Experimental Study on the Effect of Sediment Composition Ratio on Shallow Water Delta

1 Introduction Shallow water delta in the middle-newborn Stratum Widely developed with huge oil and gas in China(Hu Shengwu et al.,2013).The control factors on the deltadevelopment like Climate,sea level,tectonic subsidence,sediment supply(flow,type),the geometric characteristics of the upstream river,the energy(wave,

Deposited sediment settlement and consolidation mechanisms

In order to study deposited sediment settlement and consolidation mechanisms, sediment settlement experiments were conducted using a settlement column. Based on the experimental results, sediment settlement stage definition, excessive pore pressure （EPP） dissipation, and consolidation constitutive equations are discussed. Three stages, including the free settlement, hindered settlement, and self-weight consolidation settlement stages, are defined. The results of this study show that sediment settlement is mainly affected by the initial sediment concentration and initial settlement height, and the interface settlement rate is linearly attenuated with time on bilogarithmic scales during the hindered settlement and self-weight consolidation settlement stages. Moreover, the deposited sediment layer in the self-weight consolidation settlement stage experiences large strains, and the settlement amount in this stage is about 32% to 59% of the initial height of deposited sediment. EPP is nonlinearly distributed in the settlement direction, and consolidation settlement is faster than EPP dissipation in the self-weight consolidation settlement stage. Consolidation constitutive equations for the hydraulic conductivity and effective stress, applicable to large-strain consolidation calculation, were also determined and fitted in the power function form.

A new ecological control method for Pisha sandstone based on hydrophilic polyurethane

The Pisha sandstone-coverd area is among the regions that suffer from the most severe water loss and soil erosion in China and is the main source of coarse sand for the Yellow River. This study demonstrated a new erosion control method using W-OH solution, a type of hydrophilic polyurethane, to prevent the Pisha sandstone from water erosion. We evaluated the comprehensive effects of W-OH on water erosion resistance and vegetation-growth promotion through simulated scouring tests and field demonstrations on the Ordos Plateau of China. The results of simulated scouring tests show that the water erosion resistance of W-OH treated area was excellent and the cumulative sediment yield reduction reached more than 99%. In the field demonstrations, the vegetation coverage reached approximately 95% in the consolidation-green area, and there was almost no shallow trenches on the entire slope in the treated area. In comparison, the control area experienced severe erosion with deep erosion gullies appeared on the slope and the vegetation coverage was less than 30%. This study illustrated that W-OH treatment can protect the Pisha sandstone from erosion and provide the vegetation seeds a chance to grow. Once the vegetation matured, the effects of consolidation-growth mutual promotion can efficiently and effectively improve the water erosion resistance and ecological restoration.

Wind tunnel test on the effect of metal net fences on sand flux in a Gobi Desert, China

The Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-speed Railway runs through an expansive windy area in a Gobi Desert, and sand-blocking fences were built to protect the railway from destruction by wind-blown sand. However, the shielding effect of the sand-blocking fence is below the expectation. In this study, effects of metal net fences with porosities of 0.5 and 0.7 were tested in a wind tunnel to determine the effectiveness of the employed two kinds of fences in reducing wind velocity and restraining wind-blown sand. Specifically, the horizontal wind velocities and sediment flux densities above the gravel surface were measured under different free-stream wind velocities for the following conditions： no fence at all, single fence with a porosity of 0.5, single fence with a porosity of 0.7, double fences with a porosity of 0.5, and double fences with a porosity of 0.7. Experimental results showed that the horizontal wind velocity was more significantly decreased by the fence with a porosity of 0.5, especially for the double fences. The horizontal wind velocity decreased approximately 65% at a distance of 3.25 m（i.e., 13 H, where H denotes the fence height） downwind the double fences, and no reverse flow or vortex was observed on the leeward side. The sediment flux density decreased exponentially with height above the gravel surface downwind in all tested fences. The reduction percentage of total sediment flux density was higher for the fence with a porosity of 0.5 than for the fence with a porosity of 0.7, especially for the double fences. Furthermore, the decreasing percentage of total sediment flux density decreased with increasing free-stream wind velocity. The results suggest that compared with metal net fence with a porosity of 0.7, the metal net fence with a porosity of 0.5 is more effective for controlling wind-blown sand in the expansive windy area where the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-speed Railway runs through.

Effect of a Single Repeat Sequence of the Human Telomere d（TTAGGG）on Structure of Single-Stranded Telomeric DNA d[AGGG（TTAGGG）6]

The structures of human telomeric DNA have received much attention due to its significant biological importance.Most studies have focused on G-quadruplex structure formed by short telomeric DNA sequence,but little is known about the structures of long singlestranded telomeric DNAs.Here,we investigated the structure of DNA with a long sequence of d[AGGG(TTAGGG)6](G6-DNA)and the effect of a single repeat sequence d(TTAGGG)(G01-DNA)on the structure of G6-DNA using sedimentation velocity technique,polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis,circular dichroism spectroscopy,and UV melting experiments.The results suggest that the G6-DNA can form dimers in aqueous solutions and G01-DNA can form additional G-quadruplex structures by binding to G6-DNA.However,G01-DNA has no effect on the structure of DNA with a sequence of d[AGGG(TTAGGG)3](G3-DNA).Our study provides new insights into the structure polymorphism of long human single-stranded telomeric DNA.