Liquefaction susceptibility and deformation characteristics of saturated coral sandy soils subjected to cyclic loadings-a critical review

Coral sandy soils widely exist in coral island reefs and seashores in tropical and subtropical regions.Due to the unique marine depositional environment of coral sandy soils,the engineering characteristics and responses of these soils subjected to monotonic and cyclic loadings have been a subject of intense interest among the geotechnical and earthquake engineering communities.This paper critically reviews the progress of experimental investigations on the undrained behavior of coral sandy soils under monotonic and cyclic loadings over the last three decades.The focus of coverage includes the contractive-dilative behavior,the pattern of excess pore-water pressure(EPWP)generation and the liquefaction mechanism and liquefaction resistance,the small-strain shear modulus and strain-dependent shear modulus and damping,the cyclic softening feature,and the anisotropic characteristics of undrained responses of saturated coral sandy soils.In particular,the advances made in the past decades are reviewed from the following aspects:(1)the characterization of factors that impact the mechanism and patterns of EPWP build-up;(2)the identification of liquefaction triggering in terms of the apparent viscosity and the average flow coefficient;(3)the establishment of the invariable form of strain-based,stress-based,or energy-based EPWP ratio formulas and the unique relationship between the new proxy of liquefaction resistance and the number of cycles required to reach liquefaction;(4)the establishment of the invariable form of the predictive formulas of small strain modulus and strain-dependent shear modulus;and(5)the investigation on the effects of stress-induced anisotropy on liquefaction susceptibility and dynamic deformation characteristics.Insights gained through the critical review of these advances in the past decades offer a perspective for future research to further resolve the fundamental issues concerning the liquefaction mechanism and responses of coral sandy sites subjected to cyclic loadings associated with seismic events in marine environments.

Validating the use of ROS-scavenging bacteria as probiotics to increase coral resilience to thermal stress

Thermal stress causes the overproduction and toxic accumulation of reactive oxygen species(ROS),which seems to be correlated with coral bleaching and,ultimately,death.The reduction of ROS concentration within the coral holobiont could minimize the effects of thermal stress and support efforts to reduce coral decline globally.In the current study,we explored the physiological responses of Pocillopora damicornis to ROS-scavenging bacteria inoculation as well as the microbiome restructuring that correlates with P.damicornis’s resilience to thermal stress after probiotic inoculation.Inoculation of corals with ROS-scavenging bacteria enhanced coral health and reduced ROS concentration.Furthermore,the enhanced coral thermal resistance promoted by ROS-scavenging bacteria was also correlated with an overall coral microbiome restructuring.In addition,the complex network relationships between bacteria and Symbiodiniaceae in corals after ROS-scavenging bacteria inoculation contributed to corals’resilience to high temperatures.Besides,coral heat tolerance bacterial biomarkers,such as Myxococcota,were enriched in corals with added ROS-scavenging bacteria.Collectively,our findings validate the selected ROS-scavenging bacteria as coral probiotics that could help corals resist thermal stress on a short timescale.Additionally,our data contribute to our understanding of the potential interactions between different members of the coral holobiont and the use of probiotics as tools to aid coral restoration efforts.

Coral records of Mid-Holocene sea-level highstands and climate responses in the northern South China Sea

High-resolution sea-level data and high-precision dating of corals in the northern South China Sea(SCS)during the Holocene provide a reference and historical background for current and future sea-level changes and a basis for scientific assessment of the evolutionary trend of coral reefs in the SCS.Although sporadic studies have been performed around Hainan Island in the northern SCS,the reconstructed sea level presents different values or is controversial because the indicative meaning of the sea-level indicators were neither quantified nor uniform criteria.Here,we determined the quantitative relationship between modern living coral and sea level by measuring the top surfaces of 27 live Porites corals from the inner reef flat along the east coast of Hainan Island and assessed the accuracy of results obtained using coral as sea-level indicators.Additionally,three in situ fossil Porites corals were analyzed based on elevation measurements,digital X-ray radiography,and U-Th dating.The survey results showed that the indicative meanings for the modern live Porites corals is(146.09±8.35)cm below the mean tide level(MTL).It suggested that their upward growth limit is constrained by the sea level,and the lowest low water is the highest level of survival for the modern live Porites corals.Based on the newly defined indicative meanings,6 new sea-level index points(SLIPs)were obtained and 19 published SLIPs were recalculated.Those SLIPs indicated a relative sea level fluctuation between(227.7±9.8)cm to(154.88±9.8)cm MTL between(5393±25)cal a BP and(3390±12)cal a BP,providing evidences of the Mid-Holocene sea-level highstand in the northern SCS.Besides that,our analysis demonstrated that different sea-level histories may be produced based on different indicative meanings or criteria.The dataset of 276 coral U-Th ages indicates that coral reef development in the northern SCS comprised the initial development,boom growth,decline,and flourishing development again.A comparison with regional records indicated that synergistic effects of climatic and environmental factors were involved in the development of coral reefs in the northern SCS.Thus,the cessation of coral reef development during the Holocene in the northern SCS was probably associated with the dry and cold climate in South China,as reflected in the synchronous weakening of the ENSO and East Asian summer monsoon induced by the reduction of the 65°N summer insolation,which forced the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

A machine learning-based strategy for predicting the mechanical strength of coral reef limestone using X-ray computed tomography

Different sedimentary zones in coral reefs lead to significant anisotropy in the pore structure of coral reef limestone(CRL),making it difficult to study mechanical behaviors.With X-ray computed tomography(CT),112 CRL samples were utilized for training the support vector machine(SVM)-,random forest(RF)-,and back propagation neural network(BPNN)-based models,respectively.Simultaneously,the machine learning model was embedded into genetic algorithm(GA)for parameter optimization to effectively predict uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of CRL.Results indicate that the BPNN model with five hidden layers presents the best training effect in the data set of CRL.The SVM-based model shows a tendency to overfitting in the training set and poor generalization ability in the testing set.The RF-based model is suitable for training CRL samples with large data.Analysis of Pearson correlation coefficient matrix and the percentage increment method of performance metrics shows that the dry density,pore structure,and porosity of CRL are strongly correlated to UCS.However,the P-wave velocity is almost uncorrelated to the UCS,which is significantly distinct from the law for homogenous geomaterials.In addition,the pore tensor proposed in this paper can effectively reflect the pore structure of coral framework limestone(CFL)and coral boulder limestone(CBL),realizing the quantitative characterization of the heterogeneity and anisotropy of pore.The pore tensor provides a feasible idea to establish the relationship between pore structure and mechanical behavior of CRL.

A novel relationship between elastic modulus and void ratio associated with principal stress for coral calcareous sand

Elastic moduli,e.g.shear modulus G and bulk modulus K,are important parameters of geotechnical materials,which are not only the indices for the evaluation of the deformation ability of soils but also the important basic parameters for the development of the constitutive models of geotechnical materials.In this study,a series of triaxial loading-unloading-reloading shear tests and isotropic loading-unloadingreloading tests are conducted to study several typical mechanical properties of coral calcareous sand(CCS),and the void ratio evolution during loading,unloading and reloading.The test results show that the stress-strain curves during multiple unloading processes are almost parallel,and their slopes are much greater than the deformation modulus at the initial stage of loading.The relationship between the confining pressure and the volumetric strain can be defined approximately by a hyperbolic equation under the condition of monotonic loading of confining pressure.Under the condition of confining pressure unloading,the evolution of void ratio is linear in the e-lnp0 plane,and these lines are a series of almost parallel lines if there are multiple processes of unloading.Based on the experimental results,it is found that the modified Hardin formulae for the elastic modulus estimation have a significant deviation from the tested values for CCS.Based on the experimental results,it is proposed that the elastic modulus of soils should be determined by the intersection line of two spatial surfaces in the G/K-e-p’/pa space(pa:atmosphere pressure).“Ye formulation”is further proposed for the estimation of the elastic modulus of CCS.This new estimation formulation for soil elastic modulus would provide a new method to accurately describe the mechanical behavior of granular soils.

Physical and Mechanical Properties of Coral Sand in the Nansha Islands

Coral sand is a unique material developed in the tropical ocean environment, which is mainly composed of coral and other marine organism debris, with the CaCO3 content up to 96 %. It has special physical and mechanical properties due to its composition, structure and sedimentary environment. In this contribution, we discuss its specific gravity, porosity ratio compressibility, crushing, shearing and intensity for coral sand samples from the Nansha islands based on laboratory mechanical tests. Our results show distinct high porosity ratio, high friction angle and low intensity as compared with the quartz sand. We believe that grain crushing is the main factor that influences the deformation and strength of coral sand. Comprehensive study on the physical and mechanical properties of coral sands is significant in providing reliable scientific parameters to construction on coral islet, and thus avoids accidents in construction.

数字果业综合信息管理平台的设计与实现——基于Coral组件架构

随着信息化进程在农业领域的快速推进,人们对农业生产过程中的信息需求越来越多。笔者以果业为背景,针对果业种植过程中信息服务需求,设计开发了一个基于Coral组件架构的数字果业综合信息管理平台。该平台分为数据采集层、服务层、应用层。在此基础上,设计的系统功能结构有农业物联网监控管理、种植生产管理、专家远程服务、农产品安全溯源与农产品网上商城5个功能模块。该平台为果业从业人员提供相关的技术服务、信息资讯以及规范标准,对推动果业种植过程信息化具有十分重要的意义。

Coral Reef and High Sea Level at Luhuitou, Hainan Island during the Holocene

According to the field survey and ^14C dating at Luhuitou, southern Hainan Island, a subsiding area, the authors conclude the high sea level history recorded by coral reef in the Holocene. At least 4 sea level high-stands can be identified from the distribution of coral reef ages： 7300 - 6000 cal.aBP, 4800 - 4700 cal.aBP, 4300 - 4200 cal.aBP and 3100 - 2900 cal.aBP. The highest sea level occurred around 7300 - 6700 cal.aBP, and biological-morphological zones took their shape during the stage. The later coral reefs developed in ponds, depressions, and developed outwards on both sides of Luhuitou peninsula. The modern coral reefs are developing in out reef flat and reef-front slope. Moreover, the time of high sea levels in the northern South China Sea recorded by coral reefs in the Luhuitou peninsula can link up with that in other parts of South China Sea. That means the high sea levels in the South China Sea during the Holocene, which are relative to the warming climate, have the global background.

Fabrication,characterization and electrochemical properties of porous coral-structured Si/C composite anode for lithium ion battery

A porous coral-structured Si/C composite as an anode material was fabricated by coating Si nanoparticles with a carbon layer from polyvinyl alcohol（PVA）, erosion of hydrofluoric（HF） acid, and secondary coating with pitch. Three samples with different pitch contents of 30%, 40% and 50% were synthesized. The composition and morphology of the composites were characterized by X-ray diffractometry（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, respectively, and the properties were tested by electrochemical measurements. The results indicated that the composites showed obviously enhanced electrochemical performance compared with that without secondary carbon coating. The second discharge capacity of the composite was 773 m A·h/g at a current density of 100 m A/g, and still retained 669 m A·h/g after 60 cycles with a small capacity fade of less than 0.23%/cycle, while the content of secondary carbon source of pitch was set at 40%. Therefore, the cycle stability of the composite could be excellently improved by regulating carbon content of secondary coating.

海水环境下BFRP筋珊瑚礁混凝土柱轴心受压承载力研究

为探究海水环境下玄武岩纤维复合材料(BFRP)筋珊瑚礁混凝土柱的单轴受压承载性能,对5根经过海水干湿循环、海水浸泡后的BFRP筋珊瑚礁混凝土柱进行轴心受压试验,研究海水环境对BFRP筋珊瑚礁混凝土柱轴心受压承载力的影响。结果表明,海水的腐蚀作用使柱的承压能力受损,在受压初期试件便产生裂缝,未受海水腐蚀的BFRP筋珊瑚礁混凝土柱的轴心受压承载力最佳,发生压碎破坏且受压性能良好。随着海水腐蚀时间的增加,柱内BFRP筋与珊瑚混凝土协同工作的承压能力被削弱,海水干湿循环比海水浸泡对柱子承压能力的损伤更严重。最后,基于试验结果将BFRP筋抗压强度值进行折减,提出优化后的BFRP筋珊瑚礁混凝土柱轴心受压承载力计算模型。

The effects of four transplantation methods on five coral species at the Sanya Bay

Coral transplantation is considered as one of the major tools to increase coral abundance for degraded coral reefs.To investigate the effects of various methods and coral species in transplantation, coral fragments（n=902） of five coral species were transplanted by four methods at Luhuitou, the Sanya Bay, Hainan Province, China, where the reef has been over-exploited and is still threatened by human activities and natural disasters. Ten months after the transplant, the average survivorship of the transplanted corals was 45.5%. Methodologies had different effects on the transplanted corals, but none of them was efficacious for all coral species. Methodology could not change the decreasing trend for Montipora foliosa and Acropora hyacinthus, although it did slow down their decline. All transplants of A. hyacinthus and M. foliosa had high mortalities and significant decrease on survival area, while Porites andrewsi and Galaxea fascicularis had lower mortalities and partial mortalities. Only one method had significant effect on increasing survival area of G. fascicularis, same as P. andrewsi. Out of the five transplanted coral species, Pocillopora damicornis was the only species that had living tissue area increase in all applied methods, while the others had decreased live tissue area in one or more methods. The results of this study suggested that performing coral transplantation in a highly threatened area was not efficient unless the threats were diminished or erased. Moreover, proper species selection for coral transplantation is crucial, especially in a disturbed environment. Methodology, although having limited effects on improving results of coral transplantation, cannot compensate the maladjustment of vulnerable species to the stresses on the Luhuitou Reef. Coral transplantation on Luhuitou Reef should not be performed unless the stresses are under controlled,and corals with good tolerance to the environment should be considered first.

Methanation of syngas over coral reef-like Ni/Al_2O_3 catalysts

Coral reef-like Ni/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation of nickel acetate and aluminium nitrate with sodium carbonate aqueous solution in the medium of ethylene glycolye.Methanation of syngas was carried out over coral reef-like Ni/Al2O3 catalysts in a continuous flow type fixed-bed reactor.The structure and properties of the fresh and used catalysts were studied by SEM,N2 adsorption-desorption,XRD,H2-TPR,O2-TPO,TG and ICP-AES techniques.The results showed that the coral reef-like Ni/Al2O3 catalysts exhibited better activity than the conventional Ni/Al2O3-H2O catalysts.The activities of coral reef-like catalysts were in the order of Ni/Al2O3-673Ni/Al2O3-573Ni/Al2O3- 473Ni/Al2O3-773.Ni/Al2O3-673-EG catalyst showed not only good activity and improved stability but also superior resistance to carbon deposition,sintering,and Ni loss.Under the reaction conditions of CO/H2（molar ratio）=1：3,593 K,atmospheric pressure and a GHSV of 2500 h-1,CH4 selectivity was 84.7%,and the CO conversion reached 98.2%.

Effect of Aluminum Tri-polyphosphate on Corrosion Behavior of Reinforcing Steel in Seawater Prepared Coral Concrete

Atri-polyphosphate was used as a corrosion inhibitor in the seawater prepared coral concrete, and its influence on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel, 304 austenitic stainless steel, and 2205 duplex stainless steel was studied by the open-circuit potential, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and potentiodynamic polarization, respectively. The results reveal that the corrosion potential and impedance of the reinforcing steel increase, while the corrosion current density decreases with the content of aluminum tripolyphosphate in the coral concrete. A low content of the corrosion inhibitor significantly retards the corrosion of the two stainless steels, but it cannot effectively inhibit the corrosion of the carbon steel in the coral concrete.In general, the carbon steel is unsuitable for the coral concrete for its poor corrosion resistance. In contrast,the stainless steels, especially the 2205 duplex stainless steel, shows an excellent anti-corrosion property in the seawater prepared coral concrete containing a certain amount of inhibitor, which is one of the satisfactory candidate methods to build the long-life coral concrete constructions.

Testing coral paleothermometers(B/Ca, Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, U/Ca and δ^(18)O) under impacts of large riverine runoff

Sea surface temperature （SST） proxies including B/Ca, Mg/Ca, St/Ca, U/Ca and δ180 were analyzed in the skeleton of a Porites coral collected from the Zhujiang River （Pearl River） Estuary （ZRE）. These geochemical proxies are influenced by river runoff and this area of the northern South China Sea is strongly affected by seasonal freshwater floods. We assessed the robustness of each SST proxy through comparison with the local instrumental SST. Coral St/Ca shows the highest correlation with SST variations （r2=0.59）, suggesting St/Ca is the most robust SST proxy. In contrast, coral δ180 （r2=0.46）, B/Ca （r2=0.43） and U/Ca （r2=0.41） ratios were only moderately correlated with SST variations, suggesting that they are disturbed by some other factors in addition to SST. The poor correlation （r2=0.27） between SST and Mg/Ca indicates that Mg/Ca in coral skeletons is not a simple function of SST variations. This may ultimately limit the use of Mg/Ca as a coral paleothermometer.

Research on Flexural Behavior of Coral Aggregate Reinforced Concrete Beams

Through the flexural behavior test of coral aggregate reinforced concrete beams(CARCB) and ordinary Portland reinforced concrete beams(OPRCB), and based on the parameters of concrete types, concrete strength grades and reinforcement ratios, the crack development, failure mode, midspan deflection and flexural capacity were studied, the relationships of bending moment-midspan deflection, load-longitudinal tensile reinforcement strain, load-maximum crack width were established, and a calculation model for the flexural capacity of CARCB was suggested. The results showed that with the increase in the reinforcement ratio and concrete strength grade, the crack bending moment(Mcr)and ultimate bending moment(Mu) of CARCB gradually increased. The characteristics of CARCB and OPRCB are basically the same. Furthermore, through increasing the concrete strength grade and reinforcement ratio, Mcr/Mu could be increased to delay the cracking of CARCB. As the load increased, crack width(w) would also increase. At the beginning of the loading, w increased slowly. And then it increased rapidly when the load reached to the ultimate load, which then led to beam failure. Meanwhile, with a comprehensive consideration of the effects of steel corrosion on the loss of steel section and the decrease of steel yield strength, a more reasonable calculation model for the flexural capacity of CARCB was proposed.

Numerical Simulation for Shallow Strata Stability of Coral Reef in the Southwest of Yongshu Reef(South China Sea)

In recent years, infrastructure construction on coral reefs has been increasingly developed. Therefore, the shallow strata stability of coral reefs in the South China Sea should be evaluated. This study aims to investigate the profiles for the shallow strata of coral reefs in the southwest of the Yongshu Reef, particularly in the hydrodynamic marine environment, and to establish a geological model for numerical simulation using Geo-Studio. The shallow strata of the coral reefs include mass gravel, sand gravel, mid-coarse sand, silty sand, fine sand, and reef limestone. The shallow reef slope near the lagoon is similar to a ‘layer cake', in which the side close to the sea is analogous to a ‘block cake'. The simulation results showed that coral reef stability depends on wave loads and earthquake strength and on the physical properties of coral reefs. The factor of safety for the outer reef is greater than 10.0 under static, wave, and seismic conditions; this indicated that the outer reefs were less affected by waves and earthquakes. However, the factor of safety next to the lagoon varied from 0.1 to 5.3. The variation was primarily caused by the thick strata of coral reefs close to the sea(reef limestone, typically with the thickness > 10 m and equivalent to a block). The soil and rock layers in the coral reef strata with thicknesses < 10 m showed weak engineering geological characteristics. Our findings can provide useful information to future construction projects on coral reefs.

A New Ceramide from the Soft Coral Cladiella humesi Verseveldt

A new ceramide, humesamide, was isolated from the soft coral Cladiella humesi Verseveldt, which was collected from Linshui County of Hainan Province. Its structure was established by spectroscopic analysis and chemical degradation methods.

Cloudiness regime shift during 1946—1992 recorded by coral in the South China Sea

By extracting and comparing long-term trend components of coral gray value, sea surface temperature, cloudiness, and net heat flux for the period of 1946-1992, the relationships among them are addressed. There exists a prominent regime shift in the cloudiness associated with the corresponding variabilities of sea surface temperature and net heat flux occurred in the mid-1960s, which can be successfully recorded by coral gray value, a climatic proxy. Long-term cloudiness variations in the South China Sea are completely opposite to the equatorial western Pacific in the past five decades, whereas they share a similar trend to that over Asian monsoon prevailing waters. The fact that the coral gray value is highly correlated to cloudiness provides a unique perspective on utilizing this coral to study cloudiness variations in the pre-instrumental period.

Thermal and saline tolerance of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba under controlled in-situ aquarium conditions

As a key species of the Southern Ocean ecosystem,the thermal and saline tolerances of Antarctic krill(Euphausia superb a Dana)are relatively unknown because of the challenging environment and complicated situations needed for observation have inhibited in-situ experiments in the field.Hence,the thermal and saline tolerance of krill were examined under in-situ aquarium conditions with different controlled scenarios.According to the experiments,the critical lethal times of krill were 24h,2h and 0.5h under 9℃,12℃,and 15℃,respectively,and the estimated 50%lethal times were about 17.1 h and 1.7 h under 12℃and 15℃,respectively.Additionally,the critical lethal times(the estimated 50%lethal times)of krill were approximately 14h and 0.5h(about 22.9 h and 1.7 h)of salinity under 19.7 and 15.9,respectively.The observed critical and 50%lethal times of krill were 0.5 h and approximately 1.4 h,respectively,salinity under 55.2.The critical and 50%lethal temperatures of krill were 13℃and approximately 14.2℃,respectively.Additionally,the critical and 50%lethal salinity was 19.6 and approximately 17.5 for the lower saline(below normal oceanic salinity[34.4])environment and 50.3 and approximately 53.2 for the higher saline(above 34.4)environment,respectively.The upper thermal and saline preferences of krill can be considered 6℃and 26.8 to 41.2,respectively.These results can provide potential scenarios for predicting the possible fate of this key species in the Southern Ocean.

A Comparative Study of Numerical Models for Wave Propagation and Setup on Steep Coral Reefs

Complex factors including steep slopes, intense wave breaking, large bottom friction and remarkable wave setup should be considered while studying wave propagation over coral reefs, and how to simulate wave propagation and setup on coral reefs efficiently has become a primary focus. Several wave models can be used on coral reefs as have been published, but further testing and comparison of the reliability and applicability of these models are needed. A comparative study of four numerical wave models (i.e., FUNWAVE-TVD, Coulwave, NHWAVE and ZZL18) is carried out in this paper. These models’ governing equations and numerical methods are compared and analyzed firstly to obtain their differences and connections;then the simulation effects of the four wave models are tested in four representative laboratory experiments. The results show that all four models can reasonably predict the spectrum transformation. Coulwave, NHWAVE and ZZL18 can predict the wave height variation more accurately;Coulwave and FUNWAVE-TVD tend to underestimate wave setup on the reef top induced by spilling breaker, while NHWAVE and ZZL18 can predict wave setup relatively accurately for all types of breakers;NHWAVE and ZZL18 can predict wave reflection by steep reef slope more accurately. This study can provide evidence for choosing suitable models for practical engineering or establishing new models.