Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Microplastics in Snow in the Inner Mongolia Plateau, China

Microplastics(MPs;<5 mm)have become one of the most prominent global environmental pollution problems.MPs can spread to high altitudes through atmospheric transport and can be deposited by rainfall or snowfall,potentially threatening the structure and function of natural ecosystems.MPs in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems alter the growth and functional characteristics of organisms.However,little attention has been given to the possible harm associated with MPs deposited in snow,particularly in the context of global climate warming.MPs collected from surface snow in the Inner Mongolia Plateau,China,were used for quantitative analysis and identification.The results showed that MPs were easily detected,and the related concentration was approximately(68±10)–(199±22)MPsL1 in snow samples.Fibers were the most common morphology,the polymer composition was largely varied,and the abundance and composition of MPs were linked to human activity to a great extent.High-throughput sequencing results showed that the composition and abundance of microorganisms also differed in snow samples from areas with different MP pollution characteristics,indicating a considerable difference in microbial functional diversity.MPs may have an interference effect on the individual growth and functional expression of microorganisms in snow.In addition,the results showed that functional living areas(e.g.,landfills and suburban areas)in cities play an important role in the properties of MPs.For instance,the highest abundance of MPs was found in thermal power plants,whereas the abundance of polymers per sample was significantly lower in the suburban area.The MP contaminants hidden in snow can alter microbial structure and function and are therefore a potential threat to ecosystem health.

Effects of Initial Defects on Effective Elastic Modulus of Concrete with Mesostructure

An exquisite mesostructure model was presented to predict the effective elastic modulus of concrete,in which concrete is realized as a four-phase composite material consisting of coarse aggregates,mortar matrix,interfacial transition zone(ITZ),and initial defects.With the three-dimensional(3D)finite element(FE)simulation,the highly heterogeneous composite elastic behavior of concrete was modeled,and the predicted results were compared with theoretical estimations for validation.Monte Carlo(MC)simulations were performed with the proposed mesostructure model to investigate the various factors of initial defects influencing the elastic modulus of concrete,such as the shape and concentration(pore volume fraction or crack density)of microspores and microcracks.It is found that the effective elastic modulus of concrete decreases with the increase of initial defects concentration,while the distribution and shape characteristics also exert certain influences due to the stress concentration caused by irregular inclusion shape.

Discussion on Influencing Factors of Water Resources Environment and Strategies for Protecting Water Ecology

At present,the major problems facing the water resource environment worldwide include water pollution,water resource shortage,and water ecosystem degradation.The discharge of industrial wastewater,agricultural non-point source pollution,and the discharge of urban sewage lead to a serious decline in water quality,which directly affects the safety of human drinking water and the living environment of aquatic organisms.Additionally,the unbalanced distribution and excessive exploitation of water resources lead to the problem of water shortage in many areas,which then leads to social and economic contradictions and ecological crises.In terms of ecosystems,the phenomena of water ecological degradation and reduction of biodiversity are increasingly obvious,and the carrying capacity of aquatic ecosystems are gradually declining.This paper aims to analyze the natural,social,and economic factors affecting the water resource environment,and propose effective strategies to protect the water ecology.To provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for the sustainable utilization of water resources and the long-term development of the water ecosystem.

Research on the Critical Buckling Pressure of Bucket Foundations with Inner Compartments for Offshore Wind Turbines

In the process of suction penetration of bucket foundations with inner compartments for offshore wind turbines,most researches focus on soil seepage failure and soil plugs,while the buckling of foundations is rarely investigated.Therefore,theoretical calculation methods for critical buckling pressures of the skirt and bulkheads of the bucket foundation are first presented according to the stability theory of a cylindrical shell and the small deflection theory of a thin plate,respectively.Furthermore,two types of models with and without considering the skirt-soil interaction are developed for the calculation of critical buckling pressure of the bucket foundation.Taking a practical project as an example,theoretical and numerical methods are used to obtain the critical buckling pressures of a bucket foundation.In this work,the theoretical method and the finite element model considering the skirt-soil interaction for calculating the critical buckling pressure of bucket foundations are firstly proposed.The results can help to optimize the design process of offshore wind turbine foundations and improve the safety of offshore wind power systems.

An Information Entropy-Based Methodology to Construct the Avulsion Threshold in the Tail Reach of the Estuarine Alluvial Plain

Channel avulsion is a natural phenomenon that occurs abruptly on alluvial river deltas,which can affect the channel stability.The causes for avulsion could be generally categorized as topography-and flood-driven factors.However,previous studies on avulsion thresholds usually focused on topography-driven factors due to the centurial or millennial avulsion timescales of the world’s most deltas,but neglected the impacts of flood-driven factors.In the current study,a novel demarcation equation including the two driven factors was proposed,with the decadal timescale of avulsion being considered in the Yellow River Estuary(YRE).In order to quantify the contributions of different factors in each category,an entropy-based methodology was used to calculate the contributing weights of these factors.The factor with the highest weight in each category was then used to construct the demarcation equation,based on avulsion datasets associated with the YRE.An avulsion threshold was deduced according to the demarcation equation.This avulsion threshold was then applied to conduct the risk assessment of avulsion in the YRE.The results show that:two dominant factors cover respectively geomorphic coefficient representing the topography-driven factor and fluvial erosion intensity representing the flood-driven factor,which were thus employed to define a two dimensional mathematical space in which the demarcation equation can be obtained;the avulsion threshold derived from the equation was also applied in the risk assessment of avulsion;and the avulsion threshold proposed in this study is more accurate,as compared with the existing thresholds.

Responses of river bed evolution to flow-sediment process changes after Three Gorges Project in middle Yangtze River:A case study of Yaojian reach

The Three Gorges Project(TGP)has changed the flow-sediment process in the middle Yangtze River.For navigation purposes,there is an urgent need to study the changes of the river regime over a long-term period and the shoal-channel evolution over different seasons since the completion of the TGP.Based on analysis of the measured data and the results of a two-dimensional mathematical model,the changes of the river regime and river bed evolution in the Yaojian reach downstream of the TGP were studied.Results show that a high sediment transport flux helps to keep the main flow in the North Branch,while a low sediment transport flux helps to keep the main flow in the South Branch.Thus,the main branch will not change in the near future because of the low sediment transport load.In this study,the flow-sediment process adjusted by the TGP was restored to the conditions before the TGP,and the river bed evolution under the adjusted and non-adjusted flow-sediment conditions was calculated.After the completion of the TGP,the reservoir storage accelerated the flood recession process and decreased the erosion by 11.9%under the flow-sediment conditions in 2010,and the deposition in the flood season decreased by 56.4%.

青藏高原冻土区高寒草甸能量分配及蒸散发影响因子

高寒草甸的能量分配和蒸散发对青藏高原多年冻土区水循环至关重要。然而,能量分配、蒸散发及其驱动因素的季节变化(冻融循环)仍需要明确。因此,本研究在位于青藏高原风火山流域的高寒草甸进行了为期4年的能量通量(包括潜热和感热)观测,并估算了大气边界参数(包括表面导度,解耦系数和Priestley-Taylor系数)。研究结果表明,研究区日均潜热(27.45±23.89 W/m^(2))和显热(32.51±16.72W/m^(2))分别占可利用能量的31.71%和50.14%。在降雨期,更多可利用能量被分配到潜热;而在冻结期,67.54±28.44%的可利用能量分配给显热。显热在降雨期间是潜热的一半,而由于冻结期较低的土壤水分含量及植被盖度,显热在冻结期间是潜热的7倍。研究区年均蒸散发为347.34±8.39 mm/year,接近年均降水量。较低的日均解耦系数(0.45±0.23)和Priestley-Taylor系数(0.60±0.29)表明高寒草甸的蒸散发受水分供应限制。然而,在降雨期由于降水充足,蒸散发受到可利用能量的限制。在过渡期,蒸散发和降水之间存在较大差异,表明在该季节上游冰川和雪的融水通过侧向流动补给到土壤中。本研究的结果表明,在未来模拟多年冻土区水和能量通量时应考虑大气边界参数的季节变化。

Estimates of net primary productivity and actual evapotranspiration over the Tibetan Plateau from the Community Land Model version 4.5 with four atmospheric forcing datasets

The accuracy of the simulation of carbon and water processes largely relies on the selection of atmospheric forcing datasets when driving land surface models(LSM).Particularly in high-altitude regions,choosing appropriate atmospheric forcing datasets can effectively reduce uncertainties in the LSM simulations.Therefore,this study conducted four offline LSM simulations over the Tibetan Plateau(TP)using the Community Land Model version 4.5(CLM4.5)driven by four state-of-the-art atmospheric forcing datasets.The performances of CRUNCEP(CLM4.5 model default)and three other reanalysis-based atmospheric forcing datasets(i.e.ITPCAS,GSWP3 and WFDEI)in simulating the net primary productivity(NPP)and actual evapotranspiration(ET)were evaluated based on in situ and gridded reference datasets.Compared with in situ observations,simulated results exhibited determination coefficients(R2)ranging from 0.58 to 0.84 and 0.59 to 0.87 for observed NPP and ET,respectively,among which GSWP3 and ITPCAS showed superior performance.At the plateau level,CRUNCEP-based simulations displayed the largest bias compared with the reference NPP and ET.GSWP3-based simulations demonstrated the best performance when comprehensively considering both the magnitudes and change trends of TP-averaged NPP and ET.The simulated ET increase over the TP during 1982-2010 based on ITPCAS was significantly greater than in the other three simulations and reference ET,suggesting that ITPCAS may not be appropriate for studying long-term ET changes over the TP.These results suggest that GSWP3 is recommended for driving CLM4.5 in conducting long-term carbon and water processes simulations over the TP.This study contributes to enhancing the accuracy of LSM in water-carbon simulations over alpine regions.

梯级水库蓄水对三峡水库泥沙淤积滞后响应规律的影响

Delayed response behaviour commonly occurs in conjunction with changes in riverbed scouring and sediment deposition and is a key component in understanding the intrinsic behaviour of reservoir siltation.Due to the complexity of the riverbed siltation process,the variability in the factors that influence siltation and the limitations of available research methods,the understanding of the delayed response behaviour of the sedimentation process in the Three Gorges Reservoir(TGR)is currently merely qualitative,and there is a lack of quantitative in-depth understanding.In addition,the effects of changes in water and sediment conditions on sedimentation in the TGR before and after cascade reservoir impoundment have not been quantified,so further studies are needed to provide a reference for better understanding the intrinsic behaviour of sedimentation in the TGR and the implications for the long-term use of the reservoir.Based on measured water and sediment data from 2003 to 2020 and topographic data from 2003 to 2018,a delayed response model for sedimentation in the TGR is constructed and combined with theoretical derivation to analyse the changes in the delayed response behaviour of the TGR before and after the impoundment of the cascade reservoirs and the associated causes.Then,the influence of changes in water and sediment conditions in previous years on sedimentation in the reservoir area is determined.The results show that(1)the improved delayed response model of sedimentation,which considers variations in external water and sediment conditions,reservoir scheduling,and riverbed adjustment rates,can effectively reflect the sedimentation process in the TGR,especially after the impoundment of the cascade reservoirs.Additionally,the typical section elevation delayed response model can simulate the section elevation adjustment process.(2)After the impoundment of the cascade reservoirs,the decreased variation in incoming water and sediment and more concentrated incoming sediment in the flood season increased the adjustment rate of the riverbed,and the delayed response time of TGR sedimentation was shortened from the previous 5 years to the previous 3 years.The impact of the previous water and sediment conditions is not negligible for the sedimentation process in the TGR,and the cumulative proportion of the previous influence reaches more than 60%.(3)The influence of incoming sediment on the sedimentation process and typical section adjustment process in the reservoir area increased after the impoundment of the cascade reservoirs,and the influence of the water level in front of the dam on sedimentation remained the largest.

Water Content and Deformation Fabrics in Layered Gabbros:Implications for Rhythmic Layering and Its Effect on Seismic Properties

0 INTRODUCTION Gabbro,crystalized mantle basaltic melts,is a common rock type on the Earth’s surface that consists of mostly clinopyroxene and plagioclase.It is the dominant component of lower oceanic crust formed by slow cooling and crystallization of upwelling partial melts from the upper mantle in the mid-ocean ridge.Geophysical observations suggest that gabbroic intrusions are also common in the continental lower crusts that have experienced extensive underplating of mantle-derived melts(Thybo and Aetemieva,2013) or exist as crystallized partial melts from mantle plume (Xiao et al.,2004).Hence the deformation of gabbro is of importance for understanding the rheology of oceanic crust and underplated continental crust.

Breaches of the Baige Barrier Lake: Emergency response and dam breach flood

This paper documents the emergency response to the breaches of the Baige Barrier Lake. The lake was successively formed by landslides that occurred on October 10 and November 3, 2018 at the provincial border between Sichuan and Tibet in China. The barrier lake created by the "10.10" landslide breached on October 12 and triggered a flood with a peak discharge around 10000 m^3/s. The residual landslide barrier was enhanced by a second landslide on November 3, resulting in a higher barrier with larger flood potential. An overflow channel was excavated in the crest of the barrier to prompt the breach to be triggered at a lower water level. The second breach happened on November 12 with a measured peak discharge of 31000 m^3/s. Nearly 75000 people were evacuated before the two breaches. In order to prevent the downstream dams from possible over-topping, nearly 3.27×10~8 m^3 of the stored volume was released from the Liyuan reservoir 688 km downstream of Baige Barrier Lake. This paper presents the measured hydrographs and the back-analysis results for the "11.03" barrier lake. It is shown that the modern models of dam breach hydraulics can reasonably reproduce the barrier breach hydrographs;however, further studies are needed to define the key parameters which highly influence the calculated results. Knowledge acquired during the emergency response to the case can be shared with experts working on breaches of embankment dams and can be referenced to promote both the theory study and the engineering practice to mitigate the potential risks caused by this type of catastrophic events.

Mechanism of air-trapped vertical vortices in long-corridor-shaped surge tank of hydropower station and their elimination

The air-trapped vertical vortices（ATVVs） are easy to form above the throttled orifices in the widely used long-corridor-shaped surge tanks（LCSSTs）, when the tank water level decreases rapidly during hydraulic transients. These ATVVs may jeopardize the operation safety of the hydropower stations and should be avoided. This study elucidates the formation mechanism of the ATVVs and proposes some simple measures to eliminate them. The 3-D CFD model for predicting the ATVVs is validated first by physical model tests in a model tailrace LCSST, and then the formation mechanism is analyzed based on the numerical results. It is shown that the main influence factor for the ATVVs is the critical submergence, which can be reduced by minimizing the velocity circulation around the throttled orifices. Two practical ATVV elimination measures through suppressing the velocity circulation are compared and verified, and the optimized one is recommended.

Transverse Joint Aperture Simulation of High Arch Dam Based on Measured Temperature in Construction Period

Transverse joint aperture is of certain reference value to ensure joint grouting quality and overall safety of high arch dam. A 3D isoparametric joint element model with spherical surface key grooves and finite thickness is used to simulate a transverse joint. A set of program is developed to simulate the transverse joint ap- erture of Dagangshan high arch dam. Combined with the measured temperatures, the whole developing process of Dagangshan arch dam＇s transverse joint aperture is simulated. The real work behav- ior of transverse joint, thermal and mechanical properties of con- crete, pouring process, joint grouting temperature and cantilever height of high arch dam are considered during the simulation. The simulation results show that the lower of the joint grouting tem- perature, the larger value of transverse joint aperture; the higher of cantilever height during the construction period, the smaller value of transverse joint aperture.