Methods for physical separation and characterization of soil organic matter fractions

Turnover of soil organic matter (SOM) is coupled to the cycling of nutrients in soil through the activity of soil microorganisms. Biological availability of organic substrate in soil is related to the chemical quality of the organic material and to its degree of physical protection. SOM fractions can provide information on the turnover of organic matter (OM), provided the fractions can be related to functional or structural components in soil. Ultrasonication is commonly used to disrupt the soil structure prior to physical fractionation according to particle size, but may cause redistribution of OM among size fractions. The presence of mineral particles in size fractions can complicate estimations of OM turnover time within the fractions. Densiometric separation allows one to physically separate OM found within a specific size class from the heavier-density mineral particles. Nutrient contents and mineralization potential were determined for discrete size/density OM fractions isolated from within the macroaggregate structure of cultivated grassland soils. Eighteen percent of the total soil C and 25% of the total soil N in no-till soil was associated with fine-silt size particles having a density of 2.07-2.21 g/cm3 isolated from inside macroaggregates (enriched labile fraction or ELF). The amount of C and N sequestered in the ELF fraction decreased as the intensity of tillage increased. The specific rate of mineralization (mug net mineral N/mug total N in the fraction) for macroaggregate-derived ELF was not different for the three tillage treatments but was greater than for intact macroaggregates. The methods described here have improved our ability to quantitatively estimate SOM fractions, which in turn has increased our understanding of SOM dynamics in cultivated grassland systems.

内蒙古半干旱温带草原土壤微生物对环境变化的响应

地处干旱半干旱区的我国北方温带草原是欧亚大陆草原生物区系的重要组成部分，对全球变化敏感。土壤微生物在联系生态系统地上和地下部分起着中枢作用，由于其周转速率快，对环境因子变化响应快速，可用来指示短期内环境因子的变化对生态系统的影响。目前关于内蒙古半干旱温带草原的研究主要集中在生态系统地上部分，对地下尤其是土壤微生物对全球变化及人为干扰的响应研究仍然缺乏。本研究选取位于内蒙古多伦县的代表性的半干旱温带草原，通过对多种环境因子变化及人为干扰下土壤微生物量、呼吸、氮可利用性及转化等参数进行测定，旨在探讨全球变化及人为干扰对土壤微生物的影响，为地上植物群落的响应及生态系统地上与地下部分的联系提供机理解释，研究结果如下： 通过研究土壤微生物生物量和呼吸生长季的动态变化，以及它们对地形、火烧、施用氮肥及其交互作用的响应，结果表明，土壤微生物参数在生长季表现出明显的季节变异。土壤微生物生物量碳(MBC)、氮(MBN)分别在坡下比坡上高出14.8%和11.5%。但是，有机碳微中生物量碳的百分比(Cmic/Corg)以及总氮中微生物量氮的百分比(Nmic/Ntot)分别在坡上比坡下高16.9%和26.2%。微生物呼吸(MR)和代谢熵(qCO2)都不受地形的影响。火烧在整个生长季分别提高MBC和MBN29.8%和14.2%，MR和qCO2 则有降低趋势，尤其是在八月份。火烧在坡上提高Cmic/Corg 和Nmic/Ntot，但是在坡下对二者没有影响。氮肥的施用在第一个生长季对所有土壤微生物指标都没有影响。 草原生态中环境因子的空间和时间变异可以影响土壤微生物以及它们对干扰的响应。通过对地形、火烧、施肥进行三年连续处理和观测土壤微生物指标发现，1)土壤微生物参数有明显的年际变异。2)在相对湿润的年份，土壤微生物量在坡下比坡上高，但是Cmic/Corg和Nmic/Ntot 在坡上高于坡下。但在干旱年份里，所有土壤微生物参数都是在坡下高于坡上，且由于地形引起的差异在干旱年份表现更强烈。MBC、MBN、MR 的变异系数在坡上高，表明土壤微生物量和活性在坡下稳定性高。说明了土壤水分含量在半干旱温带草原调节土壤微生物和其稳定性方面起着重要作用。地形对土壤可利用的氮没有影响。3)每年一次的火烧对土壤微生物量、Cmic/Corg、Nmic/Ntot 有正效应但正效应随处理时间延长和处理次数增加而降低。火烧在在第一年内不论在坡上还是坡下都降低MR，但是在干旱年份里，火烧在坡上降低MR，在坡下提高MR。火烧在第二年里在坡下提高了土壤无机氮含量，但在坡上降低了土壤无机氮含量。在第三年，不论坡上还是坡下，火烧使得土壤无机氮含量降低。4)施用氮肥提高土壤无机氮含量，但是它对土壤微生物参数产生负效应，且负效应随着处理时间延长和处理次数的增加而增强。此外，氮肥增加了MBC、MBN、MR的变异系数。 土壤微生物在生态系统碳氮循环中起着关键作用，但是关于氮素添加是否促进或抑制土壤微生物生物量和活动仍然存在争议。在我国北方温带草原的这项研究目的在于探讨土壤微生物沿着一个施氮梯度的响应。本研究设置了每年一次、连续四年的八个水平(0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 g N m-2以尿素形式施入土壤)N处理。并在第三年和第四年测定了土壤微生物生物量碳、氮、磷、微生物呼吸和代谢熵、土壤无机氮、净氮矿化和硝化。大多数测定的微生物参数都在低施氮处理下有所增加，相反在高施氮处理下降低。在取样测定的两年中，对土壤微生物生长和活动的最适施氮量大致为2 g N m-2 y-1；而施氮的阈值在16 和32 gN m-2 y-1之间，在此阈值之上，土壤pH、微生物生物量、微生物呼吸、Cmic/Corg、Nmic/Ntot 急剧降低，相反，土壤无机氮、净氮矿化和硝化急剧增加。土壤微生物对低施氮处理和高施氮处理的特异性响应(Differential Response)可能是由于微生物碳氮限制的转换、以及高施氮处理下土壤pH值降低的毒害影响而引起的。本研究中观察到的土壤微生物沿着施氮梯度的非线性响应有助于解决不同报道及不同生态系统中氮素添加对土壤微生物影响的争议。 气候变化将显著影响陆地生态系统的碳循环。以2005年4月开始的一项野外控制实验为平台，检验我国北方半干旱典型草原土壤和微生物呼吸以及微生物生物量对试验增温和增加降水的响应。在3 个实验年份内(2005-2007 年)测定了整个生长季节的土壤呼吸、微生物呼吸、微生物生物量碳和微生物生物量氮。结果表明，1)受到降水年际波动的影响，土壤和微生物呼吸以及微生物生物量均存在明显的年际变化。2)实验室内沿着一个水分梯度的培养实验揭示了微生物呼吸对温度的响应受到低土壤水分含量的限制。3)在三年时间内，试验增温引起土壤和微生物呼吸以及微生物生物量的显著降低，说明试验增温通过加剧土壤水分胁迫的间接负效应大于温度增加的直接正效应。试验增温所引起的蒸发散的增加导致土壤水分可利用性减少到某一胁迫阈值(Threshold)之下，并因此抑制了植物生长、根系和微生物活动。4)降水增加显著刺激了土壤和微生物呼吸以及其它微生物参数，而且这种正效应随着时间而增强。研究结果表明：在半干旱温带草原，土壤水分在调节土壤和微生物呼吸以及微生物生物量及其对气候变化的响应方面所起的作用比温度更为重要。比较温带草原土壤呼吸与总初级生产力的相对变化显示，相对于光合碳固定而言，增温导致更多而增雨引起较少的呼吸碳损失。这一发现说明：除非降水增加，气候变暖情形下，我国北方的干旱半干旱温带草原将可能作为一个净的碳源。

内蒙古多伦草原土壤微生物多样性对全球变化的响应

气候变暖和氮沉降是全球变化现象中最为重要和广为关注的两个方面，它们给陆地生态系统带来了深刻的影响。目前，已有众多研究就二者对地上植被的影响展开了大量工作;而作为陆地生态系统的另一重要生命组分，土壤微生物群落对二者的响应与适应机制还不明了，还需要相关工作的不断补充和完善。本文正是在温带典型草原通过设置增温、施氮等模拟控制实验，探讨增温、施氮及其交互效应对草原生态系统土壤微生物群落多样性和功能多样性的影响，使我们对该地区土壤微生物群落的响应与适应有了一个初步的了解，有助于全面分析和评估气候变化对温带典型草原生态系统的影响。 目前，全球变暖表现出时间上的不均衡性，即夜间增温的幅度要大于白天增温的幅度，而且这种现象在欧亚大陆尤为普遍。这种气候变暖的不均衡性是否会给草原生态系统土壤微生物群落带来显著的影响是我们所关注的问题之一。在第二章中，于多伦典型草原设置了对照、白天增温、夜间增温和全天增温处理，处理时间起始于2006 年5 月，并通过磷脂脂肪酸和BIOLOG 分析方法分别对土壤微生物的群落多样性和碳源利用能力（即功能多样性）进行分析。结果表明，不同增温处理对土壤微生物群落组成的影响均不显著，而夜间增温对土壤细菌群落的碳源利用能力具有显著的促进作用。这说明土壤微生物群落结构对短期增温处理的响应要滞后于功能的响应，而功能上的响应又首先出现在细菌群落，并且这种响应表现为白天增温和夜间增温的非加和效应。 气候变暖往往与降雨的变化相伴而生，而水分又是半干旱典型草原重要限制因子，因此探讨降雨的变化对土壤微生物的影响有助于更深入的了解土壤微生物对气候变暖的响应。在第三章中，分别设置了对照、增温、夏季增雨及增温×夏季增雨处理，处理时间起始于2005 年4 月，并同样分析了土壤微生物的群落组成和功能多样性。结果表明，增温和夏季增雨对土壤微生物群落结构和功能的影响具有明显的一致性，二者均降低了革兰氏阴性菌的相对含量，并且促进了细菌群落的碳源利用能力。增温和增雨在影响细菌群落结构（即，革兰氏阴性菌与阳性菌之比）上具有一定程度的交互效应。 陆地生态系统生产力普遍受到土壤氮素的限制，由于人类活动的干扰，尤其是农业生产和化石燃料燃烧，使土壤氮素含量增加，改变土壤理化环境和地上植物群落，这将直接或间接地影响土壤微生物群落结构和功能。就已有的研究结果来看施氮究竟如何影响土壤微生物群落尚无定论。第四章主要是针对相关研究结果上的分歧，在2003 年设置的0-64 g N m-2 yr-1 的指数施氮梯度实验上进行土壤理化因子、微生物量、净氮矿化和微生物碳源利用能力的分析。结果表明，土壤微生物群落对施氮的响应存在一个介于16 和32 g N m-2y-1 最优施氮量，即低于最优施氮量施氮处理表现为对土壤微生物的促进作用，而过高的施氮量则表现为抑制作用。这一结果说明施氮量是影响土壤微生物对施氮处理做出响应的重要方面之一，有助于解释目前相关研究中出现的结果分歧。 第五章的研究则是考虑了地形和火烧这两个草原生态系统普遍存在的干扰因素，比较分析二者与施氮处理对土壤微生物群落结构的影响。实验设置在多伦典型草原一个坡度为15﹪的南向阳坡，坡上坡下分别设置对照、施氮和火烧处理，处理的起始时间为2005 年4 月。结果表明，土壤微生物群落结构存在地形上的显著差异，表现为坡下以细菌类群占优势，而坡上真菌类群的相对优势较大;火烧对土壤微生物群落结构的影响显著，并表现出明显的地形上的差异，即坡下微生物对火烧的响应敏感性要高于坡上;而短期的施氮处理对土壤微生物群落结构的影响不显著。第六章的研究主要是针对增温、施氮和增温×施氮处理对土壤微生物群落结构和功能的影响，处理时间起始于2006 年5 月。结果表明，土壤微生物群落结构和功能年际变化显著;增温和施氮对土壤微生物的影响均不显著，但增温复合施氮处理中的土壤微生物群落结构表现出一定的响应趋势。

土壤有机物添加对温带半干旱草地地下生物过程的影响

大气CO2 浓度和降水量增加有可能大幅提高中国北方部分草地生态系统净初级生产力，进而导致向土壤中输送的有机物相应增加。本研究以位于内蒙古自治区东乌珠穆沁旗内的半干旱草地生态系统为研究对象，通过向10−20 cm 土层添加不同质量和数量的植物凋枯物碎屑模拟有机物输入增加和喷灌模拟降水量提升，同时测定土壤微生物群落动态和植物生长指标，探讨在增加有机物输入和土壤水分的情况下土壤生物过程的变化及其对土壤碳排放和贮存的反馈作用。 研究结果表明，有机物添加可促进植物地上部分及根系的生长，并显著提高土壤中可溶性有机碳（能量）和氮（养分）的含量。土壤能量和养分水平的提高促进了土壤微生物的生长：在底物可利用性水平较高时，r−对策微生物（指具有生长迅速、C/N 值较低的微生物群组）在群落中占优势地位；随着底物水平的降低，土壤中K-对策微生物（指具有生长缓慢、C/N 值较高的微生物群组）在群落中逐渐占据优势地位。土壤微生物群落组成的改变进一步导致了微生物功能群代谢活性和特征的变化，具体表现为提高了有机物添加处理中土壤细菌群落的代谢潜能，并使细菌在群落水平上的生理剖面特征明显区别于未添加有机物的处理。 研究样地内土壤微生物主要受到底物中的能量（碳）限制，土壤活性有机质库作为可利用性较高的能量和养分的重要来源，对土壤微生物活性和土壤碳周转起着比水分因子更加重要的作用。土壤水分主要影响植物生长和根系活性，并增加了土壤微生物对底物响应的复杂性，但它对地下生物过程的作用程度以底物中能量和养分水平为前提。 利用稳定性13C 同位素示踪技术测量后发现，添加C4-植物凋枯物会加速C3 底物中碳的分解速度。结合有机物添加后土壤有机质库的变化，可以推测植物凋枯物（即能量物质）输入增加会导致土壤原生有机碳的正向激发效应。在此过程中，土壤微生物群落组成及功能群代谢活性的变化起着至关重要的作用。 不同光合途径（C3 和C4）的植物和同一植物不同器官组织（地上部分和根系）的凋枯物添加对地下生物过程，特别是土壤微生物群落代谢功能的影响是不同的。在添加C3-草本凋枯物的处理中，土壤细菌群落主要利用的碳源为氨基酸类化合物；而在添加C4-植物凋枯物的处理中，土壤细菌群落主要利用的碳源为羧酸类化合物。 本研究在野外自然条件下证明了在能量缺乏的中国北方草地生态系统中，土壤有机物输入增加不但不会提高土壤有机碳库的大小，而且可能导致土壤原生有机碳的激发效应。在利用土壤呼吸与环境因子（如温度）的关系进行模拟预测土壤碳排放时，需要考虑不同生态系统底物中的能量和养分水平，以及土壤微生物和植物根系等地下生物过程对底物水平的适应性。

土壤微生物和酶对大气CO2浓度与温度升高的响应

土壤微生物(Soil microbes)是生态系统的重要组成部分，它参与土壤中复杂有机物质的分解和再合成，也参与C、N、S、P等的循环。土壤酶(Soil enzyme)是土壤中具有生物活性的蛋白质，它与微生物一起推动着土壤的生物化学过程，并在树木营养物质的转化中起着重要的作用。鉴于土壤微生物和土壤酶对环境变化的敏感性，它们在CO2浓度和温度升高时的反应将在很大程度上影响森林生态系统的结构和功能。因此，要全面评价大气CO2浓度和温度升高对整个生态系统的影响，有必要对CO2浓度和温度升高条件下的土壤微生物的反应进行深入的研究与探讨。本文应用自控、封闭、独立的生长室系统，研究了川西亚高山岷江冷杉（Abies faxoniana）根际、非根际土壤微生物数量，红桦（Betula albosinensis）根际微生物数量以及根际、非根际土壤酶活性对大气CO2浓度(环境CO2浓度+350±25μmol·mol-1，EC)和温度(环境温度+2.0±0.5℃，ET)升高及两者同时升高(ECT)的响应。结果表明： 1) EC和ET显著增加岷江冷杉根际微生物数量，但不同微生物种类对EC和ET的反应有所差异。6、8和10月，岷江冷杉根际微生物数量与对照(CK)相比，EC处理的根际细菌数量分别增加了35%、164%和312%，ET处理增加了30%、115%和209%；EC和ET处理对根际放线菌和根际真菌数量影响不显著。ECT处理的根际放线菌数量分别增加了49%、50%和96%，根际真菌数量增加了151%、57%和48%；而ECT对根际细菌数量影响不显著。EC、ET和ECT处理对岷江冷杉土壤微生物总数的根际效应明显，其R/S值分别为1.93、1.37和1.46(CK的R/S值为0.81)。 2) 红桦根际微生物数量对EC、ET和ECT的响应不同。生长季节(5~10月)，高密度的红桦根际细菌数量与CK 相比，EC的根际细菌数量分别增加28%、33%、423%、65%、43%和79%，而低密度的红桦根际细菌数量增加不显著。ET能显著增加根际细菌数量(7~10月)，其中高密度的根际细菌数量分别增加了377%、107%、35%、22%，而低密度的根际细菌数量分别增加了27%、27%、64%、48%；ECT对两个密度水平下根际细菌数量均未产生有显著的影响。高、低密度的红桦根际放线菌和根际真菌数量与 CK 相比，EC显著增加了低密度的红桦根际放线菌数量，而对高密度的根际放线菌数量无显著影响；ET和ECT对高低密度的红桦根际放线菌数量均未产生显著影响。EC和ET对高低密度的根际真菌数量也无显著影响，而ECT却显著增加了高低密度的根际真菌数量。 3) EC、ET和ECT处理的低密度红桦根际微生物(细菌、放线菌和真菌)数量没有显著高于或低于高密度根际微生物数量，表明短期内密度对红桦根际微生物数量不产生影响。 4) 不同种类的氧化还原酶对EC、ET和ECT的响应不同。5~10月，EC的红桦根际过氧化氢酶活性是CK 的1.44、1.06、1.11、1.10、1.12和1.24倍，差异显著(6月除外)；ET和ECT处理根际过氧化氢酶活性无显著增加。EC的红桦根际多酚氧化酶活性比CK显著增加；ET的根际多酚氧化酶活性显著高于CK(8月除外)。ECT的根际多酚氧化酶活性高于CK，差异不显著。EC的根际脱氢酶活性分别增加了46%、40%、133%、48%、17%和26%，差异显著。5~7月，ET和ECT的根际脱氢酶活性高于CK的脱氢酶活性，而8~9月则相反，差异性均不显著。 5) EC、ET和ECT对不同种类的水解酶的影响不同。EC能显著增加红桦根际脲酶活性，5~10月分别增加了29%、42%，、70%、67%、59%和57%。ET和ECT 对根际脲酶活性未产生显著影响。EC显著提高根际转化酶活性，5、6和9月EC的根际转化酶活性分别比CK高51%、42%和40%。5和10月，ET的根际转化酶活性低于CK，而其余月份却高于CK，但均具有显著性差异。ECT的根际转化酶活性与CK的根际转化酶活性有显著性差异(9月除外)，5、6和7月的根际转化酶活性分别提高了94%、198%和67%。 6) 与CK相比，EC、ET和ECT的非根际土壤微生物数量以及非根际土壤酶活性均无显著提高。EC、ET和ECT的过氧化氢酶、脲酶的根际效应明显，而多酚氧化酶和脱氢酶根际效应不明显。EC和ECT的转化酶根际效应明显，而ET的转化酶根际效应不明显。 It is well known that atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature are increasing as a consequence of human activities. In past decades, considerable efforts had been put into investigating the effects of climate change on processes of forest ecological system. In general, studies had been mainly focused on the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on plant physiology and development, litter quality, and soil microorganisms. Studies showed that there was variation in the responses of root development and below-ground processes to climate between different plant communities. Since the concentration of CO2 in soil was much higher (10~50 times) than in the atmosphere, increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 may not directly in fluence below ground processes. Betula albosinensis and Abies faxoniana, as the dominated tree species of subalpine dark coniferous forest in the western Sichuan province, which play an important role in the structure and function of this kind of forest ecosystem. In our study, effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (350±25μmol·mol-1), increased temperature (2.0±0.5℃) and both of the two on the number of rhizospheric microbe and rhizospheric enzyme activity were studied by the independent and enclosed-top chamber’ system under high-frigid conditions. Responses of rhizospheric bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi number of Betula albosinensis and Abies faxoniana under different densities(high density with 84 stems·m-2, low density with 28 stems·m-2 ), and rhizospheric enzyme activity of Betula albo-sinensis to elevated CO2 concentration and increased temperature were analyzed and discussed. The results are as the following, 1) In comparion with the control, the numbers of rhizospheric bacteria of Abies faxoniana were increased by 35%, 164% and 312% significantly in June, August and October respectively of EC, and were increased by 30%, 115% and 209% respectively of ET.However the effect of EC and ET on rhizospheric actinomycetes and fungi was not significant. The number of rhizospheric actinomycetes of ECT were increased significantly by 49%, 50% and 96% respectively, and the increment of rhizospheric fungi were 151%, 57% and 48% respectively .The effect of ECT on rhizospheric bacteria was not significant. Rhizospheric effect of soil microbe for all treatments was significant, with the R/S of 1.93, 1.27 and 1.46 for EC, ET and ECT, respectively. 2) Treatment EC improved the number of rhizospheric bacteria of Betula albosinensis under high density significantly in comparison with the control, over the growing season, the greatest increment of rhizospheric bacteria was from July. However, EC had no effect on the number of rhizospheric bacteria under low density. Except May and June, treatment ET improved the number of rhizospheric signifcantly. The effect of treatment ECT on the number of rhizospheric bacteria under different densities was not significant. Of treatment EC, the number of rhizospheric actinomycetes of Betula albosinensis under low density were increased significantly, however, treatment EC did not stimulate the number of rhizospheric actinomycetes under high density. Simultaneously, treatment ET and ECT did not stimulate the number of rhizospheric actinomycetes. Finally, in treatment ECT, the number of rhizospheric fungi under high density were increased significantly, however treatment EC and ET did not stimulate the number of rhizospheric fungi under different densities. 3) Of treatment EC, ET and ECT, the number of rhizospheric microbe of Betula albosinensis under low density were not more or fewer than that of microbe under hign density along the growing season, which showed that plant density had no effect on the nmber of microbe. 4) From May to October, 2004，rhizospheric catalase activity of Betula albosinensis of treatment EC was 1.44, 1.06, 1.11, 1.10, 1.12 and 1.24 times as treatment CK respectively, and the difference was statistically significant(except June). Treatment ET and ECT did not increase rhizospheric catalase activity significantly. In treatment EC, the rhizospheric pohyphenol oxidase activity was higher than treatment CK significantly. The rhizospheric pohyphenol oxidase activity of treatment ET was higher than CK significantly (except August). The rhizospheric pohyphenol oxidase activity of treatment ECT was higher than CK, but the difference was not statistically significant. Over the growing period, the rhizospheric dehydrogenase activity were increased 46%, 40%, 133%, 48%, 17% and 26% respectively by treatment EC, and the difference was statistically significant. From May to July, the rhizospheric dehydrogenase activity in treatment ET and ECT was higher than CK, but from August to October, the rhizospheric dehydrogenase activity was lower than CK, the difference was not significant. 5) Treatment EC increased rhizospheric urease activity significantly, from May to October, rhizospheric urease activity were increased 29%, 42%, 70%, 67%, 59% and 57% respectively by EC. Treatment ET and ECT had no effect on rhizospheric urease activity. Treatment EC improved rhizospheric invertase activity significantly, in May, June and September, the rhizospheric invertase activity of treatment EC were increased 51%, 42% and 40% in comparison with the control. Except May and October, the rhizospheric invertase activity of treatment ET was markly higher than CK. The rhizospheric invertase activity of treatment ECT was significantly different from CK (except September), in May, June and July treatment ECT increased rhizospheric invertase activity by 94%, 198% and 67% respectively. 6) In comparison with the control, treatment EC, ET, and ECT had no effect on the number of non-rhizospheric microbe and non-rhizospheric enzyme activity. Rhizospheric effect of catalase and urease for all treatments was significant, but rhizospheric effect of pohyphenol oxidase and dehydrogenase was not significant. Rhizospheric effect of invertase of EC and ECT was significant, but rhizospheric effect of invertase of ET was not significant.

The thermo-visco-plastic instability analysis of saturated soil

A theoretical analysis of instability of saturated soil is presented considering the simple shearing of a heat conducting thermo-visco-plastic material. It is shown that the instability is mainly the consequence of thermal softening which overcomes the strain hardening and the other type of instability is controlled by strain softening. The effects of other factors such as permeability to the instability are discussed in this paper.

On the shear instability of saturated soil

In this paper. the dynamic instability of simple shear of saturated soil is discussed. The governing equations are obtained based on mixture theory in which the inertia effect and the compressibility of grains are considered. Perturbation method is used to analyze and it is shown that two types of instability may exist. One of them is dominated by pore-pressure-softening, while the other by strain-softening.

An Analytical Solution for Three-Dimensional Diffraction of Plane P-Waves by a Hemispherical Alluvial Valley with Saturated Soil Deposits

An analytical solution for the three-dimensional scattering and diffraction of plane P-waves by a hemispherical alluvial valley with saturated soil deposits is developed by employing Fourier-Bessel series expansion technique. Unlike previous studies, in which the saturated soil deposits were simulated with the single-phase elastic theory, in this paper, they are simulated with Biot's dynamic theory for saturated porous media, and the half space is assumed as a single-phase elastic medium. The effects of the dimensionless frequency, the incidence angle of P-wave and the porosity of soil deposits on the surface displacement magnifications of the hemispherical alluvial valley are investigated. Numerical results show that the existence of a saturated hemispherical alluvial valley has much influence on the surface displacement magnifications. It is more reasonable to simulate soil deposits with Biot's dynamic theory when evaluating the displacement responses of a hemispherical alluvial valley with an incidence of P-waves.

Comparison of the Dynamic Response of a Saturated Soil Between Two Models

By comparing the dynamic responses of saturated soil to Biot's and Yamamoto's models, the properties of the two models have be pointed out. First of all, an analysis has been made for energy loss of each model from the basic equations. Then the damping of elastic waves in coarse sand and fine sand with loading frequency and soil's parameters have been calculated and the representation of viscous friction and Coulomb friction in the two models has been concluded. Finally, the variations of loading wave damping and stress phase angles with water depth and soil's parameters have been obtained as loading waves range in ocean waves.

Numerical Study on Rainfall Infiltration in Rock-Soil Blocks

A mathematical model for the rain infiltration in the rock-soil slop has been established and solved by using the finite element method. The unsteady water infiltrating process has been simulated to get water content both in the homogeneous and heterogeneous media. The simulated results show that the rock blocks in the rock-soil slop can cause the wetting front moving fast. If the rain intensity is increased, the saturated region will be formed quickly while other conditions are the same. If the rain intensity keeps a constant, it is possible to accelerate the generation of the saturated region by properly increasing the vertical filtration rate of the rock-soil slop. However, if the vertical filtration rate is so far greater than the rain intensity, it will be difficult to form the saturated region in the rock-soil slop. The numerical method was verified by comparing the calculation results with the field test data.

土壤传热特性的实验研究(Experimental Study of Soil Heat Diffusivity)

发展了测定实验室土样热扩散率的方法,介绍了研制的实验装置和建议的操作程序。给出的实验结果表明土壤热扩散率随土壤空隙率、含水量和温度等许多参数而变化。

The evolution of shear bands of saturated soil

The development of the shear bands of saturated soil in coupling-rate- and pore-pressure-dependent simple shear has been discussed, using a simple model and a matching technique at the moving boundary of a shear band. Tt is shown that the development of shear bands are dominated by the coupling-rate and pore-pressure effect of the material. The strength of the soil acts as a destabilizer, whilst pore pressure diffusion makes the band expand. The theory is discussed and some computational solutions have been presented.

Wave-soil-pipe coupling effect on submarine pipeline on-bottom stability

Wave-soil-pipe coupling effect on the untrenched pipeline stability on sands is for the first time investigated experimentally. Tests are conducted in the U-shaped water tunnel, which generates an oscillatory how, simulating the water particle movements with periodically changing direction under the wave action. Characteristic times and phases during the instability process are revealed. Linear relationship between Froude number and non-dimensional pipe weight is obtained. Effects of initial embedment and loading history are observed. Test results between the wavesoil-pipe interaction and pipe-soil interaction under cyclic mechanical loading are compared. The mechanism is briefly discussed. For applying in the practical design, more extensive and systematic investigations are needed.