Design of stable drainage networks in upland forestry plantations

Erosion of man-made, forestry drainage channels occurs when the plough cuts through the surface peat layer into the underlying erodible mineral soil. A procedure is developed, based on hydraulic considerations, which will allow the drainage engineer to design stable drainage networks in upland forestry plantations. An example design chart is given for an erodible sandy loam type soil.     

Estimating hydraulic conductivity using grain-size analyses, aquifer tests, and numerical modeling in a riverside alluvial system in South Korea

Hydraulic conductivity (K) for an alluvial system in a riverbank filtration area in Changwon City, South Korea, has been studied using grain-size distribution, pumping and slug tests, and numerical modeling. The alluvial system is composed of layers: upper fine sand, medium sand, lower fine sand, and a highly conductive sand/gravel layer at the base. The geometric mean of K for the sand/gravel layer (9.89?×?10^?4 m s^?1), as determined by grain-size analyses, was 3.33 times greater than the geometric mean obtained from pumping tests (2.97?×?10^?4 m s^?1). The geometric mean of K estimates obtained from slug tests (3.08?×?10^?6 m s^?1) was one to two orders of magnitude lower than that from pumping tests and grain-size analyses. K estimates derived from a numerical model were compared to those derived from the grain-size methods, slug tests and pumping tests in order to determine the degree of deviation from the numerical model. It is considered that the K estimates determined by the slug tests resemble the uppermost part of the alluvial deposit, whereas the K estimates obtained by grain-size analyses and pumping tests are similar to those from the numerical model for the sand/gravel layer of the riverside alluvial system.     

Peak discharge of a Pleistocene lava-dam outburst flood in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

The failure of a lava dam 165,000 yr ago produced the largest known flood on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. The Hyaloclastite Dam was up to 366 m high, and geochemical evidence linked this structure to outburst-flood deposits that occurred for 32 km downstream. Using the Hyaloclastite outburst-flood deposits as paleostage indicators, we used dam-failure and unsteady flow modeling to estimate a peak discharge and flow hydrograph. Failure of the Hyaloclastite Dam released a maximum 11 × 10⁹ m³ of water in 31 h. Peak discharges, estimated from uncertainty in channel geometry, dam height, and hydraulic characteristics, ranged from 2.3 to 5.3 × 10⁵ m³ s⁻¹ for the Hyaloclastite outburst flood. This discharge is an order of magnitude greater than the largest known discharge on the Colorado River (1.4 × 10⁴ m³ s⁻¹) and the largest peak discharge resulting from failure of a constructed dam in the USA (6.5 × 10⁴ m³ s⁻¹). Moreover, the Hyaloclastite outburst flood is the oldest documented Quaternary flood and one of the largest to have occurred in the continental USA. The peak discharge for this flood ranks in the top 30 floods (>10⁵ m³ s⁻¹) known worldwide and in the top ten largest floods in North America.     

Groundwater-flow modeling in the Yucatan karstic aquifer, Mexico

The current conceptual model of the unconfined karstic aquifer in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is that a fresh-water lens floats above denser saline water that penetrates more than 40 km inland. The transmissivity of the aquifer is very high so the hydraulic gradient is very low, ranging from 7–10 mm/km through most of the northern part of the peninsula. The computer modeling program AQUIFER was used to investigate the regional groundwater flow in the aquifer. The karstified zone was modeled using the assumption that it acts hydraulically similar to a granular, porous medium. As part of the calibration, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) karstic features play an important role in the groundwater-flow system; (2) a ring or belt of sinkholes in the area is a manifestation of a zone of high transmissivity that facilitates the channeling of groundwater toward the Gulf of Mexico; and (3) the geologic features in the southern part of Yucatan influence the groundwater-flow system. The model shows that the Sierrita de Ticul fault, in the southwestern part of the study area, acts as a flow barrier and head values decline toward the northeast. The modeling also shows that the regional flow-system dynamics have not been altered despite the large number of pumping wells because the volume of water pumped is small compared with the volume of recharge, and the well-developed karst system of the region has a very high hydraulic conductivity. Electronic Publication     

岩石水压致裂和诱发地震的实验研究

用7种岩石各制备了几类不同预裂纹的系列试件，并在不同围压下进行水压致裂强度实验。结合典型的水库诱发地震的实际资料和现今构造应力场的实验结果，以及应用岩石强度理论和岩石断裂力学的一些原理、方法，进行岩石孔隙水压诱发地震的探讨。初步结果为：(1)若岩体内构造应力很小，一定大小的孔隙水压力σp，可直接使岩体内的薄弱面致裂并发生小地震。(2)若构造应力较大，存在两类诱发地震的可能：①对岩体浅部一些走向与构造应力的主压应力σ1方向相近的薄弱面，σp可促使其发生张性破裂并诱发小地震。②当构造应力接近于断裂的抗剪强度时，因σp，降低了断裂面上的正应力σn，使原处于稳定状态的断裂失稳，发生滑移破裂并诱发出地震。σp导致断裂的破裂深度增大，使诱发地震的震级大于原潜在的地震震级。(3)各种岩体均存在着一个极限深度，此深度后不再有诱发地震。     

三峡库区树坪滑坡地下水渗流场分析

库岸边坡的地下水分布对其稳定性影响重大。以三峡库区树坪滑坡为例,基于Visual Modflow软件,对不同工况下的地下水渗流场进行数值模拟。结论表明：滑坡地下水位随着库水位波动而变化; 滑坡体后缘地下水受到影响较小,中部和前缘水头变化明显; 在库水位下降过程中,滑坡体内地下水随时间变化呈现水位不变、加速下降、降速减缓、稳定水位的趋势,且不同库水降速只对地下水位变化速率产生影响,对最终地下水位没有影响; 库水位降速越大,滑坡前缘地下水位变化越强烈,水力梯度也越大,且在滑坡东西两侧边界处形成的水力梯度最大。其成果将为库岸滑坡渗流场变化及稳定性分析提供一定的参考价值。     

压实黏土干燥裂隙及渗透性能研究

压实黏土干燥过程中产生的裂隙可能对渗透性能有较大影响。通过室内模拟试验研究发现,裂隙面积率、裂隙总长度和裂隙宽度随含水率减小而增大。压实黏土中裂隙可分为主裂隙和次裂隙2类,次裂隙出现前后裂隙参数的变化速率有较大差异。较宽裂隙在湿化后不能完全愈合,干湿循环过程使压实黏土产生了不可逆的变化。采用试验筒壁上涂阿尔代胶的方法可以有效模拟土样中裂隙的形成,并能较好地防止侧漏。渗透试验发现,一次干湿循环导致压实黏土的渗透系数增大将近2个数量级。湿化过程中干燥裂隙不能完全愈合及微裂隙的形成可能是导致渗透系数增大的主要原因。     

基于改进的Bresenham圆快速填充算法

为克服现有圆填充算法效率低的缺点,提出一种快速圆填充算法。算法基于圆的对称性,利用圆弧离散轨迹所具有的特性,分别绘制半径由0依次增加一个像素点,直到变为给定半径r的多个圆,同时找出并填充其中的漏点。最后达到快速填充整个圆的效果。