Rainfall intensity affects runoff responses in a semi-arid catchment

The source and hydrochemical makeup of a stream reflects the connectivity between rainfall, groundwater, the stream, and is reflected to water quantity and quality of the catchment. However, in a semi-arid, thick, loess covered catchment, temporal variation of stream source and event associated behaviours are lesser known. Thus, the isotopic and chemical hydrographs in a widely distributed, deep loess, semi-arid catchment of the northern Chinese Loess Plateau were characterized to determine the source and hydrochemical behaviours of the stream during intra-rainfall events. Rainfall and streamflow were sampled during six hydrologic events coupled with measurements of stream baseflow and groundwater. The deuterium isotope (²H), major ions (Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻, Ca²⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, and Na⁺) were evaluated in water samples obtained during rainfall events. Temporal variation of ²H and Cl⁻ measured in the groundwater and stream baseflow prior to rainfall was similar; however, the isotope compositions of the streamflow fluctuated significantly and responded quickly to rainfall events, likely due to an infiltration excess, overland dominated surface runoff during torrential rainfall events. Time source separation using ²H demonstrated greater than 72% on average, the stream composition was event water during torrential rainfall events, with the proportion increasing with rainfall intensity. Solutes concentrations in the stream had loglinear relationships with stream discharge, with an outling anomaly with an example of an intra-rainfall event on Oct. 24, 2015. Stream Cl⁻ behaved nonconservative during rainfall events, temporal variation of Cl⁻ indicated a flush and washout at the onset of small rainfall events, a dilution but still high concentration pattern in high discharge and old water dominated in regression flow period. This study indicates rainfall intensity affects runoff responses in a semi-arid catchment, and the stored water in the thick, loess covered areas was less connected with stream runoff. Solute transport may threaten water quality in the area, requiring further analysis of the performance of the eco-restoration project.     

Fully coupled elastoplastic hydro-mechanical analysis of unsaturated porous media using a meshfree method

This paper presents the first application of an advanced meshfree method, ie, the edge-based smoothed point interpolation method (ESPIM), in simulation of the coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated porous media. In the proposed technique, the problem domain is spatially discretised using a triangular background mesh, and the polynomial point interpolation method combined with a simple node selection scheme is adopted for creating nodal shape functions. Smoothing domains are formed on top of the background mesh, and a constant smoothed strain, created by applying the smoothing operation over the smoothing domains, is assigned to each smoothing domain. The deformation and flow models are developed based on the equilibrium equation of the mixture, and linear momentum and mass balance equations of the fluid phases, respectively. The effective stress approach is followed to account for the coupling between the flow and deformation models. Further coupling among the phases is captured through a hysteretic soil water retention model that evolves with changes in void ratio. An advanced elastoplastic constitutive model within the context of the bounding surface plasticity theory is employed for predicting the nonlinear behaviour of soil skeleton. Time discretisation is performed by adopting a three-point discretisation method with growing time steps to avoid temporal instabilities. A modified Newton-Raphson framework is designed for dealing with nonlinearities of the discretised system of equations. The performance of the numerical model is examined through a number of numerical examples. The state-of-the-art computational scheme developed is useful for simulation of geotechnical engineering problems involving unsaturated soils.     

Subsurface flow measurements using passive flux meters in variably-saturated cold-regions landscapes

To date, passive flux meters have predominantly been applied in temperate environments for tracking the movement of contaminants in groundwater. This study applies these instruments to reduce uncertainty in (typically instantaneous) flux measurements made in a low-gradient, wetland dominated, discontinuous permafrost environment. This method supports improved estimation of unsaturated and over-winter subsurface flows which are very difficult to quantify using hydraulic gradient-based approaches. Improved subsurface flow estimates can play a key role in understanding the water budget of this landscape.     

Revisiting the existence of an effective stress for wet granular soils with micromechanics

A possible effective stress variable for wet granular materials is numerically investigated based on an adapted discrete element method (DEM) model for an ideal three‐phase system. The DEM simulations consider granular materials made of nearly monodisperse spherical particles, in the pendular regime with the pore fluid mixture consisting of distinct water menisci bridging particle pairs. The contact force‐related stress contribution to the total stresses is isolated and tested as the effective stress candidate for dense or loose systems. It is first recalled that this contact stress tensor is indeed an adequate effective stress that describes stress limit states of wet samples with the same Mohr‐Coulomb criterion associated with their dry counterparts. As for constitutive relationships, it is demonstrated that the contact stress tensor used in conjunction with dry constitutive relations does describe the strains of wet samples during an initial strain regime but not beyond. Outside this so‐called quasi‐static strain regime, whose extent is much greater for dense than loose materials, dramatic changes in the contact network prevent macroscale contact stress‐strain relationships to apply in the same manner to dry and unsaturated conditions. The presented numerical results also reveal unexpected constitutive bifurcations for the loose material, related to stick‐slip macrobehavior.     

Dust supply from river floodplains: the case of the lower Huang He (Yellow River) recorded in a loess–palaeosol sequence from the Mangshan Plateau

The Mangshan Plateau is located on the south bank of the Huang He (Yellow River) just west of the city of Zhengzhou, well outside the Loess Plateau in central China. Mixing models of the grain‐size data indicate that the loess deposits are mixtures of three loess components. Comparison of the mixing model with existing models established for a series of loess–palaeosol sequences from the Loess Plateau indicates that the Mangshan loess has been supplied from a proximal dust source, the Huang He floodplain, during major dust outbreaks. The high accumulation rates, the composition of the loess components, and especially the high proportions of a sandy loess component support this. Owing to the exceptionally high accumulation rates, the Mangshan grain size, magnetic susceptibility and carbonate records provide a high‐resolution archive of environmental and climate change. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

黄土高原古植被与再造山川秀美

要想恢复秀美的山川,主要在于恢复被人类严重破坏的原始植被.黄土高原的原始植被到底是什么样子,学者们说法不一.孢粉分析是最重要的方法.目前,研究结果已揭示出黄土高原古植被在第四纪以来显示着时间上、空间上的变化.古土壤代表间冰期夏季风盛行的湿热气候,植被比较繁盛;黄土代表冰期冬季风盛行的干冷气候,植被凋凌.全新世中期5000～6000年前,现代间冰期气候最佳时期,半坡人生存之时,森林茂密并有亚热带植物入侵,但兰州一带1万年来一直保持着荒漠草原的面貌.因此,黄土高原植被的恢复应参照各地的原始植被并考虑现代气候条件,因地制宜地实施.在东南部可以恢复森林,中西部可以恢复森林草原,西北部只能种草恢复草原.     

Finite element formulation and algorithms for unsaturated soils. Part II: Verification and application

The finite‐element formulation and integration algorithms developed in Part I are used to analyse a number of practical problems involving unsaturated and saturated soils. The formulation and algorithms perform well for all the cases analysed, with the robustness of the latter being largely insensitive to user‐defined parameters such as the number of coarse time steps and error control tolerances. The efficiency of the algorithms, as measured by the CPU time consumed, does not depend on the number of coarse time steps, but may be influenced by the error control tolerances. Based on the analyses presented here, typical values for the error control tolerances are suggested. It is also shown that the constitutive modelling framework presented in Part I can, by adjusting one constitutive equation and one or two material parameters, be used to simulate soils that expand or collapse upon wetting. Treating the suction as a strain variable instead of a stress variable proves to be an efficient and robust way of solving suction‐dependent plastic yielding. Moreover, the concept of the constitutive stress is a particularly convenient way of handling the transition between saturation and unsaturation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于可靠度理论的黄土高边坡优化设计

对黄土高边坡进行可靠性分析，应用数学原理和优化原理，建立了黄土高边坡的优化模型，对铜黄一级公路黄土高边坡进行分析验证。结果表明，该方法计算的结果与实际较接近．应用中易操作。     

Rapid climatic changes recorded in loess successions

Detailed grain-size analyses, both in China and western Europe, indicate the occurrence of short climatic cycles during loess deposition of the last glacial. Cold episodes coincided with enhanced deposition of relatively coarse loess and alternated with relatively warmer episodes with decreased deposition of finer loess and soil formation. In Europe, these oscillations may coincide with alternations of permafrost development and degradation. The short-term climatic events in the loess sections are similar to the Dansgaard–Oeschger events in ice-core records.     

用素土桩挤密法处理陇东湿陷性黄土地基

素土桩挤密地基由桩间挤密土和回填素土夯实的桩体组成，它是一种人工“复合地基”。其作用是通过素土桩挤密法提高地基土的密实度，从而对湿陷性黄土达到消除浅部或深部的部分或全部湿陷性的作用，并改善地基承载能力，减少地基变形。本文通过现场单桩、群桩单元体轻便触探、小环刀深层取样、开剖取样等方法对场地地基土挤密前、后干重度和压实系数进行了对比分析，判定用素土桩挤密法处理陇东湿陷性黄土地基的可行性。