Mass Balance of Major Elements in Relation to Weathering in Soils Developed on Igneous Rocks in a Semiarid Region,Northwestern Iran

This study was conducted to evaluate the weathering intensity of the major soils developed on igneous rocks in semiarid region of northwestern Iran.Eight parent materials were selected including monzodiorite,alkali granite,granodiorite,syenite,pyroxene diorite,hornblende andesite,pyroxene andesite,and dacite.Representative soil profiles were described and soil samples were collected and analyzed for selected chemical and physical properties and total concentrations of major elements and Zr,V,Ti and Y.Bulk densities as well as Ti,Zr and V concentrations were used to estimate the strain factors and mass balance equations were used to quantify the net result of pedogenic weathering,i.e.elemental loss and gain.The results of clay content and pedogenic iron variability as well as index of compositional variability(ICV),chemical index of alteration(CIA) and,A-CN-K and MFW ternary plots showed that the soils developed on volcanic rocks(hornblende andesite> pyroxene andesite> dacite) were more weathered than those on the plutonic parent rocks(alkali granite,granodiorite,monzodiorite,syenite,pyroxene diorite).The results of mass balance calculations based on the strain factors revealed that the Ca and Na depleted during weathering progress mostly from plagioclase grains.In the semiarid regions Ca is precipitated as pedogenic calcite in the soil horizons.K and Mg depletion is less than Ca and Na especially in the profiles on the hornblende andesite with the highest clay and LOI content.The results of this study clearly suggest that the behavior of K and Mg during the weathering cannot only be explained by the disintegration of the primary minerals,since they are fixed on the secondary clay minerals.Iron did not change in the soils compared to the parent material and was precipitated as the pedogenic iron and conserved in the soil horizons.Overall,the results on the weathering indicators and major elements mass balance enrichment/depletion in the study area confirmed that the soil profiles developed on volcanic rocks are more weathered than those on the plutonic igneous rocks.

Space decomposition based parallelization solutions for the combined finiteediscrete element method in 2D

The combined finiteediscrete element method （FDEM） belongs to a family of methods of computationalmechanics of discontinua. The method is suitable for problems of discontinua, where particles aredeformable and can fracture or fragment. The applications of FDEM have spread over a number of disciplinesincluding rock mechanics, where problems like mining, mineral processing or rock blasting canbe solved by employing FDEM. In this work, a novel approach for the parallelization of two-dimensional（2D） FDEM aiming at clusters and desktop computers is developed. Dynamic domain decompositionbased parallelization solvers covering all aspects of FDEM have been developed. These have beenimplemented into the open source Y2D software package and have been tested on a PC cluster. Theoverall performance and scalability of the parallel code have been studied using numerical examples. Theresults obtained confirm the suitability of the parallel implementation for solving large scale problems. 2014 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

VIRTUAL EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS ON CLEANING ELEMENT OF SUGARCANE HARVESTER

The laws of influence of different factors have been analyzed in order to enhance the working efficiency and fatigue life of the cleaning element in brush shape of the sugarcane harvester. Based on the principle of orthogonal experiment design, the virtual-orthogonal-experimental analysis for the cleaning element is carried out on the finite element analysis （FEA） software-ANSYS after analyzing the nonlinear structural behavior in the working procedure. The results are analyzed with the overall balancing method, and then the optimal combination is got, which is made up of different levels of different factors. Also the optimal combination of design parameters of the cleaning element received fiom the virtual experimental analysis is conducted an experiment to confirm that the virtual analysis model and results are right, and the effect of factors on the function of the cleaning element is obtained by more analysis and further optimizing.

DESIGN OF NOVEL HIGH PRESSURE-RESISTANT HYDROTHERMAL FLUID SAMPLE VALVE

Sampling study is an effective exploration method, but the most extreme environments of hydrothermal vents pose considerable engineering challenges for sampling hydrothermal fluids. Moreover, traditional sampler systems with sample valves have difficulty in maintaining samples in situ pressure. However, decompression changes have effect on microorganisms sensitive to such stresses. To address the technical difficulty of collecting samples from hydrothermal vents, a new bidirectional high pressure-resistant sample valve with balanced poppet was designed. The sample valve utilizes a soft high performance plastic ＂PEEK＂ as poppet. The poppet with inapposite dimension is prone to occur to plastic deformation or rupture for high working pressure in experiments. To address this issue, based on the fmite element model, simulated results on stress distribution of the poppet with different structure parameters and preload spring force were obtained. The static axial deformations on top of the poppet were experimented. The simulated results agree with the experimental results. The new sample valve seals well and it can withstand high working pressure.

Seasonal variations and sources of mass and chemical composition for PM_(10) aerosol in Hangzhou,China

Aerosol observation was conducted for four seasons from September 2001 to August 2002 at five sampling sites in Hangzhou, South China, on PM10 mass, 22 elements （Na, Mg, AI, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As. Se, Br, Cd, Ba, and Pb）, 5 major ions （F^-, Cl^ , NO3^-, SO4^2- , and NH4^＋）, and organic and elemental carbon （OC and EC）, showing that PM10 mass ranged from 46.7 to 270.8 μg/m^3, with an annual average of 119.2 μg/m^3. Na, AI, Si, S, K, Ca, and Fe were the most abundant elements in PM10, most of S being in the form of SO4^2- . SO4^2-, NO3^-, and NH4^＋ were the major ions, which contributed to about 20% of the PM10 mass. The mean seasonal concentrations for SO4^2- , averaged over all sites, were found to be 18.0, 18.5, 24,Z and 21.4 μg/m^3, for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively, while the corresponding loadings for NO3^- were 7.2, 4.7, 7.1, and 11.2 μg/m^3, and for NH4^＋ were 6.0, 5.9, 8.2, and 9.3 μg/m^3, in the form mostly of NH4NO3 in spring, autumn, and winter, and mostly of （NH4）2SO4 in summer. The low NO3^-/SO4^2- ratio found indicates coal combustion as the major source throughout the year. The mean annual concentrations of OC and EC in PM10 were found to be 21.4, and 4.1 μg/m^3, respectively. Material balance calculation indicated that fugitive dust, the secondary aerosol, and carbonaceous matter were the most abundant species in PM10 for the four seasons, as is characteristic for cities in South China.