bridge. The effect of geological variability and spatial variation produced by propagation and coherence loss of seismic ground motion on the response of long span suspension bridges is investigated in this article. The case of Jiangyin Yangtse River Bridge, a suspension bridge with a main span of 1385 m, is studied in detail. Numerical results show that the geological difference at the supports has a significant effect on the seismic response of long span suspension bridges and, that it is unacceptable to neglect the difference. The effect of the propagation of seismic ground motion on the response of long span suspension bridges is far more important than that of the coherence loss. The response of bridges varies greatly with the horizontal apparent velocity in a very complex way, and there is a critical horizontal velocity for a given response quantity.     

A Miocene coarse volcaniclastic mass-flow deposit in the Shimane Peninsula,SW Japan: product of a deep submarine eruption?

 A subaqueous volcaniclastic mass-flow deposit in the Miocene Josoji Formation, Shimane Peninsula, is 15–16 m thick, and comprises mainly blocks and lapilli of rhyolite and andesite pumices and non- to poorly vesiculated rhyolite. It can be divided into four layers in ascending order. Layer 1 is an inversely to normally graded and poorly sorted lithic breccia 0.3–6 m thick. Layer 2 is an inversely to normally graded tuff breccia to lapilli tuff 6–11 m thick. This layer bifurcates laterally into minor depositional units individually composed of a massive, lithic-rich lower part and a diffusely stratified, pumice-rich upper part with inverse to normal grading of both lithic and pumice clasts. Layer 3 is 2.5–3 m thick, and consists of interbedded fines-depleted pumice-rich and pumice-poor layers a few centimeters thick. Layer 4 is a well-stratified and well-sorted coarse ash bed 1.5–2 m thick. The volcaniclastic deposit shows internal features of high-density turbidites and contains no evidence for emplacement at a high temperature. The mass-flow deposit is extremely coarse-grained, dominated by traction structures, and is interpreted as the product of a deep submarine, explosive eruption of vesicular magma or explosive collapse of lava. Received: 10 January 1996 / Accepted: 23 February 1996     

An Upper Pliocene coarse pumice breccia generated by a shallow submarine explosive eruption,Milos, Greece

The Filakopi Pumice Breccia (FPB) is a very well exposed, Pliocene volcaniclastic unit on Milos, Greece, and has a minimum bulk volume of 1 km³. It consists of three main units: (A) basal lithic breccia (4–8 m) mainly composed of angular to subangular, andesitic and dacitic clasts up to 2.6 m in diameter; (B) very thickly bedded, poorly sorted pumice breccia (16–17 m); and (C) very thick, reversely graded, grain-supported, coarse pumice breccia (6.5–20 m), at the top. The depositional setting is well constrained as shallow marine (up to a few hundred metres) by overlying fossiliferous and bioturbated mudstone. This large volume of fine pumice clasts is interpreted to be the product of an explosive eruption from a submarine vent because: (1) pumice clasts are the dominant component; (2) the coarse pumice clasts (>64 mm) have complete quenched margins; (3) very large (>1 m) pumice clasts are common; (4) overall, the formation shows good hydraulic sorting; and (5) a significant volume of ash was deposited together with the coarsest pyroclasts.The bed forms in units A and B suggest deposition from lithic-rich and pumiceous, respectively, submarine gravity currents. In unit C, the coarse (up to 6.5 m) pumice clasts are set in matrix that grades upwards from diffusely stratified, fine (1–2 cm) pumice clasts at the base to laminated shard rich mud at the top. The coarse pumice clasts in unit C were settled from suspension and the framework was progressively infilled by fine pumice clasts from waning traction currents and then by water-settled ash. The FPB displays important features of the products of submarine explosive eruptions that result from the ambient fluid being seawater, rather than volcanic gas or air. In particular, submarine pyroclastic deposits are characterised by the presence of very coarse juvenile pumice clasts, pumice clasts with complete quenched rims, and good hydraulic sorting.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article if you access the article at . A link in the frame on the left on that page takes you directly to the supplementary material.Editorial responsibility: J. Donelly-Nolan     

Time-averaged sub-layer concentration profiles in oscillatory sheet flows

Although thin on the order of several to tens of millimeters, sheet flows normally comprise a lower pick-up sub-layer and an upper contact-load sub-layer, separated at the bed level (z = 0). The time-averaged concentration profile in the pick-up sub-layer shows a ‘convex upward’ curvature, but ‘concave upward’ shape characterizes the time-averaged concentration profile in the contact-load sub-layer. The time-dependent concentration in the contact-load sub-layer is approximately in-phase with the free stream flow velocity, whereas it is nearly in anti-phase with the free stream flow velocity in the pick-up sub-layer. Two distinct analytical expressions of the time-averaged concentration profiles for the respective sub-layers are proposed. The expressions are validated with detailed observation datasets collected in the Groβer Wellenkanal (GWK) prototype wave flume in Hannover, Germany. The agreement between the predicted and the measured values is excellent. Interparticle collisions in the pick-up sub-layer and convective lifting processes associated with vortex shedding in the contact-load sub-layer are considered responsible for the opposite curvatures and in-phase/anti-phase concentration variations. Both transitional boundary and reference concentration are also elaborated.