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Loose Sand (loose + sand)
Selected AbstractsWeathering control over geomorphology of supermature Proterozoic Delhi quartzites of IndiaEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 13 2003Jayant K. Tripathi Abstract Quartz and quartzite are thought to be resistant as a mineral and a rock respectively; however, we have shown that the presence of small amounts of pyrite in the quartzites makes them vulnerable to weathering. We observe that weathering of Proterozoic quartzite in the semi-arid conditions around Delhi proceeded from fractures towards the inside and produced weathering rinds. The chemical index of alteration (CIA), which is actually a measure of weathering of aluminosilicate minerals, increases from the core outwards, through the rinds. Although aluminosilicate minerals occur only as minor phases (<2 per cent), their weathering indicates a movement of the weathering front from the periphery towards the core. We have suggested a coupled mechanism in which the dissolution of pyrites by moving water produced a sulphate-bearing acidic solution and ferrous iron, which reacted with aluminosilicate minerals and quartz, respectively. This initially makes the Delhi quartzite porous and subsequently friable. The total disintegration of grain to grain contacts imparted friability to this quartzite to produce silica sand. Subsequent physical erosion of loose sand, produced during rind development in the outermost zones, has given rise to features like tors, spheroids, gullies, cavities and small-scale caves on these quartzites. Thus, the terrain has acquired ruggedness in semi-arid conditions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Microbial strengthening of loose sandLETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010B.L. Banagan Abstract Aims:, To test whether the addition of Flavobacterium johnsoniae could increase the strength of saturated Ottawa 30 sand. Methods and Results:, A box model was built that simulates groundwater-like flow through a main sand compartment. Strength tests were performed at seven locations and at two depths, 10·8 and 20·3 cm below the top of the tank, using a vane shear device before and after the addition of bacteria. After the addition of Fl. johnsoniae, sand samples were obtained from multiple sampling ports on the vertical sides of the box model. The presence of a bacterial biofilm was confirmed by staining these sand samples with SYTO-9 and Alexa Fluor 633 and viewing with a confocal microscope. The average shear strength increases after the addition of Fl. johnsoniae were 15·2,87·5%, depending on the experimental conditions. Conclusions:,Flavobacterium johnsoniae caused a statistically significant increase in the strength of saturated Ottawa 30 sand. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Biofilm-forming bacteria can increase the shear strength of saturated sand. The addition of biofilm-forming bacteria to a building site may be an alternate method to mitigate the effects of liquefaction. [source] Combined seismic tomographic and ultrashallow seismic reflection study of an Early Dynastic mastaba, Saqqara, EgyptARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 4 2005Mohamed Metwaly Abstract Mastabas were large rectangular structures built for the funerals and burials of the earliest Pharaohs. One such mastaba was the basic building block that led to the first known stone pyramid, the,>4600-year old Step Pyramid within the Saqqara necropolis of Egypt. We have tested a number of shallow geophysical techniques for investigating in a non-invasive manner the subsurface beneath a large Early Dynastic mastaba located close to the Step Pyramid. After discovering that near-surface sedimentary rocks with unusually high electrical conductivities precluded the use of the ground-penetrating radar method, a very high-resolution seismic data set was collected along a profile that extended the 42.5,m length of the mastaba. A sledgehammer source was used every 0.2,m and the data were recorded using a 48-channel array of single geophones spaced at 0.2,m intervals. Inversions of the direct- and refracted-wave travel times provided P-wave velocity tomograms of the shallow subsurface, whereas relatively standard processing techniques yielded a high-fold (50,80) ultrashallow seismic reflection section. The tomographic and reflection images were jointly interpreted in terms of loose sand and friable limestone layers with low P-wave velocities of 150,650,m,s,1 overlying consolidated limestone and shale with velocities,>,1500,m,s,1. The sharp contact between the low- and high-velocity regimes was approximately horizontal at a depth of ca. 2,m. This contact was the source of a strong seismic reflection. Above this contact, the velocity tomogram revealed moderately high velocities at the surface location of a friable limestone outcrop and two low-velocity blocks that probably outlined sand-filled shafts. Below the contact, three regularly spaced low velocity blocks probably represented tunnels and/or subsurface chambers. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Factors affecting habitat selection in a specialist fossorial skinkBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 3 2009AARON C. GREENVILLE Habitat specialists maximize their fitness by using a subset of the habitats that are potentially available to them and fare poorly if they move elsewhere. The factors that constrain habitat use are diverse and often difficult to identify, but are important to distinguish if we are to understand the trade-offs that drive species to become specialists. In the present study, we investigated habitat use in a fossorial skink, Lerista labialis, and explore the factors that confine it to the crests of sand dunes in the Simpson Desert, central Australia. Models positing that L. labialis selects dune crests because of their sparse cover of vegetation, more favourable temperatures, and greater abundance of preferred prey, received no support. Instead, a model positing that dune crests provide soft and less compacted sand that facilitates movement by L. labialis, was strongly supported. Sand on the crests was consistently softer that that on the sides and swales of the dunes; the skinks preferred soft rather than hard sand for movement in captivity, and were captured more often on experimentally softened sand than on compacted sand in the field. There was no evidence that L. labialis responds to attributes of the substrate other than softness because captive animals used loose sand from the dune crests, sides, and swales equally. We suggest that the dune crest environment allows L. labialis to reduce the energetic costs of locomotion, provides priority of access to the subterranean galleries of its termite prey, and also a secure refuge from surface-active predators and extreme surface temperatures. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 97, 531,544. [source] Non-coaxial elasto-plasticity model and bifurcation prediction of shear banding in sandsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 9 2010Maosong Huang Abstract Numerous constitutive models built on coaxial theory and validated under axi-symmetric condition often describe the stress,stain relationships and predict the inceptions of shear banding in sands inaccurately under true triaxial condition. By adopting an elaborated Mohr,Coulomb yield function and using non-coaxial non-associated flow rule, a 3D non-coaxial elasto-plasticity model is proposed and validated by a series of true triaxial tests on loose sands. The bifurcation analysis of true triaxial tests on dense sands predicts the influence of the intermediate principal stress ratio on the onset of shear band accurately. The failure of soils is shown to be related to the formation of shear band under most intermediate principal stress ratio conditions except for those which are close to the axi-symmetric compression condition. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A critical state model for sands dependent on stress and densityINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 4 2004Y.P. Yao Abstract An elastoplastic model for sands is presented in this paper, which can describe stress,strain behaviour dependent on mean effective stress level and void ratio. The main features of the proposed model are: (a) a new state parameter, which is dependent on the initial void ratio and initial mean stress, is proposed and applied to the yield function in order to predict the plastic deformation for very loose sands; and (b) another new state parameter, which is used to determine the peak strength and describe the critical state behaviour of sands during shearing, is proposed in order to predict simply negative/positive dilatancy and the hardening/softening behaviour of medium or dense sands. In addition, the proposed model can also predict the stress,strain behaviour of sands under three-dimensional stress conditions by using a transformed stress tensor instead of ordinary stress tensor. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||